Chapter 12: Repair Is Not a Simple Matter

He Yuzhu was carrying the two premium second-hand big-item radios and fashionable second-hand 35 watches he had just bought, and instantly became the best-looking guy in the whole courtyard. He had just stepped inside when he bumped into Third Grandfather Yan Bugui.

Seeing He Yuzhu, a good fellow, holding those two big items, Third Grandfather said, "Silly Zhu, did you strike it rich? You bought a radio and a watch? Heck, this radio of yours is the only one in our courtyard."

"Yo, Third Grandfather, skipping class again? Aren't you afraid I'll go tell the school about you?" He Yuzhu stopped and said to Third Grandfather.

"Silly Zhu, you're just causing trouble for me, Third Grandfather. Our Old Fourth hasn't been getting enough to eat these days. I didn't have someone buy some crucian carp to send back to Third Grandmother, did I? I just took it back because it smelled weird in the office." After saying that, Third Grandfather pointed at the radio and watch He Yuzhu was holding and asked, "Where did you buy this stuff? It can't be cheap, right?"

"Third Grandfather, I don't have that kind of money. This radio belongs to a friend of mine; you can see it's broken. Didn't I learn a few repair skills from a senior brother of mine before?"

"I'm not planning to have a look to see if I can fix it for my friend." After saying that, He Yuzhu lifted the radio a bit and said, "This watch I bought at the recycling station; I'm going to try to fix it—if it works, you'll agree, right?"

"Silly Zhu, your friend is really loyal, letting you fix something so valuable. Alright, hurry back—it's pretty heavy to carry."

"Alright, Third Grandfather, I'm heading back since you're busy." He Yuzhu said that and hurried off toward the central courtyard.

Returning to the central courtyard, He Yuzhu didn't go to the side room but went straight to the main house. After opening the door, he put the radio and watch on the side table, then went to the side room to fetch the toolbox and brought it to the main house. The toolbox was actually just a small wooden box containing a few foreign nails, a hammer, and two screwdrivers.

After using a screwdriver to open the radio's back cover, He Yuzhu checked and saw that a few wires were broken. He hooked up the soldering iron and soldered the broken wires, then was about to turn on the radio but after pressing for a while there was no response. He looked again and said, "Damn, I forgot to buy batteries."

He Yuzhu hurried to the Crossroads General Store, bought a few batteries, ran back, installed them, and with full confidence turned on the radio to listen to the first sound after returning to this world— the first time listening to a radio. Result... it still didn't work.

Comrade He Yuzhu panicked, he really panicked, opened the radio's back cover again, took out all the internal components, examined each part one by one, and discovered...

The circuit board was missing a few solder joints, the diode had burned out—Comrade He Yuzhu really overestimated his abilities. If fixing radios were this easy in this era, ordinary families wouldn't be selling them.

There's no way to fix it, otherwise those fifteen silver dollars would have been wasted? He Yuzhu picked up the soldering iron again, soldered the missing joints, then set the radio aside.

How could that be all there is to it? Of course not—you can solder the joints but you can't fix the diode. He Yuzhu had no choice but to set it aside for now, waiting until he bought a new diode to continue.

After opening the Old 35 brand watch he had bought, He Yuzhu gave it a few winds, and the watch began to tick.

He Yuzhu exclaimed, "This time the author didn't screw me over—it's a good watch!" Having said that, he carried the fashionable Old 35 brand watch to Yi Zhonghai's home to deliver it.

Ahem, he took the watch to Yi Zhonghai's home to synchronize the time. He Yuzhu didn't really want to go to Yi Zhonghai's home, but there was no way around it—only Yi Zhonghai's household in the central courtyard had a watch.

Arriving at Yi Zhonghai's home, He Yuzhu knocked on the door and shouted, "Is First Grandmother home? I'm He Yuzhu."

Hearing He Yuzhu's shout, First Grandmother, before even opening the door, said to He Yuzhu, "What's up, Zhuzi?" After speaking, she opened the door, saw He Yuzhu coming to deliver the clock—no, holding the watch—and said, "Oh, Zhuzi, you bought a watch? Come in quickly." She then welcomed He Yuzhu inside.

"Yes, First Grandmother, today I went to the recycling station to buy parts and saw a batch of watches. Seeing they were cheap, I picked a nice-looking one. Look, this is a 35 brand." Having said that, He Yuzhu placed the watch on the square table.

"'How much did you pay for it, Zhuzi? It looks pretty new,' she said, eyeing the Old 35 brand watch. 'This style is nicer than ours—it must have cost quite a bit.'"

"'Just five dollars, First Grandmother—pretty cheap, huh. At first I thought it was broken and wanted to have someone fix it, but after giving it a few winds, the watch worked fine—it's a good one.' He Yuzhu said this while setting the Old 35 brand watch to the time, explaining to First Grandmother."

"'Zhuzi, you really snagged a great bargain—if it were new, it would cost several tens of dollars.' First Grandmother poured He Yuzhu a cup of water as she said that."

"'Alright, First Grandmother, the time's set. I'm heading back now—I'll tidy up the house and go pick up Yu Shui from school.' After saying that, He Yuzhu carried the Old 35 brand watch back to his own room. From then on, Comrade He Yuzhu embarked on the path to becoming a time-management master."

After hammering a foreign nail into the wall, He Yuzhu hung the watch on it, then, still uneasy, hammered two more foreign nails below it before hanging the watch up. After winding the watch fully, He Yuzhu watched the hands move slowly on the wall and smiled with satisfaction.

After tidying up the radio on the side table and putting it in the corner wardrobe, He Yuzhu locked the door and left the Courtyard House. This time, however, Comrade He Yuzhu himself took a sling bag and slung it over his shoulder.

He Yuzhu took ten minutes to walk to the Market Gate Trust Store, found Zhao Huamin, bought a few second-hand second-level tubes, also bought some cooked food at the store and put it in the sling bag he had just taken from home, then happily hurried to Master Wang Youde's house. Along the way he thought, 'I really need to save up to buy a bicycle—these past few days, walking every day on Route 11 is just too much.'

He Yuzhu arrived at Wang Deyou's home; Li Lanying was just taking the freshly steamed two-and-a-half flour buns out of the winnowing basket. Seeing He Yuzhu, she said, 'Zhuzi, this afternoon happens to be when the Li family's sister-in-law's niece from our big courtyard comes over—her name is Shui Ling. I've inquired, and this girl works at the department store; her qualifications are really good. How about I have the Li family's sister-in-law set you two up?'

"'Alright, Master's Wife, my father's gone, so my affairs are for you and my master to decide. But if they don't take a liking to me, you can't blame me,' He Yuzhu said with a grin to Li Lanying."

"'Alright, I'll tell the Li family's sister-in-law tomorrow. Come, bring this winnowing basket of buns inside.' Having said that, Li Lanying handed the winnowing basket to He Yuzhu."