Back To The 80s-Chapter 156: As Desired (Monthly ticket 20+1 more)_1

Chapter 156: Chapter 156: As Desired (Monthly ticket 20+1 more)_1

Guo Huaqiang knew that he had really gone too far this time and glanced at Lu Zhanguo somewhat uncomfortably.

Lu Zhanguo took a sip of water, put down his glass, and looked at Guo Huaqiang with serene eyes, saying, "Old Guo, don’t forget, you’re the political cadre."

Guo Huaqiang’s heart seemed to sink, and he sighed, "I was just being impatient, it’s all because of my family troubles."

Lu Zhanguo didn’t respond, which made Guo Huaqiang feel a little awkward. He sat for a while before leaving.

The next morning, after having breakfast, Gu Xiaobei went to Lu Zhanguo’s office and called Jiang Jiahua.

Upon receiving the call from Gu Xiaobei early in the morning, Jiang Jiahua felt a sense of inexplicable joy.

"Good morning, Editor-in-chief Jiang," Gu Xiaobei greeted Jiang Jiahua politely, sitting in Lu Zhanguo’s office chair.

"Comrade Gu, we’ve discussed it, and all your suggestions and ideas are very good and have great market prospects. However, thirty thousand is indeed a bit much," Jiang Jiahua stated directly.

"So, what does Editor-in-chief Jiang suggest..."

"Currently, foreign translation manuscripts are only sixteen yuan per thousand words. Of course, we’ve always paid you at the maximum rate plus bonuses. If you’re willing to collaborate, we have two proposals after the meeting. One is to give you twenty-five yuan per thousand words, which is a significant increase compared to the usual. The other is fifteen thousand per year, with monthly installments. Of course, we will have a word count requirement, requiring you to submit twenty articles per month," Jiang Jiahua explained.

Xiaobei knew that this final proposal was the biggest concession they had made.

"You know I’ll definitely choose the second plan, don’t you? Do you have any additional conditions?" He couldn’t believe such a generous offer would just fall into his lap.

Jiang Jiahua praised Gu Xiaobei’s keen mind internally, "We need you to come to the province once a month to provide training for the English editing team."

"That’s okay, but not until after the Spring Festival," Gu Xiaobei replied after some thought.

"Alright, your living expenses and travel expenses will be reimbursed when the time comes," Jiang Jiahua added.

"By the way, I hope it can be visualized in the form of pictures with text as the narrative method for the story. Can you accomplish that?" Gu Xiaobei was a bit worried Jiang Jiahua would mention deductions.

"Oh..." After Jiang Jiahua said "oh", he fell silent before replying, "That’s possible; we have graphic designers. You just need to make your requirements clear."

"Great, I don’t have any more issues." Jiang Jiahua didn’t mention any deductions, which allowed Gu Xiaobei to let out a sigh of relief.

"OK then, I’ll mail you the contract tomorrow. Please prepare yourself," Jiang Jiahua said cheerfully.

"Okay."

After Xiaobei hung up the phone, although the outcome wasn’t exactly what he had in mind, it was a satisfactory result. Once he had the money saved up, he could do some small business and step by step, realize his dream of building wealth.

Lu Zhanguo happened to come back from a five-kilometer run and entered the office dripping with sweat. After hanging up his military cap and removing his belt, he asked, "Finished the call?"

"Yeah, fifteen thousand a year, paid monthly, but they want me to go to the province once a month and do some training for them." Gu Xiaobei briefed.

"Not bad, that’s impressive," Lu Zhanguo said admiringly and fondly.

"Of course. My man is a hero, so I can’t fall short either. He defends everyone, while I build our home." Gu Xiaobei was full of flattery, only saying pleasant things.

Lu Zhanguo was sincerely pleased by these words. He looked at Gu Xiaobei with soft, deep eyes. The depths of his eyes seemed to have a glowing warmth that made Gu Xiaobei daze.

For the first time, Gu Xiaobei felt a little flushed, his cheeks turning slightly red. He hurriedly said; "I have to go. Jiujiu and the others are coming back for lunch soon."

Without waiting for Lu Zhanguo’s response, he dashed out like a little rabbit. Gosh, how could he look at me with such mushy eyes? It almost made my heart leap out of my chest. Gu Xiaobei ran while mumbling.

Watching Gu Xiaobei’s retreating figure, Lu Zhanguo couldn’t help but laugh. It was rare to see her blush.

On the way home, Gu Xiaobei picked up a few onions and spinach from the field.

Upon arriving at the residential area, she noticed Li Fengmei hanging clothes with a frown. This puzzled Gu Xiaobei; Li Fengmei seldom showed a displeased face and is usually a cheerful person.

Li Fengmei glanced at Gu Xiaobei and asked helplessly, "You’ve just been to the market?"

"Yeah, what happened to you?"

"Don’t even mention it. I got my clothes ready to hang, but the clothesline was so dirty that I went back for a damp cloth. In just that brief moment, Xiaobao had scattered a layer of dirt all over, and Sun Aiqin just stood by and watched. You know, kids don’t understand these things, but adults should! " Li Fengmei complained.

Gu Xiaobei always knew that Sun Aiqin liked to take advantage of things and that as long as her child wasn’t starved, it was fine. However, Gu Xiaobei couldn’t say much about it, so she could only provide comfort, "No worries, just wash it again, there’s no need to get upset."

"Just now I couldn’t help but scold her a bit, and she said that everyone in our neighborhood is bullying her. And not only her, but they’re also bullying Chang Yuan. What kind of nonsense is this?" Li Fengmei complained.

Gu Xiaobei suddenly remembered the conversation she heard between Guo Huaqiang and Lu Zhanguo on the car yesterday. Presumably, Chang Yuan also knew about it and had complained about it at home.

"Better get back to cooking. The kids will be back from school soon." After hanging up the clothes, Fengmei said, looking at Xiaobei.

Gu Xiaobei didn’t say much in response, and followed her upstairs to prepare for cooking.

When Chen Gang brought Jiujiu over for lunch, Gu Xiaobei noticed that Jiujiu’s face was badly swollen. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

"What happened? Who hit you?" In fact, Xiaobei didn’t need to ask; she knew it had to be Li Xianglan. Her classmates couldn’t possibly have that kind of strength.

"I’m sorry, Auntie. I failed to protect Jiujiu. My fourth sister-in-law hit her." A glance at Chen Gang’s usually calm face showed childish anger and resentment. His eyes were also welling up in red.

Gu Xiaobei squat down to touch Jiujiu’s swollen face, "How could she hit so hard? Jiujiu, next time you go home, I’ll go with you."

"Auntie, it’s okay, it doesn’t hurt," Jiujiu said, comfortingly.

"Why did she dare to hit you even with your eldest auntie in the house?" Gu Xiaobei asked indignantly.

"Fourth Auntie asked Jiujiu to serve porridge and she accidentally spilled a bit of rice. When Fourth Auntie saw this, she gave Jiujiu a slap. At the time, my eldest aunt and I were drying corn on the roof, we weren’t present."

When Chen Gang returned to the room and saw Jiujiu’s face swollen like a bun and Li Xianglan was still yelling angrily at Jiujiu, he was so angry that he picked up a stool to hit Li Xianglan. But he was too small and weak to overpower Chen Qiang. Instead, he was hit on the back with a hook by Li Xianglan while she had a chance. There was still a deep red streak on his back, and thankfully his eldest auntie was able to pull him away, otherwise, no one knows how Chen Gang would’ve been hit by Chen Qiang’s family.

This quarrel left a cold feeling in Chen Gang’s heart. He didn’t understand how Li Xianglan could viciously scold Jiujiu as an illegitimate child. He didn’t understand how his fourth brother could be so harsh in watching Li Xianglan scold Jiujiu like that without saying anything.

Gu Xiaobei felt sorry for Jiujiu, so she boiled her an egg and made a cool compress with a damp towel for her face.

Chen Gang stood quietly beside them, watching Xiaobei busying herself. His youthful face held a gravity that belied his age.

DaDong and XiaoDong came over after they ate. Gu Xiaobei tutored DaDong and Chen Gang, and had Jiujiu teach XiaoDong English words.