Rebirth 08: A Happy Life Begins in Elementary School

Chapter 109 The Once Prosperous Computer Mall

"Where to? The computer mall?" Li Changlin asked.

It seems he has fully accepted that Li Zhao is about to buy a computer.

In this day and age, online shopping is nothing compared to computer malls.

"Let's go to the computer mall."

"I'll ask your third uncle to come along—"

"He doesn't understand," Li Zhao shook his head. "I'll choose the computer I want myself."

My third uncle is a self-proclaimed computer expert whose best skill is installing an operating system—he relies on physical force to fix computers.

Do you understand?

"Well, I do know a little bit."

"Okay." Li Changlin didn't say much more. "How about this Saturday? Take the red envelope with you, and Dad will take you there tonight."

That's how it was settled.

However, Zhou Xiaoyun was still immersed in self-doubt, so much so that she had to secretly come over to ask Li Zhao while Li Changlin was taking a shower.

"Son, you said you were actually watching TV, so why wasn't the TV warm when I got back?"

It was a classic showdown.

In his past life, Li Zhaozhen would secretly watch, and then went through a whole round of duels.

First comes the skill that all children excel at: discerning whether their parents are home by the sound of their footsteps. Then, they quickly turn off the TV and pretend to be asleep or studying. This is the beginning of the whole showdown.

Then, Zhou Xiaoyun noticed that the TV was still hot—at this time, the TV was still in its bulky, clunky form with a thick glass screen. So when Li Zhao watched it, he would press his sleeping pillow against the back of the TV, which provided enough cooling for Zhou Xiaoyun to wonder if it was on or off.

Then comes the inevitable cycle of one step forward for good, another for evil.

"I put a water pillow in."

"What about static electricity on the screen?"

"It's all gone when I wipe it off while turning off the TV."

"Then my TV station—"

"Of course I know I should be transferred back," Li Zhao said with a smile.

"Volume—never mind, you probably already know that."

At this point, Zhou Xiaoyun had played all her cards.

When she got home, she found a television that, perhaps because of the slightly warm weather, had no static electricity. When she turned it on, it showed the channel she remembered and the volume was the same.

It's flawless.

So Zhou Xiaoyun got the answer to her question, and Li Zhao proved that he had been watching TV the whole time. Both of them were very satisfied.

Although Zhou Xiaoyun might not understand the logic that "Li Zhao watching TV didn't affect his getting first place in the national exam, so using a computer is also fine" —

But it doesn't matter anymore.

After all, they are in their later years, and their reliance on short videos is much stronger than that of young people.

In his previous life, Li Zhao didn't watch short videos much and wasn't bound by his phone. Although his younger subordinates liked watching them, they could at least analyze the content and knew that they were just watching for fun and could easily throw it away.

The elderly person appeared to be almost completely controlled, lacking any ability to filter information, making them the perfect candidate to be exploited by the authorities.

On Friday, Li Zhao attended classes as usual, and the three teachers completely ignored his classroom performance.

Even when Li Zhao was sleeping face down, they were still thinking, "Didn't the child sleep well last night?"

I don't know if it was because of Li Zhao's influence, but the learning atmosphere in Class 1 of Grade 6 improved a lot, and everyone seemed to be holding their breath.

6月23日毕业考，7月4日放暑假，7月11日小升初考试。

Time is running out; it's time to feel a sense of urgency.

Each of the three teachers had their own points of interest.

He Lin was concerned that even Cai Chao was taking this seriously; Huang Keyun was concerned that Li Zhao was indeed graduating; and Lin Wenjuan was concerned that she felt no sense of participation, even though she was teaching math!

Logically speaking, Li Zhao, a genius, should have taken off because of his math skills!

I strongly recommend holding a math competition for the second semester of sixth grade!

On Friday after school, Chen Nian didn't seem as excited as he should have been. Li Zhao noticed this but didn't say anything.

The pressure on He Shuyao is so real that she clearly has no expectation of "taking a vacation".

If we're talking about who was most deeply influenced by Li Zhao, it would be these two.

The closer the exam gets, the higher the ambitions become, and the greater the pressure.

If I get into the top 50, I'll be in the same class as Li Zhao. If that doesn't work, I'll get into the top 100 and be exempt from the sponsorship fee. If that still doesn't work, I'll at least get into the top 300. I can't be too bad.

It's not a good time for Li Zhao to say anything; the more he tries to relax them, the more nervous they become.

Then, let's work hard.

If you really want to prove something, this pressure can easily be turned into motivation.

Li Zhao didn't forget to go to the bank and withdraw 8000 yuan in cash, leaving a balance of 397925 yuan.

Well, rounding it up or down, it's still 40.

rich.

On Saturday, May 24th, Li Zhao didn't really feel like writing the handwritten version of his youth novel.

I'll get the computer tonight, and I can type much faster.

So for the entire day, Li Zhao found himself in a strange state of idleness, which was quite unusual.

I don't want to write academic articles for now. My junior high school grades are already decided, and I've already reviewed all the junior high school material. But right now, I'm going to practice with junior high school exam papers—I'll try again during the summer vacation.

Exercise doesn't take up much time.

Money — computers have arrived, and there's plenty to study.

Li Zhao's current mindset is quite interesting; it seems he has detached himself from his thirties and entered the world of a primary school student.

That's too far off.

It is something that a primary school student in a past life longed for but could not obtain, and it is also something that a soul in its thirties is currently eagerly anticipating.

Past lives and future lives overlapped at this wondrous juncture.

On Saturday evening, the father and son had dinner. In front of Li Changlin, Li Zhao took out eight thousand yuan from the red envelope and then went downstairs together to wait for the bus.

Because motorcycles are prohibited on the roads surrounding the computer mall.

"Dad, if Chen Nian is going to the computer mall, shouldn't his dad be driving?"

Li Changlin visibly felt embarrassed.

Li Zhao didn't think much of it; he simply felt that he had heard similar things too many times in his previous life, and he had to give back some of them.

The computer mall is located relatively close to Baijiang District, which can be considered a "new town". In ten years, it will become a synonym for the center of New Taipei City, and Qingqiao District will completely withdraw from the historical stage, quietly commemorating its past glory.

A so-called computer mall is actually just a specialized market for electronic devices.

Classic, slightly oddly shaped high-rise buildings; classic, inexplicably sunken plazas; classic, large blue glass curtain walls —

This type of building is still frequently seen twenty years later, only now it has generally become a warehouse or been converted into an office building.

Li Zhao remembers that the electronics market he was familiar with ten years later was completely a product exhibition hall, focusing on a high-end visual and practical experience.

If I really want to buy something, I'll do it online.

So Li Zhao found it quite novel to watch the bustling crowd haggling over a bunch of electronic products like buying vegetables at a market.

At this moment, when buying things, one needs to consider "how to bring them back". Li Zhao saw a young man struggling to carry a computer case in one hand and a computer screen in the other, walking very carefully.

The computer screen was still the old CRT model, and even the boss was terrified watching from behind, worried that his friend's stuff would crash right in front of the store. In the end, he went over to help move the goods.

"Have you decided which brand to buy?"

"Let me see."

Li Zhao wasn't planning on playing any high-performance games on the computer, so it was actually quite easy to choose one; the budget of 8000 was more than enough.

Not long after, I found a classic model, the ThinkPad X61.

A classic business laptop, lightweight, sturdy, and with an excellent keyboard feel, perfectly meeting Li Zhao's current needs.

"This one will do."

Li Changlin was still listening to the boss's introduction and didn't react immediately.

"What?"

"How much is this one?" Li Zhao asked the shopkeeper, pointing directly at the machine.

The shopkeeper immediately perked up, "Oh my, kid has good taste! This is a real gem. The price before Labor Day was 8699, but you caught it! This week, the price is 700 lower, so the selling price is 7999."

"Okay, this will do."

The boss was about to unleash his well-rehearsed sales pitch when he suddenly found himself choked up, caught off guard.

"Are you sure you want this?" Li Changlin asked.

"Okay, let's get a new one, check it out on the spot, and take it if there are no problems."

"We haven't even started negotiating yet—" Li Changlin said in a slightly anxious voice as he leaned closer.

Oh—even with a computer, you can still haggle over the price now.

Li Zhao glanced at Li Changlin, gave him a thumbs up, and said, "It's yours now, Dad."

Li Changlin then began a protracted bargaining battle with the boss, giving the boss a chance to unleash the lines he hadn't been able to use on Li Zhao.

However, the boss didn't seem to care how much Li Changlin bargained down. Every time, he would start with "I can't lower the price, you don't know how good this computer is," and then start reciting commands like crazy.

Li Zhao reasonably suspected that the boss had simply triggered the switch to read the lines, and that he had to finish reading them.

While reading the script, Li Changlin kept making concessions, from initially cutting the price by 500 to saying, "If even 50 is not enough, then I won't buy it." As a result, after the boss finished delivering his lines, he nodded in confusion and gave him a discount of 150.

All are happy.

The boss then fixed the hardware drivers on the spot and gave me a free installation disc.

Li Changlin, carrying his laptop and the briefcase given to him by his boss, walked out of the computer mall with Li Zhao.

The father and son stood in the small square where only two trees were planted, and simultaneously exhaled.

"I didn't expect to finish buying it so quickly. It's not even eight o'clock yet, so early!"

"You've been haggling for so long, it's getting slow."

"I thought it would take forever just to choose a computer." Li Changlin slowly walked to the tree pit and sat down. "Sit for a while, there's no rush to go back."

Li Zhao walked over, and as soon as he sat down, a very comfortable evening breeze arose.

There were quite a few cars on the road, occasionally honking their horns. The computer mall was flanked by numerous shops: clothing stores, snack shops, hardware stores—

There's a barbecue stand a little further away.

It has a very strong sense of everyday life.

"It's rare to come out so late at night, just to get some fresh air." Li Changlin looked very relaxed.

"Dad, you seem quite happy?"

"Of course, you're so amazing, how could any father not be happy?"

"What if I'm not that good?"

"No matter what, he's still my son. Isn't that amazing? Daddy loves you."

is it?

I don't think so.

Li Zhao stretched and said, "Dad, let's talk."

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?"

Do you think the computer mall will continue to operate like this indefinitely?