Chapter 27: The idea of stamp collecting
Just after the National Day, Liu Hongmin received a letter from Hong Kong, written by Luo Baoming.
The letter said that the newspaper had signed the contract he had brought back and set the publication date of "Famous World" on the 15th, in ten installments. The remuneration had been mailed to him, and he could go to the bank to withdraw the money with the remittance slip.
The next day, Liu Hongmin went to the bank. As expected, when he tried to withdraw money, the staff refused, saying, "We cannot withdraw Hong Kong dollars, but we can exchange them for RMB."
Liu Hongmin shook his head. "No need. Just open an account for me and deposit the money into it."
Seeing that Liu Hongmin was not easy to fool, the staff member said, "Can I exchange it for foreign exchange certificates for you?"
Every bank has the task of intercepting foreign exchange. Although the Hong Kong dollar is not the main currency for collecting foreign exchange, it is better to have it than not. More than 700 Hong Kong dollars is a small amount, but collecting foreign exchange is a matter of accumulating small amounts into large amounts.
Liu Hongmin was stunned for a moment, "Have the foreign exchange certificates been circulated?"
The staff shook his head. "Not yet, but our bank already has some foreign exchange certificates."
"Then why did you recommend it to me?" Liu Hongmin was speechless. If the foreign exchange coupons were not circulated, wouldn't his money be wasted?
The staff member was a little embarrassed and said, "It has to be circulated anyway."
"Thank you!" Liu Hongmin gritted his teeth, "Open an account for me and deposit all the Hong Kong dollars into it."
The staff had no choice but to open an account for him. However, although the money was in their bank, it could not be counted as part of their bank's foreign exchange collection mission.
Liu Hongmin took the passbook and left the bank. Then he went to find Zha Jianying, "Jianying, help me keep an eye on the news from Hong Kong."
"'Famous' is going to be released?"
Liu Hongmin nodded. "It will be published in Ming Pao on the 15th. I want to know what the people there think of "Famous World"."
"I will write to Hong Kong immediately."
Cha Jianying turned around and ran back to the dormitory, leaving Liu Hongmin in front of the building.
Liu Hongmin shrugged and sat down on the curb next to him. Sure enough, more than ten minutes later, Zha Jianying ran down with a letter in his hand.
"Redmin, take me to the post office."
Liu Hongmin stood up and straddled the bicycle. Cha Jianying jumped onto the back seat skillfully and held Liu Hongmin's waist with his hand.
"Hongmin, congratulations! Shao Bao will definitely be a great success if he publishes it in Hong Kong."
"Thank you!" Liu Hongmin said with a smile, "Congratulations on the great success of your "Mrs. Li" as well."
When talking about Lady Li, Zha Jianying was even happier. She had never expected that her first novel would be picked up by Beijing Literature and Art, but she needed to go to the Beijing Literature and Art guesthouse to revise the manuscript.
The story of "Mrs. Li" is very good, and Zha Jianying wrote it very well. However, just like Liu Hongmin thought, "Beijing Literature and Art" wanted to make this novel a representative work representing the liberation of women's rights, and had high hopes for "Mrs. Li", so the short story "Mrs. Li" had to be carefully polished and revised to be impeccable.
However, considering that Zha Jianying was still a student, he was allowed to attend classes during the day and return to the guesthouse at night. This semi-dark room format was unique in the Beijing Literature and Art Guesthouse.
Of course, the subsidy he received was also unique: Others received two yuan a day, but Zha Jianying only received one and a half yuan.
When Liu Hongmin first heard about it, he was stunned. In this era, there is still such treatment? A month of editing manuscripts in the guesthouse is actually more than the subsidy given by the school. If he had known this, he would have submitted it to "Beijing Literature and Art" when he wrote the first draft.
As long as the money given by "Beijing Literature and Art" is enough, he can revise the manuscript until the end of his life.
When I got to the post office, the staff put stamps all over the envelope, which looked very colorful and pretty. Among these stamps were some animal stamps, including last year's horse stamps, this year's sheep stamps, and tiger stamps from several years ago.
Liu Hongmin suddenly remembered that next year seemed to be the Year of the Monkey, and the monkey stamps issued had great room for appreciation.
Just when Cha Jianying was about to pay, Liu Hongmin took out a big unity and handed it to the staff. "Comrade, in addition to this credit, I want to buy some nice stamps with the remaining money."
Cha Jianying was stunned for a moment, "Why did you buy so many stamps?"
A stamp costs only a few cents or a dime, and one Great Unity stamp can be sold for hundreds of stamps.
"It looks nice. I want to collect stamps for fun."
Cha Jianying nodded and did not object. In the capital, there has always been a custom of playing with things, whether it is antiques or flowers, birds, fish and insects, many men in the capital have a hobby. Liu Hongmin is either studying or writing books, so it is good to develop a hobby to relax.
Although stamp collecting costs some money, it is not a problem at all given Liu Hongmin's income.
The staff of the post office has no joy or sorrow. He gets a fixed salary, and whether Liu Hongmin buys stamps or not has nothing to do with his income.
"They're all here! Take your pick!"
Liu Hongmin immediately discovered a set of special stamps. They were stamps discovered on the 30th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The main image was the national emblem, and the background was fluttering ribbons. The colors were colorful and complemented each other.
“This set!”
Liu Hongmin immediately picked out this set of stamps, and then selected some zodiac stamps and stamps with beautiful composition.
The staff member took a look and said, "There's still some money left. How about I give you that stamp album?"
Liu Hongmin looked at the stamps in his hand, which were a bit too much, and said, "Okay."
After taking out the stamp album, Liu Hongmin slowly stuffed the stamps in. He only left the commemorative stamps untouched. This kind of stamp is only valuable if it is in a complete set.
Cha Jianying couldn't help feeling a little strange as he watched Liu Hongmin struggle to carefully stuff the commemorative stamps into his bag.
"Don't you collect stamps? Why don't you put them in the album?"
Liu Hongmin smiled and said, "I am investing."
"Investment?" Cha Jianying asked puzzledly, "Investment in what?"
Liu Hongmin: "You said that the stamps I have were printed in 10,000 sets, but due to various reasons, only 10 sets were left. However, 100,000 people like them. How much is this stamp worth?"
Cha Jianying opened his mouth and asked, "You don't like these stamps?"
"I prefer money!"
Liu Hongmin smiled and asked, "Isn't it vulgar?"
Cha Jianying was silent for a while, "You seem to value money very much."
Liu Hongmin: "Do you remember those years after we were born?"
"Are you talking about the three-year famine?"
Liu Hongmin nodded. "I was still young at that time. I don't remember anything else. I only remember that there was no food at home and we could only eat corn and rice to fill our stomachs."
Corn cobs are corn cobs. Eating them will dry out your large intestine and make it difficult to defecate.
Even though his original body was gone, Liu Hongmin still remembered the pain. In addition, Liu Hongmin's soul came from the future, and he was afraid of being poor, so making money became his instinct.
(End of this chapter)
