Fang Bai quickly finished reading the letter, which mainly detailed Qin Shuyu's interesting school life and her concern for his recovering finger; every word in the letter conveyed Qin Shuyu's longing for him.
"Oh, this blockhead."
Fang Bai found some stationery and began writing a reply to Qin Shuyu; he wrote quite fast, finishing within half an hour.
The main content covered his recent studies, daily life, and the condition of his recovering finger, concluding with his new mailing address.
Perhaps having experienced too much, he was not adept at expressing romantic sentiments, but Fang Bai still simply and directly stated his longing for her.
With them not seeing each other for a long time, the greatest fear was misunderstanding, so Fang Bai wrote quite directly; if he missed her, he said so, unlike Qin Shuyu, who was more reserved.
At the same time, he asked for her exact dormitory address, as Fang Bai had never visited Shanghai University of Finance and Economics in his previous life, and when he visited Qin Shuyu later, he needed to know where to find her.
Qin Shuyu's dormitory did not have a landline, nor were there any accessible phones nearby, otherwise she would have surely told Fang Bai.
Money-making matters were difficult to explain clearly in a letter and would only cause Qin Shuyu to worry, so Fang Bai planned to elaborate when they met.
By then, Fang Bai would also have passed his monthly exam, with grades proving his studies hadn't fallen behind, which would alleviate her excessive worry.
He had considered installing a landline in his rented house, but then thought about how the installation and wiring would cost several thousand yuan, and he would be moving out next year, so he decided against it.
If the house were his own, it would be a different story, but Fang Bai temporarily didn't want to spend money on buying a house; currently, self-built houses didn't have property deeds, making transactions quite risky.
There were no public landlines nearby either; otherwise, he could have just written someone else's landline number, and Qin Shuyu could call that number and have Fang Bai called to the phone.
Of course, taking calls this way would require paying the person, charged by the minute.
Fang Bai thought it over and felt it would be more convenient to buy a bp machine; it would make it easier for Qin Shuyu or others to reach him.
BP machines had been introduced several years ago, but it was only at the beginning of this year that paging stations sprang up like mushrooms after rain, and the paging market boomed.
Currently, bp machines were not cheap; Fang Bai had recently inquired and found that a Motorola bp machine cost over three thousand yuan, including the network access fee, but not the service fee.
Wearing a bp machine on your waist, bragging everywhere.
This statement was no exaggeration; owning a bp machine today, clipped to your waistband, was a symbol of a successful person.
If a bp machine suddenly beeped in a crowd, everyone would cast envious glances your way.
What was the coolest guy? The person with a bp machine was the coolest guy.
"Call me if you need anything" became the most confident and showy phrase.
Of course, those with a 'big brother' phone were at the big boss level, a level ordinary people could only look up to.
Fang Bai had no interest in wearing a bp machine on his waist, but without a 'big brother' phone, it was best to buy a bp machine.
Hmm, he'd go check it out when he had time.
Sigh, communication is really troublesome now; for now, they can only rely on letters.
Fang Bai, accustomed to instant communication in later generations, now found the low-efficiency communication methods unbearable; it was inconvenient to even find someone.
Calling home from outside meant calling the village head, who would then use a loudspeaker to announce for so-and-so to come to his house within a certain number of minutes to take the call.
Some small workshop owners had bp machines, but he hadn't heard of anyone buying a 'big brother' phone yet.
After finishing the letter, Fang Bai went downstairs, rode his bike, and headed out to mail it.
Upon arriving at the post office, he found it had already closed for the day, and there was no place to even buy stamps, so he would have to wait until tomorrow to mail it.
After affixing the stamp, he could simply drop it into the envelope collection box outside the post office.
Fang Bai had no interest in stamp collecting; he heard that the Monkey Stamp issued in 1980 had already risen to over two hundred yuan per stamp. If they were a few yuan each, he might collect some for fun.
For businessmen, capital only makes money when it flows. If art collection only yields profit after several years, it doesn't help business and ties up operating funds.
Fang Bai rode back and saw his parents returning with rice, vegetables, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and kitchenware like pots and pans, saying they would cook dinner themselves from now on, and eating out for lunch when there were many people was enough.
Fang Bai said, "Mom, if you don't mind the trouble, then go ahead."
"What's so troublesome? Cooking ourselves saves money and worries. You earn a lot, but every bit saved counts.
Your dad said a small stir-fried pork dish at the restaurant costs two yuan. I can buy over a jin of pork with that, enough for our family to eat two meals." Liu Fengqing grumbled, while she and her father organized the newly bought items.
Fang Bai smiled, understanding his mother's thoughts; her monthly salary was only fifty yuan, and a day's work wasn't even enough to order one meat dish, so she knew money wasn't easy to earn.
His dad had little status at home and always listened to his mom. Having no great abilities himself, he now listened to his son, who was capable.
But Liu Fengqing's thoughts were different; no matter how capable her son was, some things still had to be done her way, just like a housewife.
Fang Bai and his sister helped clean the vegetables, listening to their mother grumble about vegetable prices at the market and complain that the butcher always gave her lean meat with no fat.
His father lit a fire to heat the new pot and season it with oil. His wife had originally wanted to bring pots and pans from their hometown, but some of them were old. Now that they had money, they could buy new ones. Besides, if they brought them, it would be troublesome to cook in the village without pots, so his wife listened to him and bought new ones.
The family of four chatted about daily life, with joyful smiles on everyone's faces.
In the evening, the family gathered for dinner, chatting and laughing.
On the dinner table were two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, and one soup. Fang Bai's goal of having his family eat meat every day, set a while ago, was now realized.
After dinner, his sister didn't have to go back to school; tomorrow was Saturday, and there were no classes. She wanted to help her family sell televisions tomorrow.
Fang Bai returned to his bedroom to review his studies.
The next day,
At eight o'clock in the morning, the shop opened for business.
With an extra storefront, there was more space. Today, ten people would come for TV repairs; any more, and Fang Bai wouldn't be able to handle it.
He was quick at diagnosing problems, but explaining how to repair them clearly took a lot of time.
At ten o'clock, Fang Bai rode his bike to the post office to mail the letter.
Upon returning, he discussed the day's stall setup with his parents.
He had repaired 15 televisions the day before yesterday afternoon, 30 yesterday, and with more repair personnel this morning, he estimated around 20 today.
Therefore, the number of televisions available for sale today was around 65.
Having experienced the last bustling sales event, Fang Bai added 2 sales staff and 2 general laborers. Including his parents and sister, the total number of people working on-site reached 11.
Having more people ensured no accidents at the site, and spending a bit more money was fine.
At the same time, another tricycle was added.
To prepare for today's sale, Fang Bai and his family did a lot of work and made significant investments.
Fang Bai still set the stall opening time for after lunch today. He estimated that not many passersby would rush to buy televisions in the morning, and he would also be too busy on his end.
In the morning, Fang Bai gave his father a note: if a teacher from Oubei No. 1 Middle School came to buy a television, and their name was on the note, they could get a 10% discount. If they were a teacher who had looked after him, they could get a 20% discount.
"Dad, I only said I knew you, I didn't reveal that this stall belongs to our family or our father-son relationship. If they ask, don't say this TV selling has anything to do with me."
Fang Shi didn't quite understand: "Why hide it?"
"Dad, we need to keep a low profile. Otherwise, I won't have any peace at school. What if students and teachers all come to me asking for discounted prices? Wouldn't I be annoyed to death?"
"Haha, I see! Then Dad understands. Get rich quietly, hehe." Fang Shi chuckled foolishly.
Time flew by, and everyone ate lunch just after eleven o'clock.
After eating, they rested for a while, and at twelve o'clock, they officially started moving televisions out for the stall.
Liu Fengqing saw such a large-scale sales operation for the first time. She didn't understand much about it, but she helped wherever she saw a need.
Fang Bai went to the stall to check things out, greeted the small restaurant owner, offered him a cigarette, and then left.
He had already handed over the on-site sales work to his father; his mother was also present, and there were 8 other people.
Actually, Fang Bai didn't count his sister; she couldn't help much.
Li Meng, due to her excellent performance and ability to handle unexpected situations, was promoted by Fang Bai to sales team leader, and her salary was also increased.
The day before yesterday, many customers were disappointed they couldn't buy a television and decided to come today to snatch one.
After customers who bought televisions took them home, some relatives, friends, and neighbors were very envious when they learned they had bought a television at a low price, and they also wanted to buy one.
Over the past two days, many customers had helped Fang Bai promote the inexpensive televisions, bringing in many potential consumers.
At one o'clock in the afternoon, one or two hundred spectators gathered around the stall. The sales scene was bustling, and the popularity was even higher than the day before yesterday.
Some customers who couldn't buy a television last time paid directly and took a television.
Some customers who didn't intend to buy were swept up by other consumers and made impulse purchases, as if buying one meant getting a bargain.
Liu Fengqing watched her husband busy counting and collecting money, and quickly helped him count. She loved this kind of money-counting work so much, muttering to herself, "We're getting rich, we're getting rich," with her eyebrows curved in a smile.