Era: Starting with the struggle to refuse being taken advantage of

Chapter 72: Apprenticeship Test
While Wang Chengpeng was sizing up the two men, the two men were also sizing up Wang Chengpeng.

They had assumed that Wang Chengpeng was also a student seeking apprenticeship, just like themselves, but they never expected that Wang Chengpeng would become their apprentice.

Only then did they understand what Ji Yongyue meant by "young"—it meant someone much younger than them.

Despite this, neither of them dared to overstep their bounds, nor did they show any disrespect for Wang Chengpeng.

This was a master introduced by Ji Yongyue; even out of respect for Ji Yongyue, they wouldn't dare to act recklessly in the slightest.

Even after understanding Wang Chengpeng's identity, the way they looked at him became respectful.

Shaking his head slightly, Wang Chengpeng said, "What can you possibly learn by looking? Let's see how it goes with our skills."

"If someone has some talent and some repair skills, I wouldn't mind taking them on as a mentor."

"Okay, I'll go find two radios with similar malfunctions first, and I'll consider whether to take you on as an apprentice based on the repair results."

After saying that, Wang Chengpeng wasted no time and went straight to Ji Yongyue's warehouse.

A short while later, Wang Chengpeng came out again with two radios, placed them in front of the two men respectively, and said:
"Although these two radios have some problems, the faults are not serious and can be repaired with some effort."

"I'll give you half an hour. Try your best to repair the radio in front of you."

"I will decide whether to accept you based on the repair results."

Wang Chengpeng's tone was extremely arrogant, but it also made the two of them breathe a slight sigh of relief.

If Wang Chengpeng really accepted them without any regard for the consequences, even with Ji Yongyue as their guarantor, they would still feel uneasy.

But things are different now. Since there is an assessment, it means that the apprenticeship is not a trivial matter, which puts the two of them at ease.

As apprentices at the town's repair shop, the two had some repair experience, and were particularly adept at repairing radios.

However, after taking apart the radio and examining it closely, the two were completely dumbfounded.

These two radios look relatively new and probably haven't been used for very long.

The fact that their owners took them to a scrap yard means that their problems are definitely not minor; at least they are difficult to repair, or the repair costs are too high, so it's better to buy new ones.

Just as the two had expected, after disassembling the radio, they couldn't even find the problem among the seemingly intact radio components.

Is this a "minor problem"? Could it be that my IQ is not high enough, and my understanding of this word is not thorough enough?
With this question in mind, the two picked up their tools and started testing the radio, and for a while they were quite busy.

Seeing this, Wang Chengpeng breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Judging from their skillful inspection movements, they must have some repair experience.

In addition, if they are willing to put in the work and their comprehension isn't too bad, they are qualified to be trained by Wang Chengpeng.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye, and soon the crisp sound of an alarm clock rang in the scrap metal recycling station. The two of them stopped what they were doing almost at the same time.

Wiping the sweat from their foreheads, the two stopped rushing around and instead stood up respectfully in front of their radios, ready to face Wang Chengpeng's judgment.

In fact, Wang Chengpeng hardly needed to look closely to know the progress of the two repairmen, since he hadn't been idle for half a day and had been watching from the side.

Wang Chengpeng walked straight to the radio that Shi Ren was repairing and commented softly:
"I'm fairly skilled, but I'm a bit too conventional and hesitant to try new things."

"It's easy to repair machines that break down according to textbooks, but it's difficult to handle complex problems."

After saying that, Wang Chengpeng didn't sit still. Under the watchful eyes of the others, he slowly squatted down and quickly started operating the machine in front of him.

In ten minutes? Or even less, the radio was restored in Wang Chengpeng's hands. After inserting the batteries and a simple tuning, it surprisingly emitted a clear broadcast.

In other words, Wang Chengpeng repaired the radio in less than ten minutes, a task that Shi Ren couldn't fix in half an hour.

This scene completely shattered Shi Ren's worldview. It was the first time he had ever known that a radio could be repaired so well and so quickly.

In particular, many of Wang Chengpeng's actions seemed completely meaningless to him, but it was precisely these seemingly meaningless actions that, when accumulated, directly repaired this difficult-to-repair radio.

It was precisely through this extremely exaggerated maneuver that Wang Chengpeng successfully established a working relationship with Ji Yongyue.

Otherwise, not just any Tom, Dick, or Harry could negotiate a favor with someone like Ji Yongyue.

If Shi Ren knew that Wang Chengpeng had even slowed down his repair work to accommodate the two of them, he would probably be even more shocked.

The more skilled a repairman is, the more they know how difficult it is to reach Wang Chengpeng's level; it requires an intimate understanding of every single aspect of the radio.

Only in this way can we carry out repairs as soon as possible based on the problem.

Although the two of them worked for half an hour, they were actually mostly troubleshooting.

Compared to Wang Chengpeng, they are still too young.

Without pausing, after repairing one radio, Wang Chengpeng moved on to another radio belonging to He Quan.

In just a few minutes, a truly miraculous turn of events, the radio was brought back to life, transforming from a piece of junk into a highly sought-after item.

This incredible feat of turning the impossible into the possible still amazes Ji Yongyue no matter how many times he sees it.

He really couldn't understand how Wang Chengpeng, who was so young, could possess such superb repair skills.

Compared to Ji Yongyue's shock, Shi Ren and He Quan felt only a deep sense of powerlessness and utter despair.

Before seeing Wang Chengpeng's skills, they thought they were quite capable and that becoming Wang Chengpeng's apprentice was a waste of their talents.

But after seeing Wang Chengpeng take action, they felt only deep despair.

Shi Ren, in particular, with his keen eyes, noticed that Wang Chengpeng had two more radios that had already been repaired.

In other words, in the half hour that they felt was far from sufficient to repair a radio with a complicated problem,
Wang Chengpeng not only clearly observed their repair work, but also took the time to fix two radios.

This repair technology is simply incredible, leaving them far behind.

What has always limited Wang Chengpeng's earning speed has never been the time spent on repairs, but rather the cargo capacity of his bicycle!

It was precisely because they realized the extraordinary nature of Wang Chengpeng's repair skills that they felt despair.

In their view, if Wang Chengpeng wanted to take on apprentices, he would look for truly skilled repairmen, not two incompetent apprentices like them. This apprenticeship was destined to end in failure.

After all, it would be more cost-effective for Wang Chengpeng to spend the time teaching them how to repair radios himself.
Thinking this, Shi Ren spoke first: "Mr. Wang, you are a true master."

"It's just a pity that my repair skills are too poor, and I don't have the good fortune to become your apprentice."

"Farewell."

After saying that, Shi Ren got up to leave, feeling that it would be shameful to stay there for even a second longer.

(End of this chapter)