Going home for the Chinese New Year with a year-end bonus of 100 million

Zhou Jin shrank back when his sister yelled at him, but when she mentioned that their father also knew about it, most of the wariness and hostility on his face dissipated.

He scratched his messy hair, his expression softening, and looked at Yang Fan again. This time, his eyes were much more normal, with a directness characteristic of a technician:

"Oh...neighbor. Okay then. What games do you play? What price range are you looking for?"

Yang Fan was a little confused by this leap in thought, but still answered truthfully:

"Oh, I usually just play games like League of Legends."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jin exclaimed, "League of Legends? 300 yuan is enough to play that game!"

"I'll give you a list, and you can buy the parts according to the list. Or you can just transfer 300 yuan to me, and I'll get all the parts and peripherals for you. Once it's all set up, you can just take it and start playing!"

In his view, his sister bringing a neighbor friend to visit him was simply to ask for a personal computer.

For a game like League of Legends that doesn't require high-end hardware, a budget of 300 yuan is considered excessive in the eyes of this "graphics forum junk collector".

Yang Fan was genuinely surprised this time, his eyes filled with disbelief.

In his mind, a computer that can play games would cost at least three or four thousand yuan.

With decent peripherals, it'll easily cost four or five thousand.

This guy just asked for 300 all-inclusive?

Does it also include peripherals?

This isn't just good value for money, it's practically magic!

Seeing the undisguised astonishment and doubt on Yang Fan's face, Zhou Jin became displeased.

He chuckled and sat up straight in his gaming chair.

"What's with that look? You don't believe me?"

"Let me tell you, League of Legends is such a crappy game, its graphics card requirements are incredibly low. Many times, the graphics card fan doesn't even bother to spin!"

"If you ask me, 300 yuan is already giving you plenty of leeway. Save where you can; it's not like you can't play!"

To make his argument more convincing, he turned to the side and pointed to his "dreamlike" outfit:

"Look at my setup! I play CS:GO, PUBG, and occasionally dabble in AAA games, and this whole setup only cost me 3000 yuan!"

"Playing League of Legends with such a high-end computer is a complete waste! Don't you understand that performance is more than enough?"

Following the direction he pointed, Yang Fan then took a closer look at Zhou Jin's "host computer" that had been blocked by the monitor.

Upon seeing it, even though he was somewhat prepared, he almost couldn't hold back.

That can't be called a "computer case" at all!

That's just a shoebox!

Various colored wires meander out from inside like vines, connecting the power supply and the motherboard.

The motherboard lay naked in the shoebox, the CPU fan whirring on top, and a somewhat old-looking graphics card was inserted at an angle, without any support, relying entirely on the data cable to maintain a precarious balance.

Heat sinks, memory modules... all components are exposed to the air, giving the place a postmodern wasteland industrial feel, so rudimentary it's appalling.

But ironically, this very thing, salvaged from a "junkyard," managed to run a game that clearly had high requirements smoothly.

The last trace of doubt in Yang Fan's heart vanished instantly, replaced by a strong sense of agreement: It's a sure thing!

This is definitely a hidden tech genius in the city!

It's the kind of "Tuba God of War" that truly squeezes every penny of performance to the extreme!

He was about to explain that he didn't only have one computer when Zhou Yao, unable to bear her brother's "poor" appearance and misunderstanding, spoke first in a tone of disappointment:

"Zhou Jin! Can you please stop imposing your garbage-collecting values ​​on others?"

"Isn't it shameful?"

"Is it that our family can't afford a normal computer or what?"

"I'm truly impressed by you!"

She took a deep breath, pointed at Yang Fan, and shouted at Zhou Jin:

"Also, my brother didn't come here to ask you to build him a cheap, 300-yuan computer!"

"He's opening a gaming hotel! He needs to buy tons of computers! He has plenty of budget! He's asking you to help him get a stable, high-performance configuration for bulk purchase!"

"Did you understand?"

"Esports Hotel!"

"Esports hotel?" Zhou Jin blinked twice, digesting the term. He looked at Yang Fan's calm and composed demeanor, then at his sister's serious expression. As if struck by lightning, he sprang up from his gaming chair. His previous lazy and decadent aura vanished, and his eyes widened, flashing with extreme excitement.

"Holy shit!!!" he cursed, his voice trembling with excitement.

"Really? An e-sports hotel? Bulk purchases?"

"How many units do you need? Dozens? Or... hundreds?"

He has built countless computers in his life and helped many friends assemble their own, but he has never experienced such a "large-scale" "battle".

He rubbed his hands together, his gaze fixed intently on Yang Fan, his tone becoming more enthusiastic and urgent than ever before:

"Brother! Tell me! What exactly are your needs?"

"What's the budget? Don't worry, I've got it covered! In my entire life... I mean, in all my years in this business, I've never fought a battle with such a hefty budget! I guarantee I'll arrange everything perfectly for you!"

Yang Fan found his reaction somewhat amusing, but also felt relieved; this was how he should be discussing serious matters.

He hesitated for a moment before saying, "The exact number hasn't been finalized yet, but at least two hundred units are needed."

"The requirements definitely need to balance performance and stability."

"Mainstream games on the market, including some large AAA games, should be able to run smoothly at least at medium to high graphics settings."

"Peripherals can't be too bad either; the feel and durability of keyboards, mice, and headphones all need to be considered."

"As you know, college students these days are quite picky about this. If they don't have a good experience, they won't come back next time."

"So, regarding the budget... planning for around 10,000 yuan for a main unit and peripherals should be fine, right?"

"Ten thousand?" Upon hearing this number, Zhou Jin's face showed an expression of heartbreak and despair, as if Yang Fan was not talking about a budget, but about burning money.

"Brother! You've been so foolish!!" His voice trembled.

"Where would we need so many?"

"Trust me, a desktop computer, including a decent graphics card, CPU, RAM, and SSD, will cost you at most 3,500 yuan. I can definitely get it done for you!"

"The performance is more than enough! Then, put it in a nice, cool case, and pair it with a high refresh rate gaming monitor. What kind of specs will those students who come to play even notice?"

"As long as the game runs smoothly and the graphics don't lag, they consider it a top-of-the-line computer!"

He became increasingly agitated as he spoke, and began to calculate the costs for Yang Fan:

"You own an esports hotel, right?"

"Hundreds of computers, saving six or seven thousand per computer, that's a huge saving, man! There are so many better things to do with that money!"

He leaned closer to Yang Fan, lowered his voice, and gave him a "I'm doing this for your own good" look:

"In that case, my efforts won't be in vain. For each computer, I'll charge you... a service fee of one thousand yuan."

"I guarantee every penny will be spent wisely, saving you much more than if you tried to assemble it yourself! The quality is also guaranteed. How about it?"

Before he could finish speaking, Zhou Yao, who was standing next to him, was so angry that her eyebrows shot up and she grabbed Zhou Jin's ear and twisted it:

"Zhou Jin! Are you even human?! Are you crazy for money?! You dare to make money off my brother?!"

"What a terrible idea you came up with!"

"A 'miracle machine' for three thousand dollars?"

"Yes, some games are playable, but what about your terrible stability? Can you honestly say that your shoebox-shaped machine has never blue-screened, never gone black, never suddenly started smoking and restarted?"

"what?"

"My older brother runs an e-sports hotel! It's a business, not a place for you to do junk assembly experiments!"

"Customers want a stable and reliable experience, not to live in constant fear that their computer will explode!"

"Can you help? If you can't, shut your mouth and stop making a fool of yourself here!"

Zhou Jin grimaced and begged for mercy as his younger sister pinched him.

"Ouch! Ouch! Let go! I was wrong, I was wrong! Zhou Yao, let go!"

After Zhou Yao angrily let go, he rubbed his bright red ears and looked at Yang Fan sheepishly, his attitude much more subdued.

"Ahem... well, brother, what Zhou Yao said... does make some sense." He reluctantly admitted:

"It's fine to tinker with it for personal use, but when you're running a business, stability and after-sales service are the most important things, so you definitely have to use brand new, genuine parts."

He stroked his chin, thinking seriously: "Your budget of ten thousand per unit is indeed more than enough."

"The machine I assembled can play all the mainstream games on the market with high settings without any problems."

His eyes darted around, and he changed the subject: "But brother, on another note..."

"This e-sports hotel requires such a large investment, and the computers are a major expense."

"You came to me for a fitting, so you must trust me and want to save on costs, right?"

Seeing Yang Fan nod, Zhou Jin continued, "Here's what you'll do: you can go to the local computer mall or find a few wholesalers, pretend you're going to buy in bulk, and ask them for their bottom price based on the configuration you just mentioned."

"And then?" he puffed out his chest, a confident look on his face:

"Tell me their bottom line. I'll use my connections to find out, and I guarantee I'll get a price that's significantly lower than their lowest offer!"

"I'm not greedy either." Zhou Jin held up five fingers:

"We'll split the difference we save 50/50. You take half, I'll take half."

"All things considered, you'll actually spend less money than if you negotiated it yourself, and I can guarantee that the parts are from legitimate sources and of reliable quality. If you make bulk purchases later, I can also coordinate unified after-sales service. What do you think?"

He shrugged: "I certainly can't work for nothing. Running around to find channels, coordinating, inspecting goods, and possibly handling debugging later all take time and effort."

"But this revenue-sharing arrangement is absolutely fair, and you'll definitely save money. What do you think?"