The students pondered these configuration sheets and quotations, and studied together for a long time. In fact, no one understood it, but compared with the brand computer in the advertisement, it was more than 1,000 yuan cheaper, and they were very satisfied.
I took this configuration sheet home, and my parents read it for a long time after they came back, and only understood one price, but didn’t know anything else. This price is scary enough. My mother is worried about the quality. As long as the computer is of good quality, there is no problem with the price being higher. But my father was worried about being deceived. He actually quoted such an expensive price in such a booth. He didn’t know if it was a regular computer company, and he didn’t know if there would be any guarantee after sale.
This made our family very confused. We didn’t know how to buy a computer correctly. Why are such expensive high-tech things sold in the booth? Is it reliable?
After all, it is 10,000 yuan. If you are deceived, it will be incredible. But we don’t understand computers at all, and I’m ashamed to say that, as a student in a computer school for a year, I’m still illiterate about computers, which shows how useless school education is.
Later, my father took this computer configuration sheet and went to the company to ask a friend, a friend of a friend, and asked a large group of people. The final conclusion was that the price was about the same, which gave me some sense of security. People who don’t understand computers, in fact, no one in their unit understands computers, they all pretend they don’t understand.
This was also the actual situation at that time. There was no perfect market management in the sale and purchase of computers, parallel imports and fake second-hand goods, and the confusion was even more confusing. Therefore, in those days, the people who went to sea to operate computer hardware made huge profits. Of course, this is what I learned later.
My mother went back to her mother’s house. Her siblings heard that I wanted to buy a computer for my studies.
But my father and I went back to nothing, and we were scolded by my grandparents and his brothers and sisters. There are a few words that have always been unforgettable.
At that time, my grandfather said, “Don’t worry about our retirement salary, we will use it for travel.”
The uncles and aunts said, “We are all poor ourselves, how can we have the money to borrow you to buy a computer, there is no money.”
他们以为我还是小孩子，说话口无遮拦，毫无掩饰。我操，我还是家里的独孙，真他妈应该改了自己的姓氏！简直受尽了耻辱！害得我爸无奈之下又去卖了血。
贫贱夫妻百事衰，穷苦家族亲情哀。
最后靠着父母自己的力量，终于凑齐了九千三百多块钱，这是我们家里全部的存款和家当，买了电脑之后，我们会一贫如洗。尽管我有些纠结，但父母的意志是坚定的，电脑必须买，计算机一定要好好学，将来必定会有所成就。
买电脑毕竟是件大事情，我一个小孩子也不敢贸然处理，家里总要有个男人担当事情，所以带着父亲去了一趟电子市场，先了解了一下情况。
周六和父亲骑着自行车，花了四十多分钟时间，从家里到达了电子市场。在二楼组装电脑的几个摊位前先逛了一圈，父亲显的十分困惑，这就是卖电脑的地方吗？这和他摆地摊卖的东西没什么区别，感觉十分不靠谱，真货假货也不知道，售后保障更是不清不楚。这就是所谓的组装电脑，兼容机吗？
老板赵田华见到我们在外面转悠，便立刻笑脸相迎走了出来，寒蝉了几句后得知我是和父亲一起前来考察，更是热情的向父亲讲解电脑，硬件和销售。父亲当然是一头雾水，全然不懂，但还装作领导似的，连连点头，一副一听就懂的样子。
可当父亲问道，这台电脑是３８６还是４８６的时候，就全部漏了相。It业的发展是普通人想象不到的，那个时候已经不是什么８６的年代了，称为《奔腾年代》，奔腾一，奔腾二。赵田华显然发现了父亲是一个外门汉，向我无奈的笑了笑。这也一点不足为奇，在那个年代，懂电脑的人本来就少。
摊位里有一个负责装机的大哥，叫什么名字我已经忘了，他的工作十分忙碌，每天就是在摊位里不停的拿着螺丝刀组装电脑。放学我们经常到电子市场来闲逛一圈，所以跟他聊了几次也混熟了。他告诉我们，电脑这个东西以后会越来越便宜，而且市场里卖电脑的摊位也会越来越多，渐渐的将普及到每一个家庭，我们现在购买电脑是属于第一批先行者，走在时代的最前端。
At the same time he told us that choosing a major in computer science is absolutely the right path, and it is very timely. When we graduated two years later, the whole world revolved around computers, and computer talents were needed everywhere. At that time, there will be many more familiar faces in the market, and they will all be your classmates.
If nothing else, learn how to install computer hardware, you can find a job in the market after graduation, and the monthly income is definitely not less than that of those college graduates. If you can write some programs to make software, it will make a lot of money. The world in the future will be the world of computers, referred to as it world.
My father and I were so excited when I heard it, we were overwhelmed with emotion, and we wanted to buy the computer immediately and move it home. Zhao Tianhua also re-wrote the configuration list and price. According to what he said, the market price changes day by day, try to make it cheaper for us, and finally subtract the last number of the price to make up a total of 9,000 yuan. As if to give my father a face, give more discounts and discounts.
I compared the two configuration sheets and found that some hardware brands have been changed, and the price is very different. Although I have no research on the brands of computer hardware, I always feel that the cheap brands are of poor quality. The big brother who installed the machine told me that there is no big problem. In fact, it mainly depends on the CPU and motherboard. Those sound cards and graphics cards are not important. The brand is different, the price is a little different, and the speed and video memory are the same.
Although I was confused by what I heard, in that case, I could only trust them. I believe that they will not fool me too much, and I believe that their prices are not much cheaper. I just hope that they will not sell junk and second-hand goods to me. After all, there are no regulatory agencies in the entire market, and everything is just like street stalls.
Looking back now, there is a reason why Zhao Tianhua and his group of first-time computer hardware businessmen made a lot of money. First, there is no market supervision mechanism to do whatever they want. Second, the second-hand parallel imports that they sell are mixed with fish eyes. Third, most people who buy computers do not know anything about it, and they falsely report the price of a lot of money.
The father took the configuration list back and gave it to the mother, and said proudly that because he went in person, it was cheaper by hundreds of dollars. This may be the effect those businessmen want, after all, the money is paid by adults, not children.
My mother looked at this computer configuration list for a while, and I knew she couldn’t understand it. All she saw was the numbers on it, which were heart-wrenching numbers. Then she simply asked me, “Do you like it?”
Of course I liked it, and nodded happily, my mother took out a lot of money without hesitation, handed it over to my father, and entrusted him to take me to take care of this matter tomorrow.
Father took the money, relieved, and ordered it again. The total was 9,500 yuan. That night, I was so happy that I couldn’t sleep, not only because I was going to have a computer tomorrow, but also the family atmosphere seemed to return to the previous kind of love and unity. At this moment, all I felt was happiness.
Yesterday I asked Zhao Tianhua, their installation booth didn’t open until 9 am, but I woke up at 6 am, walking back and forth around the house, wandering. After thinking about it, the most suitable place to put a computer at home is on the only writing desk, and that is my dad’s desk. Usually he has nothing to do and writes some articles on it. After all, the computer is the most expensive thing in our house, so he unconditionally vacated the desk for me.
I planned to save some money, take the bus to the electronic market, buy a computer and then take a taxi back. But after thinking about it again, this is going out with a huge sum of money. If it is stolen on the bus or robbed when getting off the bus, it will be a big trouble, and it will be ruined. In those days, there were many thieves on the bus, and they were all committed by gangs. After careful consideration, my father and I decided to take a taxi.
Taking a taxi was a very luxurious thing in those days. You must know that there were not many cars on the road. Only those upstarts dared to reach out. Ordinary people usually take buses or ride bicycles. It took 25 minutes to get from home to the electronic market, and I paid about 50 yuan for a taxi, which was horrible.
On the way, my father was nervous, he didn’t even smoke a cigarette, he put one hand in his pocket and kept covering the bag of money on his chest. It seemed that he had never handled such a large amount of bills before. When I got out of the taxi and paid for it, I only used one hand, and the other hand held the bag of money tightly and did not dare to let go.
When Zhao Tianhua saw the two of us coming, he immediately greeted us with a smile. After a few chills, he asked, “Have you decided to buy today? Have you brought all the money?”
”Well, I brought it.” Father nodded calmly.
Zhao Tianhua immediately invited us into the booth and waited. There were many people coming and going outside, for fear that we would be stolen. In those days, shopping was carried out with large bundles of cash, there was no such thing as swiping cards. Therefore, the customers who bought the computer must have a lot of cash on them, which has become the focus of the on-site thief gang. Zhao Tianhua is also protecting the customers and his own business.
My father and I walked into the booth and sat down in the deepest corner, right next to the accountant, very safe. This made me a little nervous, buying something for fear of being robbed. This is not a joke. Zhao Tianhua told us a few days ago that due to chaotic management in the market, people are often robbed and stolen, and some hardware from his booth is often missing, although their booths add up. There are more than eight employees, but it is still unmanageable.
Zhao Tianhua poured us a cup of tea and asked with a smile, “Is it the same configuration as yesterday? Is there anything that needs to be changed or upgraded?”
My father looked bewildered and turned to look at me.
”Just yesterday’s configuration, there is no money to upgrade.” I said to Zhao Tianhua with a smirk.
”Okay, no problem, I’ll re-write today’s price for you.” After Zhao Tianhua finished speaking, he picked up the phone and re-inquired about the price one by one, and made a record.
I don’t know how the market works. He told me a few days ago that the price of a computer is one price per day, and it must be reconfirmed every day before installing it, otherwise if the price goes up, he will lose a lot.
I watched him ask sophisticated questions, while writing down the price of the day, wondering if it would not fool me? If the price will be raised by a few hundred yuan, then we will run out of ammunition and food. After all, we only have 9,500 yuan on us.
Unexpectedly, because several accessories were out of stock, the price was adjusted to 8,753 yuan after switching to other brands. Zhao Tianhua generously wiped off the fraction of 53 yuan and said, “Old rules, I will wipe off the fraction for you, and give you a little cheaper. I’ll give you a taxi fare. In the future, if some classmates want to install a computer, they will introduce them to me.”
”Okay, okay, thank you, thank you.” His father sighed, smiling a little bit from ear to ear. Zhao Tianhua also handed him a cigarette, which made him even more happy.
Replaced a few pieces of hardware: CD-ROM, floppy drive, speakers and monitor. Originally, I bought a Philip brand, but later replaced it with an unknown brand. Anyway, the size is the same, and they are all 15-inch monitors, so it doesn’t matter. .
At the time, I didn’t understand it at all. Later, my classmates came to my house and found that this monitor was very strange. After helping me check it, I found out that it was a miscellaneous product. No wonder the temperature is so high. I’m afraid it will explode if it’s too hot. But it seems that there are no other bad problems, so it seemed that the price was reduced at that time, but in fact Zhao Tianhua made a lot more. It’s a goddamn business. When a businessman tells you that he has lowered the price, he is telling you a joke, and he is very generous when he is telling a joke.
After the latest computer configuration list is confirmed, a deposit of 100 yuan will be paid, and then they will start to deploy the hardware. Zhao Tianhua canceled the deposit when he saw that we really wanted to buy a computer and had prepared a large bag of cash, which made us feel that he was very kind. In fact, he is indeed a very good businessman. I didn’t realize it at that time. It turns out that I have learned a lot of social experience from him.
Such a small installation booth is very busy every day. There were several customers in the morning, and a total of four computers needed to be installed. It was extremely busy, and business was booming. Several customers were sitting in the corner chatting together. One pair was a college student. They were very impressed after reading my configuration list. Such a high-end configuration must be fast for gaming. Although I bought a computer mainly for study, that sentence seems to have come to my heart.
The work efficiency of the installation was really slow in those days. I watched the big brother install the hardware in the case one by one, and it took more than an hour to complete the installation of the hardware. The most exaggerated thing is to install the system. At that time, win95 was used, and the CD-ROM was rotated for an hour before the installation was completed. My God.
My dad also asked them whether the Windows software was genuine or pirated. It’s no use asking. Of course, it’s pirated. The genuine version costs a few thousand dollars.
After the system is installed, a lot of drivers have to be installed, all of which have to be installed manually, which is not fully automatic as it is now. The graphics card driver is not installed, the display is 16 colors, the sound card driver is not installed, even the sound cannot come out, the motherboard driver is not installed, and it will keep crashing. It can’t be used. Compared with the current computer and system, it is extremely stupid.
While installing computer hardware for others, the eldest brother who installed the computer has to turn around and hit a few carriage returns from time to time to let the system continue to be installed, start work from left to right, and is in a hurry.
Zhao Tianhua came over to take a look and said to us, “It’s almost done, it will be completed in half an hour at most.”
After hearing this, my father immediately got up and wanted to pay. I guess the bag of money was in his hand, and he was soaked with sweat. Paying money, of course, was the happiest moment for the businessman, who led his father to the accountant with a smile.
The two accounting sisters were carefully lighting a lot of banknotes one by one. When I think about it now, I suddenly feel very dangerous. Zhao Tianhua has a small installation booth, and about ten computers are installed every day, which means that there will be nearly ten computers. What if the cash of 100,000 yuan is rushed in and robbed by a criminal gang?
Moreover, there are more than ten installation booths on the second floor, and it is terrifying to think about it. There was not even a security guard, which shows how chaotic the market at that time was and how bad the management was. Fortunately, this did not happen after all, but petty theft has always happened, and it is common to be stolen if you are not careful.
After the installation brother installed my computer, he also conducted a simple stress test. After there was no problem, he started to package it and sent me a game CD, “Dune Castle”.
After my father paid the money and got the invoice, he picked up the monitor and went downstairs with me. My hands trembled slightly while holding the chassis. With such a valuable thing, of course, it is impossible to squeeze the bus, so I called the cab home without hesitation, and carefully hugged the case along the way, for fear of accidentally crashing.
When I was about to get home, I specially ordered the taxi driver to drive the car to the downstairs of the residential unit, so as not to move too long and accidentally fall. But when the taxi drove to the downstairs of the residential unit, an unknown scene appeared. It was my leather sofa. It was piled up at the entrance of the unit. It was broken and scarred by knives. What happened?