The three of them walked out the school gate together.
Xu Ye searched the map for a nearby computer market.
These days, nine out of ten people who bought a pre-built machine from a computer market got fleeced. Xu Ye planned to go check the parts prices — if they were cheap, they’d buy on the spot; if pricey, he’d have Qin Zhiwei slowly hunt for deals online, since the guy really did know his way around computers. And things like printers, the computer market probably carried those too.
“The nearest computer market is forty minutes by bus, fifteen by taxi. Should we cab it?”
“Do you even need to ask? Time is money.”
Even in the rain, plenty of taxis passed by the university gate, and Xu Ye quickly flagged one down.
Xu Ye had meant to ride shotgun, but Qin Zhiwei, the coward, didn’t dare sit in the back with Jiang Wei — so Xu Ye ended up in the back seat himself.
The taxi reeked of cigarette smoke, which Jiang Wei hated. Even in the rain, the moment she got in she rolled her window halfway down, then shot Xu Ye a look, and he quickly rolled his halfway too. With both windows open, wind came pouring in. Jiang Wei fished a hairpin out of her bag, deftly twisted her hair into a bun, and asked, “Zhang Xinzhou said you two locked down the logistics director at Second Industrial University?”
“Mm.”
“How’d you pull it off?”
Xu Ye shrugged and answered succinctly. “Flattery, plus slipping him money.”
Jiang Wei knew this kind of thing was bound to cost money, but she still asked, “How much?”
“Fifty thousand or so. Probably some ‘gesture of appreciation’ each semester going forward too. But don’t think it’s a bad deal — this arrangement—”
Jiang Wei rolled her eyes and cut him off. “I’m not that dumb. I can do the math on this one just fine.”
Xu Ye was left with nothing to say.
Qin Zhiwei, in the passenger seat, couldn’t help laughing out loud.
Since starting university, it was the first time he’d seen someone Xu Ye couldn’t out-argue.
Hearing the laugh, Xu Ye reached up and smacked Qin Zhiwei’s arm. “What are you laughing at?”
“None of your business,” Qin Zhiwei shot back.
“Laugh again and I’ll tell everyone about all the embarrassing stuff you did in middle school.”
“You—!”
Qin Zhiwei whipped his head around and dropped his voice. “Can you act like a decent human being for once?”
Jiang Wei pretended not to hear, turning to look out the window.
The taxi driver, listening to the three of them bickering back and forth from the moment they got in, felt a wave of something stir in him. It seemed to remind him of his own youth. “You three have such a great friendship,” he remarked.
Qin Zhiwei immediately clarified, “Master, we grew up together and all, but we’re actually not that close.”
…
They paid and got out.
Jiang Wei was the first to raise her umbrella and walk into the computer market.
Once Xu Ye had scanned to pay the fare, he immediately snatched the umbrella from Qin Zhiwei and followed.
Qin Zhiwei hurriedly threw a hand over his head, running and cursing at the same time. “Xu Ye, you absolute — give the umbrella back!”
“Aren’t we not that close?”
“Damn it.”
Jiang Wei stood at the entrance, watching the two of them follow her in still trading barbs, and sighed, sounding world-weary beyond her years. “Would you two knock it off and take care of business first?”
“Sure, no problem.”
The computer market’s first floor was all phone brand stores and digital retail shops. The three gave it a quick pass and went straight up to the second floor.
The second floor was much more down-to-earth — a warren of private stalls doing business in the digital trade, selling secondhand computers and phones, doing repairs, doing custom builds, and of course plenty selling computer and phone parts. A little Huaqiangbei, essentially. [TL: 华强北, the massive electronics market district in Shenzhen, world-famous as a hub for components, gadgets, and gray-market tech — shorthand for any dense electronics-parts bazaar.]
Qin Zhiwei had been interested in computers since middle school, and in high school he’d scrimped on his allowance, added his parents’ contribution, and built himself a machine. Computers turned over fast in this era, and over time Qin Zhiwei had swapped out many parts. If a computer developed a minor fault, this guy could usually fix it.
Here, Qin Zhiwei was suddenly in his element. He strode up to a stall and casually asked about prices.
“Boss, how much for an i5-4570?”
“1,350 boxed.”
“That’s pretty steep. What about the E3V2, the quad-core eight-thread bare chip?” [TL: the Xeon E3-1230 V2 was a legendary budget CPU among Chinese DIY builders of this era — a server-grade chip that delivered near-i7 performance at a fraction of the price, a hallmark of a savvy buyer.]
“1,200.”
Qin Zhiwei shrugged. “That’s a touch pricey too.”
Seeing that Qin Zhiwei knew the trade, the boss said, “If you buy all your parts from me, I can go a little lower.”
Only then did Qin Zhiwei turn to ask, “How many machines are we getting? What’s the budget per unit?”
Xu Ye looked to Jiang Wei.
Jiang Wei made the call directly. “Five. How much for computers that can run office work smoothly?”
“For office use, two thousand and change is plenty. A Pentium processor will do for the CPU, and you can skip spending on a graphics card entirely.”
Xu Ye said, “Then spec two better ones for the finance side, and the other three just need to run office work smoothly.”
Qin Zhiwei went on to ask the boss about other parts, then compared against two other stalls, before circling back to the first one and writing out two configurations.
He planned to assemble the towers right here — otherwise all those parts would be a hassle to carry.
“Zhiwei, you wait here for us. We’re going to buy the other stuff. Big dinner on me tonight.”
“You’ve got zero credibility with me at this point.”
Jiang Wei smiled. “If he won’t treat, I will.”
Qin Zhiwei looked at the smiling Jiang Wei and instantly perked up like he’d been shot full of adrenaline. “Got it — I’ll try to finish up quick.”
Xu Ye cursed you dog internally, and went off to buy the rest of the supplies with Jiang Wei.
An hour and a half later, they’d rented a printer, gone to a nearby furniture market to buy a filing cabinet, ordered a dozen or so office chairs — with backs and swivel — and a scattering of small items. By the time they got back, Qin Zhiwei had already assembled three of the computers.
Xu Ye handed the bubble tea in his hand to Jiang Wei. “Go give it to him.”
Jiang Wei frowned. “You bought it. Why don’t you give it to him?”
Xu Ye smiled. “I need the bathroom.”
Jiang Wei: “Lazy people always need to pee.”
Xu Ye turned, found a spot with a chair, sat down, and pulled out his phone to browse stock news.
Over on the other side, Jiang Wei walked up with the bubble tea and handed it to Qin Zhiwei. “Qin Zhiwei, this is for you.”
Hearing her voice, Qin Zhiwei turned around, and the irritation he’d been feeling instantly evaporated.
Same cup of bubble tea. But the effect of Jiang Wei handing it to Qin Zhiwei was worlds apart from Xu Ye handing it to him.
Though he hadn’t broken a sweat, he deliberately wiped his forehead and offered an earnest, guileless smile. “Just set it down over there, I’m almost done.”
Jiang Wei smiled. “All three of these are already built?”
Qin Zhiwei: “Mm-hm.”
Jiang Wei: “Did you study this?”
Qin Zhiwei: “Nope. Figured it out myself.”
Jiang Wei: “That’s really impressive.”
Jiang Wei probably didn’t even realize it, but that one sentence could keep Qin Zhiwei happy the entire day.
Qin Zhiwei knew himself well. He was under no illusion that Jiang Wei could ever take an interest in him — but for him, simply getting to know a campus belle like Jiang Wei was already more than enough.
His EQ fell far short of Xu Ye’s. When he was with Xu Ye he had no end of things to say, and talked all day about wanting a girlfriend, but the truth was he was the kind of person who’d blush just talking to a girl his own age. His happiness came simply from feeling like he’d now, sort of, gotten to know Jiang Wei — so that later, when he was talking big with classmates and roommates, he could say: I’m friends with the campus belle of Shanghai University of Finance.
On that alone, he could stay happy for a long, long time.
(End of Chapter 138)