Chapter 8: Life in the abandoned mine pit
After completing the last micro-scale soldering, Xu Le took off the deep-color protection mask from his face, feeling quite satisfied. Next, he organized all the fully repaired items inside the workshop room following the labels on the items and sorted them neatly into the metal shelf. A push of a button by the shelf sent all the items outside of the workshop room. By early morning next day, these repaired items would be shipped back to the fourth district of the Xiang-Lan Boulevard. Out of old habit, Xu Le always got things ready ahead of time.
He quickly washed his face with hot water, and then smoothly retrieved a bottle of eye solution from a drawer and carefully added a few drops to his eyes. Even with the help of various microscope type instruments, the world of metal chips could still be quite a torture for the eyes of any electrical technician. Especially since he would always forget about time when he devotes himself into the world of metal chips, both of his eyes appeared to have reddened.
“Go get a rest. Enjoy some scenic views and relax the muscles in your eyes.”
Feng Yu rubbed his own gray hair and felt very satisfied with Xu Le’s speed and concentration. For the last half a year, most of the repair jobs for the electrical appliance repair shop at the Xiang-Lan Boulevard were really completed here by Xu Le in the secluded mine tunnel. And all Feng Yu had to do was to stay at his shop during weekdays and then show up here to give a few pointers during the weekends. As time went by, Xu Le’s repair speed had become faster and faster, now even faster than Feng Yu, who was once an electrical technician in the military.
Xu Le acknowledged with a mumble. He took out two bottles of fruit juice from the freezer and then followed behind Feng Yu, walking toward the upper part of the mine pit.
Xu Le could hear the non-stop clanking sound coming from the front. He couldn’t help but look up, and then once again, he saw the extremely eye-catching ragged jeans worn by Uncle Feng Yu, together with the tightly wrapped buttocks, and also … a bunch of keys, screwdrivers, and the kind of metal things alike. They swung non-stop in the air and again and again hitting the big buttocks, making disturbing noises.
Xu Le could never understand why Feng Yu would present himself in such a way. But Feng Yu told him that it’s just like the sword of a swordsman or the gun of an assassin would never be left behind. Therefore, electrical technicians should never let their tools be left behind…. Xu Le actually knew it. This uncle believed that wearing wind chimes on his ass makes him look extra manly, which could really help him attract the eyes of those young and lonely ladies.
It was already quite late. The light above the Eastwood Grand District had gradually dimmed. The twilight also gradually turned redder and darker, producing a dazzling shine through the reflections against the large pile of metal thingy behind Feng Yu’s back. Xu Le squinted his eyes naturally and gazed at the shadow that was climbing the slope not at ease. He suddenly remembered the moment two years ago when he foolishly walked in the repair shop.
The relationship between him and Feng Yu was a bit strange. It was not a relationship between student and teacher, but he did learn from Feng Yu knowledge and practical experience about electronics, something he always longed for.
Although repairing electrical appliances didn’t help him at all with respect to his dream, the dream of becoming an auxiliary officer of a battleship or living a better life in the Capital Star Circle, Xu Le did find satisfaction and equilibrium from the small repair shop.
Xu Le was not an employee of Feng Yu, either, because Feng Yu never paid him any money and only left enough food in the freezer. Such treatment would only make Xu Le a pitiful slave of the Xiang-Lan Boulevard Repair Shop … but Xu Le did make quite some bucks for the repair shop during the past two years.
“The registration fee for the draft exam, if I choose electrical technician … the government will only reimburse forty percent.” Staring at the back of the uncle, Xu Le finally gathered enough courage to make his demand. “There are only two years left. I really need to save some money.”
The hidden meaning of these words was of course a request to get paid by the repair shop owner, but Feng Yu rejected it without even looking back.
“It was you who cried and begged me to teach you. Did I ever ask you for any tuition?”
What a shameless guy! Even more shameless than I am! Xu le thought to himself. Then he remembered the time when he first ran into the repair shop and how he shamelessly held onto the owner’s thigh. The courage to ask for money quickly diminished. He heaved a helpless sigh, ran a few steps, and then sat by Feng Yu’s side.
The two of them were now sitting at the very top of the mine pit. Behind them were the shadows of the city’s buildings, which were a good distance away and appeared blurry and unreal. In front of them was a large stretch of green grassland. Deep in the grassland they could see tall trees reaching the sky. The refreshing scene of the nature almost felt like a jumping flame, burning with ardor under the setting sun.
“I’ve always been curious.”
Feng Yu didn’t take the juice Xu Le handed to him, instead, lit another cigarette. He took a deep breath in with a great joy and then glanced greedily at the grassland the forest in front of him before continuing.
“There are at least one thousand repair shops in the Eastwood Grand District. Why did you choose me?”
Xu Le cast a side glance toward him, shocked at the idea that he had only thought of the question after two years had passed. After a short pause, he finally looked down and replied.
“The automatic vacuum door of the coffee shop had stopped working. I heard that you fixed it, so I decided to find you.”
“Anyone could have fixed that door,” Feng Yu exclaimed without turning his head.
“Perhaps you were in a really good mood when you fixed that door….” A slight trace of cunning quickly flashed across Xu Le’s eyes, which always looked extra sincere when he smiled. “The glueless vacuum joint at the B2 port was simply remarkable, with an error grade in the one-thousands. That was two grades higher than the civilian standards, even slightly higher than the military standards. Ever since then, I knew you weren’t just any ordinary guy, boss!”
Feng Yu seemed to have been startled. He suddenly burst into laughter. Turning around he raised his hand as though to strike Xu Le’s head, but eventually he settled for rubbing the untidy black hair.
“You are crazy! Who would have thought of measuring that thing?”
“Maybe it was just my intuition?” Xu Le smiled happily. “I just felt there was something really weird about that door, and I happened to have some money at that time, so I went and bought a multi-spectrometer. And as soon as I measured it, I found the oddity.”
“Even the smallest multi-spectrometer won’t fit under the door. How did you measure it? I am quite curious.” Feng Yu’s interests instantly shot up.
“Hmm….” After a short moment of awkward silence Xu Le finally answered. “I asked for Li Wei’s help, and the two of us took the door apart at night … of course we put it back on the same night. I am no thief.”
Feng Yu couldn’t help but laugh again.
“But didn’t I install an alarm on that door…?” he asked.
“The one hidden inside the double-pane glasses?” Xu Le lowered his head in embarrassment. “I…I found it right away and…took it apart too.”
Feng Yu suddenly fell quiet. He stared at the young lad next to him, and for a long time, didn’t speak another word. Two years ago, Xu Le was only a self-studying student who only knew how to memorize processes and standards from books in the library. Even then Xu Le was already capable of disabling an alarm set up by Feng Yu, himself. Now when he thought about it, the conclusion he had come to earlier on the couch was indeed accurate.
Right at that moment, several majestic-looking wild buffalos, cloaked in the beautiful twilight of the dusk, slowly wandered outside of the woods and walked toward the direction of the mine pit.
Both Xu Le and Feng Yu instantly stopped all thoughts and motion and only stared at the buffalos steadily. The stares were filled with greed.
“Uncle, we haven’t had any fresh buffalo steaks for half-a-year now,” Xu Le swallowed a mouthful of slaver and suggested.
Feng Yu stood up slowly and cast a glance at the long, endless metal isolation guardrail that separated the mine pit and the grassland, his face turning into a grimace.
“All through my life, I hate two federation laws the most. One of them is that god damned Wild Life Protection Act.”
Xu Le tried hard to hold his laughter. Raising his head up, he asked, “What’s the other one?”
“The First Constitution.”
After that most arrogant statement, he led Xu Le toward the wild buffalos on the other side of the isolation guardrail, looking vicious and dangerous.
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Video of the Day:
I suspect the name Xiang-Lan Boulevard mentioned in this chapter comes from Hong-Kong singer Jacky Cheung's famous song "Li Xiang Lan." Either way, it is a beautiful song! Enjoy!
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