"Just consider it... for that braised beef we just had?"
Su Wei joked, standing up and patting her on the shoulder, "Take good care of your injury. Once your leg is healed, you can take me to see that herd of moose you mentioned."
After saying that.
Before Emily could speak again, he turned around, opened the door, and strode out.
The security door clicked shut.
Emily sat there, staring at the closed door, lost in thought for a long time.
After a while.
She looked down at her leg, which was in a cast, and then at the empty dining table next to her.
When did that slightly introverted little boy who always followed her around become so... bossy?
downstairs.
A cold wind, carrying snowflakes, swept against my face.
Su Wei tightened his collar, his footsteps crunching on the snow as he walked toward the tow truck parked by the roadside.
Jamie is a typical Alaska blue-collar worker.
He was in his thirties, with a stubble beard, wearing an oversized jumpsuit stained with oil, and heavy frostbite gloves on his hands.
Seeing Su Wei approach, he jumped out of the driver's seat and exhaled a puff of white breath.
" Su Wei, right? Emily told me about it."
Jamie's booming voice rang out in the cold wind, "Where's that motorcycle? I heard it broke down in the mountains?"
"Over there in the garage."
Su Wei pointed in the direction and led him there. "The engine has a problem and may need a major service."
"Major maintenance is definitely in the works."
Jamie followed behind, carrying his toolbox, muttering to himself, "This awful weather, machines are more delicate than people. If they get wet or break down, that'll be a real disaster."
The two arrived at the open space behind the apartment.
A dilapidated snowmobile sat quietly in the corner.
The fairing was covered in scratches, pitted everywhere, and several parts were completely broken.
The gaps in the tracks were still filled with unmelted ice and mud, giving it a weathered look.
Jamie stepped forward and gave the exterior a quick glance.
"My God, that's really ruthless."
He patted the seat. "The tracks are about 70% worn, and the suspension is a bit crooked... but these are minor issues."
After saying that.
He skillfully lifted the hood.
A strong smell, a mixture of engine oil and burnt odor, wafted towards me.
Jamie took out a flashlight and shone it into the engine compartment.
His previously casual movements suddenly stopped.
The beam of light was fixed at the connection point of the drive shaft.
There, a somewhat incongruous connecting rod was tightly meshed with the gear.
This is definitely not an original part.
Its color and texture are very special, and the processing marks are completely unorthodox, looking rough, yet surprisingly precise.
Jamie frowned and moved even closer.
He reached out and touched the connecting rod, and the sensation from his fingertips startled him.
The surface is not smooth; you can even feel the marks from a file.
But at the crucial connection points, they fit together perfectly, without the slightest bit of wobbling.
What surprised him even more was...
He saw a thin, golden-yellow layer in the gap of the bearing.
That's... brass?
"This..."
Jamie suddenly straightened up, turned to look at Su Wei as if he'd seen a ghost, and asked, "Who put this thing up there?"
As a veteran auto mechanic who has been working in this industry for over a decade.
He knew all too well what this meant.
Although snowmobile engines are not as complex as car engines, they still require extremely high precision in their components at high speeds.
A small difference can lead to a huge discrepancy.
It's a miracle that this machine can still run after being modified with incompatible parts.
"I."
Su Wei stood to the side, hands in his pockets, speaking calmly, "Back in the mountains, the connecting rod broke, and there were no spare parts. Luckily, there was a wrecked Ford nearby, so we salvaged a connecting rod and used it as a makeshift solution."
"Improvise?"
Jamie's voice rose eight octaves, "You call this 'makeshift'?"
He buried his head back under the hood, examining it closely, his face filled with disbelief.
" Ford's connecting rods are a size larger than this, and they're made of high-strength alloy steel... etc."
Jamie suddenly realized what was happening and pointed incredulously at the connecting rod, "Don't tell me you ground this down by hand?"
"Um."
Su Wei nodded. "There was no machine tool, only a file. It took three hours to grind it."
Hiss
Jamie gasped.
madman.
That's a madman.
In the freezing cold of -20 degrees Celsius, how could someone use a file to grind down an alloy steel connecting rod by three millimeters while maintaining the flatness of the surface?
This is not just physical labor.
This requires an extremely deep understanding of mechanical structures and an incredibly steady hand to do this kind of work.
"And..."
Jamie pointed at the brass washer, his finger trembling slightly, "You calculated this bearing clearance too?"
"More or less."
Unable to explain his Mechanical Repair skills, Su Wei simply said, "By feel."
By feel.
Those three words were like a slap in the face, making Jamie's head buzz.
He had been repairing cars in town for ten years; he was someone who made a living through his skills.
But if he were in that situation, he couldn't think of such a hardcore, even abnormal, self-rescue method besides waiting for rescue.
This is what... the legendary unorthodox methods?
Jamie's gaze towards Su Wei changed.
I initially thought he was just a lucky Asian kid, but now it seems he's clearly a monster.
I'm impressed.
Jamie took off his gloves and hastily wiped the sweat from his face. "Brother, with skills like yours, it's a real shame you're not building cars in Detroit."
He put his gloves back on and began examining the other areas.
This time, his actions were noticeably more serious, no longer the perfunctory treatment he showed to ordinary customers.
Ten minutes later.
Jamie closed the hood and picked up the quote.
"The engine itself isn't seriously damaged; you're truly amazing at that."
Jamie's tone was filled with admiration, "This connecting rod is stiff enough, but it's not the original factory counterweight. Running it for a long time will damage the crankshaft; it needs to be replaced. And then there are the belts and clutch plates in the transmission, plus all the fluids and wear parts in the car..."
He typed away on the calculator.
"The original parts plus labor cost totals three thousand eight hundred and forty-five."
Jamie handed the form to Su Wei. "I've waived the towing fee for you; it's a token of respect for a mechanical expert like you."
Su Wei glanced at the list.