Transmigration: On the Gossip Front-Chapter 1027 - 1028: The Lonely Village Girl 72

Xiao Qiao visited the Zhang Family, and everyone in the courtyard was watching. It was already past eight in the evening and he still hadn’t left, which surprised everyone.

In the house, various discussions were going on about whether he’d be staying over at the Zhang Family’s house tonight.

Xiao Qiao took apart the radio, discovered the problem, and then put it back together, which delayed things quite a bit.

By the time he was done, it was almost nine, which gave Zhang Yu a fright.

In this era with no nightlife, nine o’clock could be considered the middle of the night, and everyone had long since gone to bed.

Zhang Yu could already guess that tonight’s courtyard would be a sleepless night for many.

"I think everyone assumes Xiao Qiao will stay here tonight," Zhang Yule said cheerfully.

Xiao Qiao initially thought he could wrap things up by around 8 o’clock, but didn’t expect it to drag on until nine. "It’s been so long since I last did this. I’m out of practice."

"Granny, I’ll take this radio with me first. Then I’ll find some tools and fix the loose parts before bringing it back to you."

Li Cui, of course, had no objections. "Thank you, Xiao Qiao."

"Take it easy on your way back," Li Cui said, as she walked to the courtyard and raised her voice a bit.

"Don’t worry, no one would dare ambush me. Otherwise, who knows who’s going to suffer," Xiao Qiao wasn’t at all concerned about any safety issues on the road.

"Exactly, Granny, don’t worry. If any fool dares to mess with Xiao Qiao, who knows who’ll have the bad luck," Zhang Yu had absolute confidence in Xiao Qiao.

"Right, if I encounter anything, it’s a chance to earn some merit," Xiao Qiao said, as he pushed his bicycle out of the courtyard, "Zhang Yu, you head back."

"Get some rest earlier," Xiao Qiao knew Zhang Yu stayed up late every night reading.

Zhang Yu replied, "You should rest early too."

"There’s no rush with the radio. Fix it when you have some time," Zhang Yu was just worried that Xiao Qiao would fix the radio overnight in his eagerness.

"No problem, there are just a few loose points I’ll solder tonight," Xiao Qiao, who had fixed radios before, replied, indicating it was no big deal.

"Grandma hasn’t listened to the radio in a while. I’ll work a bit tonight, and she can listen to it tomorrow," Xiao Qiao said as he rode away.

Li Cui watched Xiao Qiao departing into the distance, "It would be great if the radio could be fixed."

"Granny, you can listen to the radio tomorrow," Li Cui said, slightly raising her voice as she passed by Old Hao’s house. "Yeah, I thought this radio could only be sold off."

"But Xiao Qiao says it’s a small issue. Who knows if it’s true. If it can be fixed, it saves me from selling it cheap."

Li Cui knew Old Hao probably hadn’t gone to bed yet, so she didn’t mind letting him hear this.

"I have a few friends whose radios also have issues; we could have Xiao Qiao take a look then," Old Hao often bragged about his son-in-law’s skills with radios, didn’t he?

Now was the time to really embarrass him, see how he cheats people out of their money.

Old Hao knew Li Cui’s radio was broken, and he also knew the problem wasn’t big. His son-in-law had mentioned that if it could be bought back cheaply, a profit could be made.

He said Li Cui’s radio was a big brand, with many people looking for that model. Once repaired, it could definitely sell for a good price.

Hearing about the potential profit, Old Hao naturally paid attention, as his son-in-law earning money meant he could share some with him, improving his daughter’s life.

What he hadn’t expected was that Zhang Yu’s boyfriend could repair radios, which left Old Hao restless.

His son-in-law had collected several radios this way, and his reputation had spread.

Many neighbors, when their radios broke, would seek out his son-in-law for repairs, earning a bit in labor fees, more by selling replacement parts, but mostly by buying broken radios at low prices.

He had been thinking about promoting it more in the future, but now with this situation, there’d be no need for promotion.

Even in the nearby courtyard, their reputation would sour. Even if someone still came to have their radio fixed, getting it for a low price would be impossible.

Thinking about his son-in-law’s money-making ventures being so easily thwarted, Old Hao couldn’t sleep, tossing and turning in bed.

Old Hao’s wife, half-asleep, found him still awake and was unhappy, "What’s the matter with you, why aren’t you sleeping?"

"Sleep," Old Hao saw his wife only cared about sleeping, which annoyed him, "You don’t know, our rice bowl is being smashed."

Old Hao’s wife, half-asleep, sat up, "What, what rice bowl is being smashed?"

"Our son-in-law had his eyes on Li Cui’s radio, and I’m telling you, Zhang Yu’s boyfriend can fix it."

"Once it’s repaired and usable, can our son-in-law still take it away?"

"More importantly, our son-in-law said in front of many people that this radio’s been used for too long to be fixed."

"If Zhang Yu’s man fixes it, just think, think? Because of his radio repair skills, Old Hao held a high status in the courtyard.

Old Hao could already imagine, once Li Cui’s radio was fixed, how people in the courtyard would view him and his son-in-law.

Originally half-asleep, Old Hao’s wife, hearing all this, woke up immediately, "Old Hao, you didn’t hear it wrong, did you?"

"Isn’t Zhang Yu’s man from the police station? He’s good at catching people, but fixing radios, I’m not sure."

Old Hao’s wife thought it was a technical job; could Zhang Yu’s man, who was used to dealing with knives and guns, do this too?

"Who told you this?" It was midnight, and no one had gone out; how could this come about? Old Hao’s wife thought there must be more to it.

Old Hao recounted what Li Cui had said, and his wife burst out laughing, "What’s wrong with your brain?"

"Just because she says Zhang Yu’s man can fix it doesn’t make it true." Old Hao’s wife gave a cold snort, "Talk again once he actually fixes it."

"If he can’t fix it, then all the boasting means nothing."

Old Hao’s wife glanced at him, thinking he was useless, panicking at the slightest thing, "Li Cui didn’t have just our son-in-law look at the radio; she had others look at it too."

Old Hao thought so too, "Right, right, she’s the last one who came to our son-in-law."

After going around outside and realizing the radio couldn’t seemingly be fixed, only then did she come to his son-in-law, "Right, I shouldn’t panic."

"I’ll let it go for now, and in a few days, if her radio isn’t fixed, I’m definitely going to have a word with her."

Old Hao already planned how to harshly mock and ridicule Li Cui, "Really think just finding a grandson-in-law can repair radios."

"That’s just dreaming." Old Hao took a final puff of his cigarette, "It definitely can’t be fixed."

"Don’t worry, it can’t be fixed. Our son-in-law works at the factory, and usually studies this stuff. Otherwise, see so many making radios, do they have our son-in-law’s skills?" Old Hao’s wife boasted proudly.

Old Hao nodded repeatedly, "Working at the police station sounds good, but with good conditions, why would he agree to be a live-in son-in-law?"

Everyone still thought Xiao Qiao was living with his wife’s family, and they somewhat looked down on him.