booktalesy Chapter 180 We are a couple
Chapter 180 We are a couple
Song Huan eventually managed to appease Xiao Yunqing with a cup of honey grapefruit tea.
The bottle of honey grapefruit tea was empty. Xiao Yunqing bit the straw, took two sips, and it was empty.
She threw the bottle into the trash can, a hint of sweetness still lingering on her lips. "Let's go."
The electronics market is two streets away, in a gray building with various signs hanging at the entrance, red, blue, and green, densely packed together.
Xiao Yunqing had never been to a place like this before, and looked around as soon as she entered.
The counter was filled with various electronic products: mobile phones, MP3 players, cameras, routers. The glass surface reflected the light, making her dizzy.
She followed behind Song Huan, asking a question every two steps.
What's inside the box?
"mouse."
"What is that?"
"monitor."
"That one, that one, square and rectangular."
"Computer case".
She asked him questions the whole way, and he answered them the whole way.
Song Huan was unusually patient today, answering every question without finding her annoying.
Xiao Yunqing was very satisfied and in a good mood. She smiled and walked briskly, her yellow skirt swaying at her feet.
"By the way, what are we doing here?" She quickened her pace and walked alongside him.
"Get a computer," Song Huan said.
Xiao Yunqing was taken aback for a moment, then turned to look at him. "You can even build computers?"
Song Huan didn't answer and stopped in front of a shop.
The shop wasn't big. Behind the counter sat a middle-aged man wearing a striped polo shirt, his hair combed back and shiny.
He glanced at the two children at the door and waved his hand, "I sell computers here, the mobile phone shops are on the second floor."
Song Huan didn't leave. "I need to get a computer."
"Build a computer?" The boss finally gave him a serious look.
He's quite tall and has a youthful look on his face; he must be a high school student.
"What's your budget?"
"Six thousand."
The boss's eyes lit up.
It's not the kind of "Welcome" sign that's bright, it's the kind of "We're open for business today" sign that's bright.
He stood up, pulled a blank configuration sheet from under the counter, took a pen, and started writing furiously.
"CPU, Pentium 4, 3.0GHz, good stuff. Motherboard, Intel original, stable. Memory, 512MB, enough for you. Hard drive, 80GB, plenty of storage. Graphics card, integrated, you don't play games, right?"
He pushed the form over and placed the pen on it.
"This set will cost you 6,200. Let me round it down to 6,000."
Song Huan picked up the list and scanned it from top to bottom.
His lips twitched slightly.
Good guy.
The Pentium 4 is from the previous generation.
The motherboard is an OEM product; it doesn't even have a brand name.
512MB of memory?
This price could get you a 1GB version.
An 80GB hard drive is priced normally, but the brand isn't listed, so it's probably refurbished.
With integrated graphics, this configuration would cost at most 3,500 yuan to build your own.
The boss's inner thoughts drifted over from behind the counter, slick and oily.
[What do those two little brats know?]
[The Pentium 4 is misleading; I thought it was the latest model.]
[Six thousand yuan, four thousand earned with tears in my eyes.]
Xiao Yunqing leaned closer and looked at the form.
Then I heard the boss boasting, "This CPU is the latest model, it's incredibly fast. This motherboard is from a top brand, it's very stable."
She blinked. "It looks really impressive."
The boss smiled, beaming with pride.
[As expected, he's just a clueless little brat.]
Song Huan pushed the form back expressionlessly, "I want to mix it myself."
The boss's smile vanished.
He looked at Song Huan as if she were a disobedient child.
"You built it yourself? Do you even know what a computer is?"
Xiao Yunqing immediately became unhappy upon hearing this. She took a step forward and stood next to Song Huan.
"Don't look down on him; he knows more than you do!"
The shopkeeper pursed his lips, pulled out another blank form from under the counter, and tossed it over, saying, "Fine, fill it out yourself."
Song Huan picked up her pen and began to write rapidly.
The CPU, the AMD Athlon 64 3000+, is more powerful than the Pentium 4 and cheaper.
The motherboard is a Biostar TF6100 with integrated graphics, but its performance is sufficient, and a dedicated graphics card can be added later.
For memory, go straight for 1GB Kingston DDR400, get it right the first time.
I chose a Seagate 160GB hard drive, which is twice the size of an 80GB drive, but only costs a few dozen yuan more.
Power supply, Huntkey Cool King, this is essential.
The computer case is any kind of cheap one, costing only a few tens of yuan.
He finished writing and pushed the form back.
The shopkeeper picked it up absentmindedly, glanced at it, and his eyes widened.
He brought the form closer and looked at it again.
[Holy crap! AMD CPU, Biostar motherboard, Kingston memory, Seagate hard drive—these are all high-performance, cost-effective components.]
[This kid really knows his stuff. With this configuration, he could definitely get it for six thousand yuan, but he wouldn't make much profit at all. After deducting costs, he'd only be left with two or three hundred.]
He put down the list, shook his head, and said, "I can't buy it for six thousand; it'll cost at least six thousand five."
Song Huan looked at him.
My inner voice drifted over again.
This kid is not easy to fool.
[By adding a little extra charge, we can make more money.]
"Six thousand two," Song Huan said.
"I can only give you a discount of fifty, so it's six thousand four hundred and fifty."
"Six thousand three hundred, if that works, I'll install it; if not, I'll go to another company."
The boss gritted his teeth.
"Okay, leave your address. We'll come install it this afternoon. You'll pay after installation."
Song Huan wrote the address on the back of the form and turned to leave.
Xiao Yunqing followed behind, took a few steps, and then looked back at the boss.
The boss was staring at the configuration list, his brows furrowed, as if he had swallowed a fly.
When they came out, the sun was high in the sky, making them feel dizzy. It was already noon, and both of them were a little hungry.
Xiao Yunqing shielded her eyes with her hand and looked around. She saw a shop across the street with a beautiful interior, white walls, wooden tables and chairs, and several potted plants at the entrance.
"I want to eat at that restaurant." She tugged at Song Huan's sleeve.
Song Huan naturally had no objections.
The two people went inside.
The air conditioning in the store was on full blast, making it quite cool.
A female shop assistant wearing an apron came up to us, holding a menu in her hand, and smiled.
Are you two a couple or just friends?
Song Huan was taken aback. "Is there a difference?"
The female clerk pointed to a poster on the wall, "We're having a promotion today, couples get 20% off."
Before Song Huan could speak, Xiao Yunqing took half a step forward and grabbed his arm.
They moved quickly, as if afraid he would run away.
Xiao Yunqing's face flushed slightly, but her voice remained steady, "We are a couple."
The waiter smiled, made a note in the order book, and said, "Okay, this way please, you two."
The two were led to seats by the window.
The table was small, and the two people were facing each other, their knees almost touching.
Xiao Yunqing released his arm, picked up the menu, held it up, and used it to cover her face.
"What were you doing just now..." Song Huan leaned back in her chair, "Saying we were a couple?"
Xiao Yunqing peeked half her face out from behind the menu.
"Save where you should and spend where you should. A 20% discount can save you tens of dollars."
His tone was self-righteous, as if he were lecturing someone who didn't know how to manage a household.
She turned the menu to a new page and then covered her face again.
My inner thoughts drifted over from behind the menu, softly, as if afraid of being overheard.
[Will he think I'm not reserved enough?]
[But a 20% discount really saves a lot.]
[and……]
Behind the menu, she blushed.
My cheeks turned red all the way to the tips of my ears, and even with the air conditioning on, I was still burning up.
When we came out after dinner, the sun was already setting.
The two strolled slowly along the street for a while to digest their food.
Passing by a shady spot with a bench underneath, Song Huan stopped and sat down.
Xiao Yunqing also sat down, the two of them about a fist's distance apart.
The leaves on the trees rustled in the wind. Sunlight dappled the ground, like a school of golden fish.
Xiao Yunqing was about to speak.
Suddenly, a furry thing ran out from behind the bushes and headed straight for her.
A small, yellow dog with its tail held upright ran wobbly, as if it hadn't yet learned to walk in a straight line.
Xiao Yunqing's face turned pale.
"Ah!" She sprang up from the chair and jumped onto Song Huan.
Song Huan was knocked backward by the impact and quickly grabbed her with both hands.
He wrapped one arm around her waist and supported her legs with the other, holding her securely.
The puppy ran under the chair, tilted its head back, and wagged its tail like a fan.
Song Huan looked down at the pitifully small dog, then at the person in her arms. "Isn't this a bit unnecessary? The dog is so small."
Xiao Yunqing buried her face in his shoulder, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
"I'm just afraid of dogs."
Her voice was muffled, coming from behind her shoulder, and trembling.
She said something else, but her voice was too soft and was carried away by the wind.
Song Huan didn't hear clearly, but he felt her arms around his neck tighten a little more.
"I'm truly impressed."
He lifted his foot and gently nudged the puppy.
"Don't bark, big dog!"
The puppy took two steps back, tilted its head to look at him, turned and ran away, its tail wagging back and forth.
The leaves on the tree are still rustling.
The light spots were still flickering, and Xiao Yunqing was still clinging to him, not coming down.