He didn't know Xing Fei needed pocket money to buy books.

He didn't know that the books Xing Fei bought were for Gian.
He didn't even know that Gian had recently switched from reading books on chicken soup for the soul and parenting books to reading about mechanics.

Shen Mian had always hoped that Gian wouldn't be too deeply influenced by himself and find a direction he liked. Now, Gian may have found his own direction, but Shen Mian had never noticed it.

Shen Mian, being both an old father and a dean, reflected deeply for a moment and found the reason- it was He Xing.

It must be that He Xing was too clingy.

He Xing carried Gian in his arms and Gian held his little bag. Two dragons, one big, one small, were waiting at the door, followed by Xing Fei.

Gian laid on He Xing's shoulder and looked back. Xing Fei waved at him, making a gesture of encouragement.

Gian took a deep breath, twisted his body and jumped down from Uncle He's arms to go to the dorm to comfort the dean.

Shen Mian heard the little dragon cub's footsteps. It was Gian who came over.

Gian, "Dean."
The golden-green little dragon cub wasn't skilled in being coquettish and stretched out his paws, gently putting them on Shen Mian.

Shen Mian picked him up. "What's wrong?"

Gian nestled in Shen Mian's arms and took out a robot without a power system from his pouch, giving it to him. "Dean, look."

The robot was beautifully made. Shen Mian thought it was a model of Lu Yuan's when he first saw it, but when he received it, he felt that it was more roughly made than those toys. The chest part was hollow, which seemed to be the space left for the power system. And, there were tiny abrasion marks on the parts, which were old.

This was probably made by Gian.
Sure enough, Gian lowered his head, embarrassed. "I made this myself following the tutorial in the book. It's ugly and the joints aren't flexible."

He had searched for other homemade robots on the desktop quantum computer. They looked nice on the outside and in the video, they moved smoothly, unlike his, who's joints weren't polished and smooth at all.

And he hasn't installed a power system yet, so maybe it wouldn't even move when he did.

This was little Gian's first time building a robot. The parts kits were expensive and his robot was pieced together from old replacement parts and was polished until his tail's crystal spines became blunt.

Although the result was far from being as good looking as the examples on the internet, Gian himself was already satisfied with the result. It was just that he was too embarrassed to show such a semi-finished product to the dean.

In the eyes of the little gem dragon, the dean was omnipotent and he had to do a little better before showing it to the dean.

Only a good little dragon cub can make the dean proud.

Dean Shen was certainly not omnipotent.
He adjusted the flexibility of a few joints, which really weren't very light and couldn't compare to those model toys of Lu Yuan's- Gian's robot parts were cobbled together and those models were assembled with matching joint parts.

It must have taken a lot of time and effort for Gian to put together such a robot without a materials kit or a full tutorial.
Shen Mian didn't have a rich vocabulary like He Xing, nor was he good at proclaiming somewhat exaggerated praises, so he lowered his head and kissed the top of Gian's head. "Very amazing."

Gian suddenly looked up. "Really?!"

Shen Mian, "Dean doesn't know how to make these."

Gian gripped Shen Mian's clothes tightly, his tail wagging behind him in small flicks. "A-actually, Lu Yuan and Rhein didn't even know I was making this... because it's not done yet. I want to show it to you when it's done. But I couldn't find the book on making an easy power system myself."

"I wanted to ask Xing Fei if I could borrow books related to it. That's why Xing Fei knew."

Shen Mian's old father's self-esteem was being cared for and he was silent for a few seconds, slowly lowering his head against Gian's head. "Mn."

Shen Mian asked, "Are you buying a kit?"

The little dragon cub was dizzy from the dean's coaxing. "B-but the material kit is so expensive."

Shen Mian, "Not expensive. I'll buy it."

Gian shook his head, determined not to be fooled by the Dean. "It's expensive! There was a first-place winner in a robotics competition who said his robot cost over 60,000 star coins."
Gian also searched for material kits on the desktop quantum computer and the material kits that easily cost hundreds of star coins were completely astronomical to the little dragon cub. Gian converted the individual material packs into nutrient solutions and calculated that it was several day's worth of food for himself and his little money-grubber heart immediately popped up.

Shen Mian, "Contest? Then there must be a prize."

Gian blinked.

Shen Mian, "Tens of thousands of prizes."

Gian, "!!!"

Gian, "Dean, I want to enter a competition!"

Shen Mian, "Then we should buy the material kit first and slowly make it, okay?"

Gian nodded vigorously.

......

After Gian went back to his dormitory, Shen Mian looked it up on the StarNet. There were many robot competitions in the Empire. Basically, every planet would have its own robot competition and most of the participants were teenagers.

Of course, Water Star also had them. Several of the large-scale competitions were either a long while away or have already passed.
That was a bit unfortunate. Shen Mian changed the keywords, searched again and instead, saw a smaller, less formal competition by a smart goods store that opened in the mall. The opening event had a robot competition and registration was now open.

Shen Mian thought about it, signed up for Gian through his contact details and then bought a box of parts online for Gian.

With the suitable parts made, Gian spent six days reassembling the robot, entering a basic code with the help of his two parents. A robot like that wouldn't even make it past the preliminary rounds if it did enter the competition, but it was more than enough to enter one of those small competitions started by a mall to gain attention.

Gian was a little dragon cub who had just turned eight after all.

On the day of the competition, Shen Mian couldn't take Gian and go together because the childcare teacher whom he had previously arranged to meet was coming to report today and Shen Mian had to stay to receive them.

He Xing had always been reliable when he took care of the cubs. Shen Mian didn't pressure him too much and encouraged Gian for a bit, then saw them off and returned to the centre.

They were in the mall.
As Shen Mian expected, there were discounts for the opening of the store, so it attracted a number of dragons. The number wasn't too small and the pressure on Gian wasn't big.

There were only a few dragon cubs competing in the robotics competition and they were all about the same age as Gian.

Gian drew third and as he waited in the audience, the first dragon cub to display a robot walked on stage accompanied by his parent.

In order to liven up the atmosphere, the amateur host paid 200 star coins a day enthusiastically asked about the relationship between the dragon cub and the accompanying parent. After learning that he was the father, they praised the other for being a good father.

Gian listened below and couldn't help but hug the robot in his arms tighter.
He was a little envious. That envy showed in his eyes when the second dragon cub also said the parent was the father.

If only, the dean was also here.

He actually really wanted to call the dean dad. He could secretly call him that in his heart when he went on stage.

He Xing kept an eye on Gian's expression. "When we go up in a bit, Gian can also say that I'm your father."

Gian, "Can I?"

He Xing smiled. "Of course you can."

Little Gian rubbed his face, always feeling that Uncle He's eyes were very bright when he spoke.