Reborn in 1977

Chapter 555: Exchange

April 26th, Wednesday.

Chen Fan spent the morning in Professor Xu's office, learning ancient Chinese from his teacher.… This old man didn't play by the rules. He clearly said they would discuss a general history of China, but it turned into the Spring and Autumn period and Records of the Grand Historian. Fine, whatever. But then, without him even realizing it, they started discussing the Analects, the Book of Songs, and Guwen Guanzhi?

What does Guwen Guanzhi have to do with a general history?

Fortunately, he had practiced before, and coupled with his frantic cramming recently, he wouldn't dare say he had deeply researched history, but he could rattle off the chronology of the past four thousand years. Adding his previous learning, he barely managed to cope.

Then, he happily received three assignments.

Professor Xu required him to choose three historical events at random and write a paper on each.

I study literature, why do I have to study history?

Chen Fan immediately stated that he would submit them before the end of the semester!

Three history papers, no big deal.

Have you seen CCTV's documentary "A General History of China"? He had!

A full 100 episodes, recreating everything from the origin of Chinese civilization to the revolutionary fire that burned down the Qing Dynasty, covering numerous historical events from ancient times to the present.

Before filming, they invited dozens of experts and scholars from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, museums, historical societies, and other units to serve as consultants. The content was definitely reliable.

When the time comes, he could just copy three episodes and be done.

However, even if he was copying, he still had to figure out the relevant historical data for these three events, otherwise he wouldn't be able to withstand Professor Xu's questioning.

Speaking of which, after studying with Professor Xu for a week, he had somewhat grasped the pattern of the learning process the teacher had arranged for him.

Using history as an entry point, on the one hand, he could learn the rules of ancient Chinese and even the development of Chinese literature, drawing nourishment from it to enrich modern literature; on the other hand, it could also help him settle down.

History is most capable of settling people.

After all, Chen Fan became famous too early. Taking advantage of the gap when the literary world was in transition, he bombarded more than a dozen reinstated provincial literary magazines with dozens of novels. Before new talents could be cultivated, he had already occupied a unique position in the literary world, even more remarkable than the average early fame.

In addition, Professor Xu felt that his articles were somewhat scattered and lacked a core, so he used this method to slow him down, calm him down, and let him settle down and grow.

If he could graduate smoothly from Professor Xu in the future, it wouldn't just be a matter of gaining a foothold in the literary world, but he would have enough confidence and prestige in the entire literary and artistic circles.

Xu Zhurui's direct disciple must have such a position and strength.

Most importantly, the three elders of Jiangnan University are one. The students they have educated over the decades, scattered throughout all walks of life across the country, will be his solid backing!

…

After attending classes at school in the morning, Chen Fan appeared at the Writers Association in the afternoon.

The advertisement had been out for three days, and the preliminary results should already be out.

That is, they had made a statement in the newspaper and at the entrance of the Writers Association that they would only accept mailed registrations, otherwise the literary youths in the provincial capital and surrounding areas would have to run to the site to register.

Because it's fast.

Now, naturally, there is no trouble of on-site reception.

Chen Fan walked into a large conference room on the first floor, where things were in full swing.

Packages of letters were piled in the corner by the door, and a dozen staff members were busy opening letters, registering, and collecting money.

Some people sent postal money orders, which naturally had to be cashed at the post office, while others sent money directly in registered letters.

Almost no one sent ordinary letters. Either money orders or registered letters were sent, because they were faster and safer, and generally wouldn't get lost. If you sent an ordinary letter to save a few cents, losing the registration fee would be a small matter, but not registering would be a big loss.

Bian Huifang was holding a notebook and counting back and forth. Seeing Chen Fan enter, she immediately trotted over and said with a flushed face, "Director, as of now, we have received more than 12,000 registration letters, most of which are from this province, and the rest are from surrounding provinces.

I asked the postman, and he said that it usually takes about a week for letters from farther places to arrive, so there should still be many letters on the way now, and the exact number cannot be estimated."

Chen Fan nodded lightly, "Have you reported to Chairman He?"

Bian Huifang, "Chairman He just came over, and I reported to him."

"Okay."

Chen Fan nodded, then said, "Remember, as soon as we receive 20,000 registration letters, immediately notify Wenhui Daily and Jiangnan Daily to publish a registration deadline notice."

Bian Huifang quickly wrote it down, and after writing, she paused for a moment, and a bit of hesitation appeared on her face.

Chen Fan looked at her, "Do you think that we are only recruiting 20,000 people, and when we receive 20,000 registration letters, there will still be many registration letters on the way that have not arrived, so the number will definitely exceed?"

Bian Huifang nodded immediately, looking at him in confusion, and asked, "Since you thought of this, why not notify them to publish the announcement in advance?"

She was sure that by this time tomorrow, the number of registration letters received would definitely exceed 20,000. If it was published one day later, wouldn't more people's letters arrive by then?

Chen Fan laughed and didn't explain, just said, "Just do as I say, and you'll know when the time comes."

After speaking, he turned and walked out.

Upstairs to the second floor, Xu Qizhen and Tan Yong were in He Qingsheng's office.

Chen Fan knocked on the door and went in, and He Qingsheng immediately stood up and said with a big smile, "Do you know how many people have registered now?"

"I just went to see."

Chen Fan walked to the sofa and sat down, "More than 12,000 people have registered."

Xu Qizhen immediately smiled and said from the side, "Yes, more than 12,000, with a registration fee of 10 yuan per person, that's more than 120,000."

Tan Yong laughed, holding a cigarette in his mouth, "More and more letters will be sent in the future. There is no problem with the quota of 20,000 people."

As he said that, he turned to look at Chen Fan, "Can we now notify Wenhui Daily and Jiangnan Daily to publish the announcement of the registration deadline tomorrow?"

He Qingsheng also nodded, sat down, and said, "It will be too much if there are more. It's better to be conservative for the first time."

Chen Fan shook his head, "Don't worry, it's okay to exceed a little."

He Qingsheng was stunned for a moment, looking at him with his eyes, "What other tricks do you have?"

Chen Fan smiled and looked at him and said, "Uncle He, our correspondence course is making such a big fuss this time, and we also advertised in Wenhui Daily. Do you think the General Association and the other provincial associations will care about it?"

A word was enough to wake up He Qingsheng and the other two.

Tan Yong bit his cigarette butt, his brows furrowed, and said, "That makes sense. Everyone is having a hard time these days. We have an income of more than 100,000 yuan at once, and the key is that it comes so easily. It would be strange if they weren't jealous."

Xu Qizhen frowned and said, "According to the usual practice, if a unit creates extra income, it must pay a portion to the leading units in the province, and a portion must also be paid to the General Association. These are all obligatory. After deducting various expenses, there is not much left for ourselves in the end.

However, the peer units in other provinces will not think so. They will only see that we have set up a correspondence center that is not complicated and can earn 200,000 yuan at once…"

As she said that, she raised her head and looked at the three of them, "I'm afraid that our Jiangnan Writers Association will become the first bird this time."

He Qingsheng took out a cigarette, lit it, and spit out a puff of smoke, "It is certain that we will be the first bird, and there will be many who will follow suit."

He turned to look at Chen Fan and asked with a smile, "Are you planning to send out this part of the extra students to do favors?"

Chen Fan smiled and said, "Anyway, after we stop recruiting, units from other provinces will recruit them. It's better to send these extra students to them directly.

When the students have a place to go and those units get the benefits, we will avoid becoming the first bird, and everyone will be happy. Why not do it?"

As soon as these words came out, He Qingsheng and the others laughed.

No one asked why not simply delay the announcement for a few more days.

That would seem too deliberate.

Take the received registration letters as the standard, and issue a registration deadline announcement when it reaches 20,000 copies, which is completely reasonable. As for the registration letters that are still on the way, that is the extra "favor fee", which will be distributed to the writers' associations in the provinces for the students themselves, which is at least a gesture.

Of course, if the writers' associations in those provinces do not intend to run a correspondence center, then it has nothing to do with the Jiangnan Writers Association.

At worst, slightly expand the enrollment and accept this part of the students who have no place to go, and you can earn more money.

As for whether there will be enough students if everyone opens correspondence classes, there is even less need to worry.

Leeks can never be cut off!

In the next few years, there were so many literary training classes all over the country, and they have trained at least millions of students, and they are still doing well.

Besides, with the prestigious brand of the Jiangnan Writers Association, except for Beijing and Shanghai, which they dare not compare with, other old literary provinces such as Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanxi, Hebei, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Fujian, and Guangdong are at most comparable to the Jiangnan Writers Association, and they would never dare to say that they exceed it. Some are even weaker.

Are you still afraid of not being able to compete then?!

Chen Fan leaned back on the sofa, picked up a Golden Dragon cigarette from He Qingsheng's pack, and said with a look of distaste, "You're the chairman of the association, and you just made 200,000, and you're smoking these?"

He Qingsheng, who had been all smiles, turned dark at those words. "You have the nerve to say that? You took my whole carton of Platinum Dragons! Do you know those are for guests? Now I have to figure out how to make up for it myself.

And also…"

He suddenly remembered something, got up, walked behind his desk, pulled open a drawer, took out three pieces of paper, walked back, and slapped them down in front of Chen Fan. "Treat!"

Chen Fan picked them up and looked at them. There was a local check, a remittance slip, and a foreign exchange certificate.

(A foreign exchange certificate from Old Li in '73 for a remittance to relatives back home, 450 Hong Kong dollars, not much when converted to RMB)

He Qingsheng sat down and explained to him, "Look, that remittance slip from Shanghai is the payment from the Shanghai Literature Publishing House for your book, 'Shanghai Spy Shadow'. 500,000 words, 7 yuan per thousand words, totaling 3,500 yuan."

Chen Fan raised his head, a look of surprise on his face. "That book isn't even finished being transcribed yet, is it? It's being published so soon?"

He Qingsheng shrugged. "Then you'll have to ask Mr. Ba Jin. Anyway, the payment's been given to you, you can't go back on it now."

Chen Fan's lips twitched slightly as he placed the remittance slip aside and looked at the second one.

The amount on this cash check was 2,740 yuan.

(A cash check from '73, but it can only be used locally)

Seeing the amount on the check, Chen Fan frowned slightly. "This is the payment for 'Yunhu Love'? Why is it 500 yuan more?"

'Yunhu Love' is 320,000 words long. At the highest rate of 7 yuan per thousand words, the payment should be 2,240 yuan. What's the extra 500 for?

Xu Qizhen said grumpily from the side, "Your salary, of course! 125 a month, 4 months is exactly 500, isn't it?!"

Chen Fan immediately realized, oh right, I, a dignified deputy director-level cadre, haven't even received my salary yet.

He immediately smiled and put the check away. "Okay, okay, treat, treat."

Tan Yong's eyes lit up as he looked at him and asked, "Shall we go to the wild game restaurant?"

Chen Fan's face fell. "Extravagance and waste are not allowed. Let's just go to the unit cafeteria!"

Tan Yong rolled his eyes. "Cheapskate."

He Qingsheng pointed to the last foreign exchange certificate. "Look, look, look, 230,000 US dollars, more than 380,000 RMB, and you won't even treat us to a wild game restaurant?!"

Chen Fan picked up the check and looked at it, completely ignoring his words, and instead asked curiously, "Were there Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates when you withdrew the money?"

He Qingsheng was speechless, turned to look at Tan Yong, "Too stingy!"

Tan Yong nodded in agreement. "Agreed."

Xu Qizhen covered her mouth and giggled.

Chen Fan stood up, covered his pockets, and walked out. "I'm going to get the money."

…

The checks and foreign exchange certificates were cashed at the bank. It hadn't been many days since the signing with Takahashi Hideo, and the RMB had appreciated a little bit, so the money received was exactly 385,000 yuan, a little over two thousand yuan less.

Plus the salary and the payment for 'Yunhu Love', he received a total of 387,740 yuan.

And 57,750 yuan in Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates.

A ratio of fifteen percent, not bad.

After receiving the money, Chen Fan only kept a small amount for himself, converted 380,000 into a check, ran to the post office to send it to Master Zhang, and took the payment sent from Shanghai.

In this era, there are no interbank remittances between banks, because of the lack of electronic networking technology. Most inter-regional payments are basically made through the post office.

For large fund transfers, banks do have a 'funds transfer' business.

Unfortunately, it's only for business-to-business, such as higher-level allocations to local areas, or large transactions between units, which can be transferred across regions through banks, but private-to-private is not within the scope of service, so Chen Fan can only go to the post office.

Such a large sum of money startled the people at the post office.

Fortunately, Chen Fan had anticipated this and brought all the certificates issued by the Writers' Association and the bank. The post office called the two units to confirm that everything was correct before processing the remittance for Chen Fan.

Chen Fan wasn't worried about any problems.

The recipient's address was Master Zhang's unit. Although he was retired, the unit was still there, the HQ of such-and-such army, and such a large sum of money, who would dare to be careless?!

After completing the formalities, Chen Fan returned to the Writers' Association. He Qingsheng and the others were already waiting in his office.

Chen Fan looked at the three of them, walked behind his desk, and sat down. "What are you doing here?"

Xu Qizhen smiled especially kindly. "You're back. Did you get the money smoothly?"

He Qingsheng wasn't even smoking Golden Dragons anymore, nor did he open the Platinum Dragons. He directly threw out a pack of filter-tipped Zhonghua. "Smoke these."

Chen Fan picked it up and looked at it, then looked up at him. "What's the meaning of this?"

Tan Yong also walked over, pulled out a chair, and sat down. "Ahem, Comrade Chen, is there a place to eat tonight? If not, let's go to the wild game restaurant, my treat!"

Chen Fan looked at him, looked at the filter-tipped Zhonghua on the table, and looked at Secretary-General Xu, who was smiling like an aunt, and couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. "If you have any purpose, just say it. I'm scared this way."

The three of them looked at each other, and finally He Qingsheng and Tan Yong's eyes focused on Xu Qizhen's face.

Xu Qizhen's eyes twitched slightly, she turned to look at Chen Fan, her smile becoming even more exaggerated. "That, Xiao Fan, am I still your sister or not?"

Chen Fan chuckled dryly twice. "Sister, if you have something to say, just say it. I'm leaving if you don't."

"Don't leave!"

Xu Qizhen slammed the table, startling Chen Fan.

She quickly changed to a smile. "Little brother, don't be afraid. Sister just wants to ask you something."

Chen Fan covered his heart. "Say it."

Xu Qizhen leaned on the desk, looked at him, and asked, "How many Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates did you get when you withdrew the money?"

Hearing this, Chen Fan finally realized.

After all this time, they just wanted Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates?!

He immediately changed his posture, sat up straight, coughed, looked at the three of them, and smiled. "What's the matter, Uncle He, Uncle Tan, Sister Xu, you all want Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates?"

The three of them nodded in unison. "Want!"

Chen Fan couldn't help but chuckle. "Uncle He, didn't you say it was easy to buy things at the Writers' Association? Why do you still need Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates?"

Hearing this, He Qingsheng couldn't help but darken his face. "You have the nerve to say…"

He had just started to speak when he remembered that he still had something to ask for, so he quickly changed his expression and said with a smile, "Xiao Fan, you really screwed me and your Sister Xu over last time. I told you to buy souvenirs yourself, and you didn't buy goods at the department store, you were stocking up like a supply and marketing cooperative!

You didn't buy the cheap ones, you only picked the expensive ones, you didn't buy domestic ones, you only wanted imported ones! To make up for these tickets and certificates, I begged everywhere, and finally managed to get enough Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates, several hundred yuan worth!"

Chen Fan swooshed, took out a handful of tickets from his pocket, looked at him, and asked, "Several hundred?"

He Qingsheng's eyes widened as he looked at the Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates in his hand. "Not much, just two thousand."

(Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates are issued by the province. Foreign Exchange Certificates are issued nationwide)

Chen Fan looked at him, speechless. "Uncle, I know how much I bought myself. The most expensive thing was two Plum Blossom watches, with a calendar and 25 jewels, 430 yuan each, which only adds up to 860, plus the other things, it doesn't even reach a thousand."

He Qingsheng's eyes widened. "Isn't there interest?"

Xu Qizhen suddenly slammed the table. "Why are you so selfish?"

Chen Fan turned to look at her, just about to thank her for speaking up, when he heard this sister continue to say, "Why do you only care about yourself and not about us?"

Tan Yong also nodded to the side. "That's right, you want 2,000 for yourself, don't you count ours?"

Then the two of them looked at Chen Fan together. "Add another two two thousand!"

He Qingsheng quickly remedied, "That's the interest!"

Chen Fan smacked his lips, silently counted out 6,000 yuan worth of Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates, divided them into three portions, pushed them to each of them, raised his head and sighed, "Taking people's money and helping them avoid disaster, I've given you these Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates, if other people want them, you have to help me turn them away!"

The three of them couldn't help but look at each other. It was that easy to get them?

The next second, Xu Qizhen grabbed the Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates in her hand, looked at Chen Fan, and said, "Good brother, take out another 6,000 yuan worth of Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates, and sister guarantees no one will look for you again!"

Tan Yong also didn't say a word, took out two stacks of banknotes and threw them in front of him. "I'm not taking yours for nothing, I'll exchange them with you at a one-to-one price."

Xu Qizhen and He Qingsheng also took out money at the same time and put it in front of him.

Chen Fan blinked, looked at the 6 stacks of cash on the table, and thought to himself, there's such a good thing?

He immediately took out most of the Overseas Chinese Remittance Certificates from his bag, put them on the table and pressed them down, and smiled. "I have 50,000 yuan worth of certificates here, who else wants them?!"