When Qingye returned, several people were gathered around the cash register. Before she could understand what had happened, Liu Nian said, “This is an Apple computer, it’s very expensive.”

She asked, “What happened?”

Then she saw the Pro laptop on the counter had gone black. The counter was covered in water, and the keyboard was scattered with goji berries, dried longan, and other things.

An old-style water dispenser stood beside the cash register. Earlier, Li Lanfang’s mahjong friend Zhao Mazi had gotten up to get water. Another player asked him to get some for her too. After pouring his water, Zhao Mazi carelessly placed the uncapped cup on the counter while getting another. When he turned back to grab his cup, it was too hot – his hand reflexively jerked back, spilling all the scalding water onto the laptop.

Qingye panicked – all her study materials were inside, including many from her previous school. She quickly pressed the power button, but there was no response at all, just a black screen.

To make matters worse, Zhao Mazi stood nearby making thoughtless remarks: “It’s just one cup of water, how could that break a computer? It’s not a big deal.”

Qingye shot him a glare. The forty-something Zhao Mazi, one of Li Lanfang’s regular mahjong players, was taken aback by her fierce expression.

Qingye picked up the laptop, shaking off the goji berries and longan, and told him, “If it can’t be fixed, you’d better be prepared to pay for it!”

She then turned to Liu Nian and asked, “Is there an Apple service center around here?”

“What?”

“Never mind, where can I get computers repaired?”

Liu Nian caught on and told her, “Oh, take a tricycle and tell them to go to Electronics Street, they’ll know where it is.”

“Okay.”

Without another word, Qingye took the laptop and left. Liu Nian, concerned, ran after her to say, “It’s five yuan for the ride, don’t overpay.”

The so-called tricycle was electric-powered, rarely seen in Beijing. Although Qingye might have seen them before, she’d never ridden one. She didn’t expect it to be so bumpy – she clutched the laptop with one hand and gripped the door frame with the other, her bottom practically bruising. Unfortunately, this shabby place didn’t have a single decent road; they were all full of potholes. The driver even took a shortcut onto a dirt road. When the tricycle tilted, Qingye thought they would flip over, breaking into a cold sweat.

The driver remained completely calm, piloting the rickety tricycle like a Mount Akina drift king, just short of actually drifting.

By the time they reached Electronics Street, Qingye was pale-faced and nearly sick. She handed over a ten-yuan note and walked away without looking back, swearing never to ride that wretched thing again – what a mess it all was.

The so-called Electronics Street was nothing like Beijing’s Zhongguancun or Pacific Digital Plaza. There were no tall buildings or many shops, just a sparse row of storefronts with bicycles, electric bikes, and motorcycles chaotically parked out front.

Moreover, these shops didn’t just sell phones and computers – they also sold light fixtures, transformers, switches, and even shower heads and faucets.

It was like a huge mishmash of everything.

Qingye visited several computer shops. Though some sold Apple computers, they were all older models, and none could repair Apple laptops – they could only fix regular notebooks.

The staff asked if it was urgent. If not, she could leave the computer there, and they could take it to the county town for repairs, though it would take quite a while.

Qingye hadn’t expected getting a computer fixed would be so troublesome here – at this rate, she wouldn’t make it back in time for school to start.

A young clerk, seeing her confusion, offered some advice: “You could try finding Ju Huang at Shunyi. If he can’t fix it, nobody around here can.”

Qingye had heard others mention Ju Huang and guessed he must be an experienced repair technician. She began looking for a shop called Shunyi along Electronics Street.

The weather was unbearably hot, and there were no trees for shade. Qingye held the laptop over her head for protection, walking in her beige sandals to the end of the street. Just when she thought she’d missed it, she spotted a shop across the street with a sign reading “Shunyi Repair Shop.”

She hurried over, but before even entering, Qingye felt something was odd about this repair shop.

Two broken refrigerators blocked the entrance, with old TVs further inside. Beyond that was a jumble of various household appliances – what exactly did they repair here?

The shop seemed empty, though a curtain inside occasionally let through men’s cursing voices, creating an unsavory atmosphere.

In the past, Qingye would have simply handed computer repairs to her father’s assistant. She would never have set foot in such a dubious place. The environment made her extremely uncomfortable, but as she turned to leave, she hesitated, gritted her teeth, and called out, “Is anyone here?”

No one answered; the voices continued. Qingye cleared her throat and called again, “Is any-“

Just then, a man in a white tank top pushed aside the curtain. His bare arms were covered in tattoos, and though not tall, he had an intimidating presence.

Qingye had never dealt with such people before. She froze, momentarily unable to speak.

The tattooed man looked at her curiously and asked, “What do you want?”

Qingye’s throat tightened, but she forced herself to ask, “I’m looking for Master Ju. The computer shop down the street said he’s here.”

The tattooed man laughed when he heard her add “Master” before Ju, and looked her up and down again. “You’re not from around here, are you?”

Qingye nodded, then heard the tattooed man walk back behind the curtain, calling out, “Brother Wu, someone’s here for you.”

Seconds later, he poked his head back out and told Qingye, “Go on in.”

Qingye’s heart had already started racing when she heard “Brother Wu.” Her suspicions were confirmed when she pushed aside the curtain and saw Xing Wu sitting among a group of men, cigarette in mouth, holding playing cards.

Xing Wu barely moved, merely lifting his eyelids slightly. Smoke rose hazily from the cigarette in his mouth. When he saw who had entered, he narrowed his eyes.

Qingye said in shock, “I thought… Ju Huang was someone’s name.”

She had thought all the way here that while her surname Qing was uncommon, finding someone with the surname Ju was equally rare.

The tattooed man interjected, “This girl even asked for Master Ju.”

“Hahahaha…”

The room immediately filled with men’s boisterous laughter, making Qingye’s face flush red as she stood by the door.

Xing Wu lazily removed the cigarette from his mouth and stubbed it out in the ashtray. His eyes held a hint of amusement as he asked, “What’s the matter?”

Only then did Qingye awkwardly take out her laptop and tell him, “Water got into the computer, and it’s black. The computer shop said you could fix it.”

Xing Wu didn’t move but nodded at the tattooed man, who walked over to Qingye, “Give it to me.”

Qingye handed the laptop to him. He retrieved a box of specialized tools and threw them to Xing Wu, then passed him the laptop. Xing Wu placed it directly on top of the scattered playing cards on the folding table and skillfully removed the back cover with a few turns of the screwdriver, then professionally unplugged the battery cable.

The card game paused as the young men chatted and smoked. The room was noisy, and they kept glancing at Qingye.

She wore a stylish mesh dress with a waist-defining design that perfectly highlighted her proportions. The V-neck traced her delicate collarbone, fresh and fashionable. With her beautiful features, she naturally drew all eyes in this male-dominated room.

Feeling uncomfortable standing by the door, Qingye squeezed next to Xing Wu and bent down to ask, “How is it? Can you fix it?”

Xing Wu said nothing, just looked up at her. As she bent over, her hair fell slightly forward, and sweat gleamed on the tip of her nose, giving her the appearance of a lotus emerging from clear water.

Xing Wu tilted his head and called out to Quanya, who was standing by the cabinet air conditioner, “Move aside, you’re blocking the air.”

As soon as Quanya moved, Qingye felt the cool breeze on her skin, making her reluctant to move. So while Xing Wu worked on the computer, she stood beside him enjoying the air conditioning.

After tinkering for a while, Xing Wu tossed the laptop and its parts backward, saying, “Can’t fix it, the motherboard is fried.”

Qingye immediately became anxious, “Can you replace it here? I need it urgently.”

Xing Wu waved his hand, signaling everyone to continue playing cards, and casually quoted a price: “Four thousand if not urgent, five thousand for rush service. Pay first, take it away if it’s too expensive.”

He then resumed playing Fight the Landlord. Qingye had expected motherboard replacement to be expensive, but not this much. Five thousand wasn’t a fortune for her normally, but in her current situation, it would hurt.

She asked, “After it’s fixed, everything inside will still be there, right?”

“Mm,” Xing Wu responded casually.

After getting this answer, Qingye didn’t hesitate further. Stranded in this backwater place, this laptop was her only hope. It contained all her photos – if the computer couldn’t be fixed, she’d even lose her parents’ pictures.

So Qingye took out her phone and transferred five thousand to Xing Wu. His phone lay on the table, making a “ding” sound. Qingye told him, “I’ve sent it to you.”

Xing Wu didn’t even look, just grunted “Oh” and continued playing cards.

Qingye looked around and spotted a small stool near the air conditioner. She walked over and sat down, browsing on her phone.

After several rounds, Xing Wu turned to her: “Why are you still here?”

“Waiting to go back with you.”

Qingye figured it was already past four, and Xing Wu would be heading back soon to feed Grandmother dinner anyway. It was too hot outside, and she didn’t want to walk the entire street again to take a tricycle. That awful thing was like riding a death trap on these roads – just thinking about it was scary.

But when the others heard Qingye’s words, they were stunned. The tattooed man immediately asked, “Brother Wu, you know this girl?”

“Mm,” Xing Wu just acknowledged without explanation.

The others couldn’t figure out the situation. This girl wanted to wait for Brother Wu to return together, suggesting they were close, yet he had charged her such a large repair fee, which didn’t seem like they were that familiar. Everyone was confused, but seeing Xing Wu’s silence, they didn’t dare ask more.

Only Quanya knew Qingye was Xing Wu’s cousin, so he wasn’t surprised. He took an iced tea from the nearby freezer and handed it to her.

Qingye looked up at him and accepted it, saying, “Thank you.”

“They call me Quanya.”

Qingye noticed he indeed had a small fang, and looked more refined than the others, with less of a gangster air about him.

“Qingye,” she replied without hesitation.