The Fiery Era: Starting from Longxugou

"Hey boss, you must be exhausted from the exams! Come on, have some fried buns!"

When Liu Guiying saw her eldest son return at noon, she called him to eat. She specially made several pancakes with wheat flour and corn to nourish her eldest son, using lard that had just been rendered yesterday.

"Big brother, Mom fried it with lard, it's so delicious!"

Zhao Xiaoyue looked at the basket of steamed buns with great longing.

"So, which tastes better, lard or fried bread?"

After washing his hands and sitting down, Zhao Shi'an looked at the yellow and white pancakes and was somewhat tempted. Pancakes are made by mixing flour into a batter, sprinkling salt in it, brushing some oil on it while frying, spreading the batter into a pancake, and frying it until both sides are golden brown.

Similar to modern multigrain pancakes, except that oil is added.

Nowadays, due to material scarcity, pancakes are basically made by mixing wheat flour and corn flour.

Our family has a long-standing tradition of eating fried buns on the second day of the second lunar month, which is also one of the days that children look forward to the most.

"They're all delicious!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiaoyue immediately spoke up.

"My little sister is right!"

Zhao Shijie was very supportive.

"You passed! Let's eat! Your older brother has his exam today, so let him get some sleep after dinner!"

After Liu Guiying sat down, she called the children to eat.

"Mother, I know!"

Zhao Xiao and Zhao Shijie nodded immediately upon hearing this.

"Good to know, eat it all!"

Hearing their mother's words, the two little ones picked up the fried buns from the basket, rolled them up, and ate them with the family's pickled vegetables.

Zhao Shi'an picked up a golden-brown pancake and noticed that it was fried rather thinly. He figured his mother had considered that there were many people in the family, and if she put in more batter, it would be too thick, making it difficult to cook through and less filling.

Fry them thinly, so they look like there are more of them.

Zhao Shi'an smelled the fragrant fried bread, took a bite, and found it surprisingly delicious!

He ate five fried buns, three cornbread buns, and a bowl of boiled water. After eating and drinking his fill, he lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed) to rest for a while before going to school to continue taking the exam.

After finishing the two exams in the afternoon, Zhang Haitao looked at Zhao Shi'an and asked:

"You've been taking the exam all day. How was it? Was it difficult?"

"good!"

"Hey! Dude, that's a bit unfair of you! We're in the same class now, even deskmates. In the army, that's called being comrades who are always in the same boat!"

If you continue to keep people at arm's length, you're practically cutting yourself off from your comrades and your compatriots!

Zhang Haitao was speechless when Zhao Shi'an said "not bad," and then, in a very familiar manner, put his arm around Zhao Shi'an's shoulder and began to impart his experience in dealing with people.

"It's not that serious! I just came to our class and I've never done a senior year exam before, so I don't know what to say."

"It's an exam paper! There are questions I know and questions I don't. Ask me, and I'll tell you the truth..."

Upon hearing this and seeing the reactions of the students around him, Zhao Shi'an quickly began to explain.

"That's true! I overlooked that. So, how many points did you get on those tests today?"

Zhang Haitao thought about it and agreed, so he immediately changed his question.

"I should be able to pass! I don't know how much better I can do. There were several questions that I just guessed on."

"Yeah, you just transferred here, it's normal that you don't know how. If you ever have trouble with something, just tell your buddy. We're all classmates, he'll definitely help!"

Zhang Haitao patted Zhao Shi'an on the shoulder as he spoke.

"Thank you! You're welcome!"

Zhao Shi'an thanked him and picked up the subject he would be studying for tomorrow's exam.

……

At the same time, Li Dahai once again rode his bicycle to No. 68, West Jinyuchi.

Pushing my bicycle into the courtyard, I saw wisps of smoke rising from the chimneys, children playing around, and the person who had been weaving winnowing baskets in the courtyard last time was still busy at work.

"Comrade, is Zhao Shi'an home?"

Li Dahai asked Tian Fusheng.

"No, someone's at home. Did they give out money? Sister-in-law, the postman is looking for Shi'an!"

When the postman arrived, Tian Fusheng assumed he was there to deliver money to Zhao Shi'an and called out towards the main house.

"Mother, we're here to see my eldest brother!"

Zhao Xiaoyue was playing with her little cousin and Tian Qingshan when she heard what the postman and Uncle Tian said and immediately ran into the house.

"Hey! Here it comes!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Guiying put down her spoon and came out. Seeing Li Dahai in his uniform, she smiled and asked:

"Comrade, I am Zhao Shi'an's mother. Do you have a letter from him?"

Hearing the commotion, Sun Cuilan and Liu Hehua also came out of the house.

"Yes! It's a letter from Zhao Shi'an, not a money note, but a sample copy of the newspaper! His article was published in the China Youth Daily, and the newspaper mailed him a sample copy."

Please accept this! He can give it to me when he gets back!

Upon hearing this, Li Dahai immediately parked his car, took out a sample newspaper and a piece of paper with the address written on it from the mailbag, and handed them over.

"My goodness! He got hired again? How is Shih-An so amazing!"

Upon learning that it was another sample newspaper, Tian Fusheng was filled with envy. He had thought the newspaper was there to give him money, but it turned out they were there to give him newspapers—or rather, to give him money. Giving him a newspaper meant that Zhao Shi'an's article had been accepted. One article could earn him fifty or sixty thousand yuan in royalties, and two articles would earn him over one hundred thousand yuan.

In less than two days, Zhao Shi'an earned over 100,000 yuan. That's incredibly fast!

"Yes! The last newspaper just arrived a few days ago, and another one has come. How many articles has Shi'an written?!"

Liu Hehua was shocked to hear this!

"My goodness! Shi'an, you've really made something of yourself! Sister-in-law, now you can finally enjoy life!"

Sun Cuilan looked at her sister-in-law with envy in her eyes.

"Big brother is really amazing!"

"Brother Shian is really awesome!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiaoyue, Zhao Xiaole, and Tian Qingshan, the three little ones, greatly admired Zhao Shi'an.

"It's all thanks to our boss's hard work! Comrade, wait a minute, my hands are quite wet from cooking, let me wash them first!"

When Liu Guiying saw that it was her eldest son's article that had been accepted, and listened to the praise from her neighbors and siblings, the smile on her face never faded.

"Hehe! No rush, no rush! Comrade, you've raised a good child! I saw his article 'The New Look of Longxu Ditch' yesterday."

"It's really well written! I've been delivering mail in this area for years and I know the situation in Longxugou. Zhao Shi'an's writing is very realistic, describing the cannibalistic environment of the old society, the good days after liberation, and how everyone has been living in peace and contentment these past years..."

Upon hearing Liu Guiying's words, Li Dahai readily agreed. In three days, he delivered sample newspapers to Zhao Shi'an twice. According to the basket weaver, Zhao Shi'an was still in school, but his articles had been accepted twice in a row. He was likely to become a great writer in the future. By establishing a good relationship in advance, if he was lucky, the great writer might even include him in his articles, which would make him famous.

"Comrade, have you read Shi An's articles?"

Upon hearing this, Tian Fusheng grasped the key point.

"right!"

"Could you read it to us?"

Tian Fusheng asked again.

"this……"

Li Dahai hesitated upon hearing this.

"Old Tian, ​​don't worry, the postman still has mail to deliver. Don't delay his work! We can let Shi'an read it when he gets back!"

After Liu Guiying finished washing her hands, she came out of the house and heard Tian Fusheng's words, so she immediately mentioned it.

"My sister-in-law is right! Comrade, thank you for your help!"

Liu Hehua offered a forced smile and an explanation.

"Hey! What's the big deal? It's just reading the newspaper, right? I can do that! All the mail for today is delivered, now all that's left is to collect the mail from the mailbox!"

If you want to hear it, I'll read it to you! If you agree, then I'll open the sample newspaper and read it aloud, okay?

Li Dahai was very enthusiastic and picked up the sample newspaper in his hand to ask Liu Guiying for her opinion.

"That's troublesome!"

Liu Guiying did not refuse. Having someone read the newspaper for her would allow her husband to rest more, since he had been taking exams all day!

"It's nothing! I grew up in Dragon Beard Gully..."

As Li Dahai spoke, he took out a newspaper, flipped to the third page, and began to read.