Sail across the sea

Chapter 561 What's the difference between this and a salted fish?

Zou Guohong, an associate professor in the Department of History at Fudong University, has been very irritable lately.

My wife said that other families have already started buying 21-inch flat-screen TVs with remote controls, while we are still watching a 14-inch color TV that we bought ten years ago. We feel ashamed when we go out.

He understood his wife's meaning perfectly. The income from the school was neither high nor low; his income combined with his wife's was enough for their family of three to live comfortably in the provincial capital, but they could never afford any luxury spending.

His wife was a textile factory worker. When she married him through an introduction, all the women around her were envious, and she thoroughly enjoyed being called a professor's wife. Although he was only a lecturer at the time, people in society were unaware of these hierarchical titles; if they saw you working at a university, they would call you a professor.

In the eyes of the world, university professors are people with extremely high social status and must have a very high income.

Of course, this was just people's opinion in the past. Over the years, people have gradually come to understand that university professors' income is not high. In some government agencies with "lucrative" positions, or in a few particularly profitable companies, the income of their cadres or employees is higher than that of university professors.

The factory where his wife worked had been contracted out to the former factory manager, and its profitability hadn't improved much, but the manager's personal income had increased many times over. The manager's wife, who used to be one of the textile workers, now wore gold and silver and often showed off in front of her former female friends.

The female workers flattered the factory manager's wife to her face, but they couldn't help but curse her in private. After cursing, they still felt unsatisfied, so they turned to Zou Guohong's wife and said, "We have no hope. Your Professor Zou is so capable. If he didn't stay in the university, he could have contracted a factory and he might not be any worse than Chi Ling's husband."

Chi Ling was the factory director's wife, and Zou Guohong's wife was named Min Guiying.

The conversation was casual, but Min Guiying could hear the contempt and schadenfreude in their voices. Staying in a school was no match for running a factory—that was their value system. Didn't you, Min Guiying, always flaunt your husband being a university professor? What's the difference between a university professor who can't make money and a salted fish?

Min Guiying wasn't exactly a vain woman, but after hearing so much teasing, she couldn't help but express her dissatisfaction when she got home. She always thought her husband was a capable man, and she thought, "If you're so capable, why can't you make money? Can't you find a way to earn some?"
Zou Guohong is a good husband and a good father; he's actually working very hard to earn money. His income at the school is fixed, but if he's willing to teach more classes, he can earn more in teaching fees. Each teaching hour is 10 yuan, and a course has 40 hours, so he can earn an extra 400 yuan. He doesn't know how many times he's had to beg the academic affairs secretary for an extra class.

Another way to make money is by teaching classes. Some training institutions hire university professors to teach, and the fees are not low, sometimes as low as 50 or even 100 yuan per hour. However, these institutions only train students for the bar exam or the accountant exam; they've never heard of a history exam, so this path is not feasible for Zou Guohong.

Zou Guohong didn't actually enjoy lecturing; he preferred academic research and occasionally writing articles. He used to write short articles about historical anecdotes and submit them to newspapers and magazines, earning a few dozen yuan per article, which was enough to make his wife happy.

Several of my colleagues have already left school to start their own businesses because they couldn't stand the poverty there. One of them started a college entrance exam tutoring class in the city and reportedly earned tens of thousands of yuan a year. Another went to the south and was immediately noticed by a Hong Kong entrepreneur because of his talent. He became the entrepreneur's advisor and was paid a Hong Kong salary of several thousand yuan a month.

Zou Guohong was envious of the money others were making, but he didn't have the courage to take the plunge. His family was from the countryside, and although his wife's parents were locals from Fenghu, the provincial capital, they were just ordinary retired workers, unable to provide him with any financial support. As the breadwinner, if he failed to make money after starting his own business, his entire family would starve.

"Teacher Zou, someone outside is looking for you. They say they are a reporter."

A colleague who had just come in from outside informed him.

He stood up, somewhat bewildered, thanked his colleague, and walked out of the office. Sure enough, he saw a young woman standing outside the door, dressed quite fashionably, and indeed exuding the air of a reporter. "Are you Professor Zou Guohong?" the woman asked.

“Yes, that’s me,” Zou Guohong said.

"I am the editor-in-chief of Siwei Weekly. My name is Yuan Xiaoyan. I apologize for visiting you. Is this convenient for you, Professor Zou?" the woman introduced herself.

"Oh, Editor-in-Chief Yuan, it's a pleasure to meet you," Zou Guohong said politely.

He had never heard of any Four Dimensions Weekly, but since it was a media outlet, it must have some backing. The editor-in-chief in front of him had an impressive demeanor, and her Beijing accent revealed a difference in status between her and the local media professionals in Fudong.

Zou Guohong didn't have a private office, and it wasn't convenient for him to borrow the department's meeting room to meet with guests. Just as he was hesitating, Yuan Xiaoyan took the initiative to invite Zou Guohong to sit in a coffee shop outside the campus. Zou Guohong politely declined for a few words and then agreed.

Coffee shops are still a rarity in Fenghu City. This particular coffee shop outside the campus has been practically deserted since it opened. Zou Guohong passes by it almost every day, but has never gone inside. Through the coffee shop's floor-to-ceiling windows, Zou Guohong can see that it's mostly empty; occasionally, he might spot someone at just one table.

However, this time he finally stepped into the coffee shop, accompanied by a beautiful young woman.

"Teacher Zou, what would you like to drink?" Yuan Xiaoyan asked.

Zou Guohong waved his hand and said, "Editor-in-Chief Yuan, please do as you please. To be honest, I've never been to a coffee shop before, so I have no idea what to order."

Yuan Xiaoyan smiled faintly, feeling a bit more favorably disposed towards Zou Guohong.

Never having been to a coffee shop could be explained as not liking coffee, or it could be explained as being poor, since coffee shops were considered high-end consumption venues in this era.

Some people, even if they've never been to a coffee shop, will try hard to act like they frequent it, just to avoid being perceived as poor. Zou Guohong's candid admission of this shows he doesn't care if others perceive him that way, or rather, he doesn't mind giving others the impression of being impoverished.

This is a professor who would not easily betray his principles.

Yuan Xiaoyan made her judgment in that instant.

Hopefully, his asking price won't be too high.

(End of this chapter)