Ch6:Damn, does he read minds

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Tian Lei POV

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"How long are we supposed to wait? Hundreds of thousands in losses? Is it necessary to waste time like this?"

I kept glancing at the time, growing more and more impatient. If it weren't for Mo Weiming, I would've left long ago. But there had to be a limit to waiting. An hour had passed, and we were still standing out in the open like idiots.

My skincare products cost more than this drone!

In just an hour, I had already ridiculed the situation at least five times. Mo Yichen seemed to endure it, but that Ben Yuan look like he clearly had enough. "No one's stopping you from leaving. Waiting is just part of life for ordinary people like us. If you're so precious, what are you gonna do when you're actually important?"

I blinked in disbelief. This little nobody dared to talk back to me? If it weren't for Mo Weiming wanting to see Mo Yichen model airplane in action, that Ben Yuan would never even get the chance to see me in real life—except maybe on TV. "You... You really think—"

"Sorry, no matter what you say, I don't believe it." Ben Yuan squared his shoulders and stood firm, cutting me off.

The hell, who does this guy think he is?

He wasn't particularly tall, maybe 1.78 meters, but the way he carried himself, it was like he was just waiting to be punched.

For a second, I hesitated. People like him had nothing to lose, while I had everything. If he hit me, my reputation would be ruined. I scoffed and turned away, glaring at him coldly.

Behind me, Mo Yichen subtly gave Ben Yuan a thumbs-up.

"Ah this--"

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Ben Yuan POV

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Clearly, I wasn't the only one annoyed. Even Mo Yichen—who probably wasn't as rich as Tian Lei—found his complaints excessive. And if I had to guess what was running through his mind, it was probably something like:

"Sure, my family isn't as wealthy as yours, but every penny I spend, I earned myself. What about you?"

That was the kind of contempt a self-made second generation had for a spoiled one.

Even so, I could tell Mo Yichen was still upset about losing his drone. After all, he had paid for it himself. Waiting so long just to lose it in a few hours? That was frustrating.

"I'll call and check. If they sent out the drone earlier, it should be here by now." He pulled out his phone, but before he could dial, a military off-road vehicle suddenly appeared around the bend in the road.

It was open-topped, built for utility rather than comfort, with a rotating mount on the frame that could fit light and heavy machine guns.

It sped toward us, and as it got closer, we saw four people inside. Before the car even stopped, Mo Yichen's phone rang.

"Hello? Yes, I'm Mo Yichen. Are you with the delivery?"

A deep voice responded, "I'm the company commander of Unit 73382. Are you still at the village entrance?"

"Yes, we're here. Are you in the off-road vehicle? Thanks for bringing the—hello? Hello?" The call abruptly ended.

"What the hell? Which unit is this? I'm never ordering from them again!" Mo Yichen muttered.

Something about this felt off. I exchanged a glance with him, and from his frown, I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

Then, from behind the off-road vehicle, another military vehicle appeared. This one was a cruiser, with red and blue sirens flashing on its roof. It quickly overtook the off-road vehicle and came to a stop right in front of us.

No one got out at first. Then, a man from the off-road vehicle jumped down and walked toward us. His gaze swept over us before he asked, "Who here ordered the fixed-wing drone modeled after the J-10?"

Mo Yichen stepped forward. "That would be me. Are you the company commander?" He eyed the man's insignia—two bars, one star. A major.

A major, stationed in a remote village? That was unusual. Mo Yichen must have noticed it too, because his expression shifted slightly.

Who would've thought there was an actual military base hidden near a small town like Mingzhou City?

The man nodded. "I'm Major Wu Wen, commanding officer of the unit stationed here. Did you build this drone yourself, or did you buy it?"

"Most of the parts are imported, but it was my mistake. If there's any damage, I'll take full responsibility. There's no need for your unit to cover the cost."

Mo Yichen assumed they were here because the drone was lost, maybe concerned about its value. Seeing how seriously they took it, his earlier frustration faded, and he generously told them not to worry about compensation.

Major Wu Wen, however, exchanged a glance with another soldier and said, "In that case, you'll need to come with us. We need to know exactly where you got each component, whether domestic or foreign."

Even an idiot could tell this wasn't about compensation.

My eyes widened slightly before I muttered, "Is it the balance stabilizer?"

Mo Yichen froze. The drone was his, sure, but he had left all the assembly work to me. He turned to look at me.

I stepped forward without hesitation. "I assembled it. If you have questions, ask me. I'll explain it better than he can."

Major Wu scrutinized me before nodding. "Both of you, come with us. Don't worry, we just need some basic information. We'll have you back within an hour."

They had a cruiser waiting for us. It was clear they were taking this seriously.

Mo Yichen seemed calm—he had dealt with the military before—but this was a first for me.

Technically, I'd interacted with soldiers twice before: during high school and college military training. But this? This was completely different.

The vehicle drove toward a checkpoint nestled between two mountains, climbing a 15° incline. At the entrance, a guard checked us before letting us through.

Through the window, I saw the base. The barracks looked old, all one-story buildings, none taller than five meters. The most striking thing was a massive satellite dish, easily over ten meters wide—nicknamed the "big pot lid."

I didn't see where the drone had crashed. It had to be somewhere behind the camp.

After stepping out of the vehicle, a soldier led us into a conference room.

Once we were alone, I leaned in and whispered, "Brother Mo, no matter what they ask, just say it's a model airplane."

"Aren't all UAVs model airplanes? What's the difference?" Mo Yichen frowned but seemed to catch on quickly. "Ah, I see. Good thinking. I didn't expect you to be this sharp."

We waited fifteen minutes. No one came in.

Meanwhile, in another room, Major Wu Wen was reviewing a stack of documents.

A soldier, Lou Dafeng, handed him a report. "Here's the info you wanted, Commander."

Lou tried to sneak a look, but before he could read anything, Major Wu Wen spoke without even looking up. "Do you want to rewrite the confidentiality code ten times?"

Lou flinched. "Ah, I'll just head to the duty room." As he walked off, he muttered, "Damn, does he read minds? If he knows me so well, couldn't he at least let me skip lunch duty?"