Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 102: The Prince Arrives and the Imperial Court Is Imparted
"Wotou Guild Hall" is a classic play performed by the Beijing People's Art Theatre in 2009. It can even be regarded as the most classic original play of the People's Art Theatre since the 21st century.

"Wotou Guild Hall" tells the story of a civilian courtyard called Wotou Guild Hall in Yanjing City one year before the liberation of Peking. The landlord Yuan Guozhong guards his courtyard and his son, and the various joys and sorrows that happened between him and the former Qing Dynasty scholar Gu Yuezong, the head of the village Xiao Qishan, the cook's wife Tian Cuilan who used to be a "secret door", and the former Qing Dynasty princess Jin Murong.

These little people struggling at the bottom of society have all kinds of shortcomings - some love money like their life, some are mean-spirited, some are narrow-minded... They struggle with difficult life, exorbitant taxes, fraud by evil people and even fate and human nature. The hardships of life cannot ultimately destroy the beauty of human nature.

When Zhang Chao was teaching at school in his previous life, when he taught the lesson "Teahouse", in addition to showing the drama video of "Teahouse" to students, he would definitely find an evening study session to play "Wotou Guild Hall" for students again and let them compare the similarities and differences between the two plays.

Over the past ten years, I have watched it at least 20 times, and I know the setting and lines by heart, so I quickly typed the first line:

Scene 1 (Daytime in the Summer of 1948)
[A small courtyard in a dead end alley in the south city, facing north and south, although it is shabby, it still has a trace of life...]

Zhang Chao planned to finish the script before the Spring Festival, leaving more than enough time for the drama club to rehearse, so he was not in a hurry. He wrote the first thousand words and put it aside - this is a habit he has developed in writing now. If he doesn't start, he doesn't know when he will finish it.

Then he pulled up "Dwelling Narrowness" and quickly browsed through it. After making sure there were no major problems, he sent the file to Shan Yingqi.

This weekend, Zhang Chao has an important thing to do - take Part 3 of his driver's license test.

However, for Zhang Chao, who had been driving for more than ten years in his previous life, this is actually easier than Subject 2.

On Saturday morning, at the Tongzhou Part Three test center, Zhang Chao waited quietly after taking his number. When it was his turn, he walked around the car to check it expressionlessly, simulating the lights, turning on the lights, starting, driving in a straight line, changing lanes, pulling over... and passed it in one go.

I went through the driver's license application process right away.

Zhang Chao went to BMW's 4S store in the afternoon - he had paid the deposit for the car two weeks ago and could pick it up today.

Domestic brands had not taken off these days, and there were no wide variety of electric vehicles. Therefore, after determining the price range, there were not many models to choose from, and it was nothing more than a fight between Japanese and German brands.

After a simple comparison, Zhang Chao decided to spend a little more money and bought a 2004 BMW 325i with a 2.5L 6-cylinder engine and 218 horsepower. It would be comfortable to drive himself and would not be a loss of face if he needed to pick up passengers in the future.

The price was a little over 40 yuan. Zhang Chao looked around and saw that there was no problem. He paid the balance on the spot, bought insurance directly in the store, got a temporary license plate, and drove away.

He didn't even ask the 4S store to tie a red ribbon on him, nor did he take a photo with his car holding flowers - he kept everything simple and quick.

The salesperson was still in a daze after he left, and said with emotion: "Rich second-generations are different. Judging from his age, this should be his first car, but he paid for it like buying a box of cookies. There is no sense of ceremony at all."

Zhang Chao really doesn't have any obsession with cars, and of course he doesn't need any sense of ceremony - after all, it's just a means of transportation. If he has money, he buys a better one, if he doesn't have money, he buys a cheaper one.

As for acceleration and control, Zhang Chao, who was used to driving trams in his previous life, had basically no feelings about them.

He originally wanted to buy a Passat, but when he checked his account balance, he found that there was an increase of more than 200 million yuan, so he decided to increase his budget temporarily.

However, after driving back to the East Courtyard of North Street and completing the parking registration procedures with the property management, he drove into the community and noticed the cars of Master Yan and other professors on the roadside. He then realized that he seemed a bit high-profile, and many old professors who were taking a walk looked at him curiously.

But since you have already bought it, you can’t return it. I believe teachers will get used to it!
New Year's Day is approaching, and Zhang Chao hasn't been to the company in Panjiayuan for almost two weeks.

December 12st happened to be a Friday, and Zhang Chao drove to the company after class ended early. As soon as Huang Jiefu saw him, he started yelling and claiming that he had never seen a boss as hands-off as Zhang Chao, who just threw everything at him.

However, Zhang Chao saw the smile that Huang Jiefu couldn't hide behind his eyes.

Zhang Chao asked, "You are going to Japan next month to discuss surrounding issues with Shueisha. How is your information collection going?"

Huang Jiefu took out a stack of papers and replied, "Shueisha has very strict control over comic peripherals. Basically, they take 20% of the revenue, and the rest is left to distributors and retailers. In the end, only 2-3% is left for the cartoonists."

Zhang Chao frowned and said, "2-3%? So little?"

Huang Jiefu shrugged and said, "Maybe Akira Toriyama can get a little more - but the possibility is not high."

Zhang Chao said: "Our situation is different. Xia Da and I did not sign a contract with Shueisha. What I signed was a reprint agreement, which did not include peripheral authorization. And this time we designed the peripheral image ourselves, so when you went to discuss it..."

After much discussion, we finally decided to negotiate with the island country at a ratio of 10%, with the lowest being 8%. If Shueisha doesn't agree, then forget it.

Zhang Chao finally gave a special instruction: "When you go to the island country to talk to them, use English throughout the conversation. Not a single Chinese character is allowed to come out."

Huang Jiefu wondered, "Why is that? Japanese people's English pronunciation is very strange - their Chinese translation should be pretty good, right?"

Zhang Chao smiled mysteriously and said, "Just listen to me. In short, remember, speak English throughout!"

After discussing this important matter, Zhang Chao asked about the employee recruitment process. Huang Jiefu said, "It's almost the New Year now, and it's hard to find people. I talked to a financial officer last week, but he didn't come to work later. So now we have to hand it over to the accounting company."

Zhang Chao said, "It's really hard to recruit people at the end of the year... But it's probably because we are just a makeshift team. Let's make some improvements here after the New Year. You should pay more attention to this. I'm going back first." Huang Jiefu hurriedly pulled Zhang Chao and said, "Boss, don't leave in a hurry. Someone will come for an interview later. It's for a marketing position and a foreign student who just returned to China! When I go on business trips in the future, someone in the company will have to keep an eye on me."

Zhang Chao had no choice but to agree to stay.

Not long after, a round-faced young man came in. He was wearing black-framed glasses and looked a bit honest.

Huang Jiefu immediately asked the man to sit down. The young man looked at the rather sloppy office environment and hesitated. Huang Jiefu said hurriedly: "Our company has just opened. The environment is average now. The business will be different. Please don't look down on us."

The young man was obviously a little thin-skinned and could not stand Huang Jiefu's pressure, so he had to sit down and face Huang Jiefu. Zhang Chao sat in the office seat by the window diagonally opposite and did not participate in the interview.

Huang Jiefu said: "Please introduce yourself first."

The young man said: "My name is Ma Li, I'm 24 years old, I studied business, and I just graduated from the University of Waikato in New Zealand this year..."

Huang Jiefu asked a few more questions, and Ma Li answered them fluently. It was obvious that he was very professional, but he was a little restless, as if he hoped that the interview would end soon so that he could leave earlier.

Zhang Chao saw that Huang Jiefu had nothing to ask, so he suddenly said, "Mr. Ma, with your education, it shouldn't be hard for you to find a job in a foreign company, right? Why did you think of coming here for an interview?"

Ma Li hesitated for a while, but still said frankly: "I have indeed received an offer from a foreign company, and I will be able to start work after the new year. But I am still quite curious about this company. After seeing the recruitment notice online, I wanted to come... take a look."

Zhang Chao stood up, walked to Huang Jiefu, and said to Ma Li with a smile: "Is the company curious, or is it curious about me, Ma Li... or should I call you, Ma Boyong?"

Ma Boyong, whose identity was "exposed", relaxed instead. He also stood up and shook hands with Zhang Chao: "We are all curious!"

Huang Jiefu was confused and asked, "Why? Do you know each other?"

Zhang Chao said: "I have heard of him for a long time, but this is the first time I meet him. I will talk to Mr. Ma. He is different from others."

Huang Jiefu didn't waste any time, moved aside and went about his own business.

Zhang Chao sat down and asked, "A few months ago, I met a classmate with the same name as you in the advanced research class of Luyuan. When he called the roll, I thought it was you."

Ma Boyong asked curiously, "How do you know my real name?"

At that time, Ma Boyong was not as famous on the Internet as he is now. He mainly published spoof articles with bizarre ideas in some literary forums and was a well-known figure in a small circle.

Zhang Chao quickly covered his eyes and said, "...I saw someone digging up your story while surfing the Internet before, so I wrote it down. By the way, your article "The Cruel Nature of Struggle from Doraemon" is really interesting."

Afterwards, the two of them talked about literature and didn't mention work, which made Huang Jiefu, who was standing by, almost anxious.

After chatting for more than half an hour, Zhang Chao asked Ma Boyong the first key question: "...If you come, I can change your position."

Ma Boyong asked curiously: "What position?"

Zhang Chao said: "Midnight Tide is mainly positioned as a broker for literature and literary derivatives. Although I am currently mainly dealing with my own works, I will definitely cooperate with other writers in the future. This requires someone to check the works.

Jeffrey’s abilities are mainly in company operations and market development, and his appreciation of literary works, especially Chinese works…” He glanced at Huang Jiefu and shook his head.

Huang Jiefu was immediately unhappy and jumped up and said, "I have also been reading Chinese classics since I was a child, okay? If you don't believe me, I'll recite it to you, 'Ploughing the Fields at Noon'..."

Zhang Chao ignored him and continued to say to Ma Boyong: "So if you come, you will also work in the marketing department, but the nature of the work may be similar to, similar to..." Zhang Chao didn't know how to describe it for a while, and thought for a long time before saying: "Similar to the Silijian Bingbi... Oh, no, it should be-the Art Director of the Marketing Department!"

What a close call! He almost revealed the main work that the prince did at Schneider Electric for the next ten years!
However, Ma Boyong did not nod his head and agreed, but said he would go back and think about it. Zhang Chao knew that he still had a lot of concerns, so he finally said: "If you don't come in person, the novel can come... I promise to help you negotiate a good price..."

After seeing Ma Boyong off, Zhang Chao suddenly remembered those eight words... Uh, forget it, I’m not superstitious!

When I got home in the evening, I found that there were a lot of windows with lights on in the community - yes, it was New Year's Day.

Zhang Chao went upstairs, called home first, then sent blessing text messages to all the friends and relatives in his address book, and then he prepared to cook a bowl of noodles for himself.

Before I even got to the kitchen, the phone rang. I picked it up and heard Xiao Songjia's long-lost and familiar voice:

"Zhang Chao, thank you for your blessing. I wish you a happy New Year's Day as well! How are you going to celebrate the New Year today?"

(End of this chapter)