“As a butler, I know I shouldn’t say a lot of things, but I have my bottom line, too. I want the young lady to be happy. I don’t know exactly what you did, but she’s been very happy since you came, and that’s why I’m telling you so much,” Pang Xing said.
Xia Fei lit a cigarette and took a puff from it. Pang Xing was trying to tell him two things; first, Avril was indeed under pressure from her family. Second, Avril was tougher than he thought. She was not one for compromises.
Pang Xing’s device began to beep. He took a quick glance at it and said, “The young lady is awake. She didn’t even bother putting makeup on when she’s told that you wanted to see her.”
Xia Fei nodded. He followed Pang Xing back up the mountain.
He saw Avril standing by the elevator entrance in sleepwear as soon as he reached the top. Avril joyfully ran toward him and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me you’re here? Didn’t he let you in?”
Avril gave Pang Xing an unfriendly look, so Xia Fei quickly explained, “It’s not Butler Pang’s fault. I just wanted you to rest longer.”
Avril’s eyes reddened. She said gloomily, “You are so kind to me. It must have been rough waiting out here. I’ll go change right away, and we’ll head to the theme park.”
Xia Fei agreed. Avril immediately ran back to her room. Pang Xing spread his arms and said helplessly, “The young lady is really kind to you. The rest is up to you now.”
Xia Fei knew what the man was trying to say and he smiled. “I understand what you mean; thank you for the reminder.”
…
The Interstellar Amusement Park was said to be the best theme park in the Pan-Human Alliance. It had every ride that one could possibly think of. It would take someone at least a week to enjoy all the rides the place could offer.
This was Xia Fei’s first time realizing how physically demanding having fun was. Avril was struggling even more, for her body was weaker.
The two stayed at the theme park until dark before Xia Fei moved to bring Avril home, but before that, they enjoyed some fruit puddings at a nice restaurant first.
Upon reaching his place on Baran, Xia Fei shut the door and dove into the research on the nether bell.
Li Mo’s appearance had somehow given Xia Fei a push. The best way to win the affection of the woman he loved was to defeat his rivals. Xia Fei learned from Moon Song that Li Mo had registered to participate in the Golden Finger Cup, and his cousin Bai Ye was taking part, too. The war had come quicker than Xia Fei had expected, except that there was no smell of gunpowder in this war.
How could he possibly combine the nether bell’s technology of directional transmission with Titan’s super-radar to create a new radar system that was capable of communicating over long distances without having to worry about signal disturbance? This question had long bothered Xia Fei.
Perhaps because Li Mo was a tough opponent, Xia Fei’s thoughts were surprisingly quick today instead of being hazy.
Some people would crack under the pressure, but others would be able to perform superbly when under great pressure. Xia Fei was obviously the latter.
He adjusted the size of the microcomputer’s holographic screen to the maximum and placed the two blueprints side by side. He lit a cigarette as his eyes remained fixed on the screen, but his thoughts were deeply occupied by the complicated circuits.
The two radar systems were designed modularly. Each model represented a different functionality. Some were used for capturing signals, while some were responsible for determining the position of signals.
Xia Fei did not rely on the microcomputer’s calculation. He was going through all combinations of the models in his mind, but their designs were incompatibly different. The former was good against signal disturbance, while the latter could magnify signals beyond normal extent.
In theory, it would be perfect if he could combine the nether bell’s resistance toward signal disturbance with the signal magnifying capability of Titan’s radar system, but in reality, the two systems were incompatible with one another. Not only would the resistance toward signal disturbance drop by half, its performance would drop significantly, too.
Xia Fei needed the super-radar system for his warship; hence, he was not too fussy with the size of the final product. After all, a warship had plenty of space available. It was easy to allocate a space big enough to contain the system, so Xia Fei was trying to double the resistance toward signal disturbance and the performance of the system, yet the outcome was even inferior to the normal radar system that the Alliance was currently using.
It felt like an endless loop. If he increased the performance of one system, the performance of the other system would drop. If he tried increasing the performance of both systems, the outcome would be less than ideal.
A night was gone fairly quickly. The huge ashtray on the table was already full of cigarette butts. Xia Fei already felt his throat getting a little sore and his lungs burning after smoking so much. He drank a cup of water and poked his head out of the window to look at the outside world.
It was already the crack of dawn, so faint light was starting to appear in the sky. The air was moist and cool. Xia Fei took a few deep breaths and stretched. He felt a lot better after clearing his mind.
The sun had risen, and sunlight was shining on the horizon. The leaves of the trees were blocking the blazing sunlight, resulting in long shadows on the streets. Light was a wonderful existence. The size of shadows differed when the light was shining from different angles. At noon, a person’s shadow was tiny like a black dot, but their shadow would be dragged infinitely at dawn or dusk.
The situation was similar to the omnipresent disturbance in the galaxy. When a signal swayed from its original course, it would become completely unpredictable. No one knew where the electric waves had traveled to.
The leaves rustled in the breeze. As Xia Fei observed the shadows of the trees swaying on the ground, an unprecedented thought suddenly crossed his mind.
…
Xia Fei did not leave the room once in the next three days. He even called off the date with Avril. Avril did not complain because she knew that Xia Fei was busy with his work. A woman from a well off family had a better foresight, indeed. She believed an ambitious man like Xia Fei was more reliable. If a man only knew to hang out with his woman all the time, the love between them would only be flowers in a mirror or the moon reflected in the lake, regardless of how sweet the man was.
Every human’s energy was limited. A man would often have to choose between work and love, and in most cases, those who chose the latter were usually unreliable.
Xia Fei’s fingers kept tapping on the screen. The smart design system rapidly implemented Xia Fei’s idea and combined the components and chips on the screen.
Xia Fei slammed his hand on the table excitedly when he finally completed the blueprint.
He then used the microcomputer to contact Harris who was on Earth and blurted out, “I’ve just completed the blueprint of a new radar system. Time is limited, so I only designed the core components of the system. Take a look at it and tell me what you think.”
The blueprint showed up on the screen after Harris clicked ‘accept’. An expert like him immediately noticed how bold the design was at first glance and he gasped in astonishment.
“Are you crazy?! Are you seriously thinking of mixing the transmitters in such a mess?” Harris exclaimed.
