The literary era since 1979

Chapter 231 I want it all
By the time I turned to the last page of Blood and Sand, about two and a half hours had passed.

Fangyan turned back to the first page and looked at Mike, "It looks like you haven't finished writing this book."

"You are absolutely right."

Mike nodded. "This is exactly what my father wanted. He divided his military experience into two stages, one during World War II and the other after World War II. This book is about his personal experience during World War II, all the way to the declaration of victory in the World Anti-Fascist War."

"No wonder."

Fangyan said that he remembered that Old Mike had participated in the Korean War and after being captured, he also took part in the POW camp Olympics.

"Yes, this part will be written in the second part."

Mike added, "That's if the first volume can be published successfully."

"I don't know what your American publishing houses' publishing standards are."

Fangyan handed the manuscript back and said, "But judging from my personal standards, this book is still a little far from being ready for publication."

"That's exactly why I wanted to seek your guidance!"

Mike was overcome with emotion.

"Look at you, you're in a hurry."

Fangyan poked his watch and said, "It's getting late. It's time for lunch. Why don't we find a restaurant and talk while we eat?"

Seeing Mike readily agreed, Han Yuemin suggested, "How about we go eat mutton hotpot?"

"It's done!"

After Fangyan said this, he went straight to Donglaishun with them, and each of them had two pounds of mutton first.

Yanjing cuisine has two signature skills: shabu-shabu and grilling, both of which are prepared in accordance with the weather, such as this shabu-shabu mutton.

According to the old custom, sheep are on the market at the beginning of autumn and off the market at the beginning of summer, because this season is when the sheep are the fattest.

The water in the hot pot is boiling, the charcoal is glowing red, and pairs of chopsticks are rising and falling, picking out the fattest parts to eat.

"Ruoxue brought me, Yoko and the others here before. She said hot pot is a traditional Chinese delicacy."

Mike was shabu-shabuing the mutton skillfully.

Han Yuemin asked: "How do you feel?"

"Emm, very good!"

Mike chewed his lamb and gave a thumbs-up.

Fangyan chatted with him while eating, talking about the shortcomings, problems, and ways to improve "Blood and Sand".

"The ending was poorly handled and too bland."

"Teacher Fang, how should we change it?"

"How about an 'O. Henry-style ending'? For example, Old Mike tried every possible way to accumulate points, but in the end he only accumulated 84 points, one point away from 85 points. Just when he was desperate and ready to go to the battlefield, he heard the news about the explosion of 'Little Boy' and 'Fat Man' on the radio."

"This this……"

Mike's eyes suddenly lit up. "This ending seems to be unexpected, but also reasonable."

Fangyan raised his hand, "And just when I was glad that I was going to stay in Europe, I was unexpectedly sent to Asia with the army. The first part came to an abrupt end with such twists and turns."

"Teacher Fang, this is so beautiful!"

Mike asked, "How long do you think it will take to make this modification?"

Fangyan asked, “Are you in a hurry to publish it?”

"no no."

Mike said he just wanted to finish the first draft of the novel before Christmas or New Year, so that he could give "Blood and Sand" as a gift to old Mike.

"If it takes more than a month, I can barely finish the first draft."

Fangyan hesitated for a while, "But this is the first time I have revised a purely English manuscript, so what I said may not be accurate."

"Don't feel any pressure."

Mike waved his hand, "This is just an idea of ​​mine. I also plan to buy some Chinese handicrafts as gifts."

Han Yuemin interjected, "Are we going to buy it at the Foreign Guest Service Department of the Palace Museum?"

Mike shook his head and said, "I usually go to the history museum."

Fangyan was very interested when he heard the words "National Museum". "That's right. I'm planning to buy some calligraphy and paintings there. How about we go together?"

"When the time comes, please ask Teacher Fang to give me some advice."

Mike agreed repeatedly.

Fangyan smiled, picked up the beef tripe and dipped it in sesame sauce with coriander.

Mike was surprised: "What is this?"

"How many times have you come here and never eaten?"

Han Yuemin was stunned.

Mike shook his head. When he saw the two of them eating with gusto, he swallowed his saliva and followed their example by picking up a piece of food with his chopsticks.

Han Yuemin smiled and said, "It tastes good, right?"

Mike ate one after another, and couldn't stop eating: "What on earth is this thing? It's so chewy!"

Fangyan grinned and said, "This is the stomach of a cow."

"This this……"

When Mike heard that it was animal organs, his face changed instantly.

"Just tell me whether it's Weirui or not, right?"

Han Yuemin blinked.

Mike smacked his lips, savoring the taste, and the nausea gradually disappeared. "Very good! Very good!"

The dialect taught him to say "Niubi" in a joking tone.

Mike followed up with a sentence: "Awesome?"

Fangyan gave a thumbs up and said, "Yes, awesome! Awesome means 'very good'."

"Awesome, awesome."

Mike pointed at the beef tripe and gave a thumbs up, "Hot pot, awesome! Beef stomach, awesome!"

"That's not the most amazing thing. You can also eat duck intestines, goose intestines, and duck blood when eating hot pot. Maybe you will like these too."

Fangyan smiled. This sentence is very intuitive when said in English: duck intestines, goose intestines, duck blood...

The more Mike listened, the paler his face became. He swallowed and said, "Teacher Fang, will these things really taste good?"

Fang Yan said: "Of course, it's even more awesome than this Niu Baiye!"

Mike was skeptical, and then asked: "Teacher Fang, why do you say 'very good' as Niubi?" Han Yuemin laughed and said: "Niubi means the B of awesome, don't you think it's super big?"

"What! You guys still eat beef..."

Mike's face was filled with shock.

What kind of monsters are the Chinese people? Do they dare to eat anything?

...............

After eating and drinking, we went to the History Museum from Donglaishun.

The roar of a motorcycle came closer and closer. Fang Yan and Han Yuemin stopped the car, kicked the bracket with their feet, and the motorcycle stopped at the door.

The Foreign Guest Service Office of the History Museum, like the Palace Museum, uses its income to subsidize the museum's expenses.

When the salesperson standing at the counter saw that it was dialect, he immediately came over.

"Teacher Fang, are you here to buy paintings again?"

"Ah."

Fangyan introduced Mike to the salesperson and said he wanted to buy some handicrafts and reproductions of ancient calligraphy and paintings.

"No problem, you guys came at the perfect time."

The salesperson said, "If it's later in the evening, it probably won't be available for purchase. You'll have to go to the Forbidden City to buy it."

Fangyan said: "What do you mean?"

"To be honest, we may have to close down here."

The salesperson said that considering the poor business and lack of interest in the paintings, the museum was planning to disband the "Foreign Guest Service Department" and sell all the calligraphy and paintings in stock at low prices.

Fangyan was very surprised: "How many are there?"

The salesperson gestured with the number nine and said, "This is the number."

Han Yuemin blurted out: "Nine hundred?"

"How can it be only nine hundred? Our History Museum is a huge museum!"

The salesperson curled his lips and said, "It's more than 9,000 pieces!"

"Really?"

When Fangyan heard this number, he narrowed his eyes and couldn't help but think of a person named "Xu Huachi" in his previous life who spent more than 20 Hong Kong dollars to buy more than 9000 paintings from somewhere.

So, it’s right here!

"How could I deceive you? I'm sure of it!"

The salesperson said, "That's more than 9000 pieces!"

“So how many of these paintings have been sold so far?”

Fangyan suppressed his inner excitement.

"Not yet. The leader said that we need to hold a meeting first to study the matter. Once the time for closing and disbanding is determined, we will place an advertisement in the newspaper and look for a buyer."

The salesperson shook his head and said it was a pity.

Fangyan handed him a cigarette and asked him to invite the leader over.

The salesperson immediately realized that Teacher Fang was going to make another big purchase and hurried into the inner room.

After a while, the director of the service department came quickly with several salesmen, and then sent someone who knew foreign languages ​​to accompany Mike to pick out the goods.

Seeing Mike and Han Yuemin being sent away, Fangyan asked about the authors of these paintings.

The salesperson listed them all like a list of dishes, "There are Qi Baishi, Huang Binhong, Xu Beihong, Wang Xuetao, Lu Yanshao..."

The director of the service department added that in addition to calligraphy and paintings by modern and contemporary painters, there are also antique paintings like those by Zhang Daqian.

For example, an imitation of Zhao Mengfu's "Peach Blossom Spring".

"There are more than 9000 paintings. If you were to sell them..."

Fangyan raised his eyebrows. Once the paintings were widely publicized, the people with the financial resources to buy so many paintings would most likely be foreign businessmen.

"Oh, it's hard to put it into words."

The head of service department sighed.

Nowadays, few people would buy or appreciate paintings, let alone inherit the legacy of their predecessors and learn to paint.

The museum has no visitors, cannot make a profit, has no funding from the government, has huge expenses, and employees are still waiting to be paid.

With no other options, this is the only option left.

It is precisely because they are worried that so many masterpieces will end up overseas that they give priority to selling to mainland buyers or Hong Kong businessmen.

"What price are you going to sell these paintings for?"

Fangyan thought for a moment and realized that this could be worth hundreds of billions.

The service director said, "The cheap ones are five or six yuan each, and the more expensive ones are thirty or forty yuan each."

Fang Yan said, "I mean, how much are all these paintings worth?"

"In total..."

The director of the service department was stunned: "Teacher Fang, I don't quite understand what you mean."

Fang Yan asked seriously, "If I want all these paintings, how much would it cost?"

"You want to buy all the paintings?"

"Yes, I want them all."

"You want all of them?!"

The director of the service department and others finally reacted, but they were not surprised but frightened, and the smiles on their faces froze immediately.

Han Yuemin was also shocked. 9000 pictures!

If the price of a painting is 20 yuan, then there are more than 9000 paintings, which means at least 18 yuan! 18 yuan!

You have to know that at that time, a family's monthly income was only a few dozen yuan. If someone had a deposit of 18 yuan, they would be a 18 yuan household! yuan, yuan households!

"Teacher Fang, I want to confirm again, do you really want to buy them all?" The director of the service department came back to his senses from the shock, and he felt his throat was dry.

Fangyan added: “If the price is right.”

"I can't decide the price."

The director of the service department's throat surged, and he suppressed his inner shock and said hurriedly, "I'll go call our curator for you."

Watching their running backs, Han Yuemin's eyes widened as he spoke hesitantly:
"Yan, Yanzi, are you planning to take care of everything?"

(End of this chapter)