Chapter 40 Living in a Guesthouse
"Red Citizen, the history world is abuzz right now. The vortex you caused has spread to other cities and will probably soon spark a nationwide discussion."
Zou Shifang said worriedly: "If this continues, it may have a bad impact."
Liu Hongmin didn't care. "The bigger the fuss, the better. Isn't it advocated to open your eyes and see the world? If you want to see, you have to see the whole picture. How can you only see the bright and beautiful side? There must be darkness under the light, and it is often the darkness that deserves our vigilance."
Zou Shifang shook his head speechlessly. He had finally figured it out. Liu Hongmin was obviously biased against the West, otherwise he wouldn't have poured cold water on the trend of going abroad just as it was beginning.
Liu Hongmin didn't know what he was thinking, and even if he knew, he wouldn't care.
"Has the house in Shichahai been vacated?"
"It's been vacated." Zou Shifang said, "I've asked someone to do a simple cleanup, and I'm waiting for you to come back and see how to renovate it."
Liu Hongmin said: "Of course it should be decorated according to the garden. However, it is best not to move the old objects in the house."
Zou Shifang thought for a moment and said, "Then let's ask those old professors who study gardening in the school to design it."
"Can we invite them?" Liu Hongmin asked in surprise, "You know, those old professors are all researching the restoration of the Summer Palace. Can they take over this small job from me?"
"You are a famous person in the school!" Zou Shifang teased, "It will be no problem to build a house for you."
"Forget it! I don't have that much face."
Zou Shifang: "Who gave you face? They gave face to the Hong Kong dollar."
Liu Hongmin was stunned for a moment, then asked: "Do they also want to earn foreign exchange?"
"Of course!" Zou Shifang said, "Many things in the Summer Palace are abroad. If we want to restore the Summer Palace, how can we not go and see it? When the time comes, won't we have to use foreign exchange?"
When Liu Hongmin heard this, he immediately said, "Then I'll pay 20,000 Hong Kong dollars as the design fee."
"atmosphere!"
With today's prices, a design fee of 20,000 Hong Kong dollars is absolutely astronomical. It is probably enough to design several courtyard houses.
However, Liu Hongmin didn't care. Since he didn't get the distribution rights for Jin Yong's novels, he had no place to spend the money he earned for the time being, so he just considered it as funding the research of those professors.
Those professors were struggling with funding issues, and Liu Hongmin was a timely help. Soon, Zou Shifang got several design drawings for Liu Hongmin to choose from.
Liu Hongmin picked one and said, "We need to modify it based on this. We need to have floor heating, glass doors and windows, and a separate bathroom..."
"You are asking too much, aren't you?" Zou Shifang said speechlessly, "After all these changes, is it still a quadrangle?"
"I bought the courtyard house to live in, so of course I want to make it as comfortable as possible. How can I live there without making any changes?"
"But you have lost the artistic conception of the courtyard house!"
"The artistic conception of fart, can't you use the toilet in the house? Is that artistic conception?"
"No matter how good your writing is, it can't change your vulgarity!"
Zou Shifang left angrily. How could he, obviously a well-educated man, be like a nouveau riche?
Liu Hongmin didn't care about him and hurried to finish writing "The Inspector General of the Song Dynasty", and then went straight to "Capital Literature and Art".
Zhou Yanru looked at the thick book in Liu Hongmin's hand and asked in surprise, "Have you finished writing your novel?"
Liu Hongmin nodded. "The Inspector General of the Song Dynasty" was written with 550,000 words and took more than half a year to complete.
"Although this book is still mainly about solving crimes, it is not pure reasoning, but applies a lot of forensic knowledge. It also contains the struggles in the officialdom of the Song Dynasty. I wonder if it can be published in "Beijing Literature and Art." Zhou Yanru put the manuscript down, "I'll take a look first, and then exchange opinions with several other editors. I'll come to you when the time comes, and then we can discuss whether it can be published."
"can."
Liu Hongmin was not idle either. He continued to write the second part of Shao Bao after returning.
Half a month later, Zhou Yanru found Liu Hongmin and said, "The manuscript has been approved, but there are still some places that need to be revised."
Liu Hongmin's eyes lit up. They were going to stay in a guesthouse.
"No problem, you can change it any way you want."
Zhou Yanru was very surprised. "Why did you agree so readily this time? Last time it was just a small change, but you would rather take less remuneration than change it."
Liu Hongmin: "The changes made last time were insignificant and did not affect the overall effect. This time is different. This is my first time writing a long novel. After the changes, the novel will definitely be better."
Zhou Yanru could tell at a glance that the boy was talking nonsense, and she didn't bother to care about it. She handed the manuscript and a notebook to Liu Hongmin, "When can you move into the guesthouse?"
"Today will do."
Liu Hongmin said straightforwardly.
He now has nothing to do except looking at the decoration drawings. He can pay for staying in the guesthouse, and of course the sooner the better.
Zhou Yanru saw Liu Hongmin's greed for money, which made her more certain of her guess. She thought carefully about the points in "My Brothers and Sisters" that needed to be revised, and a strange look appeared on her face.
The book says that there are more and more self-employed individuals. In the past year alone, the number of self-employed individuals in Beijing has increased dramatically.
There is also the crime of "blind wandering", which has not only appeared, but is being used with increasing frequency.
The more Zhou Yanru thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. It was as if Liu Hongmin could predict the future. Could this kid really understand some weird things?
It seems that there are a lot of these things in the Northeast...
If Liu Hongmin knew what the old lady was thinking, he would be so scared. Now we don't care about feudal superstition! After the founding of the People's Republic of China, animals are not allowed to become spirits, so there are no so many superstitious things.
At night, Liu Hongmin rode his bicycle, carrying a large bundle of books and manuscripts, and stayed in the guesthouse of "Beijing Literature and Art".
Because it is close to the Chinese New Year, the guesthouse is quieter than the dormitories of Peking University. It is much closer to Shichahai than Peking University, and it passes by the Forbidden City and other places. A trip here is equivalent to a trip.
It was just a bit unfriendly to Zou Shifang. If he wanted to find Liu Hongmin, he had to go to the guesthouse first, which was more than ten miles longer.
Fortunately, Zou Shifang didn't care. He just wanted to hurry up and finalize the design so that he could go home for the New Year.
Liu Hongmin did not let him help in vain. He paid him 100 yuan a month, which is more than the current employees.
Zou Shifang couldn't refuse, so he happily accepted it. He could make money before graduation, and he felt that he had a bright future following Liu Hongmin.
Liu Hongmin also had less worries. Before he traveled through time, he had renovated his own house, which lasted for three months without any rest. He was so anxious that his mouth was full of blisters.
Now that I'm rich, I can't bear this pain anymore.
Although this cost him a lot of extra money, he didn't care. The purpose of making money is to spend it!
Besides, he doesn't need that three or five hundred now.
(End of this chapter)
