1978: Female educated youth, don’t want an illiterate husband

Chapter 128: Eight thousand foreign exchange coupons for an apartment, crazy, right? (Request full order

Take a look first!
Anyway, I'm here and it doesn't cost any money to take a look.

But after looking at it this way, not only was Cheng Xuemin very satisfied with the house, but this was also a commercial house decades later, and the conditions were quite good. Anyway, Cheng Xuemin was attracted by it.

The same goes for Feng Jiayou, his already big eyes are now shining!

It can be seen that Feng Jiayou likes this house more than Cheng Xuemin!

Right!

The interior layout and decoration style of the first batch of commercial housing in China are completely based on those of developed countries abroad. I heard that it is a combination of romantic French and our classical luxury, a combination of Chinese and Western styles.

The house was indeed so luxurious and nice that Feng Jiayou couldn't move her feet.

"good!"

Finally, Feng Jiayou took a deep breath and said, "This house does look okay, but it's too small. We may not be able to live in it!"

"Xuemin Lao Ge, let's go and see that courtyard house!"

Although they like it, the foreign exchange coupons that cost up to 8,000 yuan are not something they can afford!

So no matter how good it looks, you can’t afford it!
Feng Jiayou wanted to go and see the courtyard house nearby which had a nice environment.

"dislike?!"

Cheng Xuemin asked the woman in a low voice, the look in her eyes just now could not deceive anyone.

"What's the point of liking it?! We can still bargain for 8,000 yuan, but 8,000 foreign exchange coupons... we can't even think about it!"

Feng Jiayou also whispered back to Cheng Xuemin, and then urged him, "Let's go!"

The more he looked at her, the more he liked her. Feng Jiayou didn't dare to look at her any longer. The more he looked, the more disappointed he felt, so he decided to leave quickly.

"I'll go talk to the landlord!"

Knowing that the woman liked it so much that she couldn't move, but still had to pretend not to care, Cheng Xuemin felt he needed to fight for it.

"Ms. He, do we have to use foreign exchange coupons? You should also know the situation in our country. How can ordinary people like us have so many foreign exchange coupons?"

"How about we just calculate it in our own RMB and make up the exchange rate, is that ok?"

The current official exchange rate of rice and gold against RMB is around two to three yuan, so eight thousand foreign exchange coupons are equivalent to more than twenty thousand yuan.

If the other party agrees to settle in RMB, as long as you relax their offer, the price can be negotiated later!

"No! I must have foreign exchange coupons, otherwise I won't sell this house!"

Ms. He shook her head. She was in urgent need of foreign exchange coupons. The national currency was dispensable to her. After all, she had a lot of RMB saved.

There are no foreign exchange coupons. Of course, she knows that it is difficult for ordinary people to get too many foreign exchange coupons, but there is no other way.

"Well... may I ask, you need so many foreign exchange certificates, is there something urgent?"

He insisted that he only wanted foreign exchange coupons, which gave Cheng Xuemin a headache. There was no room for negotiation, right?

"This is none of your business, I just want foreign exchange coupons!"

This second-generation overseas Chinese surnamed He still spoke in a stiff tone, leaving no room for negotiation at all.

"There's nothing we can do about it. We can only wish Ms. He all her wishes come true!"

Seeing that there was nothing to discuss, Cheng Xuemin could only shake his head. This house was out of the question, so he said to Ge You, "Old Ge, take us to see that courtyard house!"

"Good Le!"

Ge You nodded obediently and said, "Old Cheng, this house is just like this, it's too expensive! And 8,000 foreign exchange coupons? I can't bear to buy it even if it's 8,000 RMB!"

"With these 8,000 RMB, I can buy two two-entry courtyard houses in front!"

"Come on, come on, Old Cheng, there's a two-room house in front that's in pretty good condition. The owner is in a hurry to sell it, so the price won't be too high!"

Just as Ge You said, let alone 8,000 foreign exchange coupons, he would not be willing to buy even 8,000 yuan, and he couldn't afford it!
Seeing that they could not reach an agreement, Feng Jiayou felt somewhat disappointed. He should not have listened to Lao Ge. It was free to come in and take a look.

It really doesn’t cost any money, but it’s very time-consuming!

"Old Cheng, I still think that the courtyard house is more suitable for you. These overseas Chinese are stubborn and only care about foreign exchange coupons!"

"But this foreign exchange coupon is just a ticket, not real US dollars, and it can't be exchanged for US dollars. Why does she want a foreign exchange coupon?"

On the way out, Ge You was still complaining that this second-generation overseas Chinese was not sincere in selling at all.

It only requires foreign exchange coupons, and the asking price is as high as 8,000 foreign exchange coupons. Who can afford such a sky-high price?
And they only recognize foreign exchange coupons!

Just as Ge You said, foreign exchange coupons are just a special ticket, not real US dollars, and these foreign exchange coupons are all one-way tickets.

The foreign exchange U.S. dollars remitted from outside are required by the policy to be exchanged for foreign exchange certificates. Ordinary people who want foreign exchange certificates can go to banks or post offices to apply for exchange, but the amount they can exchange is almost negligible and pitifully small.

Conversely, if you want to use foreign exchange certificates, you can exchange them for RMB, but you cannot exchange them for real US dollars.

In this era, in order to attract foreign exchange inflows for national construction, ordinary citizens are not allowed to hold real US dollar cash in their hands. Basically, they will be forced to convert them into foreign exchange certificates.

So Ge You also questioned, what does that woman want the foreign exchange coupons for?
Is it possible to exchange it for US dollars and slip away?

"Everyone always has their own ideas. Maybe they have a way to exchange foreign exchange coupons for real US dollars?" Cheng Xuemin replied indifferently.

Nothing is absolute. There are always some loopholes in every system. Moreover, they are the second generation of overseas Chinese, so they are already treated with preferential treatment in the system!

Maybe they can't exchange it for real gold and silver in US dollars, but it doesn't mean that others don't have ways to exchange it for real gold and silver in US dollars.

Of course, this has nothing to do with Cheng Xuemin.

Since the other party only recognized foreign exchange coupons, they really couldn't hope for a foreign exchange coupon worth up to 8,000 yuan!
Next, Ge You took Cheng Xuemin and the other person to see the courtyard house in the alley in front.

Just as Ge You said beforehand, this two-entry courtyard house is similar to Mr. Qian's, with two courtyards in the front and back.

It is also very well maintained, clean, tidy and unobstructed, much better than the slum I saw before.

Cheng Xuemin even felt that this house was much better than the one they were living in now.

After asking about the price, the homeowner was in a hurry to use the money and asked for 6,500 yuan!

Six thousand five hundred yuan for a two-entry courtyard house is not really expensive. After all, the one-entry slum they saw before was not only dirty and messy, but the owner dared to ask for four thousand yuan.

Moreover, more than one company offered this price, so the current market is basically like this. The price of a large courtyard house ranges from 3,000 to 4,000, and some unscrupulous people dare to ask for 5,000;
The asking price for a two-entry courtyard house is generally around six to eight thousand yuan.

I heard that Mr. Qian spent 8,000 yuan of his royalties to buy the courtyard house!

In the past decade or so, housing prices in Yanjing have stagnated and have not risen, so the price is roughly around this price.

Therefore, the homeowner's offer of 6,500 yuan shows that he is in a hurry to sell the house. If Cheng Xuemin bargains further, he might be able to get it for 5,000 yuan!

Cheng Xuemin took another look and discovered that the courtyard was backed by a tributary of the Yongding River, with a garden not far away, so the feng shui was good, with both sides facing the mountain and the water.

The most important thing is that Cheng Xuemin went over it in his mind. He bought the house because he wanted to have a separate bathroom. He didn't want to empty the chamber pot early in the morning in winter or go to the public toilet in the hot summer and be bitten by mosquitoes and flies.

But he also realized that the courtyard house did not have these facilities, so he could make one himself.

This courtyard house is right in front of you!

A separate bathroom can have a septic tank dug at the back, and bath water can be directly introduced into the outside tributary.

The flush toilet is also easy to deal with. Doesn’t he have a hundred yuan worth of foreign exchange coupons now?
You can go to a nearby overseas Chinese store to buy it. It should be sold there. Buy it and decorate it yourself. In fact, a separate bathroom is very easy to make!

Anyway, there is running water in the yard!
The only thing that may be lacking is hot water for bathing in winter. There are definitely no water heaters for sale at the moment, but if you really want, you can be a little extravagant and connect a hot water pipe from the bathhouse next door.

But there is no need for that. Cheng Xuemin can just reserve a large bucket of hot water pipe. Every time Feng Jiayou wants to take a hot bath, he can boil a few pots of hot water in advance and pour it into the large bucket...

It seems that there is no need to be so troublesome. You can just buy a big bathtub and put it in the bathroom!

When taking a shower, just fill the big bathtub with hot water. It’s the same as taking a bath in a bathhouse!

and so……

In fact, buying a courtyard house with better cost-effectiveness and value-added is much more cost-effective than buying that Overseas Chinese Apartment!

Thinking of this, Cheng Xuemin basically made up his mind that this courtyard house was the one to go for!

Moreover, this place is not far from Yanda University. It only takes about 15 minutes to ride a bicycle across the street. It is really very convenient. However, Feng Jiayou seems to be a little lacking in interest in this house. After all, he just spent a lot of time and saw a better house. Now no house is so attractive!

Cheng Xuemin saw this and kept it in mind, then went home to deal with it later.

It was already dark when they got home. Feng's mother was humming a tune while cooking in the kitchen. It was obvious that she was in a good mood.

It is obvious that their October issue is coming out today and the sales should be good.

It was mentioned at the dinner table, and just as Cheng Xuemin guessed, their October sales also broke the record.

Although it is not as exaggerated as People's Literature, it is at least following closely. It is the only magazine and newspaper that published the article about the atomic bomb. As long as the popularity has not decreased, the sales will not be bad.

Unfortunately, as I said before, no matter how good the sales are, it has nothing to do with the original author Cheng Xuemin.

"Xuemin, do you want to contribute to a foreign publication?"

After dinner, Cheng Xuemin was chatting with his father-in-law in the yard and asked a bold question.

Feng Jiayou was very optimistic about the Overseas Chinese Apartment, but unfortunately the owner only accepted foreign exchange coupons.

For other ordinary people, it might be difficult to get so many foreign exchange coupons, but Cheng Xuemin is different, he is a writer.

There are countless classic masterpieces from previous lives in his mind, no matter whether they are ancient or modern, Chinese or foreign. As long as Cheng Xuemin wants, he can pay tribute to them and copy them out at any time.

In addition, with my father-in-law as a shortcut to the outside world, if I can contribute to foreign magazines and publications, I can earn a lot of US dollars.

Although I got foreign exchange coupons, it can be regarded as a contribution to the country's foreign exchange earnings.

And as long as the country needs it, Cheng Xuemin can pay tribute to "Harry Potter" and contribute more than one billion US dollars to the country's foreign exchange earning cause.

After all, the previous life of "Harry Potter" brought billions of dollars in royalties to the original author.

Moreover, the time difference is only a few years, so the tribute will not be accepted by Western readers because it is released too early and does not fit the times.

Just like if Cheng Xuemin were to pay tribute to those classic online novels of later generations, he would definitely be criticized. But Harry Potter is different, it was originally written by the author in the 1980s and it was a bestseller!
Therefore, as long as he can get through the shortcut of his father-in-law, Cheng Xuemin will sooner or later succeed in earning foreign exchange.

"Harry Potter" alone cost tens or even hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars in foreign exchange.

If this can be accomplished and he can make such a great contribution, Mr. Wu and his superiors will definitely invite him to a state banquet in Zhonghai next year!

"Dad, I have this idea!" Cheng Xuemin thought of Mei in his heart, nodded to his father-in-law, and added, "Actually, Jiayou and I have chosen a house in the Overseas Chinese Apartment! The owner is a second-generation overseas Chinese, and she said she only wants foreign exchange coupons!"

"Overseas Chinese Apartment? The houses there are not cheap. Why did you go there to look at houses?"

Father Feng was stunned when he heard this. Overseas Chinese Apartment? How many years have passed?

When the Overseas Chinese Apartments were first built, Feng's father took Feng's mother to see it. It was indeed built and decorated in a luxurious and high-end style. Jiayou's mother fell in love with it at first sight and wanted one.

After all, her mother grew up in that kind of Western-style house when she was young.

Unfortunately, the houses there are only sold to returned overseas Chinese, and they only accept foreign currency, US dollars. Intellectuals like them are not qualified at all and cannot afford to buy them.

The house price of more than 10,000 US dollars was out of reach. At that time, her mother, who was young at home, was very depressed for a while.

I really didn't expect that this cycle would come full circle again. After a while, her daughter started to get married and start a family, and she actually went there to look at a house and wanted to buy one!

But the houses there have been secretly opened up now and are no longer only sold among the inner circle of overseas Chinese, but ordinary citizens can also buy them.

But if you still only accept foreign exchange, it will be difficult!
Twenty years ago, it cost more than 10,000 US dollars. Now, even if the price does not rise or fall, it is difficult to deal with foreign exchange certificates worth more than 10,000 US dollars!
Even Feng's father, who worked at the Foreign Languages ​​Bureau, felt that this was an astronomical figure.

My son-in-law loves his wife and wants to buy her a house. Writing articles and submitting them to foreign magazines and periodicals is indeed a way for them to earn foreign exchange.

But now the scope of approval is very tight. If you want to submit a manuscript abroad, it may not be approved even after going through multiple levels of review.

"The owner quoted a price of 8,000 foreign exchange certificates. My family and I looked at the house and the environment and conditions are good!"

"If you bargain, you might be able to get it for 6,000 or 7,000!"

"The problem now is that I want to write some articles and submit them to foreign publications. Earning some foreign exchange should be considered earning foreign exchange for the country and making some contribution, right?"

Cheng Xuemin nodded and told his father-in-law about his plan!

We are all adults, why are we still asking multiple-choice questions?

Cheng Xuemin has taken a fancy to that courtyard house and he must buy it!

After buying it, Cheng Xuemin made some random modifications and it turned out to be much more comfortable to live in than any commercial housing.
But today, the woman Feng Jiayou's mind was all on her face. She had taken a fancy to the Overseas Chinese Apartment and she really wanted to buy it!

Unfortunately, I can’t get foreign exchange coupons!
But just because she can't do it doesn't mean her man really has no way to do it.

If there was a way to get through to his father-in-law, eight thousand US dollars in foreign currency would be a piece of cake for Cheng Xuemin.

After all, the royalties for foreign publications are not calculated the same way as in China!

There are copyright royalties and sales commissions over there!

Even if the buyout price is very low, it is still tens or hundreds of US dollars per thousand words. For Cheng Xuemin, who just paid tribute to a foreign classic, 8,000 foreign currencies is really a small matter.

The only thing I lack now is a channel to submit my work to foreign publications. I hope my father-in-law can give me some help.

After all, he worked for the Foreign Languages ​​Bureau, and his job was to publish externally, compete with foreign publications, and grab sales and foreign exchange earning windows.

"Eight thousand foreign exchange coupons?!"

Father Feng frowned. Sure enough, the price was pretty much the same. Although it was less than 10,000 US dollars, 8,000 was also a very high price.

At the same time, he also thought about the policy aspect, so he said: "There are openings for investment outside now, but they are very tight. If you really want to do this, when you go to the bureau tomorrow, go and find Lao Zhou from the Foreign Affairs Office!"

"He deals a lot with foreign publications, and if you have a manuscript, you can ask him to help introduce the foreign guests at the Foreign Guest House. There should be quite a few resident reporters and editors of foreign newspapers and magazines there!"

After thinking about it for a moment, Feng's father told his son-in-law about the domestic channels for submitting articles to foreign countries.

We are not completely closed off now. There are many reporters and editors from foreign newspapers and magazines stationed in the foreign guests' guesthouse. Especially after the recent conference, many foreign reporters and editors are still staying there.

If Cheng Xuemin had the manuscript in hand, he could just go there directly and talk to the foreign guests face to face!

Of course, they have to have colleagues from the Foreign Affairs Office around them, otherwise it is generally difficult to meet those foreign guests.

Even if we can meet, we can't talk in private!

Lao Zhou from the Foreign Affairs Office is usually responsible for these tasks.

"Okay, thank you, Dad!" Cheng Xuemin nodded. He really had a way in mind. He thought of something and emphasized it, "By the way, Dad, I just want to give it a try. I'm not sure if it will work. Can you please not tell Jiayou and Mom first?"

"That's possible! I want to give my little one a surprise!"

Then Cheng Xuemin quickly added another sentence.

"Okay, if you want to give it a try, go ahead! But I'm not optimistic about it. Just the translation part, you don't want to just show the Chinese manuscript to the foreign guests, do you?"

The language barrier is actually the biggest obstacle. If you want to publish your manuscript in a famous foreign journal, the quality of the manuscript must be very high. It is difficult to write a good localized article without being proficient in English.

If it has no flavor and is not localized, those outside publications will not use it at all and will not approve the manuscript.

So, even though my son-in-law writes good articles, if he wants to submit them to a famous journal, he has to find a great translator first.

Old Qian in the front yard is proficient in several foreign languages, but if he really wants to translate, he can only publish in their external publication "Chinese Literature". If he really wants to publish in a famous foreign magazine, he has to make it more localized.

This is also the reason why Feng's father is not optimistic about his son-in-law. Although he knows that his son-in-law's English is good, it is only at the test-taking level.

"Dad, I'm actually pretty good at English!" Cheng Xuemin said modestly, "Then I'll try it first and see if it works. Dad, don't tell Mom and the others yet!"

"Okay, I won't tell them for now!" Father Feng nodded and promised.

With a direction, Cheng Xuemin was full of energy. The next day, he reported to the Foreign Language Bureau and discussed the foreign language manuscript of "The Record of Director Qiao's Taking Office" with the working group there.

I went to the Foreign Affairs Office where Lao Zhou, who was introduced by my father-in-law, got in touch with him. After I opened up the submission channel, I came back and started working.

Feng Jiayou was a little absent-minded for the past two days. Finally, after celebrating with Cheng Xuemin one night, he proposed to buy the courtyard house.

She didn't want to think about it anymore. The more she thought about it, the more upset she became. So the woman decided to take a drastic measure and buy the courtyard house outright, thus directly cutting off her idea of ​​buying the Overseas Chinese Apartment.

……

(End of this chapter)