Chapter 398 Going Abroad (Revised)
Li Yue'e was somewhat moved by what Su Mo said, but after consideration, she decided to stay in Lujia Village.
Her son and daughter-in-law were not at home, and she was unfamiliar with Guangzhou. If she did not have to go to see the children, she would not go to cause trouble, so that her in-laws would not have to take care of her while doing business.
So, she thanked Su Tingqian and his wife, and said that if she was too busy, they must call her and she would go there immediately.
Early in the morning of the 12th, Su Mo's family of five and Zhang Zhen set off for Shuangshan City to take a train.
Ding Zhicheng did not go with them. He took a 20-day leave and could stay here for a while. Accompanying his newlywed wife and helping his father-in-law and mother-in-law with some work to show his presence.
Without stopping, the group flew back to Guangzhou on the afternoon of the 14th.
As soon as she got back, Su Mo got busy. In addition to preparing things for going abroad, she also had to prepare things at home.
The reason why the Su family's noodle business in Guangzhou is so good is largely because their ingredients are good. Now it is difficult for individuals to get large cold storage, so she can't keep vegetables, but grain is still okay.
Otherwise, everything from the inside to the outside will be different, which will have a great impact on the business. Therefore, before going abroad, she had to prepare wheat and soybeans, which are used in the largest quantities.
Su Mo started preparing these things after deciding to be an exchange student. They have all been prepared and stored in the space. Now it's just a matter of taking them out.
After asking around for a few days, Su Mo finally found a farmyard for sale near the pier, and secretly bought it to use as a warehouse.
After the purchase, Su Mo took out hundreds of sacks that she had bought in batches during this period, filled them with the food that had been prepared for growth, piled them up in the room, and locked the doors and windows.
The next day, Su Mo asked Su Yiyuan to come over, and the brother and sister went together to "receive the goods."
Su Yiyuan arrived at the yard, looked at the sacks that filled several rooms, and took a breath of cold air: "Little sister, how much did you buy?"
"30 tons of wheat, 15 tons of soybeans, and 2 tons of rice."
They now use about 150 kilograms of flour and 70 kilograms of soybeans every day. This amount is enough for them to use for a year, and even to open another store.
Rice is used less, and these 2 tons are reserved for family members or for employees.
"These sacks are all 150 jin each, 400 bags of wheat, 200 bags of soybeans, and 30 bags of rice. Second brother, let's count them separately to see if they are even." After saying this, he pretended to count.
Su Yiyuan didn't have time to sigh, and seeing that his younger sister had already started working, he quickly started to count.
The brother and sister counted for a while, and after confirming that the quantity was correct, Su Yiyuan asked: "Little sister, is it okay for you to bring so much at once?"
Although they had approval documents, it would be easy for the other party to be checked if they brought so much at once, and they might even be implicated.
"No problem, this batch of grain did not come from the team. Those people bought a few extra ships when they bought it. Our batch was separated from those ships."
Su Yiyuan breathed a sigh of relief, but still said, "Little sister, don't buy so much at once next time, it's easy to cause problems."
"But, buying a large amount at one time can save a lot of money." Su Mo said, "Before, we bought it in batches, flour was 1.7 cents per pound, and soybeans were 2.5 cents. Now this batch is large, wheat is 260 yuan per ton, and soybeans are 420 yuan per ton."
The price Su Mo quoted was based on the country's purchase price and retail price.
Su Yiyuan calculated that he could save 80 yuan per ton of wheat and 80 yuan per ton of soybeans, adding up to 45 tons, which means he could save 3,600 yuan.
This is only the case with only three stores at present. When more stores are opened in the future, the savings will be even greater.
"Do they ship this by boat?" Su Yiyuan asked.
"Yes, they have several small boats, and cargo arrives every day."
There is a pier nearby, and there are many cargo ships coming and going every day, and even more secretly coming at night. Su Yiyuan did not doubt it. After all, most of Xu Qifa's cargo also came by water.
"Then we should buy in bulk in the future. However, this is dangerous. When Lu Changzheng is not around, you can call me." If he gets caught, it's better for him to go to jail than for his younger sister.
"Okay." Su Mo agreed. These are enough for them to use for a year. When they buy next time, she will be back.
"It just so happens that I'm thinking of hiring a few people and raising some chickens, ducks and geese in the countryside. I'll find some connections and buy a flour machine and a rice mill, and then we'll have wheat bran and rice bran ready." Su Yiyuan said.
They make cooked food, and they consume a lot of poultry every day. Now, in addition to buying at the agricultural and trade market, they also buy in the countryside through middlemen. The quality is unstable, so it's better to raise them by ourselves.
After making sure everything was OK, the siblings locked the doors and windows and went back. In the evening, Su Yiyuan found a train and moved all the food to Su Mo's bungalow near Moude Village.
The dock was a mixed bag, and it was not safe to keep so much food here.
After the food issue was settled, Su Mo began to prepare for the home.
She first took the two children to the department store and bought new clothes for them, as well as a lot of school supplies and a bunch of newly published picture books. She
even bought a newly-made double-tub washing machine for 240 yuan.
After returning home, Su Mo taught the two children how to use it. From then on, they could just throw the clothes they changed into the washing machine to wash, without having to wash them themselves.
After finishing all these, Su Mo was about to leave.
This time, the country selected a total of 3,000 outstanding people from all walks of life, who will be sent to various countries to study in batches within half a year.
The first batch will leave in early September and go to Western European countries.
The country attaches great importance to this overseas study. Even though foreign exchange reserves are in short supply at present, it still specially approved a standard of 5,000 US dollars per person.
Although this 5,000 US dollars seems to be a lot, after deducting tuition and accommodation fees, the part used for living expenses is not much.
In addition, in order to better show the spiritual outlook of the country, before departure, each person will be given an additional 700 yuan for clothing expenses so that everyone can buy some decent clothes.
After all, going abroad means representing the country. If you dress too poorly, it will be a loss of face for our great country.
After receiving the clothing allowance, Su Mo went to the Friendship Store to buy a woolen coat, and bought two brightly colored skirts that were popular in Hong Kong from Xu Qifa.
The clothes she had been wearing were of good quality, so there was no need to buy more. She brought a few sets of clothes for changing, and bought the rest when she arrived in Germany.
Su Mo was leaving for Beijing on August 20th. On the 19th, the family had a meal together.
After the meal, Su Tingde gave Su Mo a thick envelope with a stack of colorful banknotes and a small bag with a few small yellow croakers and seven or eight diamonds.
"This money was prepared by your grandfather a long time ago, but it has been twenty or thirty years, and I don't know if it will still be needed. Take it with you. If you can use it, use it. If not, forget it."
"Take this small yellow croaker and diamonds. Gold is hard currency and can be used everywhere. When you get to Germany, find a place to exchange them for money. Your second brother said that these diamonds are quite valuable now. You can exchange them for them too."
"Uncle, no need. I have prepared it here. I'm not short of money." She also has two boxes of currencies from various countries in her room. She can always find something to spend. If not, she has a lot of gold in her hands.
"Take it! This is a reward from your uncle. Although studying abroad is not a new thing in our family, you are the first one in your generation to go abroad, which is also a matter of honor for the family."
Su Mo: ... Uncle, your compliment sounds a bit strange.
"The money given by the country is only enough for you to have enough food and clothing. If you want to buy something else, you have to have money in your hands. When you are abroad, you will have confidence only when you have enough money. Take the things first, don't save them when you are abroad, or you will not have enough money to buy gifts for your uncle when you return home." Su Tingde joked.
"Your uncle gave you, so you should keep it." Su Tingqian said.
"Okay, then I'll take it, thank you uncle." If you can't spend it, you can return it to your uncle when you come back.
Su Tingqian also took out an envelope and said, "Dad asked someone to exchange 3,000 marks for you. When you get there, spend it."
Although the country currently does not allow private foreign exchange, you can still exchange it in Guangzhou by finding connections. The current exchange rate of RMB to Mark is about 1 Mark to 2 RMB. This 3,000 marks cost Su Tingqian 6,000 yuan.
"Okay, thank you, Dad."
Su Tingqian went to study in the UK when he was young. He has been to many places in the UK, Germany and France, so he reminded her of some things to pay attention to.
Late at night, Lu Changzheng also came back. He came back on purpose. He was exhausted and his eyes were bloodshot. He probably hadn't rested for several days.
Su Mo was very surprised to see him, "Why are you back?"
"You are going abroad, so I have to come back to see you off."
After putting down his things, Lu Changzheng went to take a combat shower. When he came back, he hugged Su Mo and said reluctantly, "Wife, you haven't left the country yet, and I've begun to miss you." It
will be a year. He won't see his wife for a long time, and he can't call her or even hear her voice.
After a while, Lu Changzheng took the luggage bag he had just picked up, took out a cloth bag from it, opened it, and saw a pistol and a lot of bullets inside.
"Wife, this foreign country is not like our country. You should keep this thing. It will be useful if you encounter danger." This was one of the reasons why he came back specially.
After that, Lu Changzheng demonstrated to Su Mo how to use it again, and then let her put the thing into the space.
"What is the situation over there now?" Su Mo asked.
Lu Changzheng shook his head, "Not very optimistic."
Su Mo sighed. It seemed that it was unavoidable and they still had to fight. After Su Mo told Lu Changzheng to be careful, the couple went to sleep.
The next day, Lele was very happy to see Lu Changzheng coming back, but he was only happy for a while, and soon he was depressed again.
Dad is back, but soon, mom will leave, and she will be away for a year. Although he understood that it was a good thing for his mother to study abroad and he should support her, he still had a strange idea.
On the morning of the 20th, Su Mo, watched by her family, boarded a plane to Beijing with more than 20 students from Guangdong Province who were the first group to go abroad. They had to go to the Language College in Beijing first for more than ten days of training.
The training mainly focused on some things that need to be paid attention to when studying abroad, such as international situation, foreign laws and regulations, folk customs and humanities, and some relevant regulations for studying abroad.
In addition, there are some common sense of life abroad. For example, in a foreign country, you cannot use newspapers to wipe your butt, it will clog the toilet; for some services, you may need to tip; how to use a water heater; how to order food, etc.
After all, when they go abroad, the international students represent the face of the country. If they make all kinds of jokes, it will be a disgrace to our great country.
After the plane that Su Mo was on took off, Lele's eyes instantly turned red. But the little guy wanted to save face and didn't want to show off in front of everyone, so he held it back. After Lu Changzheng left for the front line in the afternoon, he finally couldn't help but went back to his room and cried secretly.
An An saw him crying and went to comfort him.
"Sister, we are like little cabbages." Lele looked pitiful. Although Lele is much more independent than children of the same age, he is still a child after all.
Although An An is emotionally indifferent, she is also very sad because she hasn't seen her mother for a long time.
"Don't talk nonsense. Grandpa, grandma, and second uncle are all here. Mom was only gone for a year, and it will be over soon. Didn't Dad also say that he would come back when he is free. Don't you like listening to mythological stories? I'll tell you some..."
An An told Lele some of the things she had heard in her previous life in a slightly different package, and soon attracted his attention. He stopped being emo and started to listen happily.
After Su Mo and the others arrived in Beijing, they went directly to the language school for training. There were more than a hundred people in their batch.
For people like Su Mo who were majoring in foreign languages, it was okay. They just had to understand the situation in the target country. Those who were not language majors had to receive additional language training.
The training was divided into classes according to the target country. There were 28 people going to Germany this time, and all of them were going to West Germany.
Our country established diplomatic relations with Germany early. Before that, we also sent students to study in Germany, but most of them went to East Germany, and there were only two or three people in West Germany. This is the first time that so many students have been sent to West Germany.
Among these 28 people, 10 are German majors who went there as exchange students for one year, and the remaining 18 are two-year students. The German major of CUHK also sent two people this time, one is Su Mo, and the other is the class leader Pei Minghui.
Pei Minghui is two years younger than Su Mo. Most of his family members work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so he can be considered a family source of learning. There are two
teachers leading the team to Germany, one is Mr. Felix, a German teacher at CUHK, and the other is also an old acquaintance, Mr. Gu Wangting.
Felix is from West Germany, which is his home country, so it would be more convenient for him to communicate with the universities there. In addition, he had not been back to his country for more than two years after coming to China, so he took the opportunity to go back and spend time with his family.
Teacher Gu Wangting had studied in Germany for several years before, so he was fluent in German and familiar with the country. In addition, Felix was a foreigner after all, and some things in life could not resonate with the foreign students in China, so someone had to handle these things.
Basically, the two leading teachers divided the work, with Felix mainly handling external communication and Gu Wangting mainly handling internal management.