Demobilized soldier Li Weiguo comes home to his poor mountain village, hangs a charred wooden sign on the old elm — 'Repairs & Tire Patching' — and starts fixing everything that turns: tractors, bicycles, sewing machines, and eventually the village's fortunes. No superpowers, no system: just army-trained hands, stubborn honesty, and the slow magic of being the one man everyone can rely on. A nostalgic 100-chapter slice-of-life in a changing China. Chinese edition; English translation in progress.
退伍兵李卫国回村,在老榆树上挂起「修车补胎」的木牌。拖拉机、自行车、缝纫机,能转的他都能拾掇——修着修着,把全村的日子也修顺了。没有金手指,只有部队练出的手艺和靠得住的人品。100 章完本,年代乡村日常。
Chapters Chapter 1: A Sign Under the Old Elm Chapter 2: The Grain Station Scale, Fixed True Chapter 3: Drafting the Spindle by Lamplight Chapter 4: To the City Machine Works Chapter 5: Three Passes Over the Blueprint Chapter 6: The Mill's Burnt Bearing Chapter 7: Sixty Households, Sixty Thumbprints Chapter 8: To the County Before Dawn Chapter 9: Four Characters on the Sign Chapter 10: Ninety-One-Nine in Nine Days Chapter 11: A Line at the Door on Day Ten Chapter 12: Seven Hundred Sixty-One, Banked Chapter 13: The Diesel Lives Again Chapter 14: The Borrowed Gauge Chapter 15: Zhao Tiezhu's Repair Shop Chapter 16: Renting the Old Milling Machine Chapter 17: Half the County's Tractors Back Up Chapter 18: A Loosened Screw Chapter 19: The Line on the Back of the Paper Chapter 20: Fifty Machines, One Month Chapter 21: A Tractor and a Bicycle Chapter 22: Wang Dezhu's Harvester Chapter 23: A Fifteen-Yuan Ledger Chapter 24: The Man from the County Station Chapter 25: A Contract Charter for the Shop Chapter 26: Thirty-Two Machines Waiting Chapter 27: Old Meng at the West End of Town Chapter 28: The Note Kept for Later Chapter 29: They Come to Audit Tomorrow Chapter 30: Three Ledgers Under the Shed Chapter 31: The Envelope on the Oilcloth Chapter 32: Sanhetun Sends for a Mechanic Chapter 33: The Iron Box from Red Star Works Chapter 34: Bolts Swapped Where the Strain Is Chapter 35: Footprints Ending at the Woodpile Chapter 36: The Cadres Called In Chapter 37: Three Jiefang Trucks Stalled Chapter 38: Mending Machines, Mending Faces Chapter 39: A Report Filed at the County Chapter 40: Five Days to Hand Over the Tractor Chapter 41: An Orient Red Fixed in Three Days Chapter 42: A Carburetor at Houshan Commune Chapter 43: Named First for the Training Course Chapter 44: The Homemade Valve Grinder Chapter 45: Opening the Oil Drum at Dawn Chapter 46: Twelve Tractors, One Month Chapter 47: The Assembly Bench Approved Chapter 48: Li Changgui in the Alley Chapter 49: 第49章 闭嘴 Chapter 50: The Sign Swaying in the Wind Chapter 51: Twenty Tractors Done Chapter 52: Thirty Hours Won't Do It Chapter 53: A Hundred Twenty for a Cart Axle Chapter 54: The Other Man Who Smokes These Chapter 55: The Cut Ground Wire Chapter 56: The Broken Main Shaft Chapter 57: A Knock Before Dawn Chapter 58: A Stove Three Days in the Building Chapter 59: Three Days to a Reckoning Chapter 60: The Forge Never Cools Chapter 61: The Tracked Vehicle Came Early Chapter 62: The County Rectification Meeting Chapter 63: Three Days, This Machine Gets Fixed Chapter 64: Old Liu's Crankshaft Chapter 65: The Commune Cadre Calls Chapter 66: Qian Gui Comes Calling Chapter 67: A Hundred Sixty in the Drawer Chapter 68: Who Smashed the Oil Drums Chapter 69: A Night Watch over Two Drums of Oil Chapter 70: The Report and the Reground Pistons Chapter 71: This Shop Answers to Me Chapter 72: Three Machines Tomorrow Chapter 73: A Repair Shop Inside the Repair Shop Chapter 74: How Did You Save Five Thousand Chapter 75: Car After Car After Car Chapter 76: The Twenty-Third Car Done Chapter 77: New Soles for Old Shoes Chapter 78: Forty Factory-Reject Trucks Chapter 79: Day Sixteen Chapter 80: Thirty-Seven Trucks, Three Years Chapter 81: A Designated Repair Unit Chapter 82: Captain Zhou Reads the Sign Chapter 83: A Visitor from the Commune Chapter 84: No Army Trucks Chapter 85: The Piston Goes Back In Chapter 86: The Village Head Drops By Chapter 87: The Engine Number Chapter 88: The Lights of Red Star Works Chapter 89: Old Zhou on the Phone Chapter 90: The Fresh-Painted Red Star Sign Chapter 91: Five Hundred Shock Absorbers Chapter 92: Three Orient Reds — Dare He Take Them Chapter 93: A Trip to the Prefecture Chapter 94: The Grinder That Can Cut Gears Chapter 95: The Scratch on the Gear's Back Chapter 96: The Woman at the Alley End Chapter 97: The Character "Repair" on the Board Chapter 98: Sun Baoku's Night Visit Chapter 99: The Misprinted Gear Count Chapter 100: Cut It with Twenty-Four Teeth