Rebirth 2004: A lone figure in the literary world

Chapter 371 Have you heard such a story?

Early the next morning, Zhang Chao personally sent four teachers to the airport and returned to Fuhai alone, but did not go home immediately.

He took a taxi directly back to Fuhai city and wandered aimlessly along Bayi 7th Avenue at Dongjiekou.

Since he became famous, he could only rest for a few days every time he went home. He would soon be besieged by people from all walks of life who had learned the news, and he was extremely annoyed.

Although he told his parents not to tell anyone about his return, some people who were concerned knew that Zhang Chao was home when they saw his father smiling even though he lost two days of chess, and his mother suddenly bought a bunch of chicken, duck, fish and meat.

So relying on them to keep the secret is equivalent to leaking the information.

This time when I went home, I only stayed for a few days, but I received a bunch of invitations to school speeches, opening ceremony ribbon-cuttings, and corporate lectures, and the number of visitors at home also increased.

Zhang Chao wanted to just hang out in the city of Fuhai for a day, go back home in the evening when his family had left, and also think about his new work.

What he didn't tell the teachers yesterday about this new work was that he no longer wanted to write a long novel, but wanted to present it in the form of a "collection of short stories."

Starting from the year 2007, which is just around the corner, until 2024, before his rebirth, there are a total of eighteen years, and there are a total of eighteen novels.

The title of each novel is taken from the most famous short and medium-length novels in the history of Chinese and world literature:

"Diary of a Madman", "Rite of Initiation", "Letter from an Unknown Woman", "Metamorphosis", "Chameleon", "The Necklace", "The Policeman and the Anthem", "A Clean, Bright Place"...

Even the structure of the novel will "parody" the original work, but the content will be the author's own predictions about the world in the next eighteen years - of course, this is for the readers.

For Zhang Chao, this became a complete "review" - but in this kind of "review", there would not be any searchable information to consult, and everything was a ball of wool in his mind.

Everything Zhang Chao writes will extend into the future within the realistic framework of "2007", so he must find every thread of this ball of wool.

"Touch screen mobile phone", "3G-4G mobile Internet", "EMU-HSR", "electric car", "mobile payment", "live broadcast economy", "financial crisis", "trade war", "AI"...

Some of these technological inventions, terminal products, and major events have already begun to take shape, while others are still brewing and gathering momentum. They are entangled, intertwined, driven, and countered with each other...

The eighteen novels will be like eighteen independent yet vaguely related pictures, outlining a rough outline of the future in his memory, allowing readers to see their present and think about possible futures.

Of course, there won’t be any precise predictions in this book; each one will deviate slightly from “reality.”

This is to avoid becoming a "charlatan" on the one hand, and to "correct" Zhang Chao's future memory on the other hand.

After the initial excitement of every great man-made creation, humans will regret that it still has limitations of one kind or another and brings about one new problem or another.

So in order to break through limitations and solve problems again, humans embarked on the journey of inventing new creations.

This process is both a blessing and a curse, and it repeats endlessly throughout the history of human civilization.

The "future" in Zhang Chao's eighteen works will be more optimistic and more extreme than the "future" in his memory, but it will also bring more and stronger negative feedback.

As for the first article, Zhang Chao has already thought about it, which is...

When Zhang Chao was still immersed in his own storm of thoughts, he was suddenly patted on the shoulder.

"Classmate, classmate, can you help me?" It was the clear voice of a young girl.

Zhang Chao came back to her senses and saw a young girl in a professional suit with a ceremonial ribbon draped over her shoulders standing in front of her, looking at her expectantly.

Seeing Zhang Chao's eyes gradually refocus, the little girl stuffed a few colorful brochures into his arms and said anxiously, "Classmate, can you help me and line up at the sales office of this building in front later?
After you go in, as long as you stay for half an hour, you can use this coupon to go to KFC to get a cup of Coke, a hamburger and a pair of spicy wings, oh, and 50 yuan in labor.

Please please! "

After saying this, before Zhang Chao could agree, he suddenly disappeared from in front of Zhang Chao, and instantly appeared in front of a person behind him and began to repeat what he had just said.

Zhang Chao looked at the flyer in his hand, then raised his head and looked ahead. He saw four brand new high-rise buildings rising from the ground, with four brilliant characters inlaid on the buildings:
"Sunny Buckingham Palace"

Zhang Chao grinned. Isn't this the famous luxury residential building in Fuhai? Why did he need to hire people to queue up?
At this time, the entrance to the community was already covered with red carpets and colorful ribbons, and there were two rows of drum bands in formal attire ready to play. At this time, the line of people at the entrance of the sales office had already reached him.

Zhang Chao didn't like to join in the fun, and was about to turn around and leave, but a pair of big hands stopped him and led him into the line. A middle-aged man who looked like a manager shouted, "Be more natural, don't queue like elementary school students, be more enthusiastic to be authentic. Okay, the reporters are coming!"

Under his command, the team suddenly became "turbulent". Several more people came and squeezed Zhang Chao in the middle, making it impossible for him to get out for a while.

At this time, the drum band started playing music with a "Duang" sound. I don't know which march it was, but it was quite inspiring.

The host at the door also announced loudly: "Real luxury house, real fine decoration", "Villa-level large flat", "Sunshine Buckingham, Fuhai Imperial Palace", officially opened for sale!
Please invite distinguished leaders and guests to cut the ribbon for the opening ceremony! "

Zhang Chao couldn't see what was going on ahead, but he could hear the sounds clearly. As a few salutes were fired, the team began to surge forward, and soon he was squeezed into the sales office.

After entering, I suddenly felt a sense of freshness. The space inside is about 600 to 700 square meters and is magnificently decorated. In the middle there is a huge sand table with a scaled-down version of a real estate project.

What is special is that the buildings on this sand table can be directly opened to see the floor plan, which is quite intuitive.

Like other "ticket friends", Zhang Chao was arranged by the staff to walk around the sand table and pretend to ask the sales lady some property information.

In less than ten minutes, Zhang Chao got the information he wanted:
「阳光白金汉宫」在2007年确实妥妥的大平层豪宅，户型最小180平米，最大370平米，单价在1万3到1万8不等。

The whole house comes with European-style fine decoration and large appliances, so you can basically move in with just your luggage.

You should know that the current average price in Fuhai is less than 5500 yuan, and even in the core urban area such as Gulou, it is only 7000 yuan per square meter.

The reality of Li Chengru's last words in Feng Xiaogang's 2001 Lunar New Year film "Big Shot" is about to come to Fu Hai.

At this time, TV stations also began to enter the sales hall and began to interview "home buyers".

“Hello, audience friends. I am Xiao Yajuan, a reporter from Fuhai TV Station. I am now at the sales site of “Sunshine Buckingham Palace”.

"Sunshine Buckingham Palace" created a new high in the opening price of commercial housing in our city, but it still couldn't stop the enthusiasm of house-hunting customers. This is all due to the excellent quality of "Sunshine Buckingham Palace".

Let’s interview one of the consumers and see what he has to say…”

Zhang Chao did not go forward to join in the fun. He knew that these kinds of interviews were arranged by people and they would not just pull a passerby and start asking questions.

He waited until Xiao Yajuan finished interviewing the two "ordinary house viewers" before coming behind her and said with a smile, "Reporter Xiao, long time no see."

Xiao Yajuan was startled by the familiar voice. She turned around and saw a young man wearing casual clothes, sneakers and light brown glasses. She was overjoyed and was about to shout out, but was stopped by a gesture from the young man.

She could only lower her voice and ask, "You...why are you here?"

Zhang Chao shook the colorful leaflet in his hand and said, "Come here and earn 50 yuan for labor and a KFC meal."

Xiao Yajuan said: "Stop joking..."

Zhang Chao looked at the photographer next to her and said, "Is it convenient for you? I want to ask you something."

Xiao Yajuan was flattered and said, "Yes, yes." Then she said to the photographer beside her, "Go and take a few pictures first, make them richer. This news is more important, and we need to ensure the effect." Nowadays, real estate advertisements are the most important source of advertising revenue for traditional media such as television stations and newspapers, so of course they must be served well.

After the photographer walked away, Zhang Chao and Xiao Yajuan found a corner with fewer people and started chatting.

Zhang Chao asked directly, "Is there any problem with this building?"

Xiao Yajuan was startled again. She looked around quickly and found that no one noticed the two of them. Then she said in shock, "If the people at the sales office heard this and reported it to the government, I would be in big trouble."

Zhang Chao said innocently, "How would I know...just keep your voice down."

Xiao Yajuan looked around again. The sales staff had already followed the photographer and were helping with framing and lighting. She whispered, "This building has bad luck..."

Zhang Chao was very interested and asked, "Why is your fate so bad?"

Xiao Yajuan explained: "The TV station discussed this internally and said that this house is actually of good quality, but too expensive. The cheapest one costs more than 200 million yuan, and the most expensive one costs more than 500 million yuan. Only rich people can afford it.

But after spending millions, why don't people buy a villa? A villa has both land and sky, isn't it more comfortable to live in? And it's fully decorated.

Rich people may not like its decoration! The money spent when buying it includes the decoration cost, and demolishing and rebuilding it is another cost.

Therefore, the pre-sale situation of this project was very poor, and only a few "small-sized units" were sold. This is why they had to hire a "shill" for the launch.

Don’t tell anyone!”

Zhang Chao said "Oh" and made an "OK" gesture to show that he understood.

It turned out that he took too big a step and pulled his balls.

During this period, living in a villa and driving a luxury car were symbols of status, so large flats were definitely not the first choice for wealthy people when purchasing a home.

Not to mention the urban area of ​​Fuhai, even in the mountains of Zhang Chao’s hometown, Changfu County, there are several villa projects on sale or under construction.

Among them, there is also a city-famous "mistress community". It is said that all the buyers buy it to hide their mistresses - but I don't know if that place is so remote and deserted, and not only is it deserted, but it is also very humid. I wonder if the mistresses will grow hair if they hide there for too long.

The most important thing is that it is now generally believed that villas have greater room for appreciation than flats...

A building like "Sunshine Buckingham Palace" is sandwiched between villas and affordable apartments, with no support, which is indeed quite awkward.

Xiao Yajuan asked, "How many days will you stay in Fuhai? Can you arrange an interview?"

Zhang Chao waved his hand and said, "Forget it. I just wanted to have some peace and quiet for a few days, so I wandered around the city. Now, I've been treated as a 'house trustee'."

Xiao Yajuan said with a look of regret: "You finally made the trip back to Fuhai - you were really dragged into this? This is such a coincidence."

Zhang Chao said helplessly: "Do you think the KFC coupons are for white-collar workers?"

At this time, Xiao Yajuan's cell phone rang. She picked it up, listened for a moment, and then put it down. She said to Zhang Chao, "The photographer asked me to go to the second floor to interview the developer's sales manager. I have to go up.

If you are not busy, I will treat you to lunch after I finish the interview."

Zhang Chao did not comment, but just said: "Hurry up and do your work, don't worry about me for now."

Only then did Xiao Yajuan reluctantly leave Zhang Chao and go to meet her photographer.

Zhang Chao was just about to go back to the real estate sand table to take another look when the middle-aged man who had stopped him from joining the line came over again and said to him, "You can leave now. Go to the back door to get the coupons and money."

The TV station has already finished filming the on-site footage, so it’s natural for the “property trustees” to disperse. Otherwise, it would be bad if such a messy scene scared away the few real tenants who were looking to rent the property.

However, Zhang Chao did not follow the crowd to the back door of the sales office. Instead, he came to the sand table and carefully examined the house. He also asked the sales lady, "Which unit here has the best orientation?"

The sales lady was also confused. Looking at the middle-aged man chasing after her, her eyes showed a look of help.

The middle-aged man was also anxious, but he didn't dare to make a big fuss. He whispered to Zhang Chao: "Young man, the houses here are too expensive. If you want to see a house, you can change to another building..."

Zhang Chao asked curiously, "How do you know I can't afford a house here? You are just looking down on me!"

The middle-aged man was angry: "Who are you calling a dog?"

Zhang Chao said carelessly: "You have never heard of this kind of story - an old man with ragged clothes, carrying a snakeskin bag, and looking like a beggar came to the sales hall. All the staff looked down on him and even called the security guard to drive him away. At this time -

A young, kind and righteous salesperson stopped the security guard and patiently said to the old man, "Uncle, what kind of house do you want to see? I'll introduce it to you." The old man said, "I have three sons, all of whom got married in recent years. My daughters-in-law are not used to living in the countryside and want to move to the city, so I came to look at houses."

Do you have a big house here that can accommodate a family of three or four? '"

Zhang Chao told the story in such vivid detail that the middle-aged man and the sales ladies were all stunned. They had no idea what this poor boy in sunglasses was up to.

Zhang Chao continued, "As soon as the old man said this, everyone else laughed out loud, except for the salesperson who didn't laugh. Instead, he introduced the apartment model to the old man seriously.

At the end, he asked very professionally, 'Old man, does your child have housing fund? It can be used for loan, so you only need to pay a down payment, and the financial pressure will be less.'

The others laughed even louder. Even if the down payment was low, how could such a beggar-like old man come up with so much money? Unexpectedly, the old man unzipped the snakeskin bag and dumped the contents onto the floor of the sales office. Guess what it was? "

Zhang Chao stopped here and left the question in suspense.

"Money?" blurted out a sales lady who was listening intently, but was immediately glared at by the middle-aged man and quickly covered her mouth.

Zhang Chao pointed his finger at her and said, "Yes! It's money! It's bundles of RMB, all 100-yuan bills! They are all rolling all over the floor! The beggar-like old man said to the patient young salesperson, 'I don't need a loan, cash is ok? Three sets. If it's not enough, I'll go home and get another bag.'"

"Wow~" A small exclamation was heard at the scene.

The middle-aged man hesitated now and asked, "Who... who are you?"

Zhang Chao said seriously, "Could it be that I can't be like the old man in the story? Are you so sure that I can't afford a house here? If I can't afford it, why would I come back to see it?"

The middle-aged man asked doubtfully, timidly, and cowardly, "Then... can you afford it?"

Zhang Chao smiled brilliantly and said, "Of course... I can't afford it! I'm just teasing you!"

Before the middle-aged man's face turned completely purple, Zhang Chao rushed out of the sales office hall and left with a big laugh.

He did want to buy another house in Fuhai as a "secret base", but there was no need to buy it here, or no need to buy it at this time.

He remembered that among the ribbon-cutting invitations his family received, there was one from "Sunshine Buckingham Palace".

At the same time, he felt that from the narration that had just occurred to him, he seemed to have found a bit of the humorous style that a new work should have.

(End of this chapter)