E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World-Chapter 61 - The 61st Episode Just Wanted to Buy a Laptop 2
Chapter 61: The 61st Episode: Just Wanted to Buy a Laptop 2
Chapter 61: The 61st Episode: Just Wanted to Buy a Laptop 2
And the salesmen in Kemao’s main hall on the first floor didn’t seem frightened by the recent incident, as they continued to cozy up to the solo shoppers, peddling their wares.
Following behind Wei Jingzhu, Zhou Xueyin felt either residual fear from the previous events or was moved by his gentle treatment — either way, every time she looked up at his figure, her heart raced.
Wei Jingzhu didn’t know what to say either. The situation had been urgent, leaving no room for second thoughts. How he had rushed forward without considering his own safety, protecting Zhou Xueyin, was beyond him.
It sure wasn’t because he mistook her for Xiang Yue, they didn’t even look alike.
Fortunately, the noise in the mall drowned out any need for conversation, so their silence on the way wasn’t awkward.
“Oh, Xiaowei is here! Got a new girlfriend?” As soon as they approached a booth, the stall owner greeted them warmly.
“No, not at all, that’s not it! Brother Ji, we’re just friends!” Wei Jingzhu’s face turned red as he hurriedly explained, “Her name is Zhou Xueyin.”
“Friends, Xiaojing and I are just ordinary friends!” Zhou Xueyin also quickly clarified, “I just wanted to buy a laptop, and Xiaojing is more familiar with this place, so I asked him for help.”
“Hey, look at me…” the stall owner laughed embarrassingly, “Xiaowei told me yesterday, he had everything ready but got so busy he forgot.”
Brother Ji brought out several laptop boxes from the booth: “These all have the best cost performance. Take a look and see which one you want.”
“…” Zhou Xueyin, bewildered, stared at the four boxes in front of her—Acer, BenQ, Compaq, ThinkPad—having never researched these brands, she had no idea which one was better.
“Acer and BenQ are both AMD core-based, and this generation’s AMD isn’t as good as Intel. So you can rule these two out…” Wei Jingzhu glanced at the specifications on the packaging and returned Acer and BenQ to Brother Ji.
“Compaq… was okay in the past couple of years but has been so-so recently. If I had to choose, I’d still recommend ThinkPad. After all, it’s from IBM, so it’s quite reliable. Plus, the red TrackPoint in the middle of the keyboard is quite useful—it’s one of their trademark features,” Wei Jingzhu adroitly explained to Zhou Xueyin like an expert.
“Don’t let Xiaowei’s non-computer science background fool you, he knows his stuff really well when it comes to these gadgets! You can’t go wrong following his advice!” Brother Ji chimed in from the side.
“Sure this one is good?” Zhou Xueyin looked at him skeptically.
“Positive! If it’s just for office work, this laptop is more than enough! Besides, when do you have time to play games now? If you don’t log into your account soon, it’s probably going to be reclaimed,” Wei Jingzhu said jokingly.
“Ugh, don’t remind me. I’ve been so swamped with the ad campaign recently, it’s been a real struggle. Just exhausting…” Just thinking about the client’s endless feedback gave Zhou Xueyin a headache, “Right, Brother Ji, I’ll take Xiaojing’s advice and go with this one. Can I have a look inside?”
Zhou Xueyin pointed at the ThinkPad box.
“Of course, of course! What do you do, Xiaozhou?” While Brother Ji skillfully opened the packaging, he chatted with them.
“I work with forums… Now I also take ad assignments,” Zhou Xueyin said casually.
“Brother Ji, she might look young, but she’s actually started her own company!” Wei Jingzhu said admiringly.
“Ah, it was just a spur-of-the-moment decision,” Zhou Xueyin didn’t want to share her situation with a stranger.
“That’s great! Keep it up!” Brother Ji encouraged eagerly and presented the laptop to her, “Here, what do you think?”
“I can’t tell much about it, can you give it a once-over?” Zhou Xueyin turned to Wei Jingzhu again, seeking reassurance.
“It’s all new, nothing to worry about. Brother Ji, can you install an operating system for her? She can use it straight away once she gets home!” Wei Jingzhu said confidently.
“Okay!”
While waiting for Brother Ji to install the system and drivers, a few people started chatting about the incident that had just occurred downstairs.
Brother Ji smiled as if it was nothing unusual, seeing customers chasing after the salesperson, Hailong, was all too common.
There were always buyers who didn’t understand the industry being deceived by unscrupulous salespeople, either getting substandard goods for the price of better ones or having a price agreed upon only to be charged extra for system installation or antivirus software under false pretenses.
In short, what was once a fine marketplace environment was now ruined by these people.
Brother Ji used to be on the first floor, where he had a good reputation and was well-liked, but he was squeezed out by these conscienceless vendors and had to move to the second floor. freёnovelkiss.com
Now, those who remained on the first floor were either in cahoots with the scam artists or selling overpriced products.
Those who did business with a conscience had gradually disappeared from the first floor.
“Isn’t there anyone who can manage this?” Zhou Xueyin said indignantly.
“Today comes, today’s great. Tomorrow goes, tomorrow’s worse… there’s nothing we can do,” Brother Ji said helplessly, “The business environment in Hailong is getting worse and worse. When my lease is up next year, I am not renewing it. I’ll just move to the Kemao market across the street. Things are somewhat better over there.”
“It’s really tough… nothing is easy,” Zhou Xueyin decided then and there to help Brother Ji promote his business on her website. “Although the forum I’ve started is still new, if you don’t mind, I can advertise for you there and give those who are clueless a clearer guide.”
“Hey, that’s fine. Most of my customers are regulars, or brought by Xiaowei,” Brother Ji didn’t say much, but gratitude filled his eyes, “I’ll inform you when I change my spot!”
“It’s a promise!” The two reached a verbal agreement on the promotion.
When she finally got the laptop in her hands, Zhou Xueyin felt a small pinch at the expense.
More than 5000 yuan wasn’t a small sum.
However, for future work needs, spending this 5000 today could make 50,000 tomorrow!
“Thank you, Brother Ji!” Zhou Xueyin said gratefully, holding the laptop.
“You’re welcome, come again if you need anything!” Brother Ji stood behind the counter, smiling contently, “Xiaowei, I’ve been holding this in for a while. You two should just date, you’ve got the look of a married couple.”
“Pfft… Don’t joke around. She’s out of my league…” Wei Jingzhu blushed and waved his hand again.
“Don’t say that. If my venture fails, I might have to go back home and live off my parents, so it’s not certain who’s out of whose league,” Zhou Xueyin joked light-heartedly.
She genuinely thought Brother Ji was joking and didn’t take it to heart at all.
Although something like what happened in the afternoon had occurred, after having chatted for a while, when she looked at Wei Jingzhu again, she no longer felt that rush of heartbeats, so it seemed the suspension bridge effect was confirmed.
After Zhou Xueyin’s repeated invitations, Wei Jingzhu had dinner with her and safely escorted her home before heading back to his dorm.
“I~saw~everything~ah~~~” As soon as Zhou Xueyin got home, Li Jiniang approached her full of gossip.
