Chapter 61: Seeing Through Without Speaking Out

Qin Hongfei didn’t order much—just two small dishes and a bowl of rice. There was braised pork for the meat, and pickled fish for the fish. She paid the bill, then glanced at Xia Shangxu and said, “I was planning to visit that noodle stand first, have a bowl of noodles to gather some information, and then come here for a meal. I didn’t expect you’d be so fond of their plain noodle soup.”

Xia Shangxu was speechless.

What was this? So my assumption—that you were being considerate and refrained from eating anything expensive—was a misunderstanding? And my belief that you were afraid of being scolded was also wrong?

He looked at the dishes that had just been served, then at Qin Hongfei’s puzzled expression. With great resolve, Xia Shangxu forced a smile. “It’s fine. I realized you were only there to look for news. Sitting there too long after ordering just two bowls of noodles would’ve been odd, so I simply ordered a bit more.” Yes, that was it. I absolutely didn’t misunderstand your intentions, nor did I overthink anything.

Qin Hongfei decided to let it go without exposing him.

When the food arrived, the braised pork looked delicious and whetted her appetite. But when she finally tasted it, chewing slowly, she felt a bit disappointed. To be fair, it was well-cooked, but it was nowhere near as good as Tang Xiaojin’s cooking.

They finished the meal quickly and wandered around for quite some time. Qin Hongfei soon familiarized herself with the area. She picked a storefront called “Total Vision” in the electronics market and walked in. The shop covered over two hundred square meters and was lined with gleaming new computers. Several clerks were busy assisting customers.

Qin Hongfei approached an available clerk and asked directly, “Hello, do you sell second-hand computer parts here?”

They did, in fact. The clerk quickly responded, “Yes, we do. What kind of parts do you need—motherboards, or…?”

“Motherboards, CPUs, memory… everything. I need it all,” Qin Hongfei replied.

The clerk was stunned. Everything? “Are you resellers?”

By resellers, he meant people who bought goods to sell them again.

Xia Shangxu smiled and asked, “Why? If we are, does that mean you won’t do business with us?”

Of course not! Business is business, whether you’re a second-hand dealer or a third-hand one. As long as you’re buying, I’m selling.

The clerk gave an awkward smile. “No, that’s not what I meant. I just need to know what you’re looking for, so I can help you…”

Xia Shangxu answered frankly, “We’re opening an internet café.”

There was nothing to hide about that.

The clerk understood and asked them to wait a moment. Soon, he brought the boss over. Hearing that someone was opening an internet café and wanted to purchase second-hand parts, the boss was surprised. He looked between Xia Shangxu and Qin Hongfei before saying, “We mostly deal in brand-new computers here. We do have some second-hand parts, but not many… If you could specify what you need, that would help.”

Qin Hongfei produced a list she’d prepared earlier, detailing the required motherboards, memory, and various models—all compatible with current systems.

Altogether, the quantity for each part was fifty units.

It was a sizeable order! But the boss didn’t get overly excited. Regretfully, he explained, “We do have some second-hand parts, but not in those quantities. From your list, we only have motherboards and CPUs in stock, along with some towers. The rest, we don’t have.”

Xia Shangxu frowned. “Isn’t your shop the biggest one here?”

The boss thought to himself that perhaps they had misunderstood what “biggest” meant. He forced a smile. “Sir, computers are so expensive these days that even if they break, most people can’t bear to sell them. Besides, even if someone wants to sell, we don’t necessarily want to buy. Some second-hand parts are good, others not so much. We only take parts that are still usable and cheap, mostly for repairs.”

Qin Hongfei realized her mistake at this reminder. As the boss said, computers were new and expensive in this era. Most people would rather keep a broken one at home than sell it.