Siheyuan's Journey Through the Ages

Chapter 10 A Realm Worth Learning

After more than a month of adjustment, Ma Qing, who had traveled through time, finally adjusted his biological clock to the 50s. With the help of intelligence far superior to that of his previous life, Ma Qing only took one month to improve his academic performance to the level of being admitted to a technical secondary school. In the mid-term exam in April, he ranked among the top five in the school and received unanimous praise from the teachers. They all said that he was the most spiritual student they had ever taught, and called on the whole class to learn from the lovely Ma Qing, which almost made Ma Qing burst.

Apart from going to school as usual, Ma Qing really couldn't bear to give up the 1200% annual interest, so he begged Niu Zhenhua's father and used his connections to deposit 96 yuan in another bank in the name of pension. The annual interest of yuan was equivalent to a month's salary of an ordinary eighth-level worker. The reason why he asked Lao Niu for help was very simple. Niu Zhenhua's family was also a dual-income family, and Niu Zhenhua was the only son in the family. The conditions of the two families were similar and they understood each other.

After traveling through time, Ma Qing, who was well-versed in history, became more cautious. It had been more than a month since he finished writing "My Motherland and I", but Ma Qing was still examining himself, fearing that he had violated any taboos and was caught by others. He originally wrote songs to gain an advantage, but it would be funny if the opposite effect was achieved.

Just when Ma Qing thought that everything was going well for him after traveling through time, trouble really came knocking.

Over the past month, Ma Qing's parents' leaders, colleagues, friends and even fellow villagers, anyone who considered themselves to have some relationship with them, regardless of their purpose, after attending the funeral of Ma Qing's parents, all came to visit and inquire about Ma Qing's life.

After Ma Qing repeatedly stated that he had become the head of the Ma family and would support the family and live independently, some expressed relief; some expressed worry; some were happy; some were disappointed; some had clear eyes, while some had their eyes rolling around.

However, for Ma Qing, who has lived two lives, fighting against the sky, fighting against the earth, and fighting against people is endless fun. People who don't care about anything are afraid of trouble, but they are willing to accompany trouble when it comes.

Of course, most of the people who came were quite positive, and the few who had bad intentions were too low-level, and Ma Qing rejected them before they even had a chance to think about it. After all, there was no one in the Ma family's social circle who would directly ask for benefits from a 15-year-old boy. As for those who wanted to use roundabout strategies and take things slowly, Ma Qing would not take the curves they designed. Two of them were particularly interesting, and today, one of them came to him.

After school, before Ma Qing got home, he saw Xu Damao standing at the door with a gentleman in a grey Zhongshan suit, with a pen stuck in his chest pocket, a briefcase in hand, his hair combed meticulously, thin lips revealing a bit of coldness, and black-framed glasses on his nose. No, it should be said that he looked like a typical intellectual with a lot of bad intentions in TV dramas of that period.

Ma Qing greeted Xu Damao, opened the door, and the man in the Zhongshan suit came up.

"You must be classmate Ma Qing!"

"you are……"

"My last name is Zhang, Zhang Changde. I'm an officer of the Publicity Department of our Red Star Steel Rolling Mill. I've reported your parents' sacrifice in the line of duty in the factory newspaper. I came to see you today to learn about your life and see if you have any difficulties."

"Thank you for your trouble. Come in and have some tea." Ma Qingrang opened the door and said to Xu Damao, "Brother Damao, come and have a drink too."

"No, no, I'm just showing Officer Zhang the way. You guys chat, I'm going back."

Ma Qing let Zhang Changde into the yard, pulled a stool and poured water. Ma Qing was confused about what this person was doing. Zhang Changde talked about the national situation, the glorious history of the factory, and the great sacrifices of Ma Qing's parents. Ma Qing was confused. "Secretary Zhang, what's the matter with you? Can't you just say it? I'm young and can't understand."

Zhang Changde was not in a hurry at this time. He drank a sip of water, cleared his throat, sat upright and said: "Ma Qing, you are in danger now." You have read too many damn stories, this is such a standard lobbyist's opening remarks, and he is definitely going to fool me next, Ma Qing thought to himself.

"Ma Qing, look, let me analyze it for you. When your parents passed away, the factory gave you 2000 yuan in various pensions, and you inherited two workstations. With both of you working, you must have several thousand yuan in savings. I estimate that you have at least 5000 yuan in your hands now." At this point, Zhang Changde couldn't help but get excited: "What a huge sum of money. The country is in such a difficult situation now. The minimum living standard in Beijing is only 5 yuan, and you live in three rooms by yourself. You are still so young and have no one to rely on. Isn't this like a child holding gold in a busy city, in danger at any moment."

"Ah, what should we do? Director Zhang, what are you going to do?" Ma Qing pretended to be frightened.

"This matter is actually very simple. The stories in the books have already told us this. If you read more history books, you should know that there are only two paths." Zhang Changde raised two fingers.

"How should I put it?" Ma Qing said.

"One way is to find a backer, but given the current situation, it's hard to find a backer for such a large sum of money. Besides, if you find a backer, others can't help you for free. You have to spend money, so it's not worth it."

"What about the other way?" Ma Qing said modestly.

"Another way is to donate the official pension money and completely stop other people from thinking about it. Think about it, if you donate 2000 yuan and I write about your deeds, it will definitely cause a sensation. Then you will become a role model, and who will dare to cause trouble to you? This is what I think. I plan to start writing from the transformation of your ideological awareness..." Zhang Changde began to chatter endlessly, obviously entering a certain state.

Good guy, really good guy, Ma Qing had to admit that he was narrow-minded. He originally thought that Zhang Changde was seeking money, but it turned out that he was seeking news material. It is said that people have different realms and different perspectives. It is said that people have three realms:
“See mountains as mountains and water as water”

“When you look at a mountain, it’s not a mountain; when you look at water, it’s not water”

“Mountains are still mountains, and water is still water”

Zhang Changde has gone to the extreme in publicity. Others either report true news or false news, but look at him, he directly creates true news. This situation may have reached the atmosphere. Ma Qing really wanted to give Zhang Changde a thumbs up on the face, but forget it, he is just a despicable villain. Even if he is slapped in the face, he would dirty his hands.

Suppressing his disgust, Ma Qing interrupted Zhang Changde's idea, "Secretary Zhang, don't get excited, don't get excited, your idea is good, it's like a golden body protecting me. If anyone treats me badly in the future, I will go to their door to ask for donations. You said that our secretary, factory director, and so many dual-career cadres, no, there are also those cadres on the streets and in the government, whose family conditions are not better than mine, and their ideological awareness must not be lower than mine. The secretary's family donates 5000 yuan, the factory director's family donates 5000 yuan, the director's family donates 3000 yuan, and the section chief donates a thousand. When the time comes, you report it like this, and then our entire Red Star Factory will be famous throughout the country. By then, you, the author, will definitely be famous throughout the country."

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(End of this chapter)