Reborn in 2005, starting with repairing mobile phones

But before that, he was missing one thing: someone he could absolutely trust, someone who could protect him from the rear and step on the gas together.

He needs to find someone first.

Lin Dong did not go to Uncle Cai's warehouse immediately.

With his bag on his back, he skillfully turned off the main street and ventured into the maze-like urban village behind Huaqiangbei.

The alleys here are so narrow that people can only pass sideways. Black sewage flows along the base of the walls, and the air is filled with the stench of leftover food and the pungent smell of public toilets.

The person he was looking for was at the very end of this alley, in a place that could hardly be called a "stall".

A broken wooden board placed on top of two moldy cardboard boxes served as a worktable.

Scattered on top were several rusty screwdrivers, an old multimeter, and a few old cell phones with cracked casings.

The stall owner was a young man with a slightly hunched back. He was staring blankly at the motherboard of a Nokia 3310, and the soldering iron tip in his hand was blackened from the heat.

Beside him stood two thugs wearing floral shirts and with dyed yellow hair; one of them was kicking the heavy cardboard box repeatedly.

"Zheng Hao, are you even capable of this?!"

A blond-haired guy spat out his cigarette butt. "My phone just got dropped, and you're making it a terminal illness? It's been three days trying to repair it, and you haven't said a word! Are you trying to rip me off?"

"No...no, Brother Long,"

The young man named Zheng Hao looked up, his face still bearing lingering bruises, his voice dry, "This...the weld joints are too close together, I...my tools aren't very good, give me a little more time..."

"I'll give you time to fart!"

Another thug slammed his hand on the wooden board, making it wobble. A small capacitor fell into the sewage. "If you can't fix it today, pay up! Two hundred yuan! One cent less, and I'll smash all this junk of yours, you believe me?"

Zheng Hao's face flushed red, his fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his palms.

He looked at the thug with fire in his eyes, but more so with numbness and helplessness after being repeatedly battered by life.

He knew that if he didn't get the money, his small stall, which he had painstakingly saved up to barely make ends meet, would truly be finished today.

Just as the thug reached out to lift the wooden board...

"The motherboard of this phone wasn't damaged."

A voice cut in evenly.

Everyone was taken aback and turned around.

Lin Dong was standing next to the stall at some point.

"Who the hell are you? Get lost and mind your own business!"

The thug called Brother Long glared at him.

Lin Dong ignored him and walked straight to the stall.

Before Zheng Hao could react, Lin Dong had already taken the 3310 and soldering iron from his hands.

"Hey, you..."

What does Zheng Hao want to say?

Lin Dong ignored him. He only glanced at the dirty motherboard, without even using a multimeter.

He picked up the soldering iron, heated it over a small alcohol lamp, and with an extremely steady wrist movement, precisely placed the tip of the soldering iron on a tiny, inconspicuous chip resistor the size of a grain of rice on the edge of the motherboard.

The movement was so fast it was almost an illusion, lasting only a fraction of a second.

A wisp of smoke rose, then immediately dissipated.

Next, Lin Dong put the battery back in and pressed the power button with his thumb.

The familiar Nokia handshake icon, accompanied by the startup music, steadily lit up on that small screen.

The two thugs, along with Zheng Hao, were all frozen in place, mouths agape, eyes wide, staring at the lit screen, speechless for a long time.

Only the monotonous startup music echoed in the alley.

"It's just that this resistor has a poor solder joint and bad contact, so it looks like there's no signal."

Lin Dong handed the repaired phone to the thug called Brother Long, his tone as casual as if he were saying there was a water vendor at the alley entrance, "It's not a big problem."

Brother Long took the phone, his fingers stiffly pressing a few buttons, and the call connected.

His face twitched. He looked at his phone, then at Lin Dong, wanting to say something to "show off," but found himself at a loss for words.

In the end, he could only glare at Zheng Hao fiercely, say "Consider yourself lucky!", and drag his companion out of the alley in a sorry state.

The area in front of the shabby stall suddenly became eerily quiet.

Zheng Hao remained frozen in place, staring at Lin Dong, his chest heaving violently.

Shock, gratitude, confusion, and a deeper unease were all mixed in his eyes. "Brother...brother...thank you...how...how did you figure it out at a glance? I...I've been looking at circuit diagrams for three days and couldn't find it..."

Lin Dong did not answer.

He put down the branding iron, his gaze sweeping over the extremely shabby "stall," over Zheng Hao's old work clothes, and finally landing on his face.

The face was younger and more disheveled than he remembered, but Lin Dong recognized the light that hadn't completely died out in those eyes.

In his past life, it was this very person who, when he first arrived in Shenzhen and was sleeping under bridges and starving, gave him half a hard, chewy steamed bun and introduced him to the first foreman who was willing to pay him for odd jobs on the spot.

Later, his business partner absconded with the money, but he stayed with him without complaint until the very last moment before his rebirth.

In this life, it's my turn to pull you ashore.

"Your name is Zheng Hao, you're from Ganzhou, Jiangxi, and you've been in Shenzhen for almost three years."

Lin Dong spoke, his voice not loud, but every word was like a chisel, piercing into Zheng Hao's ears.

"I started out as a screwdriver at Foxconn in Longhua. Later, I learned to repair mobile phones from a mediocre master. The tools I used were all hand-me-downs from other people."

"Your skills are actually quite good, you just lack good tools and someone to properly train you. Your elderly relative is sick recently, and you urgently need money, right?"

Zheng Hao was struck dumb, his whole body trembling violently. "You...who are you? How...how did you know..." his voice was hoarse.

You'll find out who I am later.

Lin Dong didn't let him continue asking questions and cut straight to the point, "Ah Hao, I'll just ask you one question: Do you want to repair phones honestly, earn clean money, pay off your family's debts, and make a decent living in Shenzhen?"

Zheng Hao's throat bobbed violently. Want? He dreamed of it! But the question, coming from the mouth of a suddenly appearing, enigmatic student, left him speechless.

Lin Dong didn't need his answer and continued speaking on his own:

"I have a batch of jobs to repair Motorola V3s. Room and board included, I'll pay you 150 yuan a day, cash payment on the same day the job is done."

"If you trust me about your debts outside, tell me the amount, and I'll cover it for you first. The money will be deducted from your future wages."

He paused, looking at Zheng Hao's eyes, which suddenly lit up with disbelief, and added the last, and most important, sentence:

"Just one request: work for me, do your job, don't ask any questions, and keep your mouth shut. Okay, come with me now. If not, pretend I was never here."

150 a day! Cash on delivery! Food and lodging included! We can even pay in advance!

For Zheng Hao, who was struggling in the mud at the bottom of society and could hardly see the sun tomorrow, this was not an opportunity, but a golden lifeline hanging down from the sky!

The enormous impact left his mind buzzing, but his body had already reacted first.