Chapter 210 Come add a friend! (Two in one)
The junior high school career ended, Teacher Wen left, and the long summer vacation began.
In this midsummer season, Fang Wei, Xu Cailing and Liu Zhiyi's trip to Shanghai and summer job plans are also on the agenda.
Considering that I will be leaving home in September to attend high school in the city and can only go home once a week, the first problem I have to solve is to buy a mobile phone.
Even though mobile phones these days don’t have many functions, having a mobile phone of your own at least makes it convenient to keep in touch.
Xu Cailing and Liu Zhiyi also had this plan. As soon as Fang Wei mentioned it, the two girls asked him to find a time to go to the city together to buy a mobile phone.
Early in the morning on July 10th, Fang Wei rode his motorcycle and prepared to set off.
First pick up Xu Cailing from next door, and then go to the next village to pick up Liu Zhiyi.
"Knowing what I mean~~"
[Beep——]
Hearing the sound of horns and shouting outside the yard, Liu Zhiyi ran out of the room.
"Grandpa! I won't be back for lunch!"
"...Okay, be careful on the road."
"Got it! I'm leaving!"
"..."
Uncle Liu was still a little melancholy. On weekdays, when there was nothing to do, his good granddaughter would stay at home reading books or doing housework. But whenever Fang Wei and Cai Ling appeared, the girl would not stay at home at all. She would throw down her books and run out happily...
A while ago, he said he was going to Shanghai to play, to work as a summer job in Shanghai, and not to go home for a month!
Is this still his good granddaughter who loves staying at home?
……
Outside the door, Liu Zhiyi took the helmet handed to him by Fang Wei and put it on.
Xu Cailing, who was already sitting on the motorcycle, squeezed forward, stuck close to Fang Wei, and left an empty seat behind for her.
Liu Zhiyi held Cailing's shoulders, raised his legs and sat behind her.
With the trunk serving as a backrest, it is actually quite comfortable to sit in the back, but if possible, Liu Zhiyi would rather sit in the middle.
But it doesn’t matter. Cailing sat in the middle when they went there, and she sat in the middle when they came back.
The two girls had a special understanding on the issue of 'taking turns sitting in the middle'.
"Zhiyi, have you told Uncle Liu?"
"said!"
"Hahaha, then let's go play in the city for a while after we buy the phones!"
"Okay, Cailing, what do you want to play?"
“Ask the driver.”
The driver didn't have time to think about what to do. He turned the accelerator and turned back to ask, "Are you all seated? Do you have money?"
"All right!"
As soon as the two girls finished speaking, Fang Wei put the motorcycle in gear, raised his legs, and rode the motorcycle carrying them on the country road.
The sun is shining slowly, the breeze is blowing, and the blue waves are rolling on the sea.
The biggest difference between cycling and driving is that you are in the wind all the way.
It wasn't too hot at this time in the morning. Fang Wei was wearing a T-shirt and work shorts. The wind made his clothes stick to his chest and his trouser legs swing.
The girls behind him were talking, their hair also flying.
"Hey, we will have our own cell phones from now on!"
"Yes."
The girls who had never owned a mobile phone were very excited, especially Liu Zhiyi. She lived in a different village. Although it was quite close, it was not as fast as mobile phone messages. Doesn't it mean that she can call Fang Wei every night?
"Cai Ling, what kind of phone do you want to buy?"
"I don't know, Zhiyi, what kind of phone do you want to buy?"
"Haha, I don't know... Anyway, as long as I can make phone calls and send text messages, it's fine."
"It seems that mobile phones nowadays can access the Internet! Teacher Wen's phone can do it! It can also take photos!"
“What can you do online?”
"do not know."
Xu Cailing pinched Fang Wei again and asked him, "What about you? What kind of phone do you want to buy?"
"Just go to a mobile phone store and have a look. Then buy according to your budget."
Due to the lack of information on the island and the long time since we were apart, Fang Wei has a vague idea of the functions of current mobile phones. He only remembers that Nokia dominated the market at that time.
When he was in high school, he used his father's old Xiaolingtong mobile phone. This thing was cheap and affordable, and was the mainstream choice for most students. However, the monthly package did not allow calls outside the city, and the daily signal was also worrying.
Now that he has money in his pocket, Fang Wei also plans to buy a better one, but there is no need to buy a too good one. After all, it is not that much better. On the contrary, the function premium is quite high. A camera with 200,000 or 300,000 pixels can be sold for six or seven thousand.
It's several thousand dollars now! Fang Wei is not willing to spend it like this...
"So what's your budget?"
"More than a thousand."
"This...is so expensive!"
"Forehead……"
Actually, it’s not that bad. Mobile phones are expensive these days. A slightly better one will cost more than a thousand yuan. Even a PHS costs several hundred yuan.
They arrived at Baitan Wharf and boarded a boat to the city. After sailing slowly on the sea for two hours, Fang Wei and the other two finally arrived in Xuanzhu City at around nine o'clock in the morning.
After all, it is an urban area, and there are many places selling mobile phones, such as shopping malls, mobile phone stores, and China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom business halls.
Fang Wei drove the two girls around and chose a larger mobile phone store.
After locking the bike and taking off their helmets, the three of them headed toward the store together.
It is summer vacation now, and the mobile phone stores are doing quite a lot of business. There are not many junior and senior high school students using mobile phones, and most of the buyers are those who are going to study or work in other places.
As soon as I entered the store, a young lady came to greet me.
"Hello, are you looking to buy a mobile phone?"
"Correct."
"Are all three of you planning to buy something?"
"Correct."
When she heard that all three of them wanted to buy one, the young lady's eyes lit up and the smile on her face became even more enthusiastic.
"You three brothers and sisters are going to study in other cities, right? Having a mobile phone is really convenient! We have phones of all prices in our store, including second-hand ones. I'll take you to have a look. I wonder what your budget is so I can recommend a suitable one for you!"
"Let's take a look first."
After being introduced by the young lady nearby, Fang Wei and the other two started looking at their mobile phones.
There aren’t many brand name stores in the city these days. It’s basically just these mobile phone stores that buy in large quantities of goods and then sell them.
Cell phones are placed inside the glass counter, and there are basically all the best-selling models from 1998 to this year, with a wide range of prices.
Fang Wei didn't consider second-hand mobile phones. Nowadays, second-hand phones are basically black and white phones from two or three years ago. They are durable, but he doesn't want to use them.
The more mainstream brands of mobile phones are Nokia, Samsung, Motorola, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, etc.
"You can take a look at this one, the Sony Ericsson T618, which was just launched this year. It has very powerful functions, a 128×160 pixel color screen, a built-in WAP browser for surfing the Internet, MP3 function, Bluetooth music player, and a -pixel digital camera. The standby time can reach hours..."
The salesgirl took out this phone and showed it to Fang Wei and the other two. It was mainly used for taking pictures.
"Wow……!"
Xu Cailing and Liu Zhiyi were both stunned.
I didn't expect that a mobile phone could really take photos! And it looks so clear! Is this the legendary 100,000 pixels?
"Yes, the camera function of this phone is also very powerful!"
Fang Wei: “…”
Why do I feel like what you said has nothing to do with the word 'powerful'? !
Is this what it means to look at today’s mobile phones from the perspective of future generations?
The store clerk was also a little confused. She saw the two girls' exclamation. Almost every customer who saw the phone showed a surprised expression, but this little brother had a blank expression on his face and his eyes were even a little disdainful. What was going on? !
"If you are not satisfied with this one, you can take a look at this one! Sharp J-SH53, also a new model this year, is the world's first megapixel mobile phone! It also has 32-chord ringtones, supports MP3 playback and SD card expansion!"
Fang Wei: “…How much?”
“This one is more expensive…”
"What about the Sony Ericsson model?"
"We have a summer discount right now! You can get it for only 3888!"
"Ah?! 3888?!"
Cailing and Zhiyi, who were playing with T618, were startled and quickly and carefully put the phone back on the counter.
"It's too expensive! Almost 4,000 yuan... We can't afford such a good phone..."
"Yes, Fang Wei, let's look at something else..."
Fang Wei: “…”
Fang Wei didn't plan to buy it either.
The price of three or four thousand is indeed too expensive, especially for the function... From his point of view, it is not worth spending the money. After all, apart from the impressive pixel photography, there is nothing special about it.
After looking around for a while, I finally came to the Nokia area.
There is a reason why Nokia can dominate the market these days. If you don’t know what to choose, Nokia is the right choice because it is sturdy and durable.
Fang Wei didn't keep the secret any longer and said to the saleslady, "Our budget is just over a thousand. Can you see what's more suitable in this price range?"
"How about this one?"
The saleslady took out a Nokia and introduced it: "This is Nokia's new 3100 this year. It is also Nokia's first batch of color screen phones. The resolution is 128X128 pixels. It has a built-in browser for surfing the Internet. It supports wireless downloading of ringtones, pictures, screen savers and MMS. If necessary, you can also connect an external camera to take pictures. The price is not expensive. Many students buy this model! Now we have a summer promotion, only 1788 yuan!"
Fang Wei took the Nokia 3100 and took a look at it.
It has a very classic straight-bar design and is available in three body colors: white, blue and red. The color screen's startup image is a pair of clasped hands, and the style is also very compact.
He had just looked at several Nokia models. The Nokia 3100 was considered to be a relatively cheap color-screen phone, and its appearance seemed quite fashionable at the moment. No wonder it was so popular among students.
There weren't many functions to mention on the keypad phone. It had basic menus, basic games, a browser, phone calls, text messages, settings and other modules. In the application treasure box, there was also a built-in mobile QQ. He clicked on QQ and took a look. The content inside was also shockingly concise...
"QQ? What is this? A game?"
Xu Cailing and Liu Zhiyi tilted their heads and leaned over to take a look at the cute penguin icon, but they had no idea what it was.
“It’s for chatting online.”
“Can I use this to get online?”
"…This is a type of network application. Going online is a more general concept."
Liu Zhiyi understood a little, but Xu Cailing was completely confused. She often heard people talking about surfing the Internet, but she didn't know what it was.
Fang Wei handed the phone to the two girls to look at, and the two girls liked this phone very much.
The first thing Xu Cailing did when she got the phone was to open the Snake game.
She often plays Snake on her dad's mobile phone, but her dad's mobile phone is a black and white phone with a fluorescent green background, which is not as fun as this color screen phone!
"What do you two think of this phone?"
“I think so!!”
Xu Cailing nodded repeatedly, pressing the buttons with her little hands, staring intently at the greedy pixel snake on the screen...
Fang Wei: “…”
Do you think the game is okay?!
"What about Zhiyi? How do you feel?"
"Sure, can I choose the color? This one looks pretty good too!"
Fang Wei: “…”
As expected, as a girl, is appearance the only thing that matters? !
Well, it’s a luxury to expect any kind of performance from a mobile phone these days. Apart from this one, Nokia also has more high-end models, but the price has reached around 5,000 or 6,000 yuan. It’s really not cost-effective and I can’t afford it.
"elder sister."
Fang Wei smiled brightly, turned around and called the shop assistant "Miss".
"Here! There!"
The saleslady immediately perked up and asked softly and enthusiastically, "Are you planning to buy this phone?"
"Well, I like this one right now, but we are all students and don't have much money. Our parents didn't give us much money this time. Can the price be a little cheaper, sister?"
"Forehead……"
The clerk was quite pleased when the handsome boy called her "sister", but his words also made her feel conflicted.
"1788 is already a great deal! After all, this is a new phone released this year. If you buy it, I can give you three phone cases as gifts!"
"Sister, what we need is not the phone case, but the money! Our parents gave us 1700 yuan for this trip, so we have to save some money for the boat ride home. We came all the way here, so we must really want to buy it. Can you give us a discount? Just yuan, how about that?"
"It's not that I won't give you a discount, but my words don't count..."
"Sister, go and apply. I'll be waiting for your good news here. We'll buy three at once. If it doesn't work out, we can only talk about it next time. Cailing, stop playing and let's go."
"Oh!"
Xu Cailing put down her phone and the three of them prepared to leave.
Troublesome little devil!
Sometimes a sweet date, sometimes a stick. The clerk didn't want to miss this big order, so she quickly called them over.
"You guys sit down and have a glass of water first, I'll go apply!"
"Sorry for the trouble, sister. I'm waiting for your good news."
"..."
In the era before the development of e-commerce, the prices of almost everything were opaque, and if you didn’t know how to bargain, you would definitely suffer a big loss.
Especially for this kind of independently operated mobile phone stores, there is information gap and there is definitely a premium.
Not only can you bargain when buying a mobile phone, you can even bargain when you go to a business office to sign up for a phone plan.
Soon, the saleslady came over with the order.
"Look, brother, I've just applied for you. We really can't lower the price of the phone any further, but you can get a package from us. You probably don't have a SIM card yet, right? We can get one here, and the phone is 1788 yuan, and the card is free. After you get the card, we'll give you yuan worth of phone credits. What do you think?"
In those days, the rules for getting a phone card were not as strict as they are now. You could buy a phone card directly from even a small store. A large mobile phone store like this must have cooperation with major operators. Fang Wei thought for a while and asked, "Which card? What package do you want?"
"Mobile, this year launched the M-Zone package. You should have seen the billboards outside. It's endorsed by Jay Chou. Many students choose this package!"
"As for the card, we can just go to the business hall to apply for it. Sister, can the price of mobile phones really not be reduced any further?"
"I'm not trying to trick you. You guys need to apply for a card anyway. The China Mobile service center is right next door. The price is the same if you go there. If you apply here, I can even help you get a discount."
"Send a hundred phone credits?"
"Yes! Split into four months, 25 RMB per month! 25 RMB once you activate the card!"
"How's this set meal?"
The shop assistant then introduced it to him.
Fang Wei is very familiar with the M-Zone package.
Jay Chou had just made his debut and was the spokesperson for M-Zone. The streets were filled with M-Zone posters and his song "My Territory".
This marketing campaign was a miracle at the time. That year, Jay Chou and China Mobile were everywhere on TV, newspapers, street billboards, university playgrounds, cafeterias, and dormitories. Anyone who used linkage at that time seemed out of date. Jay Chou's words "my turf is mine" almost made all the people born in the 1980s and 1990s use China Mobile. It is no exaggeration to say that this is the most successful endorsement in the history of China.
The M-Zone package, which is aimed at young people, is also affordable. The current monthly fee is 30 yuan, which includes free text messages, M of traffic, and free use of three ringtones: "My Territory", "Seven Miles of Fragrance" and "Sunny Day".
"If the text messages exceed the limit, it will be cents per message. If the data usage is not enough, you can buy a 30-megabyte data package for 5 yuan..."
5 yuan for 30 megabytes of data...
What a nostalgic term!
Take the current mobile QQ as an example. If you use QQ on your mobile phone for a month just to send text messages, you won’t be able to use up the 5M data capacity of China Mobile for 30 yuan!
You mean pictures? These days, pictures larger than 100kb are considered large pictures! They take a long time to load, and there are no videos. The next app is only -kb at most! It is nothing compared to the future when traffic will expand and an app will easily take up hundreds of megabytes or even gigabytes.
"Traffic? What is this... Fang Wei, do you know?"
Xu Cailing scratched her head. Why were there so many terms she had never heard of? She also hadn’t heard that her father’s cell phone package had any data traffic.
“…It’s for surfing the Internet.”
“Does it cost money to go online?”
"If you have traffic, you don't need to pay. If you don't have traffic, you have to pay to buy it."
"If I haven't used up all my data, can I use it next month? Yes! And if I haven't used up all the text messages in my package, can I use them next month?"
"……cannot."
"What a tyrant! I bought it with my own money, so why can't I use it next month..."
"..."
Fang Wei didn't know what to say, because this was really a tyrant.
After listening to the introduction of the shop assistant, Fang Wei also had a clear idea in his mind.
It was just as she said. Even if I didn't have a SIM card, I would have to sign up for a SIM card package anyway. I might as well sign up here and get a good deal.
"Brother, what do you think? This is already the biggest discount we can give. If it's more, there's nothing I can do."
"Are you still giving me the three cell phone cases I just mentioned?"
"……deliver!"
"What if my phone is broken?"
"Seven-day money back guarantee! One-month replacement guarantee! One-year warranty! As long as it is not damaged by human factors!"
“Can I choose my phone number?”
“Sure, sure!”
The saleslady took out a row of mobile phone cards, all of which were from the 138 number range, which was one of the earliest number ranges of China Mobile and was later called the boss number. Twenty years later, the number ranges all started with 19*.
Choosing a lucky number is something that is ingrained in the genes of the Chinese people, and Fang Wei is no exception.
After choosing for a long time from the dazzling array of numbers, he finally found a number ending with 1668.
"138xxxx1668, I'll choose this one."
"No problem, just register here and then insert the card into your phone to activate it."
The salesgirl handed him a form with the number he had just chosen written down on it. All Fang Wei had to do was sign his name.
"What about you two? What numbers are you going to pick?"
"Well……"
Cai Ling and Zhi Yi were leaning over the counter, their heads touching, still choosing numbers. They flipped through page after page and finally found numbers that satisfied them.
Originally, they wanted to choose consecutive numbers with Fang Wei, but unfortunately the numbers were all shuffled. However, except for the last four digits, the first seven digits were the same.
"I choose this one! 138xxxx1616!" said Xu Cailing.
"Then I choose this one...138xxxx1919!" said Liu Zhiyi.
"...how could you two choose such matching numbers?" Fang Wei was convinced. It seemed that it would be beneficial to look for a little longer.
Nokia 3100 has three color schemes. All three of them bought this phone, but each chose a different color.
Fang Wei chose the blue one, Liu Zhiyi chose the white one, and Xu Cailing chose the red one.
Remove the back cover, take out the battery, and put the phone card in. With the help of the store clerk, the phone card was successfully activated.
"Let's give each other a try."
"it is good!"
"Stand away from me, I'll beat you."
"Do you remember the number?"
"I certainly remember."
So the two girls stood further away, and Fang Wei called Cai Ling first, pressing the key: [138…1919]
Then, Liu Zhiyi's cell phone started ringing.
Fang Wei: “?”
Damn, I got the numbers mixed up! Cai Ling’s number should be 1616!
But it doesn't matter. He put the phone to his ear. Liu Zhiyi, who was not far away, answered the call and said "Hello" in a low voice.
"Hello…?"
"Did you hear that?"
"Hear it!"
“Will the sound be muffled?”
"will not!"
"it is good."
Then Fang Wei called Cai Ling again.
"Hey! Can you hear me?"
"...Keep your voice down. I can only hear your voice next to me."
I tested the calls and text messages and found they were all fine. I'll figure out the rest when I get back.
After working hard for a long time, the shop assistant finally earned the money and was very happy.
"Anyway, if you have any follow-up questions, you can come back to the store and find me!"
"Thank you sister."
Three mobile phones plus phone cards cost 1788 yuan per person, so a total of 5364 yuan was spent for three people.
Of course, they each paid for their own expenses, and Fang Wei was not generous enough to pay for the two girls.
For Cailing, this means she has spent all the rewards given by her parents and her own pocket money.
For Zhiyi, that was nearly a month's worth of royalties that he had spent.
The two girls cherish the new mobile phones in their hands!
The salesgirl gave them three protective covers, which were actually plastic covers. Zhiyi and Cailing put them on their precious mobile phones as soon as they got them.
Fang Wei didn't put it on, as he preferred the feel of a bare phone, so he kept the condom for the two of them to use later.
It was already noon when I came out of the mobile phone store.
The three of them rode their motorcycles to McDonald's for a meal.
This has almost become a must-do for the three of them when they come to the city. Since they don’t come here often anyway, they still have to have some junk food once in a while!
In the bright and clean shop, Fang Wei was playing with his new mobile phone.
What he cared about most was that this phone could access the Internet. Even though there was nothing interesting on the Internet at the moment, being able to access the Internet provided him with another way to obtain information.
Thirty megabytes of traffic seems to be insufficient, but it is enough for checking some information or using QQ.
"Hurry up and register for QQ! QQ numbers now require eight digits!"
"QQ? The little penguin?"
"Yes, go and register."
Fang Wei has already registered. An eight-digit QQ number is still a bit pretentious. If it were two years earlier, he could have gotten a seven-digit number. But one or two years later, he can only use a nine-digit number.
QQ for mobile phones, which was just launched this year, is only a few hundred KB in size and its content is very simple. How simple is it? There is no space, no email, and no fancy features. There is just a menu in the lower left corner, an exit in the lower right corner, and contacts in the middle, which is no different from the address book. When you click on the contacts to write a message, it is just like writing a text message.
Fang Wei gave himself a nickname, [Awei], and used the system avatar, a cartoon young man.
“How do I choose this?”
Xu Cailing turned her phone around to show him while eating French fries.
[Please select the access method: 1. Mobile DreamNet; 2. Mobile GPRS]
"Just choose Mobile Dream Network."
"oh oh."
"What is this used for?" Liu Zhiyi asked curiously.
“It’s an online chat software.”
"Internet? Does this count as surfing the Internet?" Xu Cailing was surprised. It turns out that surfing the Internet is so simple?
"Chat software?" Liu Zhiyi also blinked.
"Yes, it's just online chatting. From now on, if you use QQ to send me messages, it won't cost money. You can send as many messages as you want."
"No need to pay for phone calls! Won't it consume the number of text messages?"
"As long as you have data and internet, that's all."
"This stuff is great!"
The two girls immediately became interested.
When they first signed up for the package, they were still wondering how long it would take to send 150 text messages. Now that they have the Internet and QQ, can they send as many messages as they want? !
"What does nickname mean..."
"…It's like a pseudonym, a nickname used on the Internet."
"Ooh!"
Liu Zhiyi didn't think about it and directly used the pen name [Nanfeng] as his QQ nickname.
Xu Cailing tilted her head and thought for a while, and used [Xiaoling] as her QQ nickname.
As expected of a girl, the first thing she did after registering for QQ was to change her avatar.
But the number of avatars that the system could choose from was too few, so he chose two cartoon girls with different hair colors as his own avatars.
"Are you done yet?"
"All right!"
"Then let's add each other as friends."
"Add friend? Aren't we already friends?"
"..."
Don’t play with your cell phone like an old lady!
"It just means adding contact information. What's your QQ number? I'll add you."
"Where can I see my QQ number?"
"...Order the menu, order the information."
"Oh! Mine is 1025xxx6!" Cai Ling said.
"Mine is 1025xxx9!" said Liu Zhiyi.
Oh my god, it seems that the registration numbers are given in order now! The two girls have the same number except for the last digit.
Soon, Fang Wei sent the friend request.
[cough][cough]
The two girls heard an old man coughing on their cell phones.
"……what sound?"
"I've added you two as my friends, please approve it!"
"Hahaha, why are you an old man?"
"That's the system sound! Idiot."
After accepting Fang Wei’s friend request, Xu Cailing and Liu Zhiyi added each other as friends.
So the three of them all had their own friends in QQ.
"Can I send the message now?"
"Yeah, you guys try it."
So the two girls clumsily pressed the direction keys, moved the cursor to [Awei], confirmed, jumped into the chat input box, and then clumsily pressed the nine-square grid keys to type.
Everything was so new to them, and they were all smiling.
[Didi][Didi]
Fang Wei clicked on the messages they sent.
Nanfeng: “Haha.”
Xiaoling: “Hehe.”
Fang Wei then replied to them both:
Awei: “Pig!”
The two girls burst into laughter: "It's fun! It's so fun!"
(End of this chapter)
