Oubei No. 1 Middle School, Office 104, was Teacher Zhan Feng's office, the head teacher of Fang Bai's re-study class.
This office had a total of four English teachers: Chen Qiao, Zhan Feng, Luo Xiaoyun, and another male teacher.
The three female teachers were all around thirty years old, married, and had children.
On Saturday mornings, re-study students had half a day of classes, and in the afternoon, students had a holiday; students weren't as stressed as in later generations, where they didn't even have weekends.
The teachers were also off work; the three female teachers planned to gather in the office at 3 PM and then go together to the Oubei Bus Station to look at color televisions.
If the color televisions hadn't sold out yet and they found one they liked, they planned to buy one.
Where could you find such incredibly cheap color televisions?
Women are naturally fond of shopping, and female teachers in the 90s were no different.
At 2 PM, the three teachers were already in the office, but they hadn't left yet; instead, they were grading student assignments.
By 3 PM, the three walked out of school and soon arrived near the bus station, where they noticed a stall not far away, with hundreds of spectators gathered inside and out.
Some passersby took a glance and left, some stayed to watch for a while longer, and some were truly attracted and had their desire to consume piqued.
The three of them quickened their steps, following the crowd towards the stall.
"Wow, there are still so many people today! That's the TV selling stall," Chen Qiao said excitedly.
"Yes, it's so lively, isn't it?"
"Many look, but few buy; even with discounts, TVs aren't cheap."
Dozens of meters away from the stall, they could hear the mesmerizing loudspeaker voice: "Passersby, don't miss out..."
Chen Qiao couldn't help but laugh and ask her two colleagues beside her:
"Whose voice is this? It sounds so interesting."
Zhan Feng listened to the loudspeaker broadcast once, and then the loudspeaker repeated it; it was clearly a continuous loop.
But it had to be said, the lines were well-written and very catchy.
However, after listening to it a second time, she felt a bit puzzled:
"Hmm, why does this voice sound a bit familiar to me? I can't quite remember whose it is."
"Teacher Zhan, now that you mention it, I also feel this voice is a bit familiar, very much like your student Fang Bai's."
Zhan Feng was reminded by her colleague and then recalled Fang Bai's voice.
And indeed, it really did sound like him.
She remembered Fang Bai's passionate, bold, and inspiring speeches on the podium, his voice full of magnetism.
Now, this hawking voice was equally passionate and magnetic, with an added touch of allure that was very captivating.
She felt that Fang Bai would probably even be good at performing crosstalk.
No, definitely!
"He said he could get a discounted price. It seems Fang Bai helped the stall owner record advertisement lines and has a cooperative relationship with them."
"That's very possible. We'll know once we ask later."
The three walked and talked, quickly arriving at the stall.
Chen Qiao led the way, squeezing into the crowd, and the three then saw various models of televisions displayed at the stall.
In the middle of the stall, a large-screen television was being showcased, with clear images and vibrant colors.
Many customers were carefully examining the TV's picture quality and functions, occasionally interacting with the staff.
Even though the TV prices were extremely low, there were still more people looking than asking; everyone gathered there was mainly attracted by the large-sized color TV in the middle of the stall, and also by the captivating broadcast lines.
The three of them first observed, listening to how the staff introduced the products.
Among the three, only Chen Qiao and Zhan Feng intended to buy a TV. Both were aiming for a 14-inch color TV. They had already discussed it with their families last night and specifically brought money to buy a color TV this morning.
After a short while, a 21-inch color TV was sold on the spot for 1100 yuan. The customer who bought it happily carried it away and called a car by the roadside to take it home.
Seeing that customer pull out over a thousand yuan just now, the audience on site was filled with envy.
Of course, everyone envied the stall owner even more.
The stall owner was carrying a large backpack. After counting the money, he stuffed it into the bag, and from the bulging bag, one could guess that it contained a lot of money.
According to the sales staff, 65 TVs were put on sale today, and 30 had already been sold. The remaining 35 would be snatched up very quickly, so those who wanted to buy should hurry. If they didn't have enough money, they could also wait until the third stall appearance the day after tomorrow, but the quantity might not be as much as today.
Chen Qiao took a liking to a Panasonic 14-inch color TV, priced at 368 yuan. She was a bit curious and asked the salesperson if the price could be lowered further.
The salesperson said that hundreds of TVs had been sold at a fixed price, and it was already the lowest price.
Chen Qiao inquired of a salesperson: "We are teachers from Oubei No. 1 Middle School. Our student Fang Bai told us we could get a discount. Is that true?"
After speaking, she felt slightly awkward, in case it wasn't true; that would be too embarrassing.
But she was benefiting from Zhan Feng, so it was best for her to ask herself.
"Oh, is that so? May I ask your name, teacher?" asked Li Meng, the salesperson. Fang Bai had told them about this matter, which was not to mention that he was the stall owner.
"My name is Chen Qiao, and this colleague next to me is Zhan Feng. She also wants to buy a 14-inch color TV."
"Please wait a moment; I'll check with our boss."
A moment later, Li Meng replied to Chen Qiao: "Hello, our boss said that to thank the Oubei teachers for their hard work for the students, Teacher Chen can get a 10% discount, and Teacher Zhan can get a 20% discount."
Chen Qiao, Zhan Feng, and the other person smiled at each other after hearing this. It was true after all; Fang Bai hadn't tricked them!
Suddenly, they felt particularly impressed by and grateful to Fang Bai.
If they got a 10% discount, buying a 368 yuan color TV would save them 36.8 yuan, which was a significant amount of money.
And for someone like Zhan Feng, she saved 73.6 yuan at once.
Although Chen Qiao envied Zhan Feng, there was nothing she could do. Fang Bai was her student, and the discount was arranged by him for them; she was benefiting from his connection.
The two didn't hesitate much, each choosing a 14-inch color TV. After checking that the TVs were fine, they paid the money readily.
Although their salaries as teachers weren't high, they didn't have any major expenses, and their families had some savings, so spending two or three hundred yuan to buy a color TV was not a problem.
After getting the color TVs, Zhan Feng and Chen Qiao were very happy. Buying a color TV worth over a thousand yuan for two or three hundred yuan; their families would surely be very happy when they took them home.
...
At 4 PM, Fang Bai was a bit tired from reading. He went downstairs to check on the repair situation, gave some pointers, and then went to the stall to see today's sales, as he was a bit worried about a repeat of the previous customer conflict.
As he expected, sales were still booming.
Having nothing else to do, he helped with sales for half an hour. Then his mother pushed him to go back, saying he wasn't needed anymore and telling him to go back and read, even if he was good at selling TVs.
Fang Bai felt that if his mother helped collect money, his father would be more relaxed, and there were many staff members on site, so he really wasn't needed. So he turned around and went back to his rented room to study.
What he didn't notice was that a classmate came to join the fun and watch the TV sales, and happened to see Fang Bai selling TVs, which greatly surprised him: This guy usually skips class and runs here to work?
What struck him as odd was that Fang Bai was very familiar with the staff and the boss.
It seemed this guy had been working for a long time and was very close with these people.
So, that's why he was so eloquent in his speeches; it seemed he usually helped people sell things.
No wonder he was so glib.
Haha, he originally thought Fang Bai had connections with the principal.
As it turned out, he must have faked sick leave to come out and work, no different from a social delinquent.
What this classmate didn't know was that if he had gotten closer to Fang Bai, he might have heard how he greeted the boss, which would definitely not have caused such a big misunderstanding.
However, he was afraid Fang Bai would recognize him, so he deliberately avoided Fang Bai's gaze. The scene was crowded and noisy, and Fang Bai indeed didn't notice him.