Chapter 773: Testing the Voltage with Oneself
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
There was more static electricity during the Autumn and Winter period, and although Electrician Wu suspected that there was an electrical leakage within the aquarium equipment, there was still a need to first rule out the possibility of static electricity. Otherwise, he would be framing an innocent person.
As an experienced electrician, he placed his grandson under the care of his wife before he fetched a discarded three-pin plug. He skillfully removed the live and neutral wire, leaving only the earth wire which he had then connected to the water—if the cause was indeed because of static electricity, what he had done would have eliminated the static electricity.
However, after testing it again with a multimeter, the voltage in the water was still over 70 volts.
After ruling out the possibility that the cause might have been from static electricity, the only possibility left was an electrical leakage from the equipment.
Currently, in the fish tank, there were only three types of electrical appliances that were submerged in the water—a filter, a wave pump, and a heating rod.
The first two worked at a very low voltage, either 12 volts or 24 volts, so there was no need for further considerations. He knew clearly that the heating rod was the source of the problem.
He unplugged the power for the heating rod, tested the voltage in the water again, and the reading quickly returned to zero.
Electrician Wu was unable to just let the matter drop since it wasn’t just some quality problem––it concerned the safety of a person’s life!
Electrician Wu had wanted to look for the seller who sold him the heating rod, but his wife knew that, although he was an old man now, he still had a bad temper. She was afraid that he would cause trouble outside, so she did not let him leave the house, but instead, she left their grandson with him and told him to take care of their grandson at home. The next day, she disposed of the fish tank and fish.
While his wife was preparing their food, while he was watching TV and playing with his grandchild, Electrician Wu still felt unhappy about the incident. Why should he be solely responsible for the mess? Was there any fault in keeping fish?
So, he softly whispered to his grandson, “Shh! Don’t say a word. Grandpa’s going to bring you out to buy chocolate.”
His grandson really loved chocolates, but his wife was afraid that giving him too much chocolate would damage his teeth, so she never bought any for him. Electrician Wu would still occasionally buy some in secret for him, though.
Electrician Wu raised the volume of the TV and snuck out of the house with his grandson. He also brought along the heating rod and headed straight for the fish market to seek justice.
And that was the whole story of the incident.
After Snowy heard his story, she, too, felt scared for Electrician Wu. After all, an electrical leakage was no trivial matter; it might even electrocute someone to their death.
The boss and shopping guide, too, felt their heart skip a beat. Fortunately, the problem was discovered early. Otherwise, if the grandson were to lose his life over the problem, they would lose more than just their pants.
Electrician Wu pointed at the heating rod. He said with anger, “Isn’t this a complete rip-off? You guys are selling fake, shoddy products, right? I want to write in a complaint!”
“Cough! This… please calm down first, we can talk this over.” The boss exchanged glances with the shopping guide. “Go prepare some snacks and drinks for his grandson.”
“Don’t try to fool us! We won’t be drinking your beverages, and we won’t be eating your snacks!” Electrician Wu’s bad temper came up. “I demand an explanation from you today, otherwise, I will head over to the fish market’s management department to file in a complaint, and I’ll also go down to the City Consumers a.s.sociation to complain! Let’s see if you guys still dare to sell such harmful things!”
The shop wanted to settle things peacefully. They were willing to do an exchange for him and even a full refund, but the furious Electrician Wu was not willing to drop the matter. He insisted on an official statement regarding the incident—what he meant by an official statement was an official apology.
It was very simple to make an official apology, but the boss had his worries. He was worried that once he admitted to the mistake, Electrician Wu might claim that he had suffered some bodily harm from the electrical leakage, then the compensation would be like a bottomless pit, so he refused to make an official apology.
The situation came to a standstill.
Once again, the netizens in the broadcast channel were split into two groups. One group was the single dogs––they felt that Electrician Wu was blowing things out of proportion. Since the heating rod was a piece of merchandise, there was always the possibility of it being faulty and the shop was already willing to make an exchange or a refund. The other group was the fathers and mothers––they made their considerations after placing themselves in his situation. They felt that, if their kids had to go through such terrifying experience, they would definitely not let things rest. They firmly supported Electrician Wu’s side and condemned the shop.
The boss knew that it was not a solution to leave the incident in a standstill, as the onlookers were increasing over time. He straightened his face and said, “Old man, we’ve already been very polite and we have already made several concessions… Why don’t you just accept our current offer? We are willing to give you a full refund for the heating rod… what else do you want? Hehe, although you have an electrician certificate, who knows if its a real one? No one knows if this heating rod really has an electrical leakage since everything was just based on what you told us…”
The boss suddenly took on an aggressive att.i.tude. There was no lack of cynicism in his words.
Electrician Wu immediately exploded. “Fake certificate? I’ve been working in a factory for more than thirty years and you’re saying that this is a fake certificate?”
“Hehe, only you would know if it’s real or fake,” the boss hugged his arms around his chest and said coldly.
“Great, great, great! Putting aside whether or not my electrician certificate is real or fake, won’t we know if this heating rod has an electrical leakage just by testing it out?” Electrician Wu turned over to look at Zhang Zian and Snowy. “Can the two of you be witnesses for me?”
Before Zhang Zian said anything, Snowy had already agreed to help him. “Okay, we will be a witness for you!”
The boss pouted his lips at the shopping guide, who then brought over a fish tank and placed it on the counter.
“Then let’s test it out. Fill it with water!” he ordered.
The shopping guide took the container of water from the water dispenser and emptied the water into the fish tank.
Very quickly, the container was emptied and the water in the half tank was swaying back and forth.
The boss pulled over a multi-plug extension cord and placed it on the counter. He pushed it towards Electrician Wu and said, “Go ahead, you can test it yourself to save the trouble of claiming that we did something.”
Saying all that he wanted to say, the owner and the shopping guide took two steps back. They stepped away from the counter.
Electrician Wu was really unwilling to let them handle the heating rod––who knew if they would deliberately drop the heating rod on the floor to destroy the evidence.
Electrician Wu placed the heating rod in the fish tank and plugged the power into the multi-plug extension cord.
The light on the heating rod lit up with an orange-red light, indicating that the heating rod was in use.
Just then, Electrician Wu slapped his own thigh in regret!
He just remembered that he had not brought along the multimeter when he left the house, and the place that sold aquarium equipment would most probably not have multimeters for sale.
The boss seemed to have expected the situation. He stared at Electrician Wu and smiled.
Electrician Wu was also a stubborn person. How could he ignore such contemptuous eyes? While thinking that the electrical leakage was not that severe, he rolled up his sleeves and was about to put his hands inside the water to test the voltage himself.
“Don’t…”
Snowy got the scare of her life, just like earlier when Zhang Zian used his bare hands to grab the Oliva Emicator. Zian had been confident that there wouldn’t be any danger, but an electrical leakage was dangerous… It was only a difference between how dangerous it was, so what if the leakage got worse?
However, before she could stop him, Electrician Wu’s hand had already come into contact with the surface of the water.
Snowy nervously closed her eyes; she did not dare to look.
Zhang Zian, on the other hand, did not say anything and just watched how things unfolded.
The boss was the same, too.
One second pa.s.sed…
Two seconds pa.s.sed…
Nothing happened.
Electrician Wu was in a blur. The tips of his fingers were already in the water, but the expected numbness had not come.