"The more children these days are exposed to the outside world, the more ideas they have, just like the current craze for studying abroad," Li Chu said casually while eating.
“You mentioned that just reminded me, how much does it cost to study abroad on your own these days?” Ding Qiunan looked up and asked when her husband mentioned studying abroad.
"How would I know? It certainly won't be less, it depends on which country you go to. Why did you suddenly ask this?"
"I was chatting with a few people in the finance department that day, and they told me that some people are now even considering selling their houses just to raise money to study abroad or to make big money overseas."
"Heh, selling the house?" Li Chu sneered disdainfully.
Ding Qiunan was somewhat surprised by her husband's expression.
Why are you looking like that? What do you mean?
"I just don't think it's worth it." Li Chu ate the last bite of rice in his bowl and then put down his chopsticks.
"If you're going abroad to study through legitimate channels to broaden your horizons, I think that's fine. But if you think you can make a lot of money just by going abroad, that's just wishful thinking."
In the few years since the reform and opening up, in order to attract foreign investment, the government has sent reporters from qualified media outlets abroad to conduct interviews.
In the past two years, newspapers, radio, and television stations have begun to report extensively on foreign news.
These journalists only report on the positive aspects of foreign countries.
Meanwhile, people in China, seeing the skyscrapers, cars, and colorful clothes on the streets of foreign countries, are green with envy.
In addition, there are those who come back from abroad to visit relatives. These people who went abroad before, no matter how they did abroad, will always look respectable when they come back.
Then they constantly talk about how great this place is abroad, and how making money is as easy as picking it up off the street.
This made the general public, unaware of the truth, yearn for life abroad even more, as if it were paradise, a land of gold.
It is undeniable that in the 1980s, some European and American countries were indeed much more developed than China, and if you had a skill, you could indeed make money relatively easily.
After all, domestic enterprises are still in the stage of egalitarianism.
It is precisely because of some misleading media coverage, coupled with the propaganda of some people with ulterior motives, that many people are desperate to go abroad.
These people are unaware of what they will face if they actually go out.
It was because of this mindless craze for going abroad that in the early 1990s, the TV series "Beijingers in New York" was produced, which realistically reflected the survival stories of a group of people from Beijing struggling in New York.
This TV series is also the first domestic film and television drama to be filmed on location in the United States.
The government invested in this drama to put a brake on the trend of overseas dramas.
Ding Qiunan across from her had also finished her meal. She took out a handkerchief from her pocket, wiped her mouth, and then nodded and said, "Putting everything else aside, just the language barrier alone can be incredibly frustrating."
In the past two years, she has occasionally gone to the base with her husband. Every time she hears those foreigners talking in their gibberish, she gets a terrible headache.
In her opinion, if she were in an environment where she had to speak a foreign language, her head would probably explode.
“It’s not just about the language environment.” Li Chu slowly shook his head: “If you want to work abroad, you must get a work visa. If you don’t have a work visa, you’re working illegally, and there’s absolutely no protection for you.”
"Huh? Is that so?"
"What do you think? It's true that wages there are higher than in China, that much must be acknowledged, and there's even a minimum wage standard. But these benefits are only for people with proper documentation."
If you don't have a work visa, or even if you're illegally staying there, you have no guarantee of employment.
Or you work hard for a month, and when payday comes, your boss doesn't want to pay you. He just calls the police, and you lose everything, might even go to jail, and then be deported.
Li Chu's words struck Ding Qiunan as somewhat unbelievable.
"Then why are they all so desperate to go abroad?"
"Make money, make a lot of money."
At this point, Li Chu remembered what his wife had mentioned earlier about selling the house and going abroad. He said, "If you know anyone who wants to sell a house, ask them. If it's a detached house with clear property rights, we can buy it."
Ding Qiunan rubbed her forehead helplessly. How could she forget that her husband was a strange man who collected houses?
"Why do you still want to buy a house? Aren't we big enough to live in?"
"You'll understand later; it's impossible to explain it to you now."
"Tch, it's just that you think house prices will go up in the future. Who knows if it's true or not." Ding Qiunan pouted in dissatisfaction, stood up, picked up the plates and bowls on the table, and walked towards the sink.
Watching his wife's retreating figure, Li Chu smiled slightly; he had just said it casually.
As for whether or not to buy a house, we'll see when the time comes.
After Ding Qiunan finished washing up, the two of them walked together toward the administration building.
Instead of going upstairs to his office, he directly asked Tian Jun to drive him to the sanatorium.
In front of the two-story building where Commander Wu lived, the old man was taking a nap in a recliner under the shade of a tree.
Worried about waking Uncle Wu, Li Chu called Nurse Ning, who was standing nearby, to move a little further away before asking, "How have you been these past two days, Chief?"
"His physical condition is not bad, but since that leader is not here, he keeps nagging that he wants to have a drink."
Nurse Ning's words made Li Chu smile and turn his head to glance at the old man not far away.
Thinking back to the last time he came, the old man made a request of him for the first time in twenty years.
Or rather, it was a request, but one that gave Li Chu a major headache.
The old man's request was that, no matter what, he be guaranteed to live until Hong Kong's return to China.
Li Chu almost banged his head against the wall at that moment.
Coincidentally, two days later when he went to see the designer, the old man made the same request.
To be honest, Li Chu was tempted to pack his bags and run away.
He truly had no confidence whatsoever.
To be honest, things are a bit better here.
But as for Uncle Wu, he had already defied fate, and there were still thirteen years before his return. Who knows what unpredictable things might happen in such a long time?
However, no matter what, he will do his best to ensure that both old men can live to see that day.
Oh, wait, there's also Uncle Wang.
Uncle Wang is more confident in his approach, since he started treatment earlier.
"Sigh," Li Chu sighed silently, stopped talking to Nurse Ning, pulled up a small stool, and sat down in the shade.
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