"Surprised?" Su Xiaocai let him sit down, helped him put on the new mechanical arm, and said with a smile, "Dad, I spent a long time making this arm. Its conductivity is stronger than any mechanical arm on the market. I made the alloy on the surface myself, using materials found on this planet. So don't tell anyone else for now."
Holding something valuable might bring trouble; if people knew this planet had rare resources, destruction would be inevitable, and Daddy Su might be in danger.
The installation was simple, and even Daddy Su wouldn't struggle on his own.
With Su Xiaocai's help, it went even faster.
After the installation, Daddy Su tried clenching his fingers to adjust to the new arm.
It went smoothly, and he could actually feel the strength and the pressure when touching, which was incredible, like growing a new arm.
"I programmed it with mild pain sensitivity. If there's internal damage, you might feel pain. Remember to check it out."
Daddy Su was at a loss for words, grateful indeed, deeply thankful for her presence, bringing him energy, no longer angry and lifeless.
"If it breaks, there's a spare in the cabinet." Su Xiaocai was very grateful for Daddy Su's years of caring, though her own persistence played a part, he undeniably gave her all the treatment a daughter could have.
She had grown up, was going to school, feeling a bit reluctant to leave him, wanting to repay him with a small gift.
Daddy Su had always wanted to regain arm flexibility to handle intricate maintenance projects, not to go back to being a repairman, but to stay on his own planet, dabble a bit, and research new maintenance techniques.
That was his hobby; he didn't even like fishing.
Current medicine allowed for cloning limb transplant technology, but it wasn't mature, with short lifespan and high costs.
Su Xiaocai thought it better to custom-make him a multifunctional mechanical arm.
Sure enough, Daddy Su couldn't let it go, exclaiming over Su Xiaocai wasting her talent; not becoming a Mecha Master, not being a Maintenance Master, developing mechas would be fine too.
Su Xiaocai had no interest in developing things, thinking day and night, researching all the time would make her bald.
Things were good now, playing when she wanted, farming when she liked, making little gadgets in her free time, living a peaceful and quiet life.
Daddy Su's mechanical arm wasn't the most advanced technology. In the last life, the most advanced limb reconstruction technology used living memory metal, and once the program was implanted, except for the color, it could completely transform into a normal human limb.
"Dad, do you like it? I told you, I'm your little padded jacket." Su Xiaocai stood on a stool, helping Daddy Su massage his shoulders to relax the muscles. Using this technology on the mechanical arm for the first time made shoulder muscles more active and prone to cramps.
Daddy Su couldn't suppress the smile on his face, proud that his daughter had grown up, being so filial and smart.
He awkwardly said, "Do I have to wear long sleeves every time I go out now?"
Su Xiaocai gently replied, "It's okay not to wear long sleeves; you might need a little acting skill."
Daddy Su refused to argue with her, truthfully saying, "Didn't you understand my meaning? Apply for a patent early; I want to show it off to my old friends."
Su Xiaocai: "..."
In early August, on a Friday morning, Daddy Su drove a spaceship to take Su Xiaocai to the neighboring Big Star District, where there was a large interstellar shuttle ship to Capital Star.
On the shuttle ship, Su Xiaocai waved goodbye. After she turned, Daddy Su wiped the corner of his eye. Ten years had passed in a blink, and the little girl who clung to him had grown into a graceful young woman.
Thankfully, he could not resist and adopted her back then.
Touching the metallic right hand a sense of accomplishment arose within him.
By then, the shuttle ship had already departed. Su Xiaocai looked at the magnificent starry sky outside the window, her posture relaxed.
Sitting down in her seat, Daddy Su called.
"Hello, Dad, what's up?"
"I knew being nice to me had a price, you rascal, where's Xiao Wanzi?" Daddy Su returned home to the eager service of the robot housekeeper, sensing something off.
Sure enough, Xiao Wanzi had been replaced.
"Ahem, hello, hello, can't hear, the signal's bad, the shuttle is about to start, let's talk when I get there, bye." Su Xiaocai quickly hung up the phone,
Xiao Wanzi was in hibernation in the Space Button; she didn't plan to leave Xiao Wanzi with Daddy Su.
Xiao Wanzi was always indulging him, and Daddy Su often irregularly ate, now the home robot housekeeper was more suitable for him.
Can urge him to eat and sleep.
Daddy Su: I really thank you.
Xiao Wanzi's cooking skills were unparalleled, at least on Su's Planet, Daddy Su was used to Xiao Wanzi's cooking, suddenly changing to another housekeeper.
The mischievous daughter, Daddy Su muttered to the smart-watch, "Waiting for your return, I've prepared seven-colored vines, two lashes each color." To give her a taste.
Su Xiaocai pressed the power-off button, and peace returned.
Though Su Xiaocai was a homebody on Su's Planet, it didn't mean she was socially awkward; in fact, she was quite the social butterfly, chatting with anyone.
Sitting to her right was a young man, and to her left, a middle-aged woman.
Within two minutes of the ship's launch, she proactively broke the silence, chatting lively with people on both sides.
The originally disinterested middle-aged woman changed her attitude upon learning the young man and Su Xiaocai were new students at the Military Training University.
The three of them engaged in an even more heated conversation.
The young man, Liu Xun: "There's a mecha-using female star at Capital Star, shown on TV, said she created a new mecha move, an aerial loop point shot, is it true? I watched the video, and I found it super impressive, even so impressive that it feels a bit fake."
The middle-aged woman was from Capital City, here for a vacation, she nodded, "It's true, my daughter mentions her every day, idolizes her."
What?
Seeing Su Xiaocai's puzzled look, Liu Xun showed her the video circulating online on his phone.
In the azure sky, a latest model mecha was flickering, sometimes far, sometimes near, like a busy bee.
The mecha fired at small aerial targets, consecutively firing ten shots, hitting all five targets.
Because the mecha's overall route was arc-shaped, it was called an aerial loop point shot.
Su Xiaocai said, "Is the pilot a young girl?"
"Yes, only seventeen." Liu Xun was envious, "I'm in the Mecha Department too, same age, but don't know when I can reach her skill level."
At seventeen, it's indeed remarkable to be able to perform this skill, but to practice this technique... well, young people do like colorful things.
No need to learn it in actual combat.
Liu Xun eagerly showed her other videos, all combat videos posted online by this girl.
Su Xiaocai inexplicably felt a bit resistant and had a bad impression of this seventeen-year-old called Xue Huiyi.
The battles in the videos were intense but gave her a sense of emptiness.