Ficool

Chapter 11 - Fashionable beauty

If we talk about the Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies School of the old era, their works, while inevitably involving the love-hate entanglements between talented scholars and beautiful ladies, also incorporated the grand background of national rise and fall and changes of the Times.

These major themes, to varying degrees, influenced and changed those talented scholars and beautiful ladies who only knew how to talk about love and were oblivious to the outside world.

It was a story of love, hate, and grievances in a turbulent era.

For example, Teacher Zhang Henshui's "the story of a noble family" is set in Beiping during a certain Beiyang period of the Republic of China.

Although a large part of it depicts the two frivolous "sons" of a fictional prime minister, it also uses the family as a stage to expose the decadent parasitic life of the wealthy, revealing the inequality of life, and the contrast between warmth and coldness.

It can be said that it was the intersection of the old and new eras, on the brink of the transition between old and new contradictions.

It had the unavoidable bad custom of arranged marriages in traditional families, yet also yearned for the free love advocated by this special era, ultimately giving a most sorrowful cry from within this era.

Therefore, the Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies School of that era could still be considered literary works.

In contrast, the current "New" Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies School merely transformed the talented scholars and beautiful ladies of the old era into rich young masters and humble maidens, making it more aligned with the modern urban context and closer to young men and women's fantasies about love, the opposite sex, and sex.

It almost completely detached from social reality, indulging in the infatuation and confusion of love, forming a love-hate relationship far removed from reality.

It can be said that the early "New Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies School" was even more brainless than modern domineering CEO novels or warm-guy novels.

However, these were just some blemishes during the initial reform period.

During the development of the New Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies School, many good literary works still emerged, the most representative examples being Ms. Eileen Chang's "Rolling Red Dust" and Ms. Qiong Yao's "Plum Blossom Scar."

These are all considered relatively mature literary works of the New Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies School.

When Xi Mei Xi Mei Huo Tingting asked Huo Yaowen to write such a romantic novel about love, separation, and intertwined emotions, to be honest, it's not that he couldn't write it; in fact, he might even write it better than current romance novels.

After all, Huo Yaowen had, at the very least, experienced the baptism of various novels, TV dramas, and movies about love, hate, and entanglements between men and women on the internet in later generations.

Some real, poignant, and full of pathos love stories with modern urban labels could easily stir ripples in the hearts of those innocent, naive young girls in the prime of their youth.

Such realistic love stories, which make young girls cry profusely and desperately want to keep reading, are definitely more attractive than those current love-hate stories detached from reality!

...

The next day, in the early morning, Huo Yaowen yawned and got up early, rolled up the bamboo mat on the floor, and rubbed his slightly stiff waist, sighing that youth was truly wonderful; after sleeping all night, his waist was only slightly stiff.

When Huo Yaowen went out to wash up, he saw Mother Huo and Grandma lighting a fire on the outdoor stove to cook breakfast.

Grandma smiled at her favorite good boy and said, "My good boy, you're up so early. Why don't you sleep a little longer? Grandma will call you when it's time to eat."

"No, Grandma, I can't sleep now even if I wanted to.

I still need to go to school later to arrange my on-campus accommodation," Huo Yaowen said with a smile.

There's no entertainment at night now, so he goes to bed early.

If he doesn't get up early in the morning, he'll truly become a lazy pig.

Upon hearing that her good boy was going to school to arrange accommodation, Grandma's face lit up with joy and she said, "Since you're going to school, go wash up early.

When your Mother finishes breakfast, eat first, and then go to school.

Don't be late and give people something to talk about."

"I know, Grandma."

Huo Yaowen hummed in response, then carried his basin, towel, toothpaste, toothbrush, and other items to the public toilet's sink to wash up.

The Uk Tsuen was very lively in the morning.

Except for the children who were on holiday and resting at home, most men, women, old and young, would get up very early.

Some went to work, others went out to find jobs, and even housewives would get up very early to clean the house and cook breakfast.

Ten minutes later, Huo Yaowen rushed out from the public toilet's sink, holding a still-wet towel, looking a bit disheveled.

There was nothing he could do; there were simply too many people washing up inside, almost all the men on an entire floor were there.

Perhaps only Father Huo, who ran the bookstore, was still sound asleep, after all, the bookstore wasn't very busy in the morning.

When he returned home, Huo Yaowen simply ate some breakfast prepared by Mother Huo and Grandma, changed into a clean and specially ironed white shirt and black trousers, picked up the gold-rimmed glasses from the table, and then, facing the mirror, smoothed some hair gel into his hair.

After tidying up his personal appearance, Huo Yaowen secretly stopped Mother Huo, who was about to go out to wash clothes.

Mother Huo asked curiously, "What's wrong, Ah Wen?"

Huo Yaowen looked embarrassed and said, "Mother, that..."

...

One hour later, inside the Faculty of Arts at Hong Kong University.

Before coming, Huo Yaowen bought some fruit and a pack of the most expensive Marlboro cigarettes currently on the market.

After secretly giving them to Director Huang, he received the key to a single room in the faculty dormitory building, much to the other party's satisfaction.

As he walked out of the director's office, Huo Yaowen held the key in his hand and sighed helplessly, the days without money were truly unpleasant.

The fruit and cigarettes he had just given to Director Huang were all bought with money he took from Mother Huo, which made Huo Yaowen, who was almost forty in psychological age, feel quite embarrassed.

However, Huo Yaowen truly had no money at the moment.

On one hand, Oriental Daily News hadn't yet notified him about the manuscript, and as for the manuscript fee, he didn't know if it would be paid in advance or after publication.

There was nothing he could do; he could only blush and awkwardly ask Mother Huo for money.

Fortunately, Huo Yaowen had only just graduated from university, so he was considered a fresh graduate.

Asking his parents for a little money to run errands, as long as it wasn't spent on lavish eating and drinking, wasn't really a shameful thing.

Huo Yaowen easily found his way to the Hong Kong University dormitory area.

As soon as he arrived, he saw dense crowds of people not far away, presumably the new students of this year.

Looking at their naive faces, full of anticipation for university life, Huo Yaowen felt a surge of emotion.

As he was thinking, a young, fashionably dressed lady walked towards him.

She smiled and said, "Hi, handsome, do you know the way to the Faculty of Arts' female dormitory building?"

Huo Yaowen subconsciously pointed the way and said, "Oh, go through this building in front of you, walk a little to the right, and the one with 'No. 3' written on its outer wall is the Faculty of Arts' female dormitory building."

The fashionable young lady smiled and thanked him, saying, "Thank you, handsome.

My name is Zhang Yingying.

May I ask what your name is, handsome, and which department you're from?"

Hearing her introduce herself and ask for his name, Huo Yaowen smiled inwardly.

He understood that this young lady in front of him was trying to strike up a conversation, not just asking for directions.

Being approached by a pretty, unfamiliar young woman for the first time made Huo Yaowen feel delighted, but on his face, he maintained a faint smile and said, "My name is Huo Yaowen, and I should be from the Department of Chinese Language."

When Huo Yaowen was in university, he majored in the Department of Chinese Language and minored in Philosophy Class.

Because Huo Yaowen himself loved philosophy, in addition to regular classes, he particularly enjoyed delving into philosophy, which was not a very important elective course.

Only then did he receive Teacher Zhang's recommendation for teaching qualifications, and coupled with Huo Yaowen's own strong credentials, he was able to successfully get the job as a philosophy teacher right after graduation.

Of course, if the word "temporary" could be removed, that would be best; not only would his salary increase, but his benefits would also improve significantly.

Not hearing the "should" in Huo Yaowen's words, Zhang Yingying's eyes lit up, and she said with a smile, "Department of Chinese Language, oh, I'm also studying in the Department of Chinese Language."

"Really?!" Huo Yaowen feigned delight.

Seeing Huo Yaowen's joyful expression, Zhang Yingying thought he was interested in her, and a triumphant smile crossed her lips.

She quickly said, "Hmm, by the way, I wonder if you're a senior or in the same year as me?"

"A senior, I suppose."

He had graduated from the Department of Chinese Language, so even if he became a teacher, he should still be considered a senior, Huo Yaowen thought to himself.

Zhang Yingying said, "You're a senior, that's great!

I'm not very familiar with the school.

I wonder if Senior Huo can show me around the school?

There are many places I don't know, and I almost got lost just now."

Huo Yaowen first glanced at the dormitory key in his hand, then at the beautiful face of his junior.

He silently put the key back into his pants pocket and, with a spring-like smile, said, "Of course."

...

Guizhou Street, Kowloon, inside Oriental Daily News.

Ma Rulong spent a day, throwing money to poach a capable deputy Chief Editor from Ta Kung Pao.

Then he handed over Huo Yaowen's previous manuscript, "ghost blows out the light – Tomb Robber's Notes," for the new Chief Editor to read.

The deputy Chief Editor finished reading the manuscript, pondered silently for a few seconds, then said calmly, "Boss Ma, do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

Ma Rulong curled his lips, "Of course, the truth!"

The deputy Chief Editor said, "The truth is, the writing in this novel is good, but the plot is a bit drawn out.

The first thirty thousand words are all about supernatural things, completely unrelated to its title, 'Tomb Robber.'"

Ma Rulong frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "I've read this manuscript too; it doesn't seem as bad as you're making it out to be."

"No, in the opening, the male protagonist Chen Dadan is speaking in the first person, discussing a royal tomb with a passing fortune teller.

Although a tomb is mentioned, there's no actual tomb raiding; instead, it keeps talking about mountain ghosts and monsters."

After hearing the deputy Chief Editor's words, Ma Rulong laughed heartily and said, "That Chen Dadan isn't the male protagonist."

"Chen Dadan isn't the male protagonist?" The deputy Chief Editor was stunned, asking in surprise, "Could it be that blind fortune teller?"

"It's not him either," Ma Rulong said with a smile.

"The author of this manuscript discussed it with me earlier and said that the beginning only explains the background story, which might be a bit dry, but when he talked about the later content, it was truly fascinating."

After saying that, Ma Rulong recounted the four major schools of tomb raiding that Huo Yaowen had explained, and how the male protagonist Hero Huo used various geomancy and geological exploration techniques to find tombs hidden deep within vast mountains.

He also talked about encountering mummies after entering the tombs.

Although his explanation wasn't very fluent, he managed to convey the general captivating process of the tomb raiding theme.

After listening, the deputy Chief Editor was full of curiosity.

Books on this subject had almost never been written before, especially that thing called the Luoyang shovel.

Hearing Ma Rulong describe it so earnestly, he couldn't help but wonder to himself, could it be that in the old era, there really was such a special shovel specifically used for tomb raiding?

"Boss Ma, how about this, do you think you could invite the author of this manuscript to the newspaper office?

Let me communicate with him in person."

"No problem."

More Chapters