"It was 1998! Your computer is an antique by now, you know! You should realize that hardware desires updates every quarter nowadays, and your years-old computer still holding up is practically a miracle!" Kang Siyin would prattle on like a machine gun whenever it came to hardware.
"Look at this relic, a 2G hard drive? That's smaller than the memory space of high-end users! 8MB of RAM... No wonder you're still stuck in the Win95 era! Even the CD drive is just a 4x speed, when DVD is the mainstream now..." As Kang Siyin lambasted Zhou Xueyin's computer specs, she listed the components she planned to buy.
Not only Zhou Xueyin was dumbfounded, but Li Jinian and Yao Shanshan felt as if they were listening to a foreign language.
Their computers were brand models purchased for the sake of convenience; if something went wrong, they could just call customer service for repairs.
Both had never seen someone who could professionally configure a computer like Kang Siyin.
By the time they had finished listing the components, it was almost three o'clock, and Kang Siyin and Zhou Xueyin hurriedly tidied themselves up and rushed to the nearby Zhonghai Electronics Market.
"KK, are you sure we won't be conned here?" Zhou Xueyin asked worriedly, "I've heard there are lots of swindlers in Zhongguancun, what if..."
"Don't worry, there's no 'what if.' I'll take you to where I bought my computer components last time!" Kang Siyin confidently said, "This shop is recommended by Zhongonline. They wouldn't dare to cheat unless they don't want to continue doing business in Zhongguancun."
"Makes sense! Let's trust you and the website! It can't go wrong!" Zhou Xueyin nodded, half understanding.
Zhonghai Electronics Market is located in a makeshift market near the Pacific Electronics Market; the environment inside wasn't very nice. Right upon entering, a wave of heat mixed with an odd smell hit them directly in the face.
The smell was so pungent that Zhou Xueyin almost wanted to retreat home.
Seeing Kang Siyin's expression, which wasn't very pleasant either, she definitely wouldn't have come to such a place in the height of summer if it weren't for helping Zhou Xueyin with her computer.
The two reached the central area of the corridor, where various computer parts were chaotically arranged.
"Boss?" Kang Siyin called to a person sleeping amidst a pile of goods.
The person did not respond...
"Ahem… Boss, time to wake up and get to work!" Zhou Xueyin shouted loudly.
"Huh! Huh? Oh! Coming!" The person in the middle of the goods rolled over and stood up from a stack of cardboard boxes.
"Uh... boss, isn't the boss lady here?" Kang Siyin looked at the person before her, who wasn't the woman dealer who had sold her the components last time, and suddenly became nervous.
"The boss lady? Oh! My wife has gone home to pick up our child!" The boss smiled slightly, "Today, I'll be serving you!"
"Please, could you match the items on this list…" Kang Siyin, nervous, handed over the list while incessantly adjusting the glasses on her nose.
Seeing Kang Siyin's state, Zhou Xueyin knew her social anxiety was acting up again: "KK, why don't you wait at the door while I supervise him."
"Okay! Okay!" Kang Siyin nodded, took a deep breath, "Last time, I got the computer parts from you, please, don't cheat us!"
"Young lady, don't worry! I still want to do business here, I promise not to cheat you!" The boss flashed what seemed to be a reassuring smile.
Kang Siyin, while wiping sweat, walked out of the electronics market.
Zhou Xueyin put on her air of feigned expertise, standing at the counter, watching the boss methodically unbox the computer.
In fact, she was genuinely clueless, as someone knowledgeable could identify the brands and models by the packaging. She had never dealt with such things before, and despite trying to pretend, her eyes unintentionally revealed her confusion.
"Little girl, is this your first time assembling a computer?" Indeed, that innocent look couldn't escape the shrewd merchant.
"Not exactly my first time, more like the second... but the last time was several years ago. Hehe..." Zhou Xueyin said, slightly embarrassed.
"No worries, once a beginner, twice familiar. Next time, you'll be able to bring someone else to assemble computers!" The dealer chatted with Zhou Xueyin in a relaxed manner, his hands moving swiftly to quickly finish assembling the computer.
"That was quick? Are you sure nothing is missing? Don't take advantage of my ignorance, please." Zhou Xueyin joked.
"How could I dare! Nothing's missing, definitely nothing! If there is, just come find me!" the dealer said cheerfully, "That'll be 3500 yuan!"
"How much?" Zhou Xueyin looked at him in surprise, "3500 yuan? That's expensive!"
"Little girl, the parts on your list are the newest, the best! Of course, they're worth the price! If you don't believe me, go ask at the other stalls around here." The boss suddenly changed his tone, no longer smiling so welcomingly.
"Just wait a sec... I'll go ask my friend." Not feeling reassured, Zhou Xueyin hurried off to find Kang Siyin and pulled her back to the market.
After a standoff, the dealer finally agreed to knock off 500 yuan.
Cash in hand, goods in the other...
Kang Siyin and Zhou Xueyin carried the well-packaged computer case back home.
"We're really foolish, why didn't we get a cart?" The two were as exhausted as if they were idiots, Zhou Xueyin said while sitting on the ground, gasping for breath.
"A cart? Dragging a computer home from the market, it would've fallen apart!" Kang Siyin argued.
"Eh heh, my family's computer was dragged just like that from Zhongguancun to Liuli Bridge..." Zhou Xueyin suddenly realized why her own computer suddenly started sounding like a tractor.
"No wonder your computer sounds so loud! Oh..." Kang Siyin said helplessly, looking at Zhou Xueyin, who was smiling mischievously, "Let's just hurry up and set up the new computer, install the OS!"
After a short rest, Kang Siyin started to prepare to install the system on the new main unit.
"Huh? That's strange..." The case was plugged in, but no matter how Kang Siyin pressed the power button, the computer wouldn't respond at all.
"Hmm? What's wrong?" Zhou Xueyin crouched down next to Kang Siyin, the two of them examining the new case.
It didn't seem like there was anything particularly unusual about it—it should have powered on.
Zhou Xueyin kept pressing the power switch on the case, and somehow, she pressed the right spot and the computer started.
"Oh! It's on! It's on!" she said excitedly, as she stood up and unwittingly banged her head on the table, "Ouch..."
"Sss... that hurts! Yinyin, are you okay?" Li Jiniang, who was sitting nearby, hurried over to rub the spot Zhou Xueyin had just hit, "Be careful..."
"Yinyin, Yinyin, are you okay? That bump seemed pretty hard..." Yao Shanshan also came over.
"I'm fine, I'm fine..." Zhou Xueyin said with an embarrassed smile, though it did hurt quite a bit. She kept rubbing the place where she had hit herself, luckily, it wasn't cut or swollen.
"Yinyin... are you sure you watched him assemble the computer?" Kang Siyin looked at the configuration data displayed on the screen, puzzled, looking at Zhou Xueyin.
"I definitely was watching him assemble it..." Zhou Xueyin wondered, could this man have switched it under her watch?