TL: Etude
"Alright."
Chen Jianghai smiled as he accepted the radio from the old man, also borrowing a screwdriver in the process.
He first opened the battery compartment. The batteries inside seemed quite new; they probably still had some charge left. Then, he inspected the interior and quickly identified the issue.
It turned out the internal antenna had come loose. Fixing it would be simple, requiring no additional parts.
"Do you have any aluminum foil at home?" Chen Jianghai asked.
"Aluminum foil? I'm afraid not," the old man hesitated for a moment before shaking his head.
"What about a Gatorade bottle?"
"We have that."
"Do you have a soldering iron?"
"It's next door. I'll go borrow it."
Chen Jianghai took the Gatorade bottle and looked at the label, feeling nostalgic. He wouldn't be able to drink this again in the future.
Although it made a brief comeback and was produced again for a while, it just wasn't the same.
He borrowed a pair of scissors and cut two small pieces of aluminum foil from the bottle. After dismantling the radio, he replaced the two original aluminum pieces connecting to the antenna. Chen Jianghai then reassembled the radio.
The radio quickly emitted a buzzing noise.
Chen Jianghai adjusted the antenna and then began to tune the channels.
"August 19th, BEYOND will hold a concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum, this…"
The sound wasn't very clear, as it was interspersed with static, but the old man listened joyfully.
"Grandpa, how's it? All fixed, right?" Chen Jianghai asked with a smile.
The old man happily accepted the radio and promptly took out some money. "Excellent work, young man. Here, take this."
Chen Jianghai accepted the money, holding it tightly in his hand.
It was significant, as it was the first money he had earned since his reincarnation.
"By the way, young man, there's also an issue with my television. Can you fix it?" The old man suddenly asked, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"I'll take a look."
"This old man lives quite well," thought Chen Jianghai, raising an eyebrow as he carefully replied.
The old man led Chen Jianghai inside. On top of a wardrobe sat a black-and-white television, covered with a thick, patterned cloth.
Chen Jianghai kindly advised, "Grandpa, it's not a good idea to put cloth on top of the TV."
"It's just to keep the dust off," the old man explained.
Chen Jianghai grinned. "Well, the TV relies on the small holes in the back for ventilation. If you cover them up, it'll affect its ability to cool down and speed up its aging process."
"Alright, I'll take your word for it. I'll remove it now." The old man, who had apparently come to see Chen Jianghai as an expert, promptly removed the cloth.
He then plugged in the television and turned it on, revealing a vertical bright line on the right side of the screen.
"The line doesn't affect viewing, but it's a bit annoying to look at," said the old man, pointing to it somewhat helplessly.
The experienced Chen Jianghai immediately considered three potential causes of the malfunction.
To be certain, he would need to open up the television and take a closer look.
After skillfully removing the back cover of the TV, Chen Jianghai quickly found the problem—a solder joint had come loose. Luckily, he still had the soldering iron, making the repair even simpler.
"Grandpa, fixing a TV is different from fixing a radio when it comes to the cost," Chen Jianghai said, clearly having done the math.
The old man was sharp and had been carefully observing. Once he was sure Chen Jianghai was skilled and likely to fix the problem, he straightforwardly replied, "Young man, name your price."
"Five bucks," Chen Jianghai showed an open palm, succinctly.
The old man accepted the price without haggling and agreed on the spot.
Several minutes later, Chen Jianghai had re-soldered all the problematic areas and then turned on the TV.
At this point, the bright lines on the screen had disappeared, and everything was back to normal.
On the television, the Zhao Yazhi version of "Romance in the Rain" was playing. Chen Jianghai glanced at it and lost interest immediately.
Having experienced the liquid crystal rear-projection TVs of the future, watching a black-and-white television now felt utterly bland.
"Young man, you really know your stuff!" The old man gave him a thumbs-up, sincerely praising him.
Chen Jianghai chuckled: "Old man, if any of your relatives or friends have problems with their electronics in the future, they can find me. My name is Chen Jianghai, and my fees are definitely reasonable."
"Very good!" Looking at the repaired TV, the old man broke into a smile and readily agreed.
Just as Chen Jianghai was about to leave, the old man suddenly spoke up again.
"By the way, Xiao Chen, I have an old radio here. Can you fix it?"
"Let me take a look." Chen Jianghai, sensing the old man's intentions, smiled and said.
Then the old man brought out an old radio from the house; many parts of it were rusty.
"It's been broken for several years now. Do you think you can fix it?" the old man asked with a smile.
Chen Jianghai took a quick look and shook his head: "To fix it would require many parts. You might as well buy a new one."
Hearing this, the old man was clearly disappointed.
At that moment, Chen Jianghai suddenly said, "Old man, I could take this off your hands. Are you willing to sell it?"
"How much?" the old man instinctively asked.
"Um...two yuan."
Chen Jianghai held up two fingers, naming his price.
"That's too little!" The old man looked reluctant.
Chen Jianghai immediately said, "I've rarely seen radios of this brand and would like to disassemble it to see its internal structure. If not, never mind."
The initially hesitant old man quickly said, "No, no, take it for two yuan!"
A radio so damaged that it couldn't be used would fetch no more than fifty cents if sold as scrap.
Now he could sell it for two yuan—only a fool would decline!
Chen Jianghai promptly paid the money and left with the old radio.
"Old man, if anyone you know wants to repair or sell old electronics in the future, they can find me. I'll be hanging around nearby. My prices are absolutely low, and if I can't fix it, I won't charge."
Holding the old radio, a joyful smile adorned Chen Jianghai's face.
Why wouldn't he be happy?
He had earned one yuan from repairing the old man's radio, another five from fixing his TV, and then spent two yuan to buy his old radio.
In summary, he had used the old man's money to buy the old man's equipment. All in all, he had only gained.
The value of skill!
Skill changes destiny!
Chen Jianghai was acutely aware that if he wanted to make money in this era, relying on skill was the best way.
While repair work was profitable, it was incredibly slow.
The era of economic reforms and open-door policies had arrived, allowing individuals to engage in private enterprise. Many households had old, broken appliances that could be collected, disassembled, and reassembled for resale.
At least in Linghai, no one was doing this business; essentially, Chen Jianghai had a monopoly.
The profitability of monopolized business was something everyone in later generations would understand.
Carrying the radio, Chen Jianghai happily headed to Yangqiaokou market to buy some vegetables and cook a good meal.
In his previous life, his wife Lin Wanqiu had never tasted a meal cooked by him before she despairingly left this world.
In this life, all changes would begin with this meal!
"Boss, give me two jin of pork belly," Chen Jianghai loudly said in front of the meat stall.
Entering the 1990s, the days of rationed shopping were gradually becoming a thing of the past. As long as one had money, meat and grain were readily available.
The stall owner hesitated for a moment. Most people who came to buy meat here purchased lean or fatty meat; not many bought pork belly.
"Just over two jin; three yuan should do it."
The stall owner cut it skillfully and, after weighing, efficiently tied the meat up with a string.
Hearing this price, Chen Jianghai couldn't help but inwardly marvel.
Those who hadn't experienced it might find it hard to imagine that this pork was selling for only one and a half yuan per jin!
More than twenty years later, the same would cost at least twenty to thirty yuan per jin!
That's almost a twentyfold increase.
What's sad is that wage growth lagged far behind the pace of rising prices.
In his previous life, Chen Jianghai had not cherished the people around him nor had he put his feet on the ground to strive hard. Ultimately, he ended up with nothing, alone.
In this life, Chen Jianghai had decided to live differently and embark on a wholly different journey.
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