Chapter 11: Like Building Blocks in Kindergarten

Qin Hongfei began dismantling the machine, swiftly reducing it to little more than a bare frame. At some point, a crowd of locals had gathered in the shop to watch the spectacle, but their presence did nothing to hinder her performance.

Had anyone here known her true abilities, they would surely have cried out that she was wasted on such trivial work! Repairing appliances, though she had never done it herself, was no challenge for Qin Hongfei. She understood the principles better than anyone; once you grasped the fundamentals, there was nothing you couldn’t fix. The difficulty, for her, was akin to a child stacking blocks in kindergarten.

The television wouldn’t turn on because of issues between the power supply and the motherboard. Qin Hongfei methodically eliminated each problem, fixing them one by one. The shop owner, watching her work without replacing a single part, grew increasingly confident that she would fail—how could she repair it without new components?

Someone in the crowd asked, “Aren’t you going to replace any parts?”

Qin Hongfei replied that, strictly speaking, she should, “But parts are expensive! It’s a waste of money.” Televisions were costly these days, over two thousand apiece; replacing the motherboard or power supply could easily cost several hundred.

Her candid answer left everyone speechless.

Yet what happened next was beyond belief. Qin Hongfei, unsure exactly what she did to the power supply and motherboard, even used a hair dryer and a soldering iron. Within half an hour, she reassembled everything, plugged in the power, and the once lifeless television flickered to life, displaying a screen full of static.

“Wow, is it fixed?”

“Not quite, the audio channel is still broken,” Qin Hongfei replied, and continued her work.

“How is this possible?!” The owner stared at the glowing screen in disbelief, certain it would soon fail again.

But another fifteen minutes passed, and not only did the television remain on, the static began to hiss audibly. Qin Hongfei fiddled with the tuner, and soon the picture emerged, albeit fuzzy. It could now power on and receive channels—she had truly repaired it. “You can take your television home now. Welcome back any time.”

The young customer’s eyes widened. “This can’t be…” He had visited several shops, all of which declared the TV hopeless, beyond repair unless parts were replaced. How—how… “What did you do to it?”

Qin Hongfei understood his shock, but merely smiled, “I’m a repair technician; naturally, I fixed it. If you’re doubtful, test it now. Once you leave the shop, there’s no after-sales service.”

Hearing this, the young man hurried forward and slapped the TV hard, challenging it to go dark.

But it didn’t oblige him.

With everyone watching, he might have tried pouring water or something, but this shabby shop didn’t even have chairs, let alone tea for guests.

Qin Hongfei regarded him with a half-smile. “The main power supply is inside the machine. The casing is designed to withstand external force. Hitting it like that won’t break it. Now that you’ve confirmed it works, take it home.” She took her payment.

The young man knew he’d been bested. With so many witnesses and everything in black and white, he couldn’t go back on his word. He could only carry his television away, gritting his teeth, and before leaving, glared fiercely at the owner of the neighboring shop. He spat, “Trash.”

The neighboring owner had sworn it couldn’t be fixed, which only made him more confident—yet look at the result.

The neighboring owner’s face flushed red with embarrassment. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something and smiled oddly, “Little Qin, I guess I underestimated you. When your skills fail, you turn to tricks, huh?”