In the 90s, you could acquire max-level skills every 14 days.

The advantage of adult education colleges is their high degree of flexibility.

He registered for one major, audited courses in another, and shuttled between the library and the lab—the part-time system allowed him to do this.

The only thing to think about is which major to register for first.

I certainly can't put down my pen. Writing is currently my most stable source of income.

But your hands can't be idle either.

He stared at the panel at the edge of his field of vision.

Literature is just a stepping stone.

Machinery is the foundation of a strong nation.

He had said these two sentences to himself more than once.

……

Late at night.

The streetlights in Jinsong Residential Area emitted a dim yellow light, and the sounds in the stairwells gradually faded away.

Zhang Yong lay on the bed and brought up the control panel.

[Writing Lv.4: Progress 22% (Fixed)]

[Driving Lv.6: Progress 5% (fixed)]

[Auto Repair Lv.0 - Entry Level: 73%]

I'll go to Old Zhao's place again tomorrow to reassemble the engine; the progress will most likely exceed 100%.

After unlocking, immediately put it into the idle slot.

30 times faster.

A day has 24 hours, which equals 720 hours.

14 days equals 10080 hours.

More than 10,000 hours.

After 14 days.

Zhang Yong, a master auto repairman.

He closed his eyes, and his breathing gradually became steady.

The numbers on the panel jumped.

[Auto Repair Lv.0 - Beginner Progress: 73%...74%...]

This is a passive bonus from the Lv.6 driving skill tree – even without actual practice, as long as you are replaying the whole process of disassembling the engine today in your mind, your progress will slowly increase.

Zhang Yong rolled over, his consciousness gradually fading.

He didn't know how long he had slept.

"Bang bang bang".

knocking.

It wasn't the sound of knocking on my own front door, but the sound of knocking on the iron gate downstairs in my apartment building.

It was urgent and very loud; you could hear it even through two windows.

Zhang Yong's eyes snapped open.

He glanced out the window; it was pitch black, with the streetlights casting the shadows of the trees onto the opposite wall.

"Bang bang bang!"

The knocking became more urgent.

"Who is this, in the middle of the night?"

Zhang Yong ran to the window, opened it, and looked down.

A person was standing under the streetlight.

She had her hair tied in a ponytail, wore a white short-sleeved shirt, and carried a canvas bag.

It's Wei Shuyun!

She paced back and forth, knocking on the door and peering upstairs.

Zhang Yong's heart jumped.

What time is it?

He turned his head and glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table.

It's 11:40 p.m.

Why would Wei Shuyun, a young woman, run to his building in the middle of the night?

Something must have happened.

Zhang Yong ran downstairs barefoot, slipped on his slippers, and went.

As soon as the unit door opened, Wei Shuyun stood under the streetlight.

Her face was pale, her ponytail was a little loose, the collar of her white short-sleeved shirt was wrinkled, the strap of her canvas bag was digging into her shoulder, and the bag was bulging with something stuffed inside.

"Why are you here? What's wrong?" Zhang Yong asked in a low voice.

When Wei Shuyun saw Zhang Yong, her eyes lit up. She took a deep breath before speaking.

My dad is in the hospital.

Zhang Yong was taken aback.

"It happened this afternoon. Those three Dongfeng trucks in Tongxian County, after you changed their oil and drove them away last time, broke down again after only a couple of trips."

Wei Shuyun's voice was trembling, but she spoke quickly, afraid that if she stopped, she wouldn't be able to continue.

"Car number one suddenly started emitting white smoke on the expressway, and the driver was too scared to drive. Car number two's engine was making a rattling noise, which scared the driver so much that he immediately turned it off. Car number three can still run for now, but the water temperature gauge is stuck at a high level."

Zhang Yong frowned.

He mentioned last time when I was getting my car repaired in Tongxian that the fake engine oil had already caused irreversible damage to the engine.

Changing the oil only temporarily suppressed the symptoms. Sludge, carbon buildup, and wear will persist.

He had suggested that it would be best not to open it if possible, but Wei Dabiao certainly didn't listen, considering the sake of the distillery's profits.

"Is it stuck in the cylinder?"

"Yes." Wei Shuyun nodded. "My dad towed the car to a repair shop in Tongzhou. The mechanic there immediately said, 'The cylinder is seized; it needs a major overhaul,' as soon as he heard the sound."

"How much did that person report?"

"Three cars, one thousand each, three thousand in total."

Zhang Yong gasped.

Three thousand yuan.

In 1990, the monthly salary of an ordinary worker in Beijing was between 150 and 200 yuan.

Zhang Defa earns his meager living by driving long-distance trucks at a cotton mill; even with subsidies, he only makes a little over 300 yuan a month.

Three thousand yuan is equivalent to a worker's salary for two years.

Although Wei Dabiao was the factory director, he was under a lot of pressure to come up with so much money all at once.

What did your dad say?

Wei Shuyun shook her head, her eyes reddening.

"My dad definitely wouldn't agree. He took the remaining fake oil and went to Tongxian to find Boss Zhou."

"And the result?"

"Boss Zhou has run away."

Wei Shuyun's voice went hoarse for a moment.

"The shop is closed, the roller shutter is locked. The owner of the hardware store next door said that Mr. Zhou moved out three days ago, he left overnight, and he also took his goods with him."

Zhang Yong remained silent.

Fake oil dealers running away was all too common in the 1990s.

Without a nationwide networked business registration system and without shared ID card information, a person can simply move to a different city and reopen their business under a different name.

"My dad already has high blood pressure, and he drank heavily today. When he heard that Boss Zhou had run away, he fainted on the spot."

Wei Shuyun wiped the corner of her eye with the back of her hand.

"I was taken to Chaoyang Hospital, where the doctor said it was from anger; my blood pressure was 180, so I had to be hospitalized for observation. My mother stayed with me at the hospital and told me to go home and get some clean clothes."

"After leaving the hospital, I thought about it for a long time..."

She paused for a moment.

"After thinking it over and over, all I could think of was you."

The streetlights cast long shadows of the two people. Wei Shuyun wiped away her tears and handed over the canvas bag she was carrying.

Zhang Yong reached out and took the bag, then weighed it down; it was quite heavy.

"What's inside?"

"The rest of the fake oil." Wei Shuyun opened the canvas bag. Inside were two plastic jugs, the labels on which read "Xinda Lubricating Oil." The labels were red with yellow lettering, and the printing was very rough.

"There are still seven or eight barrels left in the factory that haven't been used up. I brought two jugs over first, and the rest are still in the warehouse."

Zhang Yong pulled out an oil can, unscrewed the cap, and took a sniff.

That familiar sweet, burnt smell wafted into my nose.

Zhang Yong tilted the oil can to let the streetlight shine in.

The oil was cloudy, with fine particles suspended in it, and its color was dark, unlike normal engine oil.

"This is made from waste oil." Zhang Yong tightened the cap.

"It's made by mixing recycled waste engine oil with thickener. This kind of oil is of very poor quality, and the cost is only two or three yuan a barrel. They sell it to your dad for twelve yuan, making more than three times the profit."

Wei Shuyun bit her lip and remained silent.

"That repair shop quoted 3,000 yuan for a major repair, but your dad didn't agree, right?"

"Yeah, my dad said to hold off for now. The repair shop keeps urging us, saying that if we don't fix the car soon, it'll be totaled, and even six thousand won't be enough."

Zhang Yong chuckled.

"They're urging you to fix it quickly? Yeah, they'd love for you to fix it as soon as possible."

Wei Shuyun looked up at Zhang Yong.

"What do you mean?"