Fix the chair

   Some time ago one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn't think there would be any difficulty in getting it fixed, as there are a lot of furniture(家具) shops near my home. So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception(接待). I was quite wrong. The man wouldn't even look at my chair.
The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and the fourth...
    I entered another shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy the chair?” He looked it over carefully and said, “Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty dollars,” I said. “OK,” he said, “I'll give you twenty dollars.” “It's got a slightly broken leg,” I said. “Yes, I saw that. It's nothing.”
    Everything was going according to the plan. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell after the repair is done.” “I'll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean? You've just sold it to me,” he said. “Yes, but I've changed my mind.” “You must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped.(目的达到) “I know what you want. You want me to fix the chair,” he said. “We don't do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble.(费时费力,划不来) But I'll fix this for you.”