Chapter 31: Such Love

"How long did it take you to write this?"

"Just now, less than two hours, I think."

What a fast guy!

Professor Qu was somewhat astonished; she picked up the story Wei Ming had created and began to read.

The title was "Such Love," and the story was about a young man who only cared about looks when looking for a partner.

One day, he saw a very pretty conductor on a bus, so he wrote a full page of a love letter and, while getting off the bus, slipped it onto the conductor's desk.

Who would have thought the conductor would throw the note out of the bus, where it was caught by a young man passing by, who then mistakenly thought the conductor was expressing her love to him.

He kept writing letters to the address on the note, and from then on, the two exchanged letters constantly, their correspondence growing more and more passionate.

It wasn't until they finally decided to meet that they discovered both parties were young men.

Professor Qu was amused as she read. Although the text had almost no literary quality and the logic was weak, it was indeed very interesting, especially those letters going back and forth—they had to express affection while blurring the gender to create misunderstandings, which was handled very cleverly.

This was a classic story from *Story Monthly* two years later, and it was also the first thing Wei Ming had seen when he first encountered *Story Monthly* in his past life; it had left a deep impression on him. Later, this story was even selected for university textbooks.

Wei Ming didn't care about the small change; he just wanted to build a good relationship with *Story Monthly*, to see if he could publish some longer popular literature in this publication, which had the largest national circulation.

*Popular Cinema* might have a higher single-issue circulation during its award season, but *Story Monthly* was still stronger in terms of average monthly circulation.

Professor Qu indicated she would help with this favor: "But you are a rising star in the literary world—are you sure you want to write popular stories?"

Wei Ming spread his hands: "It's very hard to write an excellent novel, and stories have lower requirements for literary quality. I need to earn more manuscript fees; at worst, I'll just use a pen name."

Professor Qu liked the child's candor. Afterward, the two went downstairs for dinner and ran into Sister Chen Chong, so Wei Ming introduced them to each other.

They were of similar age, both women, both intellectual women and teachers, so they were soon chatting happily, leaving no room for Wei Ming to interject.

However, from their conversation, Wei Ming learned that Sister Chen also went out to play during the day and only returned to write at night. Professor Qu then recommended some fun places to her; although she had lived in Jingcheng for a long time, she returned every vacation.

After returning from dinner, Wei Ming immediately began revising his manuscript. It was too fast; he had revised more than half in one night. He really was a little genius at revising manuscripts!

Professor Qu and the others would be holding this meeting for about a week. At this rate, he would definitely have to leave first. No, he had to slow down. After all, his salary from Peking University was still being paid, which didn't count as absenteeism, and he had a two-yuan daily subsidy here. If he were shameless enough, he could revise for a year!

So, the next day, after eating a free breakfast, Wei Ming went out to stroll around, taking the opportunity to experience some of the local customs and the spirit of the era.

Although the reform and opening-up policy had been issued from Jingcheng, after a year, Jingcheng hadn't changed much. Modu, however, was in a state of bustling activity; many buildings were under construction, and people—especially girls—dressed more fashionably.

On the streets, besides pedestrians and bicycles, taxis soliciting passengers could be seen everywhere.

But they weren't four-wheeled sedan taxis; they were three-wheeled motorcycles, which the locals called "toad cars" or "turtle cars."

The number of sedans was also higher than in Jingcheng; after all, the Modu-brand sedan hadn't died out yet.

It could also be that Wei Ming hadn't gone into the city much in Jingcheng, while where he was now, Huangpu, was considered the core area of Modu.

Seeing a shopping mall by the road, Wei Ming thought about helping Master Liu bring back some items, so he went in to ask. As it turned out, they didn't sell Ginseng-Tortoise Nourishing Wine. Could this Ginseng-Tortoise Nourishing medicinal wine be selling that well? Was it in short supply?

Seeing that he was handsome, the saleswoman spoke a few more words to him: "It was popular for a while when the TV commercial first came out, but later, because the price was too high, fewer people bought it, so we stopped stocking it. You'd better go check at a pharmacy."

Ginseng-Tortoise Nourishing medicinal wine, after all; it was reasonable to buy it at a pharmacy.

"Oh, thank you."

Afterward, Wei Ming found a pharmacy nearby and finally found it. It was 15 yuan, even cheaper than what Liu Shi had understood.

A transparent bottle, simple packaging; besides the product name, it was printed with the manufacturer: Modu No. 2 Traditional Chinese Medicine Factory.

Wei Ming wasn't in a hurry to buy it; instead, he started chatting with the saleswoman at the pharmacy: "It's so expensive; my monthly salary is only enough to buy one bottle."

Hearing Wei Ming say this, the saleswoman's enthusiasm waned. What was the use of being good-looking if you didn't earn money?

She said: "Then you should think about why you earn so little."

He hadn't expected that on such a hot day, she would say such cold words.

Wei Ming didn't lose his composure; he continued to ask: "Surely very few people buy this wine, right?"

"Quite a few during holidays; it's for gifting, you know, it's a matter of face," the saleswoman said.

!

But Wei Ming could clearly feel that she wasn't very confident in what she said.

When was the next big holiday?

Oh, National Day, ten days away; Wang Wang Zhongqiu was fifteen days away.

Gifting during Wang Wang Zhongqiu was an old tradition.

There were still more than ten days left. If it were truly a hot-selling product, the shelves should be fully stocked by now, but this saleswoman had dug this bottle out from the bottom shelf. Clearly, this product had already passed its peak selling period.

After leaving, Wei Ming noticed that a wall across the street was covered in advertisements for Swiss Rado watches. This phenomenon was absolutely unseen in Jingcheng.

Wei Ming thought of Li Xiaolin's suggestion that he could walk around Modu more; perhaps he would find inspiration.

Hey, wasn't inspiration coming right now? He had some ideas; this might be an interesting subject, and it wouldn't be too long; he could finish it during the manuscript revision period.

Anyway, since he was idle, after paying the bill, he went out and hailed a "toad car."

"Master, please go to the No. 2 Traditional Chinese Medicine Factory!" Wei Ming said grandly.

Seeing the master's exaggerated smile, Wei Ming knew he had messed up!

He quickly jumped down and added: "How much?"

"Not much, just give me two yuan."

Wei Ming stepped back two paces: "Sorry, I didn't bring enough money. I'll take the bus... I don't even have one point five... What? One yuan is fine too..."

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 32 =====