"This... this..." Richard showed no sign of awkwardness, but Newman, on the other hand, began to sweat profusely, wiping his forehead as he desperately tried to explain, "Well, it is a new invention, so there are some minor issues, but overall, it works well once you overlook those. And..."
"There is no 'and,'" Richard interrupted, shaking his head. He looked at Newman seriously. "There is no 'and'—those two flaws are already enough to be fatal. If I'm not mistaken, these three clocks are not recent at all. They've been in your shop for at least six months. While the clocks themselves are dust-free because they're stored in boxes, the wear and tear on the box surface tells the story."
"Th-That..."
"Which means," Richard continued, "these clocks have been sitting here unsold for six months. Even if they were sold, the buyer would have returned them as soon as they discovered those issues. That's why these clocks have been sitting here all this time."
"You!" Newman's eyes narrowed in disbelief, his mouth agape. Richard's deductions were spot-on.
"The clocks are certainly valuable, but the fact is, you haven't been able to sell them," Richard said slowly, his tone stern. He looked Newman directly in the eye. "From this perspective, the more valuable the clocks are, the greater your loss."
"..." Newman fell into a long silence. After a while, he finally looked at Richard and asked cautiously, "Who are you? What do you want?"
"It doesn't matter who I am," Richard answered indifferently, "but I can help you solve the two problems with these clocks: the need to wind them every two hours and the time discrepancy of an hour every day."
"Really?" Newman's eyes widened, a mixture of skepticism and cautious hope. He wasn't sure whether to believe Richard, but considering the accuracy of Richard's earlier observations, he couldn't dismiss the possibility.
"If you don't mind, I can fix them right now," Richard suggested, looking at Newman with an inquiring expression.
"This..." Newman hesitated for a moment, before finally nodding.
Richard immediately set to work.
He knew exactly what was causing the two issues with the clocks. The need to wind them every two hours stemmed from excessive friction between the internal parts. This high friction caused the stored mechanical energy to be consumed rapidly, depleting the power within just two hours.
By contrast, a properly functioning mechanical clock on Earth would have an energy transmission efficiency of around 95%. This meant that 95% of the stored energy from winding would be transferred to the clock hands. But these clocks? Due to the excessive friction, they likely only managed to transfer about 10% of the energy.
As for the time discrepancy, that had to do with the "escapement regulator," the most critical part of the clock, which controlled the movement of the hands. The escapement system consisted of several key components: the escapement wheel, fork, double disk, and limit pins. The vibration system, which included the balance wheel, balance axle, hairspring, outer pallet ring, and the fine adjustment screws, all worked together to maintain the clock's accuracy.
If any of these components were missing, poorly designed, or made of subpar materials, the time-keeping would suffer.
With these problems in mind, Richard quickly dismantled the clock into a pile of parts under Newman's scrutinizing gaze. Three hours later, Richard had finished reassembling the clock, having smoothed out some key gears and replaced the faulty escapement fork.
"Take a look now," Richard said as he handed the clock back to Newman. "It should work much better."
Newman was skeptical, especially after seeing Richard disassemble the clock without any warning. He wasn't sure whether to trust Richard's work. However, he gingerly placed the clock on the counter, wound it up, and tested it.
"Let's see if it works," Newman muttered, watching closely.
"Go ahead," Richard replied nonchalantly.
Half an hour passed.
The clock ticked steadily, and there was no sign of any malfunction. Newman's face remained expressionless.
One hour later.
The clock continued to run smoothly. Newman's expression remained neutral.
An hour and a half passed.
The clock kept ticking. Newman's face grew more serious.
Two hours later.
The clock was still working perfectly, and Newman's eyes widened in surprise.
Three hours passed.
The clock showed no sign of stopping or losing time. Newman's jaw dropped.
Four hours later.
Newman's eyes were wide open in disbelief.
Five hours, six hours, seven hours...
By the eighth hour, when the sky had already turned dark, Richard's clock was still ticking away, displaying the most accurate time. Meanwhile, the other two clocks had already been wound for a fourth time, their time rapidly slipping out of sync.
Newman's breath quickened as he looked at Richard, his mind a whirl of thoughts. He didn't know what to say, but one thing was certain—he had just struck it rich.
Noticing the stunned expression on Newman's face, Richard was the first to speak, placing his hand on the modified clock. "After my improvements, this clock should be worth around 10,000 silver coins, right?"
Newman nodded instinctively, still processing what had just happened.
"So, after my modifications, you stand to gain a profit of about 3,000 silver coins, correct?" Richard smiled. "Now, in exchange, I'll take 500 silver coins. That doesn't seem too unreasonable, does it? If you feel it's unfair, I can always revert the clock to its original state."
"No… no need for that," Newman quickly replied, waving his hand. He gestured to a nearby attendant, signaling for the payment to be brought over.
Before long, a heavy coin pouch was placed into Richard's hands. It felt substantial, the weight of fifty gold coins from the Kingdom of Prue.
Gold coins were the most valuable currency in the Kingdom of Prue, but they weren't typically used for everyday transactions. In fact, it was the same in other countries as well. Even in modern Earth history, gold was not the primary circulating currency—silver coins and bullion were.
However, when dealing with large transactions, silver coins became impractical. To carry 500 silver coins would require a large and heavy bag, one that would attract unnecessary attention.
For this reason, Newman had opted to pay Richard in gold coins.
Gold coins were a rarer form of currency, and their exchange rate with silver coins fluctuated. Richard knew that the current exchange rate was approximately one gold coin for 12 to 13 silver coins. With the 50 gold coins, Newman had effectively given Richard an extra 100 silver coins as a gesture of goodwill.
Richard understood this well and smiled knowingly. He then turned to the still-dazed Newman and said, "I'll be back in three days. If you come up with anything by then, we can discuss it further. Until then, goodbye."
With that, Richard and Lucy left the jewelry store, leaving Newman standing there in stunned silence, still trying to process everything that had just happened.