The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 96 Is it too late for me to send Xiao Youdeng to school now?

25 yuan might be a lot of money for the young brother possessed by Shen Le, but it was nothing in this high-end department store.

"If you think it's too expensive, then don't buy it!" The clerk was a little impatient:

"All these dolls are newly imported, the latest, American products!" He emphasized the word "American products":
"American girls are all happy about it, how can it be sold at a low price?"

The elder brother felt the five dollars in his pocket and had no choice but to retreat. The five dollars was the scholarship he received for winning the first place in the exam last semester, which was enough to cover the family's expenses for a month.

However, these five dollars are still too far away from the doll my sister likes.

"Yingying," he whispered to his sister:
"Why don't we go to the next store? Maybe there's something cheaper there..."

The next store didn't have any either. Sincerely, Wing On, Sun Sun, and Dah Sun, all four department stores didn't have any dolls that were both beautiful and affordable.

Yingying's pink face turned from red to white, and then from white to red. She was about to cry. Shen Le quickly hugged her and left:
"If you can't afford it, then I'll make one for you when I get home! I'll make a prettier one!"

"We also need a small table and a small chair!" Yingying burst into laughter. When her brother repeatedly promised:

"No problem! Definitely!"

"We also need an elevator! Xinxin Company has an elevator, and I want an elevator too!"

The older brother was in a dilemma for a moment. Seeing his younger sister's weather turning cloudy again, he quickly patted his chest and repeatedly assured her:
"Absolutely! Definitely!"

He returned home with his sister in his arms, set out his tools, and began to make various dolls with creaking and clanging sounds. Through the door, his mother's voice rose high:
"Xingxing, don't spoil her too much! Your own studies are more important!"

"Mom, it's okay!" Shen Le smiled and said:

"I'm practicing my craft! We're mechanics anyway, so we have to make all kinds of things, and I'm good with my hands!"

As the light flowed, a small, pretty doll took shape in his hands. The doll was only half the height of Xiao Ling, with a slender figure and a beautiful face.

On the day when the dolls and miniature furniture were made, Yingying invited all the children to her home for a party.

On that day, small tables, small chairs, and small sofas were spread out, and the dolls sat on the sofas, looking so beautiful that they seemed to be glowing.

And that day, Yingying became the proudest and most envied child among the group of children.

Long memories of making various dolls and miniature furniture flowed through his mind. Under the quiet light of the studio, Shen Le opened his eyes, thinking.

--is that so?
Was this dollhouse made by a loving brother for his little sister?

What did this brother and sister go through later that caused the dollhouse to become what it is today, with them falling to the ground and pretending to be dead at any time?

Shen Le didn't know. Searching his memory, he didn't get any clear clues. Maybe, when he finished repairing this doll house, he would get the answer?

Repair, repair, repair. Shen Le pulled himself together and began to enter the "worker wants to do his job well" stage. He picked up his phone and started to place an order:
Pigskin glue, bone glue, fish bladder glue, lacquer, various mineral powders for adjusting the color of lacquer...

Fortunately, he has maintained contact with their research group's regular suppliers since graduation.

The restoration of cultural relics emphasizes the restoration of the old as it was, and emphasizes reversibility. The more precious the cultural relics are, the more traditional materials should be used. The channels for purchasing these things are still ready!
After placing all the orders, they continued to work. Shen Le stood up and was about to choose the second object to be repaired when the light in front of him suddenly dimmed:
"A small oil lamp!"

Shen Le shouted angrily:

"I'm working! Don't turn off my light!"

There was no response. The small oil lamp disappeared into oblivion, without making a sound.

Looking again, not only the lights, but also the computers, air conditioners, and exhaust fans were either off or stopped. It seemed that the whole house had a power outage?

Shen Le reluctantly picked up the small oil lamp, walked out of the room, and checked along the way. No, no, there was no electricity. He walked through the three courtyards and came to the first entrance on the west road.

The house is so big that it’s miserable. If the power switch trips, you have to push it back on by walking through three courtyards, winding around for nearly a hundred meters!

I turned on the switch, but there was still no electricity. I opened the door and looked out. The street was dark. Residents came out of their houses, looked around, and talked about it:

"what happened?"

"what happened?"

"Why did the circuit breaker suddenly trip?"

"Call for repair!"

Shen Le quietly retreated into the house and closed the door. He was still thinking about how to deal with the oil lamp and find the troublemaker, when his cell phone rang. Electrician Xiang Yang called and asked:

"Shen Le, what happened to your house? Why is the load so heavy in an instant? The circuits of the entire street have tripped! What did you do?!"

Shen Le: “…”

If I say now that it wasn't me who did it, but the small oil lamp, is it too late?

Or is it too late for me to let the Special Affairs Department take the blame now?

"I don't know either..." He answered stiffly. The person on the other end of the line sighed:
"Okay, anyway, you better be careful. If there's anything you don't understand about the circuits in your big house, feel free to call me and I'll come over to help you check it out. Don't mess around on your own!"

"understood……"

Shen Le answered with a guilty conscience. He picked up the small oil lamp and walked back, swinging it vigorously as he walked:
"Stop pretending you don't exist!"

"I told you to control all the electrical appliances in the house, but I didn't tell you to trip the circuit breaker in the house!"

"Look, now the whole street is out of power!"

"Don't play dead, come out!"

The oil lamp showed no reaction. Shen Le sighed and had to put it down and go to eat. After dinner, he brought Xiao Ling back. As soon as he entered the door, he saw a bright light in front of him:
Oh, the electricity is coming. Okay, I'll teach the little oil lamp a lesson later - [Shen Le! Are you repairing a new friend for me? ]

There was a crackling sound, and the light above his head flashed twice. Before Shen Le could answer, the little wooden puppet had already happily opened the zipper of his backpack and poked his head out:

【Are you repairing a new friend? 】

Well, he is still repairing, but we don’t know whether he will come back to life.

Even if I survived, I don’t know if I could stay and become a friend in the house.

After all, this doll cabinet still has an owner. Although the owner has Alzheimer's disease, he is also lucid at times. It all depends on the owner's wishes...

While Shen Le was still hesitating about how to explain, the little wooden puppet had already stuck most of its body out and waved its hand.

With a swish, the thread got tangled in a wooden rafter, and the whole person flew out a little; with another swish, the thread got tangled in the door handle, and the whole person flew out a little more...

Xiaoling, stop right there!
You are a good girl, don’t learn from Spiderman or Tarzan!

It’s a headache. Raising a child is really a technical job…

The little Pinocchio flew very fast, and the wick of the small oil lamp crackled. A ball of silver light jumped from one lamp to another, chasing behind without showing any weakness.

Soon, the chirping of two little ones could be heard in Shen Le's studio:
Is this our new partner?

[It’s so weak! ]

[But this time there are a lot! There are so many! ]

【Is it every one of them? 】

But they don't talk to me!

[Don’t tell me! ]

Should we just fix them?

[I can fix it! But Shen Le won't let me help!] Next to the studio, the sounds of saws, planes, chisels, and hammers suddenly stopped, and Xiao Modou interrupted.

After complaining this, he paused and his voice immediately dropped.

The sound of the ink fountain in the dark was originally full and pleasant, like the sound of a zither string - or like the sound of an ink line being plucked, but now it was a notch lower, like the whimpering sound of a wet zither string:
[Wow, Shen Le has been busy repairing them these days and doesn’t even talk to me…]

As soon as he finished speaking, the other two little guys rushed to complain:
[Apart from sending me there and picking me up every day, he ignored me! ]

[He doesn't play with me either! I tripped the power cord today and he didn't even say a word to me!]

Shen Le endured it again and again, and finally did not raise his hand to rub his forehead.

Three monsters in one show, the three little guys started chattering and quarreling, it was so noisy that it could explode his head -

He pushed the door open and entered. Pinocchio had already jumped onto the shelf, looking at the tiny dolls one by one, one tray after another. He compared them with himself, and then compared them with himself again:
[This one is not as big as me, this one is not as big as me, this one is not as big as me... Shen Le, is this your younger brother? Is this your younger sister? ]

Shen Le had a headache. Wake up, I just came back to do a job, not to give you another brother or sister!
"Put it down!"

Oops, I feel like a father who has just brought his baby home and a group of older children are surrounding him. He has to nervously shout:
"Don't poke your sister!"

"Don't pinch her nose!"

"Don't pick her up! You're too young to hold her steady!"

"Don't put her in your schoolbag and bring her to school to show her to your classmates!!!"

Shen Le tried his best to comfort the three little ones with kind words, including but not limited to never abandoning them, never giving up on them, and never ignoring them...

After finally calming them down, they stopped crying and shouting about climbing up the roof, going on strike, and running away from home (who did they learn this from!)
Shen Le finally pushed the little ink fountain back to the next room and ordered it to continue working;

I took the small oil lamp to the third living room, stuffed an e-book of "Electrical Engineering" into it, and told it to study hard and not to cause a power outage in the house next time.

Then I kept the puppet by my side and asked it to help me. At this time, I was already dizzy and had no mood to deal with those miniature furniture, so I had to turn my attention to the doll cabinet:
Tsk, this doll cabinet is really old. The red lacquer on the cabinet, which was originally a very solemn color, is now mottled and the paint has peeled off in many places.

"It's not easy to dismantle this... If you move it a little, the paint will fall off..."

Moreover, when restoring the paint, the restoration workers do not do it like ordinary carpenters who simply scrape off the remaining paint, then brush and brush, and then apply one or more coats of paint. Restoration of cultural relics requires much more precision:

Those cracked, warped and curled paint leathers have to be glued back piece by piece like glueing together the remaining pieces of calligraphy and painting!
Shen Le sighed in frustration. He had previously worked with his mentor on ancient building restoration, but that stuff wasn't that noble, so it didn't matter if the paint peeled off.

How do those big guys who do restoration of cultural relics furniture strike a balance between taking it apart - and losing the paint, and not losing the paint - and being unable to take it apart?
Shen Le simulated it, but couldn't get the point. He searched the Internet for papers, well, the papers helped a little, but not much:

There is an article written by a senior official from the Palace Museum, "Analysis and Restoration of the Lacquer-Filled and Gold-Inlaid Long Table with Kuilong Pattern", which talks about the restoration of lacquer leather.

In particular, the working order is to apply the paint first, then remove the dust:
"Physical dust removal is done after the paint is re-applied to prevent the paint from falling off during the dust removal process, ensuring that the original paint layer is fully protected."

...However, disassembling it into parts and strengthening the structure must be done before repairing the paint layer.

So, how do you manage to disassemble it without shaking off the paint?
The patent leather on it is afraid of being damaged even with physical dust removal, that is, using a soft-bristle brush and a vacuum cleaner to sweep away the floating dust, and then using cotton wool and cotton swabs to remove the detailed dust!

Shen Le looked left and right, walked around the doll cabinet three times, feeling helpless. He raised the tools several times, and put them down several times:

The "elevator" next to it needs to be removed, the metal components at the four corners need to be removed, the glass cabinet doors above and the wooden cabinet doors below need to be removed -

Disassembling these things, especially disassembling metal components, will definitely cause vibrations, and the vibrations are not small. So who told him how to do it?
　Note:

　　Regarding the matter of putting his sister in a school bag and taking her to school to show her classmates, Mao Mao saw the answer under a question on Zhihu called "Why did you get beaten at home?"

　　
　
(End of this chapter)