Chapter Thirty-Four: Enjoying in Advance

Also waiting in line at the train station ticket window were Li Mu and Zhao Kang. Fortunately, their journey to Peng City wasn’t too far—just over three hundred kilometers, with a four- to five-hour train ride. Li Mu arranged to meet Sun Peng the day after tomorrow at one in the afternoon and got his phone number.

Li Mu decided to buy a train ticket for the early morning train at five o’clock, planning to arrive in Peng City around ten. The first thing he intended to do was open a local bank account and get a local SIM card.

Speaking of phones, he realized he’d need to buy one tomorrow.

At that moment, Sun Peng and his old partner were also queuing in the square in front of Yanjing Railway Station. They had chosen a sleeper train departing at ten tomorrow night, arriving in Peng City at six the following morning.

Both sides secured their tickets. Li Mu turned to Zhao Kang. “Come find me at home tomorrow morning,” he said. “We’ll go out and buy a couple of phones.”

“A couple?” Zhao Kang drew out the word, deliberately emphasizing it. “You’re really living large now. Why do you need so many phones?”

Li Mu considered. “I want to buy four—one for each of us, and one each for my parents. But I’m not sure how much phones cost these days. Do you know?”

“I have some idea,” Zhao Kang nodded. “There’s the Motorola V998—about three thousand or so. Flip phone, super cool.”

Li Mu smiled. “You want one?”

Zhao Kang hesitated. “Forget it. Too expensive. Not worth it.”

Li Mu replied, “If you like it and you can afford it, you should get it. It’s a classic.”

“What do you mean, ‘a classic’?” Zhao Kang looked puzzled.

“Never mind,” Li Mu waved it off. “If you like it, buy it.”

Zhao Kang seemed tempted, but soon said, “I’m not in a rush. Let’s wait until we’ve sold Dominator of the Stone Age.”

Li Mu smiled. “Then tomorrow I’ll lend you the money to buy the phone, and you can pay me back after we get paid for selling the plug-in, okay?”

“Deal!” Zhao Kang agreed immediately.

The next morning, Li Mu and Zhao Kang went together to the mobile service center and bought four phones.

Li Mu felt there was little point in buying expensive phones at this stage. Right now, mobile phones only had two basic functions: calls and text messages.

So, he bought the most popular model of the year, the Nokia 8250—gray casing, costing just over a thousand, not expensive compared to the nearly three-thousand-yuan Motorola V998+.

Thinking his parents weren’t flashy people, Li Mu got his father a black 8250, his mother a white 8310. The blue-screen Nokias were nicknamed “the brick” and “the standby king”—even well into the smartphone era, many businesspeople still carried a Nokia because they were so durable, doubled as self-defense tools or nutcrackers, and could go a week on a single charge.

Including Zhao Kang’s coveted V998+, Li Mu bought four phones and four SIM cards, spending about eight thousand in total, each card preloaded with two hundred yuan in credit.

When choosing numbers, Li Mu strung together a family set: his own ending in 1003, with 1001 and 1002 left for his parents to choose.

Leaving the service center, Zhao Kang was enamored with his new phone. In his plans, he hadn’t expected to own such a device until after graduating college; at this time, people didn’t really understand the electronics market, and mobile phones were a bona fide luxury.

In this era, the Motorola V998+ was the plaything of bosses. Owning a business phone or a business laptop was far more impressive than owning an iPhone or MacBook in later years.

Li Mu didn’t tell Zhao Kang that the phone was poor value for money; he simply felt that in life, there are many things we wish for, but few we ever obtain. Since Zhao Kang liked this phone so much, Li Mu wanted to encourage him to make his own decisions.

As Zhao Kang familiarized himself with the phone, the first number he saved in the contacts was Li Mu.

He still didn’t know how he’d explain the phone’s origin to his parents, let alone how to talk about the income from selling Dominator of the Stone Age. But so what? He hadn’t stolen or cheated; he’d earned it honestly. As for how? He wasn’t planning to answer. His parents had always controlled everything; it was time to surprise them, to show them he was moving beyond their reach.

...

When Li Mu’s parents saw the three brand-new phones, their first reaction was utter shock.

It felt as if he’d bought three cars at once—too extravagant, too wasteful.

“How could three phones possibly suit a family of three?” his mother exclaimed, enunciating the word “phone” for emphasis. In her opinion, she and her husband only went between work and home. If anyone in the family needed a mobile, it was Li Mu—her son, traveling far, whom she worried about. With a phone, she could always reach him.

Li Mu said, “What’s three phones? Mom, have you ever thought that our family of three can not only afford three phones, but also three houses, three cars, or even more?”

“Listen to you showing off,” his mother laughed and scolded. “You little rascal, three houses for three people—are you planning on splitting up your parents?”

Li Mu put on a look of wounded innocence. “You wrong me, Mom! I bought the phones so we can stay in closer touch. If you go out shopping and I suddenly crave something for dinner, I can call and let you know, and you can bring it home. Isn’t that great?”

“Exactly,” Li Dad said, fiddling with Snake on his new phone. “I think mobile phones are destined to become universal. Our son’s just letting us experience the future a little early—what’s there to be unworthy of?”

Li Mu looked at his father in surprise. “Dad, you’re really forward-thinking. How can you be so sure everyone will have a phone one day?”

Li Dad, absorbed in his game, replied without looking up, “When I first started working, I was sent to Guizhou for two years. If there was an emergency, your grandfather sent me a telegram—ordinary folks couldn’t even make phone calls. Back then, I thought telephones would eventually be in every home—it was just a matter of time.”

He gestured at their landline. “See, we’ve had a home phone for years now. It’s time for mobiles to enter the home too.”

Li Mu couldn’t help but look at his father with new respect. Not only was he insightful, he was spot-on. The era of everyone owning a mobile was only a few years away.

Hearing this, his mother stopped objecting, though she did mutter, “I heard mobile charges are a real scam—charging for both making and receiving calls. It’s so annoying.”

“Then just use it sparingly,” Li Dad chuckled. “Only call when necessary, but if something’s important, don’t be stingy. Isn’t a few cents per minute worth it?”

“I suppose so,” his mother said, finally putting her complaints to rest. She picked up the phone, interested. “Son, show me how to use it.”

Li Mu laughed. “You two haven’t chosen your numbers yet. I took number 3 as the lowest rank. Who gets number 1?”

“You take it, dear.” Both parents deferred to each other.

Li Mu said, “Dad should have number 1—he’s the head of the household.”

His mother agreed. “Then I’ll take number 2.”

Li Mu joked, “Number 1 chief, number 2 chief—both chiefs.”

“Go fetch some tea for Chief Number 2!”

“At your command.”

“Chief Number 2, may I report something?”

“Go ahead.”

“Tomorrow I have to get up at four in the morning. If I accidentally wake you, don’t be upset—just keep sleeping.”

His mother looked at him in surprise. “Up at four? Where are you sneaking off to at that hour? Even the breakfast vendors aren’t up yet.”

Li Mu smiled sheepishly. “I have something to do. Didn’t I tell you I’m trying to make money online?”

She was curious. “But can’t you work from home? Why go out so early?”

“I have to go sell things. The money doesn’t just appear in my account from the internet.”

“Mysterious, like those speculators back in the day.”

Li Dad, having lost at Snake, raised his head and said, “Honey, why push him? This boy sold a song for eighty thousand. He knows what he’s doing. As long as he has a plan, let him be.”

“Okay,” his mother relented. “I’ll get up early to make you breakfast.”

“No need,” Li Mu quickly said. “I’ll buy a cup of instant noodles downstairs and eat before I leave.”

“That won’t do—instant noodles aren’t nutritious. I’ll get up and cook.”

“What can we make in the morning?”

“Noodles…”

“Never mind, I’ll just get the instant noodles.”

With that, Li Mu stood and headed out the door. His mother shook her head helplessly. Once he was gone, she turned to his father. “Our son really has changed.”

“Ever since the college entrance exam, he’s matured a lot.”

“Do you think he’ll get into People’s University? I’m worried he won’t make the cut. Should we persuade him to apply to Jinling University? It’s still prestigious but not as competitive.”

“Let’s not make decisions for him. If he wants to apply to People’s, let him. He should make his own choices.”

“Alright… If our son really gets into People’s University, you have to come with me to the temple to give thanks.”

“Deal!”