Riding the wind of rebirth

However, a master's degree is highly valued these days. It allows one to organize the knowledge in their mind into a system, master the methods, and further expand upon them. At the same time, it helped Zhang Xinyi alleviate her mental burden and move on from her heartbreak. This can be considered a case of "losing one thing but gaining another."

Now that we can't let the girl down, Zhou Zhi immediately encouraged her: "Now that you've mastered the method, let's hurry up and organize the system. At this stage, this is actually more important than filling in the gaps."

"I know," Zhang Xinyi said with a smile.

“Xinyi, you don’t need to push yourself so hard. A balance between work and rest is best.” Zhou Zhi said, then muttered, “Besides, there’s no rule saying you have to be a recent graduate to take the postgraduate entrance exam…”

"Pah, pah, pah, you crow, shut up!" Ye Xin immediately slapped Zhou Zhi on the head upon hearing this.

“I surrender, I surrender…” Zhou Zhi quickly said, “What I mean is, why don’t you let Xinyi apply to our Sichuan University? The Chinese Department at Sichuan University has been doing quite well these past few years…”

“You’re from the inside circle, so you value your master more.” Ye Xin told Zhang Xinyi not to be fooled: “We’re from outside the circle, so we value schools more. Xinyi, you can’t follow Zhouzi’s example. He could have gone to Tsinghua or Peking University, but he chose Sichuan University. Now when he goes home, Wenyu’s mother still sighs about it.”

Zhou Zhi was overjoyed: "Xin Xin, we all know that Wen Yu's mom likes you, so we don't have to remind her about this all the time."

"Hey, you're talking nonsense again!" Ye Xin hadn't meant it by saying it, but Zhou Zhi caught her off guard, making her feel a little embarrassed and annoyed.

"Stop fooling around, we're driving." Zhou Zhi quickly changed the subject: "What did Wen Yu say on the phone just now?"

"What else can I say? I'll just have to give it my all!" Ye Xin said, then looked worried. "But if I give up the chance to get into the Third Military Medical University for postgraduate studies, and fail to get into the Second Military Medical University, will his mother blame me...?"

"Pah, pah, pah, hurry up and slap your mouth." This time it was Zhou Zhi's turn to talk to her, and Ye Xin quickly slapped her mouth as well.

Zhou Zhi then said, "At least it's much easier for Wen Yu to get into the Second Military Medical University than for Xin Yi to get into Fudan University. Besides, with Wen Yu's resume, he's someone that every unit is vying for. Just think of it as keeping an eye on things. If it doesn't work out, he can work for now and then try to transfer to another place. It's really not a big deal."

"You seem so relaxed when I tell you everything." Ye Xin rolled her eyes at Zhou Zhi, but her mood seemed to have improved. Although her personality wasn't as carefree as Liang Hong's, she was still a pragmatist. If something was futile to worry about, she would just put it aside, which was a good thing.

Zhouzhuang's fame actually owes to Chen Yifei. In the 1980s, Chen Yifei, who was studying in the United States at the time, created a series of paintings, including "Memories of My Hometown," based on the water town scenery of Zhouzhuang.

These paintings had a considerable impact in the West, and after being promoted by galleries, they gained favor with many big businessmen and collectors.

Later, when Armand Hammer, chairman of Occidental Petroleum Corporation, visited China, he brought back a copy of "Memories of My Hometown" and presented it to the leaders at the time.

In 1984, Zhouzhuang first proposed the development direction of protecting the ancient town, developing tourism, and establishing "tourism as the foundation of the town." Subsequently, the local government invited Professor Ruan Yisan from Tongji University to lead 40 to 50 students from the Department of Architecture of Tongji University to carefully survey the entire town of Zhouzhuang over a summer vacation. They submitted the "Overall Plan and Protection Plan for Zhouzhuang," which was approved at the Zhouzhuang Overall Planning Seminar, clearly defining the development of tourism based on the ancient town as a resource.

In 1989, Shen Hall, the core scenic spot of Zhouzhuang, built by Shen Benren, a descendant of Shen Wansan, in the seventh year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, was restored and began to sell tickets to the public. The price was six cents a ticket, only one cent more expensive than the Jingyang Confucian Temple.

This is the first step in Zhouzhuang's tourism development. Starting last year, the overall restoration of Zhouzhuang was basically completed, and the entire ancient town was treated as a scenic area. Under the guidance of Professor Ruan Yisan's protection plan, Zhouzhuang has opened up and restored nearly 100 classical residences, more than 60 brick-carved gate towers, and 14 ancient bridges with distinctive features in a core area of ​​nearly 0.5 square kilometers. After that, a unified ticket was sold to the public, highlighting its reputation as "China's No. 1 Water Town".

When Zhou Zhi and his group arrived in Zhouzhuang, the "Zhouzhuang International Tourism Festival" had just ended. The local government had built many supporting facilities outside the village, such as a huge parking lot specially designed for private cars, which was a very convenient "modern facility".

Because the tourism festival had just ended and the wave of popularity created by Zhouzhuang had just passed, the result was that the ancient town, which had been fully renovated and kept clean and tidy, actually had fewer tourists. Apart from Zhou Zhi and his group, the streets were still deserted.

This phenomenon is mainly caused by the "joint ticket charging" model in the development plan.

After the implementation of the closed-loop management system, Zhouzhuang upgraded from collecting entrance fees only at Shen Hall to collecting them at the village entrance, and the ticket price was also adjusted from 60 cents at Shen Hall to 15 yuan.

Although 10% of the annual ticket revenue will be used for the protection of the ancient town, including the repair of historical buildings, improvement of infrastructure, and improvement of the living environment of the town's residents, Zhou Zhi believes that the remaining 90% is the key.

The introduction of fees was both its strength and its weakness. Surrounding villages quickly followed suit, creating similar ancient towns like Wuzhen and Xitang. Eventually, almost every city developed its own several ancient towns. These towns became highly homogenized, ultimately diminishing their charm.

The entrance fee to Zhouzhuang rose to 100 yuan, and in the end, no one visited it.

This phenomenon certainly doesn't exist now. During the period of rapid development of township enterprises across the country, when the slogans "To get rich, build roads first" and "The sound of a car brings wealth" were prevalent, and villages and towns along the river network in Jiangnan were demolishing bridges to widen streets and filling in rivers to build roads, Zhouzhuang Ancient Town went against the trend and pioneered the protection of ancient towns in Jiangnan. It completely removed the "modern" parts from the ancient town's architecture, creating a quaint and standard Jiangnan water town from the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. The level of the architecture department of Tongji University and the current local leaders is quite extraordinary.

The tickets were 15 yuan each, but the four of them only spent 35 yuan. The reason was that Zhang Xinyi and Ye Xin took out their student IDs and could buy student tickets for only 10 yuan each. Adding Mai Xiaomiao's 15 yuan, that was the total.

As for Zhou Zhi, he didn't need to spend any money, because amidst the bewildered and incredulous gazes of the women, he pulled out a small booklet with a red plastic cover—a national tour guide certificate.

After leaving the ticket booth and entering the village, Zhang Xinyi and Ye Xin couldn't help but burst into laughter. Ye Xin laughed so hard that she hugged a tallow tree and kept patting the trunk: "We all forgot you had this! The ticket seller's expression just now was absolutely hilarious!"

"Is it strange that three beautiful women hire one tour guide?" Zhou Zhi threatened, raising his digital camera: "Don't laugh like that, or I'll take a picture of your ugly face!" (End of Chapter)