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

Chapter 132: Big Boss Cheng, can I go back to northern Shaanxi with you? (Please subscribe)
"No, Xuemin, didn't you say you would submit the manuscript privately?"

"You're making such a fuss?"

After Cheng Xuemin finished drawing all the sixty illustrations promised to Li Qingquan of Yenching Literature, he personally went to Yenching Literature with the manuscripts.

Feng Jiayou, who couldn't sit still, came along because it was a sunny day. It happened that he hadn't seen Bai Ling and Zhang Dening for a while!
But Li Qingquan was not frightened. He pursed his lips and asked Feng Jiayou who was talking to Bai Ling and the others outside, "What happened?"

Cheng Xuemin had told him before that the illustration manuscript had to be submitted privately through a single channel. It must be that Cheng Xuemin was setting up a secret fund to hide his own money.

But how come both husband and wife came when it was time to submit the manuscript?

"Ahem, Mr. Li, please don't say that. I never intended to bully my wife!"

Cheng Xuemin said something stubbornly in a miserable voice. Could he tell Lao Li that he had been running a small treasury fund well, but in the end it was sold out by a security guard?
If this gets out, it will spread throughout the entire circle.

Therefore, I would not speak in secret in front of others, and I would never admit to having a slush fund, even if I were beaten to death.

"Oh, it seems that Xueminni... has the same fate as your father-in-law, Lao Feng!"

Li Qingquan nodded at Cheng Xuemin, but it was not easy to point it out, thinking that his lover must have seen through it and found out, and he would definitely be beaten to kneel on the washboard.

After all, being dominated by one's wife is hereditary. Teacher Gu is such a proud and domineering woman, her daughter will definitely be the same!
At the same time, I despised this guy in my heart. He is so stupid!

He couldn't even hide his private money properly, and his wife would find it. Look at Li Qingquan, he hid money behind his wife's back and it was never discovered.

"Not really! Teacher Li, you should take a look at these manuscripts first! That novella should be finalized and published this time, right?"

Cheng Xuemin had calculated the time to come here. It was already January 10th, and Yenching Literature had also started finalizing the draft and edition of this issue, so he quickly sent the illustration manuscript over.

"It's time to send it out! We've made an appointment for this first, so as not to alert others, otherwise I would have asked De Ning to go over and urge them to do so!"

There is another sentence at the end. If he had known that you couldn't hide your private money well, he would have arranged for Zhang De Ning Bai Ling to come to your house and ask for the illustrations!

As for manuscripts, Yenching Literature currently has a long novel by Cheng Xuemin, which will be published in two issues, so the manuscript situation is not so tight at the moment.

Cheng Xuemin responded with a bitter smile. He was also feeling miserable and wanted to set up some small treasury!
"It's a great painting! Xuemin, your painting skills are truly amazing!"

"I heard that Lao Pan has a comic book of Journey to the West. Was it drawn by you, Xuemin?"

After the pleasantries, Li Qingquan began to look at the illustrations submitted by Cheng Xuemin. After taking a look at them, his eyes lit up involuntarily. He nodded repeatedly without hesitation and said that they were well drawn.

Later he asked some gossip.

After all, Renwen Press is the headquarters of publications like Li Qingquan's. If there is any disturbance there, they will definitely be the first to hear about it.

For example, Li Qingquan had heard about the picture book of "Journey to the West" that Cheng Xuemin illustrated for Lao Pan of the Humanities Publishing House some time ago.

But I didn't expect that Cheng Xuemin was not only good at writing, but also so outstanding in art painting.

I heard from Old Pan that this kid's painting skills are the true teachings of an old professor at Qingmei University. He is much better than those art students at Qingmei University.

The most important thing is the terrifying hand speed, which is simply amazing.

indeed!

Apart from the art illustrations and comic books, Cheng Xuemin's hand speed is truly incredible, and they at Yenching Literature have witnessed this before!
"Teacher Li, have you heard about it too? I just tried to draw one, but it's not as good as Teacher Pan said!"

Cheng Xuemin smiled bitterly. It was true that gossip spread very quickly in this circle. If Li Qingquan spread the news that he was afraid that his wife did not dare to hide their private money, he would surely be laughed at by the circle again.

Don’t let the rumor of a second Fengfu come out!

"How can I not hear about it? Old Pan has praised you so much that if you hadn't already declined Old Zhang's invitation, he would have wanted to recruit you to be his full-time editor!"

Li Qingquan nodded and continued to look through the illustrations in his hand. Everyone knew that Cheng Xuemin was a talent and wanted to recruit him to work for them. At that time, Li Qingquan had the same idea and used a formal position to recruit him as a novel editor for Yanjing Literature.

But this kid is determined to take the college entrance examination and prepare to apply to Yanda University to be with his wife. There is nothing we can do about it!
"Nice drawing, I'm definitely using it here!"

Li Qingquan was very satisfied after flipping through the illustrations in his hand. He nodded repeatedly and said, "Xuemin, I think you have more than 60 pictures, right?!"

"Well, let's make it an even number and use 60 sheets! The fee is as we agreed before, 8 yuan per sheet!"

"But the royalties won't come so quickly. Let's apply for the royalties in a few days. After the money comes in, I'll ask Dening and Bai Ling to personally deliver it to your home. How about that?"

Li Qingquan estimated that there should be about sixty-five or sixty pictures, but Cheng Xuemin's novella might require about fifty to sixty pictures, and any more would not be appropriate.

So Li Qingquan ordered sixty copies, still at the agreed price of eight yuan per copy.

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, Mr. Li. If it's troublesome, you can notify me to come over myself. It's okay!"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Xuemin nodded repeatedly, knowing that Yenching Literature was different from Renwen Publishing House, and that he could directly decide on the royalties himself!

For example, Yenching Literature and his mother-in-law's October, the royalties for each issue generally need to be reported and applied for in a centralized manner!
Therefore, it is rare to issue a royalty invoice in advance before the royalty settlement date!
Cheng Xuemin knew their internal procedures, so he could understand it.

After submitting the manuscript, I chatted with Li Qingquan again and learned that Cheng Xuemin had another novella in hand and had already completed it!

Li Qingquan was so greedy that his fingers were twitching, but he also knew that they, the Yenching Literature, had no chance of getting the manuscript.

Even if Cheng Xuemin gave it to them, it would take a while for them to typeset it. The novella in their hands had not yet been published!

But I am also curious, what is Cheng Xuemin's novella about?
Is it a novella about reform and opening up?

After all, Mr. Wu above has been encouraging and emphasizing that the recent manuscripts of their publications must be in the direction of reform and opening up.

It is natural for Li Qingquan to have this doubt.

However, Cheng Xuemin directly said that it is about the things that happened in those years of our fathers, and it actually has little to do with the reform and opening up.

Of course, there is definitely something related to the reform and opening up behind the parents' love, but that is all good news!
Moreover, Cheng Xuemin ended his manuscript with the initial period of reform and opening up, and he did not write any more after that, nor did he dare to write any more.

There is another thing. I have finished the manuscript, but I haven’t shown it to my mother-in-law yet.

The mother-in-law was so angry that she looked at the debt collector in her house. He was really annoyed and kept thinking about this manuscript all day long.

Finally, they agreed that they would ask Cheng Xuemin to write a manuscript for them after the New Year. They also had lunch at Li Qingquan's place, and then the couple returned home.

"Xuemin, Xuemin, department store, department store, go in and have a look!"

When passing by the department store, the woman Feng Jiayou's eyes lit up and she urged Cheng Xuemin to go over there.

"Wife, haven't you already bought so many things? Do you want to buy more?"

Cheng Xuemin was troubled. It was women's nature to be shopaholics, no matter what era it was. Plus, Feng Jiayou was now wealthy, and she really wanted to move the entire shopping mall back home.

Anyway, there are already a lot of things piled up at home, waiting for Cheng Xuemin to take them back to northern Shaanxi. So I don’t know whether the woman is really filial or she is dominated by her shopping desire!

"Xuemin, have you bought your leather shoes? Have you bought your belt? Have you bought your watch?"

"It's almost the New Year, Xuemin, you should get yourself a new set of clothes! I'm going to buy you another Zhongshan suit!"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Xuemin pulled his bicycle over to the side of the road, looked at the woman and asked, "Wife, did you follow me out today on purpose?"

This woman is either buying leather shoes and belts, or watches and Zhongshan suits. She must have a lot of Datongjie cash in her pocket, right?

"Hehe! I've been saying I'll buy you something, but I never got around to it." Feng Jiayou looked at Cheng Xuemin with a smile and continued, "It's a rare opportunity for me to come out, so I can buy you everything you need, Xuemin!"

"This way, you can go back to northern Shaanxi and show off your talents!"

Feng Jiayou had a great idea. At that time, Cheng Xuemin was a potential son-in-law. He dressed up nicely for the New Year and returned home in glory! "Why are you talking about vanity?!"

"Don't buy from me, wife, buy yourself a pair of leather shoes and new clothes! And buy some for mom and dad too!"

Cheng Xuemin plans to go back to northern Shaanxi in a few days. Feng Jiayou is busy preparing New Year's goods for the family, so Cheng Xuemin thinks it is not good to favor one over the other, and he should also prepare New Year's goods for his father-in-law and mother-in-law.

After all, it has been several days since Laba Festival.

"Go in and take a look first!"

Feng Jiayou nodded uncertainly, asked Cheng Xuemin to lock the bicycle, and then pulled him into the department store.

Because it is the end of the year, the department store is really bustling.

Feng Jiayou was a person who liked to join in the fun, and was immediately dazzled by the wide variety of merchandise inside.

He pulled Cheng Xuemin to the clothing area and wanted him to try this and that.

In the end, I spent more than 80 yuan just on buying things for Cheng Xuemin!
A pair of men's black leather shoes costs twelve yuan, which is six times the price of Liberation shoes that cost two yuan.

The same goes for a genuine leather belt, only two bucks less!
The most expensive item was the black leather jacket and fabric pants, which cost me twenty yuan, which was more expensive than the Zhongshan suit.

Cheng Xuemin was reluctant to buy it, but his woman was happy to do it!

It is said that the Zhongshan suit was bought for Cheng Xuemin to attend formal events. Isn’t it just a few days before Mr. Wu’s symposium?
Cheng Xuemin planned to buy a train ticket back to northern Shaanxi directly after the symposium.

Leather jackets can be worn everyday. They are very cool. Men in dubbed films all wear them. They are very popular in Yanjing City now. They are selling very well and at a high price.

Immediately afterwards, the woman wanted to buy him a watch, but Cheng Xuemin flatly refused!

Later, she and her parents, brother, sister-in-law, younger sister, nephews and nieces all bought things, either leather shoes, clothes or other things.

When it was finally her turn, she was reluctant to give up anything and Cheng Xuemin was so angry that he rolled his eyes.

This woman is just such a stubborn person!
Cheng Xuemin didn't indulge her. If she didn't want to buy something, she shouldn't buy it and just pack it up and go home!

When she got home, she was definitely not well received. Her mother complained to her, saying that it wasn't even the New Year yet, why did she buy so many things? She had so much money to burn! ?
However, when Feng Jiayou brought a pair of new leather shoes for her to try on, Feng's mother loved them so much that she was reluctant to take them off.

Of course the whole family is happy because they all have new clothes and new shoes.

But when the woman returned to the house after dinner, she gritted her teeth in pain, because the couple had just calculated how much money they had spent that day!
If you don’t calculate it, you won’t know. Once you calculate it, you will feel so heartbroken for the woman!
A total of more than one hundred and eighty yuan, all the royalties for Cheng Xuemin's manuscript were spent on it.

Then I thought, if my husband hadn’t earned some royalties, how long would it take for an ordinary family to save the more than 180 yuan?
Half a year’s savings, right?
However, she was soon enlightened by Cheng Xuemin's words. This was just the royalties for your man's short story. Your man could handle it in minutes. Was it necessary to feel so sad?

In an instant, Feng Jiayou broke into a charming smile and started to act coquettishly in Cheng Xuemin's arms, celebrating happily.

The little kids are on winter vacation, so the task of taking care of the children naturally falls on Cheng Xuemin and Feng Jiayou.

Originally, the repeater class at Yanda High School had not yet closed for vacation, and Cheng Xuemin had rarely attended classes there.

However, my sister-in-law Feng Jiamo brought a message that their school will have the final exam this weekend, and the head teacher of the repeater class, Lao Zhang, asked my sister-in-law to tell her not to miss the exam over the weekend!
It doesn’t matter whether he goes to class or not, but Cheng Xuemin must attend every major exam to help their repeater class suppress other classes in the senior year.

"Is the senior year of high school also going on holiday so early?"

It's only the 12th or 13th day of the twelfth lunar month, and even if it's the weekend, it's only the 15th day of the twelfth lunar month. The senior class is so willful now. Don't they need to make up for the missed classes?
"What else? It's still late for us. Other grades have already finished their final exams!"

Sister-in-law Feng Jiamo said bitterly, obviously she was also looking forward to the winter vacation. She really didn't want to get up early to go to school!

She also hopes to move to the "new house" there as soon as possible, which will at least reduce her commuting time by more than half an hour, and she can sleep in for another half an hour.

Ok!

What the sister-in-law said was very reasonable, and Cheng Xuemin was unable to refute it. He thought to himself that the graduating class of this era is so lucky!
If this happened a few decades later, and the high school graduating class could have their winter vacation before the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, they would be the earliest class to have their winter vacation!
Anyway, Cheng Xuemin was in his third year of high school that year, and I remember that he took make-up classes until the 29th day of the twelfth lunar month, and the next day was New Year’s Eve!
"Big Boss Cheng, my sister is pregnant and can't go back. How about I go back to northern Shaanxi with you to play for a few days during the holiday?"

"I'm also curious about what the place where you and my sister fought together was like!"

"And the jujube tree in your house!"

"My sister told me that you two got married under that jujube tree?"

I don’t know what’s going on in this sister-in-law’s mind. Her sister is pregnant and it’s not convenient for her to go back to northern Shaanxi, but she, as her younger sister, actually suggested that she accompany her brother-in-law, Lao Cheng, back on behalf of her sister!

Hearing Cheng Xuemin choking for a moment, Feng Jiayou was stunned and drove him away directly: "Get out, get out, get out, what are you talking about?!"

"No, sister. I'm telling you the truth. I really want to go to the place where you guys are fighting and take a good look!"

"Sister, don't chase me away!"

If not you, who else should I chase away? She even thought about accompanying her brother-in-law back to northern Shaanxi instead of me. She is almost going to college, why doesn't she think before she speaks?

"If Jiamo wants to go and have fun, we'll take her back with us during the summer vacation!"

Cheng Xuemin smiled and said to Feng Jiayou!
"Just spoil her! She wants to go here and there, you know?! Some time ago, she and Zhu Shan both begged big brother to follow you to the northwest to make a movie together!"

Feng Jiayou glared at Cheng Xuemin unhappily, and then mentioned something her eldest brother had mentioned to her before!

This girl has such a wild heart!
The same goes for Zhu Lin's sister. She usually looks like a quiet girl, but why is her heart as wild as Feng Jiamo's?

It's because they live comfortably in the city, and they weren't arranged to go to the countryside as educated youth to suffer and be reformed!
Let's take them to the countryside to suffer for a while, and then see if they still dare to think about going here and there all day long.

"The northwest is too far away. If we want to go there, we have to wait until they finish their college entrance exams!"

Cheng Xuemin was also shocked after hearing this, and he really needed training and transformation.

"By the way, can we use the manuscripts by Beijia Jianying and the others?"

Seeing Cheng Xuemin reviewing the manuscript, Feng Jiayou became concerned about this again and asked Cheng Xuemin a question.

"The manuscript has been revised according to my suggestions, but it's still a little off!"

"But we are just starting out at Today, and we don't have the funds to invite famous artists to create masterpieces. We can use their students' works, and we can't ask for too much. That's all!"

Cheng Xuemin is indeed reviewing Huang Beijia and others' manuscripts now. Just as he commented, they are definitely not ready for publication in the major October magazines of Yenching Literature.

But since they use it in Today, we can't expect too much. After all, if you get a manuscript for free, how high can you expect it to be?

That's all!

Besides, everyone has already had their winter vacation and gone home for the New Year. Even if Cheng Xuemin wants to return it and ask for changes, there is no place to return it!

This is the only way. I'll hand in the manuscript in the next few days and let Old Chen review it and it will be finalized and published!
Moreover, while he is about to return, Cheng Xuemin also has to write an article for his own "Today". They have agreed on this before, so it can be considered as his investment!

Because their "Today" is a new start-up, they don't need to respond to the instructions from above and try to move towards the direction of reform and opening up. So Cheng Xuemin's article does not intend to write about reform and opening up!

I haven't thought about writing an article reflecting on the heavy scars, but I can change the track and try to attract the attention of students from Yenching University!
So after the previous project "Female College Students' Dormitory" submitted to Shanghai Literature and Art was a success, Cheng Xuemin planned to go the student route.

This will also be a good way to interact with Bei Dao's Misty Poetry Group. After all, the current audience of Misty Poetry is also those students, whether in college or middle school!
Those female students just like Misty Poetry!

In this way, Cheng Xuemin's choice of subject matter had a direction, focusing on a youth campus.

Unexpectedly, a piece of news from the south disrupted the Feng family's celebration of moving.

……

(End of this chapter)