Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 585 Review of the Manuscript
After receiving the goods, Chen Fan went straight to Ba Lao's office.

Upon seeing Chen Fan, Ba Jin, who was working in his office, was quite surprised. "Oh my, what brings you here again today?"

Based on past patterns, after being fleeced, this guy would disappear for at least three days, and the most outrageous thing was that he ran away on the second day, which was not magnanimous at all.

Have you become more generous now?
When asking for help, one should have the right attitude, and Chen Fan has always been very self-aware in this regard.

As if he wasn't the one who signed and presented the book yesterday, he sat calmly opposite Mr. Ba, smiled slightly with his eyes narrowed, and said, "There's something I'd like to ask you for help with."

Ba Jin picked up his teacup, took a sip, and looked at him, saying, "Install a telephone? I saw Xiao Zhang contact you yesterday, didn't it work out?"

Chen Fan: "No. Everything has been taken care of. I was talking about something else today..."

Then he was interrupted by Mr. Ba, who took a pen and notebook and said, "What's your home phone number? It'll be much easier to contact you next time."

Chen Fan, “...737775.”

Phone numbers in Shanghai are now 6 digits long. The first digit represents the telephone exchange, the next two digits represent the area code, and the last three digits are the phone number. He chose 775 himself, and it's not bad.

Anyway, every time Lili asks for his phone number, he fulfills her wish. Now Lili doesn't give him her phone number anymore; she just writes it down on a piece of paper and carries it with her, showing it to anyone who asks.

Mr. Ba wrote it down, then asked, "If it's not installing a telephone, then what is it?"

Chen Fan coughed lightly, "It's like this, I have a batch of fragile goods that I want to send to the capital. I'm worried about them overturning on land or being jostled and bumpy on water, so I'd like to use the railway. Do you have any information about this route?"

"Fragile items?"

Mr. Ba asked with some curiosity, "What kind of fragile goods need to be shipped from here to Beijing by rail? Is the quantity large?"

Chen Fan chuckled dryly, "It's not a large quantity, so I don't need your help. I can just pad it with more cotton, take it to the post office, and mail it. Hmm... actually, it's not that big, maybe about the size of a four-door wardrobe."

1200 pieces of porcelain, counted in sets, a little more than 5 sets, but not enough for 6 sets.

The extra can be used as a backup or for other purposes.

Chen Fan was planning to send all five sets directly... What? His uncle has one more set?
He's not here, let's talk about it when he gets back.

If he were to set up an office in Beijing and get a courtyard house, wouldn't he be able to avoid taking it to the United States?

Even if you want to bring it, you can just pick out a 56-piece set of tableware from the individual items.

To be honest, Chen Fan really couldn't bear to send this kind of thing out of the country. If he could keep it in the country, he would try his best to keep it. Anyway, his uncle didn't say that he had to send it over. He just told him to receive the goods and handle them, so he would keep it and not send it.

Aside from keeping some loose pieces here, Chen Fan wanted to send the complete sets of porcelain to the capital.

The houses in Beijing are large, and they even have huge basements, which can easily accommodate all these things.

Most importantly, with Master Zhang and the others watching over them, these porcelain pieces will be as secure as a kingdom, and no one can take them away.

If you can take it, you don't need to ask them for it back; if you want it, you have no right to try to take it from them. It's that simple.

However, transporting these porcelain pieces was a troublesome matter, so he had no choice but to come to Master Ba to see if he knew any connections in this area.

Actually, he could send it himself, but he's just not comfortable with it. Anyway, it's not against the rules, the procedures are normal, and the shipping costs are paid. He just needs a trustworthy person to arrange it. And Mr. Ba has a wide network of connections. Back in the day, when the literary world was arguing and taking sides, he was the only one who made friends with all sides. You can't go wrong by asking him.

"That's not much."

Old Ba looked at him and said, "It's a whole wardrobe full of stuff, why don't you just wrap it up in a few more layers? If you're talking about it turning into a disaster, what are the chances of that happening?"

Chen Fan shook his head repeatedly, "I'm not afraid of the impossible, but I want absolute certainty."

Old Ba raised an eyebrow and looked at him with a smile, "Confess and you'll be treated leniently, but what exactly is that?"

Chen Fan coughed twice, "Uh... it's just a batch of porcelain."

Ba Jin frowned slightly. "Antiques?"

Chen Fan shook his head, "I guarantee it's not. It was only made two years ago."

Old Ba looked at him with a puzzled expression. "It was only built a couple of years ago, why are you making such a big fuss about it?"

You want everything to be absolutely perfect? ​​Do you think this is imperial porcelain?
and many more!

Old Ba's eyes widened instantly, staring intently at him. "Tell me honestly, what kind of porcelain is it?"

Chen Fan chuckled, "Actually, this batch of porcelain isn't mine. My uncle bought it from a porcelain factory in Jingdezhen. He went back to the US early, so he left it to me to handle. I was thinking of shipping it to Beijing; the houses there are bigger, which would be better for storage..."

Old Ba, too lazy to listen to his nonsense, squinted and said, "Is it 7501 porcelain?"

Chen Fan's face froze instantly. "You could even guess that?"

"Hmph... Hehe... Hahahaha..."

Old Ba laughed heartily, "Is that really true?"

He immediately stood up and said in a friendly tone, "This kind of porcelain does indeed require careful handling. Um, rail transport, right? No problem, I'll help you make the arrangements and guarantee everything will go smoothly. What kind of transport do you want?"

Chen Fan blinked. "How about tomorrow?"

When the ceramics factory delivered the goods, there were 6 packages. 5 of them were complete sets, and the remaining hundred or so loose items were packaged separately. He had already unpacked the loose items, but the rest were still sealed and ready to be taken away at any time.

Without saying a word, Ba picked up the phone and dialed.

She hung up the phone a moment later, smiled slightly at Chen Fan, and said, "A car will come to pick you up at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Just wait at home."

After saying that, he rubbed his hands together and smiled at Chen Fan, "Little Chen, what do you think of me?"

Chen Fan blinked. "Uh, just say what you want to say. I'm scared."

Old Ba's face darkened. "I'm not a bandit, what's there to be afraid of?"

He coughed lightly and chuckled, “Well, I’ve heard a lot about 7501 porcelain, but unfortunately it’s not for sale. You can’t buy it even if you want to. Since you have some here, could you talk to your uncle and ask him to transfer a few pieces to me? I can pay you with the US dollars I’ve recovered from my royalties.”

Chen Fan blinked rapidly, then asked hesitantly, "How many...do you want?"

Mr. Ba immediately said, "Not much, just two teacups and two rice bowls. As for the rest, it would be best if you could spare a few pieces, but if not, that's fine too."

Chen Fan breathed a sigh of relief. After all that effort, this was all?

He immediately patted his chest and said, "No problem, and don't mention transferring it. I'll send it over to you tomorrow."

He wouldn't be willing to give more, but he could give a few cups, a few bowls and plates, and even a set of wine utensils.

After all, he'd taken advantage of others quite a bit, so it was a tit-for-tat arrangement. But it seems like he's the only one who dares to play this game with Buffett, and Buffett has never taken advantage of anyone else, since this kid got that pen and somehow got a little addicted to it.

After a two-second pause, he whispered, "However, Mr. Ba, you have to keep this a secret. I'm afraid someone will come looking for me."

Mr. Ba readily agreed, "No problem. If anyone sees it, I'll just say it was a gift from a reader. Anyway, no one will investigate."

He learned this technique from Chen Fan.

In this way, both parties reached a cooperative agreement.

……

The next morning at 9 a.m., as expected, someone drove up to pick up the goods. Chen Fan carefully checked the work ID and confirmed that it was indeed someone from the railway bureau. So, as soon as the batch of porcelain arrived in Shanghai, it was sent to Beijing.

By this time, Zhou Zhengdong had already returned to his home in New York, having completely forgotten about the porcelain matter and focusing solely on finding the people developing the Chinese character card. Zhou Yali also immediately bought three Apple II computers and shipped them out.

As instructed by Chen Fan, one unit was sent to the provincial capital of Jiangnan, where he would receive it directly, while the other two units were sent to Shanghai, to be signed for by Jiang Lili.

Currently, mail between the US and China still needs to be transited through Hong Kong; there is no direct mail service. This is partly due to the lack of direct flights and partly because there is no agreement between the two countries regarding mail service.

Mail exchanged between residents of both countries is conducted in Hong Kong.

As for delivery time, if it's by sea, it could take up to a month; if it's by air, it can arrive in as little as 8 days.

Zhou Yali is not short of money, so she naturally sent it by airmail.

It was already June 7th, which meant that Chen Fan would receive the computer from Zhou Yali as early as June 15th, thus beginning his computer-based writing career.

It's heartbreaking to think about; typing must be so painful.

……

Watching the small truck leave, Chen Fan closed the courtyard gate, turned around and looked at Jiang Tiantian and Jiang Lili, "Aren't you going to school yet?"

Jiang Tiantian looked at him and said, "Using something and then throwing it away, isn't that considered crossing the river and burning the bridge?"

She's been helping out a lot these past two days, cleaning and arranging the scattered porcelain pieces. She didn't go to school today because she was staying to keep an eye on things, but she was still being disliked.

Jiang Lili suppressed a laugh, "It's not the first time he's done this. At most, like yesterday, I'll make him cook a big meal."

Jiang Tiantian rolled her eyes at her younger sister, "You're just going to protect him."

However, I'm already really looking forward to the big dinner tonight. Although my sister's cooking skills are getting better and better, she's still far behind Xiao Fan. I really don't know how a boy like him managed to improve.

He then slung his backpack over his shoulder, waved to the two of them, pushed his bicycle out the door, and took Ba Liang to school.

Once she was sure her sister had gone far away, Jiang Lili turned around, took small steps to Chen Fan, gently hugged him, buried her head in his chest, and murmured, "Are you leaving?"

Chen Fan hugged her, resting his chin on her head, and laughed, "Summer vacation is less than a month away, I'll come see you then."

Jiang Lili pouted, "You absolutely have to come. My teacher told me that my learning progress is much faster than my classmates, and my foundation is also more solid than theirs, so she decided to take me into the lab during the summer vacation."

She looked up as she spoke, a hint of conflict in her eyes. "This is a rare opportunity. Usually, only senior students or graduate students are eligible. The teacher has put in a lot of effort to get this recommendation."

But if I go into the lab, I'll have much less free time, and I won't be able to go home for summer vacation anymore..."

She sighed almost imperceptibly, then pressed her face against his chest again, and remained silent.

Chen Fan tightened his arms around Chen Fan and laughed, "If love between two people is meant to last, why should they be together every day and night?"

Jiang Lili's lips curled up slightly, and she couldn't help but hug him even tighter.

The weather was already hot, and the two of them hugging and cuddling made it even hotter. Before long, Chen Fan's temper flared up, and he picked her up and carried her upstairs.

By the way, it seems that Jiang Tiantian will also be joining the student union next year and will continue her internship at the Writers' Association.

These two sisters are both incredibly busy.

It makes it seem like I have a lot of free time.

……

"Oh my god, I shouldn't have flown back. It would have been so much better to take a boat. Four days and four nights, so easy."

Chen Fan sat down in front of He Qingsheng, looking at the manuscript that was almost a foot thick. "Do I have this many articles?"

After staying in Shanghai for two days and confirming with Master Zhang by phone that all five sets of porcelain had safely arrived at his home by Houhai Lake, he bought a plane ticket to return to the provincial capital.

Of course, the blissful moments between the two of them these past two days are not something to be discussed with outsiders.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he returned to the Writers Association to report, He Qingsheng handed him a thick stack of manuscript paper.

These are none other than his own works, only translated into Japanese.

He Qingsheng leaned back in his chair, slowly smoking, and snorted irritably, saying, "Don't you have any idea how much you wrote?"

He pointed to the manuscripts as he spoke, “These are only a third of your work. They look thick because they’re all manuscript paper. If they were printed, they would only fill two magazines, which is far less than the entire assignment.”

He flicked off the ash from his cigarette, leaned forward, and rested his arms on the desk, saying to Chen Fan, "This time, the Department of Culture mobilized all the experts in the province who understand Japanese translation, and asked several translators who had studied in Japan to review the manuscript to ensure it was as accurate as possible before handing it over to you for final verification."

Chen Fan placed one hand on the manuscript paper and said seriously, "Actually, there's no need. Just send it directly to Takahashi. Why make me review it?"

He Qingsheng rolled his eyes. "I knew you wanted to slack off. It's all because of that little notebook. They said you know Japanese, and if someone else is translating, it's best to have you proofread it one last time to ensure it's as authentic as possible."

Otherwise, why would we bother waiting for you to come back and check?

Chen Fan curled his lip, "That's really unnecessary. Anyway, they don't know whether I reviewed it or not. I'll just say I reviewed it. How could they possibly know the truth?"

He didn't really pay much attention to these manuscripts.

In general, as long as the translated text is 70-80% accurate, that's about right. And the sales of the booklets won't differ much between a 70% and a 100% quality.

To reiterate, the potential readership is there, so the sales of this kind of serious literature won't be exceptionally good or exceptionally bad.

As long as Takahashi doesn't lose money, and ideally he can even make a little profit, that would be about right.

The real money is yet to come.

Nevertheless, Chen Fan picked up a stack of manuscripts and skimmed through them.

He looked at it very quickly, and moved on after a while.

And these manuscripts, as he expected, were indeed quite similar.

It's not that translators are necessarily very skilled, nor does living in a small country guarantee that one can grasp the essence of translation.

To be honest, the manuscripts translated by these translators still retain some of the writing style of China.

To put it bluntly, it's about "singing high-sounding tunes".

Besides this problem, there is another drawback, which is that it is "outdated".

The literary style of any country changes with its social environment, and notebooks are no exception.

Not to mention that the period from the 50s to the 80s was the time of the most rapid social change in Japan, and the style of literary works during this period also changed significantly.

It started out relatively serious in the 50s, but became more and more relaxed as time went on.

Especially with the rise of comics, some literary works have also been influenced, and the writing style has become increasingly lighthearted.

By the time the new century arrived, almost all notebooks had been "cartoonized," and there was nothing that couldn't be transformed from top to bottom and across all industries.

While we are far from reaching that point, our writing style is also far from being as serious as that of domestic writing.

Unfortunately, our translators still retain the writing style from more than a decade ago, which makes them seem somewhat outdated.

Chen Fan flipped through the manuscript, weighing the protracted task against laziness, and finally sighed softly, "Then I'll revise it."

(End of this chapter)