Chapter 169 Even worse than the countryside
Jiang Jianni's eyes widened; she practically wanted to dissect Jiang Haiyang's brain to see how much water was inside: "Open a computer lab? Are you kidding me?"
The term "computer room" was a specific designation used at that time; it was actually the precursor to the internet cafes that later sprang up everywhere.
But what impressed Jiang Jianni the most was actually the internet cafe 10 years later, where you could eat, drink, and use the restroom all in one place. If you had money, you could even book a small private room with two sofas together, which was really no different from a standard room.
Big cities are better off, with a large flow of people and many internet cafe pros who make a living entirely from internet cafes.
Jiang Jiani's hometown is a small fourth-tier city.
Most people either have a computer at home or a smartphone, and they also need to make a living. Even fewer people have the money and free time to go to internet cafes to play games.
Jiang Jiani had been there a few times. At most, a third of the people would be sitting in the internet cafe. Sometimes there were less than ten people in the entire internet cafe. She had never seen it full.
Of course, she went during the day; the situation might be different at night.
Even so, it only costs three or two yuan per hour, and even cheaper for an overnight stay. With forty or fifty machines, she felt that the internet cafe would be lucky to break even, and could probably only make money by selling snacks and drinks.
A computer costs 50,000 yuan now, and the key point is that even if you have the money, you might not be able to buy one in China.
The one in their house was bought from Hong Kong by Zhao Nanguo through special connections; the actual cost was more than 50,000.
That brat wants to open an internet cafe.
Even if you open a mini internet cafe with only five computers, the cost of just buying the computers would be 250,000 yuan, not to mention other things.
Jiang Jianni became angrier the more she thought about it, so she grabbed a feather duster and gave Jiang Haiyang another good beating.
Jiang Haiyang hugged his nearly broken body, feeling extremely aggrieved: "Sis, sis, why did you hit me? I was just saying it, after all, it's twenty yuan an hour."
"I... I was just envious of how fast others make money, I didn't say anything else..."
Jiang Jianni paused for a moment, then finally grasped the key point in Jiang Haiyang's words: "What did you just say? How much does it cost to play in that computer lab for an hour?"
Jiang Haiyang had already done the math countless times and quickly said, "A computer is on for at least twenty hours a day."
"Based on a 20-hour workday, it's 20 yuan per hour for 10 hours during the day and 30 yuan per hour for 10 hours at night, which adds up to 500 yuan a day."
"There are twelve machines running six days a week, which adds up to 36,000."
"It's thirty dollars a day on Sundays, which adds up to seven thousand two."
"That means their computer room earns at least 43,000 yuan a week, which is almost the price of a computer."
"Do you think it's profitable or not? Sis, tell me, aren't you envious?"
Of course I'm envious.
Earning 40,000 to 50,000 in just one week!
This was in 1981.
In her previous life, Jiang Jianni's best-performing novel only earned her a little over 40,000 yuan a month at its peak, which was less than what someone earned in a week at an internet cafe in 1991.
Jiang Jianni exclaimed incredulously, "Twenty yuan an hour? Thirty yuan for evenings and Sundays? People actually go to play at such high prices?"
Jiang Haiyang curled his lip: "More than that? There are plenty."
"Some people can play all day long."
"Big cities are different from our small town; salaries are higher in big cities."
"I heard that some people are already making three or four thousand a month."
"They earn more in a month than you do in a year."
Of course, such people are a minority, and most of them work in private companies.
Even so, it was enough to shock Jiang Haiyang, who was going out for the first time.
For the first time, he learned what it meant to not treat money as money.
In contrast, his mother always scolded Jiang Yanni for being big-spending and only knowing how to spend money. What's the big deal about spending one yuan of pocket money a week?
Jiang Jianni felt a little dizzy: "Wait, wait a moment, let me sort this out."
She was certain that there was no internet access, not even a local area network, and not even a telecommunications company.
The current telecommunications bureau is still called the Post and Telecommunications Administration.
When she brought the computer back and went to ask if there was internet access, none of the older folks at the office had ever heard of an internet LAN, and they thought she was talking about something like a regular fishing net or spider web.
A computer that cannot connect to the internet can only be used as a tool.
For example, the computer she uses at home is for typing.
But why are so many people willing to play on computers without internet access?
Are you still playing those very basic and rough single-player games?
Even the games that come pre-installed on the computer?
Jiang Jiani found it unbelievable.
Is it really necessary?
When she was in high school, it was the peak of the popularity of the game "Jian Da San" (剑大). She registered an account, leveled up to the maximum level, and then lost interest.
Other popular games at the same time include League of Legends (LOL), Honor of Kings (Arena of Valor), PUBG (PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds), and Genshin Impact (Genshin Impact), among others.
She tried them all out of curiosity, but they were just so-so; they were only fun for the novelty and she couldn't stick with them for long.
The only two games I played for a relatively long time were the "vegetable stealing" game and the "Happy Match" game that came with the rise of mobile games.
She's a pro at match-3 games.
After that, I just kept adding stars or colored stars.
She couldn't play these highly interactive and engaging games for very long. She couldn't understand how anyone could enjoy these games, which she considered too rudimentary and crude.
They're actually willing to pay at least twenty yuan for an hour of playing.
Twenty yuan an hour, that's a month's salary in no time.
Honestly, it's better to just play video games on a console.
At least Nintendo's games are not only diverse in variety and gameplay, but the price per game is even cheaper than in a computer lab—although if you keep losing, it's actually much more expensive than twenty dollars for an hour.
But Jiang Haiyang, as if afraid of scaring his sister to death, added, "I have a classmate from the capital."
"I heard they also have a computer lab there, and it costs more than the one next to our school—forty yuan an hour!"
Jiang Jianni gasped: "Forty!"
Jiang Haiyang also looked like he had a toothache: "Yeah, forty, you think that's outrageous too, right, sister?"
"I just don't understand, so what if they're from the capital? Why are their fees so high?"
"So, their money didn't come from hard work, but from the wind?"
Jiang Jianni: "..."
Aunt Liu, who was cooking in the kitchen: "..."
He had just gotten home when he heard Jiang Haiyang calculating the total bill and Lu Xiangyang, who had spent forty hours in an hour, saying, "..."
Jiang Haiyang sighed, "The way they act makes me feel like we're not living in a city like other people's, but in the countryside."
"No, we are even poorer than the countryside."
“At least in rural areas, people don’t have to pay for food, drink, or toileting. But when we’re out and about, we have to pay a dime to use a public toilet.”
Jiang Jianni: "..."
Aunt Liu: "..."
Lu Xiangyang: "..."
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