The Fiery Era: Starting from Longxugou

Seeing his family's reaction, Zhao Shi'an realized that he had seriously underestimated the respect people in this era had for intellectuals.

This respect goes far beyond the pain that can be explained by the so-called illiteracy rate; it is more reflected in the things he does.

The original owner was a member of the Communist Youth League and an activist in the neighborhood. Whenever the neighborhood issued policies, he, as an activist, would assist in the publicity and explanation of the policies.

During winter and summer vacations, he also served as a teacher in literacy classes, giving lessons to the neighbors in the area.

Last year, during the first census, he was asked by the neighborhood committee to help fill out forms and register household registrations.

Although no money was given, they did give out a lot of pencils, notebooks, rice, flour, oil, and other similar rewards.

Compared to money, tangible things are more attractive.

In addition, he helps neighbors with prescriptions, helps residents with financial difficulties write explanations, and even mediates minor disputes among neighbors.

He also did all the accounting, bookkeeping, and stocktaking for the family's vegetable business!

Looking at these events and the family's reactions, everything seems much more reasonable now.

Having thought all this through, Zhao Shi'an didn't explain further, but gave some detailed instructions.

Zhao Youtian and the other three nodded repeatedly after hearing this, while Liu Guiying and Sun Cuilan gave the children several instructions:

"Xiao Le, Xiao Yue, Shi Jie, Shi Xiong, you four better not talk nonsense when you go out. If you do, even if we grow some melons, you won't get to eat them, understand?"

"Okay! Mother, Aunt, I won't tell!"

Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Shijie quickly nodded.

"Auntie, Mother, I won't tell!"

The two little guys, Zhao Shixiong and Zhao Xiaole, nodded quickly.

"That's more like it!"

Sun Cuilan and Liu Guiying were very pleased to hear this. They chatted for a while and then went home to rest.

The next day, Zhao Shi'an went to school as usual. After returning home for lunch, he guided his family to plant the melon seeds and then went straight to school. If he wanted to skip a grade, he needed to understand the high school curriculum as soon as possible.

Upon arriving at the library, I easily found my way to the bookshelves displaying textbooks and teaching reference books.

He found the complete set of high school textbooks and began to carefully read them, even taking out the math and physics books that he had only glanced at the titles and tables of contents for the previous night and reading them again.

With plenty of time available today and no worries about the museum closing, Zhao Shi'an observed the exhibits with exceptional focus.

He was a science student, and he first read the textbooks for the second and third years of high school in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology.

The math and physics sections are largely the same as the table of contents I saw yesterday afternoon. Most of the content involves relatively basic knowledge, and while there are a few parts I haven't encountered before, I'll understand them after reading them a few times. They're not difficult at all.

In the second year of high school, chemistry covered halogens, namely fluorine, chlorine, bromine, and iodine, as well as five other elements: oxygen, sulfur, carbon, silicon, and nitrogen. It also briefly covered fertilizers and the silicate industry.

In the senior year of high school, students begin to study organic chemistry, polymer materials, proteins and fats, as well as the connections between chemistry and fields such as industry, agriculture, and national defense.

In the second year of high school, biology focuses on the digestive system, and the pseudoscience "Michurin theory" involves even more content.

It is worth mentioning that the biology book also covers topics such as hygiene knowledge, disease prevention, and public health, and it also emphasizes the "Patriotic Health Campaign".

In the senior year of high school, there is no separate biology textbook; its content is incorporated into the general health knowledge course.

In the second year of high school, students study modern Chinese history, and in the third year, they study revolutionary history.

Geography remains economic geography. In the second year of high school, students learn an introduction to economic geography, and in the third year, they learn more detailed content, mainly focusing on domestic topography, climate, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, animal husbandry, industry, railways, etc.

In general, throughout high school, the three subjects of mathematics, physics, and chemistry are mainly for building a foundation in the first and second years, while the third year is for advanced learning.

Biology involves basic knowledge plus learning about the digestive system, along with pseudoscience such as Michurin and Lysen's scientific theories, as well as hygiene and disease prevention.

History mainly involves studying modern world and domestic history, as well as revolutionary history.

Starting in the first year of high school, students begin learning modern Chinese, political commentary, and current affairs articles, mainly focusing on articles related to the general line of the transition period and selections of editorials.

It covers philosophy, classical literature, and essay writing, among other things.

In addition, Zhao Shi'an also found a book called "A Reader on Common Sense of Economic Construction" on the bookshelf. This book was placed in the senior high school textbook, and judging from the content, it seemed to be more like the politics in the college entrance examination.

There is no separate political class for first- and second-year high school students. Instead, they take a class called Current Affairs and Policy, which is held once a week.

This course does not have a dedicated textbook. It mainly covers recent current events and policies, health and epidemic prevention (such as the Patriotic Health Campaign), and common sense about epidemic prevention (such as infectious disease prevention and anti-bacterial warfare).

In addition, there were domestic and international current events, Soviet friendship, building a new China, abiding by laws and regulations, and youth obligations.

Judging from the course content, the course on current affairs and policies is more like politics. The reason why it is said to be like politics is that it is also covered in other humanities subjects such as Chinese, history, and geography.

"A Reader on Common Sense about Economic Construction" is more like an extension of the course on current affairs and policies.

This book is not thick, but it covers a wealth of information, including the transitional period, agricultural mutual aid and collectivization, handicraft collectivization, and the utilization, restriction, and transformation of capitalist industry and commerce.

Zhao Shi'an, who is familiar with the future trajectory of history, knows that what is written in the book is not only the future direction of domestic reforms, but also the pulse of the times.

Agriculture is now gradually transitioning from mutual aid to primary cooperatives, and it won't be long before it reaches advanced cooperatives.

The book also touches on some aspects of the First Five-Year Plan, but it is not currently called by that name.

Anyone who has studied modern history knows that the First Five-Year Plan began in 1953, but it wasn't until 1955 that the plan was truly formulated, implemented, and publicized.

In other words, the First Five-Year Plan will not be officially implemented until next year.

As for the utilization, restriction, and transformation of capitalist industry and commerce, it is now March 1954, and there are still six months before the full-scale public-private partnership begins.

This concludes the entire content excluding the Russian language textbook, which also covers the entire scope of the college entrance examination.

After reviewing all the high school textbooks, setting aside the characteristics of the era, Zhao Shi'an found that the knowledge learned in this era was much simpler than that of modern times, and the depth and breadth of learning were also not as great. Although the knowledge points of organic polymers in chemistry and analytical functions in mathematics were similar, he figured that the exams would not be as difficult as they were in modern times.

Based on the college entrance examination schedule of last year and the year before, after skipping a grade to senior year, he will have nearly four months to prepare for the college entrance examination.

That's enough time for him to master the high school knowledge of this era.

But before that, you should go to the bookstore and buy a set of the past two years' college entrance examination questions to get a feel for the college entrance examination in this era.

Today is Thursday, and there are still two days until Sunday. I should study hard these two days, buy the college entrance exam papers, and try to get a good score so that I can talk to my homeroom teacher about skipping a grade!

With a plan in mind, Zhao Shi'an glanced at the library clock and realized it was almost time for class. He put the book back on the shelf, left the library, went to the restroom to stretch his arms and legs, and then went back to the classroom to focus on his studies.

After school, after finishing his homework, he wanted to go to the library to study and review, but when he thought that it was not long before the library closed, he went home. School ends at six o'clock, and the teacher sometimes extends the class time. He would finish his homework in class, and the library would close at seven o'clock. He wouldn't be able to stay there for long, which was not as much as at noon.

When Zhao Shi'an returned home, his mother was cooking, his father and second uncle had not yet returned, his younger brother was tending the fire, and his younger sister and cousin were lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) staring longingly at the small melon seeds that had just been planted on the stove.

Seeing her older brother return, Zhao Xiaoyue's eyes lit up, and she jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed) to greet him.

"Brother, brother, I've been watching since noon until dark, and the little melon seed still hasn't sprouted! Is it dead?"

Zhao Xiaoyue ran up to her older brother and asked him expectantly, and Zhao Xiaole followed her over.

"Don't rush! It's only just been planted, and the soil is still cold. Cook a few meals, and once the temperature on the stove rises and the soil warms up, it will sprout!"

Zhao Shi'an smiled and offered an explanation.

"You're back? Dinner will be ready soon, go wash your hands!"

Seeing her eldest son return, Liu Guiying, who was cooking, greeted him.

"Okay! My dad and uncle went looking for work again?"

As Zhao Shi'an spoke, he sat down at the west end of the kang (a heated brick bed), lifted the reed mat, and found a neatly folded square of old newspaper inside. This was the original owner's secret stash.

"Yes! There's no work in the fields these days, but I can earn some money by hauling goods for people with a cart! It's time to come back."

As Liu Guiying spoke, her hands never stopped moving. She used chopsticks to break up all the cornmeal in the bowl and stir it well, otherwise the soup would be full of small lumps.

"Don't do overly strenuous work, it'll harm your health!"

As Zhao Shi'an spoke, he picked up the cube and opened it, revealing several letters and old newspapers inside, the most eye-catching of which was a large pile of banknotes.

After counting, I found there were a total of 15,650.

Holy crap, this is really a secret stash of money!