Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 71 Pagers and Mobile Phones

The young girl said, "Yes, my family has everything except computers. It's over here, and the camera is over here." She popped out from behind the counter, waved to Xiaowei, and led them inside. There was a separate counter in the middle, the camera counter. The young girl said, "This is also my counter; we specialize in selling cameras and equipment. What kind are you looking for? I'll call the owner and ask for a discount. We're all regular customers."

As they were talking, the girl's phone beeped. She looked down, lifted her clothes, and pulled out a Panasonic pager from her belt. As she looked at it, she said, "It's my boss calling me. Wait a minute, I'll call him back." As she spoke, she patted the counter with her left hand. The young man standing behind the counter bent down, took out a small wooden box, and placed it on the counter. The top half of the box was empty, with the phone handle sticking out from the other half.

The young woman took out her key from her pocket, opened the cover above the phone dial pad, picked up the handset, dialed, and after a few rings, the other end answered. It wasn't her boss; he mumbled a few "uh-huhs" and hung up. The young woman said to the young man behind the counter, "What's the phone number again?"

The young man took a notebook out of the counter and flipped through it for a while before reading aloud: "903168".

The little girl picked up the handset and dialed, saying, "I don't know where it went. Is there even a signal? It didn't wait for a reply after I called. Honestly, it must have just bought a new mobile phone and is showing it off somewhere."

In 1990, paging services were already available in Fengtian, along with mobile phones, the "Big Brother" phones—the first generation of analog mobile phones, all Motorolas, the biggest of their kind. They didn't have SIM cards; the numbers were written in six digits, and the signal wasn't guaranteed. Back then, one of these "Big Brother" phones cost over 14,000 yuan, with a network access fee of over 30,000 yuan, and the call charges were extremely high. Most people wouldn't even dare to touch one.

In Fengtian at that time, there was also a type of mobile phone called "Second Mobile Phone". The handset was smaller than that of the "First Mobile Phone" and used a six-digit analog network number. However, it could only make and receive calls in designated areas. At that time, many places had a small sign attached to it, and calls could only be made and received within 15 meters of the sign. The phone bill was the same as that of the "First Mobile Phone", but it was much cheaper. You could get one for seven or eight thousand yuan.

Thankfully, the call connected. The young woman spoke a few words to the boss, responding with a few "uh-huhs," but I couldn't hear what the other person was saying. Then she said, "A few old customers came in. They bought a four-speaker tape recorder before and said they want to buy a camera. Can you give them a discount? I've already told them. Okay, I got it. When are you coming back? Oh, from now on, I'll just wait there patiently after you call. Big brothers, most phones are expensive, aren't you? You're just showing off all day. Go home early tonight." She hung up.

After locking the dial pad, the young woman handed the phone to the young man at the counter. A little embarrassed, she said, "The boss is my brother. He's always out having fun. Um, the boss said that for regular customers, he'll give you a 10% discount on whichever one you like. What kind of pager do you want?" As she spoke, she clipped the pager to her belt. The old Panasonic didn't have a receiver; there was a hook directly on the body that could be clipped to the belt.

Xiao Wei asked, "What's this?"

The little girl said, "A pager, it's for pagers." As she spoke, she handed the machine in her hand to Xiao Wei.

Xiao Wei took it and looked at it. It was black, slightly larger than a matchbox, with a display screen at the top. He asked, "What's this thing for? How do you know who's calling you?"

The young woman said, "Yes, when someone wants to contact you, they just call the paging service, give them their phone number, and it will display the number on the other end. You can just press the number to call back. It's so convenient! Why don't you get one, bro? My brother has connections at the post office; he can give you a discount."

Xiao Wei asked, "How much does this thing cost?"

The young woman said, "The machine costs 1200, the network access fee is 100, and the annual service fee is 300, totaling 1600. If my brother were to pick it up, it would probably cost around 1200. Do you want it? With this, no matter who contacts you, you can just make a phone call. You can receive it no matter where you are, and then you can just call back. It's very convenient."

Xiao Wei handed the machine to the girl and shook his head, saying, "Forget it, it's too expensive. Besides, I don't need it. Nobody usually comes to me."

Xia Maosheng asked, "This thing can be used anywhere, right? Can I use it back in Beipiao?"

The girl said, "I don't know. You'll have to ask if they have a paging service there. It works throughout Fengtian."

Xia Maosheng shook his head, glancing regretfully at the machine. He couldn't stay in Fengtian for long, and it wouldn't be very useful if he couldn't use it at home. He turned to Chen Hui and asked, "Why don't you get one? This thing is pretty awesome."

Chen Hui said, "My dad has one, and my family also has a mobile phone, but my dad won't let me bring one. He said if I want to bring one, I have to buy one myself. I only make about 300 to 400 yuan a month, where am I supposed to buy one?"

Xiao Wei said, "If you don't squander a thousand yuan, you can buy anything. So you need to save up. Here's what we'll do: set a timeframe now, how long it will take to buy one of these. We'll all be watching over you then. Buying this is much better than drinking and taking taxis all the time. All that wasted money is pointless."

Xia Maosheng laughed and said, "Hey, that works. How about this, if you buy one within two months, I'll cover the service fee, okay?"

Xiao Wei laughed and said, "I'll pay for the internet access; you just need to buy the machine, okay?"

After thinking for a long time, Chen Hui struggled to say, "Okay, damn it, I'll buy it within two months. You guys have to keep your word then."

The girl said, "Okay, come find me then, and I'll have my brother get it for you. It'll definitely be cheaper than the market price."

Chen Hui said, "No need, I have a buddy in the telecommunications industry, Xiao Wei. I don't need you to pay for it. You can just come with me to buy one, okay?"

Xiao Wei didn't believe he could save money at all, so he nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go with you to buy it then."

The young girl said, "It's not enough to just know people, you need to know the officials. Anyway, do whatever you want, come find me if it doesn't work out."

Chen Hui leaned over the counter, looking at the cameras displayed inside, and said with a grin, "Hey girl, do you know who I am? I work for the power bureau. This whole area is under my jurisdiction. I'm probably more effective with the post office than your brother, believe it or not? Want to bet?"

The little girl gave Chen Hui a wink and asked Xiao Wei, "Brother, what kind of camera are you buying?"

Chen Hui said from the side, "Girl, tell me your name, and then tell me your pager number. I'll advise him to buy a good one."

The young woman pulled a business card from her pocket and handed it to Chen Hui, saying, "Take a look yourself. You said you'd buy something, right? Otherwise, don't say I ignored you next time." The young woman was in business and wasn't afraid of people knowing her name and contact information. Chen Hui had suffered a small loss, but he didn't care. He took the business card and looked at it over and over: "Chen Xiao? Oh, we're from the same family! My name is Chen Hui. What a coincidence! How about we have dinner together tonight? Afterwards, I'll treat you to karaoke."

Chen Xiao rolled his eyes and said to Xiao Wei, "Brother, have you thought it through?"