Chapter 66

Waiting is the most boring thing, Xiao Fei decided to wander around near the train station.

X City in 1996 was far from the size it would become in the future; it was just a medium-sized city in the inland region. There weren't many buildings over seven stories tall, but the streets were relatively clean, and the greenery was well-maintained. The lush trees lining the roads provided a cool, refreshing atmosphere that calmed the restless heart.

In his previous life, Xiao Fei had never been to X City during this time, but he had visited many times after the new millennium, so he was quite familiar with the city's streets and alleys.

He walked alone, carrying his backpack, along the tree-lined avenue.

Unexpectedly, he saw a sign not far away that read "Spring Light Computer Room."

At this time, the internet was just beginning to take off in China, and personal computers were gradually becoming more common with the widespread use of the Windows operating system, starting to enter ordinary households.

Xiao Fei remembered that the first internet cafe in China should have opened in SH in May of this year, named "Vigate Computer Room."

Going online at an internet cafe was definitely a high-end consumption at this time, costing as much as 40 yuan per hour, which was only enough to play computer games, browse BBS, or send emails.

Following this, China experienced a boom in the development of internet cafes.

Xiao Fei hadn't expected that there would be a computer room in X City, and he wondered if they offered internet access.

He walked into the computer room.

The space inside was not large, just one room of about 30 square meters. Ten computers were arranged in the middle, and four or five people were playing on them.

Xiao Fei glanced over and saw that they were playing Red Alert, fully engrossed and shouting excitedly.

"Want to play on the computer?" a girl of about seventeen or eighteen asked, looking at Xiao Fei.

"How much per hour?" Xiao Fei asked.

The girl replied, "10 yuan."

This price was quite expensive in X City, an inland city, where an ordinary person's monthly salary might only be enough to play on the computer for one day.

"Can I go online?" Xiao Fei asked the girl.

The girl raised an eyebrow, "Yes, you can. It's dial-up internet, 30 yuan per hour."

As she spoke, she observed Xiao Fei's expression. Most people would be shocked by this price, as 30 yuan was enough to support a family for ten days.

But Xiao Fei, who was familiar with the internet cafe charges of this era, was not surprised. He just nodded and said, "That's really expensive."

"The costs are high!" the girl said with a smile.

Now, going online required paying two fees: one for the phone call and one for the internet, both charged by the minute. The cost of going online was indeed quite high.

Xiao Fei pondered.

He really wanted to see what the internet was like at this time.

But he knew that the internet back then had very little to offer, with minimal content and few things to do. Using a dial-up connection, it took a long time just to connect.

Seeing Xiao Fei hesitate, the girl thought he was unsure and eagerly tried to attract him as a customer. "What do you think? Do you want to go online? If you do, I can give you a discount."

"How much of a discount can you give?"

"How long do you plan to go online?"

"Half an hour."

"I'll give you a 2-yuan discount, so it will be 13 yuan. Is that okay?"

"From when does the time start?"

This was a point of concern. Connecting the cumbersome modem, setting it up, and dialing in would probably take more than ten minutes.

The girl was surprised. She hadn't expected that this seemingly rustic boy would have some knowledge of the internet.

"From the moment you connect, okay?" the girl said.

"Alright," Xiao Fei nodded.

He just wanted to experience it.

The girl led Xiao Fei to a computer and brought out a bulky modem, commonly known as a "cat."

Xiao Fei had first gone online in the winter of 2000, so he was familiar with the sound of the modem. The girl skillfully connected the modem and started dialing. Xiao Fei heard the "zzz" sound, and after more than a minute, the girl said, "It's done, you can go online now."

Xiao Fei sat down.

In front of him was a large 14-inch CRT monitor, displaying the classic Windows 95 interface.

This was something Xiao Fei hadn't expected.

Windows 95 was released in August 1995, and he hadn't thought it would already be in use in this small computer room in X City, albeit as a pirated version.

The interface had Internet Explorer 1.0, and Xiao Fei directly opened the browser.

At this time, there were no search engines. To go online, you had to input the exact URL in the address bar. Xiao Fei remembered that BJ Sifang Life Company had established its first website, "Life Online," in April of this year, with the URL www.. This was the predecessor of **.net.

He entered the URL, and the modem started making the "zzz" sound again.

It took more than a minute to connect to the Life Online website, which made Xiao Fei quite anxious, as one minute cost nearly 50 cents.

But once he was on Life Online, he found there wasn't much interesting content, just some news and a simple BBS.

To enter the BBS, you had to queue, and to post, you had to register and log in.

Xiao Fei calculated that with the current internet speed, he wouldn't be able to complete the registration in half an hour, so he lost interest in registering.

He then entered the websites of America Online and Yahoo.

It must be said that browsing English websites was a bit challenging for Xiao Fei, as his English level wasn't very high. He only knew a few thousand words and could read simple English articles.

America Online was the most popular website in the world at this time.

Its chat rooms had once been incredibly popular.

Initially, America Online's chat rooms were subscription-based, but by 1996, with the rise of competitors, they had started offering free access.

Chat rooms were the most popular form of online social interaction in the United States, with almost every website offering them, leading to intense competition.

Xiao Fei logged into a virtual room and began typing in English: "I come, I see, I conquer!"

Using this famous quote from Caesar, he typed a long message, ignoring any grammatical errors or misspellings.

To his surprise, an international friend immediately started chatting with him.

This feeling was truly novel.

He chatted a few sentences in the virtual room and, glancing up, noticed several people had gathered around, staring at his fingers flying over the keyboard.

"Wow! A computer expert! You can type so fast!"

"Amazing! I'm so impressed. How did you practice? You're not just randomly typing, right?"

"Is this a foreign website? You're typing in English..."

It turned out that Xiao Fei's typing speed had amazed everyone in the computer room. He was drenched in sweat, realizing he had indeed lost himself a bit. In 1996, being able to type proficiently on a computer was a remarkable skill, worthy of being labeled as a high-level talent.