Chapter 383 - Artist’s Impression of the Phone Booth (1/2)
January 9th, Sunday…
A strange-looking phone booth had been erected at the topmost floor of Huanyu Tianjie Shopping Center. This level also had a cinema, a few claw machines, and a bubble tea shop.
The strange-looking phone booth had been set up in front of a wall that visitors would have to walk past on the way to the cinema. It would be easy to spot the phone booth from the escalator.
The phone booth was made out of see-through glass on all four sides. The sound-proofing was not bad, and there was a ventilator on top to ensure that one would not feel suffocated even if they stayed inside for an hour or two.
On the exterior of the side of the phone booth closest to the path, the metal frame on either side looked wider than the others. It looked like the creator had left empty spaces on purpose. That was the space that Zhang Wang wanted to leave for the artist to express himself. As for the other two sides… the left side had more sci-fi vibes. Through the glass, one could see an electronic screen with a poster on top. The poster said, ‘Shared Phone Booth Advertisement Space Available’.
The right side had purposely been decorated to look more like traditional phone booths. Through the glass, one could see the ancient-looking phone inside the booth.
Apart from that, one could also see some things on the table through the glass. Those things included a water dispenser, the Wi-Fi router, a power outlet, a bookshelf, and the line.
They had not been well-prepared so the karaoke machine, the drinks dispenser, and the remaining items were not moved in yet.
Soon, many people began to gather around the booth.
“What’s this?” “I don’t think this was here before.”
“Doesn’t the advertising poster make it clear? ‘Shared Phone Booth Advertisement Space Available’.”
“Pfft, what’s that? A shared phone booth?”
“Hahaha, I’m dying laughing. What a lame project. Quick, take a picture to remember it!”
Soon, many shoppers in Huanyu Tianjie started taking photos outside the phone booth to mock it in their respective chat groups.
Many people also tried to find out what exactly the phone booth did.
This was the first and only shared phone booth in Jingzhou. Zhang Wang had rushed this ‘prototype’ out in his own working space at home over the last few days.
The first batch of products he had ordered from the manufacturers had not arrived yet. To see the effects of the shared phone booth as soon as possible, Zhang Wang had decided to move his own ‘prototype’ into the shopping malls to test the waters. He had engaged a moving company to move his phone booth into the mall. The installation was quick; it only took them about an hour or so.
Huanyu Tianjie was one of the core shopping malls in Jingzhou City. Thus, there was a steady flow of traffic. This was the first chance that Zhang Wang had to see how everyone would react to something as novel as this and whether they would accept it or not.
Soon after, a couple retrieved their phones from their pockets and scanned the QR code on the phone booth.
“Holy sh*t, that expensive?!” The man was quite shocked.
After they scanned the QR code, they were brought to a simple-looking webpage. Obviously, this had been rushed out at the last minute. The webpage explained the pricing standards of the shared phone booth. Everything in the phone booth could be used to a limited extent. They would be charged ten yuan every fifteen minutes. That was the price one had to pay for playing for an hour in Fish-Catching Internet Cafe.
One could log in using their social media accounts or cell phone numbers. However, if they wanted to use the facilities in the phone booth, they would have to pay money first. That was because the creator of the shared phone booth had not thought about getting a deposit from users instead.
After payment was made, the phone booth’s door would open. Users could enter the phone booth and close the door. Then, the power outlet, Wi-Fi router, and the like would be activated. That was when the countdown would begin.
When time was up-if one did not pay for more time, the phone booth’s facilities would automatically switch off. Customers would not be allowed to continue using them.
Once customers left and closed the door, the booth would detect that there was no one left inside and automatically lock its door.
One could say that its functions were quite simple at this stage. It barely provided the basic functions expected of shared phone booths. Usage was also not that convenient.
Furthermore, there were many gaps to be filled. For example, if people refused to leave and if their skin was thick enough, they could stay inside and keep enjoying warm water. On top of that, most of the facilities were lacking. For now, there was no drinks machine, karaoke machine, AED, or weighing scales.
The drinks machine was not there because they could not resolve the problems related to its usage. If customers could top up their cups indefinitely, the phone booth would lose a lot of money for sure. However, if they wanted to limit each customer to two cups of drinks each, they would have to purchase a special drinks machine. Thus, they were replacing it with a water dispenser for now. As for the karaoke machine, they were in the midst of negotiations with a singing application, and they still needed time to purchase the necessary equipment.
They were still purchasing the AED as well and could not arrange for delivery at such short notice.
To Zhang Wang, this project was still in the midst of research and development. There was still time to perfect it and improve it in the future.
For now, he only wanted to reserve the space and get everyone accustomed to seeing a shared phone booth in the shopping center. More functions would be added in as time went by.
The first couple who tried scanning the QR code hesitated for a while outside the booth before they decided not to pay and leave instead.
The main reasons were that they did not think it was necessary to enter at that moment, and it would be expensive to enter.
Compared to the narrow, suppressive glass box; they would have much rather found a cafe or dessert shop to rest in and spend the money on drinks or food instead.
Many people were surrounding the phone booth and taking photos, but not one of them actually scanned the QR code.
After taking a few photographs, a significant number of people walked away to carry on with their day. Some went to the nearby bubble tea shop to get drinks while others walked into the cinema.
At that moment, another couple walked towards the shared phone booth.
The lady looked at the phone, and her eyes lit up at once. “Eh? That phone looks really good! Quick, let’s scan the XXX and enter. Take a photo for me!”
The lady quickly scanned the QR code to enter the phone booth. Then, she picked up the ancient-looking phone in the both and struck a few poses. The man hesitantly but helplessly raised up his own cell phone and snapped a few photographs from outside the phone booth.
“Alright, I’m done.”
The man entered the phone booth and showed the pictures to the lady.
“Er… your photography skills are lacking. Forget it, let’s leave it at that.”
The lady forced herself to accept the photographs and then turned her attention to the interior of the shared phone booth.
It looked simple, but it also looked quite solid.
“There are so many best-selling novels and comics on the shelf. The paper cups and warm water are free too…”
After looking around at the various facilities in the booth, the lady fell silent for a moment. Then, she said, “I just spent ten yuan to take a few photos, sit here for some rest, and drink two cups of water… what a loss.”
The man quietly picked up a comic book from the shelf and said, “Take it as an IQ tax.”
The lady, “…are you saying I have a low IQ?”
Opposite the shared phone booth, in a dessert shop…
Zhang Wang and He Desheng sipped at their drinks while they looked in the direction of the shared phone booth.
“Three hours have passed since the shopping center opened in the morning.