Chapter 180

The sky wasn't fully bright yet, Zhang Xiaoge (real name Zhang Wei, but all colleagues called him Xiaoge, because "he looks young").

Squatted at the entrance of the "Ema" North Suburb distribution station warehouse, holding a 2.5-yuan soy milk in his hand, his eyes fixed on the row of "new guys" that had just arrived in the warehouse.

Light blue paint, streamlined design, with the "Ema x Longyin Joint Customization" logo printed on the chest.

Category I exoskeleton, assistance type, specifically designed for takeout riders.

"Stunned, right?" the station master walked over with a cigarette in his mouth and patted Zhang Xiaoge on the shoulder.

"The company's first batch of pilots, a total of 1,000 units, our station got 20. Monthly rent 888, deposit 3,000, deposit fully refunded after one year."

Zhang Xiaoge swallowed: "Can you really... deliver forty more orders a day with this thing?"

"The official data is a daily average increase of 40%," the station master flicked the cigarette ash.

"But when we tested it at our station, Old Wang used it for three days, and the best record was 127 orders a day."

"127?" Zhang Xiaoge's hand shook, and the soy milk almost spilled.

He had been doing takeout for two years, and his record was 68 orders a day.

It rained that day, the unit price was high, and he ran from 7:00 AM to 11:00 PM; by the time he got home, his legs were shaking.

"127 orders, at an average unit price of 8 yuan now..." he calculated quickly in his head, "More than 1,000 a day?"

"Theoretically," the station master grinned, "But whether you can hold on depends on yourself."

Zhang Xiaoge drank the last sip of soy milk, crushed the cup, threw it into the trash can, and gritted his teeth.

"I'll rent it."

After signing the lease contract and swiping three months' salary as a deposit, Zhang Xiaoge stood in front of his new mount.

The exoskeleton was lighter than he imagined, with a total weight of less than thirty kilograms, but the structure felt very sturdy.

The back was the main support frame, the two mechanical legs could fit the movement of human legs, and the arm part was still detachable, usually folded behind the back when riding, and unfolded when carrying was needed.

What surprised him most was that it even came with a delivery box: the back of the exoskeleton integrated a smart insulation box, divided into three layers, which could hold 20 standard meal boxes.

The side of the box had an LCD screen showing order information and temperature control status.

"Turn on, bind," the station master handed over a bracelet.

The moment the bracelet was put on his wrist, the eyes (cameras) of the exoskeleton lit up with blue light.

"Rider Zhang Wei, number BJ-North Suburb-047, identity confirmed. Ema custom exoskeleton, start."

A gentle female voice, sounded quite nice.

Zhang Xiaoge tried to take a step.

At first, it was a bit awkward, because the rhythm of the mechanical legs didn't quite synchronize with his own steps, almost making him trip.

After walking a few more steps, he began to feel the existence of assistance: when going up stairs, his legs were significantly lighter; when jogging on flat ground, it took almost no effort.

"Adaptation period is three days," the station master said.

"If you can't do it after three days, you can return the rental. But 20% of the deposit will be deducted."

"Won't return it," Zhang Xiaoge gritted his teeth.

He needed money.

His father back home had bad lungs, and the medicine cost more than 2,000 every month;

His sister was taking the college entrance exam this year, and if she could get into college, that would be a significant expense.

Delivering takeout was already the job with the lowest threshold but the highest income ceiling he could find.

Although now, the ceiling had been raised again by this mech technology.

But he had to seize this opportunity.

At 8:00 AM, the morning peak had just begun.

Zhang Xiaoge wore the exoskeleton and rode his electric bike, rushing into the city's traffic.

The first order was on the eighteenth floor of an office building.

He used to have to wait for the elevator; during the morning peak, one trip took at least five minutes.

Sometimes it was almost overtime, couldn't wait, and he could only climb the stairs; climbing up eighteen floors, he felt like he was exhausted.

Today was different.

He parked the bike, unfolded the exoskeleton mechanical arms, and took out three breakfasts from the insulation box.

"Switch to stair climbing mode."

The leg structure of the exoskeleton was fine-tuned, and the foot suction pads were activated.

Zhang Xiaoge walked to the fire escape, took a deep breath, and started climbing.

Two steps at a time.

The assistance of the mechanical legs was just right; he didn't feel tired, only feeling his body being supported as he went up.

One floor, two floors, five floors...

By the tenth floor, he started to pant slightly, but compared to being drenched in sweat after climbing to the fifth floor before, it was much better.

Eighteenth floor, reached.

Time taken: 2 minutes 17 seconds.

Knocking on the door, the white-collar girl took the breakfast, looked at the time, and was surprised: "So fast? Didn't one of the elevators break?"

"Climbed the stairs," Zhang Xiaoge smiled.

"Climbed the stairs?" the girl widened her eyes, "This is the eighteenth floor?"

"Yeah."

"Awesome!" the girl gave a thumbs up, then took out her phone, "Can I take a picture? I'll post it on Moments."

"... Okay."

The girl took a photo of him and the exoskeleton, and Zhang Xiaoge hurried downstairs.

Just out of the stairwell, the bracelet vibrated: the system automatically dispatched new orders, on the twelfth, ninth, and fifth floors of the same building.

"Planning the optimal path..." the exoskeleton's AI voice prompted.

"Suggested order: 5th floor -> 9th floor -> 12th floor, estimated total time 6 minutes."

Zhang Xiaoge followed suit.

In six minutes, he delivered three orders and returned to the first floor.

"Next stop, a residential area 1.2 kilometers away."

Zhang Xiaoge jumped on the bike, fast as lightning.

At 10:00 AM, he had delivered 28 orders.

At this time before, he delivered at most 15 orders, and that was depending on luck.

And today's exoskeleton delivery box had temperature control and stabilization systems, and he didn't have a single complaint about soup spilling or food getting cold.

Awesome.

But the even more awesome part was yet to come.

At 10:30, he received a special order: an internet-famous milk tea shop, 12 cups of milk tea, to be delivered to an old residential area three kilometers away.

The note said: "The elevator has been broken for three days, and the property management hasn't fixed it yet. Please deliver it upstairs, 15th floor, 50 yuan tip."

Zhang Xiaoge's eyes lit up.

Old residential area, no elevator, 15th floor, this was the nightmare of traditional riders, but now it was his chance to make money.

Pick up the goods at the milk tea shop, 12 cups of milk tea placed steadily in the special slots of the insulation box, not one would fall.

Ride to the entrance of the residential area, and sure enough, saw the "Under Repair" paper on the elevator door.

Zhang Xiaoge unfolded the exoskeleton, carried the insulation box on his back, and walked into the fire escape.

This time he was even more proficient.

The stair climbing rhythm was stable, and the assistance of the mechanical legs kept his speed at about one step per second.

Five floors, eight floors, ten floors...

By the twelfth floor, he heard movement above.

Peeking out, a middle-aged man was panting as he climbed up, carrying a bag of vegetables in his hand.

The man saw him and was stunned: "You... you this..."

"Delivering takeout," Zhang Xiaoge smiled, passed him, and continued upward.

The man shouted behind him: "Where did you buy this machine?!"

Zhang Xiaoge didn't look back and waved his hand.

Fifteenth floor, reached.

Knocking on the door, the person who opened it was a young girl; seeing him and the exoskeleton, she was also stunned.

"Your milk tea."

"Ah... thank you." The girl took the milk tea, counted, "12 cups, all here? Didn't spill?"

"Didn't spill, still hot."

The girl happily took out her phone: "I'll scan the code to give you the tip... can I take a video? I have 300,000 followers on Douyin, it will definitely go viral if I post it!"

Zhang Xiaoge thought for a moment: "Okay, don't film my face."

The girl filmed a 15-second video: a takeout rider wearing a blue exoskeleton, carrying an insulation box, walking steadily in an old stairwell.

Caption: "The elevator has been broken for three days, I thought I wouldn't be able to drink milk tea. As a result, the takeout rider directly used a mech to climb the stairs and deliver it to the 15th floor! What kind of god-like era is this!"

Posted, in less than three hours, the view count exceeded 5 million.

The comment section exploded:

"Damn! What kind of equipment is this?!"

"Takeout riders have evolved!"

"The reason for late takeout can no longer be that the elevator is broken."

"Is this still takeout? This is a special forces airdrop!"

"So are elevator repairmen going to be unemployed?"

Zhang Xiaoge didn't know about these.

He only knew that that noon, his order volume surged.

The system seemed to favor him particularly, always dispatching those "high floor no elevator," "hard to find address," "need to climb stairs" orders to him.

And he, refused none.

At 2:00 PM, the lunch peak ended.

Zhang Xiaoge sat at the entrance of a convenience store on the roadside, gnawing on a hand-torn bread he just bought, looking at the data on the bracelet:

Delivered orders: 87 orders.

Income: 696 yuan (including 52 yuan tip).

This was only half a day.

His hands were shaking, not from fatigue, but from excitement.

At this speed, breaking 100 orders today was stable.

But problems also came.

At 3:00 PM, he had just come out of a shopping mall after delivering an order, and found that three other riders from other platforms were surrounding his electric bike.

"Brother, this machine of yours, isn't it too fast?" a middle-aged rider wearing a yellow vest said unkindly, "How many orders did you steal from us this afternoon?"

Zhang Xiaoge frowned: "The system dispatched them, how did I steal them?"

"System dispatched? Isn't the system looking at how fast you run, so it keeps dispatching to you?" another young rider glared.

"We've been waiting for a long time, and as soon as you come up, all the orders fly away."

The atmosphere was a bit stiff.

Zhang Xiaoge didn't want to cause trouble and lowered his head to unlock the electric bike.

But the middle-aged rider suddenly reached out and pushed the mechanical arm of the exoskeleton: "What are you showing off? Isn't it just renting a machine?"

The mechanical arm wobbled, and the system immediately sounded an alarm: "Unauthorized external impact detected. Safety mode activated."

The joints of the exoskeleton locked, entering a protective state.

At the same time, the bracelet vibrated, showing a line of text: "Conflict risk detected, already automatically reported to the platform safety center. Suggest the rider stay calm and wait for processing."

Five minutes later, the station master rode a motorcycle and rushed over.

After asking about the situation, the station master roared at the three riders: "What are you doing? Bullying our people? If you have the ability, go rent one too! If you can't afford it, are you jealous?"

"Who's jealous?!" the middle-aged rider also roared, "This machine of yours is unfair! Destroying the market!"

"Fair? When your electric bikes were faster than bicycles before, why didn't you talk about fairness?" the station master sneered.

"Technological upgrade, survival of the fittest. Understand?"

They argued for ten minutes, and finally it was left unsettled.

But Zhang Xiaoge knew clearly: this matter wasn't over.

At 7:00 PM, the evening peak.

Zhang Xiaoge's order volume had already exceeded 110 orders, refreshing the station record.

But he was also tired, not physical fatigue, but the fatigue of high mental concentration.

No matter how smart the exoskeleton is, it still needs human operation. Ten consecutive hours of precision control made him dizzy.

At 8:00 PM, he was delivering the last order.

It happened to be a high-end residential area, and he needed an access card.

Before, he had to wait for the owner to come down to pick it up, or mix in with other residents.

Today, he looked at the three-meter-high iron fence and suddenly had a thought.

"Can I climb over?"

The exoskeleton's AI replied: "Dangerous behavior is not recommended."

"Just try."

Zhang Xiaoge stepped back a few steps, ran, jumped—

The leg assistance of the exoskeleton exploded, he jumped more than two meters high, the mechanical hand grabbed the top of the fence, pushed, and flipped over.

Landing steadily.

Perfect.

But he didn't notice that the security monitor at the entrance of the residential area had completely filmed this scene.

Twenty minutes later, he finished delivering the last order, and the bracelet showed:

Total orders delivered today: 127 orders.

Total income: 1,016 yuan (including tips).

Damn, broke the record.

He stood at the entrance of the residential area, looking at that number, laughing foolishly.

As he laughed, tears almost came out.

He took out his phone and sent a message to his sister back home: "Sis, I earned 1,000 yuan today. Study hard, get into college, and I'll support you."

His sister replied in seconds: "Brother, you're lying! How can delivering takeout have so much!"

"Really, I rented new equipment."

"What equipment?"

Zhang Xiaoge took a photo of the exoskeleton and sent it over.

His sister replied with a string of exclamation marks, then said: "Brother, you're so cool!"

Zhang Xiaoge smiled and put away his phone, preparing to finish work.

But just then, two security guards stopped him.

"Comrade, come with us. Your act of climbing the wall just now is suspected of illegal trespassing."

Zhang Xiaoge was stunned.

At the same time, Longyin Research Institute cafeteria.

Wang Hao sat down with his tray, looking depressed.

"What's wrong?" Li Yang asked.

"Don't mention it," Wang Hao shoveled two mouthfuls of rice, "I went to experience delivering takeout today, wanting to film a promotional video for 'Mech Food Delivery.' As a result..."

"As a result?"

"As a result, because the operation was too fierce, I shook the milk tea into a 'milk cap' and got a bad review from the customer." Wang Hao sighed.

"That girl even wrote in the comment: 'Is the rider playing mech drifting? My pearl milk tea turned into pearl milk cap!'"

Chen Guang pushed up his glasses: "So you said missiles are better to handle than takeout, because missiles won't give you bad reviews?"

"Yeah!" Wang Hao slapped the table.

"Missiles are so obedient! Point where you hit, and it's over after hitting! Unlike delivering takeout, you have to consider whether the milk tea will spill, whether the customer will give a bad review..."

Li Yang smiled: "Then what else did you experience?"

"Experienced that this line of work is not easy." Wang Hao became serious.

"I followed that Zhang Xiaoge for an afternoon, watched him climb at least two hundred floors, and deliver over a hundred orders."

"The exoskeleton saves effort, but the mental pressure is quite high; you have to pay attention to road conditions, orders, time, and the dispatch logic of that broken system at any time."

He paused: "I also found a problem: some riders secretly modify the exoskeleton to crack the power limit in order to grab time."

Feng Yan happened to walk over, heard this, and frowned: "Crack?"

"Yes," Wang Hao pulled up the data.

"'Torch Dragon' monitoring center sounded an alarm 17 times today, all because of abnormal civilian exoskeleton power. Just checked, and it turned out riders were buying cracking tutorials online and dismantling all the safety locks."

"And then?"

"And then? Then they ran faster, but also more dangerously," Wang Hao said.

"There was an accident in the afternoon: a rider was speeding after cracking it, lost control when turning, and hit a tree. The person was fine, but the exoskeleton was scrapped."

Feng Yan's face sank: "Notify the platform to strengthen safety supervision. If there is any private cracking again, blacklist them directly and ban them from renting for life."

"Already doing it," Chen Guang took over.

"'Torch Dragon' just updated the 'Moral Algorithm,' which will monitor rider behavior in real-time."

"Speeding, running red lights, dangerous driving, etc., once detected, the exoskeleton will automatically limit speed and report to the platform."

"Not enough," Feng Yan thought for a moment.

"Must solve it from the root, let the riders feel that there is no need to crack."

"What do you mean?"

"Reasonably adjust the dispatch algorithm, don't push people too hard, and increase the unit price, making tips the norm rather than a surprise. And..." Feng Yan looked at Wang Hao.

"Didn't you film a video? Edit a positive one, showing the hardship of riders and the help of technology. Let everyone understand this industry and respect these people."

Wang Hao's eyes lit up: "I'm good at this!"

At 9:00 PM, Zhang Xiaoge was released from the police station.

The security guard finally saw that he wasn't easy either and didn't continue to make things difficult for him; the police educated him and let him go.

After all, he was just climbing the wall to deliver takeout, not stealing or robbing.

The station master waited at the door and handed over a cigarette.

"Smoke?"

Zhang Xiaoge shook his head.

"Don't take today's matter to heart," the station master lit his own cigarette.

"New technology comes out, there are always people who don't adapt. The news that you broke the record today has already spread in the rider group. Some are jealous, and some admire you."

"I know," Zhang Xiaoge said in a low voice.

"But you also have to be careful," the station master looked at him.

"That exoskeleton is a tool, not a toy. Don't do the wall-climbing thing a second time. If you really fall, it's not worth it."

"Yeah."

"Still working tomorrow?"

"Work," Zhang Xiaoge raised his head, "Why not work?"

The station master smiled, patted his shoulder: "Okay, have backbone. Tomorrow I'll adjust a zone for you, more orders, and not so many broken things."

Zhang Xiaoge nodded and walked toward his electric bike.

The exoskeleton stood quietly behind the bike, shining with light blue light under the street lamp.

He touched the mechanical arm, cold, but solid.

He earned 1,000 yuan today, although he broke the record, he also caused some trouble.

But he felt it was worth it.

Because this was earned by his hands, no, by his hands and this machine.

His phone rang again, still his sister.

"Brother, that video of yours is going crazy in our school group! My classmates all say you're cool!"

"What video?"

"The one where you climbed the stairs to deliver milk tea! It's almost 10 million views!"

Zhang Xiaoge was stunned for a moment and opened Douyin.

Sure enough, that video had already rushed to the hot search.

In addition to exclamation, there were many heartwarming comments in the comment section:

"Takeout rider worked hard, in this hot weather."

"Technology changes life, and also changes the way these laborers work."

"In the future, when ordering takeout, I will definitely give more tips."

"This is what technology should look like, serving people, helping people."

He looked at those comments, his nose a little sour.

It turns out, he wasn't the only one working hard.

It turns out, someone saw his efforts.

He put away his phone, rode his bike, and drove toward the distribution station in the night.

Must continue tomorrow.

But tonight, he just wanted to sleep well.

And in another corner of the city, Feng Yan was looking at the data summarized by "Torch Dragon" today:

1,000 pilot exoskeletons nationwide, daily average order volume increased by 42%, complaint rate decreased by 61%.

Safety accidents: 2 (one cracked modification out of control, one wall-climbing warning).

Rider income increased by an average of 35%.

"Data is good," he said softly, "But not good enough."

Chen Guang operated the tablet on the side: "The 'Moral Algorithm' has gone online, and trial operation will start tomorrow."

"We will dynamically adjust the dispatch strategy according to rider behavior; those who follow the rules will be prioritized for good orders; those who drive dangerously will have their order volume limited."

"What about those who cracked it?"

"Banned from renting for life," Chen Guang pushed up his glasses.

"And we will share the list with all platforms. As long as you want to mix in this industry, you must follow safety regulations."

Feng Yan nodded and walked to the window.

Outside the window, the city was brightly lit.

Under those lights, there were countless Zhang Xiaoges rushing, climbing stairs, working hard for life.

Technology should be helping them, not exploiting them.

This was Longyin's original intention for doing civilian technology.

And it was also the bottom line that could not be forgotten.

He turned around and said to Chen Guang: "Tomorrow, I will hold a meeting with several takeout platforms. We must set the rules clearly: technology is here to help, not to force people to risk their lives."

Chen Guang nodded: "Do you need me to prepare data?"

"Yes. Prepare today's cases and the analysis report of 'Torch Dragon'."

"Okay."

It's late at night.

But in this city, many people are still busy.

Zhang Xiaoge returned to the small house in the urban village, took a simple shower, and collapsed on the bed.

The phone screen was still bright, showing today's income: 1,016 yuan.

He looked for a long time, then turned off the screen and closed his eyes.

Must deliver 100 orders tomorrow.

No, deliver more.

Because he knew that in this new era, as long as you are willing to work hard, there is a chance.

And he had to seize every opportunity.

Outside the window, the faint sound of electric bikes came.

That was another rider in the rental room next to him, just finished work and came back.

In the night, the light and shadow of the light blue exoskeleton, like stars, flickered everywhere in the city.

New takeout legends are constantly being born.