Chapter 22 Change of Heart
After they finished breakfast, Fang Yuan suggested going to the newspaper office to play with his brother in the morning and going shopping in the department store in the afternoon. Xia Zhizhi had never been to the newspaper office before, so she naturally agreed.
Fang Yuan rode his family's bicycle today, a 28-inch bicycle, and said to Xia Zhizhi, "I'll ride first, and you watch me until I'm stable before you jump on."
Xia Zhizhi watched her pedal with her left foot and slide for more than 20 meters before lifting her right foot and riding on it. After walking crookedly for a while, she called out to her, "Zhizhi, come on!"
Xia Zhizhi trotted and jumped lightly onto the back seat. As soon as she got on, Fang Yuan, who had finally started to walk in a straight line, started to turn left and right again. She was about to bump into the old man with crutches in front of her. The old man dodged her attack swiftly and said with a click of the tongue, "Young people nowadays..."
Xia Zhizhi held her waist with both hands and listened to her comforting herself: "Zhizhi, don't be afraid, I used to ride a lot, but I haven't ridden for a while, so I'm a little rusty, but I'll be fine in a while."
"I believe in you, keep going!" Anyway, falling from this height won't kill you, so it's not a big problem.
They arrived at the gate of the newspaper office safely. Fang Yuan must have been the general visitor. Several comrades who passed by greeted her with a smile. She took Xia Zhizhi's hand and went up to the editorial office on the third floor as if they were familiar with the place.
Working in the editorial department is his second brother, named Fang Zheng, who looks to be about 23 or 24 years old, with neatly combed hair and wearing small round glasses. He is very fair and gentle. He graduated from university and has been working for two years.
Fang Yuan gave them a brief introduction and then went to rummage through the drawer under his brother's desk, taking out the magazines and newspapers and spreading them all over the floor.
When his second brother saw her, he almost had a headache written on his forehead: "Little aunt, tell me what you are looking for, and I will get it for you."
"I remember you have several sets of 21/22/23 stamps. Zhizhi is also collecting stamps. You can give the extra ones to her." Fang Yuan finally found the stamp album he wanted in the drawer: "This is it. I remember you showed it to me before."
Fang Yuan took out the three sets and saw that there were two extra cards in the 40th, so he took them out as well: "Give these to Zhizhi."
Xia Zhizhi was a little embarrassed and shook her head. She didn't know Fang Yuan brought her here to rob.
Using his backpack as a cover, he took out his stamp album and handed it to Fang Zheng, "Brother Fang, this is what I collected. See if you're missing anything. If you are, we can exchange. If not, forget it."
Fang Zheng had heard Fang Yuan mention her several times at home.
The new friend I met is in high school. She is pretty, knows how to dress up, has a good personality, and is good in every way. Whenever I talk about her, my eyes light up.
If the other party was not a girl, they would have suspected that this was Fang Yuan's girlfriend.
Fang Yuan brought the person to the door. It was just a few stamps, which were extra anyway. Even if he didn't need them, he would exchange them.
He took over Xia Zhizhi's stamp album, picked up a few stamps and said, "I just need these stamps. I've been looking for them for a long time."
After the two exchanged stamps, Fang Zheng said enthusiastically, "I have a classmate who works at a printing factory in Beijing. He also likes to collect stamps. He should have some stamps that are not in circulation. If you need them, ask him to send them to you."
"Thank you so much. When I collect all the books I have published before, I will treat you and Yuanyuan to dinner!"
She now treats stamp collecting as a little game. During this period of time, she has collected quite a few stamps issued in recent years and exchanged some of them with others.
However, some stamps that are very old are difficult to collect, and some are only available in certain regions and are not available for sale here. Even if some stamp collectors have one set, they are simply reluctant to exchange them with her.
She would definitely buy some of the misprinted and valuable stamps, but he didn't want to miss out on the others either.
"Okay, then I'll be waiting." Fang Zheng smiled. Although Xia Zhizhi was pretty, he had long known from his sister that she was a 16-year-old high school student. He had no other thoughts in his mind and just took care of her like a little sister.
As a junior editor, Fang Zheng's work is not easy. Some of the newspaper manuscripts published every day are written by the newspaper's reporters, and the other part comes from submissions from various regions. There is a thick pile of envelopes in front of him, and he has to pick out the appropriate ones to report to the editor-in-chief, and then do the typesetting.
After getting permission, Xia Zhizhi read the manuscripts left behind and asked in detail about the precautions for submission and the specific royalties.
Fang Zheng said that the newspaper's remuneration ranges from 2 to 8 yuan per thousand words, and this is only the price for daily newspapers in the urban area.
The provincial newspaper charges 4-10 yuan per thousand words, and the price of People's Daily last year was 4-15 yuan. There have been occasional slight increases, but not significantly.
Seeing that she was interested in this, Fang Yuan stayed with her in the newspaper office for a while longer. Xia Zhizhi also visited the printing room on the way. When she met a reporter who was not out, she shamelessly asked him for advice on photography techniques.
She is good-looking, has a soft voice and is tactful. She will not disturb others when they are busy. She is also very tactful and polite when asking questions. After her doubts are answered, she expresses gratitude in a particularly sincere manner. Moreover, she was brought here by my colleague's sister, so everyone was willing to give her some advice.
After walking around for a while, it was lunchtime. Fang Zheng invited them to eat in the cafeteria, but they both declined. They rode their bikes to the state-owned hotel on Xiaguang Road. Fang Yuan had recommended this restaurant's black fungus and shredded pork vermicelli to her a long time ago. It cost 1.4 cents a bowl, and the best thing was that it didn't require meat coupons, only three or two grain coupons.
After eating, the two rode their bikes to the department store. It’s true, although Fang Yuan’s riding skills were a bit scary and the back seat was quite uncomfortable for the butt, it was indeed convenient to have a bike, which was much better than having to walk everywhere.
Xia Zhizhi went to the cigarette counter first and bought four packs of Da Qianmen cigarettes, all of which were paid for by her. Fang Yuan thought that they were bought for his father and did not ask any more questions. Then the two of them went to the dress counter.
Fang Yuan thought she had a good eye for clothes, so summer was coming and he wanted to buy her a dress, so he brought her here for advice.
Finally, she chose a white dress with red and blue floral patterns and a small round collar. Fang Yuan planned to inlay a circle of white lace on the neckline of the dress like her own. Xia Zhizhi suggested that she sew a big bow directly on the chest. After tangling it for a while, she finally decided to follow Xia Zhizhi's advice.
After buying things, Fang Yuan rode his bicycle to take her home. To get to their staff building, they had to pass through a small alley. With her riding skills, if someone came from the opposite direction, she would definitely hit them unless she flew over the wall. So he refused her request to take her downstairs.
Fang Yuan stopped at the entrance of the alley, held her hand again, and reluctantly told her to find more ways to play by herself.
After saying that, Xia Zhizhi waved goodbye to her, and turned around to see Li Ling standing at the other end of the alley, frowning, pouting, with an aggrieved expression. When she saw Xia Zhizhi looking at her, she snorted heavily, and ran away with her braid swinging.