Chapter 12 : Why Don_t I Give It a Try_
Chapter 12: Why Don't I Give It a Try?
Su Ruochu's pretty face turned red instantly.
"What are you talking about? Do you believe I'll go back and report to Uncle Zhou tonight!"
"No, no, no, just kidding."
The young man smiled and proactively stretched out his hand towards Chen Fan.
"Zhou Honghai."
"Chen Fan, I'm Su Ruochu's classmate."
"Kid, you've got some skills. This girl rarely walks home with boys."
"Zhou Honghai!"
Su Ruochu glared at him angrily.
"Okay, okay, no more nonsense."
The young man put away his smile.
"Are you two here to play on the computers? Feel free to find a seat anywhere. Remember to wear the shoe covers."
"It's on me today, no charge for you two."
Saying that, he bent down and took out two pairs of blue shoe covers from a drawer nearby.
Seeing these familiar items, Chen Fan couldn't help but feel amused.
Back in the day, the first time he took a computer class in school, the teacher required every student to wear shoe covers before entering the computer room.
To this day, Chen Fan still doesn't understand what was so precious about those old, worn-out computers that needed such careful protection.
"Go ahead and play."
With a casual invite to the two of them, Zhou Honghai turned to another customer.
"Sorry. Your computer seems to have a hardware issue. I can't fix it. I suggest you go to the service center."
The customer was a young, stylishly dressed woman in a white dress with long hair hanging over her shoulders.
Upon hearing Zhou Honghai's words, the woman frowned, seeming a bit frustrated.
"Is there no other way?"
Zhou Honghai smiled bitterly, "Sorry. I'm not good at repairing computers."
The woman frowned and asked, "Are there any other computer repair shops nearby?"
Zhou Honghai shook his head, "As far as I know, there aren't any."
"This is a small place, and computers are still a rare thing. Many people probably haven't even seen a laptop before."
Seeing that the woman was dejected, Zhou Honghai added another sentence.
"And your computer is too expensive. Most people wouldn't dare to disassemble and repair it casually."
"It's better to go to the official service center."
The woman seemed frustrated, "Then I'll have to go back to Yunhai to get it repaired, but I need it urgently now."
Zhou Honghai shrugged, indicating that he couldn't help her.
"Brother Hong."
Su Ruochu called out softly from the side, and Zhou Honghai smiled at the woman before turning to leave.
The woman sighed, somewhat reluctantly raised her slender fingers, and pressed the power button a few times.
The screen still showed no response.
Finally, the woman had to accept reality and was about to close the laptop and leave when a voice came from behind her.
"Why don't I give it a try?"
The woman was taken aback and turned her head to find Chen Fan standing behind her.
"You are..."
Chen Fan smiled and explained, "If a computer can't start up, it's usually one of a few common issues."
"Either it's a hardware problem, like the memory module not being properly inserted or the CPU overheating, or if that's not it, then it's likely a system error, in which case we can try reinstalling the system."
The woman stared at Chen Fan curiously.
Especially since Chen Fan was still wearing a blue and white school uniform.
"You... are a student?"
Chen Fan smiled without answering and instead said, "You can try checking it."
With that, he turned to leave.
"Wait."
The woman hurriedly called out to stop Chen Fan.
"Do you know how to fix computers?"
Chen Fan nodded, "I know a bit."
"Are you sure you can fix mine?"
Chen Fan smiled, "There's no such thing as 100% certainty in this world. Besides, I haven't even looked at your computer yet."
The woman hesitated, seeming to be in doubt.
"How about this, could you please take a look for me?"
Seeing Chen Fan remain unmoved, the woman added, "Don't worry, I'll be grateful whether you can fix it or not."
After receiving this assurance, Chen Fan finally stepped forward and carefully examined the laptop in front of him.
Just one glance and Chen Fan's eyes lit up slightly.
This was actually an IBM A-series high-end model: ThinkPad A20p.
This was truly a high-end product.
Even in the country, you might not be able to buy one even if you wanted to.
And in this era, even among laptops, this computer was outrageously expensive.
The average price for a laptop in this era was between 15,000 and 25,000 yuan.
But the official suggested retail price for the laptop in front of Chen Fan was 46,000 yuan.
To put it into perspective, a commercial housing unit in the small city where Chen Fan was located cost less than 100,000 yuan.
An absolute luxury item.
Chen Fan couldn't help but glance at the beautiful woman in front of him.
He murmured to himself, "A little rich lady."
He first tried pressing the power button, but as expected, there was no response.
Then he reached for a screwdriver from the toolbox nearby.
Just as Chen Fan was about to start, he seemed to remember something and looked up at the woman.
Seeing her nod, Chen Fan began disassembling the laptop.
Carefully removing a few screws and opening the protective cover, Chen Fan couldn't help but click his tongue.
"It's pretty dusty. How long has it been since you last cleaned it?"
The beautiful woman's pretty face turned slightly red, a bit embarrassed.
"I... don't know how to clean it."
In fact, she hadn't cleaned the dust since she bought it.
Chen Fan didn't seem to notice the woman's awkwardness. He lowered his head, inspecting and muttering to himself.
"Let me clean the dust for you first, then check the memory module and motherboard to find the cause..."
Seeing Chen Fan's skilled disassembling actions, the woman had already confirmed that Chen Fan was no amateur.
Automatically ignoring Chen Fan's student status, she said expectantly.
"Don't worry about checking it, you don't need to ask me."
Although in this era, this computer was truly a luxury item.
But from Chen Fan's perspective from the future, the computer in front of him was just a toy.
Compared to the ultra-thin laptops of the future, this thing was thick like a small suitcase, very bulky.
128MB SDRAM memory, 20GB hard drive, built-in 1.44MB floppy drive, and DVD drive.
With this configuration, any random computer from the future could easily outperform it.
But in this era, it was undoubtedly the king.
Chen Fan had no intention of treating it with "tenderness and care."
His hands moved swiftly, removing the memory module and wiping it down, then disassembling the fan and CPU, his movements smooth and fluid, quite a sight to behold...
In the lounge, Zhou Honghai scratched his head with some difficulty.
"It's not that I can't let your classmate learn computers here."
"But... aren't you two about to take the college entrance exam soon?"
"And my tuition fees aren't cheap, you know..."
Su Ruochu pouted, "Can't you give him a discount?"
"Hey! Looks like you really care about him."
"Yet you say he's not your boyfriend."
Su Ruochu glared, "If you keep talking nonsense, I'll tell Uncle Zhou."
"Okay, okay, I surrender."
Zhou Honghai smiled bitterly, "For your sake, I'll give him a 30% discount... That's the biggest discount, alright?"
It was only then that Su Ruochu nodded in satisfaction.
"That's more like it."
"Then I'll go ask him if he agrees..."
The two of them came out of the lounge, just in time to see Chen Fan fiddling with the female customer's laptop at the counter.
Upon seeing this scene, Zhou Honghai was startled.
"What are you doing!"
"Stop it right now!"
With that, he rushed over quickly.
He knew the price of this computer, and if this kid broke it...
As the boss, he would be implicated.
Zhou Honghai was truly terrified as he rushed over in just a few strides.
"Who told you to touch it? You... um..."
Before he could finish scolding, he saw Chen Fan press the laptop's power button.
The familiar startup screen lit up.
Zhou Honghai was instantly dumbfounded.
Su Ruochu also looked at the scene with astonishment.
Chen Fan straightened up, dusted off his hands, and turned to smile at the woman beside him.
"It's fixed. You can check it."