Chapter 18

“I’m going home to take care of some personal matters.” Brian Carter had a good impression of this car owner. As it turned out, if you want people to remember you, being rich and a bit naive is a pretty good way. “Call your friends over. Since they’re your friends, boss, I’ll definitely help you all carefully design the modification plans.”

“Alright, I’ll notify them right away.”

Soon, several sports cars drove into the modification shop. Mr. Parker bustled about greeting everyone, while Brian Carter directed the mechanics and began inspecting the cars.

When it came to car modifications, Brian Carter was already a top-level expert.

So the modification plans were quickly drawn up. After a bit of persuasive talk, the rich young car owners all pulled out their bank cards—some swiped, some transferred money.

Just this one job today earned Brian Carter nearly three hundred thousand in commission.

Unfortunately, none of these people were as generous as the GTR owner; no one mentioned any extra reward, and one owner even haggled over the modification fee for quite a while.

All of this was handled by Mr. Parker; Brian Carter didn’t bother to argue over a bit of money.

He still kept his hands behind his back, guiding the modification masters and mechanics to follow his ideas, ensuring the car’s structure remained intact while maximizing its performance. Cars modified under his guidance rarely needed to return for repairs, and word of mouth naturally spread.

That whole night, all the car modification enthusiasts knew that over in Luzhou, there was a master of car mods.

Some people even came in person, hoping to become his apprentice.

Naturally, Brian Carter refused. Others didn’t have his psychic armor and couldn’t learn his skills; teaching them would just confuse them, which would only do them harm.

So he simply pretended to be unwilling to pass on his techniques.

As a result, some people, through Mr. Parker’s connections, managed to get into the modification shop, then replaced some of the modification masters and mechanics, hoping to learn a few tricks by watching Brian Carter.

Brian Carter noticed but didn’t say anything. Whether they could pick up anything was their own business.

He actually felt relieved, thinking to himself, “Once my one-year term is up and I refuse to renew the contract, I won’t have any psychological burden.”

Previously, Mr. Parker had treated him well, arranging this lucrative job. If he didn’t renew after a year, it would definitely impact the modification shop.

But since Mr. Parker secretly sent people to learn his techniques without even giving him a heads-up, their relationship was just business now.

A normal boss-employee relationship—no one owes anyone anything.

“Mr. Thompson, why do we need to modify it like this here? Moving the intake pipe over here—won’t that affect the original structure?” The would-be copycats were eager, firing off questions nonstop.

Brian Carter didn’t hold back and answered directly, “Because of the air mixing issue in the intake duct. If you don’t modify it this way, it won’t meet the stroke requirements of a twelve-cylinder engine. As for the structure you mentioned, it’s actually fine. I’ve tested the load-bearing here; a slight reduction won’t affect the whole car.”

The other person was stunned. “How did you test it?”

Brian Carter smiled faintly. “Experience.”

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Chapter 13: Psychic Touch

Ever since the copycat incident, Brian Carter gradually lost enthusiasm for working at the modification shop. Unless it was necessary, he rarely showed up.

He only forced himself to go for the sake of making some easy money to get by.

Most of his energy was devoted to his research after work. Whenever he ran into technical problems, he would consult with familiar researchers.

“Mr. Thompson, have a Huazi.” Brian Carter took out a Zhonghua cigarette and handed it to a researcher surnamed Li at the Luzhou Institute of Material Science. As the other took the cigarette, he stuffed the whole pack over. “I’ve been working on a little project myself lately and hit a snag. I was hoping you could help me out.”

“Xiao Du, you’re too polite.” Mr. Thompson was a heavy smoker. His eyes lit up at the sight of Zhonghua, and he smiled, “Tell me what the problem is. If I can help, I will.”

The subtext being: small favors are fine, bigger ones depend on your sincerity.

Brian Carter didn’t beat around the bush. “Here’s the thing: I want to analyze the molecular formula of a compound, so I’d like to borrow your lab’s full set of elemental analysis equipment… I know your lab’s instruments aren’t open to outsiders. I’ll cover all the maintenance costs—whatever it is, I’ll pay in full.”

The so-called maintenance fee was a kickback for Mr. Thompson and the other researchers—a kind of gray income everyone tacitly accepted.

Mr. Thompson nodded. “It’s not dangerous, is it?”

“No, it’s not. I can even do the experiment at home. It’s just a regular compound—combustion and weighing are no problem. I just can’t figure out the exact elemental composition.”

“Alright, did you bring your stuff? The instruments are free these days, so I’ll set it up for you.”

“Great, thanks Mr. Thompson. Dinner’s on me tonight.”

Brian Carter had used the lab’s elemental analyzer before. Because it was too big to replicate, he could only come here to use it. After several days and nearly 150,000 yuan in maintenance fees, he finally analyzed one of the compounds in the long-haired bomb cell chain.

“Feels like I’m one step closer to the long-haired battery.” Brian Carter smiled at himself in the mirror. Maybe it was the psychic training, but he felt he was getting more and more handsome.