772 Electrical Leakage (1/2)

Electrician Wu's son and daughter were both married and working in different cities. During the winter holidays, he and his wife took care of the grandchildren.

He had nothing to do after retirement. As an attempt to look for something fun to do, he planned to get some fish.

As a result, he quickly bought the tank and all the equipment that was required. Many equipment sets were bought in the store. The prices were okay, although they were not as low as the prices were online. Old men like him preferred to shop in real stores as long as the price difference was not dramatic.

He didn't want to get the expensive fish to start off with––if the fish died, he would have just wasted his money. He bought a few cheap saltwater fish to practice. He chose saltwater fish instead of freshwater fish because he had heard from the buddies that he exercised with in the morning that the water for freshwater fish had to be heated under the sun for some time. Saltwater fish were more convenient, as the ocean was close by. He could get a few buckets of salt water from the sea on an electric bike to save money on water.

Electrician Wu felt that doing so made sense. His wife didn't want him to have fish because she felt that the water and electricity bill was too high. By having saltwater fish, she might complain less. So that was it! Saltwater fish it was.

Early spring time was still cold in Binhai City, and the indoor temperature was still low. The tropical saltwater fish he bought all required a water temperature of at least 25 degrees Celsius. A heating rod was a must, regardless of how much his wife complained about the electricity bill.

At first, everything was going well, as he spent most of his days working on the tank and enjoyed it a lot. Everything was perfect, apart from his wife's complaints that he was distracted with unimportant things and left her with all the hard work of taking care of the grandchildren.

Soon, the aquarium tank was taking shape.

Electrician Wu stood in front of the tank every day, watching the tank that he had decorated with bottom sand, eco-bio-blocks, and corals. A few colorful fish swam in it back and forth, filling his heart with contentment and accomplishment.

When his neighbors and former colleagues visited, they said a lot of nice words about the tank, and that he was really good at taking care of it.

After a while, his wife stopped complaining, and even helped him feed the fish sometimes.

The little fish grew up fast.

Electrician Wu had been thinking recently that he was very gifted with fish, and these ordinary little fish were not enough for his ambitions anymore. It was time to consider getting a few better ones, which would surely make him look even better in front of his neighbors and former colleagues.

Carrying those thoughts with him, he left home on his bike as soon as he had free time during the day. He searched in the aquarium market and the only few aquariums in town and compared prices, hoping to find some higher grade saltwater fish for the best price he could.

However, his fish seemed abnormal recently. They didn't sleep day or night and they jumped around the tank nonstop.

Electrician Wu became worried, suspecting that the fish were getting sick.

He realized that he was not as good as he had thought, then postponed his plan of acquiring fancy, saltwater fish.

One day, he bought a book on common diseases in saltwater fish from the bookstore and returned home. He ignored his wife's complaints and started playing with his grandson.

His grandson was very obedient and did well in school. He was a good little boy who also loved fish. He enjoyed watching Electrician Wu take care of the fish and never made trouble when he fixed the tank. He was always watching silently at his grandfather's side and offered to take on the task of changing the water for the tank.

Electrician Wu loved his young grandson and treated him as the apple of his eye.

As his grandson played, he suddenly grabbed his arms and said mysteriously, ”Grandpa, put your hand into the tank.”

Electrician Wu was peeling an apple and felt that it was not sanitary to stick his hands into the water. He laughed. ”Why do I need to put my hand into the tank? Grandpa needs his hands to peel the apple for you.”

His grandson acted as if his well-planned game had been foiled. He grabbed his arm to butter him up. ”Grandpa, just put it in there! Just once! It's so much fun!”

Electrician Wu smiled and didn't want to refuse him. He put the half-peeled apple down. He secretly wiped his hands against his pants and hoped his wife wouldn't notice.

”Okay, okay. Let me see what my dear grandson is up to…” He stood up with a smile, then stretched his hand towards the water in the tank.

As soon as his fingertip touched the water, a numbing feeling traveled through his body instantly––an electric shock!