Wednesday, June 27, 1645.

Final exams are underway for each school, and preparations for the annual North American Champions Cup are in the final week before kick-off.

This year's Champions Cup has reached a record 16 teams, which have arrived at Manchester City in the past six months. At this time, the streets of Manchester City were full of large promotional posters for the Champions Cup. Long queues were formed at the ticket office outside Long Island's West Side Stadium every day, with more than two months-long packages selling half of them in just a few days, and the first sale of soccer betting tickets also attracted the attention of many pseudo-fans.

The "Huamei Sports Weekly", which was officially published the year before last and published every Wednesday, squeezed the billiards professional league and badminton league in the final stage to the last page, and used the golden page to report the news of this year's Champions Cup football match repeatedly. Not only is the information of each participating team introduced in a special page, but the news of the sports industry in later generations, similar to the billboard investment of the stadium, has also quietly appeared.

School-age clothing such as soccer jerseys and handmade soccer boots are selling well in clothing stores, and wealthy families don't mind letting their kids wander around in the kids' soccer suits, which cost more than $10.

The vigorous, visually striking and enterprising football game was only at this time when it had a little flavor of national sports.

……

The assistant's tirade finally came to an end, and Ingrid, the president of Hope Press, turned her eyes back from the West Side Stadium on Long Island in the distance outside the window.

As the third child of former Chinese and American Admiral Andrew, shortly after his father retired from the Navy with the rank of rear admiral, Ingrid enlisted the help of her eldest brother Elson and sister-in-law Lu Mei, and with the help of Zhang Ruohan, a Chinese American cultural, educational and publishing magnate and honorary president of Haizhou Fudan University, and founded Hope Press with her husband, who is a senior police officer.

Although it has only been three years since the establishment of Hope Publishing House, in addition to undertaking a large number of publications such as standard textbooks for primary and secondary schools, Ingrid has an Ivy League diploma in literature and art. With his own unique vision, he has successfully packaged and launched a number of youth books, and many school-age children's extracurricular picture books have been designated as officially designated extracurricular books by the Ministry of Culture and Education of the Cabinet, and the performance has made a breakthrough at once.

Huamei publishes more than 1 million extracurricular books for teenagers and children every year, of which Hope Publishing House accounts for 200,000 copies. Last year, the net profit of the publishing house after tax exceeded 10,000 yuan, becoming a representative of the emerging force in the cultural publishing industry.

Now, Hope Publishing House has received a number of heavyweight book publishing contracts from the Ministry of Culture and Education, publishing and distributing a set of books that fully show the Chinese social outlook and national life at home and abroad, and the age group of readers is defined as 12 to 30 years old.

My husband is a die-hard fan of Manchester City United Football Club, so I'm afraid he's cheering on the warm-up team on the pitch right now, right? Ingrid imagined her husband's excited expression. With a shallow smile, he looked at the dozen or so young people of European or Chinese descent present.

"Okay, Miss Chen has already explained the details of the contract to you just now, right?" Ingrid behind the desk, touching her lower abdomen, feeling the restless restlessness of the fetus, but the smile on her face remained undiminished, "You are all outstanding young people in the domestic art world, and there may be students who graduated from Ivy League colleges and universities majoring in art, so I hope you can cherish this opportunity and devote yourself to it in the coming year." Bring out the best work. ”

The contract in Ingrid's mouth is a series of books for teenagers between the ages of 12 and 16, as well as lifestyle books such as catering, clothing, travel, and literary poetry books for some adults. Since the content is very high, it will be large-scale with pictures. And the use of costly engraving and printing technology, for this reason Ingrid specially found a group of young people engaged in art and advertising work, specializing in drawing the hundreds of illustrations, the comprehensive cost of which will be much higher than the text-only reading materials in the early years.

Choose to sign contracts to support young literary and artistic entrepreneurs. It is the development path that Ingrid has been adhering to since she founded Hope Publishing House, and she firmly believes that these new generation of literary and artistic young people will become the potential stocks for further growth of Hope Publishing House in the future.

"'The Story of the Forest' and 'The Story of the Ocean' are books that I loved to read when I was a student, and they made me know about a nature that I didn't know about for a long time. I read it to my children a lot...... It's a pity that at that time, there were only words, and many wonderful experiences were lost. ”

Ingrid took two middle school books from the side and held them up in her hand with a smile.

"Madam, I majored in sketching and line drawing when I was in college, both in a realistic style, maybe I can take over the illustration work for these two books!" A young man of Chinese descent quickly stood up, and it could be seen from his slightly wrinkled coat that this was a young man from a relatively poor family.

"I heard that you graduated from the art department of Fudan University? As I expected, this is the best fit for you. England nodded, and turned his head to the other eager youths, "Remember, this batch of books will be distributed not only to readers at home, but also to other countries overseas, and each one will have a print run of 100,000 copies." All illustrations are under your signature, and they are no less meaningful than a hardcover Bible sold in Europe, and it is not an exaggeration to say that they are your personal and national image projects. ”

The young people present listened attentively, and slowly showed a stern expression.

……

Ingrid didn't care about the contract signing process for which book was illustrated and illustrated, but just went out on the open-air balcony to sunbathe. Her assistant secretary handed an envelope to each young man who signed a contract.

A young European who stepped out of the door of Hope Publishing House, saw that there was no one around, couldn't hold back the excitement in his heart, and hurriedly walked to a corner and opened the envelope.

Inside is a stack of two-color bills slightly larger than a bank cheque printed using block printing technology and specially formulated paper. On the front of the bill is written "Reserve Certificate of the Commercial Bank of the Republic of China and the United States of America" in small print, and in the middle is a group of flowered Arabic numerals.

Bank Reserve Certificates are a product of Huamei's domestic financial development over the years, and are a type of bank entry currency, issued by the state-owned Banco Nacional Ultramarino. Initially, it was used to solve the problem of cash settlement for large and medium-sized enterprises, and the amount of accounting was also large, and later the Bank of Amsterdam of the Netherlands, which had established Atlantic trade cooperation with Huamei, also accepted the discounting business of this kind of bill.

At a time when some large enterprises are gradually getting into the trouble of managing cash coins because they have to pay a large amount of wages every month, some small-amount, interest-free bearer commercial bank reserve certificates have naturally been introduced.

Enterprises can easily replace cash to pay wages to employees by cashing a large amount of cash-cash, which is an anonymous commercial bank reserve certificate, at one time. The person who obtained this bank reserve certificate. It is extremely convenient to exchange huàn to cash coins from any bank at any time. Any bank that accepts the Reserve Certificates can eventually exchange real money at Banco Nacional Ultramarino or use it to offset the country's banking operating tax.

Because it is an anonymous accounting currency, it is very similar to the holiday shopping vouchers issued by the Ministry of Civil Affairs in large quantities. The only minor limitation in use is that there is a handling fee for acceptance discounting during the issuance period of the ticket. If the issuance period is less than six months, you will need to pay a 1% handling fee when redeeming huàn cash coins, and if the issuance period is more than six months, there is no handling fee. This is tantamount to the state-owned Banco Nacional Nacional virtually eating up six months of interest on depositors' real money and paying part of the interest income to other banks in the business of accepting the bills.

to the last few years. Many large shopping malls or shops have begun to accept this kind of bank reserve certificate shopping, which realizes the circulation function of paper banknotes in disguise. In recent years, the Chinese and American Cabinet has also directly issued treasury bonds in the form of this bookkeeping currency through the state-owned Banco Nacional Ultramarino.

Especially in large local cities such as Manchester City, Yacheng and Qingcheng, a large number of working families are too lazy to go to the bank to queue up to exchange huàn cash coins on the day of monthly paychecks, but directly use this kind of reserve voucher to buy household goods from merchants who are willing to accept it.

After withholding personal income tax, the bank reserve vouchers received by the youth are half of the contract advances, with a denomination of $10 each, for a total of 30 certificates, which is almost equivalent to the salary of a Chinese American intermediate skilled tradesman for a year. For single young people who have just walked out of school for a year or two. It's undoubtedly a lot of money.

In the next year, the young people will stay at home and work hard to draw drafts, and then accept the harsh acceptance and criticism over and over again, and then become beautiful illustrations in books. Finally, they sailed across the ocean with beautiful merchant ships to Europe or the East.

……

In a bookstore on the commercial street in the south of Manchester City, three young people who have changed into the clothes of Daming scholars are carefully selecting books. Behind them, several bookstore attendants were already holding tall books in their hands. All of them were chosen by these three young people. Although it was too heavy, the waiters were all smiling and deferential to the large customers who made so many purchases at once.

Gu Jikun, Wang Fuzhi and Luo Jian. In the end, under the persuasion of the Academic Affairs Office of Capital National University, he chose to complete the final graduation examination and return to China. The time schedule was so tight that they couldn't even wait for the degree certificate awarding ceremony, they just hurriedly received their graduation certificates in the morning, and then under Gu Jikun's reminder, the three of them went to the street to quickly purchase some items to return to China.

University textbooks and books in the capital's bookstore have become the things that Gu Jikun values the most, because the cultural development of Huamei and many overseas territories is not at the same level at all, and many books may not be available on Pearl Island. What's more, compared with the high cost of living in Manchester City, the price of gorgeous books is cheaper than that of Daming.

Gu Jikun, who majored in law at the Capital National University, naturally selected a lot of school textbooks, subject books, and almost a full set of law books from Chinese and American countries, and even books on school community life.

Wang Fuzhi studied financial management, and the main ones he brought back to China this time were economics, including the Financial Times of North America in the past year.

In addition to the professional textbooks he studied, many of the textbooks that he planned to study again when he was in graduate school were obtained under the special approval of the Academic Affairs Office, in addition to a large number of popular science books for teenagers.

"It's a pity that most of the books sold in this bookstore are curious essays in the market, which are thousands of miles away from the books in the school library!" Wang Fuzhi put a book in his hand back on the bookshelf and shook his head at the two companions beside him.

"The library of the school is professional in educating people, and the bookstore here is a work of universal love and enlightenment. Elegance and vulgarity are appreciated, and it is not the same. Gu Jikun handed the two copies of "Dream of the Blue Bridge" and "Manchester City Love Story", which are quite popular among gorgeous young people, to the waiter behind him, and then pointed to the bookshelf in the distance with a smile, "It's not enough to say that it is a vulgar text, and Brother Nong hasn't seen it, there are also Tang and Song poems from my eastern soil." ”

"Not bad. Huamei educates talents and emphasizes teaching, all of which are practical learning, even if the essays sold in the bookstore here are not seen by the Daming Publishing House. In the hands of the younger brother, "One Hundred Interesting Facts of Life", the principle of natural objects contained in it, let me know it, and it cannot be written unless I have been studying it for many years. However, all the people in the gorgeous market, young and old, are accustomed to it, and no matter the newspaper news, the depth of Chinese and American Western learning can be seen. ”

Luo Jian also echoed on the side. The books he chose were almost all about natural science trivia, but they were not put aside because of their superficial content. Of course, if you look at it from the perspective of a few years ago, these so-called superficial books are a golden mountain.

As for the gorgeous social popular literature, in the opinion of Gu Jikun and the others, except for those teenager picture books, most of the content is lackluster or too deviant, the vernacular is popular, and the choice of words and sentences is far inferior to that of the Ming Dynasty. However, the three of them, who were already surprised, still bought as much as they could. So as not to have the opportunity to contact again.

The books they bought almost filled a heavy pallet truck, and they basically spent all the living allowances they had saved for a few years in Manchester City. Looking at the appearance of several bookstore attendants humming and carrying, the three of them realized that the amount they bought was really a bit scary.

It seems that everything that needs to be done is done, and we are waiting for the passenger shift in a few days. Looking at the busy shopping street of Manchester City. Rows of familiar shopping malls, fashion stores, and food and cold drink houses, the three of them suddenly felt a sense of emptiness that they had never experienced before.

"The graduation ceremony is coming, but I can't catch up with it, and I have an appointment with a few classmates in the department today. If you don't get drunk and don't return, you will say goodbye first......" After being in a daze for a few minutes, Wang Fuzhi said softly. He walked away alone.

"Brother Zhongqing, I plan to go to the library and the real room to sit again......" Seeing Wang Fuzhi's slightly lonely back, Luo Jian seemed to have something on his mind.

The two companions walked away, leaving only Gu Jikun alone in the shuttle. Looking at the Huamei Congress Building and the Supreme Court in the distance, recalling the process of a Supreme Court file trial he participated in as a graduate intern a few months ago, Gu Jikun suddenly had a feeling of reluctance to leave.

……

At the beginning of the day, Luo Jian walked alone in a certain neighborhood in the southern district of Manchester City.

A sumptuous carriage came slowly from behind, shaking a string of pleasant jingling bells. Luo Jian hurriedly subconsciously took a few steps back to the side of the street, lowered his head deeply, and felt the pitch-black carriage drive by.

Looking up, the street scene here is very familiar, not far away, a large manor house is quiet under the street lamp, only the empty footsteps of the policemen walking side by side on the street.

After hesitating for a while, Luo Jian still chose to turn around and go in the direction of the school.

The carriage stopped outside the An family manor, the door opened, and the pot-bellied An Jie walked down, accompanied by a naval captain.

"The eldest lady and aunt are home! Sir, ma'am! As he beckoned the servant to open the barred gate, the voice of a manor steward pierced the manor lawn.

Not long after, An Shaoqing and Zhang Li both appeared at the door of the main building of the manor villa, both with smiles on their faces.

Wen Yujun and An Jie walked hand in hand in front of the elders, and then An Jie, supported by her husband, reluctantly saluted her parents.

"Six months of pregnancy is the most critical period, so pay attention to your body. Why did you choose to go home so late? Seeing her daughter's slightly shy and steady demeanor, Zhang Li hurriedly walked a few steps and took the other party's hand.

On the other side, An Shaoqing looked at Wen Yujun, his son-in-law who was newly promoted to captain of the navy, with a smile.

"Dad, Mom, I received an order from the Navy Command to take up a post at the Asian Fleet Command, and I will leave tomorrow. My parents were on vacation on Vineyard Island, and they were afraid that the nanny at home would not be able to take care of them, so they still asked Xiaojie to go back to live with the second elder. ”

After Wen Yujun handed over his wife to the maid of the An family and took it away, he told his parents-in-law the reason for returning to the An family in a hurry today.

"Hey, he's running to that place again...... Jie'er is six months pregnant, you go, but you can't come back for a year, and you don't know if the child is born male or female, didn't your father arrange a better department for you? Seeing her son-in-law's smiling face full of youth and elegance, Zhang Li sighed slightly.

"This year's reserve captain class was unsuccessful, and my father said that I should go to the grassroots level for another two years of training, and this transfer was arranged by him before his vacation." Speaking of being eliminated by the reserve captain squad, Wen Yujun finally showed childlike shyness and shame at this time.

"Your father, Ren Changle, and Deng Mingquan are really ruthless...... Why do you keep throwing children into dangerous places? Zhang Li saw that her son-in-law looked like he had come and was at ease, and it was hard to say anything.

In the past two years, the adopted sons or biological sons of several friends who have joined the army have been sent to the Far East one after another, and it is said that even Qi Zuping, the daughter of Qi Jianjun, the speaker of the Senate of the National Assembly, intends to resign from the Ministry of Culture and Education and apply to teach in a primary school on Pearl Island. As soon as she thought of this, Zhang Li never felt at ease in her heart.

……

Her parents and husband were still chatting downstairs, and An Jie came to her mother's bedroom after a long absence. Next door to the bedroom, the rooms of the younger siblings were closed and there was no sound.

Sister An Shu also got married at the beginning of this year, and the object was Liu Zhuhe, the family of former President Liu Mingjun, whom she knew at the beginning. In addition to the youngest two younger brothers, An Ping and An Ming, are still at home, An Yang, An Xin and An Ru are also going to school outside. There were so many fewer people in the family at once, and the huge manor suddenly seemed a little deserted.

After leaving the maid, An Jie walked to the balcony alone and began to look at the night view of the street outside the manor.

Except for the dim lighting, the streets were empty, but An Jie always felt that someone had stopped there when she passed by in a carriage before.

A few years have passed in a flash, and now she will become a mother, and the young man from the East has also completed three years of school, and I heard that he is about to return to China. From now on, the worlds of the two will be completely separated.

"It's a place you never imagined, a world that is alien to our lives, and if you choose him, you're destined to suffer for the rest of your life! I can't push you into the fire pit! ”

Looking blankly at the stars in the night sky, An Jie's ears seemed to recall her mother Zhang Li's persuasion, and her thoughts drifted to the place where she first met a young man. (To be continued......)

PS: The second bullet of the zài sense of brushing.