Some equipment

Joseph placed both hands on the steering wheel, furrowing his brow as if contemplating a profound and serious question. Hugo, sitting in the passenger seat, unbuckled his seatbelt and prepared to get out, but he noticed Joseph remained motionless. He turned back and said, "Get out."

Joseph looked up at Hugo and asked, "Are you serious?"

Hugo pushed the door open with his right hand, which was resting on the handle, and stepped out of the car. He said to Joseph, "You've been babbling the whole way. Aren't you tired?"

Joseph quickly got out of the car and caught up with Hugo's footsteps. He asked, "Are you really going to buy a brick?"

Hearing this metaphorical term, Hugo smiled and replied, "Yes, that's why we came to Motorola. Look, we're already at the storefront."

"But I heard that thing is not useful at all. You can't hear the other person clearly, often can't get in touch, and it's so heavy, very inconvenient," Joseph continued to complain with a furrowed brow.

Hugo sighed deeply and said, "I know, I know everything you're saying, but trust me, buying it will be worth it."

In 1992 Los Angeles, Hugo was finally catching up with the world of technology. Today, he decided to buy a mobile phone! Such a matter had no value for discussion twenty years later, but at this moment, it was a new phenomenon that shook everyone's mindset.

Mobile phones were invented as early as 1973 but were officially put into use in 1983. In the nine years since then, the development of mobile phones had been slow. The number of mobile phone users in the entire United States did not exceed 300,000, and compared to landlines, mobile phones still didn't have many advantages. The unclear call quality was not only due to a lack of signal towers but also the fundamental limitations of the phone's technology. The so-called "portability" advantage was also greatly diminished due to its bulky brick-like size.

People mocked the current portable phones as "shoephones", implying that they were as cumbersome and huge as shoes. Later, the nickname "brick" became more widely spread, satirizing those wealthy individuals carrying a brick while walking down the street. This illustrated the difficult situation of mobile phones in the market today.

Therefore, when Hugo proposed to buy a portable phone, Joseph thought he was crazy. However, Hugo possessed a soul from twenty-two years later and couldn't imagine a life without mobile phones and the internet. Prior to this, Hugo didn't have the financial means to improve his life, so he could only passively adapt. But now, the remaining two million from the movie "A Few Good Men" had been paid, and the plan to buy a mobile phone immediately entered Hugo's mind.

As one of the world's top communication companies, Motorola had branches in major cities, but the availability of portable phones was quite limited. Fortunately, Hugo was in Los Angeles, the second-largest city in the United States, which saved him a lot of trouble.

Walking into Motorola's main store in Los Angeles, a salesperson immediately approached them and said, "Good morning, gentlemen. I'm Chris. How can I assist you?"

Hugo scanned the interior of the store and noticed there were fewer counters than he had imagined, and the decoration was quite simple. After entering the 21st century, mobile communication had increasingly occupied a larger proportion in people's lives, so the storefronts of related industries became more and more luxurious. But for now, even Motorola's main store in Los Angeles could still be described as rudimentary.

Chris Keane greeted them with a smile. The slightly smaller man's eyes scanned the store, naturally meeting the gaze of the more muscular man. The man before them seemed preoccupied, furrowing his brow and pursing his lips, wearing an uncertain expression. Chris knew that in order to make a sale, he had to take the initiative, so he did.

"Sir, we have a variety of communication devices in our store that can definitely meet your needs," Chris enthusiastically pitched. "Recently, more young people are choosing pagers. If you're interested, I can show you some."

Pagers, also known as beepers, paging devices, or BP machines, were transitional communication devices that existed before the advent of cell phones. The use of pagers was actually quite simple—they functioned as portable wireless receivers.

For example, if Hugo wanted to find Joseph but couldn't locate him, he could call the pager service and leave a message for Joseph's pager number. Then, Joseph's pager would indicate that someone was calling him, and he could use a nearby public telephone to call the pager service and retrieve the message. Additionally, pagers could display numeric messages, which made them a popular tool for romantic gestures, such as leaving messages like "520" to mean "I love you" or "1314" to represent "forever".

Compared to mobile phones, pagers were now widely accepted and enjoyed strong sales worldwide, becoming the hottest emerging instant communication tool.

"A pager? Hey, can I take a look?" Hugo, who was a product of the 80s, didn't have much impression of pagers since they had declined around 1995. However, he had later come across many pictures of pagers on the internet, which piqued his curiosity about this form of communication. And now, he had the opportunity to touch a real pager, which immediately excited him.

Joseph looked at Hugo, hesitated for a moment, and decided not to say, "Aren't you supposed to be buying a brick?" He realized that compared to a brick, a pager seemed more practical, so he didn't voice any objections.

Chris stood beside them and glanced at Joseph before deftly taking over the conversation. "Of course, you can. Please follow me." Chris led the way, introducing, "We, Motorola, were one of the first companies to introduce pagers. Currently, we have two types of devices—one that can only display numbers, and the other that can display text. We have different packages for both models, and we also offer additional services such as weather forecasts and news."

They arrived at the counter, where Chris placed several different models of pagers on the glass surface and enthusiastically introduced them. However, Hugo's attention wasn't focused on Chris's presentation. He casually picked up one of the pagers and examined it.

The black device was slightly smaller than a cigarette box and could easily fit in the palm of his hand, making it convenient to carry. It had a narrow display screen on the front, indicating that it was a model capable of displaying text. There were several small buttons below the screen, with the "Motorola" logo written beside them. On the back, there was a clip that could be attached to a belt. Hugo immediately recalled the pictures he had seen online—a middle-aged man smoking, wearing a black belt with keys, a pager, and a wallet chain hanging from it. On top of that, he had a large brick-like object attached to the back. His jacket couldn't hide all these items, creating a typical image of a nouveau riche with questionable taste.

Thinking about this, Hugo couldn't help but chuckle, catching the attention of Chris and Joseph. He quickly waved his hand, saying, "Sorry, sorry, pay no attention to me."

Joseph thought Hugo was expressing his satisfaction with the pager, so he asked, "What kind of packages are available for this model?"

"Oh, after purchasing the device for $60, there's a basic monthly fee of $12, and we can also offer you daily instant news as a bonus," Chris quickly explained, clearly hearing the signs of a successful deal in Joseph's tone.

Hugo frowned slightly, finding the pager cheaper than he had imagined. After all, this portable communication tool did solve many important problems. "Why didn't you get a pager for yourself at work?" Hugo suddenly remembered this question. As agents, it was crucial to stay in constant contact with clients, and having a pager could solve many troubles. But Joseph didn't have one.

Joseph shrugged his shoulders. "When you took over your job, you didn't have as much work, remember?" Now they could talk about what happened in the past year without any obstacles. They could casually mention even the Razzie Awards as a joking topic. "But Ron got two pagers." Hugo turned his head, casting a puzzled look. "One for familiar people, and the other for giving out a number for casual greetings." Hugo suddenly understood.

"Well, do you need to buy two then? If possible, I think Karl would need one too. You know, he's been getting busy lately." Compared to the expensive and impractical brick, Joseph naturally preferred the pager. Besides, both he and Karl could afford it.

Now, besides Charlize, Karl was also helping with many of Alex's tasks. After all, Joseph had been busy with Hugo recently and had no free time at all. So the workload of both Karl and Joseph had increased significantly, and they needed to make some preparations.

Chris's gaze involuntarily turned to Hugo because he knew who held the decision-making power. Looking at Hugo in front of him, Chris felt that he recognized him even more. More precisely, it wasn't just recognition; Hugo's image had been everywhere lately. "A Few Good Men" was the only film that swept the box office in December, and it wasn't easy to not recognize his face.

"Hey, are you, are you Hugo? I mean, Hugo Lancaster?" Chris asked tentatively. If it really was Hugo, then today's business would surely be a success. Hugo's career had been booming lately. Thinking this, a smile appeared on Chris's face.

"Yes," Hugo turned his head and looked at Chris, flashing a bright and friendly smile. But the words he uttered immediately dashed Chris's hopes. "Thank you for your introduction, but I think we don't need pagers, thanks."

Chris's smile froze on his face, disappointment creeping up his brows. It was truly unfortunate.