Chapter 473 What is your future?

Chapter 473 What is your future?
First, let’s rule out Sweden because China and Sweden have a very serious dispute over this year’s 5G project.

If we extend the historical timeline, the five Nordic countries have all jumped around, and with the change of leadership, the policies have changed, and they have all had periods of conflict with China, including Norway, which currently has a good relationship with China.

But! Looking at the present, many countries can cooperate.

2020 marks the th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Finland. More importantly, China and Finland need each other in trade. Currently, they are discussing the opening of a train from Luzhou to Helsinki. Therefore, it has become an alternative after consultation between think tanks and diplomatic units.

In addition, China and Norway are both doing well this year, and the two countries are making their choices.

Moreover, there are also options in Eastern Europe, and the relationship with countries such as Croatia has always been good. Experts and leaders have their own opinions. Anyway, there is something to do in the two days.

The experts from think tanks and diplomatic departments had simpler things to consider, requiring only seven meetings over two days, but Gu Lu had to think more, like what to wear when going out in the afternoon.

Gu Lu's clothes usually cost several hundred yuan, which is considered middle-class consumption level, but it is definitely not enough to meet his earning ability.

It's not that he is an ascetic, his requirement for clothing is comfort, and he really won't pay a premium for brands. Of course, this does not prevent him from earning royalties for luxury goods.

Around three o'clock, Gu Lu went out early and met at Yintai in88 in Wangfujing.

King Gulu was thinking, what identity should he use to meet his parents? He was not as casual as usual. In the past, when he encountered such a situation, it was always the super-strong girl who broke the ice.

Zhou Lin is wearing a black coat and beige wide-leg pants today. She is always neat and pretty. As the saying goes, girls change a lot when they grow up, so how come this girl is so beautiful since she was young?
"This mall is small, but it has brands like Tiffany, Prada, and Burberry," Zhou Lin said. "Sooner or later, I will earn enough money to buy whatever I want."

"Interested in these?"

"Hahaha, I've also been a little brainwashed by consumerism, and I'm a little interested." Zhou Lin gestured a little, "I've washed it a little, but not completely. I care more about whether I can afford it. Maybe when I can afford it, I won't want it anymore."

Yes, this is very Zhou Lin.

"Are you nervous?" Zhou Lin suddenly asked.

"A little... How is that possible? You've known me for so long, when have you ever seen me nervous?" It was a close call. He almost said what was in his heart. Gu Lu said it seriously.

"Look down." Zhou Lin said.

Gu Lu followed the other person's gaze and looked down. Apart from the scattered orange peels, there was nothing else on the table.

"Let's go, it's too late." Zhou Lin didn't continue speaking. When Guru was nervous, his standing and sitting posture would be a little inward-turned.

Following Zhou Lin, the destination is Fuchunju on the third floor of The PuXuan Hotel in Wangfujing.

The restaurant chosen by Zhou's father was of decent quality, with an average cost of around 500 to 600 yuan per person.

There were five people in total today, including Zhou's father, a successful man who looked like a successful man, and Jin Qian, the stepmother of the girl with super strength, who looked to be about 35 years old and wore a long black skirt. There was also a teenage brat, probably Zhou Lin's half-brother Zhou Bo.

Gu Lu was no longer nervous. Why? Because if he hadn't come, the girl with super strength would have come to the banquet alone today. I don't know how much pressure she would have to bear.

"Why didn't you tell me that you brought your friends here?" Zhou's father opened the door of the box and took the initiative to speak, taking the lead in the situation.

"Hello uncle, I'm Gu Lu, we are classmates." Gu Lu said.

Father Zhou nodded and said, "She is also a handsome man. Xiaolin has never been sensible since she was a child, and she has a bad temper. I'll trouble you to take care of her."

Zhou Lin didn't say anything about this. She was used to such words. It is indeed a life skill to belittle yourself so that you are not targeted in society.

But if you say this every time in front of others, you are completely suppressing your child's self-confidence.

"She is much better than me. Everyone in our school, including our friends and professors, says that Zhou Lin is our role model."

"Haha, your professor is really good at encouraging students." Zhou's father smiled and didn't take the classmates' comments to heart, thinking that they were just a group of kids who had not yet entered society.

As for his daughter's friend, she looks very literary and might be a nerd, Zhou's father thought.

"Xiao Lin, this is your Aunt Zhang, and this is your brother Zhou Wei." Father Zhou introduced them. "Why don't you call them? This isn't the first time we've met."

"I've seen it several times in Mauritius, but this is my first time in the country," said Zhou Lin.

Jin Qian's face changed. She understood that the other party was saying that he had never seen her in China.

"Eat some vegetables, your brother is hungry too." Zhou's father said directly.

The relationship was indeed very bad, but Gu Lu clearly felt that the girl with super strength still had some unrealistic thoughts in her heart. For example, now, when his father and mother called him during the New Year or other festivals, he would always ignore them.

Eating still depends on who you are eating with. There was a table full of drunken prawns in Huadiao wine, Cantonese brown sugar pork belly and barbecued pork, small blue dragon with black bean and garlic, cabbage hearts stewed in clear soup with fresh matsutake, etc. All the fish and meat were good dishes, but he didn't want to pick up his chopsticks. Yesterday's hot pot was not as attractive to him.

Therefore, the first half of the dinner was very boring.

The main thing is that Zhou Bo never put down his phone. He was looking at it while eating. His mother Jin Qian said something, but he didn't listen at all.

Pa! Zhou's father slapped the chopsticks on the table, making a very crisp sound, and Zhou Bo immediately put his phone in his pocket.

"You just look at your phone all day long. Your grades are so poor, and you don't even bother to learn from your sister."

The only voice heard in the private room was a man's voice criticizing and educating people.

"You too, spoiling your child. If you weren't reluctant to hit or scold him, would things have turned out like this?" Zhou's father's anger extended to Jin Qian.

It's really suffocating. Gu Lu thought about it, living in such a family since childhood, the girl with super strength can still maintain such a strong spiritual core, so it can only be supported by another relative.

Is it grandma and mother? Gu Lu thought to himself.

Only now did Gu Lu understand why Zhou Lin was so sad when her grandmother passed away in high school.

"After graduation, have you arranged your future career path?" Zhou's father asked, "Even if you can graduate from Peking University, it's not easy to develop in China now."

"It's okay." Zhou Lin said.

"What else can you do? Come to work in my company." Zhou's father said, "At least someone will take care of you. Let's do it while we can still do it."

A company in Mauritius? How big can your company be? Gu Lu raised his head silently.

"I have my own arrangements in the country," Zhou Lin said.

"What can we achieve in China?" Zhou's father frowned, "Xiao Gu, please persuade Xiao Lin. You young people don't have a clear idea about your future."

This person... Gu Lu smelled the familiar scent of "feudal patriarch".

"In fact, there are a lot of opportunities in China," said Gu Lu. His domestic company also has annual revenue of nine figures (it has not been lower than nine figures since 2018).

"A degree from Peking University is indeed valuable, but it is not everything." Zhou's father spoke with an experienced tone, "Xiao Gu, what are your future career plans?"

Get out of the way, I'm going to show off. Before Gu Lu spoke, he glanced at Zhou Lin next to him, and the latter spoke first.

“I have my own agenda,” she said.

"What arrangements can you make..." Zhou Lin interrupted Zhou's father, "You haven't made any plans for junior high school, high school, or college. Have you made any plans now?"

Being thought about and thought about, Zhou's father was furious. "Did going to college teach you to talk back?"

"Okay, let's not talk about this while eating. Linlin just wants you to spend more time with her." Stepmother Jin Qian tried to smooth things over.

"Linlin, please think about it. If you come to Mauritius, our family will have someone to take care of us." Jin Qian said to Zhou Lin again.

Because of an incident, the atmosphere in the second half of the banquet was dull.

After eating, Zhou Lin left without saying goodbye.

Gu Zhou and others walked side by side.

People came and went on the street, but it didn't interfere with them at all.

"Gurgle." Zhou Lin suddenly shouted.

Here it comes! Gu Lu was ready. He nodded and motioned for the other party to continue.

"First of all, no matter how you answer, I will not go to Mauritius, because I have my career, my friends, and the things and places I am used to in China." Zhou Lin said, "But I still want to know, do you want me to go to Mauritius?"

Then he took two more steps forward.

"Of course I don't want to. If you go to Mauritius, then I won't be able to see you every day." Gu Lu said this while trying hard to control his expression.

"..." Zhou Lin didn't expect the other party to answer like this and was stunned.

The people coming and going on the street suddenly disappeared.

The movement on the Internet has not disappeared.

"The Borrower" has been on sale for half a month and has sold more than 1.3 million copies. The Japanese version is also on sale in Japan and the sales are pretty good, but the specific data has not been reported yet.

The New Fairy Tales series has sold 33 copies, making it the best-selling fairy tale series in the st century.

"It's a sales miracle drug!" Du Muyao exclaimed after receiving the data.

While sighing, he received a call from his good friend Qiao Qiao.

"Si Tu, the six of us would like to invite Teacher Gu Lu to dinner. Can you help contact him?" Qiao Manshui said.

"A dinner?" Du Muyao asked, "Did the six of you discuss this?"

As the deputy editor-in-chief of Yangtze River Children's Publishing House, Du Muyao knew a lot and naturally knew that everyone wanted to step on Gu Lu to get to the top.

Friend Qiao Manshui's remarks were relatively tactful, but the five family members and others were basically taunting him.

"Do the five families also agree?" Du Muyao asked. This person was the one who spoke the most outrageously.

"He was the most enthusiastic. He said that we were very successful. With Teacher Gu Lu here, our sales increased by at least 200,000 copies." Qiao Manshui said unconvincedly, "It's not that exaggerated. I think it increased by 180,000 copies at most."

He is a great man. No wonder the five families can make a name for themselves in China. Du Muyao responded, "I don't think I have time to treat you to a meal. The signing event of Shoutu was very successful. Our publishing house has submitted an activity schedule to the Writers Association and CTV13."

Du Muyao asked: "Do you know what the Writers Association said?"

Qiao Manshui on the other end of the phone shook his head, "I don't know."

"The Writers Association said that Mr. Gu Lu has a national mission, so it would be great if he could attend a book signing event." Du Muyao said, "Do you understand?"

"It's a national mission, what's the point of bragging..." Qiao Manshui paused before he finished speaking.

Other writers are bragging when they say this, but Gu Lu...he is a national player.
"Okay," Qiao Manshui nodded, and then asked, "What about future activities?"

"All future activities of the new fairy tale series will be promoted by six people," Du Muyao said, "and we have to hurry up. The editor-in-chief told me that there will be an offline phenomenal work next month."

A phenomenal work? Qiao Manshui doesn't believe it. Who else's work can be a phenomenal one? Mo Yan published a new book?

But now that it was said like that, Qiao Manshui also felt a sense of urgency.

This is what it means. When one's social status reaches a certain level, one cannot participate in many things. For example, as a writer, Gu Lu is very happy to participate in the promotion of books.

But this plan could not be sent to Gu Lu’s email at all.

So what’s in Gu Lu’s mailbox?

Take a peek and you'll see there are letters from diplomatic missions.

It's a commissioned email.

The full text is more than 4,000 words. The first part lists the advantages that Gu Lu brings in diplomacy, the middle part explains the recent relationship between China and Finland, and the last part is a commission to create a work that can express Finnish culture.

Why do you want a commission?

Because this is the only way to give rewards legitimately. Looking at this email, there is no requirement for creation at all.

Then the person in charge contacted privately.

[Chairman Wen: Expert Gu, after our discussion, is Finland, a Nordic country, okay?]
There are two short and long messages afterwards, in which Chairman Wen talks about the cultural exchanges between Finland and China last year.

After talking about serious matters, President Wen also asked: Does Expert Gu need information about Finland? Our think tank library has a lot of foreign information, do you need it?

This is also one of the benefits of think tanks. There are many reference books and reference books that are not available on the market. For example, "Talking about Countries Bound by the Flock: Finland's Arable Land Area", written by a professor at the University of Helsinki, was translated by the think tank staff themselves.

It’s just a matter of changing the background, there’s no need to make it so complicated, Gu Lu refused.

"Wait - when did I become so fearless?" Gu Lu immediately withdrew the message and sent a request.

Chairman Wen did not ask what information was withdrawn, but only responded to the exact time when the information was delivered.

Putting down his phone, Gu Lu corrected his "indifferent" view in his heart. Details determine success or failure. So many books have been published before, and all the modifications have not affected the expression of the original work. The key is to find enough information.

Before waiting for Chairman Wen to send the information, let's first look at the basics on the Internet.

Gu Lu was really unfamiliar with Finland. His only impression seemed to be that it was a small country? In his impression, the five Nordic countries were small and had few people.

Soon, Gu Lu found out that he was half right. Finland does have a small population, just over 5 million, which is only one-fourth the size of Chengdu. But it is quite large, with an area of ​​Guangdong Province + Shandong Province. Of course, one-third of the country is in the Arctic Circle, and another 80% is covered by forests, and 10% of the country is lakes.

"18 lakes! That's a bit exaggerated." Gu Lu learned about the information.

(End of this chapter)