When Fang Yu goes back this week, it will be the final sprint rehearsal stage for the kindergarten's "Children's Day" performance. She's been rehearsing with the children so much that her voice is hoarse. She's also been too tired to go to internet cafes.
The May rain came suddenly and violently. Around 10 p.m., Fang Yu was just getting ready for bed when a clap of thunder suddenly rolled past the window, making the glass rattle. Immediately afterward, the room lights went out with a "pop," plunging the room into darkness.
"Mom! Mom!" Fang Yu groped her way out of bed in the dark, supporting herself against the wall as she walked towards her mother's room. Yu Jihong also came out, and the two bumped into each other in the darkness. "Why did the power suddenly go out?"
"Did something get damaged by lightning?" The two women looked out the window. The lights in other houses were still on. "There's no power outage, so it must be ours that's broken."
Just then, a "drip, drip" sound came from the kitchen, growing louder and louder. "Oh no, is the water pipe leaking?" Yu Jihong's heart tightened, and she pulled Fang Yu towards the kitchen.
There were no flashlights, no candles, and not even a lighter in the room.
Fang Yu suddenly remembered something, groped her way to the room to get her pager, and pressed the query button. A faint green backlight appeared, though the light was weak, it was enough to illuminate a small area.
Using the dim light of the pager, the two entered the kitchen. There was a crack in the water pipe connection under the sink, and water was seeping out along the crack, already forming a small puddle on the floor. "What are we going to do? If it keeps dripping, the whole house will flood. It's so late, who can we call to fix it?" Yu Jihong wrung her hands anxiously.
Looking at her mother's anxious face, Fang Yu felt a pang of panic. She suddenly remembered Thor; when Thor wrote down his number for her, he had mentioned that he could fix plumbing and electrical work.
Could she ask him for help? Would it be too abrupt to bother him so late? But seeing the puddle getting bigger and bigger, she gritted her teeth and said, "Mom, I'll try to find someone."
Fang Yu pulled Yu Jihong to the landline in the living room, then took out a notebook from her bag and used the dim light of the pager to find the number.
My hands trembled slightly as I dialed Thor's pager number. A pager operator's voice came through the line, "Hello, would you like to leave a message?"
Fang Yu took a deep breath and whispered, "Please leave him a message saying that Fang Yu is looking for him urgently and that he should call this number back."
After hanging up the phone, the mother and daughter sat in the dark, listening to the wind and rain outside the window and the sound of water leaking in the kitchen, their hearts filled with anxiety.
"Fang Yu, who is she?" Yu Jihong asked.
"It was an online friend who gave me his number, saying he could fix plumbing and electrical work."
"Netizens?" Yu Jihong was a little puzzled, but there was no other way at the moment.
Time ticked by, and just as Fang Yu was about to give up hope, the phone in the living room suddenly rang, its sound particularly jarring in the quiet night.
Fang Yu quickly grabbed the receiver, "Hello?"
"Baby Fish? What's wrong? What happened?" The voice on the other end of the phone was a little hoarse from being woken up, but very urgent.
Fang Yu's heart immediately sank. "My house...my house has a burst water pipe and the power is out. Could you come over and help me take a look?"
"Don't worry, tell me the address, I'll be there right away!" Thor's voice was decisive.
After hanging up the phone, Fang Yu told her mother that someone who could fix it would be here soon.
Yu Jihong breathed a sigh of relief, but was also a little worried. "It's so late, and I'm still troubling people to make this trip... Is this person online reliable?" With only the mother and daughter at home, Yu Jihong became a little worried again.
"Mom, don't worry, it's reliable!" Fang Yu said, her confidence seemingly coming from nowhere.
The mother and daughter sat in the dark living room waiting when there was a knock on the door. Fang Yu quickly got up and looked outside. When she opened the door, she saw Thor standing there in a raincoat.
Thor stood outside, took off his raincoat, and carried a canvas tool bag underneath. Fang Yu took his raincoat, shook off the water, and hung it to the side. "Sorry to make you come so late."
"It's alright!" Thor took a headlamp out of his bag and waved it around. The beam of light instantly dispelled the darkness in the room. He smiled and walked into the room.
"Oh, do you need to change your shoes?" Thor took a few steps and then backed out.
"No, no need."
"Young man, thank you for your hard work. It's so late and I still had to call you here."
"It's alright, Auntie. If it's broken, it should be fixed as soon as possible."
Thor put on his headlamp, went into the kitchen to check, and turned off the water valve.
He crouched down, and under the beam of light, he skillfully unscrewed the connector with a wrench. He then took out tape and a new sealing ring from his toolbox, quickly replaced them, and wrapped them up.
When the valve was opened again, there was no leakage.
Next, he went to the meter box, his headlamp beam moving through the tangled wiring. He quickly found the problem, replaced a fuse, and the room lights finally came back on.
The warm yellow light instantly filled the room, and the mother and daughter both breathed a sigh of relief.
Fang Yu took out the money she had prepared from her pocket and handed it to Thor, saying, "Thank you, please take this money."
Thor paused for a moment, then smiled and pushed it back. "Fish..." Thor wanted to call for Fish Baby, but with Yu Jihong there, he was too embarrassed to say it. "Fang Yu, we're friends, helping each other is what I should do, I don't want the money."
“That won’t do,” Yu Jihong also advised. “Young man, take it. We just changed some parts, so we need to pay for the materials.”
"No need, Auntie, my name is Lei Feng."
"You're such an interesting young man. You know you should learn from Lei Feng, but you still have to collect the money you're owed."
"Mom, his name really is Lei Feng."
"Huh?" Yu Jihong was stunned for a moment, and the three of them laughed as they stood there.
"Yes, Auntie, my name is Lei Feng."
"Oh, this name is just as good as you."
Thor looked at the water on the ground and said, "Auntie, let's clean up the floor together."
"Oh, no need, no need, I'll just sweep and mop, it'll be quick. Or you can wait a moment, I'll cook you a bowl of noodles, I'm starving."
Thor's heart skipped a beat. Actually, he really wanted to stay a little longer, but he felt it was too late and he was afraid of disturbing their rest, so he smiled and said, "No, Auntie, it's too late. Fang Yu has to go to work tomorrow. Maybe next time, I'll come and freeload again next time. Let's sweep the floor first."
"No need, no need. If you're not going to eat, go home early. I'm so sorry to have called you here so late on a rainy day. Next time, I'll have Fang Yu contact you to come over for dinner."
"Okay, I'll come again next time. You guys should also get ready and rest early."
Fang Yu escorted him downstairs. "Fish Baby, your throat has been hoarse lately?"
"The Children's Day performance is coming up, and we've been rehearsing every day." Fang Yu thought for a moment, "You just called me Fang Yu."
"I like to call you Baby Fish, but I'm too embarrassed to call you that when your mom is around."
The rain outside had lessened a bit, but the thunder was still faintly rumbling in the distance.
Thor turned and looked at her. "Look, what a coincidence, I arrived just as the thunder started."
Fang Yu looked into his eyes, and her heart suddenly felt warm. "Thank you so much for today," she whispered.
"You're looking for me? Your mom said she wanted me to come over for dinner."
"Okay!" Fang Yu nodded. "Be careful on the road."
Thor waved his hand, turned, and walked into the night.
Fang Yu returned to the house, where Yu Jihong had already swept up the water. "Fang Yu, it seems like Lei Feng has a thing for you. Does he like you?"
"Mom, you noticed?"
Yu Jihong nodded. "And you?"
"I refused."
What does he do?
"I don't know, I didn't ask. He just gave me his number last time, saying he could fix plumbing and electrical work."
"So he's a plumber?"
"Maybe."
"Oh, the person seems alright, but..."
"Mom, I'm sleepy."
"Okay, go to sleep. You have to go to work tomorrow."
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