Reborn in 1999: Starting as a black marketeer

Customers from other places like Tonya don't drive to Moscow to buy goods themselves; they usually come by bus or train, and the goods they order are delivered directly to a familiar freight company for transport back.

The reason why the market opens so early and has so many customers is that most of them are people like Tonya who come from out of town. They take a bus to Moscow at night, sleep on the bus, arrive early in the morning, go directly to the market to buy things, and then have the goods transported back. They finish before noon and rush back home, arriving in the evening, which means they only waste one day.

After seeing Donya off, Wang Feiyang and Liu Yingying took a taxi directly to Wedenham. Zhang Liang also called to say that they had set off as well.

Zhang Liang didn't go alone; he didn't dare to take the subway that far by himself. Instead, he brought a classmate he knew with him.

Videnhan was originally the "Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy," built in 1939. After its dissolution, it was renamed the "All-Russian Exhibition Center." It covers a large area and features a magnificent arched gate with statues of male and female commune members holding ears of harvested wheat. Directly opposite the gate is a straight and wide tree-lined avenue with buildings of various sizes and styles on both sides. There are a total of 68 exhibition halls, more than 250 buildings, as well as various fountains and sculptures.

Wang Feiyang and his friends came here to buy computers because this area has been transformed into a large commercial center with many shops selling home appliances and electronic products.

Upon arriving at the gate of Wiedenham, they saw Zhang Liang and a tall, thin boy already waiting there.

After meeting up, the four of them walked inside together. They had a clear goal and headed straight for the largest exhibition hall, where there were two large shops specializing in computer accessories.

As they walked, Zhang Liang asked, "Feiyang, what kind of computer are you planning to get? I've prepared eight hundred US dollars, I don't know if that's enough."

"Me too, eight hundred dollars should be enough, right? The specs don't need to be that high, you're just playing CS, aren't you?" Wang Feiyang laughed.

He doesn't really need a computer with high performance; he doesn't play games. He just wants a computer to make it easier to access the internet and watch movies when he's bored.

So the computer configuration can be average, but you should buy a better monitor.

"My computer only cost a little over six hundred US dollars. It has a Celeron processor, 64MB of RAM, a 15GB hard drive, and a 15-inch monitor. It's more than enough. Didn't you play CS on that computer before? It had no problems at all," the tall, thin guy who came with Zhang Liang chimed in.

Zhang Liang had only thought about building his own computer after playing with his before. Hearing this, he laughed and said, "Your computer is indeed pretty good, but the monitor is a bit small. I'm planning to buy a 17-inch one, it doesn't seem to be much more expensive."

They were naturally talking about those bulky CRT monitors. Actually, LCD monitors were already available on the market in 2000, but they were quite expensive and their actual display quality was not as good as high-end CRT monitors.

Sony's Trinitron flat-screen monitor is basically the pinnacle of CRT monitors, with a display effect that is far superior to early LCD monitors!

As they spoke, they arrived inside the exhibition hall. The tall, thin boy led them directly into a shop facing the main entrance of the hall. This shop was indeed quite large, occupying almost a third of the exhibition hall's area. It was filled with all sorts of electronic products, including PC accessories, mobile phones, cameras, MP3 players, and more.

They took a list of accessories from the display shelf and began to discuss it.

Build a computer is simple. It just involves choosing the right CPU model, memory, hard drive, motherboard, graphics card, power supply, CD/DVD drive, floppy disk drive, and case. That's all the components for a desktop computer.

Wang Feiyang and Zhang Liang both chose the Celeron 466, a relatively low-end CPU that is very affordable but sufficient for their needs.

Then came the RAM, hard drive, and the total cost of the computer was just over five hundred US dollars. Both of them chose the same components.

When it came to choosing a monitor, things were different. Zhang Liang chose a 17-inch Samsung CRT monitor, which cost just over $180, while Wang Feiyang went straight for the best Sony Trinitron 17-inch flat-screen monitor, which cost $100 more!

Finally, there's the mouse and keyboard, a set costing a little over thirty US dollars.

Oh, and we each bought a small speaker, which was very cheap, only about twenty dollars.

In total, Zhang Liang only spent a little over seven hundred US dollars, which was within his budget, while Wang Feiyang spent an extra one hundred US dollars.

With the list of selected parts in hand, I called over a staff member and asked him to place the order and install the machine directly.

They also offer computer installation services, but there's a service fee of fifty US dollars per unit...

Actually, Wang Feiyang knew how to assemble it himself, but he was too lazy to fold and fold it himself, so he simply spent money to have it assembled at the store.

After paying and receiving the receipt, the staff told them to come back in two hours to pick up the goods, as the machine needed to be installed on-site and it would take a while to complete.

Liu Yingying took a fancy to an Olympus digital camera. It was small and lightweight, and the price was not expensive, just over three hundred US dollars, so she bought it.

Then, with a grin, he took Wang Feiyang to various attractions in Wedenham and took many photos, saying that he would select a few of the better ones to develop when they got back.

Zhang Liang naturally took on the role of "photographer," constantly taking pictures of the two of them, appearing cheerful on the surface, but what he was really thinking remains a mystery...

…………

More than two hours later, I returned to the shop and picked up the assembled computer. I turned it on and tested it on the spot, and everything worked perfectly.

They repacked and boxed them, giving each person two large boxes.

The main unit was fine, not too heavy, but the two 17-inch flat-screen monitors were ridiculously heavy. Even though Wang Feiyang and Zhang Liang were both strong young men, they still had some difficulty moving them.

So Wang Feiyang went outside and hired a black laborer to help people transport goods to the gate. He had the black laborer use a small trolley to deliver the goods to the gate of Weidenham, and then take a taxi back to the dormitory.

When we got back to the dormitory, we had to ask two classmates to come down and help us move all our things back.

Now that the computer is back, the most urgent thing is to get a network cable installed. Zhang Liang is especially impatient, wanting to get a network cable installed as soon as possible so he can play CS!

Under normal circumstances, given the Russians' efficiency, it would normally take half a month, and a month is quite common, from the time you apply for internet access to when everything is settled...

Not to mention Zhang Liang couldn't wait, even Wang Feiyang couldn't wait that long.

The cigarettes he bought at the airport duty-free shop came in handy again. He took a pack of cigarettes and went to the internet cafe manager. After a brief conversation, the manager happily followed him over and immediately connected the internet cable. Then, he went back and activated the internet service.

Actually, this matter is not that complicated. Everything is readily available; all you need to do is run a network cable and activate it.

The application was processed and activated on the same day, leaving the other students completely dumbfounded. They had no idea that the Russian network administrators could be so efficient...