Courtyard Houses: The Great Masters of a Nation Hidden Within

Could it really be that project management system book you wrote? It's already been printed? And so quickly?

Just as I was pondering this, the same group of people I had been chatting with earlier gathered around the counter and asked the sales clerk, "Excuse me, do you have a book called 'Project Management System,' written by a man named Gao Jianguo?"

The sales clerk must have heard countless questions about this name that day, so she remembered it very clearly. She immediately replied, "Yes, yes, comrade, you've come just in time. Only a few copies of this book were delivered to begin with, and there are only a few left."

The people buying the books were overjoyed, waving their arms excitedly: "Great! Give me one, give me one!"

The way he acted, the way he spoke, it was as if he was afraid the book would grow wings and run away.

Lou Xiao'e heard all of this. She turned to look at Gao Jianguo, her eyes filled with surprise and admiration. Writing a book was a great achievement at any time, but Gao Jianguo had managed to produce one without saying a word.

She still had a nagging thought: what if it's just a case of having the same name?

He leaned closer and asked Gao Jianguo in a low voice, "Jianguo, did you write this?"

The voice was very soft, as if any loud noise would scare the good news away.

Gao Jianguo's mind was also in turmoil. Among those who dabble in technology, there are very few who can remain calm when they publish a book, let alone one that is groundbreaking and establishes a new school of thought.

Gao Jianguo suppressed his excitement and nodded: "It should be."

Lou Xiao'e was even more excited than him, but she didn't actually kiss him in the street. Instead, she turned around, rushed to the counter, and shouted at the sales clerk, "Comrade, quick, I want as many of those 'Project Management System' brochures as I can!"

These days, sales clerks don't tolerate such wealthy and arrogant customers. They roll their eyes and say, "Give you the whole package? What are the other employees supposed to buy? Two books at most, not one more!!"

Lou Xiao'e didn't mind: "Two books it is, quick, quick, quick!"

The sales clerk tore off a receipt and handed it to him: "Go ahead, pay first!"

Lou Xiao'e skipped and hopped to pay the money, then handed the ticket stub with the payment stamp to the salesperson.

The sales clerk took two copies of "Project Management Systems," still smelling of ink, and handed them to Lou Xiao'e. She held the books up to her nose, took a deep breath, and grinned foolishly.

Seeing her expression, Gao Jianguo chuckled and asked in a low voice, "Is it really that serious?"

Lou Xiao'e sneered: "How could it not be? This is the book you wrote."

Gao Jianguo smiled and said, "Then I'll write a few more books in the future, okay?"

Lou Xiao'e nodded blankly, "Okay, okay."

The commotion had just subsided when the group of people buying books nearby spotted Gao Jianguo. One of them, with a spark of interest, waited until Gao Jianguo and Lou Xiao'e were a little more relaxed before sidling up to ask him a question.

"Hello, comrade. You must be Comrade Gao Jianguo? I met you at the ministry's seminar last time."

Gao Jianguo nodded: "Hello, hello, I am Gao Jianguo."

As soon as he finished speaking, this man started shouting, "Everyone come here quickly! Comrade Gao Jianguo, the author of this book, is right here!"

With a sudden commotion, not only the few people who bought the "Project Management System" book, but also many other customers in the store were taken aback, and they all started talking non-stop.

These days, you can flip through a lot of books, but the chances of meeting the author are very slim, let alone bumping into both the book and the author at the same time.

Several comrades who had bought Gao Jianguo's book all crowded over, vying to shake hands and introducing themselves.

"Hello, Senior Engineer, I am..."

"Hello Comrade Gao, I am..."

"Hello, Teacher Gao, I am..."

The store suddenly became incredibly lively. Seeing this commotion, the sales clerk didn't dare to shoo people away. People who can write books are people you have to look up to.

No wonder that girl wanted to buy the whole book; it seems her boyfriend is the author. That makes no surprise.

Gao Jianguo exchanged pleasantries with a group of readers for quite some time. One of them, who recognized him, asked, "Mr. Gao, could you please sign your book for me?"

Tsk, physical publication, book signing, Gao Jianguo imagined the scene in his mind. He could say he had gotten a taste of the famous author's experience in advance.

He didn't push it away, which is a good thing. He's now focused on building up his reputation. The higher his reputation, the bolder he'll be in giving away good stuff.

He took out the Shanghai gold pen, which was a gift from Liang Jianguo and the other two.

He carefully wrote a line on the title page of each book.

To Comrade xxx: Keep your spirits up and strive for excellence. — Gao Jianguo

The group of people who bought the books happily said goodbye to Gao Jianguo one by one.

Lou Xiao'e hugged the book, ignoring everything else, and happily dragged Gao Jianguo out of the Xinghua Bookstore.

She also wanted to buy Gao Jianguo's book. Although she could only buy a few copies at a time, Beijing was so big, and Xinghua Bookstore wasn't the only one. She wanted to visit each bookstore one by one and buy from each one.

The rest of the day was filled with Lou Xiao'e's excitement. Seeing how happy she was, Gao Jianguo let her be. After all, they were out having fun, so how they had fun was fine. They could just treat it as a different way to ride their bikes around.

After dinner, Gao Jianguo drove Lou Xiao'e home. There were already seventeen or eighteen copies of "Project Management System" stacked on the back seat of their car.

Lou Xiao'e even added a special touch of ceremony, pulling out a few books and having Gao Jianguo sign them.

Gao Jianguo wrote the three characters "Gao Jianguo" on the three books inside.

There's one copy left, and the one he signed is a little different.

To Xiao'e: This is the first book. —Gao Jianguo

It was a mark left that only the two of them could understand. The plain, dry, and unadorned words revealed a touch of romance typical of science and engineering men.

Lou Xiao'e carefully put the precious book into her bag, looked around to make sure no one was watching, happily pecked Gao Jianguo on the cheek, and pushed the cart into the yard.

Gao Jianguo turned around and rode his bicycle home. He kept a few copies for himself, not knowing whether the Machinery Industry Press would send him sample copies, so he decided to keep a few for himself first.

Lou Xiao'e entered the house. Her parents had long since given up on asking her why she was always gone on weekends, and they didn't even bother to say a word when they saw her come in.

She was really into it, grabbing two books and handing one to each of her parents: "Here, these are books written by your son-in-law. Take a look, take a look."

Lou's mother glared at her: "Shameless!"

He had barely finished speaking when he suddenly realized, "What? Jianguo even wrote a book about it?"

Lou's father straightened up, picked up Gao Jianguo's book, and carefully flipped through it, clicking his tongue as he read: "Young and promising, young and promising indeed! Well written! If I had seen this book back then, I could have saved at least ten percent of the money and a ten-and-a-half percent of the construction time when the steel mill was being built!"

Lou's mother didn't know much about this, but Gao Jianguo wrote a book, and wrote it quite well. In her eyes, it was like applying powder to her face, and she smiled broadly.

We've entered Sanjiang! Thank you all for your support along the way!

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