Electronic hobbyist

  No matter how Lin Zhenhua asked around, Lin Fanghua always blushed and refused to say why the class teacher wanted to summon her parents. Lin Zhenhua naturally suspected at first that his sister might have a premature love affair, but after asking a few questions, he didn't think so either, because his sister's expression was obviously more joyful than frightened. It is worth noting that during that time, if a middle school student had an early romance and their parents were called in, it would be a very sad thing.

  After dinner, the brother and sister each rode a bicycle to the county middle school. As for the county middle school, Lin Zhenhua only had some memories inherited from his past body, and he had never been there since crossing over. In fact, the school had also held a parents' meeting last semester, but at that time, Lin Zhenhua happened to be on a business trip, and Lin Fanghua had asked Yang Chunshan to substitute for her as a parent.

  Lin Fanghua brought her brother to the grade office, knocked on the door and went in. There was only one middle-aged male teacher in the office, sitting at his desk using a magnifying glass to examine something in his hand. When he saw Lin Fanghua come in, he put down what he was holding and greeted her: "Lin Fanghua is here, this is..."

  "Teacher Wei, this is my brother, Lin Zhenhua." Lin Fanghua introduced to the teacher, then turned back to Lin Zhenhua and said: "Brother, this is our class teacher Wei."

  "Comrade Kobayashi, I'm Wei Jingwen." The class teacher stood up and shook hands with Lin Zhenhua before introducing himself.

  After the host and guest were seated, Lin Fanghua asked Wei Jingwen a question and then left the office to go back to the classroom for self-study. Lin Zhenhua looked at his sister leaving, then turned around and asked: "Teacher Wei, I heard Xiaofang say that you wanted to see me about something, is it because Xiaofang has gotten into some kind of trouble again?"

  This is probably what all parents say after meeting the teacher, Lin Zhenhua vaguely remembers that when his parents were still alive, they went to school to see the teacher and asked the same question: Has Xiaohua gotten into trouble again?

  Wei Jingwen heard Lin Zhenhua ask this, and hastily waved his hand: "No, no, Comrade Lin, you misunderstood. I invited you here to ask you to share your experiences with the parents of other students at the parent-teacher conference."

  "What experience?" Lin Zhenhua was somewhat perplexed.

  "It's like this." Wei Jingwen said with a smile, "In the entrance exam this time, Lin Fanghua scored first in our class and third in the whole grade. This is the best result our class has ever achieved in the whole grade exam. What's even more remarkable is that Lin Fanghua's grades were not outstanding when she entered school, and compared to other students, she was still relatively behind. In just one short year, Lin Fanghua's grades rose from over 300th place to third place in the whole grade, which is simply a miracle that has never happened since Fenghua Middle School was founded."

  "It's like that, it's really great." Lin Zhenhua let out a sigh of relief and was also genuinely happy for his sister. However, he quickly added politely: "This is mainly due to the teacher's good guidance, as a parent, I would like to express my gratitude to the teacher."

  About the reasons for Lin Fanghua's improvement in academic performance, Lin Zhenhua still has a number. Lin Fanghua has always been considered a relatively well-behaved child, and her grades were okay during elementary school. Later, after her parents had an accident, this older brother of hers also didn't let people worry, so Lin Fanghua's studies gradually went downhill. After Lin Zhenhua returned from the army, he became a different person, on the one hand able to take care of Lin Fanghua's life, allowing her to settle down and study, and on the other hand also able to serve as a family teacher for Lin Fanghua, helping her solve various difficulties in her studies. As a result, Lin Fanghua's grades naturally soared rapidly.

  "The teacher is the same for all students. The main reason why Lin Fanghua's grades can rise so quickly must be found in her family. I heard Lin Fanghua say that you often tutor her at home, is that right?" Wei Jingwen asked.

  "Uh... I just occasionally tutor her a bit." Lin Zhenhua said humbly.

  "But I heard that your own education only went up to junior high school, how can you guide a second-year high school student? Moreover, I also asked your junior high school head teacher about it, and he said that your grades weren't very good back then either." Wei Jingwen asked straightforwardly.

  The county middle school is a combination of high school and junior high school, so the teachers in the high school department also knew about Lin Zhenhua's misdeeds during his junior high school days. If Lin Fanghua hadn't made a stunning appearance, everyone would have probably forgotten about Lin Zhenhua. But Lin Fanghua became a dark horse, bursting into the teachers' field of vision, and even dragged Lin Zhenhua into becoming an object of study for everyone.

  For his own bizarre knowledge, Lin Zhenhua has always had only one explanation, that is, he had a strange encounter when he was a soldier. He repeated the words about self-study and right-wing professors to Wei Jingwen, who also showed envy on his face like others who heard this myth for the first time: "Ah, this is really a very lucky thing. However, it should be said that you are diligent and progressive. In fact, such opportunities exist for many people, but most people do not cherish them."

  Lin Zhenhua nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, Teacher Wei is absolutely right. I'm the kind of person who likes new things, so... you know..."

  Wei Jingwen accepted Lin Zhenhua's explanation and then brought up the topic of parent-teacher conferences. After chatting for a few sentences, Wei Jingwen finally realized that Lin Fanghua's model was probably very difficult to replicate, because parents who could guide high school students in their studies were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns back then. Occasionally, some parents had even attended vocational schools or universities, but their level of guidance only extended to children at a mid-level, and to make a child excel in their grade, it was likely that the parent themselves had to have been an outstanding talent.

  "Sorry, Teacher Wei, I'm afraid I really can't help anymore." Lin Zhenhua said with a hint of apology.

  "It doesn't matter if you don't share your experience in this aspect, at least show up to the parent-teacher conference. The siblings who lost their parents, with the brother supporting his sister's studies so much that her grades have risen rapidly, is a great example in itself." said Wei Jingwen.

  Two people finished talking, Lin Zhenhua stood up to bid farewell, unintentionally saw the small gadget on Wei Jingwen's desk that he was studying earlier, and couldn't help but think of something, pointing at the gadget and asking: "Teacher Wei, what is this thing you were studying?"

  "Oh, it's an integrated circuit." Wei Jingwen said, "How about that, Comrade Xiao Lin, have you also studied this?"

  Lin Zhenhua said: "It's not research, just contact. What model is that chip of yours."

  Wei Jingwen came over with the chip, carefully pinching it between his fingers and handing it to Lin Zhenhua. "This is a US-imported chip, called NE555."

  Actually, Lin Zhenhua had already recognized the shape of NE555 at a glance. At that time, there were few integrated circuit models and the appearance differences between various chips were quite large, so it was unlikely for Lin Zhenhua to mistake it.

  Jingwen held the chip as if it were a treasure, and Lin Zhenhua couldn't help but want to burst out laughing. He took a closer look and exclaimed in surprise: "Teacher Wei, isn't this a discarded chip? Two of its feet are already broken."

  "It's not, is it!" Wei Jingwen said regretfully. "I don't know who was so careless and broke off the two leads. However, if this lead hadn't been broken, it wouldn't have fallen into my hands. And even with these two leads broken, I spent 2 yuan buying it at the component store."

  "But you've broken your leg, what did you buy it for?" Lin Zhenhua asked in confusion.

  "Little Lin, sit down, I'll tell you." Wei Jingwen finally found someone who understood him and didn't care how much Lin Zhenhua knew. He hastily pulled Lin Zhenhua to sit down, holding a soldering iron and pointing at the NE555's pins. "Little Lin, look, it originally had eight pins. The two broken ones, one is the high-level trigger limit and the other is the low-level reset. The high-level trigger limit still has a little bit of lead left, I'm confident that I can solder it back on with wire and it will work just fine. The low-level reset pin was cut off at the root, making it difficult to solder. I'm afraid the soldering process might damage the internal circuitry. However, in many circuits, this pin is often left unconnected anyway, so not having it won't be a big problem."

  Lin Zhenhua's eyes lit up: "Teacher Wei, you understand circuit design?"

  Wei Jingwen let out a soft sigh and said, "It's not like I really understand it, it's just a hobby. When I was in college, I actually studied electronic engineering."

  "Which school did you graduate from and what level?"

  "Beihang, class of '62."

  "Beihang '62 class, teaching high school now?" Lin Zhenhua took a deep breath, had China's talent become so abundant?

  Wei Jingwen smiled and said, "It's not strange at all. My family has a relatively high status, so I can be assigned to a middle school, and in recent years, I haven't been struggled against, which is quite good. Actually, I also like teaching, being able to cultivate a group of promising children is enough for this life."

  Lin Zhenhua directly filtered out Wei Jingwen's disheartened and disappointed remarks, and said straightforwardly: "Teacher Wei, I am currently working in the technical department of Hanhua Machinery Factory. We are developing a new product, but the part involving electronic circuit control has not yet found a suitable candidate. I wonder if you can lend a hand."

  "What kind of circuit is this?" Wei Jingwen asked.

  "The automatic control system of the retractable large gate at the entrance of the unit." said Lin Zhenhua.

  "This is simple, isn't it just two options: advance and retreat?" Wei Jingwen said disappointedly.

  "Except for moving forward and backward, we also hope to be able to control it remotely, and have the function of automatically avoiding pedestrians and vehicles."

  "This is slightly more complicated, but it's also a solved problem."

  "We hope to use integrated circuit control, and the main chip is NE555." Lin Zhenhua threw out the biggest bait.

  "Do you have circuit 555?" Wei Jingwen indeed took the bait.

  Lin Zhenhua reached into his pocket and pulled out a chip that was identical to the one on Wei Jingwen's hand, except that it looked newer. This was the NE555 he had taken to show Hu Yang in the afternoon, and he had absent-mindedly left it in his pocket when he left the workshop, forgetting to take it out.

  "My goodness!" Wei Jingwen's eyes almost popped out of his head, he almost snatched the chip from Lin Zhenhua's hand, then held it in his hands, looking at it carefully, muttering to himself: "It's actually a brand new chip! What a waste of heaven's treasure, such an expensive chip, you just casually put it in your pocket!"

  Lin Zhenhua smiled and listened to Wei Jingwen's reprimand, not saying a word. When Wei Jingwen finally calmed down and showed some regret for his loss of composure, Lin Zhenhua slowly said: "Teacher Wei, if you agree to help us solve the control circuit problem, this chip in your hand will be given to you for free. What do you think?"

  "Alright!" Wei Jingwen replied without hesitation, "Comrade Xiao Lin, go ahead and make your request. No matter how complex the circuit is, I guarantee to design it for you."