"Take your hand back. Didn't we agree before we came that we were just going to look around?" Xu Shuai anxiously reached out to stop Xing Baohua's hand.
"Get out of the way, how will you know what's wrong if you don't look at it?" Xing Baohua brushed Xu Shuai's hand aside, picked up the monitor and glanced at it, then looked around the desktop computer.
Xing Baohua looked at it with a slight sneer. Putting aside the extent of its damage, this pioneering personal computer was produced in the early 1980s. It was hailed as the standard-setter for large-scale commercial personal office computers. It came with a printer and a user manual.
This instruction manual enabled anyone with a modicum of intelligence to quickly master the computer, making a significant contribution to its widespread adoption. In fact, IBM turned computer tutorials into instruction manuals to promote the use of their computers. This is also why many other manufacturers later expanded their tutorials from a few thin pages into booklets.
For example, early Motorola and Nokia phones would always have a thick booklet inside the box. That was the user manual.
Liu Juanjuan, who was about to speak, stopped interfering after hearing their conversation. Her mind started racing; clearly, someone wanted to mess with the computer. No matter how badly the computer was damaged, whoever touched it now would be responsible. This was obviously helping her and Su Ya share the burden. Why stop him? She even wanted to take the pager away; she couldn't wait for Xing Baohua to dismantle the computer completely.
A quick inspection of the desktop computer revealed it to be clean and free of any burnt smell, indicating the problem wasn't with the computer itself. Xing Baohua then turned to the monitor, where the ventilation holes on the back cover were clearly blackened and emitted a burnt smell. There were also damp watermarks and a few tea leaves on it.
I had a general idea in mind: the computer itself was fine for now; the problem was with the monitor. The safest approach was to do a thorough inspection. Trying to fix it in the computer lab was probably out of the question; anyone could stop me. I'd have to move it back to the repair shop next to the night school. That shop also repairs various electrical appliances for the public, facilitating teaching and combining theory with practice.
"Xu Shuai, help me hold this," Xing Baohua said, shoving the bulky CRT monitor into Xu Shuai's arms. She then quickly unplugged the cables, grabbed the keyboard, and then, realizing she didn't have a mouse, paused for a moment before remembering that the mouse was a device from several years in the future.
"Don't just stand there, let's go." Xing Baohua grabbed the computer and rushed to the door. Seeing Xu Shuai standing there with his mouth open in a daze, he quickly urged him to leave.
Liu Juanjuan was also stunned by Xing Baohua's actions. Wasn't he supposed to be here to fix the computer? Why did he take it away? Was he trying to steal it?
"Why did you take him away? Do you know what kind of behavior that is?" Xu Shuai chased after him for a few steps and shouted from behind Xing Baohua.
"Don't say anything yet, let's talk about it after it leaves the factory. I'm confident I can fix it," Xing Baohua said.
"Fix my ass! Now look what's happened, we're involved even though it wasn't our business. What are you after anyway?"
"Would you believe me if I said it was for this computer?"
The factory office building was very close to the factory gate, only about 200 meters away. The two of them ran out one after the other.
The security guards at the main gate saw the two men as soon as they came out of the office building. Old Wei, the gatekeeper, said to the guards, "Are these two from the third workshop?"
One of the security guards said, "It should be. I know the guy carrying the TV, his name is Xu Shuai. What are those two doing? The one running behind them is Xiao Liu from the archives."
When the two of them reached the gate, they didn't even stop, just dashed out. The gatekeeper stood to the side, not stopping them, just watching curiously.
When Liu Juanjuan, panting, finally stopped at the factory gate, Old Wei asked her, "Little Liu, what are you doing? Why are you running so fast?"
"Grab, grab, the computer!" Liu Juanjuan said breathlessly, one hand on her hip and the other on her knee, her head tilted back. Her posture looked uncomfortable, and she was panting heavily.
"What are you robbing?" Old Wei asked hastily, startled.
A young security guard nearby hurriedly asked, "Didn't they break the computer? Why are they stealing it?"
"Why ask so many questions? Now hurry up and chase after them! Hey you, you go with Xiao Liu to the security office and report to the head of the department. Xiao Wang and I will go after them." With that, Old Wei led a young man and ran out.
We had to pursue it; it would have been a dereliction of duty of us not to stop or inquire about it earlier.
Seeing that someone was chasing them, Xing Baohua and Xu Shuai moved even faster. After leaving the factory, they entered the factory area, which had many more narrow paths. The two knew the terrain like the back of their hand, and they quickly left the people behind by turning and twisting.
"Hua Zi, take a break." Xu Shuai looked behind him to make sure no one was there, put the monitor on the ground, and said, panting heavily.
"Let's walk a couple more steps to Xu Fei's place and borrow his bicycle," Xing Baohua said, panting. Things these days are really heavy! They're made with plenty of materials; they look small, but they're actually quite heavy.
"I just don't understand what you're trying to do." Xu Shuai said, squatting down again to pick up the monitor and continuing to walk with Xing Baohua.
After Xing Baohua and Xu Shuai left, the factory became lively again, with one thing after another happening that morning.
Liu Juanjuan was questioned a few times by the factory's security department before returning to her office.
Xing Baohua's words about repairing home appliances also spread from the security department. Whether you knew Xing Baohua or not, everyone knew one thing: computers were high-tech gadgets and home appliances were two different things.
The factory spent over 30,000 yuan to buy an imported computer and treated it like a precious artifact. Everyone in the factory knew that, but nobody really knew what the computer could do. After all, it was a high-tech device, and it was not easy to find out.
The computer broke this morning, and everyone knew about it in the blink of an eye; they were all talking about it. But then, out of nowhere, someone snatched the computer away, claiming it was for appliance repair.
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