The final‑exam ranking followed the order students emerged from the forest.
Although Vera Warde had been delayed a bit, she still came out first.
When her teacher's wife heard, she cooked a grand feast to reward her.
"I worked hard too," Li Pi grumbled enviously.
"You're a grown man already," his wife glared at him before turning to Vera with a warm smile. "Eat more, child. You're still growing."
"Thank you, madam," Vera said sincerely.
After dinner, Vera transferred some money to Li Pi — living expenses, she said.
He didn't refuse. "Even during break, don't slack off. Next term is the crucial one."
"I know."
During the two‑month holiday, aside from the homework Li Pi assigned, Vera spent all her time on repair jobs.
He knew she needed money and didn't stop her. Sometimes he even introduced work to her — colleagues' families needing something fixed.
It turned out Vera could repair almost everything. The more work she took, the more requests came; after a month, she'd earned over 6,000 credits.
"All done already?" asked a teacher's spouse, surprised at how fast her home appliance had been repaired.
"Yes — please check," Vera removed her gloves.
After testing every function, the woman exclaimed, "It feels even better than when it was new!"
"I made a few adjustments," Vera replied calmly.
"If only you could fix mechas too," the woman said half to herself.
That caught Vera's attention. "I can repair mechas. A little."
"Really? I have a friend — her family's mecha broke, and she needs it urgently. The shop said it must be sent to a larger star for repair, but that'll take too long. The few teachers capable of fixing one are away. She's been fretting for days."
"I can give it a try."
The woman hurried to contact her friend, who agreed immediately — anything was worth a try.
"That's her address," she said.
Vera glanced at it. Not unfamiliar — that was the wealthy district where Jin Ke used to live.
Taking a shuttle there, Vera stopped before the indicated house and rang the bell.
"Coming," someone called.
When the door opened, both people froze. Then, with a loud slam, the door shut again.
Vera said flatly, "Wu De — is this your place that needs mecha repair?"
Inside, Wu De snapped, "None of your business!"
"I'm here to fix the mecha."
"Bullshit!"
"If you don't open the door, I'll leave."
Wu De hesitated, then shouted to his mother to call the woman who'd arranged the repair and ask her the technician's name.
"She said her name is Vera Warde," his mother called back.
Wu De did not believe it for a second. She'sheretobeatmeupagain!
Vera knocked. "Hey, are you opening up or not? If not, I'm really leaving."
"You're just a mecha soldier trainee! How could you possibly repair a mecha? No one on Star 3212 can do that!" Wu De shouted through the door.
"Life's hard," she sighed. "Being multi‑talented helps."
"You… really know how to?"
"I do."
He cracked the door open a bit. "You're really not here to hit me?"
"Why would I bother coming here to hit a loser I already beat?"
Wu De: … Fairpoint.Nocounter.
"Come in," he muttered.
She followed him into the training room. A mecha stood in the center.
"So that's where this unit went," Vera whistled. "The shop in the parts market had one for sale for seven years — now I see who bought it."
Wu De lifted his chin. "I'm headed for the Five Major Military Academies. Of course I need a mecha early."
Vera climbed into the cockpit, genuinely impressed — it was her first time seeing a real mecha interior, even if only a display model.
"Vera, you sure you can handle it?" Wu De yelled from below.
"First time fixing a mecha," she popped her head out, "give me a minute."
"!!!" Wu De's blood pressure spiked. "I knew it! Get down right now!"
Ignoring him, Vera tested every button one by one.
"Ahhh‑ahhh‑ahhh! Vera! Get down!" He watched in horror as the machine trembled. "It's gonna fall over!"
After a brief survey, she jumped down, wrench in hand. "You're too noisy. Shut up."
Wu De choked and fell silent. "…"
Circling the machine, Vera tapped the engine frame. "This is a display model — probably a cheap one. You've been overloading it constantly. Lucky it lasted this long."
"…You actually know your stuff?" he asked cautiously.
She ignored that. "What's the repair budget?"
"Three‑hundred thousand credits."
Vera blinked. "You really are rich."
"The three‑hundred thousand is for the mecha itself! Repair fees are extra if you can fix it."
"No need — put it all into parts. Consider your last meal the payment."
"Uh?"
"Got money on you?"
"Yeah."
"Good. Follow me to the materials market."
They returned with loads of supplies — the gold‑alloy Yaojin cost the most, even just a few grams. In total, they spent about seven‑hundred thousand credits, with Wu De begging extra funds from his mother.
"You really know how to fix it?" He was uneasy — seven hundred thousand was no small sum.
"Material's bought already. Too late to turn back."
Wu De: …Damnit.Imust'velostmymindtrustingher.
"Relax," she assured him. "I'll have it ready before school starts."
Vera still kept up with everything else, spending daily hours at Wu De's home.
He watched in terror as his precious mecha was taken apart piece by piece, lamenting his poor life choices each night before sleep.
Display‑model mechas didn't require any perception aptitude, so their attack power was zero. The 700 k credits mostly went to reinforcing the armor and engine — cheap, by mecha standards. Vera had compressed the engine materials to save costs.
She saved the armor for last. First, she repaired the engine and boosted its power output.
Click—
Vera fitted the engine back in place and looked at Wu De, who was biting his nails. "Try it."
"The armor's not even mounted!"
"It won't fall apart. Just see if it runs."
He climbed in anxiously, nudged the controls. "Huh?" It moved — smoothly.
He walked it around the room, eyes shining. "It's working! Even better than before!"
"Good. Now get down — I'll rework the shell and remount it." By now, Vera had no thrill left; the cockpit was plain and barely functional — fine for a stroll, not combat.
"You're amazing," Wu De said, climbing out, thrilled. "Where'd you learn that?"
Vera had already pulled on her gloves, melting the Yaojin. The metal was too expensive, so she used it only in the joint sections.
By the day before term started, the mecha was complete. Wu De tested it and returned beaming, his attitude completely changed.
"Vera, from now on I've got yo—" Her calm stare cut him off. "I mean— we're brothers!"
She didn't bother to argue. Getting a mecha to practice on was already great.
Before dawn, Vera sat up in pain, sweating and hugging her legs tight. Another muscle cramp.
It took ages to pass; she leaned weakly against the wall, face pale.
Back in her original world, her growth spurt had never hurt like this, but here the cramps came often.
She'd shot up too fast — thin as a reedy stick even with her teacher's wife's endless cooking.
Wiping sweat from her forehead, Vera stepped into the hall and nearly bumped into Li Pi.
"First day of school and you already look tired," he said, frowning. "Another cramp?"
"I'm fine."
He sighed. "Eat more. I'll have my wife make something extra for lunch."
After breakfast, they headed to school together.
The first day already felt different.
"Hey, did you hear? We're gonna get real mecha practice this semester!"
"No way — mechas, like actual mechas?"
"Of course! The academy's got one unit for the graduating class. We get sessions every week."
Vera listened, surprised — Li Pi hadn't mentioned this.
When the course schedule came out, the rumor was confirmed: genuine mecha operation.
By noon, the various B‑classes had traded news about who'd get to go first. Envy filled the air.
Vera was excited too — this one was supposed to be a combat‑type mecha.
Over lunch, she couldn't resist asking Li Pi.
He lifted his eyes to look at her. "It is a combat‑type, yes."
She waited silently.
"It's a B‑class model from years ago — pretty much obsolete now," he added.
Calledit, Vera thought to herself. The moment she heard every class would get one, she'd smelled something off — since when was the school that rich?
Li Pi grew serious. "If you manage to enter the Five Major Academies, this machine won't mean much to you. There's a world of difference between B and A class — same for people and mechas."
"Still, getting familiar now is never a bad thing," Vera smiled.
He nodded. "I heard you fixed the Tai family's mecha?"
"Yep."
"When'd you learn to do that?" his wife asked, bringing over a dish.
Vera scratched her cheek. "Honestly… I meant to sign up for the mecha‑engineer track, but I picked the wrong program because it was cheaper."
Li Pi: "…That explains why you barely passed all those years."
He snorted. "Tough kid."
The neighboring class had the first mecha practice session. During break, half the students ran to ask how it felt.
Vera's class didn't bother — relations were bad — but the others came by anyway to show off, chatting loudly at her doorway about their mecha experience.
"Crap, here comes Wu De again."
"Bet he's here to brag — seriously, we'll get our turn too."
Holding a skewer in one hand and a fruit cup in the other, Wu De strolled in like he owned the place, earning a chorus of glares.
"Vera!" He bounded over, set the fruit on her desk, offering the skewer. "Want some?"
"What is it?" She sniffed the air — it smelled even better than before.
"Oh, nothing!" He grinned awkwardly. "We're friends now, right? This sinful snack — why not help me get rid of it?"
"If you've got something to say, say it." She took the skewer and bit in. "Tastes too good to waste — definitely sinful."
"Ahem — well, since we'll all be training with mechas soon, why not share tips and team up?"
He'd seen her fix one; surely she'd handle pilot training well, too.
Vera bit off another piece, then looked up. "Sharing tips is fine. Teaming up — no thanks."