Chapter 50: Zhongguancun in 1999

Translator: Lan Editor: - -

The others have been with their girlfriends all day long, while I haven't seen mine in two months.

Embarrassed, Cong Nianwei added a stab to Qin Guan's heart, “I have another class later. I plan to apply for a double degree in my sophomore year. I have to take the city design class in advance in the afternoon. I’m sorry, Qin Guan.”

Suddenly, tears filled Qin Guan's eyes. He looked like a wet dog.

The passing students saw a gloomy, tall handsome man crying because of Cong Nianwei.

Cong Nianwei kicked Qin Guan. “Stop pretending! I know you well. I’ll buy you a cup of milk tea. Now go home!”

She went to the water bar downstairs, bought a cup of pearl milk tea and handed it over to Qin Guan. Waving her hands, she shooed Qin Guan away like a small dog.

The scene made her classmates feel intimidated. How powerful the Queen is! We have to worship her! She just drove away such a handsome boy. She is so strong!

From then on, Cong Nianwei became famous in the Department of Architecture at QH University, her tough reputation protecting her from many a nasty pursuer.

Hanging his head down, Qin Guan walked out of the campus. I failed once again in dating her. Next week, I’ll sign the contract and meet with the director of the agency. Sister Xue has accepted several small jobs, and I have to tutor Huang Jiajia. Qin Guan would be very busy.

It will be a long time before I see her again. Qin Guan felt wronged while he rode the bus. There was a traffic jam at Zhongguancun.

Since he had nothing to do in the afternoon, idling at Zhongguancun sounded like the best choice.

The bus arrived at the stop with difficulty, and Qin Guan got off immediately. The main entrance of the electronics building reminded him of something from his past life.

In his memory, Zhongguancun had grown just within a couple of years, the prices becoming fixed for all electronics stores in the capital.

When Qin Guan had been in college in his past life, he'd had no idea about the high-tech electronics market. However, he had known about the battle of the memory bank that had taken place between 1999 and 2000.

Nobody had known which shop or supplier had started the battle. It was impossible to narrow down the scope to one group or store.

In June 1999, without any prior warning, the battle of the memory bank had started.

In quite a short time, 128M memory banks were totally sold out at all retailing stores at the Zhongguancun business district.

The stocks had run out at all stores that assembled computers or retailed electronic accessories.

As a result, a small-scale panic had spread through the stores at Zhongguancun like the flu. People had tried to replenish their stock using all kinds of crazy methods.

There had been no 128M memory banks, while 256M and 512M memory banks had still been in stock. Prices had begun rising instantly, from the original price of 80 yuan to more than 200 yuan. The price had been tripled in only a few days.

The sellers at Zhongguancun had gone crazy. They started stocking the memory banks, anticipating to make more money by selling them at a higher price.

Smaller merchants lost their business as customers did not wish to pay a bubble price.

The trading volume suddenly dropped by 30%.

Then one day, while the prices had still been surging, a large amount of memory banks entered the market, and the prices began to fall in refluent waves.

One day, the price for the 128M memory bank had been 248 yuan, while on the next one it was 201 yuan. On the third day, it was 122 yuan, and on the fourth day, it was 79 yuan, which was even lower than the original price.

The whole market had gone mad. A depressing atmosphere had taken over Zhongguancun. The retail investors with stock had been hurt badly, and plenty of middlemen couldn’t sell out their stock.

The tall building had collapsed in one moment. Some people had closed their stores, while others had gone bankrupt. Amid the storm, many people had lost everything.

In Qin Guan’s past life, one of his roommates had told him the story.

A computer fanatic that Qin Guan had met through work had also confirmed it.

Qin Guan looked down at his mobile phone subconsciously. On the screen, it stated that it was late May 1999. There were several days left before the memory bank battle.

Qin Guan hesitated.

Since his rebirth, he had neither recalled his past life, nor tried to change other people's lives. He had avoided plagiarizing, copying, making fast money or stealing other people's achievements.

Like a small butterfly, I haven't raised any storms. Is this the original world I used to inhabit, though? Will there be a battle of memory banks this time, too? Or would it be in vain if I tried to stock memory banks?

Qin Guan was in a dilemma when a woman in a flowery shawl jumped out of a corner with a baby in her arms, and told him in low voice, “Young man, you must be a green hand. You have been standing here for so long. You dare not ask directly, right?”

She pulled Qin Guan over and continued to speak kindly, “I’m warm-hearted, but you can't buy anything from the entrance. You want those disks, don't you? Just follow me.”

She had mistaken Qin Guan for someone who wanted to buy special disks.

Qin Guan decided to follow her and have a look.

They crossed Zhongguancun street to the small roads at the back, where a two-floor building with a shabby wooden sign was located. On the white sign there were several black characters stating that it was a business building.

The woman waved at Qin Guan, gesturing for him to come closer. They entered the building, despite the fact that it looked like it was about to collapse.

Although it was broad daylight, it was dark inside. There were rows of small yellow doors without door plates or numbers.

Several furtive people would come out of the doors, confirming that it wasn’t a haunted building.

The woman led Qin Guan down a corridor on the left with familiarity. They didn't stop until they reached the door at the end of it.

The woman pushed the screeching door open to reveal a whole new world. Actually, it was like a noisy vegetable market inside.

There was a large room filled with shelves, and in the middle of it there was a large pile of disks.

The woman pulled Qin Guan into the room, patted the arm of a young man who was arranging some disks, and pointed at Qin Guan. “This is my customer. Write it down on the record for me.”

The young man took a notebook and a pen out of the pocket of his apron. The woman found her page and signed as Sun Erhua. She returned both the notebook and the pen to the young man, warning him, “Don’t make any mistakes!”

Then she cast a smile at Qin Guan and went out with her baby to find more customers.

The young man didn’t plan on assisting Qin Guan. Pointing to the shelves, he said, “Game disks are on the left, office software is on the right. TV series and films are at the bottom. You can look for any disks you're interested in.”

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