Apple USA 058

  After dinner, Lin Zhenhua rode his bicycle to the county town and came back with two large cardboard boxes on his bike.

  In the southern spring, it was chilly and rainy, and as soon as night fell, there were hardly any people on the road. Lin Zhenhua chose this time to move things, also in order to avoid everyone's attention. To further cover his tracks, he deliberately wrapped another layer of newspaper around the box, so that no one could see the original English logo on the cardboard box. This way, even if he occasionally ran into someone who asked a question, he could just laugh it off and bluff his way through.

  Lin Zhenhua rode his bike and didn't go home but came directly to the door of Hu Yang's house. He leaned his bike against the door and knocked gently on the door.

  "Who's there?" A woman's voice came from inside the house.

  "Hello, Mistress Hu. I'm Xiao Lin," replied Lin Zhenhua. He could tell that the woman inside was Qin Ying, Hu Yang's wife and a statistician in the container workshop. In the factory, people sometimes referred to the female head of a dual-income household as "Shifu" (Master) and sometimes as "Shimu" (Mistress), so it was acceptable to call Qin Ying either "Qin Shifu" or "Hu Shimu". If it were a single-income household, however, family members could only be referred to as "Shimu", and many workers' true surnames remained unknown.

  Qin Ying came over and opened the door. She looked at Lin Zhenhua's back and asked in a somewhat strange tone, "Little Lin, why are you alone?"

  "Is it just me?" Lin Zhenhua was somewhat curious, had he said that he would bring someone along?

  "Isn't Old Hu with you?"

  "What? Master Hu hasn't come back yet?" Lin Zhenhua was stunned.

  Just then, Hu Yang's voice came from behind: "Sorry sorry, I was so absorbed in reading that I forgot to go home."

  "What are you reading?" Qin Ying asked with a slightly resentful tone, "You haven't even eaten dinner, aren't you hungry?"

  "Not hungry, not hungry at all." Hu Yang's face was full of joy, he waved the English original book in his hand and said to Qin Ying: "Xiao Ying, look, this is what Xiao Lin lent me, 'High-Speed Cutting Principle', it's really great. Xiao Ying, you remember..."

  "Lao Hu, there's a guest." Qin Ying interrupted Hu Yang's words without changing her expression. She pointed at Lin Zhenhua and said: "Little Lin has something to discuss with you."

  "Hurry up and turn your head to Lin Zhenhua with a smile: "Little Lin, sorry, I just remembered that you said you would come to my house tonight, so I rushed back. Qin Ying knows, I like to read books, once I start reading, I forget everything."

  Lin Zhenhua smiled slightly, and he was now certain that there must be some stories on Hu Yang's body. As for what the story is, it will definitely have an answer in the future. From the conversation between Hu Yang and Qin Ying, he could also judge that Qin Ying must also be a character in this story. He couldn't help but glance at Qin Ying, and found that there was a kind of wisdom in her eyes that was different from others, which was the wisdom of well-educated women.

  "Kobayashi, what do you want from me?" Hu Yang asked, his eyes falling on the two large paper boxes tied to Lin Zhenhua's bicycle. "Right, you said you were going to give me a gift, is this it?"

  "That's right." Lin Zhenhua smiled and said, "Old Hu, help us out, let's move the trunk inside first."

  Hu Yang didn't know what Lin Zhenhua meant, but he knew that Lin Zhenhua would not be the kind of person to give gifts in a very ordinary way. Moreover, he was just a woodworker, and there was no need for Lin Zhenhua to bribe him with anything. He walked forward and helped Lin Zhenhua untie the rope on the bundle of boxes, then together they carried the box into the house. Qin Ying stood by to help them, in case the box accidentally hit the door.

  "What's inside, it's so heavy." Hu Yang put down the trunk and asked.

  Lin Zhenhua asked Qin Ying to close the door and then said: "Actually, it's nothing, just a box of American apples."

  "American apples?" Hu Yang was somewhat disappointed and waved his hand, saying: "Little Lin, you keep them for yourself to eat or send some to the factory leaders, my family doesn't need any."

  Lin Zhenhua smiled but didn't speak, he tore open the newspaper wrapped around the box, and borrowed a pair of scissors from Qin Ying to cut off the packing tape on the box. Then, he took out a heavy, flat plastic box about two feet long, one foot wide, and half a foot high from the box. He placed the box on the table where Hu Yang's family had dinner, then turned around and took out a TV-like object with a screen from another box, placing it on top of the flat box.

  "Is this an apple?" Qin Ying asked in surprise.

  Hu Yang's lips trembled slightly, and his eyes welled up with tears as he said softly, "This is indeed an American apple, APPLE-II personal computer."

  "Lao Hu knows what he's doing." Lin Zhenhua gave Hu Yang a thumbs up.

  With the help of Hu Yang, Lin Zhenhua managed to plug in the power cord of his Apple computer. The Apple computer uses a US-standard plug, which doesn't match the electrical outlets used in China. However, this didn't stop Lin Zhenhua - he simply used pliers to remove the grounding pin from the US-standard plug, leaving two prongs that fit perfectly into the outlet on Hu Yang's wall.

  Hu Yang watched Lin Zhenhua use pliers to deal with this equipment, which was considered a sky-high price at that time, and couldn't help but feel terrified. Lin Zhenhua, however, was not in the least bit concerned, thinking that in the era of widespread computer use, enthusiasts' methods of tinkering with computers were far more intense than this. Lin Zhenhua knew one thing: computers are more prone to being messed around with than football.

  Everything was ready, under the tense gaze of Hu Yang and Qin Ying, Lin Zhenhua pressed the power button on the Apple machine, and the deep green screen lit up, with a cursor flashing rhythmically on the screen.

  "I haven't used it before," said Hu Yang from the side, "will you, Xiao Lin?"

  Lin Zhenhua nodded, sat down at the desk, tapped on the keyboard and entered three lines of commands into the computer:

  10_PRINT_25*25

  20_END

  RUN

  An answer appeared on the screen immediately: 625.

  Hu Yang nodded, indicating that he understood, the word PRINT he recognized, as for the asterisk, it should mean multiplication.

  "Bring on a complex one," said Lin Zhenhua, who continued to type commands.

  NEW

  10_FOR_A=1_TO_9

  20_FOR_B=1_TO_9

  30_PRINT_TAB(B*3－2);A*B

  40__B

  50_PRINT

  60__A

  70_END

  RUN

  On the screen, a neat digital matrix was immediately listed, and both Hu Yang and Qin Ying saw that it was a 99 multiplication table.

  "It's too amazing." Qin Ying exclaimed in a low voice.

  Poplar nodded: "Indeed, hearing is virtual and seeing is real. I just saw the newspaper say that Americans have launched personal computers, but I didn't think they could design programming languages so simple, it's like everyone can design programs now. Little Lin, what you're typing is BASIC language, right?"

  "That's right." Lin Zhenhua stood up, took out a thick manual from the box, and said to Hu Yang: "Old Hu, there is a manual here about the syntax of the BASIC language. I believe that with your IQ, you will understand it at a glance. I was originally going to translate it for you before giving it to you, but now it seems that I'm saving myself some trouble."

  "You mean this computer is going to be left with me?" Hu Yang asked in a disbelieving tone.

  "That's right." Lin Zhenhua said, he knew that this move would bring a great mental shock to Hu Yang, but he had to pretend to be nonchalant on his face. "Old Hu, since you used an abacus to do finite element analysis last time, I've been thinking of getting you a computer. This computer is the only one in the whole factory that you are qualified to use."

  "Kobayashi, where did you get this from? According to what I read in the newspaper, an Apple computer costs over $1,000 on the US market." said Hu Yang.

  "This one is a bit more expensive, probably around $2,600. It comes with 48K memory and supports FORTRAN-77. If you want to do numerical calculations, BASIC is simply too slow."

  " $2600?" Hu Yang's tongue lolled out for a long time, "At the black market price, it's equivalent to over 20,000 RMB! Xiao Lin, where did you get so much money from?"

  Lin Zhenhua briefly told Hu Yang about the Ford matter, considering that Hu Yang was an expert in the field. Lin Zhenhua didn't conceal too much and directly said that he had discovered a flaw on American machine tools and proposed improvement suggestions to them. Regarding the Z80 language issue, Lin Zhenhua did not reveal anything, only saying that he made some inferences from internal logic and proposed several possibilities. After checking, the engineers on the American side finally found his reasoning correct, so they agreed to pay him.

  Lin Zhenhua had not revealed the truth of the whole thing to anyone else, and to Hu Yang, he was one of the few who knew the most. He believed that Hu Yang was not the kind of person who would leak secrets, in fact, Hu Yang himself had many secrets.

  "This gift is really too expensive, I really can't accept it. You'd better keep it for yourself." Hu Yang said, stroking the Apple computer with his hand.

  "Lao Hu, I have one myself, and this one is specifically for you," said Lin Zhenhua. "Lao Hu, I don't know what kind of person you are, but I do know that a dragon in a shallow pool will eventually make a big splash with its talents. Don't you want to make some intellectual preparations for the day when you'll rise to prominence?"

  Hu Yang shook his head: "What kind of dragon am I? I'm just a tree in the desert, never to see water again." When he mentioned water, Hu Yang slightly turned his face away, not wanting Lin Zhenhua to see the tears in his eyes.

  Lin Zhenhua said, "Old Hu, I know that the Populus euphratica is the most spirited tree in the desert. In the rainless desert, the Populus euphratica can live for a thousand years without dying, stand for a thousand years after death, and remain unrotten for another thousand years after falling. Old Hu, you must believe that there will be a day when the clouds disperse and the fog clears."

  Hu Yang grasped Lin Zhenhua's hand and said, "Little Lin, adversity reveals true feelings. Although you are younger than me in age, having a friend like you is the greatest fortune of my life as Hu Yang. I won't say anything else, this computer, I'll leave it here, rest assured, I won't let it down."

  Qin Ying saw her husband nod, and hurriedly stepped forward to arrange: "Xiao Lin, we've accepted this computer, but where should it be placed? I remember that computer rooms need to be dust-proof and anti-static, but look at our home environment..."

  Lin Zhenhua secretly smiled to himself, this Hu Shifu was indeed no ordinary person. With just one sentence, she could say something as professional as "anti-dust and anti-static", and what's more, she said "I remember" instead of "I heard". The difference in these two words revealed...

  "Qin big sister, don't worry, personal computers and those large and medium-sized computers are not much different. Americans have already considered the home environment when producing them, so they don't need special care. Usually just cover it with a cloth to prevent too much dust from accumulating on the motherboard. Because our southern region is relatively humid, if there's too much dust and then it gets damp again, there might be a short circuit situation. However, this kind of situation is also very rare."

  "Alright, alright, no problem. I'll go get a piece of cloth tomorrow to make a cover." Qin Ying said with a gentle tone.

  Hu Yang rummaged through the boxes containing computers and pulled out a small, multicolored box. He looked at it curiously and asked, "Xiao Lin, what is this?"

  "This is American chocolate, it's something you can really eat. Give some to Qin Bo and Qin Tao to try."

  "Haha, Xiao Lin is really thoughtful. Then I'll thank Uncle Lin on behalf of my siblings." Qin Ying said happily. The Hu family was a dual-income household, and their economic conditions were slightly better than those of single-income households. Their two children had no problem getting full meals, but they had never tasted anything as luxurious as chocolate before. Seeing this beautiful box, Qin Ying could imagine the great and long-lasting joy that this box of chocolates would bring to her children.

  "Uncle Lin?" Lin Zhenhua broke out in a cold sweat, "Am I that old?" Hu Yang and his wife had their children relatively late, but their eldest daughter Qin Bo was already 11 years old, calling Lin Zhenhua "uncle" seemed somewhat exaggerated.

  Hu Yang smiled and said, "Little Lin, you've got your generations all mixed up. You call Qin Ying 'older sister', but don't you think Qin Bo and Qin Tao will start calling you 'uncle'? If you feel like you're still young, then from now on, you should call Qin Ayi (Auntie)."

  "Am I that old?" Qin Ying gave Hu Yang a white eye and also burst out laughing.