"Yes, it's no big deal with me here. Just try a few more times and you'll succeed."
"But isn't it too incredible that a kid like me who's just started school can fix this thing?" She didn't want people to think of her as a monster.
"That's easy. Go to where you put the books. There's a book about this at the very back. Take it back and read it before you start. Don't worry, I'm here even if you don't understand it."
Where does this guy get such confidence? Does he think that having all sorts of information means he can actually do it? Well, it's not a big deal to give it a try, as long as his mother doesn't punish him.
Qian Xiao took off the basket she was carrying. Luckily, she was smart enough to bring a basket with her, otherwise she would have nowhere to put all the odds and ends. She put all the rags and scraps she had picked up into the basket and carried it to the weighing area at the entrance.
When Qian Erbao saw his eldest niece come out, he quickly came over and asked, "Have you picked them out?" He glanced at the pile of random things and wondered what Erdan wanted them for.
"Okay, these are all I need. Auntie, could you weigh them for me?"
A woman sitting behind the table was doing her own work. She put down her needlework and looked at Qian Xiao's basket, immediately noticing the radio on top.
When this thing first arrived, everyone wanted it, but unfortunately, after consulting with someone, they found that the missing parts were quite difficult to obtain, so everyone gave up.
"Are you sure you want this radio? It's not something that can be repaired."
At this point, the person was quite honest: "I've thought it through, Auntie. I just haven't seen it before and want to go back and open it to see what's inside. If I see it, can I still bring it back to sell?"
"It is possible, but it's not worth the current price."
Qian Erbao opened his mouth, wanting to say, "Can we not take this thing? It's broken and we don't know how to fix it." But then he remembered that his eldest niece had never made any demands, so he swallowed back the words that were on the tip of his tongue.
"Okay, Auntie, weigh these for me, how much do they cost?"
The woman took out the radio and weighed the rest on the large scale: "Including this radio, you can give me three yuan. This radio alone costs two yuan."
A radio is expensive to buy, but once it's broken, it's worthless. The casing is made of wood, so it's not worth much. The only valuable part is the small piece of metal in the middle, and it doesn't weigh much at all.
Qian Erbao paused, his hand still holding the money. How much? Three yuan? Why is it so expensive? The problem is, he didn't have that much money. His wife had only given him one yuan when they left, and he thought that would be enough.
Qian Xiao didn't notice her second uncle's embarrassment at all. She took out three crumpled yuan from her pocket and put them in the woman's hand. One yuan was given to her by her grandmother, and the other two yuan were pocket money given to her by her father when he came back. She had never had anywhere to spend it.
She didn't have a single extra penny. She did have a lot of money in her spatial storage, but it was all in black market currency. If a little girl like her took it out, she would definitely be targeted. Her second uncle was right there, so she didn't dare to take it out.
I was planning to buy some candy for my younger brother, but I can't do that this time.
"Here you go, Auntie."
The woman was waiting for Qian Erbao to pay, but unexpectedly, the little girl paid for it herself: "Okay, perfect, you can take these things."
Qian Erbao quickly put the radio into his basket, then picked it up and walked out, asking, "Erdan, where did you get so much money?"
My second uncle is really poor. He thinks three yuan is a lot of money: "One yuan was given to me by Grandma Chu today, and two yuan was given to me by my dad when he came back last time."
"You've already spent it all, aren't you afraid your mother will beat you when you get home?"
"If you don't tell me and I don't tell you, how will my mother know how much money I spent? Second Uncle, we're best friends, so you can't tell my mother how much money I spent today, or I'll never be friends with you again."
"I won't tell, I won't tell. Your second uncle won't tell your mother, but what if your grandma asks me?" He dared not lie to his mother.
"Just say you don't know, but you can't betray me."
"Okay, I won't betray you, but you can't tell your third uncle. He's a loose tongue." If his own third brother finds out about this, it will definitely not be a secret.
"I won't tell my third uncle. Let's go back quickly."
"Are you hungry? Your second uncle has a dollar in his pocket. I'll buy you some steamed buns."
Qian Xiao rubbed his slightly hungry stomach: "Let's not. Even if we have money, we can't buy steamed buns without food coupons and meat coupons." These damn regulations are something that rural people like them don't have any connections to get coupons for.
Qian Erbao touched the one yuan in his pocket and realized it really was there. It seemed he could save that one yuan today, and his wife would definitely praise him.
There was still a slight regret; he really wanted to buy some treats for his little niece to sweeten her mouth.
"Then next time we'll see if we can ask your grandma for some food coupons and meat coupons to buy you meat buns."
"No need, my grandma brought me some biscuits, I can eat those when I get back." Having gotten used to hard times, Qian Xiao has started to be frugal now.
In modern times, if she bought something that wasn't tasty, she wouldn't eat a single bite and would just throw it in the trash. Thinking about it now, she was really wasteful back then!
When they returned, the village's grain tax had just been paid, and the villagers who had come with them dispersed, either to wander around and look around or to return directly to the village. Only their third uncle, the brigade leader, and the village's cart driver remained, sitting on three oxcarts waiting for them.
"You're back. Is there anything else? If not, we'll head back now."
Qian Xiao climbed onto Da Niu's oxcart: "Aren't the villagers going back by oxcart? The road is quite long, and the villagers are all planning to walk back."
"They've finally managed to come out for a stroll, let's go back first. The oxen are tired too, let them walk back." They've hauled so much grain this morning, what if they exhaust the oxen and people by having to carry it all back?
"Then let's go home, Grandpa."
"You little rascal, you finally get to come out, aren't you going to look around?"
Qian shook her head and said, "What's the point of shopping anymore? I don't have a single penny left. I'm not going to buy anything, so I'm not going to shop anymore. I came here to find books to read at the junkyard. Now that we've found them, let's go back."
Only then did Qian Baozhu glance into the basket on his back: "What's this? Is it the radio that people talk about, the one that can hear the broadcast?"
"Well, it's broken and nobody wants it at the junkyard. I just happened to see a book about this, so I thought I'd take it back and try it out. If I can fix it, we'll get a good deal. If I can't, we can just take it back and sell it to the junkyard. We won't lose anything."
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