Chapter 639: Night talk with Chen Xiaoxia about "Tanhua": It is better to write well than to look good

On January 1st, Dongzi's family of three came to visit my house.

My mother was very happy. She showed Dongzi and his family around upstairs and downstairs. Dongzi's wife kept taking pictures.

My mother said, “Take more pictures so that you can buy a house like this one in the future.”

Our whole family, including Sister Guihua, a total of six people, drove two cars to accompany Dongzi and his family to visit Taiyi Mountain.

They had lunch at Xuri Villa at noon and returned to Xuri Hotel in the afternoon, where they were arranged to stay in a business suite.

My whole family had dinner with them at the Rising Sun Hotel. After dinner, everyone went home, leaving me to stay with them.

In the evening, Dongzi came to chat with me in 1701. We hadn't been together like this for a long time. We brewed a pot of tea and talked about everything under the sun.

Dongzi asked: "I saw your house and it was so luxurious. Where did you make so much money?"

I wanted to tell Dongzi that I learned acupuncture, cured patients abroad, and bought shares in two hospitals, but I didn't tell her.

Not to mention that Dongzi is an outsider, even my sister doesn't interact with me much anymore. Everyone is jealous.

If you want to keep your friends for a long time, don't say you are rich. If you can't hide it, then you have to say you are suffering.

I said, "The salary here is indeed higher. My annual income from various sources is around 2 million. I don't want to buy a villa, but my mother does."

So, I'll borrow a little, take out a loan, get a down payment, and satisfy my parents' wishes."

Dongzi said, "That's about right. Besides, housing prices upstate aren't high."

I said, "We are very different. You are better than me."

"No, I just have a fixed salary. Now the work is tight, so there is not much other benefits."

I shook my head and said, "Let's not talk about it now. After we turn 60, we will be very different."

Dongzi was puzzled: "Why is 60 years old so different?"

"As long as you live, you make money. I have to make money to live."

Dongzi laughed out loud.

I said, "Don't laugh. This is the harsh reality. You two both have jobs, so you have security in your old age."

Dongzi said: "You have also paid social security, and you have a skill, so don't be afraid."

Then the two of them talked about the people and things in Wuxiang and the people and things in Murakami, and they had a great time chatting. I said, "Go to bed early. I'll accompany you to Daughter Island tomorrow."

Dongzi said, "I'm a little tired from climbing the mountain today. Okay, you should take a rest too."

I rarely stay overnight at 1701 anymore. Just as I was about to take a shower, I realized I didn't bring any clothes. So I went downstairs to buy some.

Just as I was about to enter the elevator, Chen Xiaoxia came out. She looked at me and asked:

"Boss Wan, you didn't take a break on New Year's Day?"

I said, "Accompanying guests. What about you?"

"Mr. Chen wants to talk to me."

"Oh——" I nodded.

The elevator came down from above, I waved and walked in. There were a few guests inside, and they were talking about something.

After getting out of the elevator, I walked out of the hotel door and prepared to go shopping in the nearby clothing stores. As I walked, I thought to myself, it turns out that Mr. Chen hadn't rested, but was busy deploying his troops.

I went to a clothing store and picked out a pair of underwear, a T-shirt, a pair of trousers, and a pair of socks. Without much haggling, I took my clothes and headed back home.

I went back to the room, took a shower, and washed my shorts. Then I called the floor attendant, and a waiter came in.

"Please leave this set of clothes in the laundry room and put them on the bed for me tomorrow."

She nodded, took the clothes and left.

I then checked my phone and just after reading a piece of news, Chen Xiaoxia called.

Her voice was very soft: "Boss Wan, I sent you a WeChat message. Take a look."

I hung up the phone and found that this WeChat message had been lying around for more than ten minutes. No wonder she called to remind me.

It read: "Boss Wan, Boss Chen talked to me and said you recommended me to take charge of Tanhua. I was very panicked.

I'm afraid I'll bump into Mr. Chen if I come to the 17th floor. Could you please go downstairs and sit in the nearby teahouse?"

"Okay, there's a 'Yunshuijian' on the right side of the hotel. You go first and I'll follow."

After a while, she sent me a WeChat message, asking me to go to private room 201.

Entering the private room, she sat on a low stool and made tea. She poured me a cup and said, "Try the green willow, it's a little sweet."

I nodded and said, "I've had it before. What did Mr. Chen talk to you about?"

"He asked me to study with Mr. Xiao for half a year."

I thought to myself, this is another step of a woman with bound feet. With a smile on my face, I said, "What do you think?"

"I haven't agreed yet, so I want to ask you something. You've been in charge of the public relations department and are my direct supervisor."

"Go ahead. It's a very mature project, and someone is in charge of the specific operations.

We will mainly focus on selling houses from now on. You are good at public relations planning. Plan some good events and sell the houses quickly."

I didn't tell her that I was going to replace Lao Xiao, in case Mr. Chen changed his mind midway.

She said, "I have General Wan's support. I also want to improve myself. But how can I promote this project?"

I said, "Tanhuali is mainly about school district housing. Don't advertise it too seriously. It's not like upstate, where you're near a subway station or a major hospital. A town doesn't have those advantages."

Chen Xiaoxia nodded. "Please give me some tea."

I said: You should gradually launch some slogans and put up some billboards. For example: First launch a slogan: It's too difficult to be the top scholar, but being the third scholar is also pretty good.

Make this billboard bigger and hang it in more places. This will resonate with people. It's true that getting first place is difficult. Getting third place is easier.

This is called expectation guidance, which makes parents mistakenly believe that if their children study here, they can really get a third place in the exam. First place is difficult to get, so getting third place is quite good.

As for whether this third place is third in the country, third in the province, third in the city, or third in Tanhuali Middle School, people don't care. In short, third place is great.

Chen Xiaoxia said, "This is really good."

I took a sip of tea and continued, "Go to the entrance of the newly built sales office and put up a sign. Write the title on it: It's actually harder to be the third place winner than the first place winner.

Then explain:

In ancient times, the top scholar only needed to write well, while the third scholar not only had to write well but also had to be handsome. According to the record in Qinzhong Sui Shi Ji by Li Nao of the Tang Dynasty:

The first banquet held by Jinshi scholars in Xingyuan is called the Tanhua Banquet. Young and talented people must be sent as Tanhua envoys to visit various famous gardens.

Therefore, the third place winner must be handsome to be elected.

Finally, a line of bold red characters stood out: "Studying and becoming a top scholar will lead to the full development of morality, intelligence, physical fitness, and aesthetics." This is called allegory.

Chen Xiaoxia laughed and said, "It implies that studying in this middle school will make the boys become handsome and the girls become beautiful."

After a while, she asked again: "Does the third place really have to be handsome?"

I said, "This was a requirement during the Tang and Song dynasties, but not in later dynasties. Regardless, it's not something we made up; it has historical basis."

"Boss Wan, did you read all this from a book?"

I smiled and said, "Whether it's from a book or the internet, just copy down whatever's useful. There's a lot of plagiarism going on in the world, so let's see who can adapt it better."

Then I gave her three examples:

Talking about Wang Bo's "The setting sun and the lone wild goose fly together, and the autumn water and the sky are the same color."

Directly paraphrasing Yu Xin's poem, "Fallen flowers and shrubs fly together, and willows and spring flags share the same color."

Nalan Xingde's "A lifetime, a generation, a pair of people, trying to make them lose their souls together."

To borrow a line directly from Luo Binwang's poem, "Loving each other and thinking of each other makes us love each other even more, a pair for a lifetime."

Su Shi's "When will the bright moon appear? I raise my cup of wine and ask the blue sky."

Paraphrasing Li Bai's "When has the moon appeared in the blue sky? I stop drinking and ask."

Chen Xiaoxia was speechless and so surprised that she didn't say anything for a long time.

I said, "Planning means reading more and making more connections. It's so late, let's go back and talk later."

She said, "No wonder Mr. Cao had to leave. He never instructed us this way."