Chapter 12 (1/2)

Win Her Over

What was the simplest method when fixing mechanical things, including motorcycle engines?

It was to identify the faulty part and replace it, then you’re done. However, no one on this Earth can see what part inside the engine was faulty. Even the most experienced mechanic can only rely on experience to guess which part was faulty, then dismantle the engine to check. There will be mistakes, of course. Ears and experience cannot replace the use of sight. Xia Lei was the only exception in the world since his left eye could see through objects and spot things others couldn’t.

In the two minutes that he’d spent staring at the motorcycle engine, he had looked at the entire thing and determined the faulty part. There was too much carbon deposit in the engine, causing a connecting rod to fracture and cause a gap in the piston motion, which resulted in a weak engine and abnormal sounds. Xia Lei just had to replace the connecting rod and clean up the carbon deposit to fix this problem.

Xia Lei was quick to dismantle the engine and had it all in pieces in 15 minutes and removed the faulty piston.

Throughout the process, Annina stood to one side and watched. She had been full of worry in the beginning and regretted using her own motorcycle to test Xia Lei’s abilities. After a few minutes, however, she saw Xia Lei’s easy handling of the machine and grew confused. Could this guy really fix her motorcycle? At the end, when she saw Xia Lei remove the piston without even inspecting the engine, her jaw nearly dropped to the floor - she was so shocked because a self-proclaimed elite mechanic like herself would definitely not be able to find the root of the problem so quickly.

Xia Lei took out the connecting rod in the piston then walked to the welding machine to fix and weld the cracks on the rod.

Annina could not hold back and moved close, “You’re actually using welding to fix one of the intricate parts of an engine? Are you acting like a bigshot? You know if you weld too much or too little the part will become unusable.”

She was still doubtful of him but her tone of voice was more polite than it was.

Xia Lei ignored her and finished welding the cracks, then brought the connecting rod to the lathe to do high-precision corrections.

Annina came close again, “I’m talking to you. Why are you ignoring me?”

Xia Lei looked up at her and snapped, “Will you be able to give me a new connecting rod if I don’t do this?”

“But you won’t be able to ensure the precision of the part. You can put it in again but the motorcycle engine will definitely still have problems.” Annina spoke as if she was an expert.

“You don’t trust me?” said Xia Lei.

“You…! What I said is the truth. Why are you so stubborn? Have you never accepted others’ opinions?”

“You’re dragging on for time, aren’t you?” said Xia Lei.

“You…” Annina was so mad she couldn’t speak.

Xia Lei paid her no further mind and busied himself with the lathe.

He would admit that his attitude was bad but it wasn’t as bad when compared to Annina’s earlier attitude. He would not easily forgive her, especially when she was looking down on the Chinese standards.

Xia Lei had to be serious about certain things and not back down, even if the other was a woman.

Xia Lei was done with the connecting rod in under fifteen minutes. He took it off the lathe and held it up to examine it and confirm its precision.

This simple action made Annina’s blue eyes bug out in disbelief. What she saw was a perfect weld on the connecting rod with no trace of damage! She couldn’t weld like that herself!

“You…” Annina took in a breath, “Mr Lukas, how… How did you do that?”

Xia Lei rolled his eyes at her then took the connecting rod to the motorcycle engine, still not too bothered to talk to her.

“You’re rude.” Annina was angry and upset but still followed him with her bugged out eyes. She really wanted to know how the manually repaired part would fare.

In that moment, Annina had already acknowledged Xia Lei’s professional ability and she was starting to accept him. She was just unwilling to admit it.

Xia Lei spent another 25 mins reassembling the engine and putting it back on the motorcycle. He took two steps back and said, “I’m done. See if I’ve gone over an hour.”

Annina snapped back to reality and hurriedly checked her watch. She was astonished - Xia Lei had used a total of 53 mins. It hadn’t even been an hour!