Sky-cracking Rider

Xiao Ming said indifferently, "You can take a part-time job!"

"A part-time job?"

Chen Fei was startled and then stared at the chief mechanic with his mouth wide open.

Big Brother Xiao was actually so magnanimous. It was obvious that Chekhov, the Big Bear, was trying to poach from the mechanic team.

"There's no conflict between the flight duties and the mechanics' work."

The chief mechanic, Xiao, shrugged his shoulders.

That made sense. Once the pilots took off, the mechanics who orbited the aircraft had nothing to do.

Not until the aircraft returned to the ground would it be the mechanics' turn to take over. The two were just connecting the upstream and downstream processes: one was in charge of operating, the other of repairing. There was no overlap.

Therefore, it was theoretically feasible to take on both mechanic and pilot jobs at the same time.

"That's great, really great. Thank you, Chief Mechanic Xiao."

As expected, Chen Fei was overjoyed. This proposal to some extent alleviated his debt crisis, and it was even more precious than borrowing a lump sum of money directly.

If the head of the mechanics' group hadn't agreed, even if he knew it could be done this way, he could only think about it.

At that moment, Xiao Jiu bent down to sneak a peck at the coffee and immediately let out a series of strange chirps.

Chen Fei thought the little creature had been scalded by the coffee and quickly covered the cup to prevent it from accidentally falling in and taking a hot coffee bath.

"Jiu jiu jiu!"

Xiao Jiu pecked discontentedly at Chen Fei's fingers, not at all looking like it had been scalded. Instead, it was eager to have a few more sips.

The joy was always short-lived.

The chief mechanic, Xiao Ming, poured a bucket of cold water over Chen Fei's head.

"Don't be too happy yet. To earn the part-time salary, you still need the executive manager, Morris Morgan, to nod his approval. I'll talk to him at noon. Also, are you interested in Old Barlut's apprenticeship? The main job is to watch over the Energy Tower on the night shift. There isn't any danger, but someone needs to be there to watch.

If there are signs of operation anomalies or fault alerts, you must report promptly. There may be some conflicts with nighttime flying duties for pilots, but you shouldn't have any night flying assignments in the short term."

Most likely, seeing that Chen Fei was truly destitute, with debts mounting by the day, the leader of the mechanics' group took the initiative to help him out.

A stopgap solution won't resolve poverty; rather than giving a man a fish, teach him to fish. Offering him a job to earn money was far more helpful in addressing Chen Fei's current situation than just giving him money.

For a young man who had just graduated from college, it was the age to work hard. Taking extra shifts and working nights, even taking several jobs, were not a problem.

Better to suffer a bit now than wait until older, less able to work, and still running around frantically with a grimy face.

Chen Fei said with great gratitude, "Thank you, Chief Mechanic. Thank you, Chief Mechanic."

"Go study now! You'll have to start soon."

Xiao Ming's gaze fell on Technical Manual E spread out on the table.

The technical manual for the A-39B "Big Mouth Monster" light turboprop attack aircraft totaled seven volumes, A through G. After finishing two more thick and heavy "bricks," Chen Fei should have the basic hands-on knowledge for this aircraft.

But that was just the beginning. Of course, the Aircrew Base had more than just the A-39B "Big Mouth Monster." There were also the Z-9 armed helicopters and the MiG-28 jet fighters. There were still more technical manuals to go through!

For someone like Chen Fei, who was pushed to do remedial studies in a specialized manner, there were bound to be many systemic deficiencies and gaps. If he wanted to truly make a living in this field in the future, he probably wouldn't be able to stop supplementing the basics.

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After leaving the mechanic group's container office, Chen Fei placed the coffee and bread on a workbench and began to read Technical Manual E intently.

When fully engrossed, time always flies by quickly.

When lunchtime came and someone called Chen Fei to go to the canteen together, he was still buried in the technical manual, just waving his hand to signal them to go ahead.

Since he had bread to stave off hunger, why waste the meal allowance? It was, after all, still a sum of cash.

With one hand on the book and the other periodically tearing off a piece of bread, he managed to get through the meal.

The bread made by Teacher Shen Fei was rich in ingredients, with local homemade butter, and added with sugar, milk powder, and sunflower seed kernels. The dough was well-kneaded, properly fermented, and baked just right — fluffy and soft with a strong milk fragrance, free of any additives. Such a piece of bread was just the right substitute for lunch.

Xiao Jiu, revealing its playful and curious nature, was not confined by a cage, nor did it fly far away. It always hovered close to Chen Fei, ignoring its own feed and mealworms. Instead, it preferred the moments when Chen Fei pulled apart bread, seizing the opportunity to flap over, peck a small piece, and proudly carry it to his shoulder, throwing back its head to swallow it whole.

The little creature took a special interest in Chen Fei's coffee. After tasting it once, it seemed to be hooked and was persistent in trying to sneak more. Chen Fei, however, would not indulge it and simply finished the coffee in the paper cup in one gulp.

Yet Xiao Jiu did not give up and circled the empty cup tirelessly, pecking here and there, attempting to find a drop or two of coffee left to taste. In the end, it accidentally knocked over the cup, trapping itself underneath, and spun around on the table, chirping anxiously until Chen Fei rescued it. Then it resumed hopping vivaciously on the table.

Click!

Chen Fei suddenly tasted a strong flavor of machine oil, puzzled, he shifted his gaze from the book to his hands.

What he held was not the bread he had imagined, but a short cylindrical metal object with a line of teeth marks on it, as if bitten.

What's this all about?

Before he had much time to ponder, a mechanic from the nearby work area came to the workbench next to Chen Fei, scanning it while mumbling to himself, "Eh? Where did it go? It was right here."

There were over a dozen tools and materials on the workbench, clearly none what he was looking for.

Chen Fei glanced at the metal piece with a bit bitten off in his hand and quietly covered it with a book, this object simply defied explanation.

After searching for a while with no success, the mechanic finally turned to Chen Fei and asked, "Little Chen, have you seen a 22mm AKE spline puller?"

Creak, creak, Chen Fei chewed involuntarily a few times before swallowing what was in his mouth, then said with some guilt, "Haven't seen it."

It actually tasted like peanuts, just with a bit too much machine oil flavor, but not bad overall.

"Ah, forget it, I'll just go get another one."

The mechanic, not wanting to waste more time searching, scratched the back of his head and returned to his area to continue organizing and maintaining the tools.

To do good work, one must first sharpen one's tools. With a modest workload before the new attack aircraft's arrival, the mechanics focused mainly on organizing and maintaining the various maintenance equipment and tools.

Chen Fei withdrew his gaze from the man's retreating figure and looked at the metal object that had been covered by the technical manual E, inhaling sharply.

This metal object was the 22mm spline puller, a piece of special-purpose equipment. Apparently, it had been placed on the workbench beside Chen Fei by the mechanic who must have accidentally rolled it next to the bread, where Chen Fei picked it up and bit into it without realizing.

It must have been one of Xiao Jiu's mischievous pranks.

Fortunately, his teeth didn't break, but the spline puller had a small piece bitten off.

The quality of this thing is really dubious; are you sure it's a tool and not actual snacks?

Chen Fei didn't think much of his own dental strength, but at the moment, his mind was muddled.

Without thinking, he brought the 22mm spline puller to his mouth and took another bite, crunch, crunch, it tasted like peanut-flavored soda crackers with a crunch and fragrance, aside from the machine oil flavor.

By the time he came to his senses, the whole S2 tool steel spline puller had been eaten, and Chen Fei looked at his empty hand, somewhat stunned.

This was trouble; not only did he have "phantosmia," but he'd also developed pica!

But since he could chew it up, there shouldn't be any problems... right?

His gaze involuntarily wandered to the tools and materials on the workbench...

"Jiu!~"

Xiao Jiu flew to Chen Fei's hand, flapping its wings and chirping incessantly.

What are you chirping for?

Why don't you look at me more?

Am I not beautiful?

At this moment, however, Chen Fei had no mood to play with this little mischief-maker, placing it on his shoulder he hurriedly left the hangar.

Making up an excuse on the spot, he had the medical team perform a CT scan on him.

Under the X-ray... even the bones of Xiao Jiu, stubbornly clinging to Chen Fei's shoulder, were captured, yet there was no sign of the most conspicuous 22mm spline puller fragments. It was as if he had eaten loneliness, all just a hallucination.

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