Chapter 255

Chapter 255

Dismantling the Wheelchair

Yesterday, the two of them were goofing off. Today, they didn’t cause any trouble, but since they woke up late, heading out felt like they were just going for a free lunch. They arrived at the mountain right at mealtime, earning them a disapproving look from Yin Xu.

“Did you two follow the smell here?” he asked, having just prepared the meal containers when the couple showed up hand in hand, making it hard not to suspect.

Lin Nannan, who had just eaten, felt hungry again thanks to Ma Amin’s cooking.

“Total coincidence!” she defended herself before leaning in and saying, “Hook me up too…”

Ma Amin genuinely liked Lin Nannan, mainly because she praised his cooking skills—whether the food was good or not, she always said it was delicious. This made him favor her a bit, and when serving the food, others got barely any meat while Lin Nannan’s portion was overflowing, so much so that Yin Xu protested.

“That’s blatant favoritism! At least try to be subtle!”

Ma Amin wasn’t having it and retorted, “I saved my own share. You got something to say about it?”

Yin Xu bit back his retort, thinking about the difference between what he got before and now, and ultimately held his tongue.

As for the “saved” portion—well, that was just him kidding himself. No one believed it anyway.

Lin Nannan certainly didn’t. She dug in eagerly!

Where his wife had food, Lu Hang naturally got some too, though like Yin Xu, he wasn’t given any special treatment.

The group was no-frills, holding their lunchboxes and squatting or sitting wherever they pleased, no chairs or stools needed. Lin Nannan followed local customs, eating while still praising Ma Amin’s cooking, making Yin Xu finally realize where they were lacking.

“Your wife’s skill is something most people could never learn,” Yin Xu remarked.

Lin Nannan’s expressions were extreme—either smiling warmly and approachable or ice-cold, making it nearly impossible to win her favor. Seeing her actively suck up to someone was rare, leaving Yin Xu amazed.

Lu Heng chuckled. “Good food is her weakness.”

A food lover who couldn’t cook—quite the real character.

He realized his wife was full of contradictions: she loved eating but couldn’t cook, looked frail but had surprising strength, seemed easy to bully but fiercely held her ground, appeared ordinary-looking yet was incredibly knowledgeable. He wondered what other sides of her he had yet to discover.

“Well, you’d better be careful,” Yin Xu said between bites, ribbing. “There’s plenty of good food out there. If someone snags her away with it someday, you’ll be crying!”

Lu Hang glanced at Yin Xu before calling out to Lin Nannan, “Wife, Yin Xu just called you dumb, saying you’d get tricked away with food and that I’d cry!”

Yin Xu stared at Lu Hang in shock, never expecting him to be this sneaky.

Lin Nannan gave Yin Xu a measured look before replying, “Hmm, if I really got tricked away, he’d be the one crying. No one would help him with his research then.”

“Alright, alright, I can’t win against you two!” Yin Xu surrendered outright, even moving his lunchbox to another spot with an exaggerated look of fear, making those nearby bite back laughs.

During lighthearted moments, jokes flew freely, but when things got serious, no one dared to jest around Lin Nannan.

After the meal, they chatted for a while before Lin Nannan and Yin Xu discussed their next steps. However, disagreements led to a heated argument that grew louder until Lin Nannan smashed a slapped-together wooden table with one slap, silencing everyone.

“Given our current capabilities, we can’t cut through what we found in the mountains. If you keep focusing on it, you’ll waste years without results. It’s better to take it step by step—we might dismantle it eventually instead of wasting time here,” Lin Nannan laid it out bluntly, making those who had been studying the fragments frown.

“How is it a waste? If we can figure out these fragments—no, even if we don’t fully understand them, just utilizing them in any field would be game-changing!” someone argued hotly.

“And what have you discovered so far?” Lin Nannan countered.

The material from the time machine was the best they could create with all their resources. Without spiritual energy, no one here could study it even a little. That was why she spoke so plainly.

"Isn’t that too soon?" The credit was right before their eyes, and no one would pass up such an opportunity unless they’d never seen it before.

Lin Nannan understood their thoughts. After taking a deep breath, she said, "These things won’t degrade if left alone. There’s always time to study them later..."

Catching the sharpness in Lin Nannan’s voice, Yin Xu quickly asked, "Then what do you think we should focus on now?"

After her trip to the capital, Lin Nannan had gained a clearer understanding of the country's current state. She pursed her lips and said, "Let’s start by dismantling my family’s wheelchair."

The others looked confused, but Yin Xu’s eyes lit up. "You mean the wheelchair Lu Hang used before?"

"Exactly!" Since Lu Hang had already recovered, the wheelchair was no longer needed. Might as well put what’s inside to good use.

"When do we start?" Yin Xu asked eagerly.

"Taking apart the wheelchair is easy, but without a secure research facility, would you dare to study it?" Lin Nannan countered.

That shut Yin Xu up.

He didn’t dare.

Lin Nannan was a mystery herself, and the things she possessed were even more mysterious—especially that wheelchair, which no one could forget.

They had always been curious about it, but with the fragments surfacing, they’d dropped it for now...

"The components inside may look small, but they're incredibly precise. I suspect... these things might have originated from the back mountain. Otherwise, my teacher wouldn’t have had them either." Lin Nannan deliberately nudged their thinking to make the items seem plausible. What they chose to believe was up to them.

The insiders traded looks, finding some logic in her words.

"Then, by that logic, could those seeds... also be connected to this place?" Yin Xu’s eyes widened with realization and he asked.

This took Lin Nannan by surprise. Though Yin Xu’s guess was close—after all, without the time machine, those seeds wouldn’t have appeared here—she couldn’t admit it.

"I wouldn’t know. Unless you find some clues here..."

Yin Xu nodded. "Then I’ll have people search carefully to see if they can uncover anything!"

With a new objective in sight, Yin Xu was buzzing with excitement, making Lin Nannan almost feel bad.

She’d probably just dumped more work on them, but they were all for it.

While assigning tasks to others, Lin Nannan didn’t idle either. She began studying the psychic-energy-emitting object she’d found, pondering how to dismantle it and merge it with the components from the wheelchair...

If these two could be fused, they would yield even more precise data, enabling her to achieve things previously thought impossible—like advanced aircraft and fighter jets that could catch up with others, things they’d never dreamed of.