The old man was somewhat relieved to hear that it didn't conflict with his business; otherwise, with Zhao Qiang's skills, Yi Hai's bicycle repair stall would probably have to close down soon.
Let him go. He didn't sign a contract with him, it was just a profit-sharing arrangement. He had already taken advantage of the young man these past few days, so he should be content. So the old man stopped trying to stop him and instead went out to buy two pork rib buns for Zhao Qiang as a farewell gift. The old man and the young man had developed some feelings for each other after spending these few days together.
There wasn't much work to do in the afternoon because it was Sunday, so the old man told Zhao Qiang to go home early, promising to visit him often and help if the old man couldn't fix a bicycle. The old man and the young man then parted ways. During his time there, Zhao Qiang gained a lot. Besides the two thousand yuan, more importantly, he discovered a new secret, something that money couldn't measure.
(Thanks to 祇为伱ゑ猦誑, 白凌若, and 沫首乘龟 for their donations)
(Thanks to 一身一世走江湖, ずいしょう捷, 依风而行, 笨び笨, and 收藏记忆 for their monthly ticket support in supporting the scheduled chapter release. The list may not be complete, please understand and thank you for your support.)
Volume Two [442] Opening
Without a ribbon-cutting ceremony or the sound of firecrackers, a repair shop quietly opened. What caught people's attention was that there were two beautiful girls in the shop, one charming and beautiful, the other pure and sexy.
The main hall only had a desk for sitting opposite each other and four chairs. The repair room inside had a bed, a repair table, and two shelves, but there weren't many parts on them, only a few repair tools. Fortunately, they had bought all the welding tools, as they couldn't repair appliances without them.
"We were originally going to put another row of sofas here so that guests could sit and have some tea while they wait, but we don't have enough money. Let's leave it like this for now," Zhao Ling explained to Zhao Qiang.
Zhao Qiang said, "Don't worry, we'll be able to get business soon."
Chen Xinxin said, "Oh, I can't stand your confidence. You haven't even put up a shop sign yet. How would anyone know we're a repair shop?"
Zhao Qiang stood at the door and looked around. This was a market shared by several residential areas, with a huge flow of people. Otherwise, there would be no need for a monthly rent of three thousand yuan. Logically speaking, this location would be perfect for maintenance, so there should be plenty of business. The key is that everything is difficult at the beginning.
Zhao Ling dismissed Chen Xinxin's worries, "Xinxin, you really lack confidence. Come on, let's move the table." The table was near the door of the repair room, and Zhao Ling wanted to move it to the only window. Although the shop was small, the window was bright and clean, and people outside could easily see into the room through the glass. Of course, the two girls sitting under the window could also be seen.
The door creaked open, and a man in his late twenties walked in, smiling at Zhao Ling: "What kind of shop are you planning to open?" Customers were already coming in before the shop sign was even up; the woman's charm was too great.
Zhao Ling chuckled: "Hello sir, this is a repair shop. Is there anything you need repaired?"
The man asked, "You fix everything?"
Unable to fathom Zhao Qiang's skills, Zhao Ling could only ask the man, "What do you want to fix?"
The man pulled out his cell phone: "Can your cell phone work? It keeps restarting inexplicably lately. Since you're already here, give it to me."
Zhao Ling glanced at Zhao Qiang, who nodded to her secretly. Zhao Ling reached out and took the phone. "Of course I can fix it. Please sit down and wait a moment. We just opened, so we don't have any tea for you." With that, Zhao Ling handed the phone to Zhao Qiang.
"No need for tea, it's fine for us to just sit here and chat." The man stared at Zhao Ling, not because he was being presumptuous, but because women like Zhao Ling were rare. Although Chen Xinxin was also exceptional, the man didn't seem to be the type to like large breasts. To each their own, that's only natural.
Zhao Qiang took the phone into the repair shop. Without even opening the casing, he first used his X-ray glasses to carefully scan the entire phone. He noticed it wasn't an uncommon model and checked his mental database. He found a detailed circuit diagram for this type of phone. After carefully comparing it, Zhao Qiang concluded that the phone's circuit board itself was fine. The inexplicable restarts were likely related to a loose connection. He opened the casing and carefully examined the circuitry responsible for powering on and off. Sure enough, there was a cold solder joint. Zhao Qiang plugged in a soldering iron. While this tool was fine for soldering household appliances, it wasn't precise enough for phone repairs. However, Zhao Qiang's mental control was extremely precise, so it didn't matter; as long as the heat melted the solder, it was fine.
The man outside was boasting, "Let me tell you, Zhao Ling, I'm the local bigwig around here. If you have any trouble, just come to me. I can't guarantee you'll be safe for life, but you can definitely do business here with peace of mind."
Zhao Ling smiled and replied, "Alright, I'll need your help again in the future, brother."
Zhao Qiang came out with his phone and said, "It's fixed. Eighty yuan."
The man was somewhat displeased: "So expensive?"
Zhao Qiang said, "If you're worried, you can go out and inquire about the price. I definitely won't ask for much. How could we not take care of our first customer? If this problem occurs again, I'll be responsible for free repairs."
The man said, "That's true. It would be stupid to ruin your business right after opening. If it's too expensive, I'll come back to you."
Zhao Ling said, "Welcome back again."
The man reluctantly paid the money and left. He was all talk and no action, not a real local bully; otherwise, he wouldn't have paid. Of course, Zhao Qiang wouldn't have let him leave in that case.
Chen Xinxin happily touched the eighty yuan she had just received. "If we can get three or five jobs like this every day, we'll be rich." In Yihai, an average person earning one hundred yuan a day is considered a decent wage.
Zhao Ling said, "Three or five? Our goal is three to five hundred."
Zhao Qiang said, "I suggest you bring your computer from home so you can use it if you need to look up information."
Zhao Ling said, "By the way, Xin Xin and I have discussed it. I'll move in here, and Xin Xin and her mother can stay in the other apartment building. What do you think?"
Zhao Qiang pointed to himself: "And what about me?"
Zhao Ling said, "Of course I'll stay here, otherwise who will I ask for repairs at night?"
Zhao Qiang knew that the bed in the repair room wasn't big enough for three people to sleep on, which would mean Chen Xinxin wouldn't be able to sleep with him at night. Although he hadn't done anything, Zhao Qiang, who was used to sleeping with the two of them, felt a little reluctant. However, he didn't say anything. Zhao Ling must have her reasons for doing this. In any case, someone had to give in, so he let the two of them handle it themselves.
In the afternoon, the company delivered the spray-painted sign, which was simply nailed to the wall at the entrance. It read "All-Purpose Repair Department." The name was suggested by Zhao Ling and sounded impressive, but Zhao Qiang thought it was fitting.
Zhao Ling and Chen Xinxin went back to move their computers and bedding, leaving Zhao Qiang alone in the repair department. With his control over energy and the abnormal screwdriver, Zhao Qiang didn't think he needed to buy any more tools. As for the repair parts, he could deal with that later.
The shop door creaked open, and an elderly man in his sixties entered. Zhao Qiang hurriedly went to greet him, "Grandpa, what's the matter?"
The old man held up his portable radio: "Young man, can you fix this for me? It stopped working yesterday, and I feel so empty without it all day." Old people always crave a sound. Although radios aren't expensive, they're sentimental and don't like replacing them, which is why they'd consider repairing it.
Zhao Qiang took it and turned on the power, but there was no response. So he scanned the circuit system and found that the fault was very simple: an internal wire that was responsible for connecting the battery had come loose. Judging from the wear and tear on the surface of the radio, it was no less than ten years old. It was not surprising that an internal wire would come loose after being carried around and bumped around every day.
Zhao Qiang pulled up a chair. "Grandpa, please sit down. I'll fix it for you in three minutes." Zhao Qiang took out a screwdriver and skillfully unscrewed the screws that had already been scanned. Then he soldered the fallen wire back on, screwed it back on, and turned on the power. The radio emitted its familiar sound. The old man happily took it. "It's fixed! Young man, you're very skilled. How much?"
Zhao Qiang shook his head: "Grandpa, this is a minor problem, I won't charge you. Don't worry, just listen. If you have any problems, come find me."
The old man nodded: "Hmm, that's a good thought, young man. Thank you."
Zhao Qiang saw the old man off. Before he even entered the house, Zhao Ling and Chen Xinxin arrived by taxi. Zhao Qiang helped carry the computer and bedding down. There was no range hood here, so cooking was impossible. However, there were plenty of food stalls and restaurants nearby, so there was no worry about not being able to get a meal.
That day, Zhao Qiang didn't earn any money other than the eighty yuan, but he wasn't worried. On the contrary, he was very confident in himself. He was becoming more and more proficient with the X-ray glasses and could access the database in his brain faster and faster. As long as he glanced at the circuit diagram, his brain would automatically compare it with the stored data and then analyze the fault point. Of course, this required the database in Zhao Qiang's brain to be as complete as possible, which was why Zhao Qiang brought the computer over. He still needed to continue learning, but more data required reading permissions, so Zhao Qiang needed more advanced hacking skills, which was not difficult for him.
After a simple dinner on the street, Chen Xinxin reluctantly went home to sleep, leaving only Zhao Qiang and Zhao Ling in the house. Zhao Ling had already plugged in the electric blanket and, having nothing else to do, crawled into bed to chat with friends on QQ. Zhao Qiang, on the other hand, quickly browsed information online, as enriching himself was his most pressing task at the moment.
Zhao Qiang's gaze suddenly stopped on a post on the screen. He had just cracked a forum and saw it: "Seeking high price for a Chinese Red Operating System verification code generator." The word "high price" piqued Zhao Qiang's interest. He clicked on it and saw that someone was offering two million for a generator. Zhao Qiang immediately understood. If pirates had a generator, they would be almost in the same boat as legitimate sellers because they didn't have development costs. So, after deducting the cost of the CDs, they would make a profit no matter how much they sold it for.
Zhao Qiang was looking at the post when Zhao Ling's phone rang. "Hello, Mom, why are you calling so late?"
"Lingling, how have you been lately? Mom is afraid that calling you during the day will interfere with your work."
"I've been doing alright lately. My dad and brother are both in good health."
“Okay, the whole family is doing well. I didn’t call for any other reason than to ask when you’re coming home for the New Year. It’s only a few days away. I’ll have your dad make some preparations. You only come home once a year, so we can’t let my daughter suffer.”
Zhao Ling's voice was somewhat somber, "Mom, we might not get a holiday for the New Year. Let's see how it goes." Zhao Ling had said before that after a year of hard work, she had nothing to show for it and didn't even have the face to go home for the New Year.
"What kind of company is this? They don't even give us a holiday for Chinese New Year. All your classmates in our neighborhood went home for the holiday."
Zhao Ling hesitated and said, "I'll call you and my dad in advance when the time comes."
"Alright then, your brother misses you too. He keeps asking you to come home and buy him a mountain bike. By the way, Lingling, can you bring your boyfriend home for Chinese New Year? You're not young anymore. Your dad and I have been discussing this for the past few days."
Zhao Ling glanced at Zhao Qiang and said, "Mom, I'm still young. Let's talk about this later."
"Okay, just keep that in mind. Your parents won't pressure you. Go to sleep, and don't stay up late."
After putting down her phone, Zhao Ling hugged her pillow and suddenly started sobbing. Zhao Qiang quickly put down his mouse and sat on the edge of the bed. Zhao Ling immediately got up and threw herself into his arms, crying even louder. She felt guilty towards her parents and younger brother who cared for and loved her.
Volume 2 [443] Deciphered
Zhao Qiang patted Zhao Ling's back and comforted her, "What's wrong? Don't cry. Aren't you going home for the New Year? I'll go with you, okay?"
Zhao Ling wiped away her tears: "Really? I'd be a dog if I were lying."
Zhao Qiang said, "If I don't go home with you, I'll be left here alone. Do you think I'm lying to you?"
Zhao Ling chuckled, tears still glistening on her face. "Of course you're not stupid. If you come to my house, you're a VIP. If you stay here for the New Year, you won't even get a meal. You'll be eating cold steamed buns by yourself."
Zhao Qiang said, "Then I definitely have to go."
Zhao Ling was somewhat worried: "If I go home like this, my neighbors will laugh at me. Everyone else returns home in glory, but me? Every time I go home, my parents have to worry about me. Sometimes, all I have left on the way back is a few dozen yuan for the fare."
Zhao Qiang said, "I'll take care of everything. You'll definitely return home in glory this year."
Zhao Ling tapped Zhao Qiang's forehead: "You, Xin Xin is right, you're just too confident. There's still a month until the New Year. Even if we earn 500 a day, it won't change anything. At most, we can live a little better."
Zhao Qiang smiled and said nothing more. Zhao Ling lay in his arms, and Zhao Qiang gently wiped away her tears. Zhao Ling hugged Zhao Qiang's waist and said, "Zhao Qiang, I am a bad woman at heart, but I have to pretend to be a good child in front of my parents. I am always dealing with men and cheating them out of their money. But I tell my family that I work in a factory. Don't you look down on me?"
Zhao Qiang shook his head: "No, but I won't let you live the life you used to live in the future."
Zhao Ling gently bit Zhao Qiang's clothes: "I know you don't want to see me with other men. Don't worry, I would rather die than cheat on you. My body belongs only to you. You can do whatever you want with me. From now on, let's work hard with Xin Xin to run this repair shop and try to make it bigger and stronger in a few years, okay?"
Zhao Qiang said, "Alright, you'll find out soon enough in a few years."
Zhao Ling was a little sleepy and nestled in Zhao Qiang's arms. "Hmm, I'm going to tell Xin Xin tomorrow that you're coming home with me for Chinese New Year. Ugh, that means I'm taking advantage of Xin Xin again. Even if she doesn't say it, I know she'll be angry. How am I going to explain this to her?"
Zhao Ling quickly fell asleep, but her QQ account was still online. Zhao Qiang logged her off and then moved the phone far away from her, reminding her to stay away from electrical appliances while sleeping, as the radiation levels are very high.
Zhao Qiang sat back down at his computer. The post was still on the screen, with one reply saying, "A cracked CAPTCHA generator for the China Red operating system? Only the old 'Dark Night Legend' could probably do that, but he's been gone for ages. Don't even dream about it. If anyone can crack it, I'll pay three million to buy it."
Zhao Qiang opened other posts on the forum. Judging from the replies, the forum had a very high level of credibility and was not accessible to just anyone. Zhao Qiang had put in some effort to crack it. Most of the posts on this forum were requests for cracking services, with clear prices and contact information. More than half of the posts had already been marked as completed. Judging from the replies, the crackers should have received their money. Zhao Qiang was tempted.
Returning to the key generator post, Zhao Qiang registered an ID. Unable to think of a name for a moment, he randomly typed in 'Dark Night Legend' from the previous reply. To his dismay, the message said that someone had already registered it. Zhao Qiang was very unhappy, so he logged into the administrator account, deleted the original ID, and then registered a new one himself.
"I can crack the key generator of the China Red operating system. If you need it, please contact this number:..."
After replying to the post, Zhao Qiang started typing a program. When his QQ, which was running in the background, gave a notification, the cracked key generator had succeeded. It was something he and Xiao Wei had originally created; now it was just a matter of remaking it. If he couldn't even do this much, then the restarted super biochip would be far too inferior. However, Zhao Qiang cracking his own product almost drove Hu Qian crazy with complaints, but who recognized her now?
Zhao Qiang added the other person as a friend, and less than a minute later, the other person sent a message: "Who are you? How dare you claim to be a key generator for cracking the China Red operating system. 2737342355"
Zhao Qiang didn't answer. Instead, he opened the key generator, generated ten verification codes in one go, and then copied them into the chat box to send to the other party. Words are useless; actions speak louder than words.
Two minutes later, the other party sent an amazed emoji, "These ten codes really work."
Zhao Qiang casually generated another twenty in batches and then copied them over. Five minutes later, the other party replied again: "I've tested it, and they all work. Plus, they're not verification codes that are already bound to the server."
Zhao Qiang generated another fifty and copied them in. This time, the other party didn't even bother with the experiment and simply said, "Name your price, I'll buy them."
Zhao Qiang replied, "No rush, I need other clients to contact me. You can bid then."
The other party was so angry that they didn't reply for a long time, probably smashing their keyboard or mouse. After a long while, they finally replied with a message: "Okay, I'll wait for you, but since you're making pirated goods, there's no way you're going to ask for an exorbitant price."
Zhao Qiang replied, "I know, I just don't want to suffer a loss. Just give me the most reasonable price."
At this moment, friend requests started coming in one after another in the lower right corner. Surprisingly, three friends added Zhao Qiang at the same time, and Zhao Qiang accepted them all. Sure enough, they were all pirates who had left the comments. Before they could say anything, Zhao Qiang copied the verification code and sent it over. His quickness pleased the pirates, who immediately offered their prices. The first one was very cautious and only offered 2.3 million, but the second one offered 3 million in one go. It was unclear whether it was the person who replied to the post. The third one offered a very low price, only 2 million as stated in the post.
Zhao Qiang created a chat group and added all four people. After waiting for a while, no one contacted him, which meant that all the qualified pirates were there. So Zhao Qiang announced that the bidding had begun.
The bidder who offered two million remained silent, presumably unwilling to raise the price further. The bidder who offered three million, seeing how shrewd Zhao Qiang was, also realized that it was impossible to get the serial number generator cheaply. So, he raised the price to four million in one go. If he could really get the serial number generator, he could earn back the money with the first batch of CDs. If it wasn't banned during this period, the money from the second batch would be pure profit. Of course, this is based on common sense.
Two other people saw that the price had jumped to four million. They didn't have enough downstream CD retailers, and they would probably need to sell four or five discs to make up for the cost. If they were caught by the industry and commerce authorities, they would lose a lot of money. So they left the chat group immediately.
"How do we proceed with the transaction?" the other party asked Zhao Qiang.
Zhao Qiang said, "Go ahead and say it."
"It would be best if we met."
Zhao Qiang immediately denied it: "Impossible."
The other party also knew that people who do this kind of thing are shady characters. "Okay, give me the key generator. If it works, I will transfer four million to the account you specify."