Granny Qian wiped her hands and let out a cold snort.
“Did you understand? Then keep smashing. Smashing it two more times.”
“If you smash it, you repair it. If you can’t repair it, you keep smashing until you can fix it yourselves.”
Over the next 2 hours, nothing remained in the room but the repetitive sounds of smashing and repairing.
Little Frost and Mu Yingying took turns, each time more ruthless and more focused than the last.
After the smashing, Granny Qian would squat nearby, teaching them how to repair it hand by hand.
After the third time they finished smashing, Granny Qian finally spoke up.
“All right, you two try it yourselves.”
Little Frost was the first to step up.
She mimicked Granny Qian’s movements, picking up the hammer and pliers to begin repairing the pile of parts.
But her actions were incredibly clumsy; the hammer struck off-center, sending parts flying far away.
When she squeezed the pliers with force, she ended up snapping the spokes.
“Clumsy! Why are your hands shaking? Your heart must be steady!”
Granny Qian did not show any mercy in her criticism.
Mu Yingying took over next, but the results were even worse.
She connected the chain backwards and forced the bearing in until it was jammed, making it impossible to turn.
“Even clumsier! You two truly have no talent!”
“I have been teaching for so many years, and I have never seen anyone this dense!”
Granny Qian kept a straight face, scolding them non-stop, but a flash of approval crossed her eyes.
The two aunts did not get angry at all.
They kept their heads down, their hands worn through in several places, blood mixing with grease, yet neither of them uttered a sound.
Little Frost gritted her teeth, realigning the frame again and again.
Mu Yingying studied carefully how to apply oil, smooth out surfaces, and piece things together.
Even when their fingers were bruised purple by the pliers, they only frowned and continued working.
After 3 rounds of struggling, their movements were still clumsy, but they had gradually found a rhythm.
Little Frost’s striking force became steady, and Mu Yingying’s alignment grew more precise.
Granny Qian stood to the side, looking at their blood-covered hands as they remained buried in their work, and nodded to herself.
Their talent was truly average, but at least they were diligent enough.
In her heart, she had actually already accepted these two girls.
Hard work can compensate for a lack of talent; with this kind of spirit, they could always learn something.
White Night watched from the bicycle basket as the two aunts suffered with bloodied hands without complaining, her heart warming.
“Auntie Frost… Auntie Ying… you…”
Her voice was full of emotion.
Little Frost looked up and smiled at her, not even having time to wipe the blood from her hands.
“To be able to repair things for you in the future, these minor injuries are nothing for us aunts.”
Mu Yingying grinned, showing her white teeth.
“Little Bicycle, once we’ve learned this, we will maintain you every day. We guarantee we’ll fix you up even prettier than a new vehicle!”
Granny Qian watched this scene, her expression softening, but she immediately put on a stern face and turned away.
“Enough chatter, keep practicing! No one gets to sleep until this vehicle is repaired today!”
Granny Qian looked at the two girls, covered in sweat but still eager to try again, and sighed, though she kept her stern face.
“If you want to learn, you have to endure the bitterness! Keep smashing and keep repairing.”
“If the repair is poor, smash it to pieces and repair it again.”
“If you can fix one vehicle today, I will consider you to have passed.”
“Now, smash the vehicle until it’s even more ruined so you can practice for me properly!”
Little Frost said nothing; she put on her gloves and once again snatched up the hammer, striking the poorly repaired bicycle.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
This time, her strikes were more ruthless and accurate.
The frame was twisted completely, and the wheel rims were scattered entirely.
The chain broke into many pieces, and the bearings rolled everywhere.
Mu Yingying did not want to fall behind; she swung her hammer, following suit on the wreckage of another rickshaw, making it chime and rattle.
But when they actually started to repair it, the two were dumbfounded.
Little Frost squatted in front of the pile of parts, frantically trying to align the frame.
But the moment the hammer struck, it deviated, and parts flew far away; when she squeezed the pliers, she directly snapped two more spokes.
“How… is it still not connecting…”
Mu Yingying’s situation was even worse; the chain was connected backwards, and the bearing was jammed solid, refusing to budge.
She tried for a long time, sweating profusely, but she could not even manage the most basic alignment.
Granny Qian stood by, snorting as she said:
“Clumsy! Why are your hands shaking? Your heart must be steady!”
“You two truly have no talent!”
The two were so embarrassed they blushed, yet neither retreated.
They practiced from daytime until late into the night.
The room was filled only with the repeated sounds of smashing and repairing, and their increasingly heavy breathing.
Little Frost’s hands were covered in blood, her palms raw in several places, but she remained silent, continuing to hunch over to align the frame.
Mu Yingying’s fingers were bruised purple from the pliers, and an old injury on her side throbbed.
The sweat on her forehead dripped down her cheeks, but she gritted her teeth, trying again and again to oil, smooth, and splice parts.
White Night watched from the basket as the two aunts were covered in injuries yet stubbornly persisted, feeling heartbroken.
“Auntie Frost… Auntie Ying… please take a rest.”
“You’ve been practicing for a full day… your hands are completely ruined…”
Little Frost looked up and smiled at her, her voice gentle:
“It’s okay, it’s okay, it will be finished soon. Let us practice for a little while longer.”
Mu Yingying also panted, grinning:
“Keep going, keep going… Little Bicycle, don’t worry, us aunts have thick skin and calloused hands, these small injuries are nothing…”
The two finished speaking and climbed back up to continue practicing.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Smashing the vehicle, repairing the vehicle, over and over again.
The two aunts were exhausted, panting, their bodies covered in sweat and blood, but they never uttered a single moan.
Finally, after Granny Qian shook her head and sighed for the 3rd time, both of them looked up at the same time.
Their faces showed weary but satisfied smiles.
Although they had not yet fully repaired a single vehicle, they had mastered the techniques for alignment, splicing, oiling, and rhythmic hammering.
So this was what practice makes perfect meant.
Granny Qian watched their bloodied hands and their unwavering gazes, finally unable to help but nod to herself.
She praised someone for the first time, her tone carrying a bit of arrogance but with more recognition:
“It seems this old woman’s eyes deceived me… your talent is actually not that bad.”
Little Frost and Mu Yingying looked at each other and shared a knowing smile, happy light shining on their tired faces.
“Granny, you finally praised us!”
“Hehe… I guess we aren’t too stupid after all…”
Granny Qian snorted, not refuting it.
Mu Yingying suddenly remembered something, wiped her sweat, and asked with bright eyes:
“Right, Granny Qian, you haven’t taught us the Yin Killing Technique yet! You can’t keep secrets from us, hurry and teach us that trump card!”
“You girl, sharp-tongued as ever.”
Granny Qian joked and scolded, a rare trace of genuine laughter appearing on her face.
“Actually, I already taught you the Yin Killing Technique, you just didn’t realize it.”
“Taught it to us?”
Both aunts were full of confusion.
“When did you teach it?”
Granny Qian pointed to the pile of wreckage on the ground that had been repeatedly smashed and repaired, her tone calm but profound.
“I taught it to you while you were smashing the vehicles.”
“The name of the Yin Killing Technique is Vehicle Destruction and Death of Man.”
“Literally, it means destroying the vehicle and also injuring the person.”
“You will have to learn and realize this slowly. Smash more vehicles; the more you smash, the deeper your understanding will be.”
She paused, then added: “You each take a rickshaw with you, smash it gently and repair it gently, and take the tools and materials as well.”
“This old woman is going to leave now… I am going to look for my granddaughter, so let us part here.”
After Granny Qian finished speaking, she took out the Bronze Mirror, her back hunched but carrying an indescribable sense of freedom.
“I am going to the world inside the Bronze Mirror to find my granddaughter.”
When she finished speaking, the old woman didn’t wait for a response, turning into a beam of light as she entered the mirror.
Before the mirror touched the ground, it turned into fine dust, drifting onto the floor.
When the wind blew, the powder scattered.
Granny Qian just walked away like that.
Little Frost and Mu Yingying stood frozen, hammers and pliers still held in their hands.
White Night whispered from the basket: “Granny, thank you.”
“Darn old woman, I haven’t learned it yet and she just left like that. Oh, she forgot to take her Silver Bracelet when she left, is she senile?”
Mu Yingying complained, looking up at the Silver Bracelet hanging in a prominent spot in the Repair Shop.
White Night and Little Frost also looked in the direction she mentioned and, sure enough, discovered the silver bracelet.
The bracelet was hanging securely.
The bracelet had been polished shiny by the old woman and swayed gently in the darkness before the morning light.
It hung in the most prominent position, where anyone passing by could see it at a glance, like a dim but persistent lamp illuminating the dimly lit shop.
“Granny Qian must want to bring her granddaughter back to this Repair Shop. This must be their home. She is a very good person,” White Night analyzed.
“Yes, Granny Qian is a very good person. You darn Yingying, if you call her a darn old woman again, I am going to hammer you,”
Little Frost brandished her fist at Mu Yingying.
Mu Yingying also glanced back and smiled apologetically: “I also think that granny is quite pitiful.”
Night had fallen completely.
The Two Red Moons hung outside the room like two prying eyes.
The only thing remaining in the Repair Shop was a dim oil lamp, its light flickering, casting long shadows of the 3 of them.
The person guards the home.
Granny Qian left cleanly and decisively, even the bronze mirror turning into dust.
Only that Silver Bracelet was left behind, hanging alone on a nail on the wall, swaying gently as if standing in for its owner.
Little Frost wiped the grease from her hands, looked up at the Silver Bracelet, and said in a soft voice:
“Granny Qian is truly a good person, teaching us her secret techniques and even providing the oil to heal White Night…”
“Darn Yingying, mind your manners; don’t call her a darn old woman, or I will really hammer you.”
Mu Yingying was squatting on the ground organizing the hammers and pliers, raising her hands in surrender upon hearing this, her peach-blossom eyes curving into crescents.
“Oh, Big Fat Butt, I was just feeling bad for the granny. She still hasn’t found her granddaughter…”
“But come to think of it, this Silver Bracelet is shining; it must be worth a lot of Points. Should we keep it as a decoration for Little Bicycle?”
White Night’s soul body leaned half its head out of the basket, her black twin tails swaying gently, her voice soft and carrying a trace of exhaustion.
“Auntie Ying, don’t talk nonsense… Granny left this as a home for her granddaughter.”
“Let’s just get some rest quickly. You practiced for a whole day today; your hands are all worn out…”
“Rest?”
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