The Fiery Era: Starting from Longxugou

"By the way, you're a student at No. 11 Middle School, right? Would you like to buy a few more review materials?"

We have a "Mathematics Review Outline" and a "Russian Grammar Exercises" here. These two reference books can help you quickly master the difficult points in mathematics and Russian.

Li Jun took the test paper and was about to issue the ticket when he saw the man's clothes. He figured the man must be a student from the nearby No. 11 Middle School. The students at this school were very hardworking, and most of the bookshelves for middle school materials were occupied by students from this school.

Having deduced that Zhao Shi'an had good grades, he proactively recommended two review materials, both of which were the most popular books for students at No. 11 Middle School to copy.

"Yes! You have a good eye! Forget about the math, what's the price of the 'Russian Grammar Exercises'? Do you have a mimeographed version?"

Zhao Shi'an initially wanted to refuse, but considering his appalling Russian language score, he still inquired about it.

Having been in this era for two and a half days and attended two Russian language classes, he originally thought that since he had experienced the influence of the modern information society, he should be better at learning Russian than the original owner!

After attending two Russian language classes, I felt like the sky had fallen.

The original owner's Russian language skills were average, and he wasn't much better. He struggled with the English CET-4 and CET-6 exams when he was in college, let alone the more difficult Russian.

"It seems you're very confident in math! However, there's no mimeographed version of 'Russian Grammar Exercises,' only the letterpress version."

There are three versions in total. You can choose according to your own situation. The most expensive one costs 12,000 yuan. This one is for people who are completely self-taught in Russian and the explanation is very detailed.

You're a student at No. 11 Middle School, and the school provides textbooks. I suggest you take a look at these two books.

As Li Jun spoke, he went to the bookshelf again, took out two books, and then introduced them to Zhao Shi'an:

"This thin book mainly contains grammar points, vocabulary lists, and a few exercises."

This book is over a hundred pages thick, covering complete grammar, numerous exercises, translations, and excerpts from college entrance exam questions. It explains everything from beginning to end, with example sentences, explanations, and answer keys for the exercises…

"May I take a look?"

Zhao Shi'an looked at the two Russian review materials in the shop assistant's hand and asked.

"Sure, you can look anywhere!"

As Li Jun spoke, he handed both books to Zhao Shi'an.

Zhao Shi'an thanked the clerk and began to carefully look through the book. Sure enough, as the clerk had said, the thin "Russian Grammar Exercises" contained the key points, a vocabulary list, and a few practice questions.

The thicker book is much more detailed and comprehensive, almost twice as thick as the thinner one. Of course, it's also more expensive, costing five thousand yuan for the one with over a hundred pages, while the thinner one costs three thousand.

Looking at the two review materials, Zhao Shi'an was conflicted, but reason told him that he should buy the thicker one.

But he knew that if he could master the thin grammar book, his Russian grades wouldn't be bad either.

Given the original owner's extremely frugal nature, she should have copied the book herself as the shop assistant suggested, or asked the school if they had any review materials.

Not to mention the original owner, even he himself was somewhat reluctant to part with him.

Although I know that 10,000 yuan now is equivalent to one yuan in the future, the thought of spending thousands of yuan on a book is still heartbreaking.

Knowing is one thing, adapting is another; he needs time to gradually adapt to this consumption concept.

After all, he only spends a few thousand a month, and now he has to spend five thousand on a book. It just feels so incongruous.

He had just been thinking that after buying the test papers, he would buy two comic books for his younger siblings. The sight of the four little ones craning their necks to look at the comic books reminded him of himself when he was a child.

This can be considered a way of entertaining my younger self.

Zhao Youliang did a quick calculation: two sets of college entrance exam papers, Russian review materials, plus two comic books would cost at least ten thousand yuan.

The little treasury only has 15,650 yuan in total. He just spent 1,300 yuan on candy. The three kinds of sour candy cost 100 yuan each. He also bought three red, green and yellow candies for each of his four younger siblings, which cost 1,200 yuan. He even tasted one himself.

So, he only had 13,350 left.

Buying college entrance exam papers and Russian language review materials would cost eight thousand yuan, but buying two comic books would only leave me with one or two thousand yuan at most.

Considering the prices of the time, his meager savings made him feel very insecure.

The student grant for next month will not be issued for another ten days or so, and even when it is issued, I can only keep 10,000 yuan.

The first harvest of toon leaves and chives will also have to wait until Qingming Festival. Ten days or so is not a long time, but you feel insecure if you don't have money in your hand.

Although there is room for self-production, funds are still needed to purchase raw materials.

The planned economy is not far off now. Flour coupons were implemented last November, and cloth coupons and oil coupons will be implemented soon. We need to stock up on some necessities before then.

In short, money is needed everywhere. Grains, vegetables, fruits, and melons can all be produced in space, and oil can be pressed by oneself, but cloth still needs to be bought! Although cotton can be grown, weaving cloth is still a bit too difficult for him.

Even a hero can be brought down by a penny; one must earn enough money before making any comprehensive plans.

It seems I need to write articles and submit them to the newspaper as soon as possible; the money from those articles will allow me to legitimately improve my life.

With these thoughts in mind, Zhao Shi'an decided to start working on submitting his manuscript in the next few days and to learn more about the remuneration for manuscripts in this era.

Seemingly sensing Zhao Shi'an's hesitation, Li Jun softly reminded him:

"Hey, if you haven't decided which book to buy, take a look around and think it over carefully!"

"Thank you, comrade! I've made up my mind. I don't need the 'Russian Grammar Exercises' for now. How should I pay for these two test papers?"

Zhao Shi'an handed the two Russian books back to the clerk. Considering his public image and budget, he temporarily abandoned his plan to buy Russian review materials; the bookstore didn't have mimeographed copies, but the school should have them.

In this era, most exam papers were mimeographed. Schools had their own small printing rooms; they couldn't possibly buy exam papers for every test, as that would be too costly.

"Okay! I'll give you the receipt! Don't rush with the grammar book, you can continue reading. Don't be shy, Xinhua Bookstore won't kick you out, as long as you don't bother other people!"

Li Jun pushed the book back, reminding him that he could continue reading.

"Don't bite off more than you can chew. Let me thoroughly study the college entrance exam questions first!"

As he spoke, Zhao Shi'an handed the two books back to him.

"Great idea! Take your ticket to the counter over there to pay, then come back to me with your ticket to pick up your book!"

Li Jun didn't say anything more. He went to the counter, took out paper and pen from the drawer, and started writing a receipt. After marking the price and book title, he tore off a copy and handed it to Zhao Shi'an, telling him to go and pay.

"Okay!"

Zhao Shi'an took the ticket and followed the direction indicated by the clerk to the payment counter.

There weren't many people buying books on a weekday. He stood in line, listening to the constant clattering of abacuses on the counter. He looked around and saw that there were quite a few people looking at books. Although there were many people, it was very quiet. He could occasionally hear the sound of pages turning and people whispering.

After waiting in line for a while, Zhao Shi'an handed over his ticket when it was finally his turn.

"Two sets of mimeographed college entrance examination questions, totaling three thousand!"

"Give!"

Upon hearing the offer, Zhao Shi'an handed over the money he had prepared beforehand.

"Exactly three thousand! Here, keep the tickets!"

The cashier carefully counted the receipts, confirmed that everything was correct, stamped them with the official seal, and then handed them back to Zhao Shi'an.

"Thanks!"

Zhao Shi'an thanked the clerk and took the ticket. Looking at the bright red "Received" stamp on the ticket, he went to find the clerk he had spoken to earlier.

"Comrade, here's your ticket!"

Zhao Shi'an returned to the counter, found the person who had issued the ticket, and handed the ticket over.

"Alright! Here's your book, student!"

After Li Jun took the receipts and verified that they were correct, he picked up the seal and stamped the last page of the two booklets twice before solemnly handing them back to Zhao Shi'an.

Zhao Shi'an thanked them, took the two booklets, and flipped to the spot where the clerk had just stamped the booklet. He found a red circular stamp with the words "Xinhua Bookstore Chongwenmen Branch" clearly printed on it.

"Student, this stamp is the name of our bookstore. Getting this stamp means you've already paid."

Seeing Zhao Shi'an's actions, Li Jun offered a reminder.

"I see, thank you!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shi'an suddenly understood.