King of Technology: A Fresh Start in 1983

Hearing the commotion from inside the living room, Old Zhan asked loudly, "Did you buy the TV? When will it be delivered?"

"I paid a deposit first, and they said it would be in a couple of days."

"How much?"

"500," Zhan Yiling replied while changing her shoes.

"What? A 29-inch TV for only 500?"

Zhan Yiling stuck out her tongue: "Oh dear, I forgot to ask."

Mother Zhan patted her daughter on the back of the head again: "You child, you're always so carefree."

"They don't even ask the price when they buy things. When will they learn to manage their finances?"

"Oh, by the way, speaking of daily life, how are things going between you and that guy in your class?"

"It's still the same, it's fine..." Zhan Yiling said nonchalantly.

"When are you bringing her home so your dad and I can see her?"

"I've only seen him in your class's graduation photo so far, and half of his face was covered up."

Zhan Yiling gave a vague answer: "He's busy right now. Let's talk about it when his work is a bit easier."

Mrs. Zhan was somewhat displeased: "What kind of work keeps you that busy?"

After saying that, he thought for a moment and added, "But that makes sense, it's good for young people to be busy when they're just starting out."

"Don't end up like that kid in our yard, what's his name? He's always loafing around..."

Hearing her mother say this, Zhan Yiling's heart skipped a beat.

He immediately turned and fled the kitchen, entering the living room.

I saw my dad standing amidst a jumble of cardboard boxes, foam, plastic bags, and tape…

He carefully examined the large refrigerator standing in front of him, which was taller than him.

Zhan Yiling quickly stepped forward: "Dad, is it plugged in?"

Old Zhan shook his head: "No rush, let's finish reading the instruction manual first."

Looking at the instruction manual her father had only flipped through halfway through, Zhan Yiling shook her head with a wry smile.

She went to the kitchen again, picked up a few slices of tomato, and put them in her mouth.

"Mom, why don't you go check out the new refrigerator? It's a Toshiba, it's great!"

"Your dad won't let me touch it, he's afraid I'll break it."

Mrs. Zhan was full of resentment, "I disagreed with replacing the refrigerator in the first place. The Snowflake refrigerator has been working perfectly for ten years without a single problem, but you insisted on replacing it."

"Sigh... This morning I was on the balcony, watching Xuehua lying on the tricycle being pulled away by them, and I felt really sad."

Mrs. Zhan pounded her chest and continued, "It feels like that snowflake refrigerator is like your younger brother; our family of four is missing a member."

"Haha, Mom, you've given yourself away this time!"

Zhan Yiling hugged her mother's neck and shook her, "Look how serious your preference for boys is, you even think of a refrigerator as a boy."

Mother Zhan said shamefully, "I don't care who's more important. If you were a boy, I would think of the refrigerator as your sister."

Then she sighed again: "It would be so much better if we moved Xuehua to your rented apartment; then it wouldn't really be like she's leaving our home."

"It's not that I don't want it, but that house comes with a refrigerator!"

"When the new color TV arrives, you can move this old Kunlun to your rented place, since there's no TV there."

Zhan Yiling's face immediately showed displeasure: "You yourself said you're old Kunlun, and you still insist on giving him to me!"

"It's only 18 inches, I should at least buy a 21-inch flat-panel camera."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Zhan was immediately displeased!

He slammed the knife on the cutting board: "Do whatever you want! Spend your money however you like, nobody can stop you!"

Zhan Yiling quickly hugged her mother and coaxed, "Okay, okay, I'll do as you say and move to my place."

"Anyway, I don't have time to watch TV, so it doesn't matter if it's big or small, new or old."

Old Zhan, who appeared out of nowhere, stood in the kitchen doorway with the instruction manual in hand: "Where's your male classmate?"

"It's one thing if he won't come to let us meet him, but we don't have any boys in our family. He should come and help when it's his turn!"

Zhan Yiling quickly went back to her room, grabbed a bulging envelope, and handed it to her mother: "Mom, this is my salary for this month. Please keep it safe for me."

Mrs. Zhan took the envelope, counted it roughly, and pulled out a few bills to hand to her daughter: "You should always keep some money on you."

"I've already saved it up." Zhan Yiling tilted her head and said with a mischievous smile, "I need to have my own secret stash of money too, just like my dad."

"You're lucky to be born in such a good year!"

Old James turned to his daughter and murmured, "I've worked for thirty years, and you've only worked for a little over four. Your salary is more than ten times that of your mother and me combined..."

He suddenly became worried as he said this: "What exactly do you do at the company? Why would they pay you so much money?"

"Market Representative"

"Huh? A market representative? What does a market representative do?" Mrs. Zhan asked from the side.

"I represent the company in promoting and selling our products to our clients," Zhan Yiling said, emphasizing each word.

Mrs. Zhan immediately frowned: "What? After all this time, he's just a vendor?"

"You spent four years at Tsinghua University, and ended up working at a counter? Just because the pay is good?"

"Oh dear, I can't explain this to you. Let's eat." Zhan Yiling waved her chopsticks impatiently.

As she ate, Zhan's mother watched her daughter with a smile.

"Hey, your dad and I are really curious, what do you do at work every day?"

"If only we could turn into little bees and hide in your hair to go to work with you."

"Huh? You want to sting me to death? Having two bees on your head, how could you even think of that?"

Zhan Yiling rolled her eyes at her mother, "If people saw a bee coming into the office, they would definitely kick it out."

"Then your dad and I won't go in. We'll just stand by the window and watch what you're doing in there..."

Old Zhan gave his wife a stern look and muttered, "You're getting more and more absurd!"

Zhan Yiling laughed and said, "But you can't see me even if you're peering through the glass. There are no windows around me, and I'm quite far away."

"Ah? The dark room?" Mrs. Zhan exclaimed in surprise.

"Our office occupies an entire floor. The rooms with windows on all four sides are either meeting rooms or used by the boss."

"The large, spacious area in the middle is our office area. Each person is assigned a small cubicle so that we don't disturb each other."

LeBron James and his mother exchanged glances, clearly not understanding.

Then, Old Zhan turned to his daughter and asked, "I just don't understand, why are you putting a girl like me in sales? You're such a good student in school, can't you do something technical?"

"The boss said that salespeople can't all be men, and that I was more suited to sales, so I became a market representative."

"Besides, you need to be technically savvy to sell computers in a foreign company."

LeBron James and his mother exchanged another silent glance.

The same message was conveyed in their eyes: Look, this is the daughter you raised…

Zhan Yiling picked up the last bite from her clean bowl, stood up, and said with a smile, "I have to go to Shanghai for a business trip early tomorrow morning, so I need to get there early to pack my luggage."

Actually, her flight to Shanghai tomorrow is not early in the morning.

She just wanted to get tonight over early and be with He Fan…