A day later.

Tsz Wan Shan Estate in Wong Tai Sin District, Kowloon.

Huo Yaowen got out of the taxi with a suitcase and walked straight home, and along the way, he met many familiar neighbors who waved hello to him.

A few minutes later, Huo Yaowen walked back to the door of his house with steps, knocking on the door with a "knock", because he was afraid of losing it after going to the United States, so he left the key at home.

For a moment, the sound of walking around the room sounded.

"Who?"

"Grandma, it's me. Huo Yaowen heard Grandma's voice and replied with a smile.

"Yaowen?!"

Grandma hurriedly opened the door and drove until Huo Yaowen came back, and said with joy on her face: "When did Yaowen come back?" Why don't you call in advance, so that Lao Dou can pick you up at the airport." ”

"As soon as I got off the plane, I took a taxi and came back. ”

Huo Yaowen walked in with his suitcase, glanced at the house, and saw that except for Grandma, his mother and sister were not there at home, so he couldn't help but ask suspiciously: "Grandma, where is Grandma?"

Grandma said with a smile: "They went to the new house, the day after you went to the United States, your old bean communicated with Ming Zai's master about the decoration, it has been almost decorated, I also went to see it yesterday, basically it has been completed, today Saturday, after Tingting came back, I went to clean up the sanitation over there with your grandmother, and I want to move in in two days." ”

"So fast?" Huo Yaowen was stunned, he had only been to the United States for less than fifteen days, and the decoration had already ended?

"I just painted a white wall, then built a few wardrobes, rebuilt a dining table and a few chairs, and the rest of the place was just a random one, but it was very simple. ”

"Hmm. Huo Yaowen nodded, although it was not the same as the decoration he had said before, but he thought it was also to save money.

Suddenly thinking of something, Huo Yaowen opened the suitcase, took out a letter from it and said, "Grandma, I met my uncle in San Francisco, and this is the letter that my uncle asked me to bring to you." ”

Hearing this, Grandma's eyes lit up, and she hurriedly took the letter from his hand, opened it, and sat aside to read it slowly.

Huo Yaowen didn't bother, squatted down alone, packed up the clothes in the suitcase and some small gifts he bought.

Grandma read the letter very slowly, almost word by word, looking at the eyes began to redden, since coming to Hong Kong, almost more than 20 years have not seen this relative, now there is a letter, my heart is full of mixed feelings.

"Yaowen, how is your uncle and aunt's family doing in the United States?" Grandma asked after reading it.

The content of the letter written by Zhang Huawei is roughly that his family is fine in the United States, and his cousin should not worry about it.

But Grandma still wanted to ask her grandson, after all, he had seen it with his own eyes.

Huo Yaowen replied: "It's okay now, but my uncle's big restaurant has closed down, and now a small restaurant has been reopened, and my aunt and uncle work in the Chinese daily newspaper in Chinatown, my uncle seems to have been promoted to the executive editor of the printing department, and my cousin Wanjun is helping out in the restaurant at home." ”

"Is the restaurant closed?" Grandma frowned, pondered for a moment, and asked: "No, your uncle's craftsmanship is very good, when he wrote a letter in the early years, he also said that the business of the restaurant is booming, and he plans to go to Chinatown in New York to open a second restaurant." ”

Hearing this, Huo Yaowen hesitated, but still said truthfully: "My aunt said that my uncle gambled more than ten years ago and lost most of his family property and restaurant. ”

"Bad gambling!" When Grandma heard this, she slapped the table angrily, blushing and said, "I knew something was wrong!" If Huijuan hadn't died early, Ah Wei would have had the courage to gamble. ”

Looking at Grandma who was losing her temper, Huo Yaowen hurriedly walked over and comforted: "Grandma, don't be angry, my uncle has changed his mind, although the restaurant he is opening now is not big, there are still many regular customers, and his life is okay." ”

Grandma exhaled a few breaths, and then she soothed the anger in her heart, turned her head to look at Huo Yaowen and said, "Your uncle's family is really okay now?"

"Yes, my aunt and uncle both work in the newspaper, and my uncle's small restaurant has quite a lot of customers, and I stayed there for almost a day, and it can be said that there is an endless stream of customers. ”

Huo Yaowen is telling the truth, although Zhang Huawei's restaurant is not big, it is cheap and tasteful, so naturally there are many regular customers.

Hearing Huo Yaowen say this, Grandma was relieved, she was angry because Zhang Huawei gambled, if the family was impoverished because of this, she would definitely want to fly to the United States and beat Zhang Huawei severely, after all, who made her the eldest sister of the Zhang family.

"Grandma, we're back!"

At this time, the voice of the younger sister Huo Tingting sounded outside the house.

Huo Yaowen walked over and opened the door.

"Brother, you're back!" Huo Tingting saw that the person who opened the door was Huo Yaowen, not to mention how happy she was, and subconsciously pounced, and the whole person leaned on his arm.

Huo Yaowen rubbed his sister's hair and said with a smile: "Do you miss my brother?" ”

"Yes. Huo Tingting nodded happily, suddenly thought of something, and said in a complaining tone: "Brother, why don't you tell me in advance when you go to the United States, if you know, I will definitely ask you to buy something for me to come back." ”

When the grandmother who came behind her saw Huo Yaowen, she was also surprised: "Awen, when did you come back." ”

"It wasn't long before I got home. Huo Yaowen replied to his mother, and then said to Huo Tingting: "Yes, I bought a little gift, if someone doesn't like it, I'll give it to someone else." ”

"Gift!!" As soon as she heard the gift, Huo Tingting grabbed Huo Yaowen's palm again and shook it desperately: "The gift is there, the gift is there!"

"Okay, don't shake it, let's see it yourself, in my suitcase, red bags, remember not to rummage, some of them I brought to others. ”

Huo Tingting hurriedly ran to the house, looking for Huo Yaowen's suitcase, and found the open suitcase in the corner, the whole person pounced again, and in the small number of gifts, she couldn't wait to find her own gifts.

Mother followed into the house, closed the door, and happened to see Huo Tingting picking up a gift there, and said, "Why did you buy so many things, it cost a lot of money on this trip." ”

"It didn't cost much, and a lot of it was picked in the second-hand market in the United States. Huo Yaowen smiled.

The second-hand market in the United States is very prosperous, and many Americans like to go to the second-hand market to pick up furniture, or all kinds of strange and strange plays.

During the ten days he lived at the University of Iowa, Huo Yaowen also went to the nearby city with Lin Yanni and Li Zhongchen, and bought a lot of cheap and well-kept small gifts in the second-hand market of Iowa City, most of which were around one dollar to ten dollars, and the most expensive one was probably a watch for the teacher.

This watch was made by Shanghai Dean Clock during the Republic of China, and it is intact, and almost all the mechanical parts in it are brand new, for which Huo Yaowen spent almost fifty dollars to buy it.

Shanghai Dean Clock was the largest watch company in China during the Republic of China, and it was also the earliest domestic watch, which can be said to be very good both for commemorative value and collection value.

Fifty dollars can be said to be very cheap, after all, this watch was sold for more than a dozen oceans back then, and it is also worth a lot of money when converted to now.

It's a pity that foreigners don't know the goods, or that foreigners don't care about Chinese things at all, but they just see that Huo Yaowen and a few people are Chinese, so they shouted a high price of fifty dollars.

Huo Yaowen didn't know that there was such a watch brand in China, but Li Zhongchen, who was also a watch collector, had such a mechanical watch at home, so he suggested that he buy this commemorative watch.

When my mother heard that it was second-hand, and the price was not very expensive, she didn't dwell on it, but asked, "How are you doing in the United States?"

"Well, I've found my uncle's family. ”

Huo Yaowen nodded and said, "My uncle's restaurant has moved to another place, so there has been no contact over the years." ”

"How is your uncle's family?"

Before Huo Yaowen could answer, Grandma next to him said: "It's okay, just now Ah Wen told me that Chunfen and Zhide both work in a newspaper in Chinatown, and Zhide became the editor-in-chief." ”

"Really?"

Mother listened to the good life of her relatives, and said with a smile: "It seems that Chunfen's lover was quite good, and he actually became the editor-in-chief of the newspaper." ”

"Yes, Chunfen has been smart since she was a child, but fortunately she didn't fall in love with Huo Chengguang at the beginning. ”

Grandma mentioned Huo Chengguang's whole hateful teeth, she was very good to Huo Chengguang's nephew when she was a child, almost regarded him as her own heir, and was ready to introduce her cousin Zhang Huawei's daughter, that is, Zhang Chunfen, to Huo Chengguang.

It's just that Zhang Chunfen was not happy, and when she was delayed to the back, Huo Chengguang hooked up with a kiln sister, which broke Grandma's mind as a matchmaker.

"Okay Mom, don't mention the man. ”

Mother didn't want to see Huo Chengguang either, if Huo Chengcai hadn't been fooled by him to run a hardware company, he wouldn't have been cheated out of all his money.

"Yes, you can't be angry with him. Grandma heard this, and nodded subconsciously.

At this time, Huo Tingting, who was squatting on the ground to choose her own gift, finally found the red gift box, quickly opened it, and saw that there was a beautiful crystal necklace in the box, and she was so happy that she quickly stood up and said to Huo Yaowen: "Brother, this necklace is so beautiful!"

Grandma and Grandma next to her looked at it, and saw that the younger sister was holding a very beautiful crystal necklace in her hand, gesturing it around her neck, and couldn't help but say, "This chain is very expensive." ”

"It's not expensive, it's only ten dollars, it's artificial crystal, it's not natural. Huo Yaowen replied.

My mother didn't understand the conversion of US dollars, so she asked, "How many Hong Kong dollars?"

"About fifty. ”

"Then the price is ok. Grandma walked to the side of the little sister, looked at this beautiful necklace, and said with a smile: "Tingting's chain is very good-looking, do you want Grandma to help you put it on." ”

"Uh-huh!" Huo Tingting nodded hurriedly.

Here, my mother helped my little sister wear a necklace, and on the other side, Huo Yaowen walked to the suitcase and took out a few gifts for my mother and grandma, as well as Lao Dou Huo Chengcai.

"Grandma, this is the jade bracelet I bought for you. ”

"Mother, these are a pair of earrings made of crystal. ”

Seeing that they also had gifts, Grandma and Grandma said that they were wasting money or something, but they were also very happy on their faces.

Although these gifts are not very expensive, they are also carefully purchased by Huo Yaowen in the second-hand market, although they are second-hand, they are all well preserved and have almost no flaws.

Especially the pair of jade bracelets for Grandma, although Lin Yanni said that the quality of jadeite was average, the style was very beautiful, and Huo Yaowen also spent dozens of dollars to buy it.

In the evening, after Huo's father Huo Chengcai came back from the bookstore, he was also very happy to see his son coming back from the United States.

The family reunited for dinner, and most of the topics they talked about were American uncle's family, especially Huo Tingting was very surprised when she heard that she had a cousin, she had never heard her family say that she had a cousin in the United States.

Originally, Huo Tingting wanted to ask Huo Yaowen if this cousin, who was one year older than herself, was good-looking, but when she heard him say that she had taken a photo and would wash it out tomorrow, she didn't open her mouth to ask.

...

The next morning.

Huo Yaowen handed the film to the younger sister and asked her to wash it out in a photo studio in front of the estate when she was free in the morning.

He himself took the bus back to the University of Hong Kong early.

Originally, Huo Yaowen wanted to go back to school yesterday and spend the holidays, but when he came back, it was already afternoon, so he simply rested at home for a day, and it was not too late to go to school the next day.

An hour later, Huo Yaowen returned to the University of Hong Kong with a bag full of small gifts, and when he arrived at the dormitory, he simply cleaned up the house he hadn't lived in for half a month, and then sent the gifts one by one.

There are not many gifts, only six, one for Teacher Zhang and his wife, one for Director Huang, one for Teacher Zhang next door who takes good care of him, one for Uncle Wang downstairs, and the last one for Anna Isabel, the ghost sister teacher who substitutes for him.

Although they are all from the second-hand market, they are all carefully selected, and the prices are around ten to twenty dollars, and they are all in good condition, almost as good as new.

When I arrived at Teacher Zhang's dormitory, before Huo Yaowen took out the gift, I heard Zhang Chengyi say: "Yaowen, you came back just in time, Director Huang asked me to go to a meeting, saying that it was to discuss the teaching materials of the School of Philosophy next year, you put your things here, and you will get them when you come back." ”

When Huo Yaowen heard this, he hurriedly took out two gifts from the bag, handed them to Teacher Zhang, and said, "Oh, teacher, this is a gift for you and your mother." ”

The wife complained: "This child, why waste that money, it's not that Hong Kong can't buy it, it must be very expensive in the United States." ”

Listening to his wife complaining that he was wasting money, Huo Yaowen smiled: "It's not very expensive, I bought it from the flea market (second-hand market) in the United States." ”

"Did you find something good?"

When Zhang Chengyi heard that it was bought from the flea market, he couldn't help but laugh and said: "When I was studying in Seattle in my early years, I went to the flea market and bought a snuffbox from the Qianlong period, which only cost three dollars.

Huo Yaowen said: "Then I don't have Mr. Zhang's eyesight, most of them are small gifts I bought, but what I bought for Mr. You is a good thing, it is a mechanical watch made by Shanghai Dean Clock during the Republic of China." ”

"Oh, Dean Clock's watch!"

Zhang Chengyi hurriedly took the gift from his wife's hand, opened his share, took out the watch inside, glanced at the trademark behind it, and said happily: "Yes, it is a watch from Shanghai De'an, when I was young, I always wanted to buy a watch, but it was too expensive, and it cost more than a dozen oceans! At that time, I only had a salary of two oceans a month, where could I afford to buy this good thing." ”

"What a pleasure, I couldn't afford it when I was young, and now it's not the money that I spent when I got it. My wife pouted.

Zhang Chengyi's face collapsed and he smiled awkwardly.

Seeing this, Huo Yaowen hurriedly said, "Teacher, didn't you say to go to a meeting?"

"Yes, yes, let's get over there. ”

Zhang Chengyi hurriedly stuffed the watch into his wife's hand, and pulled Huo Yaowen to rush to the conference room of the school headquarters building.

...

When the two arrived at the conference room.

For the time being, there is only Director Huang in the room.

Director Huang saw that Huo Yaowen was also back, and said: "Yaowen, you came back just in time, you have a meeting today to discuss the matter of textbooks, and you are also listening to it, and you can also mention any opinions." ”

"Yes. Huo Yaowen nodded.

In a short time, Professor Luke, Anna Isabel, and Professor Jacob, Professor James, and Ellamochenyi of the law school hired by the school.

The main content of the meeting was to discuss the teaching materials to be prepared for the establishment of the Faculty of Philosophy and the Faculty of Law next year.

Although there were textbooks for philosophy classes before, almost all of them were simple textbooks, and the establishment of the School of Philosophy now requires all the textbooks to be complete.

And law school doesn't even have a foundation.

In this meeting, Huo Yaowen listened almost the whole time and did not make any remarks.

However, when Professor Luke proposed to use the textbooks of the University of London, Zhang Chengyi frowned and said: "Professor Luke, there seems to be no publisher in Hong Kong to publish the textbooks of the University of London. ”

Professor Luke said: "It doesn't matter, I will propose to the University of London that the copyright of the relevant textbooks be handed over to the publishing company in Hong Kong." ”

At this time, Hong Kong's copyright law was in accordance with the copyright law of the United Kingdom, so the textbooks of the University of London in the United Kingdom were not allowed to be published by any publishing company in Hong Kong without obtaining copyright.

"That's fine. Zhang Chengyi nodded.

Director Huang frowned and said, "Do I need to charge extra for copyright? If the price of the book is too high, I think it will be a lot of pressure on the students." ”

Professor Luke frowned and said, "I don't know about this, but I will communicate with the University of London as soon as possible, I don't think it should be very high." ”

Director Huang nodded: "Whew, that's the best, if it's too expensive, I think the school can only reopen the publishing house." ”

Hearing Director Huang's words, Huo Yaowen was surprised and whispered to Teacher Zhang next to him, "The school also has a publishing house?"

Zhang Chengyi nodded and said: "Yes, it was opened more than ten years ago, but it has been seriously loss-making, it has been closed a few years ago, and now the school's textbooks and books are produced by outside publishing companies or printing houses." ”

Most universities have special publishing houses, such as Tsinghua University Press, Peking University Press, and so on.

These publishers have been doing well on the basis of the school's reputation, and many people are proud to be able to publish books in these well-known university presses.

Hearing Mr. Zhang say that the University of Hong Kong Press was closed due to poor management, Huo Yaowen touched his chin and thought thoughtfully.

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