After leaving Yang Ting's house, Li Younan found a chain hotel and booked a room for 10 days at once.
He plans to spend the next period of time here temporarily. After putting away the few pieces of luggage, his focus will be on that scrapped Land Cruiser.
Actually, there is a bit of a gamble involved for Li Younan. There's no doubt the car's engine is damaged, and the main cost of repairs lies in the engine. As for the transmission, Li Younan only took a brief look, but he judged that it's probably not a major issue.
Whether it's a lucky find or spending twenty-five thousand yuan on a pile of scrap metal hinges on whether that engine can be repaired.
Li Younan can't help but admire the system's "vehicle repair skill +1" enhancement he received.
+1 is already so powerful, what if it's +2? Wouldn't I soar then?
While he was observing the engine, although he didn't open it to see inside, he had an inexplicable confidence in his heart that it would cost at most 100,000 yuan to repair the car.
It was based on this sentiment that Li Younan decided to buy it.
He took out his phone, scrolled to a phone number, and made a call.
He was very popular in college, had many kinds of friends, and among them, one friend opened a car modification shop after graduating.
Li Younan plans to repair the car himself, and the first issue to solve is where to repair it, as repairing a car requires a large amount of professional tools.
After hearing Li Younan's request, that friend agreed without hesitation to provide his venue and tools for Li Younan to use.
The biggest difficulty has now been solved, so Li Younan immediately had the flatbed tow the car over.
His friend's name is Lu Haibo.
He waited until the car was towed to the location, then Li Younan jumped off the flatbed, curiously looking around. This location is relatively remote, with not many decent buildings around, and the whole street is lined with various auto repair shops and tire stores.
Lu Haibo's modification company has a simple decor; it's a steel-frame warehouse with seven or eight professional repair stalls. While he was gawking around, Lu Haibo had already walked over, lightly punching him in the chest, saying disapprovingly, "What are you looking at? Does a big person like me not attract your attention?"
Li Younan laughed and said, "With your help, I feel much more confident."
Lu Haibo's gaze fell on the severely damaged Land Cruiser on the flatbed, blinked before asking, "I didn't ask in detail on the phone earlier, you want to borrow my stall for what? Repair the car? This car?"
Li Younan nodded.
Lu Haibo frowned, looked at the car somewhat skeptically, and asked, "Is the engine still okay?"
Li Younan didn't respond, simply said, "Let's take it down first."
Lu Haibo found a few workers to help take the car down and set it on the repair stall.
Li Younan said, "I'll be coming here often for the next few days."
Lu Haibo shook his head and said, "That's not an issue." His expression was puzzled, somewhat baffled, "Even though I'm not a professional car repairer, modification and repair have many overlaps; does this car even need repairs?"
Then he said to a worker called Master Yang, "Master Yang, please take a look."
Master Yang snorted and said, "Of course, it can be repaired, but the engine looks like it's already broken. It needs a new one, and that's not cheap; a brand new engine easily costs half the car's price."
Lu Haibo exclaimed "Oh," then asked Li Younan, "What's your budget, buddy?"
Li Younan thought about it and said, "The preliminary budget is 100,000 yuan."
Upon hearing this, Lu Haibo froze, while the few workers present exchanged looks, their expressions somewhat unusual.
Significantly the most experienced, Master Yang, stated emphatically, "100,000 yuan? Don't joke, 100,000 yuan won't even buy half an engine, how's that possible?"
At this moment, Li Younan has already started handling the repair tools. He confirmed these tools which he hadn't seen in much of his previous life, yet felt like he'd used them thousands of times, just like using chopsticks.
And the process of dismantling this car had already been clearly mapped out in his mind.
He turned around, smiling, "I can't afford a new engine, let's see if I can fix it."
Everyone was dumbfounded upon hearing this.
Master Yang, as if hearing an unbelievable joke, said, "Do you think you can repair the engine? What a joke."
Li Younan calmly shook his head, "We have to take it apart and see how bad the engine is damaged." Then he looked at Lu Haibo and said, "Brother, I'm a bit pressed for time, let's start dismantling tonight; may I use this stall temporarily?"
Lu Haibo looked at Li Younan with an incomprehensible gaze, saying, "Of course, there's no problem lending you the stall. But where are your workers?"
Lu Haibo was sure that Li Younan hadn't been involved in car repairs since they've kept in touch throughout their time in the city, and he knew what work Li Younan had been doing since graduation.
So when Li Younan sought to borrow his place, Lu Haibo's first thought was that Li Younan definitely had his own people.
But now, Li Younan merely gave a meaningful smile, then pointed at himself, saying, "I can do it myself."
Lu Haibo immediately furrowed his brow, "You can repair cars too? Buddy, you can't joke about this kind of thing."
Li Younan could only vaguely say, "Sure, I was exposed to car repairs when I was little in the county." Although this was utter nonsense, Lu Haibo couldn't easily verify it at the moment.
Lu Haibo shook his head and said, "It's not that I don't believe you, but your words are just too astonishing. Are you saying you've done car repairs before? Don't mess up anything here… I'm not really worried about my equipment as much as I am afraid you might get hurt."
Not only did Lu Haibo not believe him, but the workers under him also looked at Li Younan with skepticism and severity. If not for Lu Haibo being present, mocking would have already started.
Only, Li Younan didn't plan to explain, he went directly to work on the hydraulic lift, which startled everyone and almost led to stopping him. But soon, they calmed down as they realized that Younan was indeed familiar with this equipment, very skillfully.
Li Younan adjusted the car to a suitable height, then picked up the pneumatic wrench, and without another word, inserted it into a hole.
An expert can reveal his true colors with just one move, and this single action left everyone present dumbfounded.
Anyone who has dismantled a car knows that if someone has never been exposed to it, even if given professional tools, they wouldn't know where to find the first screw to unscrew.
Li Younan said, "It's still early, I plan to tinker with it a bit. If you're busy, feel free to rest."
Lu Haibo was dumbfounded; he found this version of Li Younan extremely unfamiliar. When did he become adept at handling car repair tools?
Although Younan had said this, other workers were still not entirely assured, and certainly there was an element of curiosity, so none of them left, silently standing by watching Younan work.
Younan's operations seemed to have gone through countless drills, without a single superfluous action, each move precise and mature.
Gradually, the workers' expressions changed from confusion and doubt to shock, followed by prolonged silence.
Younan's efficiency was too high.
Moreover, every part he disassembled and how it was placed appeared very meticulous. Again, an expert's proficiency shows; taking ten minutes versus two minutes to dismantle a part is entirely two different realms, while most people here needed 20 minutes...
The scene fell completely silent. Younan worked quietly for a while, then looked up saying, "Everyone, take a break first; I won't be done with this for a while."
Only at this moment did Lu Haibo start to feel a bit relieved to leave Li Younan here alone.
Although his heart still puzzled, confused, one might say his world view had been overturned… he cleared his throat, "I-I'll order you some takeout."
Younan worked for a little longer, while two young workers had already left, but when he looked up, Master Yang still stood there.
Noticing Younan's gaze, Master Yang's eyes flickered somewhat, clearing his throat he said, "I, um… am learning a bit."