The Fiery Era: Starting from Longxugou

"Xiaoyue, has your mother come back yet?"

Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Xiaole ran into the courtyard laughing and joking. Tian Fusheng saw the two little girls and asked them a question.

"They're back. Mother and Aunt are behind them; they'll be back in a bit."

"Okay, you two play!"

As he spoke, Tian Fusheng put down the half-finished winnowing basket he was weaving, carefully washed his hands, and went back into the house to take out the sample newspaper that the postman had brought.

When he came out of the house, he ran into Liu Guiying and Sun Cuilan, who had just returned, and greeted them immediately:

"Sister-in-law, his aunt, are you back from the fields?"

"He's back, Uncle. You want Zhao Shi'an to read to you, right? Just tell him when he gets home from school!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Guiying saw the newspaper in Tian Fusheng's hand and assumed that he wanted her eldest son to read it for her.

"No! Sister-in-law, this is Shih-an's newspaper."

When the postman came, you weren't home, so he asked me to give it to you!

It is said that Shi An's article for the Beijing Daily was selected, and they sent him a copy of the newspaper with Shi An's article in it!

Sister-in-law, now that Shi'an has become a writer, you've finally made it through the tough times.

Here's the newspaper. Take it and give it to Shi'an when he gets back!

As he spoke, Tian Fusheng handed over the newspaper in his hand.

"Shi'an's article got published in the newspaper? Wow! That's amazing! Sister-in-law, you're really in luck this time. I heard writing articles is very lucrative, you can earn tens of thousands for one article, much better than farming and selling vegetables!"

Sun Cuilan was overjoyed to hear that her nephew's article had been published in the newspaper. She immediately put down her basket and came over.

"His aunt said it's true! I asked the postman who delivers newspapers, and he said it's at least fifty or sixty thousand yuan. That's how much one article makes. Writing a few articles a month is more than a factory worker's salary!"

Sister-in-law, Shi'an is becoming more and more successful; you can finally enjoy a peaceful and comfortable retirement!

Tian Fusheng's words were full of envy.

"Is this really Shi An?"

The surprise came so suddenly that Liu Guiying couldn't recognize him for a moment.

"Yes! Sister-in-law, take this quickly! Shi-an's name is on the newspaper! I specifically asked the postman, can you see here?"

Seeing Liu Guiying's reaction, Tian Fusheng immediately found the place with Zhao Shi'an's name written on it and pointed it out to her.

"It really is Shi'an! I recognize two characters of that name, the first two. Sister-in-law, can you tell if it's Shi'an?"

Sun Cuilan leaned forward to take a look and found that she only recognized the first two characters, which indicated that her eldest son and Shi'an were cousins. Only the last character was different.

"Yes!"

Liu Guiying looked at it and nodded affirmatively. Although she was not very literate, she had attended a literacy class and her son had even been a literacy class teacher. As a mother, she couldn't let her son down. She might not know other characters, but she definitely knew her son's name.

"Mom, is my eldest brother in the newspaper? Let me see!"

Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Xiaole were playing in the yard when they heard the adults chatting. They immediately came over and reached out to grab the newspaper.

As a result, his hand was slapped back when he had only extended it halfway.

"Mom, why did you hit me?"

Zhao Xiaoyue glared at her mother angrily.

"Look how dirty your hands are! Wash your hands before touching them!"

Liu Guiying scolded him sternly, then smiled and said to Tian Fusheng:

"Uncle, you can take it for a moment. I just came back from the fields, and my hands are covered in mud. Let me wash my hands first!"

"Okay! I'll take it first!"

Upon hearing this, Tian Fusheng immediately agreed. He had done the same when the postman delivered the newspaper, after all, this was no ordinary newspaper, but a newspaper specially delivered to Shi'an by the newspaper company!

……

"Big brother, why aren't you back yet? Second brother, should we go to the school to pick you up?"

"Yeah, bro, I didn't see big brother either!"

On the earthen slope, Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Xiaole looked around for a long time, but still couldn't see their older brother, so they couldn't help but tug at his clothes.

"Don't rush, high school lets out late, let's wait a bit longer!"

Zhao Shijie and Zhao Shixiong comforted their younger sister.

"Hey! Okay then! Brother, Shijie, you're in school now? How come you still can't read the words in the newspaper?"

Zhao Xiaole raised her little face and asked with a puzzled expression.

"Xiao Le, we're just elementary school students, we haven't learned that many characters yet. Big Brother is a high school student, he knows many characters!"

Upon hearing his younger sister's words, Zhao Shixiong patiently explained.

"I see! Okay then!"

Zhao Xiaole and Zhao Xiaoyue were very disappointed when they heard this. They had wanted their two older brothers to read aloud what their eldest brother had written in the newspaper, but they only managed to read a few words.

With so many words, the two older brothers only recognized a few, leading them to seriously suspect that the two brothers did not study properly in class!

"Hey! Look, big brother's back!"

Zhao Shijie exclaimed in surprise and immediately shouted, waving excitedly at his elder brother.

When Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Xiaole saw their elder brother, they immediately went to greet him.

"Big brother, big brother, you're finally back! Let's go home quickly!"

Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Xiaole each pulled their older brother along, one on each side, and led him home.

"Okay, let's go home! Shijie and Shixiong, you two are here too? Is something wrong at home?"

Seeing the two unusually excited little girls, Zhao Shi'an asked with a smile, and then quickly asked after seeing his two younger brothers.

"Big brother, your article has been selected by the newspaper! This morning the postman delivered a newspaper, which Uncle Tian received. When we got home from school, Mom told us to read it, but we couldn't read it properly!"

Upon hearing his elder brother's words, Zhao Shijie quietly explained the situation.

"Delivering newspapers? Is it a sample copy? It arrived so quickly? Come on, let's go home!"

Zhao Shi'an was taken aback when he heard this. After realizing what was happening, he immediately called his younger siblings to go home together. He had been planning to skip a grade for the past few days and had almost forgotten about this.

Last Friday evening, when he was submitting his manuscript, he happened to run into the postman collecting mail from the mailbox. He handed the manuscript directly to the postman, and today is Wednesday. He didn't expect that a sample copy would arrive in just five days. The efficiency is quite high.

Thinking of all this, Zhao Shi'an quickened his pace.

"Time to go home!"

The four little ones cheered and skipped away.

When Zhao Shi'an arrived home, the people in the courtyard were still studying the newspaper. Seeing him return, Tian Fusheng greeted him warmly.

"Our great writer is back!"

"Boss, this is a newspaper delivered to you by the newspaper office!"

Upon seeing her eldest son, Liu Guiying immediately waved the newspaper in her hand.

"Uncle Tian, ​​I was just lucky!"

Zhao Shi'an said modestly and reached for the newspaper, but his mother told him to wash his hands.

Seeing how much everyone valued it, he didn't refuse. He simply washed and dried his hands before taking the newspaper to read.

Zhao Shi'an took the newspaper and saw that it was the "Beijing Daily". He thought of the popular science article he had submitted.

After a quick flip, I found the words "March 30, 1954, Page 3" and his name written in the blank space of the newspaper.

Seeing that the newspaper was published yesterday, he suddenly realized that he was taking a test in the teacher's office yesterday! He naturally didn't have time to read the newspaper. He didn't expect the sample copy to be delivered so quickly, in just one day.

Following the instructions, Zhao Shi'an turned to the third page and found his article in the cultural and lifestyle supplement.

Seeing that the content in the newspaper was almost identical to the submitted article, he felt much more at ease.

After reading the contents, Zhao Shi'an flipped through the newspaper again and found nothing but the newspaper.

No, where's my payment? The sample copy has been sent, but where's my money? I haven't even received the remittance slip!

"Shi'an, what are you looking for?"

Seeing Zhao Shi'an's actions, Tian Fusheng asked curiously.

"Uncle Tian, ​​did the postman only give you a newspaper?"

Zhao Shi'an asked, puzzled.

"There's also a blank piece of paper with your home address and name written on it, and a stamp on it, but that's it! Is there a problem?"

Seeing Zhao Shi'an's reaction, Tian Fusheng panicked.

"No, no, I was just asking!"

Zhao Shi'an suppressed his doubts. Since the postman dared to let anyone deliver the sample newspaper, there shouldn't be any money involved. There must be a standardized procedure. He just needed to wait patiently!

"Phew! You scared me! I thought the postman forgot something! It's alright now! Hey! Shi'an, what kind of article is this? Tell your uncle about it!"

Upon hearing this, Tian Fusheng breathed a sigh of relief and then became extremely curious about the article written by Zhao Shi'an!

"Shi'an, read it aloud! Let your auntie hear it! Our family only has one great writer like you! Sister-in-law, don't you think?"

"Shi'an, how about we read it?"

As Liu Guiying spoke, she looked at her eldest son.

"I can recite, but I'm not a writer, you'll see when you listen!"

As he spoke, Zhao Shi'an picked up the newspaper and began to read.