Chapter 29 Walkman: A symbol of status, a symbol of fashion...
The two of them got on the bus and rode for half an hour before finally arriving at the mall.
The mall is very big and there are many things inside. There are several stores selling Walkman players alone, including Sony Walkman, Aiwa and BBK, which are the most popular brands of that era.
The first two are more expensive, but BBK is much more affordable.
Kong Xiaoyue chose Sony's Walkman without hesitation and spent three thousand yuan.
She actually had a Walkman before, a gift from her father for her tenth birthday. After returning to Hucheng, her uncle's cousin saw her Walkman and liked it very much. He borrowed it to listen to music, and then... he never returned it to her.
Kong Xiaoyue asked once, and her aunt's face turned black. She cursed and said that it was not good to be a good person. Their family took in their niece with good intentions, but in the end they couldn't even use her Walkman.
Kong Xiaoyue wanted to refute at that time.
She settled down with her uncle, but her parents did give him money. Her family also bought a house in Hucheng, but her parents were busy with business and had no time to take care of her.
They were worried about leaving her alone as a little girl. After all, her uncle and aunt were relatives and would not have any bad intentions to hurt her.
She wanted to say that the money her parents gave to her uncle and aunt was enough to support several of her. But seeing her grandparents' nervous expressions, Kong Xiaoyue hesitated and swallowed the words that were on the tip of her tongue.
If she scolds her uncle and aunt, the only ones who will be embarrassed will be her grandparents.
The old couple treated her very well. All her childhood clothes were kept in their hometown, including sweaters, trousers and small hats knitted for her by the old lady!
Kong Xiaoyue bought a Walkman and the two went to BBK again.
Xu Heye planned to buy a BBK repeater. Compared with the Sony Walkman and Aiwa Walkman, the BBK was twice as large and looked a bit clumsy.
But the price is beautiful.
A BBK is only 259 yuan, less than one tenth of the price of a Walkman!
The functions are just as complete, including changing speed, repeating, fast forward and rewinding, recording, and comparative reading.
Kong Xiaoyue looked down on this bulky thing. "He Ye, the BBK is too bulky. It can't even fit in my coat pocket."
"It's okay, I can sew a small bag to carry it with me." Xu Heye felt that this was not a problem. Xu Heye looked at the dark gray repeater in her hand and asked the saleswoman, "Miss, can the price of the repeater be lowered?"
"Little sister, our prices are all official and unified, so you can't miss out!" The saleswoman smiled and refused Xu Heye, "But we can give you two music tapes. They include Teresa Teng's "Comrades: Almost a Love Story," Luo Dayou's "Childhood," Danny Chan's "Just Like You," and my brother's "Monica..."
Speaking of Leslie Cheung, he is my brother. Case solved, the store clerk is a fan of Leslie Cheung.
"Thank you, I really like brother's song "Monica". You used to love me regardless of everything and sacrificed your entire youth for my glory..." Xu Heye hummed two lines of the lyrics.
The store clerk's smile brightened. "You're still in junior high school, right? I'll give you two blank tapes so you can record English."
Obviously, the clerk has encountered many students who come to buy repeaters, and he knows the excuses people give for buying them. Although it is not certain whether they can actually use them to learn English after buying them, the starting point is to learn.
"That's great, thank you very much, young lady. You are such a nice person." Xu Heye was very blunt and shameless, calling the young girl in her twenties "young lady" despite her mental age of thirty-something.
The girl coaxed her into giving her a small bag for the tape recorder. It had a long shoulder strap that could be slung over the shoulder and carried around.
After paying the money, Xu Heye took the tape recorder and a bunch of gifts given by the clerk and left the BBK store.
Kong Xiaoyue followed her, stunned.
She looked at the empty Walkman in her hand and suddenly felt that she had lost out.
This Walkman cost her a full three thousand yuan, more than ten times the price of the BBK, but the clerk gave her nothing as a gift. Not even a single piece of music tape, not even the ugly rag bag that held the Walkman.
Xu Heye found it funny. Electronic gadgets like Walkman and Aiwa Walkman were status symbols, fashion signs, and luxury goods in the eyes of classmates. They were always in high demand.
Which luxury brand would give out a bunch of free gifts?
Anyway, those who like to buy will still buy it, and those who don’t like to buy will not buy it no matter how many gifts they receive.
As for BBK, it's something a child from an ordinary working-class family like Xu Heye would consider. Gifts, to some extent, are a powerful catalyst for boosting sales.
After buying the Walkman, they went to a CD store to buy some English tapes to listen to. But when they asked, they found out that the CD store didn't sell any English tapes.
The two went to several stores but couldn't find any English materials. However, Kong Xiaoyue bought a dozen music tapes. Unlike the pirated music tapes that the BBK clerk gave to Xu Heye, the ones Kong Xiaoyue bought were all genuine albums.
The two of them opened it immediately and listened to it in their Walkman. The sound quality was indeed much better than the pirated one.
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