Chapter 14: First Steps in Society
929 Words
Chapter 14: First Steps in Society
Jiang Yuecheng enjoyed dismantling robots immensely.
To him, this job was incredibly eye-opening. No robot, regardless of type or brand, could escape his hands.
Every time he encountered a robot or component he hadn't seen before, he meticulously researched, took photos, and made notes, afraid of missing any learning opportunity.
Because of his passion, he never minded the long working hours. He worked tirelessly from morning to night, doing the work of three people. Boss Tang, seeing this, felt lucky to have chosen the right person.
As a reward, Boss Tang decided to shorten Jiang Yuecheng's probation period from six months to three months.
After signing the permanent employment contract with Boss Tang, Jiang Yuecheng immediately suggested ways to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
He noticed that under Boss Tang's previous criteria for sorting robot parts, many valuable components were discarded.
Boss Tang usually focused only on core and easily damaged parts, such as motherboards, CPUs, memory, electrostatic muscles, joints, power supplies, and controllers. Most smaller and less frequently replaced durable parts were simply thrown away.
It wasn't Boss Tang's fault; he used to maintain brand robots, and his main clients were small business owners who did robot maintenance. They primarily bought easily damaged parts, so he prioritized recycling those and more expensive components, showing little interest in other parts.
However, to Jiang Yuecheng, who loved assembling robots from a young age, every part of a robot was valuable.
For a robot assembly enthusiast, every part of a robot was needed. Thus, to Jiang Yuecheng, almost every part dismantled had some use.
He suggested that Boss Tang categorize and store all reusable parts from the robots, setting up a special section in the online store for second-hand parts for robot assembly enthusiasts.
Boss Tang was skeptical, thinking the market for assembly enthusiasts was too small. However, seeing Jiang Yuecheng's enthusiasm and knowing the project required no additional investment, he agreed.
Jiang Yuecheng set up new shelves to store the parts Boss Tang previously discarded.
He even removed chips and components from damaged circuit boards, categorizing and storing them.
He then added a new category to Boss Tang's online store, called "Complete Robot Assembly Parts."
Initially, due to incomplete inventory, there was little interest. But after a few months of persistence and an increasing variety of parts, more customers came. Boss Tang's monthly sales increased by over twenty percent.
Seeing the benefit, Boss Tang immediately hired a young apprentice to assist Jiang Yuecheng.
With help, Jiang Yuecheng had another idea: developing niche robot-related products for the market.
The first product he wanted to create was a "Robot Vision Output Card." This small circuit board would output the video feed seen by the robot, transmitting it wirelessly to a phone.
His design inspiration came from his previous experience assembling combat robots. He always wanted to see his moves from the robot's perspective during practice. At that time, a key chip's interface program needed assembly language programming, which he hadn't learned, so he gave up.
But during his time on Yonggan Island, he learned assembly language and decided to give it a try. If he could create this product, many combat enthusiasts who practiced with robots would love it.
It would allow them to see their actions from their opponent's perspective, greatly aiding their training.
The second product was relatively simple, a "Robot External Power Source." The idea was to convert the robot's battery into a 220-volt AC power source. Sometimes, when working at home, needing electricity but finding it inconvenient to plug in, one could temporarily use the robot's power.
Three months later, Jiang Yuecheng had prototypes for both products.
After posting them online, the Robot Vision Output Card was very popular, while the Robot External Power Source had no interest. The buyers of the Vision Output Card were indeed combat athletes or enthusiasts.
One day, Boss Tang received over ten old robots that needed dismantling. As usual, Jiang Yuecheng set to work without delay.
While working, he suddenly recognized a familiar-looking robot. Stopping to inspect it, he realized it was a type he had assembled on the floating island where he was once imprisoned.
Alert and with his heart racing, he remembered the traumatic experience from years ago.
"Have I found my enemy?"
He quickly flipped the robot over, finding a nameplate on its lower back.
Manufacturer: Shenzhen Hongzhi Yuan General Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
Brand: Hongchi.
"Could this company have imprisoned me?"
He took out his phone and searched the company's products, finding four or five models he had assembled at the floating island factory.
To his surprise, this well-known company had such a dark side.
"What should I do? I should tell Mom first!"
"But why produce robots on a floating island at sea?"
"Why capture people and bring them to the island? Why not hire normally?"
"Why kidnap me to threaten my mom?"
A flood of questions and suspicions filled his mind, recalling his near-death experience at sea and fueling his hatred.
He suddenly had an idea: infiltrate the company to uncover the truth.
But he couldn't tell his mom, knowing she wouldn't approve.
Determined, he returned home and began searching for information and job postings for Hongzhi Yuan General Machinery Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
He found several job listings: five designers and three programmers for the civilian robot division, and three repair technicians for the after-sales service department.
He applied for all three positions.
Half a month later, he received an interview notice for one of the three repair technician positions.
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