58: Chapter 58 Brother Li's Circuit Inspection

When Li-ge stepped on the wooden ladder to strip the next connection, Chen Jie was squatting on the ground organizing his tools, the zipper of his canvas backpack not fully closed, revealing half of a dark green jade stone that shimmered coldly in the morning light, like a pebble soaked in a creek.

"Jie-zi, pass me the needle-nose pliers." Li-ge's voice came from the ladder, carrying a hoarseness soaked in sweat.

Between his fingers, he held a piece of wire burned black, the insulation melted into a sticky glue that dripped onto the ladder rung like melting sugar.

Just as Chen Jie handed up the pliers, he heard the "clack-clack" of Grandma Zhang's cane on the concrete floor.

The cuffs of her blue cloth shirt were stained with soot, and her faded collar was pinned with a tarnished plum blossom brooch—it was one Grandpa Zhang had made for her before he passed, with crooked stitches, yet she had worn it for thirty years.

Half of a floral handkerchief peeked out from her pocket, wrapping a cool mung bean cake, its edges softened by her body heat.

"Xiao Li, you have to look carefully," she shuffled toward the wall to avoid the shadow cast by the ladder, her silver hair shimmering like frost in the morning light, "The night the power went out the other day, I saw green light coming from Jie-zi's backpack, just like the eternal lamp on the ancestral hall's altar. Is this stone clashing with the wires?"

Li-ge's laughter made the ladder shake: "Grandma Zhang, don't you worry. Even if this stone is magical, can it beat a residual current circuit breaker?"

He used the tip of his pliers to poke at the blown fuse, the metal wire coiled into a ball of charred thread, "It's just that this fuse is too old; it's less durable than the iron pot at Wang Leis Braised Food Stall. Just replace it with a new one and it'll be fine."

Grandma Zhang didn't reply, only gently tracing the cracks in the ground with the tip of her cane.

Her knuckles were swollen like old tree roots, yet she still gripped the copper-wrapped head of her cane tightly; the copper piece had been polished bright from constant rubbing, and the engraved character for "Longevity" was almost worn smooth.

"My old man used to fix radios when he was young," she suddenly spoke, her voice like wood sanded down, "He always said that electricity is something that looks invisible, but is actually stronger than hemp rope—just like that stone of yours, it looks cold, but it might just be hiding a bit of warmth inside."

Chen Jie didn't reply, only touched his backpack. The jade stone was unusually quiet tonight, its cold surface pressing against his waist like a forgotten old spare part.

He remembered that when the power went out last night, this stone had emitted a layer of pale green halo, pushing the surrounding darkness away by half a foot, making even the lighter Zhao Kai dropped on the ground clearly visible—that light wasn't blinding like an electric lamp, but rather like the faint glow from an old grandfather clock, carrying a bit of gentle patience.

"Come to think of it," Li-ge suddenly poked his head down from the ladder, holding a rusty junction box in his hand, "The copper pieces inside this box are all oxidized, same nature as the old steel bars you use to fix the bench."

He sprayed some rust remover into the box, and white smoke mixed with the smell of rust puffed out, "If that stone of yours can really perform miracles, why not have it remove the rust from these copper pieces?"

Chen Jie's fingertips paused on the backpack zipper. A familiar tingle suddenly surged in the webbing between his thumb and index finger, as if tiny electrical currents were crawling along his Bloodline.

He instinctively pressed down on the backpack, and the temperature of the jade stone seemed to rise by half a degree; a faint light seemed to flash through the patterns on the stone's surface—just like last night when he was helping Grandma Zhang find her radio under the bed, this stone had made the outlines of objects in the darkness clear for an instant.

"Don't mess around." He stuffed a new copper piece into the junction box, and amidst the crisp sound of metal colliding, the worker from Wang Leis Braised Food Stall in the distance was shouting about freshly cooked pig trotters, the aroma drifting over mixed with the sunlight, pinning their shadows to the ground, "This stone is just a bit cooler than an ordinary stone. If it could really remove rust, your repair stall would have gone out of business long ago, Li-ge."

Li-ge reconnected the circuit, and when he jumped down from the ladder, he stirred up a gust of wind, swirling a locust tree leaf onto Chen Jie's work pants.

"Flip the switch and try it." He gestured with his chin toward the main breaker, and the moment Chen Jie reached out to flip the switch, the jade stone suddenly vibrated gently, as if a small bug were turning over inside.

The street lamp at the end of the alley lit up with a "whoosh," as if it had been cast with a spell, seemingly welcoming some important moment.

In front of Wang Lei's stall, the freezer also seemed to be awakened, emitting a "hum" as it started up, a sound that seemed exceptionally clear in the quiet alley.

Even the "tick-tock" sound of the old-fashioned grandfather clock at Old Zhou's house seemed to be a few decibels louder than usual.

Grandma Zhang excitedly slapped her thigh, her face full of smiles, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes squeezed into a withered chrysanthemum.

She said triumphantly: "I told you! This stone is truly effective! Look, the light is much brighter than usual!"

As she spoke, she took a mung bean cake out of her pocket and stuffed it into Chen Jie's hand. The sugar stain on the oil paper bag accidentally smeared onto the thin callus on Chen Jie's thumb webbing, bringing a hint of sweetness.

Chen Jie smiled and accepted the mung bean cake, then began to pack up his tools.

His fingertips inadvertently brushed against the jade stone, feeling its coldness.

He looked up and saw Li-ge demonstrating the newly replaced fuse to Zhao Kai, the two of them communicating while working.

Grandma Zhang was gently wiping the dust off her brooch with her sleeve, as if the brooch were a precious treasure.

Chen Jie watched all of this, and a feeling suddenly welled up in his heart. This morning of checking electrical circuits seemed no different from any other.

Just like the faint light emitted by the jade stone, although not so dazzling, it silently illuminated half a foot of road for the neighbors on the nights when the power went out.

This was not some earth-shattering miracle, but rather those ordinary and warm little details in life; they might be insignificant, but they could bring endless comfort and hope to people.

The wind blew through the locust tree leaves, carrying the aroma of braised food even further.

When Chen Jie shouldered his backpack, the jade stone returned to silence, with only a faint, lingering tingle on the thin callus on his thumb webbing, like a poorly connected wire, hiding a bit of indescribable warmth.