"Qiu Rui, where did you go today? I haven't seen you all day." Li Shaohong got up and was about to drink some water. When she saw Zhang Qiu Rui coming back, she couldn't help but ask.
When the others heard the noise, they all looked up, waiting for Zhang Qiurui's explanation.
Zhang Qiurui is the youngest girl in their dormitory, only fourteen years old. Whether it is Li Shaohong, Hu Mei, Liu Miaomiao, or the more aloof Peng Xiaolian, they all take good care of and care about Zhang Qiurui.
Zhang Qiurui felt that they treated her as their own sister.
People of this era are so simple. Although life is hard, they can always weave a warm network among neighbors, friends and classmates, support each other and withstand the wind and rain together.
Zhang Qiurui looked at the concerned faces in front of him, and a warm feeling surged in his heart.
"Today I went to the city with my second brother to do some things and then wandered around the capital, so I came back a little late.
"I'm sorry to have caused Sisters Hong, Mei, Lian, and Miao to worry today, so I'll treat you to some instant noodles as an apology." Zhang Qiurui smiled and pulled out several packets of yellow instant noodles from his cloth bag.
These instant noodles were purchased by Zhang Qiurui from a trading supermarket.
Instant noodles in those days had yellow outer packaging and were produced by Huafeng. The flavors were relatively simple, with only noodles and a packet of seasoning inside, without the various vegetable packets, vinegar packets, etc. that we have today.
The weight of the flatbread was about two taels and the price was 15 cents. For Zhang Qiurui, it was very cheap, but for Li Shaohong, Hu Mei and others, it was already a luxury.
After all, in this era of scarce supplies, even a simple packet of instant noodles like this cannot be enjoyed casually.
"Instant noodles? I'm just hungry." Liu Miaomiao, who was sleeping on the upper bunk, got up quickly. After getting down, her stomach was still rumbling.
"You..., we can't take advantage of you. We spent money to buy it from you." Li Shaohong wanted to refuse, but her stomach made a rumbling sound. She touched her stomach and couldn't help it.
"Talking about money hurts our feelings. You treat me as your sister, and I treat you as my sisters. It would be awkward to talk about money between family members.
Besides, I really don't need these few dollars, dimes, or cents." Zhang Qiurui smiled and shook his head.
She walked to the table by the window, laid out the lunch boxes of Li Shaohong, Hu Mei, Liu Miaomiao, and Peng Xiaolian in order, tore open the bags of instant noodles and put them into the lunch boxes, poured in the seasoning packets, then poured in boiling water, covered the lid and let it sit for three to five minutes before eating.
"Could it be that Qiurui's parents are high-level leaders? Otherwise, why would your second brother come to Yanjing to accompany you to study? You are not short of money, and you are so generous." Hu Mei and Peng Xiaolian got out of bed, and the five of them sat on the chairs in front of the window. Hu Mei asked curiously.
"Do you believe me when I say my family is just an ordinary member of the production team? Do you believe me when I earn my own money and spend it myself?" Zhang Qiurui asked with a smile.
"I don't believe you. Can the members of an ordinary production team support your second brother to come to Yanjing to accompany you to study? You leave such a large labor force idle instead of earning food? Your family has no money and I'm afraid we can't afford to support him. And you are so generous?" Hu Mei obviously didn't believe what Zhang Qiurui said.
Hu Mei lives in Beijing. Her parents, brother, and sister-in-law all have formal jobs. Her family is well-off, but not to the extent that she can casually treat four people to instant noodles.
It’s not that she is stingy, but she doesn’t have enough to eat and she really has no money.
"Really? I didn't lie to you. If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do. You'll know later. Okay, let's start eating." Zhang Qiurui spread his hands with an innocent look on his face.
"Wow! It smells so good!"
"Is this packet of instant noodles really that filling?"
As soon as they opened the lid of the lunch box, a rich and tempting aroma instantly filled the entire room.
"I made two packets of instant noodles for each of you. Don't thank me. Eat them. I'm going to wash up." Zhang Qiurui took his toiletries and a pot of hot water, waved to them, and walked towards the big bathhouse.
Although it is not yet October, the weather has already turned cold, especially the temperature difference between morning and evening is particularly large. If you don't use hot water to take a shower at night, you may shiver from the cold, and you may even catch a cold tomorrow.
After Zhang Qiurui treated Li Shaohong, Hu Mei, Liu Miaomiao and Peng Xiaolian to a meal of instant noodles, the friendship between the five of them quietly sublimated over this simple meal of instant noodles.
The relationship is closer. We attend classes together, eat together, go to the toilet together, go back to the dormitory together, and discuss interesting things in the class.
........
At the beginning of October, Zhang Qiurui unexpectedly received a letter from Cheng Shufen.
The earliest letter Zhang Qiurui received from Cheng Shufen was in April this year.
At that time, Cheng Shufen wrote to report on the performance of Zhang Guorong's second album. As for the "Three-Body Problem" series given to Ming Pao and Xiangjiang Publishing House, it was enough for them to publish for a long time.
This year, Zhang Qiurui has to prepare for the college entrance examination and write a novel, so he has forgotten about what is happening in Hong Kong.
This time, Cheng Shufen wrote to Zhang Qiurui, firstly to ask him to write an article, saying that after the release of Zhang Guorong's second album, it became extremely popular, successfully entered the Southeast Asian market, and even caused a certain response in Japan and South Korea.
During this period, Zhang Guorong attended various programs and activities, and even participated in film and television production.
PolyGram intends to strike while the iron is hot and plans to release a third album, and hopes that Zhang Qiurui can continue to create several hit songs specifically for Zhang Guorong.
Secondly, the serialization of the "Three-Body Problem" series at the Hong Kong Publishing House was extremely popular, with readers responding enthusiastically. Letters poured in like snowflakes, and the sales of Ming Pao continued to rise.
"The Three-Body Problem, Part I" sold 150,000 copies, "The Three-Body Problem, Part II" sold 200,000 copies, and "The Three-Body Problem, Part III" sold 240,000 copies, for a total of more than 600,000 copies sold.
With a price of 20 yuan per copy and a royalty rate of 10%, Zhang Qiurui could earn more than 120,000 yuan. Combined with the royalties from Ming Pao and the lyrics writing fees paid by PolyGram, Zhang Qiurui now had 300,000 yuan in his Hong Kong bank account.
Yes, Zhang Qiurui asked Cheng Shufen to open an account for her with the money she earned in Hong Kong and asked Cheng Shufen to help her manage it.
As for whether Cheng Shufen would embezzle the money, it was easy to say since it was not a large sum now. But if it became a large sum, it would be hard to say, as human nature was unpredictable.
However, Cheng Shufen's reputation in later generations was quite good. She valued friendship and loyalty and would not betray her friends for a little profit. Moreover, she was a potential stock, and there were many more people who would make friends with her than those who would embezzle her.
Zhang Qiurui chose to believe her. After all, in this era, it is not easy to find someone worthy of trust.
In 1978, three hundred thousand yuan was undoubtedly a huge sum of money. For anyone, it was a fortune that was enough to change anyone's destiny.
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