radicalducati Chapter 60 Making a Little Money
Chapter 60 Making a Little Money
Chapter 60 Making a Little Money
Chaos erupted in the kitchen as everyone rushed to turn off the stove lights and help clean up. The head chef, his face ashen, glared at the skinny young man who had posed the question: "Nonsense! Why are you flipping the spatula when making scrambled eggs with tomatoes?"
The young man suppressed a laugh, stuck out his tongue, and didn't dare utter a sound. The head chef scolded him a few times, then looked meaningfully at Li Baoqing: "Did you really attend a chef training course?"
Li Baoqing looked dejected, but still refused to admit that he had lied. He stammered, "I did attend, I did—but—it was for a very short time. Later I switched to—I switched to welding."
The head chef stared into his eyes: "You've cooked at other restaurants before? Which ones?"
"Here—here—" Li Baoqing lowered his head: "Actually, I'm just a chopping board, occasionally—occasionally making some working meals."
The head chef shook his head and sighed, then quickly walked out of the kitchen with his hands behind his back. Li Baoqing was too embarrassed to say anything more, so he apologized to everyone around him in a voice so soft he could barely hear himself, and slunk away from the restaurant as if fleeing.
He returned to his dormitory dejectedly after failing to get the job and causing a lot of trouble for others. He took off his dirty coat, threw it into a basin, and sat on his bed, feeling sullen.
Hu Yi put down his copy of "The Smiling, Proud Wanderer," turned to look at his expression, and already had a general idea of what was going on. So he pretended to be excited and said, "How about it? Master Li, when can I eat and drink the good life with you?"
"It's all over, I messed up." Li Baoqing recounted his embarrassing experience with a long face: "I thought I knew a lot, but it turns out I only know the basics. Sigh, I'm so ashamed."
Hu Yi burst into laughter, clutching his stomach. Then he pulled out three 500-ruble notes from his pocket and waved them in his hand: "Hey, isn't my place more reliable? Half a day, and I've got 1,500."
Li Baoqing lazily kicked off his shoes and lay down on the bed: "Yes, yes, you're the most reliable one."
"Why don't you work with me? We can split the profits. You're free anyway," Hu Yi said. "One person can only do one job at a time. When the business expands, I definitely won't be able to handle it all by myself."
"Expand your business? You make it sound like you're a Fortune 500 company. It's just helping people build computers, isn't it?" Li Baoqing struggled to imagine the scenario Hu Yi described: "How much can you expand? There are only so many Chinese students at the university. Most of the upperclassmen already have computers. How many of the remaining students are willing to pay you for help?"
"The demand in schools isn't that high, but that's precisely why we need to act quickly and make as much money as we can, otherwise we'd be wasting this opportunity," Hu Yi said confidently, putting his hands behind his back. "Once we've figured out the way things are going, I'll buy a cell phone, then go to 'Lu Xun' magazine and advertise on Google, expanding my business to all of Moscow."
Li Baoqing felt that the latter half of his statement was somewhat unrealistic, but the first half made a lot of sense, so he nodded and said, "That's right, we'll earn whatever we can. But—like I said, I don't know anything about computers, I can't just keep blindly following you around, can I?"
"You can learn if you don't understand! This isn't complicated. You'll understand after watching it a few times with me." Hu Yi pulled out a few copies of "Popular Software" magazine that he brought from China last summer from the cabinet: "Here, I'll teach you some basics first, starting with the internal structure of the computer case and various mainstream hardware models."
"Huh? No, no, I get sleepy as soon as I look at the book." Li Baoqing waved his hands repeatedly. Seeing the disdain on Hu Yi's face, he could only grumble and twist his body: "I'm hungry. You treat me to something to eat at the restaurant in Building 10. I'll learn from you when I get back."
"You're such a pain! I'm teaching you how to make money and you're still so reluctant. You're like a lazy donkey on a millstone, all you do is poop and pee." Hu Yi laughed and scolded, picking up his wallet and stuffing it into his pocket. "Let's go!"
The ideal was still somewhat lofty, but reality was far from ideal. As the various departments of the preparatory program gradually graduated, most of the Chinese preparatory students set off to return home for the summer vacation, and many of those who stayed moved out of Building 6. After the little boy's picture was posted, no one paid any attention to it. Hu Yi was restless in his room, and in his haste, he wrote several more copies of the same picture and posted them at the bottom of each dormitory building.
This approach quickly yielded some results, with several former students contacting them within a week. They were older, had gone abroad earlier, and were mostly staying in Moscow to work and earn money while still enrolled as students.
These people originally had no need for computers and didn't know much about them, only roughly knowing that they could use computers to chat online, watch movies, and play games. However, assembling a computer seemed like a sophisticated and troublesome task to them, so they never even considered it until they saw Hu Yi's little GG posted downstairs. Only then did they become a little interested and come over to inquire.
Hu Yi was very excited. He and Li Baoqing spent several days running between the computer market and various dormitories, doing their best to show the senior students all their computer knowledge, recommending hardware configurations according to their needs, and then teaching them step by step how to register QQ numbers, add friends to chat, and use audio and video software to listen to music and watch movies.
The older students took good care of the two younger students, providing them with cigarettes and drinks while they worked, and paying them promptly without haggling. Before they left, they would even slip them two packs of Marlboro or Hongtashan cigarettes. The 500 ruble service fee wasn't expensive in their eyes, but receiving the money always made Hu Yi and Li Baoqing very happy.
However, this good fortune didn't last long. Just as Li Baoqing had feared, there weren't many people in the school willing to pay them to help assemble computers. Hu Yi's much-anticipated clientele of preparatory course freshmen wouldn't arrive until late August. Although current students occasionally introduced them to customers outside the school, it was better than nothing.
After several days without any customers, Li Baoqing gradually lost patience. With the World Cup football tournament now in its final stages, he went to Zhou Dali's house every noon to watch the games, leaving Hu Yi alone in the dormitory, anxiously waiting for customers to appear.
Another day spent alone. Hu Yi sat brooding until six in the afternoon. The number of residents in the building was dwindling, and the corridors were almost deserted from morning till night. He got up, stretched, and decided to go out and get some sun.
Just as he finished changing his clothes, someone gently knocked on the door a few times. Hu Yi was overjoyed and hurriedly went to open the door, only to see Yu Feifei standing outside with a smile.
"Oh? Come in, come in." Hu Yi ushered her into the room. "It's been a while. What have you been up to lately?"
"We weren't busy with anything, we just finished our exams a few days ago." Yu Feifei glanced around and frowned slightly. "The house is a mess, you guys didn't even bother to tidy it up."
"Hey, is it messy? I think it's alright, your standards are too high." Hu Yi gathered the clothes on the back of the chair onto the bed. "Sit down. What brings you to my humble abode today?"
Yu Feifei smiled and said, "I want to buy a computer, so I came to consult with you, a professional, to see if you could give me a discount?"
"What discounts or anything? How could I charge you? Free service, all-inclusive!" Hu Yi patted his chest confidently. "So, what kind of car do you want?"
Yu Feifei pondered for a moment and said, "Hmm—I don't really know much about it either, but those big desktop computers take up too much space. I'm thinking of buying a laptop, what do you think?"
"Of course, laptops come in many different configurations. What do you plan to use it for?"
"I mainly use it to search for information online and send and receive emails. As for other things—watching movies is fine." Yu Feifei paused. "I'm also thinking of buying a printer. Are they expensive?"
"A printer? There are cheap ones, but is it necessary?" Hu Yi asked curiously, "What do you need to print? Do you need to use it often?"
"It's hard to say." Yu Feifei thought for a moment: "A friend wants to introduce me to be a tour guide for tour groups from China. Sometimes he will send me some materials, which I need to print out."
"Oh. Okay, then I'll take you to the computer market tomorrow and you can pick one you like." Hu Yi hesitated for a moment, then asked tentatively, "Does being a tour guide pay well?"
Yu Feifei said, "It's said to be quite lucrative. In addition to the service fee from the travel agency, you can also get a commission by taking customers to shopping places. Usually, each group only stays in Moscow for three or four days, and you can earn about two or three hundred US dollars for the whole trip."
"Really?" Hu Yi grunted. "Are there any requirements for doing this? Am I capable of doing it?"
Yu Feifei blinked: "I don't know either, but the guests' itineraries are all arranged, and they are brought by tour guides from domestic travel agencies."
We're basically local tour guides here, mainly responsible for communicating with tourists and explaining attractions in Chinese, so the Russian language requirement shouldn't be too high. It's basically arranging hotel check-ins, buying attraction tickets, coordinating times and locations with drivers, handling unexpected events, etc., I think...
You can definitely do it too.
"I think so too." Hu Yi rubbed his hands excitedly. "If there's a chance, could you introduce me to give it a try?"
"No problem, I'll contact you if I have the chance." Yu Feifei smiled sweetly, "I'm leaving now, don't forget to come with me to the computer market tomorrow."
Hu Yi watched Yu Feifei go downstairs, then went back inside and paced around the table a few times. The thought of earning several hundred dollars in three or four days made him incredibly happy.
When you're in a good mood, you get hungry easily. Just as Hu Yi was about to go downstairs to buy something to eat, Li Baoqing came back humming a little tune. Hu Yi looked at him with a smile and asked, "So happy? Who won?"
"Germany! They beat South Korea 1-0, and there's a 90% chance they'll face Brazil in the final! That's going to be awesome!" Li Baoqing threw his coat on the bed and said excitedly, "Old Hu, I've got you a solo match!"
"Oh? What kind of work?"
"Remember Dali's neighbor? A friend of his came to visit today and mentioned wanting to get a computer, so I managed to get you a quote of a thousand!"
"Wow, you've done a great job!" Hu Yi exclaimed, overjoyed. "When are we going?"
"He lives quite far away tomorrow, so I left him my phone number."
"Okay." Hu Yi thought for a moment and said, "You've pretty much figured out all the computer stuff, right? I'll let you practice building a computer tomorrow, and I'll guide you from the side."
Li Baoqing hurriedly waved his hand: "No, no, no, I won't go tomorrow. You can do it yourself. You can keep all 1,000 rubles."
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