Chapter 8

Aunt Ma's computer was assembled by Zhang Chen himself. Liu Ming was still a bit uneasy and asked Zhang Chen, "Can you do it? If not, I'll do it."

Taking advantage of Aunt Ma and Wang Hao's absence, Zhang Chen rolled his eyes at Liu Ming and said, "Just watch, it will be done quickly and well."

Liu Ming had all the components ready, except for the S3 graphics card, which he needed to get from outside, but it only took a few minutes.

Disassembling the case, installing the motherboard, CPU, graphics card, sound card, memory, hard drive, 3.5-inch floppy drive, and CD drive, the components of the computer at that time were very simple. The CPU fan was only about five to six centimeters square, nothing like the future where graphics cards often required separate power supplies and a single fan could take up half the case.

The assembly process was smooth, and when he encountered a fuzzy memory, a few seconds of thought reminded him how to proceed. In less than 20 minutes, the computer was assembled.

Next was the installation of the operating system.

Plugging in the DOS floppy disk and the Windows 95 system CD, Zhang Chen fluently entered a series of DOS commands, smoothly entering the Windows installation page.

The initial installation page of Win95 was under the DOS system. Seeing the familiar yet strange installation process, Zhang Chen couldn't help but sigh.

"Now, even Ghost isn't available yet; installing the system can only be done with the system disk."

Zhang Chen shook his head in his mind.

It took about 40 minutes to install Win95, and then he used the driver disks that came with the motherboard and other components to install the drivers. After several restarts, the job was finally done. It was almost noon by then.

Aunt Ma and Wang Hao had been waiting by the stall. Zhang Chen gave them two chairs and got busy with the assembly.

Zhang Chen's skilled assembly work gave Aunt Ma another reason to educate Wang Hao, telling him to learn more. Zhang Chen was secretly amused; assembly wasn't something you could learn just by watching once. Moreover, this technology was still in demand; in a few years, even middle school students could buy components online and build their own computers.

After completing the work, Zhang Chen asked Aunt Ma and Wang Hao to come over to inspect the results, test the computer's performance, and install a few learning software programs and a couple of games, including "Command & Conquer" and the then-popular "Chinese Paladin."

Wang Hao held the mouse, unwilling to let go, even reluctant to shut down the computer. Zhang Chen persuaded and taught Wang Hao some basic computer operations and warned him not to delete things randomly or install things carelessly to avoid viruses. Mentioning viruses, Zhang Chen asked Liu Ming for a copy of the Rising antivirus software and installed it for Wang Hao.

After teaching Wang Hao the basic operations and precautions, Aunt Ma's job was finally done. Aunt Ma happily gave Liu Ming 8,700 yuan and found a 10-yuan note in her pocket to give to Zhang Chen as a tip.

Liu Ming and Zhang Chen helped Wang Hao and his mother load the computer onto the truck, and Liu Ming found a young helper to install the computer at Aunt Ma's house for free. At that time, people didn't even know how to plug in the power cable, and if they didn't install it for them, they might plug something in wrong and come back with problems.

After seeing Aunt Ma off, Liu Ming looked at Zhang Chen with an ambiguous expression, making Zhang Chen feel uneasy.

"What the hell, why are you looking at me like that? I'm not gay," Zhang Chen muttered.

"Are you really a student at Bincheng University?" Liu Ming suddenly asked.

Zhang Chen was startled. How did this guy figure it out? Where did he slip up?

Liu Ming smiled slyly, "And the Intel's new generation CPU you told me about, which you said would be released next month, was that a lie too, or is it really coming soon but not that quickly? You weren't trying to buy a computer, but just wanted to get a commission from me, right?"

Damn, this guy wasn't this smart in his previous life. How did he know?

Zhang Chen was about to speak when Liu Ming pulled out a new ID card from his pocket and waved it at Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen felt in his pocket and cursed. He had been busy sweating while assembling the computer and had taken off his jacket and put it on the table, probably when the ID card slipped out and Liu Ming picked it up.

Zhang Chen had brought his ID card when he went out because he wanted to try opening a stock account with his own ID, even though he was a minor. If that didn't work, he at least wanted to get a bank card for future convenience.

Touching his nose, Zhang Chen smiled bitterly. "Brother Liu, give me back my ID card." He reached out to take it.

Liu Ming raised his hand to avoid Zhang Chen's "dirty hand" and laughed, "You're quite something, only 17 years old, not even 18, and you dare to use a fake student ID to deceive people. Tell me, which school are you from?"

Zhang Chen had no choice but to tell the truth, giving a brief account of his situation, except for his family background.

Liu Ming was even more curious. How did this high school student learn such proficient computer skills?

Zhang Chen explained that his cousin sold computers in Zhongguancun, and he had learned during a summer trip to the capital.

Liu Ming listened, half-believing, "You're full of lies, who knows what's true and what's not." He handed the ID card back to Zhang Chen.

Zhang Chen sighed with relief and said seriously, "Brother Liu, you're right. Intel's new generation CPU isn't coming out next month, but the month after. There's enough time to clear your inventory. But have you ever thought about why some people get rich in two years of business, while you're still struggling with this small stall?"

Zhang Chen wasn't worried that Liu Ming would withhold the commission he promised. He knew Liu Ming well from his previous life; he was trustworthy and wouldn't renege on his word. He told Liu Ming these things partly to establish a mutually trusted channel, as the compatible computer business could last a few more years, and partly to genuinely help Liu Ming, at least to prevent him from being cheated out of everything in the future.

Liu Ming was taken aback and didn't dare to take Zhang Chen lightly. Zhang Chen's performance had already shown that he was more mature than the average 17-year-old. Liu Ming asked seriously, "What do you mean?"

Zhang Chen organized his thoughts and continued, "Brother Liu, how much profit do you make on average per computer? I estimate it's around 2,000, right?" Liu Ming nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, that's not a low profit, but let me ask you, how many computers can you sell in a month?"

Liu Ming scratched his head and said, "About five or six."

"Alright, let's say six. The monthly profit from selling computers is 12,000, plus the income from selling components, which is about 15,000 in total. According to my understanding, the stall fee is 2,500 a month, and you pay your helper about 700 to 800 a month. So your actual monthly income is around 12,000, right?"