It was only a little past two in the afternoon, and there was still plenty of time.
So, Xu Zhengyang first ordered his two Engineering Robots to partition a new 25-square-meter space on the second basement level.
He himself drove towards the direction of the Baicheng Electronics Market.
Locals in Baicheng often referred to the electronics market as Computer City.
Ten years ago.
Before the widespread adoption of smartphones, this was the place in Baicheng with the greatest information disparity, and also one of the most deceitful places!
Xu Zhengyang remembered.
When he was in college and bought a laptop, he was heavily ripped off.
But now.
Thanks to the development of mobile internet and online shopping.
The information gap across various industries has gradually been bridged, and the unscrupulous vendors in Computer City can no longer exploit customers as they did before.
As a result, the once bustling Computer City now appeared desolate.
At a glance.
Most of the stalls in the vast Computer City were covered in dust, with only half still barely maintaining business.
"Deserved it."
Xu Zhengyang scoffed, then wandered around and arrived at a stall specializing in various electronic devices.
After stating his needs, Xu Zhengyang first gave the Boss a heads-up, getting straight to the point, "You better be careful with your pricing.
I'm not in a hurry to buy these things; if the price isn't right, I'll just buy them online. It's just a matter of waiting a couple more days."
"Of course not!"
The Boss smiled obsequiously, handed Xu Zhengyang a cigarette, and patted his chest, saying, "Don't worry!
I'm also a post-90s kid, different from my dad's generation. The price I quote you will definitely be fair and reasonable!
By the way, I'm Li Xiaojun. How should I address you, brother?"
"Xu Zhengyang," Xu Zhengyang replied.
"Oh, it's Brother Xu then."
Li Xiaojun poured a glass of water for Xu Zhengyang and continued, "Brother Xu, have a drink while I prepare your goods!"
After saying that, Li Xiaojun immediately took out his phone, quickly browsing and sending messages.
About five minutes later.
Li Xiaojun closed his eyes and pondered for a moment, then said to Xu Zhengyang, "Brother Xu, I won't beat around the bush.
The total for everything you want, plus two years of on-site after-sales service, to make it a round number, is just 100,000!"
"100,000?"
Xu Zhengyang raised an eyebrow in disbelief, nearly laughing out loud at the price.
Although the tools he wanted were quite varied, how could they possibly be worth 100,000? This was not just treating him like a fool; it was treating him like an idiot! "Brother, don't be anxious!"
Seeing Xu Zhengyang getting angry, Li Xiaojun quickly pulled out his phone, casually opened an online marketplace, and searched for a multimeter.
Then he showed Xu Zhengyang the prices on the screen, "Brother, look!
The prices for these items have also gone up recently. This multimeter, which used to cost around a hundred, is now priced at seven or eight hundred! As for the other items.
The lowest has increased fivefold! I'm not just making up prices; this is really what they cost now!"
"Oh?"
Xu Zhengyang's heart stirred, and he quickly searched online with his phone.
Sure enough.
Just as Li Xiaojun said, many products in online marketplaces had clearly increased in price!
"See, I'm not lying to you, right, brother?"
Li Xiaojun continued, "Now the upstream suppliers are raising prices once a day. If you don't buy today.
Tomorrow the prices might go up even more!"
Hearing Li Xiaojun mention the rising prices of electronic devices, and recalling what Chen Yong had just told him about the rising prices of gold, grain, and salt, Xu Zhengyang suddenly felt a jolt in his heart, a strong sense of urgency washing over him.
Prices…
Have they started to soar across the board? This signal was far too dangerous.
So, Xu Zhengyang wasted no time and directly told Li Xiaojun, "Alright, 100,000 it is.
You arrange for the delivery now, and I'll pay upon arrival!"
After saying that, Xu Zhengyang handed Li Xiaojun a business card with the address of the lumber factory written on it.
"Not a problem, I'll contact the truck right away!"
Upon hearing it was a cash-on-delivery job, Li Xiaojun was in high spirits, immediately leaving his employee to watch the store while he rushed to the warehouse.
...
*Three hours later.
After completing the construction of the precision processing workshop on the second floor of the shelter, the familiar system notification appeared before Xu Zhengyang's eyes:
[Main Quest: Precision Processing Workshop (Completed)]
[Reward: [Building Effect: Overclock]]
...
[Building Effect: Overclock]
[Effect: When you work in the precision processing workshop, there is a 20% chance that the electronic products you create will have the 'Overclock' attribute.]
[Evaluation: Born for enthusiasts!]
"Overclock?"
Xu Zhengyang was an experienced player, so he was no stranger to overclocking.
If it weren't for the increasingly urgent situation.
Xu Zhengyang would want to buy some materials right now and craft a no-flight-restriction time machine to play with! If the time machine could have an [Overclock] attribute.
Xu Zhengyang couldn't even imagine how thrilling it would be to fly with that!
"I'll have to put that off for later." Xu Zhengyang said regretfully.
After that, Xu Zhengyang opened his task list to check the latest main quest:
[Main Quest: Preventive Measures (In Progress)]
[Your shelter is becoming more perfect.
For safety.
Please install surveillance equipment around your shelter as soon as possible.]
[Task Objective: Install surveillance equipment around your shelter that can observe all movable targets over one meter in size within a 5-kilometer radius.]
[Task Reward: [Skill Card: Malicious Perception]]
Seeing the task details, Xu Zhengyang felt a surge of joy.
It had been a long time since he received a skill card reward.
And this Malicious Perception, just from the name, was clearly a very practical skill! Installing surveillance wasn't difficult.
Coincidentally, Xu Zhengyang had just exchanged phone numbers with Li Xiaojun.
So, Xu Zhengyang immediately took out his phone and called Li Xiaojun, saying directly, "Is this Boss Li? I need to buy a batch of surveillance equipment, the kind with thermal imaging dual-spectrum ultra-clear probes."
...
"For the quantity… let's start with fifty units!"
...
"Yeah, I need cables too; get me thirty boxes of the best quality wire."
...
"Just these for now. If I need more later, I'll contact you again."
...
"Oh, and I need the best for the surveillance control center and hard drives as well; money isn't an issue, I want speed and quality."
...
"Right, as long as you don't mess with me, it's cash on delivery."
...
"Okay, I'll wait for you tomorrow morning."
...
The speed of updates and replacements in electronic products was frighteningly fast.
Items like thermal imaging dual-spectrum surveillance probes were relatively niche, and generally, not many people would buy them, so Li Xiaojun didn't dare to stock them.
Because of this.
Even at the fastest pace, Xu Zhengyang wouldn't be able to get the goods until tomorrow morning to complete the task.
"Then we'll talk tomorrow."
Xu Zhengyang said, walking into the gym to continue his workout.