Early the next morning, Jiang Jingye arrived at the Residential Complex.
Before he even reached the property management office, he heard people arguing.
Aunt Zhao stood with her hands on her hips, nearly spraying Manager Zhang Cheng with spit as she shouted,
“Manager Zhang! My range hood has been broken for three days! Where’s the repairman you promised? My grandson comes home from school at noon for lunch. How am I supposed to cook for him?”
Several residents returning from their morning exercise chimed in.
“Exactly, Manager Zhang. We pay plenty in management fees. You can’t even handle something this simple?”
“The last time my water pipe leaked, those two guys from the maintenance department stared at it forever and still couldn’t find the problem. In the end, I had to hire an outside repairman myself!”
Surrounded by the crowd, Zhang Cheng’s head was starting to ache.
He hurriedly pulled four hundred yuan from his pocket and tried to force it into Aunt Zhao’s hand.
“Auntie, Auntie, our service wasn’t up to standard. Please take the money and hire someone outside to fix it, okay?”
Aunt Zhao flung her hand away and refused to take it.
“I don’t want money! I want it repaired! Outside repairmen start at eight hundred yuan. Why should I waste that kind of money?”
Zhang Cheng’s face crumpled in misery.
He knew very well that this old range hood model was difficult to repair. The replacement parts were hard to find.
Even if an outside technician charged a fortune, there was no guarantee they could fix it.
If they failed, Aunt Zhao would come right back to argue with him again.
Just as he was racking his brain for an excuse to get out of it, a deep male voice sounded from behind him.
“I can fix it.”
Everyone turned at once.
Jiang Jingye had just finished changing shifts and was walking over in his security uniform.
Tall and straight backed, with cool and indifferent features, he stood out even in the middle of the chaotic crowd.
He glanced at Zhang Cheng before looking at Aunt Zhao.
His tone was calm.
“If you give me that four hundred yuan, I’ll fix it for you. Is that okay?”
Zhang Cheng froze for a moment.
Then he quickly grabbed Jiang Jingye’s arm and lowered his voice.
“Xiao Jiang, don’t get involved. This range hood is ancient. If you can’t fix it, Aunt Zhao will come after you next!”
But Aunt Zhao’s eyes lit up immediately.
After looking him over from head to toe, she enthusiastically grabbed his arm.
“You know how to repair it? Wonderful! Come on, come on. Auntie will take you upstairs to have a look! Money isn’t a problem!”
Several elderly residents who loved watching excitement unfold eagerly followed behind.
A whole crowd headed toward Aunt Zhao’s apartment, curious to see whether this security guard who looked like a movie star could actually repair a range hood.
Jiang Jingye said nothing.
Following Aunt Zhao into the kitchen, he lifted the front panel of the range hood, took a single look inside, and pressed the switch twice.
That was enough.
“Its safety lock was triggered. The pressure sensor inside is broken. Replacing one component will solve it.”
He gave them the part number and asked Aunt Zhao’s husband to buy the replacement from a nearby hardware store.
Meanwhile, he stayed in the kitchen and cleaned some of the grease buildup inside the machine.
Less than twenty minutes later, the replacement part arrived.
He installed it in a few swift movements.
When he pressed the switch again, the range hood immediately hummed to life.
The suction power was even stronger than before.
“It’s fixed.”
Jiang Jingye wiped his hands and stepped aside.
Aunt Zhao eagerly tested it herself.
The smile on her face nearly split her cheeks.
She repeatedly patted his arm.
“Oh my, young man, you’re amazing! You’re far more reliable than those outside technicians! Handsome and skilled too!”
Even Zhang Cheng was stunned.
He had assumed Jiang Jingye was merely showing off.
Who would have thought he could actually repair it?
While he was still standing there in disbelief, an elderly man named Old Li stepped forward and grabbed Jiang Jingye’s arm.
“Young man! Can you repair televisions? Mine hasn’t turned on for half a month. I had someone come inspect it, and they said the motherboard needed replacing. They wanted twelve hundred yuan! My old television isn’t even worth that much, so I never repaired it!”
After thinking briefly, Jiang Jingye nodded.
“I can take a look. If I can’t fix it, I won’t charge anything.”
Old Li was overjoyed.
He immediately led Jiang Jingye toward his apartment.
After only ten minutes of inspection, Jiang Jingye found the problem.
The motherboard wasn’t broken at all.
The connector on the television cable had oxidized and failed, preventing the signal from passing through.
After explaining the situation, he made a quick trip to the hardware store.
A new connector cost only five yuan.
He replaced it and pressed the power button.
The screen lit up instantly.
A familiar opera channel began playing.
Old Li’s hands trembled with excitement.
He immediately pulled two hundred yuan from his pocket and tried to force it into Jiang Jingye’s hand.
“Thank you so much, young man! Without you, I’d have had to throw the television away! You have to take this money!”
This time, Jiang Jingye didn’t refuse.
He accepted the money, said goodbye, and headed downstairs.
The moment he exited the building, he ran into Zhang Cheng waiting outside.
Zhang Cheng narrowed his eyes and looked him up and down for a long time.
Even Jiang Jingye began frowning.
“Do you need something, Manager Zhang?”
Assuming Zhang Cheng wanted a cut of the money, Jiang Jingye was already considering how to shut him down.
Instead, Zhang Cheng suddenly smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
“Xiao Jiang, do you want a promotion?”
Jiang Jingye paused.
“A promotion?”
“That’s right.” Zhang Cheng nodded. “I’ll make you captain of the security team. I’ll increase your base salary by one thousand yuan. From now on, all maintenance work in the Residential Complex will be under your supervision. If residents privately ask you to repair things, you can take those jobs too. Just don’t overcharge. Minor problems that should be free stay free. What do you think?”
Jiang Jingye raised an eyebrow.
Without hesitation, he shook his head.
“Not interested.”
Zhang Cheng was dumbfounded.
“Why not?”
“The security captain has to patrol daily, oversee all security operations, and manage maintenance work. That’s the workload of both a security captain and an engineering manager.”
His tone remained calm, but every point hit the mark.
“And you’re only adding one thousand yuan to my salary?”
“If you want me to do it, fine. Increase my base salary by two thousand. Those two useless maintenance workers will work under me as apprentices. Otherwise, I’d be doing the work of three people by myself. That’s not worth it.”
Zhang Cheng’s face turned green.
He wanted to argue, but no words came out.
He knew perfectly well that the two maintenance workers currently employed were only half competent.
Anything slightly complicated was beyond them.
And any skilled repair technician from outside wouldn’t even consider the job for such low pay.
Considering Jiang Jingye’s abilities, even an extra two thousand yuan was a bargain.
Grinding his teeth, Zhang Cheng finally stomped his foot.
“Fine! We’ll do it your way! Starting today, you’re changing positions and becoming team captain!”
Jiang Jingye wasn’t surprised at all.
He simply nodded and returned to the security booth.
Inside, Liu Zhisheng was about to greet him.
Then he noticed the new security uniform in Jiang Jingye’s hands.
Even the shoulder insignia was different.
He nearly jumped out of his chair.
“Brother Ye? What’s going on? I didn’t see you for a little while, and now you’re already wearing the captain’s uniform?”
Jiang Jingye placed the uniform on the table and took a drink of water.
Then he briefly explained repairing the range hood, fixing the television, and Zhang Cheng promoting him to captain.
Liu Zhisheng listened with wide eyes.
After a long pause, he finally managed to say,
“Brother Ye, you’re incredible! With skills like yours, opening a repair shop would be way better than working security!”
Jiang Jingye glanced at him.
His tone was lazy and relaxed.
“Running a repair shop means staying there all day, taking jobs, negotiating prices, and dealing with customers. Too exhausting.”
“Fix one or two things a day, then spend the rest of the time lying around in the security booth enjoying the air conditioning. That’s comfortable.”
Liu Zhisheng opened his mouth.
Yet no words came out.
He genuinely couldn’t figure out whether Jiang Jingye wanted to lie flat or work hard.
As though reading his thoughts, Jiang Jingye leaned back in his chair and looked out the window.
If he earned too much money, he would have to use it to repay his debts.
Twenty billion yuan.
A bottomless pit.
There was no point.