Chapter 184: Chapter 184: Recognition !
Translator: 549690339
Hearing Che Yucheng’s suggestion, Chai Lun’s mouth fell open, a hint of bitterness in his gaze, and he wanted to refute.
“Teacher Che, making puppets is most time-consuming. Little Chen has just started first year and has a busy course load. I can’t let this affect his studies. Although he is also a new student specializing in puppet lines, he only has theoretical knowledge at the moment. The actual production, assembly, and even debugging tasks require a lot of hands-on experience…”
“I’m simply suggesting.”
Che Yucheng replied with a smile. Although Chen Mobai didn’t understand why he suggested he should help, he knew that the director of the academy’s education system would never harm him and nodded immediately in agreement.
“I can help for free. This is a rare internship opportunity. Plus, since I am the sample for the humanoid puppet, having me on the side should speed up the production process, right?”
Chen Mobai assumed that Chai Lun was reluctant to lower the price if he helped, so he immediately spoke up.
“Since Little Chen doesn’t have any objections, you can take him along.”
Che Yucheng gently spoke. If it were anyone else, Chai Lun would not have agreed, but because it was Che Yucheng speaking…
“Alright then.”
In the end, he could only helplessly nod in agreement.
Now Chai Lun understood why Che Yucheng had referred this business to him – to teach Chen Mobai.
He understood the hardships of teaching novices, especially ones new to puppetry techniques. For the novice to master it properly, at least a year or two of hard grinding is required.
Puppetry technique within the Dance Tool Dao Academy is an unpopular major, hence why Che Yucheng is willing to guide every student who is willing to learn this craft.
“My temperament isn’t great while I’m working. If you can’t stand it, feel free not to come.”
After they left the first block, Chai Lun abruptly said.
Chen Mobai voiced that it wouldn’t be a problem.
However, he regretted it a bit the next day.
Chai Lun’s temper is more than problematic, when he’s making puppets, it’s like he’s a completely different person.
The originally polite and gentle man transforms into a fanatic. Chen Mobai’s work had a deviation of just half a millimeter, which led to a half-hour rant from Chai Lun.
“Do you know that a life-size puppet is composed of a minimum of 12,000 parts?”
Chen Mobai did indeed know, as he had learned about it in class.
“So, if every part deviates by half a millimeter, what would this humanoid puppet you’re assembling end up looking like in the end?”
When Chai Lun said this, Chen Mobai gave it a thought, scratching his head.
“Maybe, probably… it would turn into a slightly fatter version of myself.”
“Slightly fatter!” Chai Lun’s voice suddenly rose by five tones, then he continued his rant, “More than slightly fatter, I tell you, the final result would be a deformed monstrosity. Any performance would deviate, and eventually, if one were to lose control and die in the Cultivation Room, it would all be because of this part you made that was half a millimeter too large…”
After ranting, Chai Lun snatched the tool in Chen Mobai’s hand, pointed to a small stool in the corner with a look of revulsion.
“Just sit there and rest, don’t move. I’ll consider you the supervisor, don’t add to the chaos.”
Chen Mobai was also annoyed. He was a novice, and it was normal to make mistakes the first time, couldn’t Chai Lun simply teach him?.
However, once settled on the little stool, after observing Chai Lun’s movements for a while, he realized that he needed to learn from his dedication to every single part.
Even when a part was seemingly perfect, if the spiritual power it transmitted was half a second slower than usual during testing, Chai Lun would remake it three times until the data showed no deviation.
Chen Mobai, who originally planned to watch for a while and then leave, unconsciously stayed till it was nighttime.
As Chai Lun was about to turn off the lights to leave, he saw the takeaway box on the table and was startled.
“I saw you hadn’t eaten, so I ordered some for you.”
Hearing Chen Mobai’s words, Chai Lun vaguely felt that having another person in the studio wasn’t entirely a bad thing.
At least someone could help order takeaway.
After eating, the two of them exited the studio.
The next day, Chen Mobai attended his main class in the morning, and two electives in the afternoon, before rushing back to the studio.
Chai Lun was already there, holding the blueprint of a finished right index finger, comparing it with Chen Mobai’s body data model, checking for adjustments.
When Chen Mobai arrived, Chai Lun glanced at him, and pointed to the little stool in the corner.
Seeing the warning in his senior’s eyes, Chen Mobai who wanted to showcase his skills, could only obediently sit down.
At this moment he finally understood why Chai Lun looked so bitter when Che Yucheng mentioned that he should mentor him.
It’s genuinely hard to master puppetry techniques.
Without someone leading, even if he wasted lots of materials, there was no guarantee he could learn the basics.
After delivering takeout for seven days straight, Chen Mobai finally got a chance to help.
Some materials Chai Lun ordered had arrived, Chen Mobai was asked to sign and bring them into the studio.
Once inside, it was certain that he had to break things apart. Some had been covered in class, such as the mana flexible pipes that replaced the meridians, organic synthetic material replacing the bones, and the gears within the joints. But others hadn’t been covered yet, such as a square green piece the size of a fist, engraved with countless array prohibitions, which made Chen Mobai’s eyes cross, and he couldn’t figure it out.
He had to modestly ask for guidance: “What’s this, senior?”
“That’s the central controller. This is the most expensive thing. The ones produced by the Repairing Heaven Institute are the best quality.”
After periods of take-away deliveries, as long as Chai Lun wasn’t agitated, he’d give detailed explanations to Chen Mobai’s questions.
After all, it was a junior asked to be looked after by Che Yucheng.
Once Chen Mobai knew the name, he immediately researched related content online.
Turns out that this tiny square controlled the entire puppet. It embodies the essence of puppetry techniques used by the immortals and the price accounts for more than half the cost of the puppet.
The production of Chen Mobai’s puppet gradually began under the guidance of experienced hands like Chai Lun.
Half a month later, it seemed as if Chai Lun had forgotten about before and he allowed Chen Mobai to begin filing parts again.
This time, Chen Mobai was completely respectful, following the blueprint precisely down to the millimeter.
Even still, after checking, Chai Lun found three flaws. However, he didn’t rant this time. Once Chen Mobai produced a piece that satisfied him, he gave Chen Mobai twenty more part blueprints to work on.
The moment Chen Mobai received the blueprints, he felt a sense of recognition. This made him happier than when he ranked in the top three for the monthly puppetry technique exam..
