Chapter 54 first quarter

Two guests came in when it was closing at six o'clock, a short man in his fifties, and a thin boy who looked like a high school student. Tomohiko Sonomura speculated from their expressions that they were father and son.Tomohiko recognized the boy, he had been here several times.But don't talk about shopping, he didn't even say a word, he just looked at the high-end computers on display and left.There are still several such young people, but Tomohiko will not say anything to them, otherwise they may think that this store rejects customers who just look at them and don't buy them, and they will never step into the store again.You can look at it however you like, and when they have extra income someday, or when their grades improve, and they ask their parents to buy a computer as a reward, they will come to patronize them again.This is the idea of ​​the boss Kirihara Ryoji.

The father wearing gold-rimmed glasses walked around the narrow store, and his eyes first stopped at the signature product, which was the personal computer that the boy would look at every time.The father and son looked at the merchandise and talked in a low voice.Soon my father said, "What is this?" and leaned back, as if seeing the price tag.He said to his son in a scolding tone: "This is too expensive." "No, there are many others," replied the boy. Tomohiko faced the computer screen, pretending that he was not paying attention to the customer, and continued to stealthily observe.The father just stared blankly at the main unit and accessories on display with the eyes of looking at the scenery of a foreign country, and most of them have no relevant knowledge.His hair mixed with a little silver was neatly combed, and his casual attire with a cardigan over a turtleneck sweater still couldn't get rid of the white-collar smell.Tomohiko guessed that he was a manager-level figure in the company, and he must have driven here in such thin clothes in December.

Nakajima Hiroe, who was arranging the parts on the display shelf, glanced at Tomohiko, with the meaning of "go and say hello" in his eyes.Yuhiko nodded slightly. Optimizing the timing, Tomohiko stood up and showed a friendly smile to the father and son: "Excuse me, what are you looking for?" The father showed a rescued but slightly timid expression.Perhaps the son was afraid of negotiating with the store, so he looked at the software on the shelf with a straight face. "It's my son, and he said what kind of personal computer he wanted to buy." The father smiled wryly, "but he doesn't know what kind of computer to buy."

"Where are you going to use it?" Tomohiko looked at the father and son alternately. "Which way?" the father asked his son. "Word processing, online..." The boy lowered his head and answered in a low voice. "Electric or something?" Tomohiko tried to ask. The boy nodded slightly, still with a straight face, probably because he had to bring his father along because he wanted to buy something, he was unhappy to cover up his embarrassment. "What's your budget?" Tomohiko asked the man. "Well...about a hundred thousand." "I told you that you can't buy it for 100,000 yuan!" The boy said in a very angry tone.

"Please wait." Tomohiko returned to his seat, tapped the keyboard, and the inventory list immediately appeared on the screen. "The 88 is exactly what you need." "what?" "NEC's 88 series was just launched in October this year. One model is about 100,000 yuan excluding tax. However, I think it should be cheaper. The things are good. The CPU is 14Mega, and the standard DRAM is 64K. For the disk drive, count yourself to 120,000." Tomohiko found the product introduction on the back shelf and handed it to the father and son.The man took it, turned it over a little bit, and handed it to his son.

"Do you need a printer?" Tomohiko asked the hesitant boy. "Of course it would be great." He said to himself. Tomohiko checked the inventory again. "The Japanese thermal transfer printer is 69,800 yuan." "This adds up to 190,000." The man's face was ugly, "far beyond the budget." "Sorry, but in addition, you must purchase the software." "software?" "It is the program that allows the computer to perform various tasks. If there is no software, the computer is just a box. But if you can write the program yourself, it is another matter."

"What? Those things aren't included?" "Because different procedures are required for different uses." "Oh." "Add word processing and some commonly used software," Tomohiko pressed the calculator, and showed the figure 169,800 to the man, "What is the price? Other stores definitely have more than this amount." The corner of the father's mouth was crooked, obviously depressed about being forced to pay more money.However, the boy thought of something else. "Is 98 still expensive?" "The 98 series doesn't have 300,000 yuan, so there's no way. If we prepare the relevant configuration, it will probably exceed 400,000 yuan."

"Don't even think about it! Children's toys are so expensive." The man shook his head, "That 88 is already too expensive." "Look at you, if you stick to the budget, there are corresponding products, but the performance is much worse, and the model is also old." The father was hesitant, looking at his son to show this, but after all he couldn't match his son's pleading eyes, and said to Tomohiko, "Then give me that 88." "Thank you, do you want to take it home?" "Well, I came here by car, so I should be able to move it myself."

"Okay, I'll bring it right away, please wait a moment." Tomohiko handed over the payment procedures to Hiroe Nakajima and left the shop.Although it is a store, it is actually just an apartment converted into an office.If it wasn't for the "PC store MUGEN" sign on the door, I'm afraid I wouldn't know what this place is, and their warehouse is the apartment next door. There are office desks and simple tables and chairs for guests in the room used as a warehouse.As soon as Tomohiko entered, the two men sitting opposite each other looked at him almost at the same time, one was Kirihara and the other was Jincheng.

"88 is sold." Tomohiko said while showing the receipt to Kirihara, "Add a monitor and printer, 169800." "The 88 has finally been sold out. Thank God, this trouble has finally been cleared up." A smile appeared on one side of Kirihara's face, "Next is the era of 98." "Not bad." Cardboard boxes filled with personal computers and related machines are stacked almost to the ceiling.Tomohiko looked at the model number printed on the carton and walked between the boxes. "You are really solid in doing this business. It's been a long time since a customer who is willing to spend over a hundred thousand came." Jin Cheng teased.Tomohiko was in a pile of cardboard boxes, so he couldn't see Jincheng's expression, but he could imagine it without looking.Jin Cheng must have tilted his skinny cheeks and deliberately widened his sunken eyes.Every time he saw this person, Tomohiko couldn't help but think of the skeleton.He often wears gray suits that look as if they're hanging on an ill-fitting hanger, with shoulders that stick out.

"It's best to keep your feet on the ground," replied Ryoji Kirihara, "with low pay and low risk." There was a muffled laugh, which must have come from Jincheng. "Have you forgotten what happened last year? It's very profitable, so you can open this store. Don't want to gamble again?" "I've said it a long time ago. If I had known how dangerous that time was, I wouldn't have walked with you blindfolded. If I made a wrong step, everything would be over." "Don't be so exaggerated. You think we are idiots. We have noticed what we need to pay attention to. There is nothing to worry about. Besides, it's not that you don't know the bottom line on our side. You should have understood that there is no risk at all. No." "Anyway, I can't do anything about it. Please find someone else." What are they talking about?Tomohiko thought while looking for a cardboard box, and a few hypotheses appeared in his mind.Regarding the purpose of Jincheng's visit, Tomohiko thinks he has a good idea.Soon, he found it. There were three boxes of host computer, monitor and printer in total.He moved the boxes outside the house one by one, passing Kirihara and Jincheng every time, but they just stared at each other silently, and he couldn't hear more. "Kirihara," Tomohiko asked before leaving the room, "can we close?" "Well," Kirihara sounded absent-minded, "OK." Tomohiko responded well and left the apartment.During their conversation, Kinjo didn't even glance at Tomohiko. After handing over the goods to the father and son, Tomohiko closed the store and went to eat with Hiroe Nakajima. "Is that person here?" Hong Hui frowned and said, "The one that looks like a skeleton." Hearing her words, Tomohiko laughed out loud.Hong Hui had the same impression of that person as himself, he found it funny.As soon as she said it, she also laughed, but after laughing for a while, her face sank. "What did Kirihara talk to that person? Is he actually from Qian? Do you know?" "Well, I'll tell you about this later." Saying that, Tomohiko put on his coat.This is not something that can be said in a few words. After leaving the store, Tomohiko and Hiroe walked side by side on the sidewalk in the dark.It's only early December and the streets are filled with Christmas decorations.Where did you spend Christmas Eve?Tomohiko thought that last year he reserved a French restaurant in a big hotel, but this year he hasn't thought of any ideas yet.No matter what, let's spend it with Honghui this year too, this will be the third Christmas Eve he will spend with her. Honghui met Tomohiko when he was working in his sophomore year. He worked in a large electrical appliance store that advertised low prices.There he was in charge of selling personal computers and word processors.At that time, fewer people knew about this field than now, so Tomohiko was highly regarded.He was supposed to be responsible for sales in the store, but was sent to provide technical support from time to time. The reason why he went to work there was because the "Infinity Project" opened by Kirihara fell into the predicament of going out of business.Due to the rise of computer games, program sales companies sprung up, resulting in the excessive proliferation of rough-quality video game software, causing consumers to lose confidence in products, and most companies went bankrupt. "Infinite Project" can be said to have been swallowed by this wave. But Tomohiko is now grateful for the closure because it led to his acquaintance with Hiroe Nakajima.Hiroe and Tomohiko are on the same floor in charge of telephone and fax machine sales.They saw each other often and soon began talking.The first date was about a month after Tomohiko started working part-time.They didn't spend too much time thinking of each other as their boyfriend and girlfriend. Hiroe Nakajima is not beautiful. She has single eyelids, a nose that is not straight, round face, small head, and she is not as thin as a girl, but like a boy.But she exudes a reassuring and gentle atmosphere. As long as Tomohiko is with her, he will forget his inner troubles, and after meeting her, he will think that most of the troubles are not big problems. But Tomohiko once hurt Hong Hui.He got her pregnant about two years ago and she had to get an abortion. Even so, Hong Hui only cried on the night after the operation.That night, she said that she didn't want to be alone anyway, and hoped that Tomohiko would stay with her in the hotel for the night.She lives alone in a rented house, works during the day and attends a specialist school at night.Tomohiko naturally agreed.Lying on the bed, he gently hugged her who had just undergone the operation, and she trembled and shed tears.Since then, she has never cried at the remembrance of that time. There is a small transparent tube in Tomohiko's wallet, the size of half a cigarette, looking in from one end, you can see double red concentric circles at the bottom.It was the pregnancy test that Hong Hui used to confirm her pregnancy, and the double concentric circles represented a positive reaction.It's just that the concentric circles at the bottom of the small tube that Tomohiko wears on his body were drawn by him with a red oil pen.In actual use, it was Honghui's urine that produced red sediment at the bottom of the tube, forming a positive judgment mark. The only purpose of Tomohiko carrying the small tube is to remind himself.He didn't want Honghui to suffer that kind of crime again, so there was always a condom in his wallet. Tomohiko once lent this "talisman" to Kirihara.That was after he showed it to Tong Yuan as a warning, and Tong Yuan asked him if he could borrow it. Tomohiko asked him what he was going to do, and he only said that he wanted to show it to someone.When returning it, Tong Yuan sneered and said, "Men are really easy to deal with. As soon as they hear that they are pregnant, they throw up their hands and surrender." Tomohiko still doesn't know what he did with that "talisman".