The most critical part is not repairing but starting. A watch consists of at least 153 parts, with diameter of about 0.06mm for the smallest part, nearly as thin as a strand of hair. Inspection and start up can be executed only after each and every part is installed. The most time he spent on a project was one and half a years intermittently repairing a clock.

The coffee chop brings him lots of friends of different ages and vocations. Sometimes, a quarreling couple may sadly come in, but leave happily hand in hand two hours later, making the shop a sort of “sorrow relieving grocery”. For Liu Qiufeng, this is another way “repairing time” — whether it’s clock, watch or human, are all microcosms of time.(Translated by Li Xia, Fathom Language Limited)