Back in the village, as a talented mechanic and repairman, father had always been the fi rst person to operate a new machine or fi x a broken one. It was his greatest interest and the villagers appreciated it. While at the factory, he had fi xed several fans, a lamp, an alarm clock, an old bicycle and an ancient radio which he often enjoyed listening to.
But later what fascinated him most was a second-hand Er hu. He found it broken on the top of a trash bin and soon fi xed it. The funny thing was, from the fading color of the painted strings, he could easily recognize it as belonging to an old drifting beggar, who once came to play for him outside his guardroom.