Back to 80: My Literary Life

Chapter 236 Preparations before going abroad

Three days later, Fang Minghua carried a travel backpack and embarked on a journey abroad with his mother's trust.

The first stop is to report to the Yanjing Writers Association for 20 days of intensive study and training.

Still staying at the Xicheng Guoxin Hotel where he came to Yanjing last time to receive the award, this time Fang Minghua met an old acquaintance as soon as he checked in, a handsome middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses.

"Chairman Zhang, Brother Zhang!" Fang Minghua greeted with a smile.

It turned out to be Zhang Xianliang, vice chairman of the Yinchuan Writers Association, carrying a travel bag and asking the front desk clerk what he was talking about.

When he heard someone calling him, Zhang Xianliang turned around and saw Fang Minghua coming in, with a smile on his face.

"Minghua, we are very destined. We just met in Xijing, and now we meet again in Yanjing, and we will go to the United States together!"

They both laughed.

After arranging accommodation, the two went to report to the Writers' Association. Zhang Ling also came, a shy-looking girl who graduated from the Chinese Department of Fudan University. She was about the same age as Fang Minghua, but he didn't know her well.

Later I learned that she was the female writer who wrote "Aftershock", which Feng Xiaogang adapted into "The Great Tangshan Earthquake".

Finally, I think I went abroad and lived in the United States.

Feng Mu, vice chairman of the Writers' Association, came in and gave a brief speech. Then the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent a staff member named Jiang, Jiang Xue, a woman in her early thirties, a very capable young woman with short hair, a graduate of Yanjing University of Foreign Languages, a professional Responsible for their training.

"Writers, please report your pants and shoe sizes first, and we will go to the Hongdu store to make uniform clothes for you."

"Do you need to wear uniform clothes when going abroad?" Zhang Xianliang was surprised when he heard this.

"Of course." Jiang Xue pursed her lips and smiled: "When you go abroad, you not only represent individuals, but also represent the image of the country. Clothing is especially important. Or did the national Olympic delegation have to uniform uniforms last year?"

No matter what, don't pay for it yourself.

Wait for the clothes to be released in a few days.

Oh, Zhang Ling is wearing a white waist dress and black leather shoes, and the two men are wearing gray-blue thin suits, red ties, black three-jointed leather shoes, and even a forward hat!

Everyone went back to their rooms to try on the clothes and looked at each other, feeling very energetic.

Especially Fang Minghua, who is young and has a good figure. He looks like Yushu Linfeng in a suit. He looks in the mirror and feels very satisfied.

Not to mention the word "handsome" is so good?

Only after I went abroad later did I realize what kind of dress I was wearing. It was the standard dress for domestic officials traveling abroad to the United States.

The soil has to fall off.

On the train to Chicago, a Chinese girl recognized him at a glance: "Are you from mainland China?"

There is a lot of learning content in the 20 days, ranging from national laws to how to take the subway, go to the supermarket, and use knives and forks when eating Western food. Everything is detailed.

Although it was a bit cumbersome, everyone felt fresh and listened attentively.

Fang Minghua is not interested in these. After all, he came from the 21st century. What hasn't he seen? Not to mention I have been to the United States once.

For him, the key point is to learn spoken English. He can't always find someone to translate, right? Also, Li Li's mentor, Professor Xu Yuanchong, once translated Tang poetry and published a book called "One Hundred and Fifty Tang Poems". I also want to bring this with me so that I can use it when I go to the United States.

The days of training were relatively relaxed. Zhang Ling was a girl and liked to read alone in her room. Fang Minghua and Zhang Xianliang lived in the same room and often went out to hang out.

After dinner that afternoon, Fang Minghua and Zhang Xianliang went out for a walk. Zhang Xianliang suddenly asked in a low voice: "Minghua, how were your preparations before going abroad?"

"Money? Isn't this a trip abroad at public expense? Do you have to spend your own money?" Fang Minghua was a little surprised when he heard this.

According to the notice in the document, this time I will go to Iowa for study and exchange for three months, and the air tickets, daily accommodation, and living expenses will all be funded by the project exchange.

The daily cost is approximately $24.

In China, this would be equivalent to almost one person's monthly salary for ordinary workers, but it is common in the United States, but as long as you don't spend too much money, your life will be fine.

Seeing Fang Minghua like this, Zhang Xianliang couldn't help but ask again: "Don't you plan to buy something and bring it back?"

Oh, this.

"Brother Zhang, are you talking about the eight major items?" Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"Where are the eight big items? I asked Jiang Xue privately, we are going abroad for a short period of time. When we come back, each person has 2 large items and 2 small items. The big items are refrigerators and color TVs, and the small items are electronic keyboards, quartz clocks, quartz watches, etc. But do you need to pay for it all out of your own pocket?”

Damn it!

That's all?

It seems that I can't fulfill my mother's wish.

"These things require U.S. dollars. I'm going to go to a bank exchange point. Foreigners don't accept RMB when I get there," Zhang Xianliang explained.

This is true.

In fact, Fang Minghua does not lack this little money.

Sun Lizhe now has a full US$1 million in the account he saved for him in the United States!

These are the royalties from the manuscript published in the American "Fantasy and Science Fiction" magazine and the later published novel collection.

However, it is a good deal to take this opportunity to exchange some US dollars now.

But what they didn't expect was that Jiang Xue told them clearly the next day: "I'm going to talk about this today. There is no need for you to ask your family to remit money. The country stipulates that the amount that can be exchanged by individuals sent abroad by the public is only 50 US dollars! According to the current foreign exchange rate, 2.93 RMB is exchanged for one US dollar, which means you only need 150 RMB.”

"Teacher Jiang, we want to buy some electrical appliances. What should we do if we don't have money?" Zhang Xianliang couldn't help but answer.

"You will naturally understand this when you come to the United States." Jiang Xue smiled mysteriously.

The 20 days of training were coming to an end soon, and Fang Minghua took the time to visit Song Tangtang's grandparents in the General Political Courtyard, but he didn't see Li Li.

What about the article that Li Li translated for her?

Before leaving in Xijing, Fang Minghua called the girl and told her about it, and she agreed.

How about going to Yanda again?

Unexpectedly, Li Li came.

This afternoon, Fang Minghua and the others had just finished class. When they returned to the hotel, they saw a girl wearing a dress sitting in the lobby.

"Li Li?"

"Cousin-in-law."

Li Li's "cousin husband" immediately made Zhang Xianliang laugh.

He knew that Fang Minghua was still unmarried.

Zhang Ling just looked at Li Li curiously.

Fang Minghua had no choice but to explain Li Li's identity to everyone. When he saw the two of them going upstairs, Fang Minghua asked Li Li.

Then asked: "Have you finished translating?"

"Um."

Li Li took out a stack of manuscripts from her schoolbag and handed them to Fang Minghua.

Fang Minghua took it and turned it over, smiling.

"Thank you, let's go, I'll invite you out to dinner."

"Okay, I haven't eaten yet." The girl was not polite.