Pushing the door open and walking in, everyone finally noticed the exoskeleton chair that the fat guy was wearing. William Clark was stunned again: “What’s going on? Did you get a cast? Fell down again?”

“My graduation project.” Henry Grant was so exhausted he couldn’t care about anything else. He just adjusted the chair to a comfortable angle right in the middle of the dorm and sat down.

Seeing Henry Grant able to walk around in it and sit down at any time, everyone’s eyes lit up. The dorm’s first and second oldest had already gotten into bed, but now they jumped down without a second thought and, together with William Clark and the fourth, surrounded Henry Grant to study it closely.

They were all from the Precision Instruments Department, and the mechanical principle of this exoskeleton wasn’t complicated—just that the appearance was a bit more modern. The roommates quickly understood how it worked.

“Fatty, how did you come up with this?” The eldest, a top student, couldn’t help but pat Henry Grant on the shoulder and ask excitedly.

This was already the second time today someone had asked this question. Henry Grant lazily brushed away the hand reaching for the Velcro buckle on his belly and replied, “Because I have an urgent need!”

“Mm!” All four roommates—the first, second, third, and fourth—unanimously agreed with Henry Grant’s powerful reason. At three hundred jin, he really did have an urgent need.

“Hey, is there any hot water? Hurry up and make me some instant noodles.” Henry Grant was starving and almost groaned, “Whoever wants to play with it, trade me some hot water!” As soon as he finished, Henry Grant immediately changed his mind: “No, trade me some cooked noodles!”

“Okay!”

“Deal!”

……

Four or five voices rang out in succession, but not a single one of these bastards actually helped make the noodles. They all crowded around Henry Grant, hands everywhere, trying to take the exoskeleton off.

“Animals!” Henry Grant was shocked. These guys weren’t trying to help him out—they were practically tearing it off. It was early September, and he wasn’t wearing much to begin with; he was almost stripped bare by these guys.

What was even more infuriating was that, despite their nice words, all of them were just playing with the exoskeleton chair, and not one helped him make noodles.

Flipping several middle fingers at the four animals, Henry Grant struggled to make his own noodles. Luckily, the eldest always had hot water in his thermos at night, so he didn’t have to use cold water or an immersion heater.

“Heh heh heh!” With the noodles soaking in his bowl, Henry Grant started to sneer as he watched the four unhelpful guys mess around.

The exoskeleton chair was sized for Henry Grant, so only William Clark could barely try it on. For the other three, every part was too big—they simply couldn’t wear it.

Finally, after lights out, everyone stopped fooling around and lay down in bed, sleeping soundly until morning.

The next morning, when Henry Grant went to the fitter’s workshop again, his unique gear attracted a lot of attention—he got plenty of second glances.

“Fatty, go deposit the money first.” Old Clark had also arrived early, but instead of immediately urging the fat guy to learn, he handed over the fifty thousand yuan left by Manager Wan.

Neither Director Thompson nor Old Clark had any designs on the money; they handed it all over to Henry Grant.

Henry Grant didn’t stand on ceremony—this was his own hard-earned money, fair and square. He took the money straight to Zhaolan Courtyard, deposited thirty thousand at the Bank of China, filled out a remittance slip at the post office to send twenty thousand home, and even called James Grant’s factory to let James Grant know, so there wouldn’t be any misunderstanding.

Even so, he didn’t dare tell the whole truth. Who would believe he made fifty thousand from two crankshafts? He could only say someone bought the patent for his exoskeleton chair. Luckily, he’d drawn the designs and talked about registering a patent while at home, so James Grant was half-convinced.

In the days that followed, Henry Grant diligently followed Old Clark to learn from his experience. In less than four days, Henry Grant had mastered ninety-nine percent of Old Clark’s machining skills.

There was no helping it—with the aid of nanobots and a solid foundation, all Henry Grant needed from Old Clark were pointers on methods and ideas; his hands-on ability was never in question.

By now, the only thing Old Clark had left to teach was his specialty: assembly skills. But this wasn’t something you could practice anytime, anywhere. All Old Clark could do was explain the theory and share his experience, so the fat guy could remember it and wait for a chance to try it out.

But Henry Grant had an idea. Didn’t the lathe workshop have two old machines kept as mementos? Henry Grant suggested taking apart the old 1933 Rhein lathe, remaking all the parts except the bed, and reassembling it. That way, he could practice both machining and assembly—a win-win.

Old Clark was tempted, but since it wasn’t his personal property, he had to discuss it with the factory leadership; he couldn’t decide on his own.

At last, after four or five days of non-stop learning, Henry Grant finally had some free time. He returned to the dorm early to enjoy the pleasant, leisurely life of a fifth-year student.

The fat guy was truly relaxed. His graduation project was done, he had the blueprints, and he’d already filled out the patent application at the patent office. As soon as the review passed, he could register it. With only the thesis left to write in his fifth year, he couldn’t be happier.