Chapter 161: Going Out

June campus brimmed with life; along the main road from the gate to the playground, willow and osmanthus trees were lush. In the flowerbed's center stood a massive banyan tree reaching the sky; standing beneath it, it felt as if the whole sky were covered.

This is one of the landmarks of Ziwei High School.

It is said to be over sixty years old, already standing here before the school even existed, and Ziwei High School's three six-story teaching buildings were built surrounding it.

Before, during breaks, students could see this leafy large tree through the windows; the expanse of green greatly relieved eye fatigue.

In front of Teaching Building No. 3.

Two small figures had just stepped out of the banyan tree's shade; sunlight fell on them again, and the surrounding temperature instantly rose.

Chen Mu reached to his waist, and with a swish, a plastic sun umbrella appeared in his hand, shading both himself and He Ying beside him.

The translucent plastic used for shading naturally wasn't very effective, but the next moment, a layer of fluid with a metallic sheen began to creep up from Chen Mu's right hand gripping the umbrella handle.

This fluid climbed upward, quickly covering the entire umbrella surface, as if plating the plastic umbrella with silver.

The temperature under the umbrella seemed to drop a few degrees; at least there was no direct sunlight.

"Using this trick to pick up girls, your success rate must be high."

Although they had spent considerable time together, He Ying would still be surprised by Chen Mu's various tricks every now and then.

"Thanks for the praise; I'll keep improving," Chen Mu said modestly.

……

June 22.

Lunar May 3.

Auspicious for travel.

Chen Mu and He Ying set out in the morning; it has now been over four hours.

It has been a full four days since the last sneak attack by Yi Zhong.

During these four days, things have been calm.

But everyone knows that Qiming's days of ease are over.

Having their base discovered, and by the hostile Yi Zhong at that, is hardly pleasant.

But according to Tang Jing's analysis, in the short term, as long as the enemy's strength hasn't significantly increased, Yi Zhong won't launch a second attack rashly, because they currently have no good counter to Qiming's hand grenades.

Moreover, with the stronger Qingbei acting as a check, Yi Zhong dare not commit all their forces to attack them.

But to be prepared, Dong Junwei still insists everyone treat each day as the eve of war.

As a watchtower of great strategic significance, with the assistance of the clockwork device, its efficiency has greatly increased, and it no longer requires the Lu Liangliang siblings to operate it manually.

Of course, Wei Dalei's workload has increased somewhat.

Every night before sleep, Old Wei goes to the plastic box by the door, inserts the wrench into the hole, winds it up, making a gara-la sound.

Although this clockwork device is merely a trial, its design and craftsmanship fall far short of Tang Jing's expectations; however, its large volume means that a few dozen turns of the mainspring, once wound, can normally last three days, yet Old Wei still winds it every day, fearing it might not be enough in wartime.

However, this automatic lift device still has many problems needing improvement, the biggest hassle being the lack of lubricating oil.

The operation of mechanical equipment often cannot do without this seemingly insignificant thing.

Even a mechanical watch needs regular oiling; otherwise its hands and lifespan will develop problems.

Chen Mu and He Ying have come this time on a mission.

The goal is clear: to find engine oil, i. e., lubricating oil.

This problem isn't huge; after all, without oil the clockwork can still run, but friction among parts increases, affecting efficiency and lifespan.

Even a simple lift's clockwork is complex: aside from the mainspring itself, there are dozens of bearings and gears of various sizes.

Chen Mu admits that if he had to design it himself, even spending months would likely yield only a low‑efficiency, shoddy contraption.

Fortunately, Tang Jing is here.

Chen Mu only needs to machine each part according to her dimensions, then, with Wei Dalei's help, install and secure them one by one.

But the lubricating‑oil problem cannot be solved.

In the end, Chen Mu voluntarily took on the responsibility of going out to find lubricating oil, and also hoped to locate some useful materials.

However, lubricating oil is not cooking oil; in an ordinary high‑school campus, such a thing is probably rare.

Yet Tang Jing directly pointed out a path for Chen Mu.

Teaching Building No. 3, fourth floor, west side.

That is the office of the labor‑technique teacher.

Whether in the teacher's or students' view, this is a dispensable course.

However, after Shangshi's education‑system reform, physical education and labor‑technique became the two biggest beneficiaries, especially the latter, which has been retained from junior high through high school, persisting into the first half of senior year three.

And as students, their interest in this course has always been high, because in class the teacher provides materials for hands‑on projects—models, paper cutting, assembly, even playing with clay.

The labor‑technique teacher's surname is Wan; he alone occupies an office, mainly because he needs so much material that there's no room for anyone else.

However, for Chen Mu, the trouble is that the office Tang Jing said surely contains lubricating oil is on the fourth floor.

Initially they had wondered how those upstairs would self‑rescue and solve food problems, but not long after, it turned out he himself would have to go up.

The reason only He Ying accompanies him is that the goal is clear: get the item and return; more people would increase exposure risk.

"Did you remember everything we need?" He Ying asked, staying as close to Chen Mu as possible to block the sunlight.

"Of course, what's up?"

"I'm worried that Teacher Wan's side might not have so many kinds of lubricating oil."

Following Tang Jing's instructions, they need to get as much lubricating oil as possible from the fourth‑floor office, but lubricating oils differ by brand and model; Tang Jing specified three types.

Would a high‑school hand‑work teacher really be that professional, stocking so many different kinds of lubricating oil in his office?

But since Tang Jing said so, it ought not to be wrong.

We'll just go and see.

The classroom of Senior Three Class 4 is located on the east side of Building No. 1, making it the closest to the cafeteria, only about seventy meters away.

But Building No. 3 was different now—the distance had more than doubled, and they also had to pass that big banyan tree.

Just walking from directly under the banyan tree to Building No. 3's teaching building took them nearly an hour.

Now they had finally arrived.

They came close.

Chen Mu raised his head and glanced at the outdoor steps thirty centimeters high, then immediately sighed.

He pointed upward at an angle and asked He Ying, "Did you originally just jump up there in one go?"

"What's wrong?"

"Maybe you need to do it again."