Lingnan, where there is no obvious boundary between the four seasons, gradually cooled down, An Yi finished eating a bowl of cold noodles mixed with beans and leeks without a trace of meat at the roadside stall in Nandi, paid the money and stood up to look at the sun hidden by clouds in the west overhead, stroked his still croaking stomach twice, took a deep breath and walked towards the luxury shop across the road.

"Taichang" firm is a large firm specializing in imported machinery, in the past two years to sell sewing machines made in the United States and Germany famous, the firm 18 meters wide and nine meters deep store is located on the first floor of a French-style building, the decoration is exquisitely displayed in an orderly manner, far away people feel the extraordinary aesthetics and strong strength of the owner of this firm.

"Stop! Why are you again? Hurry up, hurry up, go away! ”

Slightly chubby and wearing a pair of myopic glasses, Shopkeeper Chen is about forty years old, wearing a cloud gauze literati robe, which is quite elegant, but when he saw An Ning, who came in for the third time, his face immediately changed, and he walked out of the high cash register and stopped An Yi who entered the store, his long and narrow white face was full of disdain.

An Yi said sincerely with a humble smile: "Mr. Chen, I have been observing outside the store for a few days, the business here is indeed good, many guests from the northern provinces have purchased sewing machines and textile machinery accessories from here in batches, so I think it is no problem to communicate with these guests from other provinces, although I don't speak Cantonese now, but I can understand every word, I believe I will speak soon." Again, there aren't enough people, and you haven't been able to recruit the right people, so why don't you let me give it a try? Just give me three days to try it out, if it doesn't work, you can drive me away immediately, and I won't dare to trouble you again. ”

Shopkeeper Chen squinted at An Yi, because he was only about one meter six tall, he held his head high when he talked to the tall An Yi, which made him feel very uncomfortable: "Yo! Just a beggar like you, who doesn't even have a primary school diploma, also wants to enter the famous 'Taichang'? It seems that I was too polite to you the first two times, and now you can get out of my mood quickly...... To go...... Don't go, do you? Ah Gan Ah Biao, fork him out for me! ”

"Hey!"

"Slow! I go, I go, I go. An Yi waved his hand at the two guys who rushed in front of him, and trotted out like a defeated rooster, in exchange for a burst of ridicule from the shopkeeper Chen and the clerks, and more than a dozen customers who selected goods looked funny and laughed.

"I say your ancestors ......"

The frustrated An Yi sat on the most remote steps outside the trading house, muttering in his mouth and couldn't help but scold in a low voice, but no matter how he scolded, he couldn't solve the employment problem and couldn't alleviate the shame of being discriminated against, so he had to look up at the sky and slowly let out his grievances, and then think about what to do next. After thinking about the incense stick, he still didn't have a clue, so he had to stand up with a dry mouth, and looked at the bright yellow flag above Mr. Lao's fortune-telling booth not far to the west.

As soon as An Yi took a step, he heard a noisy dispute behind him, he turned around and found that the gate of the business house was very lively, a god-like and demonic Mrs. Kuo pointed to the nose of the shopkeeper Chen and scolded, and the boring pedestrians who passed by gradually gathered around to see the excitement, the shopkeeper Chen, who was yelling at himself just now, seemed to have no backbone at the moment, and nodded in the screaming and scolding of Mrs. Kuo, and the clerks all cowered in the store, how dare they come out.

An Yi felt strange, thinking that the 'Taichang' firm was not something that ordinary people could afford to run, and there would definitely be a lot of backers behind him. But when An Yi saw the situation behind Mrs. Kuo and immediately understood, the four soldiers of the Yunnan Army who brought the sewing machine and the two officers with shell guns on their waists were full of disgust and arrogant, and they seemed to wait for Mrs. Kuo's order, and they would rush in and smash the firm.

The shopkeeper Chen apologized again and again under Yinwei, and respectfully invited Mrs. Kuo to come in and drink a cup of coffee to dissipate her anger, but the domineering Mrs. Kuo did not buy his account at all, pointed to the sewing machine on the ground and yelled, saying that more than 300 oceans could not be moved after only ten days of buying back, what rags dared to deceive the old lady...... A Yunnan official scolding people is like singing.

An Yi was bored and turned to leave, took a few steps and suddenly stopped, thinking that the American-made "singae" sewing machine just now is not much different from the later sewing machine, the appearance of the head and tooth plate are the same, it is estimated that the internal parts are similar, the difference is only that the foot transmission was used later, and now it is a hand transmission, if you risk being beaten again, if you repair it at the risk of being beaten again, maybe this errand will be over.

There is a way to seek wealth and danger, poor and crazy An Yi gritted his teeth and strode back, squeezed away the idlers who watched the excitement and came to the side of the shopkeeper Chen, seized the opportunity of Mrs. Kuo to catch her breath, and said with a smile in an authentic Sichuan accent: "Eldest sister, don't be angry, our shopkeeper will not compensate you, eldest sister, please sit inside, drink a cup of tea to dissipate your anger, and let the younger brother help you see how about the machine?" ”

Mrs. Kuo looked at An Yi angrily, and saw An Yi's handsome appearance under the flowing long hair, and looked very surprised, usually whoever saw her, the second lady of the division commander, had to respectfully call the second wife, and the handsome tall young man in front of him spoke on the left and the eldest sister on the right, making people feel comfortable, just like a polite young man in the neighborhood.

Maybe it was because she scolded for a long time and most of her anger disappeared, Mrs. Kuo thought about it and ordered with a straight face: "Adjutant Xie, leave a few people standing at the door, you and I go in, the old lady wants to see how he steps down today, hum!" ”

"Yes!"

An Yi saw that Shopkeeper Chen was still standing in place, and hurriedly patted his arm: "Mr. Chen, go in and say hello, if you can trust me, let me check this machine." ”

Shopkeeper Chen reacted at this time: "Okay! I'll leave it to you, I'll go in and see, I'll go in and see......"

After Boss Chen entered, dozens of onlookers were still standing on their toes and holding their necks to watch the excitement, An Yi walked to the middle of the steps and said loudly: "Uncles, brothers, sisters-in-law, don't watch the excitement here, there's nothing to see, what should you do, these chiefs who carry guns are not in a good mood, I'm worried that I will accidentally touch everyone." ”

Everyone felt justified when they heard the young man's polite and thoughtful words, and saw that the few Yunnan officers and soldiers carrying guns outside the door were indeed a little scary, and the heroine had already entered and had nothing to look at, so they dispersed. An Yi took a breath and wiped the sweat beads on his forehead, his heart was still pounding, and he didn't want to do this kind of reckless thing if he wanted to kill him in normal times, but for the sake of two meals, he could only carry it sideways.

An Yi turned around and entered the store, called Ah Gan and himself to carry the malfunctioning sewing machine to the repair table in the corner of the store, and didn't see that an American-made black car had already been parked under the shade on the left side of the shop.

"Hey! Are you a girl? ”

The sturdy Ah Gan rubbed his slightly slumped nose and asked nervously, as if he had no confidence in this good-looking beggar at all, and then chattered a lot, saying that no one in the store dared to open the head of this new machine, let alone the complex parts and devices inside, and if he didn't get it right, it would be a big loss.

An Yi, who was immersed in disassembling the head of the machine, was so annoyed that he thought that he was really recruited into the store, and he would be a colleague with this stunned young man in the future.

So An Yi stopped his hand and straightened his waist, looked at Ah Qian without any scruples and whispered, "Look down on me, don't you?" Here you go! ”

"No, no! You come, you come...... I see that you are so quick and sharp to remove the screws, I guess you have the ability. "Ah Gan, who performed security functions in the store, succumbed in the face of knowledge.

An Yi glared at him again before leaning over and continuing to do it, removing the transmission part of the machine and removing the bobbin shell, and after a while, he found the fault, unloaded the re-entry Ka Huang looked at it and reached out to touch it, and did not find the existence of a little engine oil, and immediately understood the reason for the machine locking, checked it again, raised his head with satisfaction, and unexpectedly saw that the shopkeeper Chen was already standing behind him with Mrs. Kuo.

An Yi picked up the faulty parts and explained kindly: "It's nothing, it's a small problem, the transmission part of the machine is short of oil, which causes the Ka Gang to be overheated and displaced, and the machine can't move, just push this part back into place, and the oil will be idling and lubricating, and it will be the same as new." ”

Shopkeeper Chen was first surprised and then full of joy: "You kid is good!" There are two hands, haha...... Madam, maybe you forgot to refuel, you see, this machine is very dry, there is no trace of oil. ”

"Who said that the old lady doesn't come on? The old lady added it again this morning, do you think the old lady is a dirt bun? Mrs. Kuo was furious.

An Yi hurriedly explained: "It's not right, it's not right, eldest sister, Mr. Chen, you see, these three are oil injection holes, and this slightly larger round hole is estimated to be used for maintenance, but the Yankees of the producer's machine did not mark it clearly, so it is not difficult to understand that this hole is regarded as an oil injection hole." The eldest sister is oiled, you see, but unfortunately the oil did not flow into the place where the machine was needed, but flowed out along the base, so there was this small fault, and now it's okay, and it can be easily used if you reinstall it. Please wait for two of you, it will be ready in ten minutes. ”

After An Yi finished speaking, he turned around and installed the disassembled parts in an orderly manner, and the seemingly unhurried movements produced amazing efficiency. The shopkeeper Chen is a person who knows the goods, seeing that An Yi's movements are not superfluous, the screwdriver wrench is used very accurately and smoothly, it seems that the machine can be accurately picked up and put down without looking at the tools placed next to it, and the machine is loaded in less than seven minutes, and the head and other surfaces are wiped clean with the soft cloth handed by Agan, and then the needle and lead are taken and pressed on, and the machine immediately rotates briskly when the rotating wheel is shaken, and the sewing line is tight and smooth, and the people in a circle are stunned and praised.

"That's it!" An Yi straightened up and wiped away the sweat with his sleeve, and looked at Shopkeeper Chen with deep meaning.

Mrs. Kuo saw that the handsome Kang Ning still had this beautiful technique, and a sweet smile appeared on her face: "Brother, you are really good!" I hear your accent is from Chengdu, right? As the saying goes, the Sichuan-Yunnan family, I am so happy to see a skilled fellow here! Brother, tell the eldest sister, how long have you been here? ”

"This ......" An Yi didn't know how to answer.

Shopkeeper Chen laughed: "Mrs. is still satisfied, right?" Ha ha...... This is the little master in our shop, what kind of technical college is that...... By the way, he was educated at a university run by an American engineer in Hong Kong, so don't look at his young age but have a very high level, haha! Madam, are you satisfied? ”

"It's okay!" Mrs. Kuo didn't have the heart to answer the shopkeeper Chen, let alone know that he deliberately elevated An Yi's status as a mechanic and linked himself to the United States, she showed a sweet smile to An Yi: "Brother, what do you call you?" ”

"My surname is An, my name is An Yi, and I am from Sichuan." An Yi answered truthfully.

Mrs. Kuo giggled, "What are you ashamed of?" They are all their own fellow countrymen, eldest sister, my surname is Xu, you can just call me Sister Xu. Brother, eldest sister, thank you, when you are free, go to the eldest sister's guest, maybe this machine needs your help, I am not far away, on the left side of the main gate of the Yunnan army camp at the Great North Gate, the most beautiful building on the south side of the street is the eldest sister's home, remember? ”

"Uh...... Remembered. An Yi smiled embarrassedly.

Mrs. Kuo nodded with satisfaction, and asked An Yi for a while before walking out of the door with her head up, and returned home in a green sedan chair carried by four people.

Shopkeeper Chen nodded and sent the plague god away, and finally walked into the store with a great sigh of relief, and said with satisfaction to An Yi, who was squatting behind the door and wiping his hands: "You kid is good, you don't talk big, I'll think about it, whether you accept it or not, you will give you a clear answer tomorrow." ”

"Mr. Chen, I really want to do it here." An Yi pleaded anxiously.

Boss Chen's face showed an unhappy look, and he was just about to scold him when he saw the boss's secretary striding up the steps, the shopkeeper hurriedly greeted him with a respectful face, and the tall, thin and elegant secretary muttered a few words in the ear of the shopkeeper Chen, and then smiled at An Yi, who was at a loss, and turned to leave.

Boss Chen watched the secretary leave, and returned to An Yi and solemnly advised: "You can come to work tomorrow, you will receive an apprentice's salary in the first half of the year, sixteen yuan per month, and you can take one day off every ten days, do you hear clearly." ”

An Yi was overjoyed: "Understood! Clear! ”

"Also, you are not allowed to wear such beggar's clothes and pants to work, our trading house is not those low-level street stalls, and you can't dress casually at all, considering that you may have difficulties, you have also made a contribution just now, our proprietor ...... I decided to go to Uncle Nine in the back accounting office to advance half a month's salary later, so let's go! At this time, the shopkeeper Chen showed his usual authority.

"Thank you, Mr. Chen, I'll go."

"Stop! Come back! Shopkeeper Chen pointed to An Yi's head: "What does such long hair look like?" Like a madman! I command you to cut off your long hair tomorrow morning, and to do it in the same style as their hairstyle. ”

An Yi looked at Ah Gan and was startled: "What? Want me to cut such a disgusting rice shovel head? Or like Ah Biao's pot lid? Mr. Chen, please spare me......"

"Nonsense! If you don't cut it, you won't have to go to work, huh! ”

Ten minutes later, An Yi, who had eight yuan in his pocket, came to Mr. Lao's fortune-telling booth and sat down in pain, looking at the swaying rice shovel heads, pot lid heads, and Han Jian-style middle parts all over the street......