The Fiery Era: Starting from Longxugou

"The iron pots, aluminum kettles, iron kettles, and thermos flasks used by residents for boiling water will accumulate a lot of limescale on their inner walls over time, which is commonly known as 'alkali'."

Scale in iron pots is relatively easy to remove; you can simply scrub it off with a loofah or a brush made of sorghum stalks. Scale in aluminum and iron kettles is relatively more difficult to remove, and the most difficult to remove is scale in thermos flasks.

The main component of limescale is calcium carbonate, which is harmless to the human body. However, when it accumulates on the inner wall, it can easily trap dirt and grime, breed bacteria, and affect health.

Excessive limescale buildup in iron and aluminum kettles can prolong boiling time and even cause them to crack due to uneven heating.

In the courtyard, Zhao Shi'an's voice rang out as he read the newspaper aloud, and Tian Fusheng and his wife, Liu Guiying and Sun Cuilan, along with the children, listened attentively.

After Zhao Shi'an explained the dangers of limescale, the group became worried, and Tian Fusheng couldn't wait to ask how to deal with it.

His family has an iron kettle. The limescale on the kettle body is easy to clean, but the spout is the hardest to clean. You can't even scrub it clean, and he's already replaced the spout.

He thought this was a normal phenomenon until Zhao Shi'an said in his article that it was caused by limescale.

Just as Tian Fusheng was about to ask a question, he heard Zhao Shi'an mention the solution, and he immediately listened attentively.

"Removing this limescale is very simple. Just pour in half a bowl of vinegar, fill it with water, and soak it for about half an hour. This will remove most of the limescale adhering to the inner wall. Then, rinse it clean with water and you can continue using it. This involves chemicals..."

"Shi'an, are you serious? What kind of chemistry is so powerful? Just using vinegar?"

When Tian Fusheng heard that vinegar could remove these stubborn limescale stains, he couldn't believe that vinegar could handle such a troublesome matter.

After Zhao Shi'an finished reading the newspaper, he couldn't wait to ask more questions.

"Uncle Tian, ​​you'll know if it's real or not just by trying it. Vinegar isn't expensive anyway, and if it works, we won't have to replace the spout, right?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shi'an smiled and offered an explanation.

"Of course it is! Didn't you see it was in the newspaper? My Shi'an is a high school student, an educated man. What he said, would it be false?"

When she saw someone questioning her nephew, Sun Cuilan immediately jumped out.

"Auntie, that's not what Lao Tian meant. We just can't believe it! You know, my big iron kettle, just like Zhao Shi'an said, had its spout replaced because the alkali inside cracked, which cost a lot of money!"

Such a complicated thing, just add some vinegar and it's done? That's too simple, I can't believe it! I'll have to ask Shi'an!

"Shi'an, tell your aunt, why is this vinegar so potent? And what's with that chemical you mentioned?"

Liu Hehua quickly spoke up for her husband, explaining the situation clearly, and then changed the subject, looking at Zhao Shi'an.

"What do you know? That's chemistry? That's only taught in high school! We barely know any characters, how could we possibly understand it? Just memorize it, and you're good to go!"

Sun Cuilan muttered a few words under her breath.

Tian Fusheng and Liu Hehua's expressions turned somewhat unpleasant upon hearing this. Although what they said was true, it was still quite harsh.

"Cuilan!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Guiying quickly tugged at her sister-in-law's sleeve, then looked at her eldest son and spoke:

"Boss, even that chemistry girl doesn't understand it, can you explain it to her?"

"Sister-in-law..."

Sun Cuilan was about to speak when Liu Guiying grabbed her arm.

Upon hearing this, Tian Fusheng and Liu Hehua's expressions softened considerably.

"Mother, Aunt, Uncle Tian, ​​Aunt Tian, ​​it involves a chemical reaction, which is quite complicated. Just think of it as brine setting tofu!"

When making tofu, adding a little brine will cause the soy milk to settle and turn into tofu. The alkali in the water works just like in soy milk; once the water boils, it "cures" itself, forming a hard lump that slowly falls into the pot.

Braising liquid turns soy milk into tofu; vinegar, on the other hand, dissolves limescale in the water, making it easy to rinse clean later.

After some deliberation, Zhao Shi'an used the analogy of using brine to curdle tofu to remove limescale from limescale.

Uncle Tian and Aunt Tian's reaction made him realize that his popular science articles were still a bit too profound. Although he had considered that popular science articles should be both practical and scientific when he started writing them, he had overlooked the fact that most people do not understand the principles behind them. If he had used the example of "braising tofu" when he started writing, Uncle Tian and Aunt Tian would definitely have understood.

"Now I understand. It really is the same principle as curdling tofu. One is to curdle tofu, and the other is to turn the white alkali into water, which can be rinsed clean with water."

Upon hearing this, Tian Fusheng suddenly realized what was going on.

"That's right! Without alkali, the spout can last for several more years! Shi'an, you're really amazing!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Hehua gave Zhao Shi'an a thumbs up.

"That's right! I, Shi'an, am a cultured man!"

Sun Cuilan was very smug when she heard this!

Liu Guiying was very pleased to see how capable her eldest son was!

"His aunt said it's true, cultured people are really something!"

Little Grass, you must study hard at school, like your brother Shi'an, and become a cultured person, you know? Qingshan, you too!

"Yes, I know! I will study hard and make progress every day!"

Tian Xiaocao admired Shi'an very much when she saw that he was being praised by Dahe Niang!

"Dad, when I go to school, I'll study hard too!"

Tian Qingshan shouted, clenching his fist.

"Good boy!"

Upon hearing this, Tian Fusheng smiled and patted his youngest son's head.

"Mom, when I go to school, I'll study hard and be as good as my older brother!"

Zhao Xiaoyue also shouted when she saw this.

"Mother, Aunt, me too!"

Zhao Xiaole followed suit.

Then Zhao Shijie and Zhao Shixiong also expressed their opinions.

"They're all good kids!"

Liu Guiying and Sun Cuilan couldn't stop smiling when they heard this.

Zhao Shi'an looked at his younger siblings, who were eager to express their opinions, and smiled, offering a few words of encouragement.

"Shi'an, come check if this vinegar is enough?"

Liu Hehua was a woman of action. She immediately took out the iron kettle at home, along with a bottle and bowl for holding vinegar. After filling the bowl to the bottom, she was still uneasy and pulled Zhao Shi'an aside to ask for confirmation.

"Auntie, pour some more!"

As Zhao Shi'an spoke, he took the vinegar bottle and added some more vinegar to the bowl, filling it to about two-fifths of its height.

"That's about right. Fill it with water and let it sit for about half an hour. If you think it's too slow, you can put it on the stove, which will shorten the time considerably!"

As Zhao Shi'an spoke, he explained, and Liu Hehua followed his instructions. First, she poured vinegar into the iron kettle, then rinsed the bowl with water and poured it all in. After that, she filled the iron kettle with water and placed it on the stove.

"Shi'an, is this the right result?"

As Liu Hehua spoke, she looked up at Zhao Shi'an.

"I won!"

Zhao Shi'an nodded.

"Then I'm relieved!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Hehua breathed a sigh of relief and then looked forward to the results.

"Shi'an, you're amazing! By the way, your article got selected, when will you get paid? I asked the postman, and he said at least fifty or sixty thousand! He didn't know the exact amount, but writing a few articles a month is more than a worker's salary!"

Your article is good and very useful, so you'll probably get more money, right?

As Tian Fusheng spoke, he inquired about the money distribution.

"Uncle Tian, ​​there are standards for distributing money, but I really don't know the exact time. This newspaper is from yesterday, so it will take time to distribute it."

The postman said it was fifty or sixty thousand, which is quite a lot; it's almost all of my student aid!

Zhao Shi'an shook his head. He didn't really know much about the 1950s. His grandparents' deepest memory of that era was hunger. He didn't really know about the standards for royalties unless he deliberately looked into them. After all, even the postmen themselves couldn't explain it clearly.

The original owner's attempt to write articles was also influenced by Liu Shaotang's million-yuan manuscript fee.

However, although the exact royalties of that era are unknown, they must not have been much lower.

After all, the story of literary figures writing articles and buying courtyard houses is widely known, with Lu Xun and Lao She being among the most widely circulated.

Lu Xun was a well-known writer in the Republic of China era, and he received the highest royalty rates, with a royalty share as high as 20%.

Besides, there's the story of Zhang Henshui buying a large mansion after writing a novel; even the old folks in the alley know that "writing a novel in chapters can buy you a large courtyard."

But these all happened during the Republican era.

According to the current ideology, royalties are a product of the bourgeoisie. Now that the East and West are in opposition, there will probably be no royalties after the founding of the People's Republic of China. Otherwise, Wang Shuo would not have promoted the idea of ​​royalties.

Although the social camp did not pay royalties, it did not mean that writers in this era had low incomes; on the contrary, they were very high. Otherwise, there would have been no subsequent boycotts of high royalties!

The million-dollar royalties earned by "prodigy author" Liu Shaotang are the best example!

In addition, last year Zhao Shuli spent tens of millions of yuan in royalties to buy the Xiangluying Courtyard in Xuanwumen, which is a large courtyard with 18 rooms in one courtyard!

The Chinese teacher mentioned this matter quite a few times in class!

Thinking about all this, Zhao Shi'an felt it was necessary to learn more about the royalties of this era, and to earn more before the royalties dropped, so he could fix up his dilapidated house!