After eating and drinking, the next thing to consider is where to rest at night.
There are no private hotels and guesthouses now, only state-run guest houses.
Not only is the place expensive, but the service is not good!
What's more important is that the single rooms in today's guest houses are basically reserved for leaders, and ordinary people don't get this treatment.
If Zhou Yang stayed in a guest house, he would have to share a room with other people, which he was not used to.
So if there were other options, Zhou Yang really didn't want to live in a guest house.
However, he was a foreigner, had no relatives in Ningcheng, and seemed to have no other place to go except the guest house.
After thinking about it again and again, Zhou Yang decided to spend the night at the guest house.
But just as he was walking out of the state-owned hotel and heading to the guest house, he suddenly heard someone calling his name.
Looking up, I found that it was Lao Xu from Xinhua Bookstore!
At this time, Lao Xu was standing in front of the bookstore, waving to him.
Zhou Yang crossed the road, walked up to Lao Xu, and asked with a smile: "Brother Xu, are you ready to go home?"
"It's time to get off work. I saw you coming out of the state-owned hotel, so I wanted to chat with you. Is it convenient?"
"Convenient... convenient, as long as it doesn't delay Brother Xu from getting off work!"
"Haha, my job is quite leisurely. It doesn't matter if I finish work early or work late!"
With that said, Lao Xu opened the locked door of the bookstore again and invited Zhou Yang into the room.
Afterwards, the two sat down again across Lao Xu's desk.
"Xiao Zhou, after you left just now, I suddenly thought of a question. Are you on a business trip or visiting relatives and friends when you come to Ning City this time?" Lao Xu asked.
"No, to tell you the truth, I came to Ning City this time just to make some money to support my family!"
Lao Xu was not surprised by this answer.
Everyone is living a miserable life right now, and it is good to have enough to eat. Anyone with some ability wants to earn some extra money to improve their life.
"That means you won't be able to stay in Ningcheng for long?"
"Well, I took three days off from the Republican team, and I have to return to the team the day after tomorrow!"
A trace of regret flashed in Lao Xu's eyes, but then he said: "I have sent your manuscript to the provincial capital overnight. If nothing else happens, there will be news tomorrow. If it is qualified, I will settle the settlement for you as soon as possible. Remuneration!”
"Thank you, Brother Xu!"
"You're welcome. In fact, helping you is equivalent to helping myself!"
"?"
Seeing Zhou Yang's puzzled face, Lao Xu immediately explained: "As you know, all walks of life across the country are now learning from advanced Western technical experience, and there are a large number of documents that need to be translated every day, so the above gives each province The city’s bookstores have arranged corresponding translation tasks and conducted regular assessments.”
"You also know that our Ning City is just a remote town, and there are no local universities, so there are very few translators. Every month, I have to ask my grandfather and grandma to find someone to complete the tasks assigned to us by the boss, which is time-consuming. It’s a waste of effort but money!”
"If the quality of the manuscript you translate is up to standard, that is also a good thing for me."
After listening to Lao Xu's explanation, Zhou Yang immediately understood the stakes.
"You can rest assured about the quality of the manuscript. With me here, Brother Xu, you don't have to worry about completing the task in the future!"
"That's good. You don't know how difficult it is to find a qualified translator nowadays. Every time a task is assigned by the superiors, I have to peel off my skin. It's really hard to explain!"
Zhou Yang smiled and said, "If there are any tasks from above in the future, Brother Xu, you can hand them over to me directly. In this way, once your task is completed, I can also make money, a win-win situation!"
"Okay, okay...Xiao Zhou, haven't you settled down at your place for the night yet?"
"Not yet, I'm planning to spend the night at the guest house!"
"Why don't you go to a guest house? Come to my house and let your sister-in-law prepare two dishes. Let's have some drinks tonight!"
"That's okay, it's too disturbing to Brother Xu and your sister-in-law!"
"do not bother..."
However, Zhou Yang interrupted Lao Xu before he finished speaking: "Brother Xu, I know you have good intentions, but forget it this time! Firstly, it's because I didn't prepare anything today. How can I go to visit empty-handed? , inappropriate!”
"Secondly, you also know that I don't have much time. I plan to translate some manuscripts in the evening and raise my level as soon as possible!"
Seeing that Zhou Yang's words were sincere, Lao Xu did not force himself anymore and said instead: "If you plan to continue translating the manuscript at night, then you can live in the bookstore!"
"Live in a bookstore?"
"Well, there is a small single room in the store, which I usually use for lunch breaks. It has a bed and a quilt, so it's just enough for one night!"
Zhou Yang was immediately moved. He didn't care about saving the accommodation fee, but the environment here was much better than the guest house and was very suitable for working.
However, when he saw the room full of books, he still hesitated and asked, "Is this convenient?"
"Haha, it's not inconvenient. There is nothing here except these worthless books! And if you live in the store, you can save the deposit for the books!"
According to bookstore regulations, if you want to take away English books, the translator needs to pay a corresponding deposit.
After the translation of the work is completed, the deposit will be refunded when the book is returned.
Hearing this, Zhou Yang knew that Lao Xu really invited him sincerely. He hesitated for a moment and nodded and said: "In that case, I'll trouble Brother Xu!"
"Hahaha, no trouble, no trouble!"
Later, Lao Xu pointed out the location of the small single room to Zhou Yang, and at Zhou Yang's request, he picked up two English journals for him, then locked the door and left the bookstore.
.......
After Lao Xu left, Zhou Yang returned to the small round table in the afternoon.
Then, with the help of a small light bulb in the store, I continued to translate.
In the quiet bookstore, there is a lone lamp and a person. There is no other sound except the friction of paper and pen.
I don't know how long it took, but after Zhou Yang finished translating the two books left by Lao Xu, the sky outside turned out to be slightly bright.
It turned out that he accidentally worked all night.
Looking at the pale sky outside, Zhou Yang couldn't help but smile. He had forgotten how long it had been since he had worked so hard.
Although he felt a little tired physically, Zhou Yang felt extremely satisfied when looking at the thick pile of manuscripts in front of him.
From yesterday afternoon to today, he has translated a total of three journals, involving a total of 21 short stories and two long stories.
Calculated according to the agreed remuneration, a short story costs five yuan, totaling 105 yuan.
The two novels are about 9,000 words long. If calculated based on 3 yuan for 1,000 words, it would be 27 yuan.
In other words, if all his manuscripts are approved, Zhou Yang will receive a royalties of 132 yuan.
Although this amount of money is nothing at all to Zhou Yang, who received a special national allowance in his previous life, it is even a bit insignificant.
But this money is a windfall for him now!
Zhou Yang knew the price level in the 1970s. An industrial worker in the county earned less than 30 yuan a month, and wages of more than ten yuan were everywhere.
130 yuan is equivalent to half a year's salary of a general worker, which is indeed not a small amount.
Let's talk about Zhou Yang's family. After being married for more than four years, even with the help of his father-in-law, the village party secretary, the family only has a savings of about 100 yuan.
In other words, Zhou Yang earned the savings of the previous four years in just one day.
More importantly, with this experience, Zhou Yang knew that he had cracked the code of wealth!
