Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 70 Camera

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Little Red asked, "What do you want?"

Xiao Wei said, "I helped Sister Jin harvest her rice. That place had over 30 mu of land, all harvested by hand, and there were only three people in her family."

Little Red pouted and said, "I want to go too. I've never seen a vast rice paddy before."

Xiao Wei said, "If you want to go, then go. Just ask for leave from military training, don't go, and pay the fee."

Xiaohong said, "No leave is allowed, it counts towards academic credits. If only we had a camera, we could take some pictures and bring them back for me to see."

Xiao Wei instinctively reached up to scratch his head, but Xiao Hong immediately pointed at him and said, "You're not allowed to buy it. I haven't even settled the score with you for the tape recorder yet."

Xiao Wei laughed and said, "Buying one is fine too, it's not expensive. It's still something. When we have time to go out and play, we can take some pictures and bring them back to show my uncle and aunt, and my parents. They've never been to Fengtian before."

Xiao Hong paused for a moment, then slowly lowered her hand, looking thoughtful.

Xia Maosheng said, "If you have the money, you can buy one. These days, it costs several yuan to take a picture. The other day, I took five pictures in the park, which cost fifteen yuan. A good roll of film only costs twenty yuan and can take thirty or forty pictures. You can calculate how much difference that is?"

Xiao Hong asked, "Then, how much does the camera cost?"

Xia Maosheng turned to look at Xiao Wei and said, "It's not expensive. A few hundred yuan is quite good. It's not even as expensive as a tape recorder."

Chen Hui looked at Xia Maosheng, about to speak, when Xia Maosheng pinched him from below. Xiao Hong, separated by the table, didn't see it. She nodded hesitantly and said, "Well, that's fine too."

Chen Hui rubbed his leg, which Xia Maosheng had pinched so hard, and said aggrievedly, "I have some at home. I can get it for you if you need it. You don't need to buy it. Ouch, why did you use so much force? It's definitely bruised."

Xiao Wei shook his head and said, "If your family has one, that's yours. Cameras are expensive things. Forget it, I'll just buy one myself."

Chen Hui rubbed his leg and said, "What? I took your lighter for several thousand yuan, while the camera only cost around two thousand. If that's the case, then I can't keep the lighter either, right?"

Xiao Hong glanced at Xia Maosheng, who grinned and reached down towards Chen Hui's thigh. This time, Chen Hui was on guard and blocked him with his hand, saying, "Let me finish. I might not know much about other things, but I do know a bit about motorcycle cameras. I've been playing with them for years. If it's a domestically made camera, it's about the same price you mentioned, like Dongfang, Panda, Phoenix, etc. Seagull are all about the same. But it depends on the model. Generally, a 135mm camera is only three or four hundred yuan. Add a flash, tripod, and stuff, and it's a little over five hundred yuan."

"If Xiaowei wants to buy the 120 size, it will be a bit more expensive, around 700 or 800 yuan. I'm talking about the domestically made ones."

"If you really want to buy a camera, Xiaowei, I suggest you buy an imported one, either Japanese or German. These two countries are the best in the world for cameras, motorcycles, and cars. A Japanese camera costs two or three thousand yuan and comes with a zoom lens; the high price is due to the lens. German cameras are a bit too expensive. My dad has always wanted to buy one, but my mom won't let me. They cost tens of thousands of yuan each, and they're the best cameras in the world."

Xia Maosheng grinned at Chen Hui from the side, poking Chen Hui's arm with his fist and asking, "Are you stupid? Are you stupid? You think you know everything?"

Xiao Hong said, "Oh my god, this is so expensive! Xiao Wei, let's forget about it, it's too pricey."

Xiaowei said, "We'll have to buy one sooner or later. I'll go take a look sometime and then discuss it with you. Tomorrow we'll use Huizi's for now; I've never used it before, so I need to learn. Is that thing easy to learn?"

Xia Maosheng said, "The more expensive the camera, the more complicated it is; the cheaper the camera, the simpler it is. These days, point-and-shoot cameras only cost a hundred or eighty yuan. You don't need to learn anything about them, just point and press the buttons, but the photo quality isn't good. Xiaohui, what kind of camera do you have?"

Chen Hui said, "Ricoh, 115 zoom, no problem, I know how to use it. I'll teach Xiaowei, and then I'll leave the camera here for you to practice slowly. It's a bit complicated when you first get into it. You'd better buy a photography book to read about aperture, shutter speed, focal length, and depth of field. You can get different effects when you take the same picture of the same place. You also need to learn how to frame the shot and calculate the exposure relationship between light and shutter speed."

Xiao Wei asked, "What does 'exposure' mean?"

Chen Hui was taken aback, while Xia Maosheng burst into laughter. Chen Hui smiled wryly and said, "I'll bring the camera tomorrow and explain it to you then. You really don't understand anything at all. I'm speechless."

Xiao Wei said, "I don't understand. You used to know everything? You knew everything without anyone teaching you?"

Xiao Hong glanced at her watch and said, "Oh dear, it's almost midnight. Time for bed, we'll talk about it tomorrow. No wonder I'm so sleepy." She got up to wash her face. Xiao Wei also stood up and said, "Yeah, you really should sleep. Let's talk about it tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll go to Sanhao Street. Is Hui Zi going back? Or do you want to squeeze in with Lao Xia here?"

Chen Hui said, "Forget it, he's so big, one bed isn't even enough for him to squeeze into. I'd better go upstairs. Why would I leave a big bed here to suffer?" He stood up, stretched, and said, "What time are we going to Sanhao Street tomorrow? I'll go take a look too, and then I'll buy you some suitable books. That stuff can't be explained in a short time, you should read first. I'm off." He changed his shoes and went upstairs.

Xia Maosheng stretched and yawned, saying, "Yeah, that requires reading books and practicing slowly; it's much more complicated than cooking. Hey, what kind do you want to buy? I'm worried that if I say it's too expensive, Xiaohong won't let you buy it. Aren't you afraid?"

Xiao Wei said, "Why make up such nonsense? We'll find out sooner or later. Let's just buy something decent. It's all money anyway. Let's go see it tomorrow and decide." Xia Maosheng nodded, yawned, and went into the guest room. Xiao Wei said, "Wash your feet. So lazy."

Xia Maosheng leaned out from the door frame and said, "I washed them last night, I'll wash them again tomorrow, my feet don't smell." He then closed the door.

The next day, Xiaowei didn't go up to class; instead, he was in the kitchen downstairs cutting potatoes and scallions until lunch break.

At noon, Xia Maosheng came down to find Xiaowei, mainly to freeload a meal. The two ate the staff lunch together in the kitchen, then came back up, intending to go to Sanhao Street to look at cameras. However, upon hearing that someone wanted to buy a camera, Li Guangzhao, Yang Tiebin, Luo Qinghe, Qi Guangjun, Yang Changjiu, and their group all wanted to go. They weren't buying anything; they just wanted to broaden their horizons. Since the group couldn't ride bikes, Xiaowei suggested they take the bus together while he rode his bike home, also calling Chen Hui along the way.

When Xiaowei and Chen Hui arrived at the Sanhao Street bus stop, Xia Maosheng and the others had already arrived. A group of people were squatting by the bus stop, smoking and chatting. Xiaowei called out, and everyone got up and walked into the mall together.

It's the same place where I bought the tape recorder last time, so I know the way well this time.

We went straight to the third floor, and it turned out that the girl from the store where we bought the tape recorder last time still remembered Xiaowei and Xia Maosheng. She greeted us from afar, "What are you buying again, bro? Come take a look at my place, see if the machine works? If you have any problems, just come to me."

Xiao Wei greeted her and said, "I'd like to see a camera, do you have one?"