"Thank you!" Han Mingyue felt a bit embarrassed when he heard this; he had gotten a little carried away just now...
"How’s your novel going? Oh right! And the calligraphy competition! Your writing is so beautiful, you must have won a place, right?"
"I write the novel whenever I have time, and as for the competition... Zhen Yan and I each won first place in the high school and middle school groups," Zhen Yu said this in a flat tone, as she was completely unable to get excited due to Mrs. Zhen.
"Congratulations!" Han Mingyue’s writing was also good, but it was still somewhat inferior compared to the Zhen siblings.
At that moment, he suddenly had an idea and said over the phone to Zhen Yu, "Xiao Yu! Could you write some characters for me to paste up? I want to practice my writing!"
Zhen Yu hesitated for a moment, then quickly said, "No!"
Han Mingyue didn’t expect Zhen Yu to refuse him! Without thinking, he asked, "Why?"
"You’re a boy, it’s not good for you to learn my writing style! I’ll have Zhen Yan write for you!"
So that’s what she was thinking...
"How’s your English listening and speaking practice going?" Since they had already started talking about studies, Zhen Yu took the opportunity to concern herself with Han Mingyue’s weak points.
"Not great. The listening is okay, but the speaking,"
"Nobody to practice with?" Zhen Yu pondered for a bit, "Then let’s wait until you are in high school! Focus on improving your listening skills first!"
"Alright, I understand."
Han Mingyue finished speaking and fell silent.
Zhen Yu waited a while, but still didn’t hear him speak, so she had to take the initiative to ask, "Han Mingyue, what are you thinking about?"
"...I heard, you’ve started learning martial arts at the Martial Arts Hall?" Han Mingyue’s question was vague, but Zhen Yu heard it clearly.
"Yes! What about it?" She knew that he had been aware of her martial arts skills long ago. Studying a bit more wasn’t something surprising, right?!
"Last time, that Third..."
"Ha! You’re talking about him!" Zhen Yu snorted with laughter, "I gave him a good beating when Master Xu wasn’t around!"
Zhen Yu thought Han Mingyue was still angry at Cao Zhixin, so she expressed it in whichever way seemed most satisfying.
What she didn’t mention was that Cao Zhixin probably had masochist tendencies! After receiving her beating, he shamelessly stuck to her even more!
Every week, he would show up in front of her to challenge her! Zhen Yu couldn’t be bothered with him! So, most of the time, it was Zhen Yan who dragged him away!
On rare occasions... it was when Zhen Yu got so annoyed by him sticking to her! She would kick him away with a few kicks...
Han Mingyue hesitated for a moment, but didn’t inquire further about their interactions.
Although he was curious, he was afraid that asking too many details would annoy Zhen Yu.
"In the future, don’t do that anymore. After all, we’re in the same Martial Arts Hall, it wouldn’t be good for you if Master Xu finds out."
"Yeah. I won’t start a fight unless he provokes me!" Zhen Yu left some leeway in her words.
"You didn’t mention martial arts, I almost forgot! Have you been going for morning runs since you returned?"
"I have." Han Mingyue’s words carried a hint of laughter, "I even got Jiaoyang to run with me!"
"Pfft!" Imagining the lazy Jiaoyang being forced to wake up early, Zhen Yu couldn’t help but start laughing, "You really know how to drag your brother into this! Did he cry in front of you?"
"He himself said he wanted to learn martial arts! I told him," Han Mingyue’s voice suddenly lowered, "before studying martial arts, you have to build a foundation! If he doesn’t train now, even if he gets into First High School, Master Xu wouldn’t accept him!"
"First High School?" Zhen Yu wasn’t too surprised when she asked, "Did he really change his goal? Was it voluntary?"
"Yes! For the sake of becoming a martial arts hero, he really is going all out."
After they finished talking about useful things, all that was left were some sweet nothings.
Zhen Yu and Han Mingyue chatted about all sorts of topics for another ten minutes before reluctantly ending the call.
Picking up a book and flipping through it for a while, yet unable to focus, Zhen Yu gradually let her mind wander.
National Day had passed for so long, and the information from the telecommunications bureau was confirmed long ago; the internet service had indeed been introduced.
Zhen Yu even personally went to inquire about it, and then... she gave up!
Because the fees were just too expensive! If she were to change the game hall into an internet café now, it was unclear whether it would lose money, but not making money was an absolute certainty!
Another point, which Zhen Yu had only recently considered, was that the reason the internet is so popular is because people have things to do online!
What did people do on the internet at the end of the 90s? Using the earliest chat software, OICQ, for online chatting counts; playing large scale online games, leveling up, and PKing counts.
These two things were not yet available at the time, so why open an internet café? To provide a place for people to browse web pages and read news?
Who would care for that?!
Just like that, Zhen Yu’s plans for the internet café were shelved.
Thankfully, this period wasn’t entirely futile! Zhang Liang made another trip to the game hall, helping her install a local network game called "Age of Empires."
This was also one of the games she had come across online in her previous life, said to be popular in this era!
Using modern promotional slogans she tweaked herself, Zhen Yu quickly boosted the game hall’s popularity once again.
Along with the game hall, the delivery and book rental services also started booming!
With a month’s fermentation, the delivery service had begun showing extraordinary promise; Gu’s father and nephew were so busy that they had to hire an additional kitchen helper.
And Zhen Yu also gave Zhang San and Li Si a raise! Since the internet wasn’t currently feasible, these two had little to do all along—just monitoring the flow of people in the game hall to prevent anyone from dodging bills.
Thus, Zhen Yu proposed to assign them the work of managing meal orders for delivery, and adjusted their working hours.
Changing to handing off shifts at 11 a.m. and p.m.; the night shift could handle lunch, and the day shift could take care of dinner.
Mrs. Zhen and Zhen Yan both thought Zhen Yu’s method was good! Instead of paying a stranger another person’s salary, why not split the salary and let acquaintances earn it!
With their pay raised, Zhang San and Li Si didn’t have to sit idle anymore. Mrs. Zhen could also take a break from her hectic schedule, quietly selling goods and renting out books.
Everyone was more than satisfied.
The only downside was that it was too labor-intensive!
"Software! All kinds of software! When will someone finally create these pieces of software?!" Thinking this, Zhen Yu couldn’t help but sighed deeply!
She was really desperate for them now!
Sometimes, she even wanted to tell herself—"Give me a software suite! I could pull all the restaurants in Qi City into my delivery army!"
Unfortunately... software isn’t something you can have just by wishing for it!
"Alas, better focus on self-studying computer science! Who knows, maybe one day I’ll manage to tinker some gadgets together!"