Chapter 8: Sparks Between Friends
The sun hung low as Chen Rui arrived at the old tool shed behind the school — a place no one visited anymore, not since they shut down the metalwork club two years ago.
Li Wei was already there, crouched beside a disassembled moped engine, grease caked on his hands and arms.
"You're late," Li Wei said, not looking up.
"What happened? Get stuck calculating quantum physics again?"
Chen Rui smirked. "Something like that. Thought I'd come tinker with something simpler than life for once."
Li Wei stood and wiped his hands on a stained rag. He looked Chen Rui up and down, his gaze sharp.
"No joke — you've changed, man. It's like you see through things now. You always hated this kind of work. Now you're drawing schematics cleaner than our textbooks."
Chen Rui said nothing. Instead, he pulled out a folded sketch from his school bag — a precise carburetor design, hand-drawn with technical perfection and handwritten notes in clean, confident strokes.
Li Wei took it with both hands and whistled.
"This… this looks like it came from a state engineering lab. You drew this?"
"Last night," Chen Rui replied. "I already built a rough version. Works better than the old one."
Li Wei blinked. "No offense, but your handwriting used to look like a chicken ran across the page. Now you're a genius mechanic?"
Chen Rui grinned, eyes calm. "Let's just say I've had a change in perspective."
They sat beside the dusty workbench, silence stretching between them like an old comfort.
"My old man wants me to go to the vocational college," Li Wei said, flicking a nut across the floor. "Fix things for life. Be stable."
"And you?"
Li Wei hesitated. "I want to open a noodle shop."
Chen Rui stared. "You?"
"Yeah," Li Wei grinned sheepishly. "A chain, eventually. Across the province. With my grandma's recipes. I've been experimenting with broth retention and noodle prep."
Chen Rui blinked, then chuckled. "You're full of surprises."
"So are you. But I get it. We're both done being stuck in other people's plans."
There was a brief pause.
"You're planning something, aren't you?" Li Wei asked. "Something big."
Chen Rui nodded slowly. "I want to rebuild what was lost. And go beyond."
"You'll need people."
"People I trust."
Li Wei stood and held out his grease-covered hand. "Well, count me in. Until I can afford to serve soup in every district, I'll be your part-time engineer."
They shook — a pact sealed by loyalty, not blood.
System Notification:
🧑🔧 Ally Identified:
Name: Li Wei
Role: Technical Support
Loyalty: 95%
Hidden Trait: Culinary Talent
Future Path: [Branching Available]
⚙️ Skills Unlocked: Shared Blueprint Review, Co-Analysis
As dusk blanketed the town and the sky bled orange over rusted rooftops, Chen Rui glanced toward the distant silhouette of his father's factory.
He had the knowledge.
He had the will.
Now, he had someone by his side.