"Is this how you treat your master?" Zhou Lue sighed with a sad expression, "And I even took you in as a junior sister."
Meng Yuxiu had no intention of paying attention to him. Chang Lili also started to get a headache when she heard this, so she simply pulled Meng Yuxiu into the wooden house and kicked Zhou Lue out.
Only Meng Yuxiu and Chang Lili were in the room. Meng Yuxiu looked at her gently and asked, "How do you feel here?"
Seeing the room full of books about mechanical arts, Chang Lili couldn't contain her excitement and said, "It's great! Look here!" She looked up at the books, feeling as if she were in a fairyland, and happily twirled around. "So many books on mechanical arts, completely different from those outside, they're all the essence."
As she spoke, she put her hands on her hips, tilted her head back, and laughed loudly, like a domineering landlord, as if this piece of land had become her property.
Meng Yuxiu was both amused and exasperated. An ordinary girl, if she saw a sea of flowers or fireflies, would probably happily spin around like that. But she was looking at a pile of books about mechanical arts, as happy as a child.
But seeing that she got what she wanted, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up.
"Is just reading these books enough for you?" Meng Yuxiu asked, arms crossed, looking at her.
Chang Lili blinked, put on a sweet and ingratiating expression, and walked to his side, saying, "Talking about it on paper is not enough, so I'll have to trouble you, General, to bring me some materials. I saw a mechanical bird in a book. I've always wanted to make my own mechanical bird, and now I've finally found a book on this kind of thing, so I can follow along!"
"I can give you the materials right now," Meng Yuxiu said mysteriously.
Chang Lili's eyes lit up: "Now? You brought the materials?"
"Didn't they tell you? Are they treating you badly? Why didn't they tell you?" Meng Yuxiu's smile disappeared, and he looked unhappy.
Chang Lili looked blank, not understanding what he was talking about.
Then look at Meng Yuxiu, he lifted his foot and walked out of the house, looking rather aggressive.
"What are you going to do?" Chang Lili grabbed him.
Meng Yuxiu said with a stern face, "I want them to understand that as members of the Light Machine Department, we should be treated equally."
Chang Lili didn't want to cause any more trouble. She just wanted the opportunity to learn mechanical arts; she didn't care about anything else.
"Don't go," she said, pulling Meng Yuxiu along. "They didn't do anything to me, and I'm perfectly fine now. Besides, I didn't even ask them about it!"
Meng Yuxiu hesitated. He was indeed at a loss about how to handle this matter. If he protected Chang Lili too much, it would only make these people more resentful.
As he pondered, he heard Chang Lili mutter softly, "Besides, they always ignore you when you come. What authority do you have in front of them?"
A smile spread across Meng Yuxiu's face as he looked at Chang Lili and said, "I do lack authority, and they are all stubborn and unyielding, but they are still quite reliable."
This statement caught Chang Lili off guard. She looked at Meng Yuxiu in astonishment, wondering where this idea came from.
She could barely believe Zhang Ziqing was reliable, but looking at Zhou Lue, Shengtang, and Jiang Yingxue, none of them seemed reliable at all.
Meng Yuxiu then walked to the center of the room, knelt on one knee, and tapped the wooden board on the ground.
Just as Chang Lili was about to ask him what he was doing, she heard Meng Yuxiu's loud tapping on the floor, as if there was a hollow space under the wooden board.
Then Meng Yuxiu removed the floorboards, revealing an underground entrance.
"This is... a secret passage?" Chang Lili looked at Meng Yuxiu in disbelief.
A faint smile played on Meng Yuxiu's lips as he softly said, "Come with me."
After he finished speaking, he turned around and crawled down into the dark hole. He stepped onto the extremely steep steps, took out a tinderbox, and called Chang Lili to come down.
Full of curiosity, Chang Lili followed. After walking down a short flight of stairs, she asked in surprise, "Is there a secret room down there?"
Meng Yuxiu did not answer her. Instead, he turned around and lit an oil lamp on the wall. The small oil lamp lit up, illuminating the small basement.
Chang Lili stared in disbelief, her eyes sparkling with joy.
The oil lamps lit up, making the piles of copper and iron blocks gleam, along with gold nuggets and some strange metals that were hard to distinguish. Even the largest cold weapon shops outside probably couldn't find these materials.
"There's such a place here! It's a treasure trove!" Chang Lili exclaimed, unable to resist walking over to touch the pile of copper blocks and then the pile of metal. But what she couldn't resist the most was the pile of glittering gold blocks. She rubbed them repeatedly, unable to put them down.
Meng Yuxiu suppressed a smile and said, "Since it is a place that specializes in studying mechanical arts, there will naturally be no shortage of materials. However," he suddenly stopped smiling and his tone became inscrutable, "these are all materials used to manufacture weapons. If anyone embezzles them, the consequences will be very serious. You know that I have always been strict in military discipline."
Chang Lili chuckled and reluctantly removed her hand from the gold nugget.
“I think these materials should be enough for you. If you find anything missing, just let me know,” Meng Yuxiu said calmly.
Chang Lili nodded obediently, looked at the materials for a while, and then suddenly remembered something and asked, "How is things at the Military Equipment Department? By the way, did you bring all my tools?"
"Your tools will be delivered later. Everything is fine at the military workshop. The old masters are overjoyed that you've left," Meng Yuxiu said bluntly.
Chang Lili pouted: "This means that my existence is a threat to them, and that's why they act this way because they are afraid of me."
Meng Yuxiu reluctantly agreed, "Yes," then he took out an envelope from his sleeve and said, "Someone is concerned about you and asked me to bring this."
Chang Lili's first thought was Xiao Lingshou, but seeing Meng Yuxiu's expression, she immediately dismissed the idea. If it were Xiao Lingshou who delivered the letter to her, would he be so eager and good-natured in handing it to her?
She took the envelope with suspicion, and saw that it was written in neat handwriting: "To Sister Lili."
She immediately knew who had sent her the letter, and eagerly opened it. The handwriting on the letter was so delicate and beautiful that Chang Lili almost doubted whether it was really written by Lu Ming.
She always felt that she and Lu Ming shared the same ideals and were similar in many ways, but she never knew that Lu Ming had beautiful handwriting. Looking at her own handwriting, she felt a little embarrassed.
She didn't know that although Lu Ming was in the military, her father was a deputy commander and her mother was a virtuous and kind woman. She had been raised as a young lady since childhood and was forced to practice her calligraphy.
However, after reading the letter, her face was filled with uncontrollable smiles and joy. The handwriting was stunning, and between the lines, one could still see the shadow of that silly girl.
"She contacted you, is there something she needs?" Meng Yuxiu hesitated for a long time before finally asking.
Chang Lili slyly raised her finger and said, "This is a matter between us girls, I can't tell you."
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