Chapter 156: Story Sold
It was a misty morning and the air was chilly.
The hemp rope was tied to the pillar, Lin Youcai touched the mule's head, and walked towards the inpatient department. Lin Zisu followed her mother, walked through the small garden of the hospital, and came to the first floor of the first inpatient department.
A group of people tiptoed into the ward. Old Man Shi was sitting beside the bed, guarding Shi Tao, whose face was pale.
Old Man Lin: "Old Shi, you came so early, have you had breakfast?"
Old Man Shi: "Dayong went to buy some and will be back soon. Have you eaten yet?"
Lin Youcai: "We have all eaten, how is Xiao Tao?"
"He cried out of stomachache at midnight, so the doctor induced vomiting in him. After he vomited, the doctor scraped his acupoints. Taoer got much better after that and has been sleeping soundly ever since." Lin Hongmei whispered to everyone.
Lin Youcai: "It's good as long as it gets better."
Shen Xianglan: "This disease comes and goes quickly. Xiao Tao can only be fed light and easily digestible food. He will be fine in 9 or 10 days."
Lin Hongmei nodded, "The doctor also said so. Be careful with your diet. I can only feed you rice water today."
Lin Youcai: "Well, it's right to listen to the doctor. Xiao Tao is much better. You two don't have to stay here. One of you can stay here for half a day, so that he won't be late for school or work."
Old Man Shi: "Yes, you two go to school or work, and I will watch over you."
Shi Yong came back with breakfast and saw the Lin family standing in the corridor, so he quickened his pace and walked over. "Brother, sisters-in-law, you are here. Dad, Mom, have you had breakfast? The steamed buns I just bought are still warm."
Old Man Lin: "We have eaten, you haven't eaten yet, go and eat."
Old Man Shi discussed with his son and daughter-in-law, and finally his son and daughter-in-law went to class, and his daughter-in-law came to look after the child in the afternoon, while he and his son went to work. At night, his son and daughter-in-law stayed in the hospital to look after the child, and he went back to look after the house. His family had a mule cart for easy travel, so he came to see the child early in the morning.
The father and son of the Shi family are carpenters. They have been working in the wood factory since they arrived in Qingshui City. Although they are temporary workers, the wages are quite high. Everything in the family needs money. The child is not a big deal, so one person can take care of him and the others can go to earn money.
The group came for a while and then hurried to school for class.
After three classes, during the break, Lin Zisu was lamenting that there was only one class left before school was over, when she heard someone coming to look for her. They said there were letters from Lin Zisu and Lin Xianwen. The two siblings left the classroom and saw a young man holding two envelopes. The man's clothes and pants were the common style and fabric of China, the only difference was that there was a piece of green cloth sewn on the chest of the clothes, with yellow words embroidered on the cloth: Chinese postman, employee number xxx.
The postman checked the two people's temporary ID cards, asked them to sign and stamp their fingerprints, and then handed the envelope to them.
When the bell rang, the two siblings took the envelopes back to the classroom and finished them, and could only wait to look at them after school.
After finally getting out of school at 12 o'clock, Lin Zisu waited for the teacher to leave the classroom. She picked up her cloth bag and ran out. Lin Xianwen was stunned for a moment, then followed her out with her bag.
Li Yunxi, Shen Xianglan, Lin Youcai, and Tao Mingyuan, the four of them hadn't finished speaking when they saw the two siblings rush out of the classroom.
Lin Xianwen: "Wait for me, you are born in the Year of the Rabbit, you run so fast!"
"Lin Zisu found an empty corner, looked around, and then opened the envelope.
"You act like... a thief... Are you really that...?" Lin Xianwen panted, and couldn't wait to open the envelope, take out the letter inside and read it.
"Oh! I don't want others to know!" Lin Zisu looked at the contents of the letter with a smile on her face. She knew it was a letter from the newspaper. "I waited so hard! I thought it would fall on deaf ears and there would be no hope!"
Lin Xianwen: "My grass is a plant... What did yours write?"
"What's yours?" Lin Zisu leaned over to look at her brother's. "Your story is published in the Qingshui Story Collection!"
"Yes!... The story you wrote was serialized in Qingshui Daily? Oh my... that's great!" Lin Xianwen took the letter from his sister and read it carefully with his eyes wide open.
Lin Zisu: "Let's go! Let's go! After lunch, let's go to the newspaper office!"
Lin Xianwen: "Oh! I made some money! I'm thinking about how to spend the money I earned!"
"Save it! Why spend it? Apart from daily expenses, there is no place to spend the money! Don't forget, we are renting a house now!" Lin Zisu rolled her eyes at him.
"I almost forgot! Buying land and houses requires a lot of money." Lin Xianwen scratched his head, "Oh, yeah! There is no entertainment here except eating and drinking."
Lin Zisu: "The country prohibits all pornography, gambling and drugs. There are no gambling houses, brothels or other places. There are teahouses, and you can go there to drink tea, chat, read newspapers and listen to stories."
Lin Xianwen: "There are also theaters and theatres."
"Why haven't I heard of it?" Lin Zisu looked at him suspiciously.
Lin Xianwen: "I heard from my classmates that dramas and plays were performed in rotation in various provinces. You couldn't watch them whenever you wanted. We lived outside the city and were busy with school and work to earn money, so no one paid attention. He said that the play was the most interesting and very easy to understand because it was performed in vernacular."
Lin Zisu: "If there is a chance, let's go and take a look."
As they were talking, they came to the cafeteria and found their family. Their parents had already bought food for them and placed it on the table.
They had to queue up to buy food and wait for a long time.
Parents didn't ask them, and everyone hurried to eat and go to work.
After lunch, Lin Youcai took the school's donkey cart to go to the village for class. Lin Zisu drove a mule cart to take her mother to work at the pharmacy, and the two siblings went to the newspaper office.
The two men came to the newspaper office for the second time, parked the mule cart, tied up the mule, and went to the submission office with familiarity.
The office door was open and the people inside were busy at their desks.
Lin Zisu knocked gently on the office door. Ye Shuhao, the staff member who received them last time, looked up and saw them. He smiled and asked, "Are you done with school?"
Lin Xianwen: "Yes, we came here as soon as we received the letter."
"The editor-in-chief read the story you two wrote when he came back. We all read it and it's very good. Can you come over and take a look at the royalties?" Ye Shuhao handed over two forms, one for each person.
The two siblings read the content carefully and thought it was okay.
Ye Shuhao smiled and said, "The royalties are clearly stipulated in written regulations and are not given randomly." He pointed to two large sheets of paper with detailed royalties information posted on the wall.
The two siblings looked at the wall and took a quick look. They found nothing wrong. They trusted the official newspaper. The price was good, and they had no other place to submit their articles except Qingshui Newspaper!
The two of them read the contract carefully again, signed it and put their fingerprints on it, and each party got a copy of the same contract.
The two took the bank check given by Ye Shuhao and went to People's Bank to withdraw the money. When they came out of People's Bank with the money, they looked at the plastic money in the sun and felt like they were dreaming!