Chapter 004: You will be able to repair it just by looking at it

That is Li Dengkai, the father of Li Weidong

At this moment, Li Weidong had already run far away, turning a corner and disappearing from sight

... ...

I originally thought this kid was going to change his ways, but unexpectedly, he still has that second-rate character, being the first to leave work again. Huh? Why is this kid heading straight for the main entrance? The bicycle shed is to the south

However, with the rise of private transportation, state-owned transportation enterprises found it difficult to adapt to the intense market competition, ultimately leading them down the path of decline. The Qinghe Transportation Company, a large state-owned enterprise, could only survive by managing the passenger bus station, and at that time, Li Weidong, who was in charge of freight transport, also lost his job.

... ...

"Has the car been stolen?" Li Denge asked.

Li Denge turned around and saw his son standing behind him, his eyes still filled with tears

"Having never eaten pork, have you never seen a pig run? I sit here every day watching so many masters repair cars, and I have learned a thing or two." Li Weidong replied with a smile

In terms of automotive repair skills, Li Weidong is indeed not inferior to those experienced masters.

For the owner of an auto repair shop, paying the salary of an apprentice and hiring a skilled mechanic is simply a tremendous profit, rounding up to an additional one hundred million

Li Weidong claimed that he could learn to repair cars just by watching, but Cui Dashan certainly did not believe him

The master trains the apprentice, which is different from automotive repair schools, as there are no specialized textbooks or systematic courses. At the same time, the master also has his own work in car repair and cannot devote all his attention to teaching the apprentice, thus the teaching efficiency and quality cannot be discussed. In this situation, the master has to spend several years to cultivate a qualified apprentice

As a result, when diagnosing automotive performance failures, it is common to confuse faults in other mechanical components with those of the carburetor, leading to a misdiagnosis of carburetor issues and consequently replacing the carburetor

The "Erba Dagang" bicycle was originally ridden to work by Li Denge. After Li Denge retired, the bicycle was given to Li Weidong, allowing him to ride it to and from work.

How could I have forgotten about the car? My bicycle is still parked in the repair shop's shed!

The quality of gasoline in the 1980s was significantly worse than that of later years, whether it was 66 octane gasoline or 70 octane gasoline, the quality was far from commendable

For an engine that uses a carburetor, the carburetor is akin to the heart of the engine, and all operational characteristics of the engine are related to the carburetor

Zhao Hu, as a mechanic, not only failed to repair the car but was also slapped in the face by a thug in the workshop, leaving him with a face full of humiliation as he lowered his head. However, he was helpless, for his skills were inferior to others

It is worth mentioning that at that time, trucks in the country were all equipped with gasoline engines, and trucks with diesel engines only began to gradually appear in the 1990s

For instance, the fundamental cause of the failure of this old Jiefang vehicle is the blockage of the pipeline, which leads to the malfunction of the gasoline filter, and the impurities generated subsequently clog the carburetor

However, after a moment of reflection, Cui Dashan thought that ever since Li Weidong arrived at the auto repair workshop, he had been wandering aimlessly every day. Cui Dashan had observed all of this, and Li Weidong had not learned car repair from any of the masters.

Li Weidong worked as a trainee at RB for three years and earned 200,000 RMB, which was largely due to the crazy appreciation of the Japanese yen at that time that allowed him to make such a substantial amount of money

In the early 1990s, 200,000 RMB was indeed a substantial sum. After returning to the country, Li Weidong used this money as startup capital to begin his entrepreneurial journey, ultimately becoming a well-known billionaire through his hard work.

Abroad, automotive carburetors are not easily damaged, which is attributed to the high quality of fuel, while the quality of gasoline in China has long been known to be subpar

In the early 1990s, the automotive industry in RB began to surpass that of the United States and Germany, and as a result, Li Weidong was exposed to the most advanced automotive repair technologies in the world

"You can learn to repair cars after just a few days? I don't believe you!" Cui Dashan silently cursed in his heart

Li Weidong jogged back to the family compound of the transportation company. At the entrance of the compound, several elderly men were gathered around a small table playing chess, and a familiar figure caught Li Weidong's eye

For a professional mechanic, this is merely a layer of window paper, easily pierced with a gentle poke. When Zhao Hu saw the clogged pipe, he realized where he had gone wrong

"A car? Does our family still have a car?" Li Weidong was slightly taken aback, and only then did he remember that there was indeed a bicycle at home, a "28-inch big bar" bicycle purchased in 1979

The future automotive repair technicians will be systematically trained in technical schools. However, in the 1980s, cultivating an automotive repair technician was not an easy task. At that time, there were no specialized technical schools for automotive repair, and learning automotive repair relied entirely on the hands-on guidance of a master.

Where on earth did this kid learn to repair cars? Could it be that he really stumbled upon a dead mouse by sheer luck? thought Cui Dashan to himself

In later years, when Li Weidong had established a significant career, his parents had long since passed away, and he experienced the pain of wanting to care for them but being unable to. Now, seeing his father alive and standing before him once again, Li Weidong could not help but shed tears

Compared to the RB vehicle, the mechanical structure of the old Jiefang is indeed too simple. The RB engine from the 1980s is something that China still cannot replicate in the 21st century. After Li Weidong spent several years repairing the complex RB vehicles, returning to repair the old Jiefang naturally became a matter of ease for him

Li Weidong quietly approached, gazing at his father who was intensely engaged in a fierce battle with his opponent at the chess table, and finally could not help but call out: "Dad"

"Weidong, what happened? Why are you crying?" Li Denge was slightly taken aback, realizing that Li Weidong was just standing there alone, and he immediately understood.

The carburetor is actually a mechanical device with a relatively low failure rate, but this is not the case in China

As the closing bell rang, Li Weidong immediately dashed out of the auto repair workshop, following the memories of the past, and ran towards the family compound of the transportation company

If only the carburetor is replaced, the issue of the car not starting may be temporarily alleviated, but the fundamental cause remains unresolved. The pipes are still clogged, and the fuel filter cannot function completely. Therefore, once the accelerator is pressed hard, the vehicle will stall.

The workshop director, Cui Dashan, looked at Li Weidong with a face full of curiosity. He could not understand how Li Weidong, who wandered aimlessly in the workshop every day and did not do any work, could identify the root cause of the malfunction of this old Jiefang vehicle at a glance

The poor quality of gasoline has turned what was originally a durable carburetor into a vulnerable component, making the replacement of carburetors a common practice in automobile repairs

Cui Dashan looked at Li Weidong, who was known for his motto "Good at nothing, but first to leave work," and shook his head helplessly

Li Weidong was overwhelmed with emotion and tears streamed down his face upon seeing his father again, while Li Dengkai mistakenly thought that Li Weidong had lost the bicycle, which caused him to cry in distress

In his previous life, Li Weidong worked in an auto repair shop for three years, experiencing the journey from apprentice to auto mechanic. Subsequently, Li Weidong was transferred to the position of vehicle dispatcher, where he personally witnessed the final glorious moments of state-owned transportation enterprises

"Li Weidong, how did you know it was a filter issue?" Cui Dashan asked.

When Li Weidong was laid off, it was at the beginning of the 1990s, a time when the RB trainee system was on the rise. Taking advantage of his youth and vigor, Li Weidong leveraged some connections to find work in RB. The Japanese intermediary learned that Li Weidong was skilled in car repair and recommended him to a car repair factory in RB.

I checked the gasoline filter at that time, but how could I have overlooked this pipe! Zhao Hu had a look of frustration on his face

In the early 1980s, the "Erba Dagang" was equivalent to today's private cars. At that time, if a young man owned an "Erba Dagang," it was definitely a plus when going on a blind date. Losing an "Erba Dagang" was absolutely a significant financial loss for a family, rounding up to a loss of one hundred million.