【Summer Five】Iron City Wall

The cruise ship entered the second zone and began to slow down.The wind blowing on the deck is softer, and the undulating buildings on the shore are faintly visible, mostly white bricks and tiles, showing a spotless academic temperament from head to toe.

District [-] is originally a territory that integrates top universities and research institutes. Excluding the residential areas assigned by scientific researchers, the rest are teaching buildings, laboratories and research institutes.All kinds of potted plants are planted on both sides of the roadbed, and a row of trees are planted on some street corners. The pure white streetscape has a little more fresh and lively greenery, which prevents it from being monotonous and rigid.

The cruise ship docked slowly and stopped beside this large port.Although the wharves are similar, the one in the second district is obviously much more spacious and tidy, with no messy crowds and hustle and bustle, the orderly staff perform their duties, and the containers are brand new without any rust.

The hatch opened, and Xia You and Wujo got off the boat along the gangway, setting foot on the high-level land for the first time.

"How do you feel?" Wujo asked with a smile, "The country people are coming to the city!"

Xia You was not annoyed, and stepped on the hard asphalt ground, saying, "Isn't it just country people coming to the city? I never thought that I could breathe the air of the second district a year or two earlier."

Because the highest institution of the Iron City Wall - the State University is located in the center of the second district, it has naturally become the direction of Xia You's efforts.Although it is called "State", it has never said which "state" or what kind of "establishment" it is. I only know that the official name is so, and everyone follows suit.

He dug out the letter from his carry-on bag, reviewed the client's information, and checked his memory to make sure there were no mistakes.The target lives in the northern area where the research centers are densely populated, not close to the port, and probably has to take transportation.

Wutiao refused to drag the luggage no matter what, so the tan box fell into Xia You's hands.They left the port, walked a hundred meters along the road, and finally saw a taxi marked "Empty".

The bright orange vehicle was about to roar past, Xia You, who had never taken a taxi before, was still standing there, Wu Tiao hurriedly jumped up and waved, ran after the taxi with long legs, and finally stopped it.

The rear trunk popped open, Xia You put the box in, fumbled to close the lid, and was stuffed into the back seat by Wutiao.The latter got into the co-pilot, closed the door, talked with the driver in a raised tone, and reported the destination address by the way.The driver responded briskly and drove, pouted on his shoulder, and Wutiao laughed and cursed as if he suddenly realized, and stretched out his hand to fasten his seat belt.

Xia You really has the impression of a countryman entering the city.Even though he didn't think he would have difficulty moving an inch in the second district, after all, he couldn't compare to Wutiao, whose every look was so natural.

——After all, this person deliberately used the oral habit that is rare among the working class in the second district, and it seemed to suit the driver's appetite.These migrant workers who have been among the old scholars and elites for a long time always have a strange set of stubbornness. They disdain the standard language without the slightest accent, and insist on partnering to speak some colloquialisms that only "our own people" understand. .

The taxi was galloping on the spacious road, and Wujo continued to chat with the driver in that strange accent.He said that he and Xiayou had been in the second district for a long time and knew nothing about urban construction, and asked the driver to tell them about the big changes in recent years.

Knowing that they were going to the research institute, the driver let go of Kan without any scruples. From the viaduct outside the city to the newly built tunnel, even a few potted flowers on a certain avenue were all treasures.Taxis gallop on solid and level roads every day, and have carried countless passengers, and the drivers have naturally heard many stories.

It is the most "interesting" to do their business, no matter which gossip can be heard, and they can't even leave a name when they leave.

An hour passed in a flash, and when the taxi stopped in front of the research institute, the driver smacked his lips, still feeling a little unsatisfied.Both Wutiao and Xia You are very good at clichés, and it is easy to coax an ordinary person. They have heard a lot of anecdotes about the second district, even if most of them are not constructive.

After paying the money and getting off the car, they looked for the buildings one by one, and were a little snow blinded by the pure white buildings.I don't know what the designer's intention is to make these densely scattered research institutes into a large white flower, which is extremely low in recognition and hurts the eyes.

"No. 245...here it is." Xia You stopped, looked up to compare the house number, exchanged a look with Wutiao, and knocked on the door.

There was a doorbell embedded in the iron gate, and he reached out and pressed it twice, standing still and waiting for the owner to ask.About ten seconds later, a notification sound came from inside the anti-theft door, and the two doors opened at the same time, revealing a slightly haggard face.

"Are you here to complete the commission?" The homeowner looked at the work badges on the chests of the two of them, scratched their curly hair casually, and there was a patch of freckles covering their faces.

Xia You smiled and replied, "That's right. Are you Mr. Carlo Costa?"

The young man opened the door a little wider, revealing his crumpled white coat, and his expression brightened: "Just call me Carlo, please come in."

The client lived in a duplex apartment uniformly allocated in the second district. The living room and bedroom were separated by stairs, and a room was specially set up to store experimental equipment.The interior is tidy and tidy, the furniture is black, white and gray, so clean that there is not much breath of life.

Carlo led them to sit down on the sofa, and ran into the study to find things by himself. When he came out, he had two large paper bags under his armpit and a tea set in his left hand.

The hot black tea was placed in the center of the coffee table, and the three of them sipped silently, all warming their throats.Xia You and Wujo were not too nervous. On the contrary, Carlo, the client, seemed a little embarrassed. The upper half of his face showed a clear arrogance, but his fingertips kept tapping on the teacup.

"What is your request?" Xia You broke the silence.

Only then did Carlo raise his head as if waking up from a dream, hastily opened one of the paper bags, and poured out the contents with a splash.

While shaking the bag upside down, he said, "I want to ask you two to—"

The thing spread out lightly and softly on the ground, like a flower in full bloom.

"—order a dress."

A tulle gown of the finest weaver lay at the feet, a brilliant red.This scene was really astonishing. Xia You restrained her surprise in line with good professional ethics, and said in a business-like manner: "Okay, what are the specific requirements?"

As if prompted by his calmness, Carlo was less embarrassed.He picked up the skirt and put it on his shoulders, and said excitedly: "I hope that on the premise of maintaining beauty and lightness, this dance skirt can have a certain degree of defensive ability, that is to say..."

"You want to turn it into an armor?" Xia You answered.

"That's right!" Carlo nodded again and again.

Xia You and Wutiao looked at each other, and both saw confusion in each other's eyes.

"In order to meet the above requirements, the cost of materials and technology required will be very high—I think it is necessary to inform you in advance." Xia You said, gesturing a number in the air, "Can you accept it?"

The dance skirt rested quietly on Carlo's shoulders. The Italian young man drank the black tea and said, "Don't worry, sir, I will be responsible for all expenses. During your stay, you can use manpower in Laboratory No. 24 at any time. I will help you." Assistants will do everything in their power to help."

This is a serious promise.Wutiao's eyes wandered between the dance skirt and Carlo, no matter how you look at it, you feel that these two things are too incompatible.

He asked, "So, who is the recipient?"

Carlo replied: "Miss Diana Lynch from the fifth district." After that, his neck was slightly red, and his eyes were also a little wandering.

Xia You realized that this was probably a gift for her sweetheart.

"Understood, please give us at least a week." He stood up with five pieces, and smiled politely: "Do you have a design drawing of the dance skirt? It may be difficult to rely on the finished model."

Carlo sent them to the door, shook his head when he heard the words, and said in a low voice: "The blueprint... I accidentally lost it before, so you two need to work harder."

The footsteps that were about to go out suddenly stopped, Xia You just wanted to say that designing dance skirts should not be their job, but after thinking about it, he felt that this kid was really unreliable, so he simply retracted what he wanted to say, nodded and went out.

The big paper bag ended up in Wutiao's hands, and he looked at it several times, as if he was dismantling the structure of the skirt through the analysis function of the sunglasses.

"Why, what do you think?" On the way to the hotel, Xia You asked, "I didn't expect that the first job was to be a tailor for someone else."

Wutiao is adjusting the sunglasses, and his eyes are focused on the paper bag: "We can only weave slowly with nano-like materials, but no matter how mature the technology is, it doesn't need to be so troublesome. I really don't understand what those old guys have been busy doing all these years."

"I'm going to search in Carlo's laboratory to see how many good things there are in the second district." Xia You said, dragging the suitcase with his right hand, kicking a few gravels away with his toes.

The sun is directly above the head, and the shadows are short, wide and vaguely reflected on the asphalt, and there are endless solid-color buildings spread out in the field of vision.

A hotel with a height of more than ten floors appeared at the end of the street. As soon as you entered the door, you can see the mottled marble. The decoration is about the minimalist and cold style that is popular in the second district.Xia You went to the front desk to get the room card, achieved the achievement of "living in a hotel for the first time in life", and asked Wutiao for a room logically.

The carpet is dark red, the double bed is soft and spacious, the floor-to-ceiling windows are well lit, and the shower room is also very clean.When Xia You stepped on the floor with bare feet, she was almost surprised by its incredible flexibility and couldn't walk.

It wasn't until he was sitting on the edge of the spotless bed, facing the glass window that was enough to see the street view of most of the area, that he gradually got a sense of reality.

This is the second district, "one person is under one person and over ten thousand people", and only those with a value of more than 70 are eligible to enter; countless technological revolutions have erupted here, and the most cutting-edge technology of mankind has also been born since then.

"Wu, have you been to the second district before?" Xia You couldn't help asking.

Wutiao was spreading the dance skirt on the floor, her ten fingers lingering on the bright red skirt, white as white as snow for a moment.He looked up at Xia You, and lightly said: "I have been here before, it is not much different from now. You don't need to think too much about this place, Jie, everyone has their own troubles, it's the same everywhere."

"I understand," Xia You smiled, and unconsciously rubbed the ring with his right hand, as if he was using this action to dispel doubts and confusion, "It's just curiosity."

They packed their luggage and observed carefully against the samples provided by Carlo.

The client requires both aesthetics, lightness and defense, which is simple and simple - as long as the materials are in hand, this kind of work that does not involve the core of the drive is not complicated.The biggest problem facing the two of them was the matter of "tailoring" itself: at least Xia You had an objective evaluation of his craftsmanship, and he believed that he could not complete such a high-precision job within seven days.

In the end, the redrawing of the design drawings was handed over to Wutiao, and Xia You was responsible for taking the finished draft to the laboratory and supervising the completion of the work by the "assistants".The equipment of the research institute is much better than that of the fifth district. Although the material and process requirements are extremely strict, after the study and modification of the program, it can finally perform operations that are difficult to achieve manually according to the instructions.

The week of concentrating on work came to an end soon, and Xia You and Wutiao came to visit Carlo again with their skirts on their hands.The other party weighed and measured it, frowned, and said hesitantly, "It's not light enough, it will affect her dancing tango."

The second visit: "Is the color a bit dark? Bright red complements her."

The third visit: "The waist can be narrower, Diana is the most beautiful girl in the whole dance company."

On the fourth visit, Carlo checked the dance skirt inside and out, and said pleasantly: "I think the first version is good, so let's use the first version!"

Before Party B's patience was about to run out, the order was finally completed.Carlo paid the deposit and asked them to bring the dance skirt and a letter to Diana Lynch in the fifth district. As long as the reply letter from the girl is given to Carlo, the matter will be completely over.

The next day, Xia You put away the items that should be sent, and boarded the return cruise together with Gojo.