Chapter 9: A Turn for the Better

  The continuous winter rain finally stopped, and the sky gradually cleared up.

  In the backyard of "Tai Chang" store, 30-year-old truck driver He Shuisheng was sweating profusely. The American-made Chevrolet small truck he had just started driving six months ago suddenly wouldn't move. It was fine when he was driving in the city earlier, but now it wouldn't start no matter how hard he tried to ignite it. Even using the hand crank at the front of the car to manually start it didn't work. The engine would only weakly sputter a few times before losing all response.

  Helpless He Shuisheng suddenly remembered that not long ago, when he was chatting with Jiongzi, he heard him say that his car was clumsy and outdated, and they even quarreled for a few sentences. It seemed that this Jiongzi, who was skilled in mechanical repair, knew something about repairing cars. So, in a state of urgency, He Shuisheng walked into warehouse No. 4 with a mindset of trying his luck, without caring that An Yi was instructing two apprentices to disassemble a sewing machine, and loudly said: "Jiongzi, come out with me for a moment."

  "What's wrong?"

  An Yi, who was called "handsome boy" by the merchants, improved his Cantonese speaking ability quickly after hard practice. Especially one month ago, when Mr. Chen brought two local apprentices to work with him, An Yi benefited a lot from the two apprentices who couldn't speak Mandarin.

  Perhaps it was his own car that broke down and didn't want to make a fuss, He Shuisheng pulled An Yi all the way to the side of the car in front of the No. 2 warehouse door and said in a low voice: "Jingzi, didn't you say something about repairing cars last time? Help me take a look at how it is? With so many complex imported machines that you can repair, I estimate that you also have some way with cars?"

  An Yi looked at Shui Sheng and then at the car, knowing that the proud He Shui Sheng would not ask for his help until he was in dire straits. Although it was just an old-fashioned Chevrolet with a load capacity of 1.5 tons, there were no more than fifty such cars in the entire city of Guangzhou. Being able to drive such a car on the main road was a matter of great pride, and that sense of superiority was unmatched. It's estimated that it would be even better than driving a Mercedes-Benz 600 in later generations.

  An Yi thought for a moment and finally decided to help, although He Shuisheng was usually arrogant and wouldn't even let him in the car, but now seeing the sweat-drenched face of Shuisheng full of pleading, the carriage was filled with a full load of goods, An Yi still dispelled his mind to watch the excitement and said try it out. He asked Shuisheng about the situation and went forward to open the heavy engine cover, instructing Shuisheng to get into the driver's room and start it several times, Shuisheng also changed his usual arrogance and followed suit.

  "Pfft——"

  The radiator was overheating, causing the pressure to surge and the melted seal ring on the water tank cover to emit a puff of steam, which attracted the attention of about seven or eight coworkers, including Ou Zongguan, who gathered around in shock. Shui Sheng, who had only been driving for five months, turned pale with fright. However, An Yi remained calm and composed, covering the radiator with a soft cloth used for wiping down cars, then moving to the corner of the wall to fetch a pile of bricks to block the wheels. He climbed onto the car head, tools in hand, and carefully checked the spark plugs and ignition wires before reinstalling them. After checking the air motor and cooling system, he found no issues but was still puzzled. Jumping down from the car, he squatted in front of the radiator, thinking for a while, when suddenly he spotted an oil stain on the ground beneath the middle section of the vehicle. The murky engine oil continued to drip onto the ground.

  An Yi lay down on the ground under the gaze of everyone, crawled into the bottom of the car, and immediately saw that the transmission gear case had been cracked open with a mouthful of more than two inches, and the remaining engine oil was dripping down. So he also judged the cause of the cylinder head being hot and the water tank boiling over and unable to start. Cautious An Yi crawled out and explained the situation to the anxious Shui Sheng. Shui Sheng suddenly realized that due to the continuous rain in recent days, the road was sunken, and it must have been after loading and driving on the old East Suburbs Road, where the bumpy road had hit a stone and damaged the car.

  An Yi nodded and asked: "The gap in the oil pan is not small, it needs to be welded. Is there an automobile repair factory in Guangzhou?"

  "Where can I find a repair shop that's any good? All the car owners take their broken cars to that Saiki foreigner-owned repair shop, but those foreigners are so arrogant. If we send our car in, it'll probably take them at least a month to fix it... Ugh! It's all my fault, if only I had chosen a better route, I wouldn't have crashed into the oil pan... This is a brand new car that I just bought half a year ago, what if the boss finds out...?" Shui was getting anxious.

  "Do you know anyone at the shipyard on the south bank of Baigetan?" An Yi asked after a moment's thought.

  Shui Sheng jumped up excitedly: "I know, my fourth uncle is a plumber, this is great!"

  An Yi smiled: "That's good, wait a minute and I'll take down the oil pan, you go find someone to help, I'll stay behind to check other parts and circuits for you. If everything goes smoothly, you can drive away this afternoon."

  "Alright! Good fellow, it's fixed! I'll treat you to three days of yum cha at Yue Xiang Lou."

  An Yi didn't say anything and crawled back under the car, took over the tools handed by Shui Sheng and quickly removed the damaged oil pan. Shui Sheng took the damaged part and rushed to the shipyard. An Yi wiped his hands and returned to warehouse No. 4, where he carefully instructed the two diligent apprentices on their tasks, then climbed back onto the car head. The onlookers finally realized that An Yi was also skilled in repairing cars, and they looked at him with admiration in their eyes. Even Jiu Shu, who had experienced many hardships and had a wealth of experience, came over and nodded his head repeatedly in praise. It's worth noting that in Guangzhou City at that time, being able to repair imported machinery was an extraordinary thing, and this skill that only foreign technicians possessed was something that very few Chinese people could master, let alone repairing expensive cars.

  The general manager of Ou drove away the onlookers and stood with Jiu Shu under the shade of a tree, watching An Yi busily and discussing in a low voice. They both thought that their business was lucky to have recruited such a treasure. After a while, a black American sedan slowly entered the courtyard from the side door of the backyard. As soon as Ou Zongguan and Jiu Shu saw this, they immediately quickened their pace to greet them, asking after the master of the house, Ou Yaoting, and others who had just gotten out of the car.

  A seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl with long hair, wearing a light purple flower-patterned jacket, saw Ninth Uncle and hurried over to him, holding his arm and asking about his well-being. Her skin was as white as snow, her face delicate and lovely, her figure slender and elegant, and her large eyes sparkled brightly, making Ninth Uncle's old eyes narrow into a line.

  Wearing a black imported camel coat, Ou Yaoting adjusted his golden-rimmed glasses and pointed to the two legs sticking out from under the truck, asking discontentedly: "Director Ou, what's going on with the water? A car that just started running for a few months is already broken?"

  "It was suddenly broken, but the one under the car wasn't Shuixing, it was our workshop's master An Yi. Boss, this guy is awesome! The car can't move anymore and Shuixing was anxious, jumping up and down, couldn't do anything. After calling this kid over, he found the damaged place in just a few moves. We were all watching, this kid seems to know how to fix cars, his movements are very skilled. He opened the hood and could name every part of those complicated machines, many words we didn't understand. Look, Shuixing took the broken parts he disassembled to the shipyard for repair, this guy filled up the water tank again and checked the hood several times, finally crawled under the car and is still doing something now, we don't know what. Ou Zongguan rarely speaks so much, saying so many words at once surprised Ou Yaoting too, it's clear that An Yi's ability has shocked everyone, otherwise the usually calm Ou Zongguan wouldn't be so excited."

  Ou Yating nodded, but in his heart, he had a growing appreciation for An Yi. From the first time he watched An Yi handle trouble at the entrance of the store, Ou Yating had a faint feeling that this was a talented person. As time passed, An Yi brought him more and more surprises, repairing batches of damaged machines and recovering tens of thousands of losses for Ou Yating. What's more, this young tall boy never boasted about his achievements, never haggled over prices, worked diligently and selflessly, and took responsibility for his actions. Ou Yating broke the rules and gave him a master craftsman's salary of 38 yuan per month from the second month on. But An Yi didn't seem to be excited about it, taking everything in stride as if he wasn't concerned with his own interests at all. This left Ou Yating unsure for a moment. So today, taking advantage of the opportunity to welcome his daughter back home, Ou Yating came here without warning to take a look, and unexpectedly brought him another surprise.

  "Let Ou Zongguan stay, don't call him. Take me to the place where the machine is being repaired." Ou Yaoting had an extra thought in her mind, and her beloved daughter followed behind with Jiǔ Shū, supporting him gently, asking about An Yi's affairs in a low voice, looking very curious. Jiǔ Shū also smiled kindly and replied in a low voice.

  Two apprentices saw Ou Zongguan bring in the big boss and hurriedly stood up to salute, standing there looking extremely nervous.

  Ou Yating glanced at the tidy space, nodded and turned to the apprentices, asking their names in a gentle tone. He asked Ah Hua, a clever young man: "I heard from Ou Zongguan that you've been here for almost a month now, how's it going? What have you learned?"

  "Ah Hua replied nervously: 'It's okay... it can be disassembled and assembled now.'"

  "Oh? Not bad!" Ou Yaoting smiled slightly: "How does your little master usually treat you? Is he hiding a trick or two that he doesn't teach you?"

  Ah Hua shook his head: "Master An is very good to us, as soon as he came, he showed us more than 30 drawings he drew himself, three days later when we all understood, he taught us to disassemble the machine. When we encountered something we didn't understand, as long as we asked, he would teach us in detail, sometimes even explaining several times without getting angry. It's just that... after he knew that our two ages are older than him, he wouldn't let us call him Master An, but instead wanted us to call him brother, which made us very uncomfortable."

  Ou Yat-ting nodded in satisfaction: "Can you show me the drawings your master drew?"

  Another apprentice named Ah Zhi was quick-witted and soon brought out a roll of yellow cowhide paper, which he unrolled on the table in front of Ou Yaoting. Ou Yaoting was shocked after seeing only the first sheet, for it was the first time he had seen such exquisite and standard handmade drawings. The numerous symbols and signs on it amazed him, including "¤", "mm", contour lines, error degrees, etc., which made this boss who returned from studying in France extremely shocked. He knew that if someone hadn't received Western-style professional education or learned trigonometric solid geometry, they wouldn't have such a level of skill.

  As the detailed drawings unfolded one by one, Ou Yaoting's eyebrows furrowed deeper and deeper. The neat fonts and beautiful Arabic numerals on the drawings, as well as the measurement symbols replaced with letters, all made him have serious doubts about this young man of unknown origin at the bottom of his company.

  "Dad, this is unbelievable! These drawings are even better than those of our college professors... a vagrant beggar with no education... how is this possible? Is it that An guy who brought them back from somewhere?" Beautiful Miss Ou's eyes were full of suspicion.

  "Miss, you can't wrong my master. These were all drawn by my master himself. Wait..." The thick and honest Ah Zhi spoke up, who had not dared to speak out loud before. He quickly took a smaller drawing paper from the table against the wall and opened it in front of Miss Ou: "Look, this is the improved design for the rolling bearing seat that my master drew yesterday afternoon. Ah Hua and I were watching him draw by his side. Master said while drawing that if we had professional drawing paper, our speed could be increased by more than double."

  Ou Youting took the drawings and examined them carefully under his daughter's astonished gaze: "This is impressive! A tiny improvement simplifies two components, outstanding! Genius... Daughter, this is real. Look at these drawings, although they are neatly trimmed, they are actually packaging paper for machines. A true technician would not use such low-quality paper."

  "Master, Ah Zhi is my grandson. Every day when he comes back, he tells me what he has learned. Seeing him learn new things every day makes me very happy! Master Xiao Yi has no reservations, wholeheartedly teaching the two apprentices. Now Ah Zhi and Ah Hua can repair on their own, and they can get answers to any questions they don't understand. Master, I have something to say, but I'm not sure if I should say it..."

  "Uncle Jiu, you've seen me grow up. What can't be said among family members?" Ou Yaoting had great respect for this elderly man who had diligently served his family for a lifetime.

  "Ah, we must keep this treasure! Although he hasn't been here for long, his contributions are plain to see. At first, everyone looked down on him, but now they all respect him - it's rare indeed! The other day, I saw Hans, the deputy manager of the German 'Lu Lin' company, come looking for Xiao Yi again. At first, I heard that Hans didn't believe Chen's words and thought our people couldn't possibly have such high repair skills, so he came to take a look himself. As a result, he ended up staying with Xiao Yi for an entire afternoon, and then came back two more times until the day before yesterday when he left in a hurry with a small roll of cowhide paper. Master, I'm worried that the foreigners have taken a liking to Xiao Yi - they're wealthy and willing to spend money, and the locals who work at the foreign firms earn decent incomes. Even the janitors can get 18 dollars a month, while those in charge of sales can't be beat, with a minimum monthly salary of 80 dollars plus bonuses and commissions. The compradors earn even more. So I'm worried that Xiao Yi is young and impulsive, and might jump ship without thinking it through - if that happens, we'll suffer a big loss."

  Ou Yating nodded: "Jiu Shu is right, it seems we need to take this seriously. Alright, it's almost lunchtime, I won't see An Yi since there are guests at home."

  "Go slowly, master!"

  Ou Youting walked out of warehouse No. 4 and suddenly remembered something, turned around to ask Ah Hua who sent him out: "What did Hans say to your master the day before yesterday? I remember that Hans is very young, just arrived in Guangzhou from Germany a few months ago, can't speak Cantonese or Mandarin, how did they communicate?"

  "I could tell they were speaking English, Hans' English was very good, but the master's English wasn't great, stuttering and stumbling, however the master used gestures and drawings to communicate with Hans, who understood immediately, especially when the master drew diagrams, Hans would give him a big thumbs up." Ah Hua clearly admired his master.

  "Does he speak English? Alright... Ou Zongguan, please let An Yi know that I'm inviting him to dinner tonight at Yue Xiang Lou, just next door." Ou Yat Tin made up his mind, determined to meet this young man who kept a low profile. Everything would be discussed after they met in person.

  Ou Zongguan was taken aback and hastily replied: "I remember, I'll tell him later."

  Ou Yating nodded and turned to leave, getting into the car to see his beloved daughter staring blankly at the side front, Ou Yating followed her gaze to see An Yi standing six meters away, with oil stains and dust all over his clothes, staring at his daughter like a demon.

  Miss Ou saw An Yi's dirty clothes and the pig-like complexion on his face, and angrily scolded him as a "hooligan". As the car turned a corner and drove out of the yard, Miss Ou was still fuming and said: "Dad, what's honest and loyal about that An guy? He looks like a hooligan from head to toe, humph!"

  "Haha! Who made my baby girl so beautiful? Not just Anyi, but even Daddy sees you like an angel."

  "Dad, you're here again!"

  "Haha! Alright then, tonight you'll accompany Dad to dinner and we'll see just how much substance this An Yi really has..."

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