The Fiery Era: Starting from Longxugou

"Three...three hundred thousand? My goodness! How can that be so much money! Dahai, didn't you say it was fifty or sixty thousand per article? How come one is three hundred thousand? Two of them would be six hundred thousand!"

After seeing the amount on the bill of exchange, Tian Fusheng thought he had misread it. He rubbed his eyes and confirmed that there was a "拾" after the "三". He couldn't help but exclaim in surprise and asked Li Dahai, the messenger. Although he was illiterate, he could still recognize words related to money and was much closer to the standard of five hundred words for semi-literate people.

He thought to himself, "These cultured people make money so fast! Two articles are worth more than a month's worth of my own money. It's so good to read books!"

"It really is 300,000! Shi'an, you're really amazing. Sister-in-law, you're going to be living a life of luxury from now on. One article by Shi'an is worth 300,000. Writing one a month is more than what we make from growing vegetables for a year."

Sun Cuilan looked at the amount of 300,000 yuan written in large letters on the bank draft, and she couldn't hide the joy on her face. She thought that an article would only be worth 50,000 or 60,000 yuan, but she didn't expect it to be as much as 300,000 yuan!

These days, my family worked hard to sell the first batch of chives, and we only made a little over 400,000 yuan, which is less than what my nephew wrote in two articles.

"Yes, sister-in-law! Shi'an is truly capable!"

Liu Hehua looked at Liu Guiying with envy.

"It's all because the boss is capable..."

Hearing everyone's praise, Liu Guiying couldn't stop smiling.

"I don't know either. The payment standards keep changing. There aren't many writers in our Longxugou area, and I've never written an article myself. This is the first time I've seen Zhao's payment..."

Hearing Tian Fusheng's doubts, Li Dahai's lips twitched. He hadn't expected the royalties to be so high; one article was almost as much as his salary. He thought to himself, "Writers really make money!" He decided to go home and try writing some himself. If he succeeded, he could earn even more money.

"Uncle Tian, ​​it's not that many. This is based on the standard of 100,000 words per thousand words. The article 'New Look of Longxu Ditch' has more than 3,000 words, so it's 300,000 words."

The other one is much less, probably around fifty or sixty thousand at best!

Seeing everyone's reaction, Zhao Shi'an smiled and explained, then opened the second letter. The contents were the same: a royalty notice, a clipping from the current issue, and a bank draft. However, this bank draft contained much less money, only 80,000 yuan.

Although the money was small, it exceeded his expectations. Longxugou was able to publish because of his status. Using vinegar to remove limescale is his main focus in the future. One practical tip can earn 80,000 words. If he writes three or four articles a month, it will be equivalent to a month's salary for an ordinary worker.

"This one is 80,000! That's quite a lot, 20,000 more than the 50,000 or 60,000 that Da Hai mentioned! Wow, 380,000 for two articles, enough to buy a cart!"

Looking at the 80,000 yuan on the second draft, Tian Fusheng gestured with his hand as he spoke.

"Shi'an is right, Longxugou has a lot of characters and a lot of money, this place has fewer characters, but 80,000 isn't bad!"

"Yes, yes! Anyway, it's better than farming! These past few days, I've been going to the fields to cut chives before dawn every day. I've finished cutting all the chives on my two-tenths of an acre, which is about the same as Shi'an writing two articles!"

Shixiong, Xiaole, you two better learn from your older brother, understand?

Sun Cuilan agreed wholeheartedly. Although vegetable farmers earn a little more than grain farmers, it's not by much. After a year of eating and drinking, they don't save much money. It's much easier to be a writer; you can earn money just by writing a few words!

"Mom, I can do it!"

Zhao Shixiong and Zhao Xiaole looked at their eldest brother, who was being praised by everyone, and nodded their little heads earnestly.

"Shijie, Xiaoyue, you two should learn from your older brother! Then you'll be able to eat eggs and steamed buns more often..."

As Liu Guiying spoke, she reached out and patted the heads of her youngest daughter and son.

"Little Grass, Green Mountain, you've seen what Brother Shi'an is capable of! Study hard and try to be like you..."

In no time, the courtyard became a ready-made setting for educating children.

Listening to their parents, the children all expressed their determination to study hard and strive to become like Zhao Shi'an when they grow up.

Seeing this, Zhao Shi'an smiled and encouraged everyone. He hadn't expected that the royalties in this era would be so high.

I heard from the postman that an article would cost 50,000 to 60,000 yuan, two articles would cost around 100,000 yuan, and with the scholarship, it would be around 200,000 yuan.

Now, just two articles have 380,000 views, plus the 95,000 yuan in scholarships, and I have nearly 500,000 yuan in funds. My net worth of one million yuan has instantly reached halfway.

Spending money in this era can be painful, but making money can be really satisfying!

Spending money is in the hundreds or thousands, while earning money is in the tens or hundreds of thousands. It's quite exciting when you look at it that way.

"Writers are really something else; two articles they write earn more than we do. Congratulations, Zhao! By the way, once you get the money order, just go to the nearest post office to collect it..."

Li Dahai looked at Zhao Shi'an with envy. He never expected that a student he had casually encouraged would actually publish an article, and more importantly, it was accepted by the journal.

"Okay, it's a bit late today. I'll go withdraw the money after lunch tomorrow!"

Zhao Shi'an hurriedly thanked him. He only had a few thousand yuan on hand, which was not enough to buy a few sesame cakes, let alone a pound of oil. He would take the manuscript fee and go to improve his meals, to try the food that many people had praised before the public-private partnership, and see just how good it was!

I'll buy a few more pounds of meat to nourish my family, and a few batches of chicks and ducklings to put in my space. As for piglets, I'll have to rely on luck; if I find some, I'll buy them, and if not, I'll wait for another opportunity. The rest of the food will be replaced with cloth.

Flour coupons have been in use for nearly half a year, so oil coupons and cloth coupons shouldn't be far behind.

The full-scale planned economy will begin next year, so it's good to prepare now so that we can better cope with the transition to a planned economy.

Under a planned economy, money alone was useless; goods were the true hard currency.

The reason why cadres in this era are not greedy for money is because they know that money alone is not enough; they also need votes!

"Okay, good that you understand. The letter has been delivered, I'm leaving now!"

Li Dahai nodded and waved goodbye to everyone.

"Dahai, it's so late, have some dinner before you go!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Guiying reached out and pressed down on the handlebars, wanting Li Dahai to stay for dinner, thanks to him for bringing his son's royalties.

"Auntie, no need to trouble yourself, you guys eat your food, I still need to go to the mailbox to collect the mail..."

Li Dahai smiled and waved his hand in refusal.

"Then come over and have some food after you finish receiving the letter. Thank you so much for today..."

"Auntie, no need! It'll be late after I finish collecting the mail. Delivering mail is my job. Good luck, Zhao! I hope to see you become a great writer one day!"

Li Dahai waved his hand and encouraged Zhao Shi'an.

"Let's hope so!"

Zhao Shi'an nodded, not wanting to discuss the matter further.

"Keep it up! You can definitely do it! Our Longxugou will produce a great writer too!"

Li Dahai was full of confidence. After exchanging pleasantries with Tian Fusheng and Liu Guiying for a while, he rode his bicycle away from the courtyard.

That evening, Zhao Youtian and Zhao Youliang returned pushing a cart and were shocked to learn that Zhao Shi'an's royalties amounted to 38 yuan!

"My God, two articles are only worth that much? We've made over 400,000 yuan selling leeks these past few days, which is quite a lot, but compared to Shi'an, it's still far less!"

Zhao Youliang looked at the two bank drafts on the table, and he was very excited.