Shen Fujuan quickly stepped in front of Huang Wenqiang.
“Secretary Huang, would you like our commune to be the first in the county to watch Taking Tiger Mountain by Strategy?”
This successfully caught Huang Wenqiang’s attention.
Of course he wanted that.
He dreamed of letting the county’s leaders see their commune’s determination.
Huang Wenqiang furrowed his brows, his gaze toward Su Jiaxuan filled with distrust. “Generators are extremely expensive. If even one part gets damaged, selling both of you wouldn’t cover the cost!”
This was naturally an exaggeration. Not only was Shen Fujuan not the least bit afraid, she even laughed.
“Secretary Huang, don’t worry. My husband can definitely fix this generator and successfully let our comrades in the commune watch the movie!”
The head of the art troupe was startled by Shen Fujuan and Su Jiaxuan’s actions. “Don’t talk nonsense! If this generator is broken, we have to take it to the Machinery Bureau for repairs. How could your tiny Heihe Village possibly harbor hidden talents?”
Huang Wenqiang immediately bristled at the troupe leader’s words. “Comrade, you can’t say that. Our commune is an advanced commune in the county. It’s precisely because the county magistrate and Party secretary recognize our commune’s significant contributions that they granted us the privilege of the premiere.”
“It’s because the comrades in your troupe didn’t check carefully before setting off that this problem occurred!”
The troupe leader was also intimidated by Huang Wenqiang’s imposing manner and shrank back.
After all, he was an intellectual. Facing a sturdy peasant like Huang Wenqiang, he felt somewhat uneasy, afraid the other might resort to violence at the slightest disagreement.
To save face, Huang Wenqiang gritted his teeth and finally decided to take the risk. He waved at Su Jiaxuan, signaling him to hurry up and fix it.
Shen Fujuan breathed a sigh of relief and crouched beside Su Jiaxuan, watching him. “Well? Can you fix it?”
Su Jiaxuan had studied physics during his time abroad. Mechanical things automatically broke down into individual components in his eyes.
He gently patted the generator’s iron casing, then nodded to Shen Fujuan.
“It’s probably worn carbon brushes. Just replacing one should do it.”
He took the tools needed for the repair, opened up the generator, revealing the intricate parts inside.
After a careful inspection, Su Jiaxuan stood up and said very seriously to Huang Wenqiang, “As long as we can find replacement carbon brushes, the generator can be restarted.”
Huang Wenqiang, however, looked utterly bewildered. “What’s a carbon brush?”
He hadn’t even attended school for many years and didn’t know how to write the characters for “carbon brush.”
Let alone ask him to go find one directly.
Su Jiaxuan sighed softly. “The Machinery Bureau you mentioned, or probably any repairman’s home, should have them.”
Hearing this, Huang Wenqiang grew even more anxious, his face reddening and his neck thickening with frustration.
“From our Heihe Village to the county town, even by three-wheeler it takes at least an hour, let alone now that it’s already dark. Where am I supposed to find a three-wheeler for you?”
If they went by ox-cart, who knows when they’d be back.
Everyone still had to work in the fields tomorrow; who had time to waste here with them?
Seeing that the people sitting in the enclosure were growing impatient and preparing to leave, Huang Wenqiang directly issued a stern order to Su Jiaxuan.
“You just said you could fix it, so you have to fix this generator for us! Otherwise, tomorrow I’ll go tell the county leaders that you deliberately obstructed us from watching the movie!”
Huang Wenqiang knew perfectly well this was an impossible task, and he wasn’t trying to deliberately make things difficult for anyone.
But if the movie screening task couldn’t be completed, the higher-ups would definitely hold someone accountable.
Su Jiaxuan, as the technical expert, naturally became the scapegoat for him.
Shen Fujuan couldn’t stand watching any longer and was about to speak up when Su Jiaxuan reached out to stop her.
In their previous life when they watched the movie, their whole family had been dizzy with hunger and hadn’t paid attention to what was happening.
Therefore, Shen Fujuan never expected there would be this kind of situation.
Huang Wenqiang had completely revealed his ugly, self-serving nature.
But he didn’t care how Shen Fujuan and Su Jiaxuan viewed him—he only cared about the final result.
Su Jiaxuan spoke slowly to Huang Wenqiang, “Find me two dry cell batteries.”
At this point, Huang Wenqiang could only try every possible remedy, quickly ordering his subordinates to find batteries for Su Jiaxuan.
Shen Fujuan completely trusted Su Jiaxuan’s abilities, but seeing Huang Wenqiang’s willingness to do anything to achieve his goal still made her somewhat afraid.
Zhao Xiaorou also hurried over, trying to persuade Su Jiaxuan.
“Maybe we should just forget it. We haven’t started repairing it yet, so it’s not our responsibility. What if we break it…”
With Huang Wenqiang’s personality, he definitely wouldn’t let them off.
Shen Fujuan gave Zhao Xiaorou a reassuring look, “Trust your dad, he can definitely do it.”
Soon, someone came running back holding two used dry cell batteries, carefully placing them in front of Su Jiaxuan.
Before anyone realized it, Su Jiaxuan was surrounded by people, all watching carefully as he repaired the generator.
After removing the worn-out carbon brushes, Su Jiaxuan lightly sanded the oxidized contact points with fine sandpaper, then carefully scraped some carbon powder from the dry cell batteries.
Creating temporary carbon brushes, Su Jiaxuan first tested their effectiveness and, confirming they worked properly, installed them back.
Under everyone’s expectant gazes, the generator roared to life once again.
As Su Jiaxuan expected, he successfully repaired the generator.
The art troupe leader’s eyes shone brightly as he looked at Su Jiaxuan, then said meaningfully to Huang Wenqiang,
“Your commune really found a treasure!”
When the movie’s images and sound were transmitted accurately, looking at the results of his efforts, Su Jiaxuan showed no trace of pride on his face.
He simply silently took Shen Fujuan’s hand and stood back in their original place.
Huang Wenqiang sat at the very front of the crowd, just glanced back once without saying anything, then turned his head to focus on the movie.
The next day during work, he warned Su Jiaxuan with meaningful emphasis, “Don’t think just because you fixed a generator last night that you’re some great benefactor to our commune! You just got lucky and guessed right.”
Su Jiaxuan kept his emotions hidden, giving Huang Wenqiang a calm look. Not bothering to argue with such a petty person, he silently picked up his sickle and went to work in the fields.
Su Jianjun followed behind Su Jiaxuan, unable to hold back a cold remark, “Huang Wenqiang is such a petty person—using people when he needs them, discarding them when he doesn’t! Dad shouldn’t have kindly helped him. This is truly the farmer and the snake.”
Su Jianqiang quickly covered Su Jianjun’s mouth.
“If you don’t want to be targeted by that Huang Wenqiang, shut up now!”
After working all morning, everyone sat in the shade of the trees to cool off, too exhausted to even speak. Just then, a man in a Zhongshan suit, who appeared refined and scholarly, approached from a distance.
His gaze first swept over the group of people in the field before he asked, “Who is Comrade Su Jiaxuan?”