Wei Guobin, standing nearby, was still immersed in regret, his brows tightly furrowed as he muttered under his breath:
"How did I misjudge him? What a fool I am!"
With his arms crossed, he paced back and forth in place, his heart so full of remorse that he had no mind to pay attention to what Wen Qi was doing over there.
By now, Wen Qi had started the production. He stared intently at the machine, his hands moving somewhat awkwardly as he operated various buttons and levers.
He first carefully placed the tree berries into the feed port, then focused on adjusting the machine's temperature, pressure, and other parameters.
However, even though he understood the basic operation of the machine, his unfamiliarity with the advanced device's quirks led to a serious mistake on his first attempt.
As the machine whirred, Wen Qi's expression grew increasingly solemn. He had been full of anticipation, hoping to produce a high-quality advanced energy cube, but when the finished product came out, his eyes widened in disbelief.
He could swear that this blackened lump was exactly the kind of failure he'd made on his first try with a machine before he had his system.
Wen Qi felt a bit speechless and shook his head helplessly.
"Ugh, who knew switching machines would lead to such a mess."
Still, he quickly adjusted his mindset. After all, through this attempt and with the help of his superpower, he had more or less gotten a feel for how the machine operated.
Even though this attempt was a failure, Wen Qi could clearly sense that this machine was far more advanced than his old one, and its production speed was much faster.
Thinking that after the assessment, he'd buy one for himself, saving a lot of time in the future and allowing him to slack off more, a glimmer of anticipation flashed in Wen Qi's eyes. He soon threw himself into a second attempt.
Just then, Wei Guobin, still lost in regret, suddenly caught a pungent, foul smell.
He jolted, snapping out of his thoughts. He sniffed hard, trying to pinpoint the source of the odor. Soon, his gaze locked onto Wen Qi's area.
Seeing the blackened thing in front of Wen Qi, combined with the unpleasant smell, Wei Guobin's face turned even more sour.
His eyes were filled with disappointment and helplessness. The faint hope he'd clung to now completely evaporated.
"It's over. The guy really is a novice. That black lump—my ten-year-old son could make something better than that."
Wei Guobin groaned inwardly.
He stopped pacing and stood there, staring blankly in Wen Qi's direction, his mouth slightly open as if he wanted to say something but didn't know how to start.
After a moment, he let out a helpless sigh and shook his head, his expression seeming to say:
"Looks like there's no hope this time."
Over on this side, Wei Guobin still thought Wen Qi was a novice. He watched as Wen Qi tossed the failed product into the trash and began a second attempt.
Seeing that the other party was still trying, Wei Guobin observed Wen Qi's unfamiliar操作方法 and watched the premium tree berries being fed into the machine, feeling a pang of distress for the association.
"Oh, such good tree berries, wasted by this kid—it's heartbreaking!"
Wei Guobin's brows knitted tightly, his face full of regret, his eyes fixed on those berries as if they were precious treasures.
Just as Wei Guobin was still lamenting, the machine let out a "ding," signaling the end of the second attempt. Hearing the sound, Wei Guobin thought to himself:
"With his clumsy operation, this one's bound to be just as bad."
So he couldn't be bothered to look, just stood there, instinctively waiting for that foul smell to hit him again.
But instead of another stench, he suddenly caught a whiff of a pleasant aroma. Confused, Wei Guobin sniffed hard and muttered to himself:
"Why is there a fragrance? Where's it coming from?"
He quickly looked around, his head swiveling like a rattle drum.
After searching, he found that the fragrance was coming from Wen Qi's workstation—specifically, from the energy cube in his hand.
Wei Guobin took a closer look. He couldn't tell the quality of this energy cube, but just by its appearance, it was undoubtedly an advanced one. And from the rich aroma, it seemed to be of no low grade.
At this point, Wei Guobin was dumbfounded again. His eyes went wide, his mouth hung open, and he stood frozen in place.
"What's going on? Can the tables turn this fast? Did I time-travel? Or did this kid sneak an energy cube in from outside?"
His mind was full of questions, and his expression shifted from regret and disdain to shock and disbelief.
He rubbed his eyes hard and pinched his arm to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
"How did this kid pull it off? A complete mess just now, and now he's making an energy cube of such high quality?"
Wei Guobin's mind was crawling with curiosity, like a thousand ants were scurrying inside.
Just as Wei Guobin was burning with curiosity about this energy cube, he saw Wen Qi mutter a few words and then toss it straight into the trash.
Since Wei Guobin was some distance away and Wen Qi's muttering was very quiet, he only caught something like "low quality" and "finally getting the hang of it."
Before Wei Guobin could react, he saw Wen Qi unhesitatingly throw the finished energy cube into the trash.
Seeing this, Wei Guobin opened his mouth as if to say something, but then remembered he was an invigilator and couldn't casually chat with the examinee.
He glanced up at the surveillance cameras around and swallowed his words. But inside, he was aching over Wen Qi's wastefulness.
"You know, that was an advanced energy cube, and he just tossed it like trash—such a waste!"
Wei Guobin kept muttering to himself, his brows twisted like a pretzel, his face full of regret and confusion.
He couldn't fathom how Wen Qi could discard it so casually.
What he didn't know was that the cube Wen Qi had just made was only of ordinary advanced quality, nowhere near meeting Wen Qi's standards.
Given Wen Qi's high demands for quality, letting such a poor energy cube leave his hands would tarnish his reputation, so he had no choice but to throw it away.
Seeing that Wen Qi was about to start a third attempt, Wei Guobin decided to watch closely this time to see how he operated and what had caused such a dramatic change. And sure enough, he noticed something different.
From the way Wen Qi handled the machine, it was clear he was far more familiar with it now. Earlier, his movements had been somewhat clumsy and awkward, but this time, they were smooth and practiced, like those of a seasoned expert.
Seeing this, Wei Guobin thought to himself:
"Could he have been playing dumb all along, pretending to be a novice?"
But what was the point of that? Just to show off to him? And what would that achieve? Wei Guobin was baffled, his brows furrowed as he stared intently at Wen Qi's every move, trying to find an answer.