Buy low, sell high. There wasn’t a risk of loss as long as he knew what he was doing, unless the market was very unstable, which he observed to not be the case as of late. It was the perfect time to make money, he believed. He took out some notes —his predictions on the stock prices—he had scribbled down recently, which had all proved to be correct. That was what gave him the idea too.
The only problem was that he was broke. He couldn’t afford a computer, or a smartphone that would give him access to the internet.
Sun Yuhan had gone to work on that day, while Jiu Yue idled at home.
He grabbed the key and headed out, but stood rooted to the ground when he reached the busy streets, where people milled about and cars zoomed past him. He did not know where to go.
The place was big, and foreign to him.
He stepped out and moved along with the crowd, until a large digital mall loomed before him.
He wanted to check out some laptops, but… He felt his empty pockets.
The weather was beautiful; otherwise, a recluse like him would not have gone outside. He was a complete hikikomori now, completely cut off from the world. That was one of the reasons why he needed a laptop; he needed information.
There were three floors in the digital mall; shops on the first floor mainly sold electronic devices. Yan Huan was on the first floor, going from one shop to the next, hunting for a laptop. She valued design over functionality.
She went into a brand store at random.
It was a famous brand in China, she remembered Lu Yi telling her. The laptops they produced had stable performance and excellent specs, so she planned on getting one there.
She entered the store, and picked out a red laptop. She didn’t know if it was good, but it had a light and clean design. She stood there and tried the laptop intently, oblivious to a man that was looking at her laptop thoughtfully.
“I’ll take this one, I guess,” said Yan Huan, pointing to the laptop she tried out. She could sense the growing impatience in the staff’s eyes. Lu Yi had told her that this brand had great after-sales service, making it perfect for a computer illiterate like her.
She didn’t know if that was true, but she did not have a lot of kind words for their customer service.
They were all looking at her with long faces, as if she was a thief.
Her words took the staff aback; it was rare to actually meet someone so rich and stupid that they don’t even bother asking for prices. He quickly took the computer and began introducing its merits and functions.
Yan Huan curled her lips surreptitiously. How enthusiastic, for someone who was rolling eyes at her earlier.
The staff babbled on, before moving off to pack the laptop up. Bored, Yan Huan sat on a chair, taking in everything in the shop. A man with his back facing her caught her eyes. He had a broad back, and his fingers on the laptop were pretty and bony. And large, too. He was tapping on the keyboard rapidly, with speed and familiarity that reminded her of Lu Yi.
Yan Huan rested her arms on the table, as though reminiscing.
His hand had brought back memories of a person she used to know.
“Your laptop is ready, Miss,” said the staff, handing her the laptop on both hands. “If there are any problems with your laptop, feel free to bring it to us anytime, or call us at our hotline. We are always ready to attend you during office hours.”
Such good attitude, thought Yan Huan. Guess Lu Yi was right after all. The after-sales service with good, though the same could not be said about the sales department.
Pushing her black-framed glasses up, she took her newly-purchased laptop and made for the door. Before she left, she couldn’t help but give the man one last glance. His fingers were still on the keyboard. The way he tapped at Lu Yi looked exactly like Lu Yi.
But it couldn’t be him.
No matter how much he resembled him, he couldn’t have been Lu Yi.
Lu Yi was dead, and that was that.
What she saw was only a fake.
Just as she turned and was about to leave, she heard the male staff talking again, his voice as gruff as a wolf, whereas it had been as gentle as a lady a few minutes back.
“Excuse me, Sir, but how long are you intending to stay here? This is an electronics store, not an internet café. You have been tapping away at our keyboards since this morning, and enough is enough. Please try to stand in our shoes, we are the ones that have to pay if you damage the computer. If you are planning on buying it, please be decisive and get on with it already, like the lady just now. If you are a paying customer, I will treat you like God, but if you are not intending to buy it, I regret to tell you that we are not an internet café, and I’m afraid you’ll have to leave.”
The staff was getting increasing impolite and hostile.
But then again, he did have a point. This was a shop, not an internet café. If you pay for an item, you could play with it for all you like, but don’t expect others to tolerate your meddling if you aren’t paying.
It’s like buying clothes. If you try out every piece of clothing at a store without purchasing a single one, you should know that they are cursing you beneath their smiles.
The root cause of the staff’s impatience wasn’t her, but that man, Yan Huan realized.
But she thought about his fingers again, the way he tapped at the keyboard. She glanced at him again. His back was still facing her, and he had been silent the whole time as the staff berated him. His clothes were clearly of low-quality, as were his worn-out shoes.
He must be going through some hard times, she supposed.
To Yan Huan, it didn’t matter whether he was putting on an act or not. She liked his fingers, and she was thankful for his being there, for it had reminded her of Lu Yi.
She turned around and walked to the staff.
“How much is that laptop he’s looking at?”
“It’s the same as yours,” said the staff quickly. “Is there a problem, Miss? Do you want to exchange for a different model?”
“No,” said Yan Huan, handing him her credit card. “He’s my friend. We came here together, but he was so focused on the laptop that he forgot about my existence. It was the same for you. His money is with me.”
