My wife and I are both time travelers.

Chapter 92 Attraction
After Zhou Jiye and Xu Guoqing left temporarily, business at the Xigong stall quickly plummeted, mainly because the popular items had almost all been sold out, leaving only calculators and a large pile of blank tapes.

Calculators have a limited target audience and are not cheap, so selling them is a matter of luck.

As for cassette tapes, although they are valuable, very few people own tape recorders nowadays. These things are even rarer than televisions. Most people probably have never even seen one, let alone owned one.

Even those who own tape recorders don't want blank tapes right now; they want original tapes with music and songs from outside.

Although Lin Ying and her group had about ten cassette tapes of Teresa Teng, Fong Fei-fei, and Liu Wen-cheng, the problem was that these things were too risky to sell. They couldn't possibly sell them, and if they were put out there and someone reported them, they would be in deep trouble.

Selling these blank tapes isn't a problem, but there are simply too few people interested right now. For these to really sell well, it will have to wait until tape recorders become more common in the market, people start getting their hands on original tapes through various channels, and then the demand for copying will increase.

Anyway, that's how it is. Even if business is bad, the stalls at Xigong will still be occupied.

So after Zhou Jiye and the others left, Lin Ying and Lao Wen continued to set up their stall here. However, because of the limited variety of goods and the fact that the best-selling items were sold out, they had a much easier time these past two days than before.

That afternoon, after setting up their stall for most of the day, they managed to sell only a few cassette tapes, but surprisingly, they sold a calculator with functions.

It was quite a coincidence that a math teacher from a textile college happened to be browsing around here today and immediately took a liking to this calculator.

The other party was immediately captivated by the item. After asking about the price and testing the calculator's performance, he was overjoyed and readily bought it, which surprised Lin Ying.

After the teacher left happily with the calculator, Lin Ying pondered. Since they started their stall, they had only managed to sell five out of a total of thirty calculators. Moreover, apart from the calculator with function calculations that they sold today, the other four were just the most basic and cheapest calculators.

Compared to other products, calculators sold very poorly, even less than blank cassette tapes.

If it weren't for Lin Ying's insistence, they would have already followed Lao Wen's advice and sold off all the calculators at a reduced price. But no one expected that today they would actually sell the most expensive calculator, which cost a whopping 120 yuan! That's almost the price of a used bicycle.

While selling calculators, Lin Ying chatted with the seller for a bit, and suddenly an idea popped into her head. Lin Ying is a decisive person; after a little thought, she came up with a plan.

Immediately, Lin Ying packed up the remaining four most expensive function calculators, stuffed them into her handbag, said goodbye to Lao Wen, and told him she was going out for a walk.

Old Wen was puzzled and asked Lin Ying where she was going and why she had brought a calculator.
"I'm going to visit the university!"

"University? What would you do there?"

"Hehe, of course I have something to do." Lin Ying picked up her bag and left. As she left, she turned back to Lao Wen and said that she wouldn't be coming back for a while and that Lao Wen should pack up his stall himself. They could talk about the rest when they met tomorrow.

Old Wen wanted to ask more questions, but Lin Ying had already hurriedly walked away. She pushed her bicycle out from where it was stored, got on it, and headed north.

Heading north from Xigong, first cross the railway crossing ahead, then you'll reach Zhongshan Ring Road. Turn left along Zhongshan Ring Road and ride for two blocks to reach the renowned East China Normal University. After passing East China Normal University, continue straight ahead and you'll find the Textile Institute across the street. Then, continue along Huashan Road for a while, and you'll reach Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

There are three famous universities here. Lin Ying, riding her bike, arrived at East China Normal University first. Looking at the white gate of East China Normal University, Lin Ying rode her bike directly inside like an ordinary college student. As expected, no one stopped her and she easily slipped in.

Once inside, Lin Ying parked her car and walked along the path. After a while, she asked a female classmate who looked friendly for directions. After figuring out where the mathematics department was, Lin Ying followed the direction the classmate pointed and soon found the place.

Seeing the sign outside that read "Mathematics Department," Lin Ying suddenly remembered something: this wasn't Xigong; she couldn't possibly set up a stall here like Xigong. Doing this kind of thing on a university campus? She'd have to kick her out immediately.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Ying decided to try another method. She went to the side, took out a piece of paper from her bag, wrote a few words, and then put it in her pocket. Next, she took out a function calculator, held it in her hand, and walked towards the location of the mathematics department.

Upon arriving at the destination, Lin Ying deliberately looked around in the corridor, as if searching for someone. Her actions quickly caught the attention of a middle-aged teacher passing by. The teacher frowned slightly and stepped forward to ask Lin Ying, "Female student, who are you looking for?"

"Hello teacher, I'm looking for Professor Ma from the Mathematics Department."

"Professor Ma?" The other person immediately frowned. "We don't have a professor with the surname Ma in our mathematics department."

"No? How is that possible!" Lin Ying asked in disbelief, "Professor Ma Tianyuan, a professor in the mathematics department! How could he not have him?"

"Excuse me, are you mistaken? There's no such person in our department. Are you from our university? Are you in the Mathematics Department?"

Lin Ying shook her head and said, "I'm not from East China Normal University; I'm a student from outside the university."

"From outside the school? Why are people from outside the school coming to our school? And why are they looking for Professor Ma?" the middle-aged man asked, quite puzzled.

"Professor Ma ordered something, and I'm delivering it for him. You really don't have a Professor Ma here? Professor Ma Tianyuan! From the Mathematics Department?" Lin Ying's eyes held a clear look of naiveté, her face blank. "Hehe, we really don't have such a person here. I am a professor in the Mathematics Department, and I've never heard of a teacher named Ma Tianyuan in our department." The middle-aged man kindly asked, "Are you sure you haven't come to the wrong school? Maybe it's the Textile Institute across the street."

“Textile Institute? No way! I remember it clearly, it’s East China Normal University…” Lin Ying hurriedly took out a piece of paper from her pocket and handed it to the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man took it and looked at it. Sure enough, there were a few words written on it: East China Normal University, Department of Mathematics, Ma Tianyuan.

“That’s strange…” The middle-aged man frowned, thought for a moment and said, “We don’t have anyone like that in the Mathematics Department of East China Normal University. Why don’t you go to the Textile College and ask? Maybe your address is wrong.”

"Thank you, teacher. I'll go ask right away." Lin Ying quickly thanked the middle-aged man, but in her haste to bow, she accidentally dropped the calculator she was holding on the ground.

Just as Lin Ying was frantically picking it up from the ground and carefully wiping the casing, the middle-aged man noticed the calculator in Lin Ying's hand and froze for a moment.

"Hey kid, what's that you're holding...?"

"Oh, this is what I gave to Professor Ma, a calculator," Lin Ying replied casually.

"Calculator? Can I take a look?" the middle-aged man asked, his expression eager.

“This…” Lin Ying hesitated for a moment, and the middle-aged man explained, “I’m also a math major. This thing is somewhat useful for our major. Don’t worry, I’ll just take a look and won’t damage your things.”

"Okay, teacher, you have to be careful. We need to deliver this to Professor Ma later." Like any other student, Lin Ying couldn't resist her teacher's request. After hesitating for a moment, she handed over the calculator.

After taking the calculator, the middle-aged man quickly examined it closely. To get a better look, he even walked towards the window in the corridor and, using the bright sunlight outside, first looked at the calculator's outer packaging.

Once the middle-aged man understood the brand and model number printed on the outer cardboard box, he immediately perked up and couldn't wait to open the box.

"Teacher, you..."

"Don't worry, don't worry, I won't break it. I'll just take it out and take a look..." the middle-aged man said to Lin Ying, and then took the calculator out of the box.

After taking it out, he couldn't wait to turn on the power switch and then started trying to calculate using the complicated buttons on the calculator. After calculating a few numbers, the middle-aged man's face showed an uncontrollable joy, and then he turned to Lin Ying and said, "Wait a minute, classmate!"

After saying that, he hurriedly ran towards the office not far away, took out his key to open the door, went straight to his desk, found a piece of paper covered with dense mathematical symbols, placed the calculator next to him, and started calculating according to the paper.

The calculation took almost half an hour, and the middle-aged man even forgot that Lin Ying was still waiting beside him. After finishing the calculation, he checked the result again to make sure it was correct. He wrote down the numbers with a pen and couldn't help but burst into hearty laughter.

"Great! Great!"

The middle-aged man was overjoyed! This calculator was so convenient with all its functions. If he had tried to calculate the same problem by hand before, it would have taken him at least a whole day, and even then, the accuracy of the result couldn't be guaranteed. But now, the calculation was completed in just half an hour, all the function results were verified to be correct, and the calculation result was absolutely perfect.

What a great thing! This calculator is an absolute lifesaver for someone like him who does mathematical research. It's like adding wings to his research!

"Teacher...Teacher..."

Just as the middle-aged man was filled with excitement, he suddenly heard a girl's weak voice. Turning his head, he saw Lin Ying standing beside him, her big eyes filled with hesitation and doubt: "Teacher, I have to go. Can you give this thing back to me?"

"Oh oh oh..."

The middle-aged man then realized that the calculator did not belong to him, but to the student, or more precisely, to Professor Ma Tianyuan, whom the female student had mentioned.

The excitement from before vanished instantly, replaced by intense jealousy.

Why?! Why shouldn't such a good thing be mine? Why does it have to be someone else's?
With this, his research would be twice as effective with half the effort. How could the middle-aged man bear to give up such a powerful tool? Instantly, an idea popped into his mind, and the middle-aged man asked Lin Ying with a smile, "Young lady, can I ask you something?"

"Teacher, what do you want to ask me?" Lin Ying's clear, innocent eyes sparkled.

The middle-aged man asked, "You just said this calculator belongs to Professor Ma Tianyuan? I'd like to ask, did Professor Ma buy this?"

“Professor Ma ordered this from my friend,” Lin Ying replied.

"Reserved?" The middle-aged man immediately noticed a problem in Lin Ying's words. If it was a reservation, then it meant that she hadn't paid yet.
(End of this chapter)