The bell rang. The morning classes had come to an end and another leisure afternoon followed.
Fang Ran rushed out of the classroom at lightning speed, successfully avoiding the crowd, and grabbed…
A yellow bicycle[1].
Then, he relaxedly rode out of the campus.
“Hmm? This is not the way home. Oh, it’s rare that a die-hard otaku like you, is planning to go out,”
Ling, who was in his hood, mocked Fang Ran with a faint smile playing on her lips.
“Ahem.” Fang Ran coughed awkwardly. Turning his head around, he continued, “Even I go out from time to time…”
Of course, as someone was in the later stages of laziness cancer, unless there is no other way, Fang Ran would never step out of the house. He would just be like the majority of people during the holidays, staying at home with their mobile phones and computers.
However, there was a ‘but’ to everything.
‘Doesn’t he not have a mobile phone?’
Since his Xiaomi mobile phone died in front of him four days ago, Fang Ran has felt that he had been living a life like that of one cultivating a spiritual life, cut off from the rest of the world.
In the past few days, everyone around him was talking about the news of the latest Little Angel idol, Shui Lianxin, rising to popularity. Yet, Fang Ran, who had no way to surf the Internet, was completely baffled and filled with question marks.
‘Huh? Shui Lianxin? Who is that?’
As such, after the robbery last night… Ahem, after seizing the money from the criminals, the most important thing that Fang Ran needed to do today was to…
Buy himself a cell phone.
“Hmph, you were talking so much about principles last night, but didn’t you still take the money from the bodies of those two gang bosses in the end?” Ling stared at Fang Ran contemptuously through her perception.
Turning his head away guiltily, Fang Ran mumbled under his breath,
“What do you mean take… Anyway, leaving the money in the hands of those bad guys will only be encouraging their criminal behavior. It might as well be used to sponsor me in consumption to better promote the development of enterprises…”
“Make things up… Continue making things up…”
Ling sneered. After that, she asked in a mocking tone,
“So, righteous youth, how much money did you find last night, after you gave up that huge sum to pick up peanuts?”
When asked about this, Fang Ran sweated profusely and used all his willpower to hang in there and explain,
“A few hundreds!”
‘F*ck! Seriously… They’re both obviously like the leaders of gangs of sorts, so why don’t those two idiots carry money on them?! These few hundreds were found just because I found them from a man dressed in a professional suit…’
“That little bit is not even considered ‘change’, puh-lease…”
Ling sighed helplessly. ‘This pauper.’
“Change…” Impoverished Fang Ran, whose living expenses only amounted to slightly more than 1,000 Yuan a month, rolled his eyes and said, “Your Royal Highness, since you’re talking so big, why don’t you sponsor me a little. After all, the two of us are on the same boat now.
In the data space, Ling covered her eyes with her ornate sleeves as she dejectedly asked a question in reply,
“If I give you my Union Bank of Switzerland account and password, will you be able to withdraw the money?”
“Uh…”
Fang Ran was instantly at a loss for words and thought for less than a second, before he, a loser who only knew how to use Alipay, decisively yielded with tears.
“Sorry, lowly me was being arrogant…”
“By the way, Your Royal Highness, do you know how to cure illnesses? Those kinds of intractable diseases?”
“Don’t call me Your Royal Highness! And why are you asking me this? Why should I know this?”
“Oh, because based on the storyline in novels, the first time you go shopping, you will usually encounter an old man who suddenly falls ill, and that old man will be that kind of big shot with money and power…”
“Otaku, will you die if you don’t make conjectures about reality based on novels…”
…
…
Under the hot sun, Fang Ran huffed and puffed as he pedalled the yellow bicycle to the city. He finally arrived at a very prosperous and clamorous street filled with crowds of people.
“Hah… I feel like a fish out of water here.”
Fang Ran locked the bicycle. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, he sighed as he stared at the crowd.
“Otakus are only suited to stay at home. Stop spouting nonsense and hurry it up. I need the most basic internet equipment.”
Ling hurried him from the hood. Fang Ran then found a shop selling mobile phones and walked in.
“Hey, you came to this kind of shop… Who gave you the confidence that you would be able to buy a mobile phone here for a few hundred dollars?”
Ling glanced outside at the high-end decor of the shop front. Various brands of mobile phones were placed in glass cabinets with detailed information by the side. One could tell immediately that this was a shop that Fang Ran could not afford to shop at.
“It is difficult to buy a mobile phone anywhere for a few hundred dollars. Only a large store with a full range of brands will have low-end cheap mobile phones, alright…”
Fang Ran responded in his mind to ‘the rich lady who does not understand the way of life of paupers’.
Ling snorted and did not refute him. At this moment, a saleslady had already come forward and greeted him with a professional smile,
“Excuse me, do you need…”
“Ah, um, I don’t want Apple, and don’t recommend your latest models to me. I don’t want the latest features or any discounts or any promotions. Appearance, brand, or a plan doesn’t matter. It’s good enough as long I can surf the internet and make calls. Oh, that’s right, it would be best if it’s less than a thousand dollars… Eh, what did you just say?”
Before the saleslady could begin her customary sales talk, Fang Ran had already prattled off all his requests in a weary tone, like a barrage of gunfire.
The saleswoman’s mouth twitched. ‘What did I just say just now? You’ve already said everything, what else can I say?’
However, due to the professionalism that her boss demanded of them, the saleslady forced herself to put on a smile and politely say,
“Um, we may not have it here…”
“Don’t lie, I have an acquaintance who told me that you definitely have it here. He bought it here the previous time.”
Fang Ran continued rolling his eyes as he looked at her. The saleslady thought about it for a while, and after racking her brain, she said,
“Uh, customer, what do you think of this model?”
Fang Ran looked over at it. Then, he saw a brand that was extremely familiar in the past. The saleslady explained,
“This is the cheapest model we have here. Although the style is a bit old and outdated, this is the only phone that might meet your requirements, sir…”
Fang Ran was instantly stunned when he saw this handphone model.
‘What the f*ck, isn’t this that brand of phone that supposedly remains completely undamaged even when thrown down from the sixth floor, and is known to be a ‘tank’ when compared to Apple…’
‘Is this a Nokia?!’
A legend in the mobile phone industry, a Nokia!
Seeing that Fang Ran was a little agitated, the saleslady immediately selected the most expensive Nokia phone model to recommend to Fang Ran.
“Moreover, this phone has excellent functions and meets all your requirements, um… um… and… um, and it’s very sturdy!”
The saleslady, who had never imagined that she would have to promote this phone one day, did not know about any of the advantages of this phone model at all. She even had to throw out words like ‘very sturdy’.
However, Fang Ran nodded seriously as if agreeing with what she said. ‘Hmm, that’s true, it’s so dangerous in scenarios, so my mobile phone has to be sturdier.’
“Yep, yep, not bad.”
“Sir, would you like to choose this phone then?”
The saleslady asked with a smile after finally regaining her professionalism.
Fang Ran nodded. Pleased, he then said slowly,
“Yup, I want the cheaper one next to it.”
“Pfft!”
The saleslady felt as if she had been stabbed in the chest. She could even hear her new colleague next to her laughing out loud, unable to suppress their laughter any longer.
The phone that Fang Ran chose was one that the store had intended to get rid of. As for its functions… It could only be said to have the appearance of a smartphone, but was just slightly better than a phone for the elderly…
Hence, it was very cheap.
“Okay, I’ll get this model for you.”
As a trained professional, she never once looked down on customers simply because they bought cheap mobile phones.
However, right now, the saleslady felt very drained and just hoped that this idiot in front of her would get lost quickly.
Just as Fang Ran was waiting for his mobile phone while listening to Ling’s mockery in his mind, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a girl walked in.
Subconsciously, Fang Ran turned back to take a look and was mildly surprised.
The girl had on a pair of black stockings and a chic short skirt over her slender legs that were stepping in a pair of little black leather boots. She donned a delicate white lace blouse, with her short, fluffy, flax-coloured hair tucked under a white fedora.
“Um… uh, I accidentally broke my phone, can I repair it here?”
Although her appearance could not be seen clearly behind her huge black-framed glasses and her face mask, when she started talking apprehensively like a cautious deer, it immediately attracted the attention of many customers.
Fang Ran was also one of them. However, he immediately rolled his eyes and turned his head away, just as he did with that beautiful woman at the train station, whom he only caught a few glances of.
He and this kind of girl who dressed fashionably and was probably also extremely beautiful…
Were from two different worlds.
[1] Yellow bicycles on loan by Ofo, a bicycle sharing company.