Literary Master 1978.

Chapter 232: Free Overseas Remittance Vouchers
The fact turned out to be just as Fu Yonglin and Zhang Dening had expected. After mid-August, more and more review articles about the novel "The Chess Master" appeared in newspapers and magazines, and the discussion on the novel in the literary world entered a full-scale stage.

The discussion gradually divided into three styles. One was articles like "On the Narrow Nationalism of "The Chess Master"" in "Shanghai Literature", which seized on the "patriotic complex" in the novel and attacked it desperately by saying it was "narrow nationalism" or "populism".

One is the discussion about Go, and most of them are Go and literature enthusiasts. These people generally believe that the plots in Lin Chaoyang's novels are too idealistic, divorced from reality, and completely the novelist's fantasy.

Another kind is praise for the novel.

Among the many comments, the third type of comments is the largest in number, but the dissemination of public opinion is all about the eye-catching effect.

Seeking truth from facts usually does not attract much attention from readers. If it is alarmist, people's attention will naturally be attracted, just like the articles criticizing "The Chess Master".

Therefore, although the number of such articles is small, their influence cannot be underestimated. For a while, they competed closely with those reviews that affirmed "The Chess Master".

The outside world's praise or criticism of "The Chess Master" did not affect Lin Chaoyang. He still lived a repetitive life every day, and occasionally went to trust stores, cultural relics stores and other places to shop on weekends.

He had promised Tao Yushu that he would only use a quarter of his royalties for collecting, so it was impossible for him to spend money lavishly like he did before in the Palace Museum's Foreign Guest Service Department. He had to calculate carefully every time he spent money, and although he didn't spend money happily, he did get some pleasure from finding a bargain.

But the money earned quickly is not enough to spend slowly. "The Chess Master" was published in "Yenching Literature". The standard remuneration is ten yuan per thousand words, so 130,000 words means 1,300 yuan.

He got a quarter of it, or three hundred and twenty-five dollars, which he lost after a few trips to the store.

Collecting is really too expensive!
Just when Lin Chaoyang was worried about not having enough money to collect, a remittance slip from Hong Kong broke his anxiety.

Some time ago, a delegation from the Chinese University of Hong Kong visited Yenching University. The poet Xia Chengying, who came with the delegation, signed a publishing contract with Lin Chaoyang on behalf of the Chinese University of Hong Kong Press, intending to publish Lin Chaoyang's "The Death of Van Gogh" at a price of HK$300 per thousand words.

After such a long time, the royalties finally arrived. I guess it won’t be long before “The Death of Van Gogh” is released in Hong Kong.

The full text of "The Death of Van Gogh" is 220,000 words. The royalties paid by the Chinese University of Hong Kong Press this time are as high as HK$66,000, which is the largest amount of royalties Lin Chaoyang has received since his creation.

Tao Yushu was very excited after receiving the royalties. He arranged to go to the Bank of China with Lin Chaoyang to withdraw the money. Tao Yumo also wanted to join in the fun and found a very plausible reason.

"Brother-in-law, you are going to withdraw so much money, it will be safer if there are more people."

As a result, the three of them came to the Bank of China and received good news from the teller who was handling the business.

Two months ago, the state just promulgated the new "Foreign Exchange Management Regulations", which stipulates:

Chinese, foreign nationals and stateless persons living in China who receive foreign exchange remitted from foreign countries and Hong Kong, Macau and other regions must sell it to the Bank of China; for each large remittance of RMB 10 (inclusive) or more, % of the foreign exchange is allowed to be retained. The RMB obtained from the above-mentioned sales to the Bank of China can enjoy the relevant preferential treatment for overseas Chinese remittances.

The regulation on compulsory foreign exchange settlement has not changed, but individuals are allowed to retain 10% of foreign exchange, which is good news for Lin Chaoyang.

This time, the publishing house remitted him 10 Hong Kong dollars. Retaining % of the foreign exchange is Hong Kong dollars, which is a considerable foreign exchange reserve.

It is impossible to withdraw this money directly. If he wants to use it, he has to exchange it for foreign exchange coupons.

But Lin Chaoyang would definitely not exchange the money for foreign exchange coupons. He was not short of foreign exchange coupons now, so it was better to keep them in his hand. Wouldn't they be useful if he wanted to go abroad in the future?
Although you can apply for a foreign exchange quota from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange when going abroad nowadays, the amount you apply for is usually shockingly low, so it is better to have foreign exchange in your own hands.

In addition to this good thing of retaining the money, there is another sentence in the new regulations: the RMB obtained from the settlement and sale to the Bank of China can enjoy the preferential treatment for overseas Chinese remittances.

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the country was short of foreign exchange. In order to raise as much foreign exchange as possible for national construction, the government called on overseas Chinese to mail foreign exchange to their relatives and friends in China. This is remittances.

These foreign exchanges must be converted into RMB when they arrive in the country. Ordinary people are not stupid. Who would be willing to do such a thing?

In order to encourage overseas Chinese to bring back foreign exchange, the government came up with an idea to issue a batch of special tickets - Overseas Chinese Remittance Vouchers.

在五十年代，凡是从境外带回来的外汇折合人民币一百元的，可凭借侨汇券增加供应粮食6公斤、食油1公斤、白糖1公斤、鲜肉1公斤、棉布10尺。

Such a generous policy naturally attracted many ordinary people to participate enthusiastically. In the past few years, in some southern provinces with many overseas relations, some ordinary people could buy houses simply by relying on the remittance coupons obtained in exchange for foreign currency from their overseas relatives.

1981 was a somewhat special year. The economic reforms that had been going on vigorously for several years came to a standstill.

At the beginning of the year, GWY issued two emergency documents to "crack down on speculation and profiteering". The main reason was that the government found that the township enterprises that have flourished in recent years have begun to compete with state-owned enterprises for markets and raw materials, which has had a huge impact on the development of state-owned enterprises.

Therefore, the government introduced a series of macro-control policies, but this series of measures objectively resulted in two facts. On the one hand, it effectively controlled the direction of the macro-economy and avoided the various turmoil and instability that might arise from overheating.

On the other hand, it also caused the newly budding township enterprises to suffer their first cold wave. Almost all enterprises founded around 1980 saw their economic indicators decline or stagnate in 1981.

In July, the British magazine The Economist published an article that pointed out sharply that "tight foreign exchange reserves, severe domestic inflation, oil production bottlenecks, declining exports, and heavy reliance on scarce energy resources have caused serious problems for the Chinese economy."

The promulgation of the "Foreign Exchange Regulations" is in response to the domestic economic environment this year.

Lin Chaoyang cannot control the good or bad development of the country's economy, but the promulgation of the "Foreign Exchange Regulations" is indeed a good thing for him.

The publishing house paid him HK$10 in royalties, which, after deducting % of the foreign exchange retention, would translate into just over yuan in RMB at the official exchange rate.

By the 1980s, the overseas remittance vouchers, which used to be used only to purchase designated daily necessities, were also evolving. The types of goods that could be purchased included not only daily necessities but also many industrial products. They could also be exchanged for tickets and shopping vouchers.

All goods that can be purchased in the market can be paid for with remittance coupons, covering almost every aspect of people's lives.

You can also buy some imported goods that are in short supply in the country. In terms of function, it is almost the same as foreign exchange coupons.

But unlike foreign exchange coupons, overseas remittance coupons are composed of the main voucher "Overseas Remittance RMB" and the "actual ticket" for purchasing materials.

The main voucher is printed with the name of the remittance voucher, the amount of remittance in RMB, the serial number, the validity period and the seal of the issuing agency, while the actual voucher is printed with the types and quantities of goods that can be purchased.

Because it is a ticket that combines currency and notes, there is no need to pay additional RMB when using overseas remittance coupons to purchase supplies.

According to Yanjing City's current policy of issuing commodity quotas to overseas remittances, the money Lin Chaoyang sells to the Chinese people will bring him more than 1 ton of grain and more than kilograms of cooking oil, in addition to hundreds of non-staple food coupons and thousands of shopping coupons.

Listening to the bank teller calculating the bill for them, Tao Yushu and her sister were almost dumbfounded.

"Can you give so many things?" Tao Yumo murmured to himself.

After the shock, Tao Yushu regained her usual shrewdness and asked a very important question.

"Comrade, how long is this remittance voucher valid for?"

Nowadays, all tickets have a validity period and are invalid after the expiration date. The teller said: "We have two types of overseas remittance vouchers, one is valid for one year, and the other is valid for two years."

After hearing her answer, Tao Yushu said to Lin Chaoyang, "Shopping coupons are fine, we can use them to buy things. But we may not be able to use food coupons, oil coupons, and non-staple food coupons for five years!"

She asked the teller again, "Can you give me less food coupons?"

The teller shook his head and said, "Comrade, these remittance vouchers are all issued by the Commercial Bureau, and the commodity quotas are also fixed. You can only digest the extra items yourself."

Lin Chaoyang whispered, "Let's handle it privately."

Tao Yushu nodded and stopped worrying.

After coming out of the Bank of China, Lin Chaoyang took stock of what he had gained from withdrawing money today.

The publishing house remitted him HK$10, 6600% of which was deposited in the foreign exchange account of the Bank of China, which was HK$.

The remaining Hong Kong dollars were converted into RMB, totaling 18063.54 yuan, which was deposited into the passbook.

In addition, there are 100 overseas remittance vouchers with a face value of 180 yuan, and the total face value is equivalent to the RMB deposits.

These remittance coupons can allow Lin Chaoyang to obtain 1.8 tons of grain, 270 kilograms of cooking oil, 900 non-staple food coupons, and 3600 shopping coupons.

When we were calculating just now, everyone actually had no idea.

But only when you actually get these overseas remittance vouchers in your hands do you understand the impact they have. The key point is that these are given away for free after the exchange is settled, and it is hard not to have the mentality that you are picking up money for free.

Tao Yumo looked at the remittance vouchers in her sister's hand and swallowed hard, "Sister, I feel like your family won't have to spend money on rice, flour, grain, and oil for five years."

After saying this, she immediately corrected herself, "No! It's more than just rice, flour, grain and oil. These coupons are enough for you to buy four or five color TVs."

After she finished speaking, she couldn't help but exclaimed, "Oh my God! I finally understand why those overseas Chinese students in our school are so popular."

"Go home first!"

As the saying goes, wealth should not be shown off. It was too dangerous to walk around the streets with so many valuable things. Tao Yushu urged his sister to leave.

When they got home, the three of them gathered together again and looked at the thick stack of remittance vouchers on the table.

The foreign exchange and money are all in the account, so there is nothing to think about. The difficult part now is how to deal with these remittance vouchers.

"I'll find a way to sell these overseas remittance vouchers tomorrow," said Tao Yushu.

Lin Chaoyang said, "Don't rush to sell it, we need to use it ourselves."

"Just leave a small portion."

Tao Yushu said as she divided the remittance vouchers on the table into two piles. She pointed to a pile of 100 and said, "I'll sell these."

Pointing to a stack of 80 tickets, he said, "We'll keep these for ourselves. They're valid for two years and are enough for us. It's a pity that my parents can't use them. I'll exchange them for some national food and oil coupons and send them over."

The "parents" that Tao Yushu mentioned were naturally Lin Erchun and his wife. Lin Chaoyang counted out 100 remittance vouchers from the 10 and said, "Send these home."

The home he was referring to was the Tao family. Tao Yushu said, "There is no shortage of things at home."

"It's not a question of whether we need it or not. This is our intention. With these remittance vouchers, our family's living standard will be able to improve this year."

Nowadays, there is no family that does not lack daily necessities. The only difference is how much they lack and whether their life is comfortable.

The benefit of overseas remittance vouchers is not the money, but the advantage of combining currency and vouchers into one, which means people don't need to worry about vouchers when buying things.

Listening to Lin Chaoyang's words, Tao Yushu's eyes were full of sweetness, and the couple were full of affection.

This unexpected dog food almost choked Tao Yumo who was standing by.

"uh-huh!"

A light cough interrupted the eye contact between the couple. Lin Chaoyang glanced at his sister-in-law and took out another remittance voucher from the voucher.

"This one is for you. You have done a great job in protecting the emperor today." Lin Chaoyang said easily.

Tao Yumo was overjoyed and took the remittance voucher with both hands, almost bowing down to Lin Chaoyang.

"Thank you, brother-in-law!"

Before Tao Yushu could stop Lin Chaoyang, he complained, "Why did you give her this? It's not like she doesn't have money!"

一张100块面值的侨汇券上面有20斤粮食、1.5斤油、5张副食券、20张购物券，要是用人民币来计算的话，肯定没有100块那么多，但三四十块钱是肯定值的。

"Everyone who sees it gets a share. Yumo has been busy opening those readers' letters lately."

Lin Chaoyang's words made Tao Yumo feel grateful, "Brother-in-law, you are still good to me. You are the best to me in our family!"

She was busy showing her loyalty, but ended up knocking down a whole group of people with one blow. Tao Yushu next to her almost rolled his eyes to the sky.

"I'm not nice to you, am I?"

Tao Yumo immediately turned around and said flatteringly, "You and your brother-in-law are the best to me."

Tao Yushu snorted coldly, "That's not what you just said."

"Sister~" The little girl started to act coquettishly, and Tao Yushu was powerless to resist. He reminded her, "Don't show off this thing. Don't show off your wealth, understand?"

Tao Yumo immediately became serious, "Understood!"

(End of this chapter)