18: Chapter 18 The Graphics Card Makes Its Move

Fortunately, it was daytime, and several nearby employees gathered around.

Zhou Fugui summoned his courage and asked, "Wh-what do you want with me?"

Everyone saw him talking to a computer and felt it was incredibly eerie.

To his surprise, text soon appeared on the computer screen: "I have 300 units of 4060 graphics cards here. Do you want them?"

Zhou Fugui was dumbfounded. "In this day and age, even ghosts are starting to sell graphics cards? Wait, no!" He finally realized—this computer must have been hacked.

He had encountered a hacker master.

Zhou Fugui thought for a moment and asked, "Are there specific models? And are you sure it's three hundred graphics cards?"

One should know that Zhou Fugui used to sell only about that many graphics cards in an entire month.

An image of the graphics card's outer packaging was sent to the computer. "See the models for yourself. All 300 cards are bundled together. How much are you offering? As long as the funds are in place, you can pick them up today."

Zhou Fugui did a rough calculation in his head. This 4060 model could be sold at retail for 2,400 yuan each, while the wholesale price for gray market units was around 2,000. If he sold them all at that price, he could make over a hundred thousand yuan from the 300 cards. However, this didn't satisfy him.

Zhou Fugui's eyes darted around as he feigned a troubled expression. "Computer master, you might not be familiar with the computer components business.

"In our line of work, our money is all tied up in inventory. This batch of graphics cards is too large; no middleman in the entire City Name could come up with such a large sum of money all at once.

"I'll try my best to scrape it together. I can offer at most one thousand yuan per card, totaling 300,000. How's that? This is all the money I can raise at the moment."

This time, the computer remained silent for a long period. Just as Zhou Fugui was becoming impatient, text appeared on the screen again.

"Is 300,000 yuan really the most you can raise right now?"

He took the bait!

On the surface, Zhou Fugui put on a pitiful look and said, "It's the absolute truth. Products in our industry iterate very quickly, so we actually don't make much money at all." After saying this, he even wiped away non-existent tears from the corners of his eyes. "300,000 is already my entire net worth."

Text popped up on the computer: "In that case, I suppose the million-plus yuan in this China Construction Bank account number 345978 with the password 64 isn't yours either? I'll donate all the money in it to an orphanage in a moment."

(,ﾟДﾟ) (,ﾟДﾟ) (,ﾟДﾟ) (,ﾟДﾟ) (,ﾟДﾟ)

Wasn't that his own bank account number? They even knew the password. If this person wanted to ruin him, it would only take a minute. Zhou Fugui was now sweating profusely.

He hurriedly apologized, "Great hero, great hero! I was blind not to recognize your greatness; I was possessed by greed. Please, you must forgive me. How about 2,000 yuan per graphics card? It's a perfectly fair price."

"2,000 per unit would have been fine ten minutes ago. But... you just wasted ten minutes checking your bank account. You should know that my time is very precious. Now, I'm selling them for 2,500 yuan each."

Zhou Fugui jumped up as if he had received an electric shock. "2,500 each? Wouldn't I be losing money on every single one I sell? You might as well kill me."

The person on the other side of the computer didn't indulge him. "Do you take me for a fool? Given the current market, there's a shortage of supply. How could you possibly still sell at the previous market price? If you don't agree, I'll find someone else and, while I'm at it, help you make a charitable donation."

Zhou Fugui still refused to give in. "I have several employees to support here, and rent and utilities all cost money. 2,500 really won't work."

Just as he finished speaking, a text message popped up on his phone.

"Ding! One thousand yuan has been spent from your China Construction Bank account to the China Welfare Institute."

"You have three seconds to make a decision. Next time, it won't be just a thousand yuan." Text slowly appeared on the computer.

3... 2... 1!

"Wait, wait, wait! I agree!" Zhou Fugui said with a long face.

Meanwhile.

Zhang Wei finished his last set of dumbbells, feeling the soreness in his biceps. He had to admit that Sun Yicheng's training methods were very effective.

"Alright." Sun Yicheng handed Zhang Wei a glass of water. "When you go back, make sure to supplement with some protein for lunch, like beef or salmon. It helps with fitness."

Zhang Wei nodded, chatted with Sun Yicheng for a bit, and scheduled their next private training session.

After leaving the gym, it was already lunchtime. Zhang Wei didn't have time to rush home, so he called An Xiaoxi directly to tell her he would handle lunch himself.

On the other end of the line, An Xiaoxi said, "The graphics card deal is done. Settled at 2,500 yuan each, the 300 cards come to a total of 750,000 yuan. However, because the amount is so large, the bank needs to review it before the transfer can go through. It'll probably take about three working days."

"I didn't realize you had a talent for sales." Zhang Wei originally thought selling them for 600,000 would be good enough; he hadn't expected her to get over a hundred thousand more.

After praising the young girl, Zhang Wei simply asked An Xiaoxi for the buyer's address and delivered the graphics cards directly. Otherwise, the back of his car would be so full that no one could sit in the rear seats. Anyway, An Xiaoxi had the other party firmly under her thumb, so he wasn't worried about them welshing on the deal.

After making the delivery, Zhang Wei felt a bit hungry and found a nearby Western restaurant.

"Welcome to Lambach Western Restaurant. We're having an anniversary celebration today. You only need to answer one question correctly to enjoy a free steak set meal. Would you like to try, sir?"

Zhang Wei looked at the clerk strangely and asked, "Your boss wouldn't happen to be named Ricardo, would he?"

The clerk was stunned for a moment. "Ricardo is the name of our owner and head chef. I didn't expect you to have done your homework, sir. So, would you like to participate in the activity?"

What a coincidence. To think he'd stumble upon this!

Zhang Wei hadn't expected that the Western restaurant he picked at random would be the one mentioned by the Daily Intelligence System.

"I'll give it a try." Since he was already here, saving the money for a steak meal wasn't a bad idea.

The waiter's smile held a hint of cunning. "Then here is the question, sir: In what year and month did our owner, Ricardo, become a head chef?"

Zhang Wei opened the light screen and glanced at the intelligence again before replying nonchalantly:

"March 2002."

"I'm sorry, but this gentleman wasn't... Eh? How is it exactly the same as the answer? Sir, how did you know?" The waiter was suddenly at a loss for words. One should know that even the owner's wife might not know the answer to this question; after all, who would care about such an insignificant detail?

Zhang Wei spoke absolute nonsense, "Actually, I'm a famous fortune-telling master in the City Name. I just sent out my consciousness and communicated with the immortals in heaven. Forget about checking a resume; I even know if your boss peeked at an old lady bathing when he was a kid."

"B-but our boss is a foreigner. Are foreigners also under the jurisdiction of our immortals?"

Suppressing a laugh, Zhang Wei continued, "Ever heard of entry-exit management? The immortals in heaven have partnerships with those in the West. Don't foreigners need a residence permit to work in our country?"

The clerk nodded, only half-understanding. "Then, Great Master—no, sir, congratulations on getting it right. Your steak will be served shortly."

Although a steak meal was only about two hundred yuan, Zhang Wei felt that getting it for free was truly sweet.

After he finished eating, the clerk even respectfully escorted Zhang Wei to the door and asked bashfully if Zhang Wei could read his fortune regarding his love life.

Zhang Wei looked at his pockmarked, expectant face and silently offered a blessing in his heart.

"Your face shows signs of romance; I expect a marriage prospect will come knocking soon."

After dismissing the young clerk with a few pleasantries, Zhang Wei started his car and drove toward Fengxian District.

Fengxian District is located south of the urban area of Shenghai City, adjacent to the East China Sea, and is considered a suburban area.

Zhang Wei remembered that the City Name government had once wanted to take advantage of the seaside and started an Urban Beach project, even spending a large sum of money to airlift sand from Province to build the beach.

When it first opened, citizens flocked there to play. However, the response was less than satisfactory.

The City Name is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River. The seawater here is mixed with a large amount of fresh water and silt flowing from the Yangtze estuary, making the seawater the same color as muddy water. It's murky with extremely poor visibility. Province is like spring all year round, allowing people to swim in the sea for three seasons—spring, summer, and autumn—but in the City Name, it's the opposite. For three seasons of the year, the temperature is too low to go into the sea. It's only open in the summer; with such conditions, closing down was only a matter of time.