Chapter 8: Shall I Give It a Try?

“Actually daring to trick me! Despicable!”

Gu Muxi bared her teeth, ready to tear into him.

Yi Feng caught her hands, smiling smugly, “Not bad, pretty smart.”

“Calm down, we’re in public, it wouldn’t look good. Wait till we get home, then you can do whatever you want.”

Gu Muxi: “……”

“Damn it, stinky Yi Feng, I’ll deal with you when we get back!”

She couldn’t stand being embarrassed in public. If there were many people around, she would still choose to endure and find the right moment for revenge.

“Hehe, alright, stop making a fuss, let’s finish breakfast and head to school, or we’ll be late!” Yi Feng said with a smug smile.

The two quickly finished their breakfast, rode the bicycle, and hurried to school.

Just reaching the school gate, there were quite a few students around.

“Ring, ring, ring—”

“Excuse me, coming through!”

Yi Feng rang the bicycle bell loudly as he called out.

This immediately drew the attention of many students on the road.

“Hey, isn’t that the school belle?”

“Whoa! Who’s that guy on the bike with the school belle?”

“No way! Is the school belle… dating someone? Ah! My heart is shattered!”

“Oh no, not my goddess!”

Along the way, Yi Feng seemed to hear the sound of many boys’ hearts breaking.

This feeling… was quite exhilarating!

On the contrary, Gu Muxi felt uncomfortable being stared at by so many eyes.

“Why are you making such a big fuss? Be quieter!”

“I was just being cautious not to bump into anyone. Understand me!”

Yi Feng arrived at the bike shed with Gu Muxi, just as Wang Tie was parking his bike.

He got off and greeted.

“Wang Tie, good morning!”

“Brother Feng, good morning. About that ice pop yesterday…”

“Ah, let’s not talk about that. Talking about money hurts feelings, right? We’re brothers, aren’t we?”

“Of course, you’re my brother Feng forever!”

“Good brother, I didn’t see you wrong. Wang Tie, you’re really a good guy!”

“Of course, I might not be good at many things, but I know how to be loyal!”

“For life, two brothers, no need for words. Ah, I’m so thirsty. Is this your milk?”

“Yeah, brother Feng, do you want to try?”

“Ah, that would be too much!” Yi Feng took it, tilted his head back, and gulped down a big swig.

Riding a bike is really tiring!

After finishing, Yi Feng handed back the bottle, “Tastes good, really quenches the thirst!”

“I’m going up first!”

“Uh, okay…” Wang Tie stood there stunned, watching Yi Feng walk away before realizing, shaking the bottle.

It was empty!

“Ah! My milk!”

Gu Muxi covered her mouth and giggled.

Stinky Feng is really a bad guy!

She hurriedly followed Yi Feng.

…

With only two months left before the college entrance examination, most subjects had been covered, leaving the remainder of the time for mock exams and self-study.

There were basically two mock exams every week, and after two more self-study classes today, the rest of the time would be spent on exams.

After going through a mock exam, Yi Feng understood his weaknesses. Apart from math and English, where he was confident of scoring full marks, he had forgotten a lot of knowledge points in other subjects.

It seems he needs to review subjects like Chinese and physics again.

He aims to remember all the knowledge points before the college entrance exam and score a great result to make his parents happy.

After the test, the last class was self-study.

Yi Feng pulled out a few crumpled 1-yuan notes from his pocket, counting them over and over, only 8 yuan left of his pocket money for the month.

This amount of money was not enough to buy Gu Muxi a birthday present.

Although Gu Muxi appeared cold and haughty, she was just like any other girl at heart, also liking cute things like dolls.

And she wanted a big duck, one of those duck stuffed animals that are as tall as a person.

But such a large toy would cost over a hundred yuan.

A hundred yuan was a significant amount for ordinary people at that time.

A typical state-owned enterprise employee’s monthly salary was just seven to eight hundred yuan, saving a thousand in a year was already good.

Buying such a computer would take two years of not eating or drinking.

Computers were considered luxury items for ordinary people.

“Brother Feng, you’ve counted it many times already, what are you trying to do? Counting it more won’t increase the amount,” Wang Tie scratched his head, puzzled.

Yi Feng pondered for a moment, then asked, “Wang Tie, do you want to make money?”

“Of course I do, but my mom won’t let me. She said I should focus on studying for college and not do part-time jobs,” Wang Tie said, frustrated.

“Ah, come with me after school, let’s find something to do!” Yi Feng patted his shoulder, seriously suggesting.

“Okay!”

…

When the school bell rang for dismissal, Yi Feng and Wang Tie were the first to dash off.

Gu Muxi called out from behind, “Yi Feng, where are you guys going? Not going home?”

“I’m going out with Wang Tie, you go home first. Don’t miss me too much!” Yi Feng didn’t even look back as he spoke.

Gu Muxi paused, then snorted, “Hmph, stinky Yi Feng, I’ll go home by myself!”

Wang Tie rode his bicycle, carrying Yi Feng to a commercial street near the school.

“Let’s go, Wang Tie, there are many shops here, let’s have a look inside,” Yi Feng suggested.

He already had a preliminary plan in mind.

To make money, one must first understand their advantages and utilize their skills to earn some initial capital.

This was crucial.

In his previous life, he had built a business empire worth billions through his own efforts, with advanced management concepts and business thinking.

Returning to the year 2000, he could foresee future business opportunities, which was his biggest asset.

Previously, he had developed a game with a colleague after leaving a gaming company, which was later acquired by a subsidiary of the Penguin Group, earning him his first pot of gold.

This was a typical example of accumulating initial capital through personal skills.

With this initial capital, he then started a gaming company, embarking on his business journey.

However, replicating the same path was not feasible now, as computer hardware was not yet mature in 2000, and the network infrastructure was incomplete.

His preliminary plan was to look for something related to computer hardware to do.

Having a background in computer science, he was quite knowledgeable about computers, which might be a way to earn some initial money.

“Look, Feng Ge, there’s a computer shop here!”

“Wow, I’d really like to have a computer to play with!”

“Brother Feng, how much does a computer cost?” Wang Tie leaned against the window of a computer store, drooling over the big desktop machines inside.

“Here’s a flyer, take a look for yourself,” Yi Feng said with a smile.

Wang Tie looked down and saw a board below the window with information about three different computer configurations.

He didn’t understand the hardware, but he could read the numbers.

“18988? 19988?!”

“21888?! Wow, that’s so expensive!” Wang Tie was shocked, nearly dropping his jaw.

Yi Feng shook his head, “Those are just basic configurations. Higher configurations are even more expensive.”

Among the three configurations listed, the lowest priced one at 18988 yuan was the Skyroad 9570.

Its CPU was an Intel P3500MHz, his motherboard was Megatrends PX-68A, it had only 64MB of RAM, a Diamond 4th generation 4.3GB hard drive, a Samsung 700S 14-inch monitor, and ran Windows 98.

To Yi Feng, this configuration was barely acceptable, but at the time, it was considered a good mainstream setup.

However, the price deterred most ordinary families.

A typical worker in a state-owned enterprise earned around seven to eight hundred yuan a month, saving a thousand yuan in a year was already an achievement.

Buying such a computer required saving for two years without spending on anything else.

Computers were indeed luxury items for ordinary people.

“Boss, can’t you just fix it here? This computer is really important to us! Without a computer, I can’t play games!”

“Sorry, but this is a specialty store. If you need repairs, I can only send it back to the manufacturer for you. I really can’t fix it here.”

“How long would it take to send it back for repairs?”

“If it’s fast, about 20 days…”

“What?! 20 days! Isn’t that too long? Isn’t there any other way?”

“Really, there’s nothing I can do. Maybe you could try another store?”

“No, no, boss, you have to fix it within three days, or I’ll complain to the Trade and Industry Bureau!”

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong with you?”

Suddenly, loud voices came from inside the store, drawing Yi Feng and Wang Tie’s attention.

Yi Feng poked his head in and saw a young man in a school uniform sitting inside, legs crossed, looking displeased.

“Young man, I can’t do business with you. Take your computer back!”

“The computer was bought here, and I won’t leave until it’s fixed!” the young student said defiantly.

“How can you be so unreasonable? I’ve already said I’d send it back to the factory for you, and you don’t want that. Now, who’s going to fix it for you?” The chubby boss was furious, veins popping on his forehead.

The boss felt harassed by the student’s unreasonable demands but had to suppress his anger.

“Shall I give it a try?”

Suddenly, a voice came from the doorway.

The chubby boss and the young student turned their heads in unison to look.

A young man in a school uniform stood at the entrance, a warm smile on his face.

———- Support the Translation! 🌐✨ Your donations not only show appreciation but also keep the translator motivated! Every contribution helps continue bringing you more of what you love. Thank you for being a part of this journey! 💖

https://www.ko-fi.com/maxoofie