Chapter 132: Becoming a Celebrity

"Huh? What is this?"

Lin Ruofu caught Zhang Mingyang’s mechanical arm, lowering his head to lift it up for a closer look.

"This...!" He stared at him in astonishment. "Ershu, where is your arm?"

The others looked at him with equal shock.

Zhang Mingyang replied with a smile, "It was blown off. So, I replaced it with this one."

"Blown off?" Lin Ruofu looked at the arm, unsure of what to say. "How could it be blown off? Didn't you go to the capital for scientific research?"

Zhang Mingyang answered, "The experiment exploded. Many people were injured; I consider myself lucky to have only lost an arm."

"Huh?"

The others stared at him in disbelief, unable to fathom what kind of experiment could cause such damage.

Every time Zhang Mingyang looked at the mechanical limb, he was reminded of the crab and the panther. He truly did not want to dwell on those past events, so he patted Lin Ruofu on the shoulder and said, "It’s fine. The wound is almost healed."

As he spoke, he flexed the mechanical arm to show them.

"But... but that’s your arm! Does it hurt?"

Zhang Mingyang laughed. "It’s been months, why would it still hurt?"

He rubbed his stomach. "Anyway, I haven't eaten all day. If you keep asking questions, I'm going to starve to death."

The group immediately ushered him toward the cafeteria. They all understood that losing an arm was not something anyone wanted to reminisce about.

"Ershu, you haven't been back in a while. Where do you want to eat?" Lin Ruofu pulled out his phone to show him the nearby restaurants.

"No need," Zhang Mingyang pushed the phone aside. "I haven't been back in so long, I just want to taste the food in our cafeteria."

"That’s easy!" Lin Ruofu promised, raising his hand. "Just tell us what you want to eat, and we’ll treat you today."

Zhang Mingyang felt a surge of warmth as he looked at them. "I want pork ribs, fish—as long as it’s meat, I’ll eat it."

"Alright! Let’s go."

***

The six of them left the dormitory and headed toward the cafeteria. The Energy Department cafeteria was only a few hundred meters away, so they walked there.

Once outside, Zhang Mingyang noticed that the number of students had increased significantly, all rushing to line up for food.

Zhang Mingyang had once complained about the cafeteria lines on the school website. For such a massive university with so many laboratories, it was baffling that they had made the cafeteria so small. With only three tiny dining halls for the entire campus, the queues were always incredibly long.

As they walked, Zhang Mingyang inevitably drew attention, though everyone’s focus was on his arm.

"Don't mind them," Lin Ruofu noted, seeing the people staring.

Zhang Mingyang shrugged. "I'm used to it. Otherwise, I wouldn't have worn short sleeves. Hey, Monkey, honestly, I think this mechanical arm is pretty cool!"

"Hey! Don't say that, I kind of want one too," his other roommates chimed in.

Upon entering the cafeteria, Zhang Mingyang saw the familiar scene: a line nearly fifty meters long.

"Damn! How long has it been and the school still hasn't fixed this? It takes over an hour just to get a meal, and then we have to go straight to class. You think they do this on purpose?"

Lin Ruofu joined the queue and turned back to say, "Don't bother. If you ask, they'll just say it's 'under renovation'—it's always under renovation! I don't get it. Why would such a big school build such a tiny cafeteria?"

"Holy crap! Ershu, you're trending on the school's social feed!"

"Huh?"

Zhang Mingyang quickly pulled out his phone and logged into the campus portal. Sure enough, he was the top post in the gossip section.

The post read: *Nuclear Engineering student Zhang Mingyang returns to school with one arm. What caused him to lose it? What brand is his mechanical limb?* It even included a photo of him in the cafeteria.

"This...! What is all this?" Zhang Mingyang stared at the post, speechless. News traveled too fast! And how did they know he was in the Nuclear Engineering department? Most of all, who was the maniac asking about the brand of his prosthetic?

Lin Ruofu glanced at the post and laughed. "Ershu, you’re a school celebrity now!"

Zhang Mingyang covered his face and looked around, noticing that many people were already taking pictures of him.

"Damn! This is spreading way too fast!"

Seeing the situation, Lin Ruofu quickly signaled the other roommates to shield Zhang Mingyang. While blocking the onlookers, he shouted, "Everyone, stop taking pictures! Charging for photos of our Ershu now—fifty bucks a pop! You can pay me!"

"Seriously, Monkey? You’re selling out your own teammate?"

However, after Lin Ruofu’s comment, the number of people taking photos dropped significantly. Assuming it was all just a publicity stunt, the crowd began to disperse.

***

Seeing that the crowd had thinned out, Lin Ruofu tapped Zhang Mingyang. "Ershu, it's fine now. Most of them are gone."

Zhang Mingyang pushed past his roommates and looked out; there were indeed very few people taking pictures now.

"Alright, everyone can move on."

With Lin Ruofu’s dismissal, the group broke up the circle.

"I’m telling you, Ershu, couldn't you have worn long sleeves? Walking around with such an eye-catching mechanical arm is just asking for people to take photos."

Zhang Mingyang pouted. "I was just trying to get used to life like this. Who knew so many people would come to take pictures?"

"Sigh, I give up on you."

As the line moved forward, Zhang Mingyang finally reached the service counter. He looked at the food on his tray and ordered a bit of everything that was meat.

The woman serving the food looked at the mechanical hand curiously and asked, "Young man, is that a real hand or a fake one?"

Zhang Mingyang waved the mechanical arm. "Ma'am, it's a mechanical hand, but it works just like a real one."

"Oh!" The woman nodded and asked again, "My nephew crushed his left hand while working. That hand of yours looks very nimble. Where did you buy it?"

Zhang Mingyang pointed to the serial number '02' on the mechanical arm. "There are only two of these in the world. You can't buy them."

"It's that rare?" The woman even reached out to touch it, feeling the cold, metallic texture.

After getting his food, Lin Ruofu led them to a table.

"It’s been a long time since I’ve had cafeteria food." Zhang Mingyang snapped his disposable chopsticks apart and began eating.

Lin Ruofu asked from across the table, "Ershu, now that you're healed, are you staying at school or going back to the capital?"

Zhang Mingyang thought for a moment. "I’ll probably go back to the capital first. The research project isn't finished yet."

"Huh? You're in this condition—why go back?" his roommate Gouzi protested, thinking the work was far too dangerous.

Zhang Mingyang replied, "The accident happened because of a minor error. We've learned our lesson now, and that kind of problem won't happen in the next experiment."