Lu Wanqing subtly sized up Alice. With just one glance, she felt the girl was alright.
"Hello, please come in." Lu Wanqing quickly invited Alice into the house.
Lu Wanqing and Lu Yang had disguised themselves both in appearance and identity for their visit to Shen Yuan Star. As long as they didn't deliberately expose their true selves, they wouldn't be discovered by others.
Alice soon entered.
Lu Wanqing warmly poured her a cup of tea. "You must have traveled a long way. How about a cup of hot water first?"
"No, no, Auntie, you don't need to be so polite. Could you possibly look at your household robot for me?" Alice was very wary. She didn't accept the tea Lu Wanqing offered and directly stated the purpose of her visit.
Seeing her like this, Lu Wanqing didn't insist. She placed the tea on the table and turned to get the broken robot.
Upon seeing the robot, Alice's eyes lit up. This robot was quite advanced for Shen Yuan Star.
Alice had long since thoroughly studied low-level robots and felt she couldn't learn anything new from them. She had always wanted to examine better robots, but good robots were expensive, and she couldn't afford them. Those who could afford high-quality robots generally wouldn't seek outside help for repairs; they would usually send their robots to specialized repair shops. The A-class sweeping robot Lu Wanqing brought out was almost the best robot Alice had encountered in her life.
Alice didn't have a spatial warp. Most of her tools were kept in her backpack, which she carried with her.
In Lu Wanqing's living room, Alice opened her bag, took out tool after tool, and began to dismantle various critical parts of the robot.
Once the robot's outer casing was removed, the internal structure became complex. Lu Wanqing wanted to watch, but as soon as she squatted down nearby, Alice's movements as she studied the robot's structure paused.
Alice turned to look at Lu Wanqing with hesitation.
Lu Wanqing also hesitated, then finally asked cautiously, "Can I watch?"
Robot repair seemed like a technical skill. If she just watched from the side, it wouldn't be considered stealing knowledge, right?
"Do you want to watch, or do you not want to watch?"
"I have three pricing options. First, you are not allowed to watch me repair the robot. I will fix it for you. After it's repaired, you will pay me... one hundred star coins."
"Second, you can observe me repairing the robot from the side, but I won't teach you how to repair this particular robot. After it's fixed, you will pay me three hundred star coins."
"Third, I can teach you hand-in-hand how to repair this robot, ensuring it's fixed. Once the robot is repaired, you will pay me three thousand star coins!"
Lu Wanqing's head buzzed. Why had Alice suddenly become so demure? If she didn't know for sure that this person couldn't possibly be Shu Shu, she would almost suspect Alice was Shu Shu in disguise. Her mind was too quick!
"I choose the third option!" After thinking for a while, Lu Wanqing finally decided.
She wasn't short of a few hundred star coins, but Alice was. Such a young child, having to fight in underground arenas risking her life to earn money for imperial studies! Even Lu Wanqing, knowing the child's true life experiences, couldn't help but feel pity for her.
Of course, all her pity was predicated on the assumption that Alice wouldn't harm Harvey in the future, or at least, that she wasn't acting intentionally but was being manipulated by others.
There was an even more important reason Lu Wanqing chose the third option: this option offered more opportunities to interact with Alice, which was precisely her true objective.
Alice's eyes immediately lit up. She looked at Lu Wanqing excitedly, "Are you sure?"
Few people were interested in robot repair, especially this kind of one-time teaching. Most importantly, she only needed to teach once to earn three thousand star coins. Was this lady in front of her just foolish and rich?
In any case, she really liked her and hoped heaven would send her more such naive people in the future. She liked them!
Alice quickly became full of energy and began explaining to Lu Wanqing the robot's problems and which areas were usually the cause of such issues. She would test all these areas, using the process of elimination, checking one part after another until she found the real problem.
Alice's explanations were very detailed. Most importantly, she demonstrated as she explained. Even though Lu Wanqing hadn't understood robots much before, after her explanation for so long, she felt she had learned a lot. At least, she seemed to remember most of the robot's internal structure.
About an hour later, the robot was repaired. Alice's beautiful face was adorned with a brilliant smile. "Okay, you can turn it on and try." 138 Reading Network
Lu Wanqing turned on the robot and watched it sweep around the living room. It was indeed fine. Great!
"It's fixed. Can I have the payment? And a five-star review?" Alice looked at Lu Wanqing, smiling happily.
Lu Wanqing found it amusing. She immediately opened her light-brain and transferred three thousand star coins to Alice.
"A review... where do I leave a review?" Lu Wanqing asked.
According to their investigation, Alice's robot repair services were mostly word-of-mouth among trusted acquaintances. There were no online stores, and therefore no way to leave a five-star review, right?
Alice was happy and said with a smile, "No need for a specific rating. It's just that in the future, if anyone you know has a broken robot, you can have them find me. I can repair them!"
"Okay," Lu Wanqing happily agreed with a smile.
After seeing Alice out, Lu Wanqing returned to the living room. Her gaze couldn't help but linger on the sweeping robot for several more glances. Then, she couldn't resist dismantling the robot again and silently recited the internal wiring connections.
Satisfied, Lu Wanqing finally reassembled the robot to its original state.
"Third Brother, she doesn't seem like a bad person." After a long silence in the living room, Lu Wanqing couldn't help but say.
"People change. There are still many years before the time Vivi mentioned. Perhaps she will change in the future," Lu Yang said.
Lu Wanqing's lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but ultimately, she said nothing.
Three days later, Lu Wanqing deliberately broke the family's housekeeping robot again and then contacted Alice, inviting her to repair the robot for them.
Alice came very quickly this time. Almost the second Lu Wanqing sent the message, she departed. In just a short while, she arrived at Lu Wanqing's home.
"It's this robot." Lu Wanqing directly led Alice to the kitchen and pointed at the housekeeping robot, saying to Alice.