The Fiery Era: Starting from Longxugou

"That's right! We've been growing vegetables for so many years, but we haven't made much money. We don't even earn as much as the eldest brother does from writing a couple of articles. Studying is definitely more useful!"

Hearing his younger brother's words, Zhao Youtian slowly exhaled a smoke ring and sighed. During the land reform, his family was allocated 2.2 acres of land. They farmed for three years, and if it weren't for taking odd jobs during the off-season, they wouldn't have been able to save up even this little bit of wealth.

"Uncle, you can make money growing vegetables, have you forgotten? Our watermelon and small melon seedlings? In about ten days, we'll transplant the seedlings from the house to the ground, and the small melons will be ready to eat next month. The price of early-season melons will easily triple or quadruple!"

Zhao Shi'an understood his father's reaction very well. Farming was never a profitable business, no matter when. Vegetable farmers earned much more than those who only grew grain, but they still earned far less than workers.

In the 50 years of land reform in Beijing, they only had their own land for a little over three years.

After three years of farming, the family had saved up a total of over 1.1 million yuan. Having experienced the massive devaluation of the legal tender and the gold yuan, money was just worthless paper in their hands. Therefore, most of the money was exchanged for coarse salt in earthenware jars, grain in cupboards, as well as oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, various farm tools, and a cart.

The most valuable thing in the house is this cart, which cost around 350,000 yuan to build. The wooden frame isn't worth much, but the valuable part is the two iron wheels underneath. In Beijing, it's also called a handcart. During busy farming seasons, it's used to haul vegetables, manure, and farm tools. When things are quieter, it can be used as a handcart at the freight station to haul goods for others.

"Three or four times? Shi'an, do you really think we can grow these small melons?"

Upon hearing his nephew's words, Zhao Youliang immediately perked up.

"Yes! Uncle, don't worry! Growing melons is similar to growing garlic sprouts. As long as the temperature is right, they'll definitely grow. Once they flower, we'll pollinate them..."

Looking at his expectant uncle, Zhao Shi'an patiently explained.

"Shi'an, you know so much! Reading is really useful!"

As Zhao Youliang spoke, he gave his eldest nephew a thumbs up, while also looking forward to the transplanting of the small melon.

Zhao Shi'an said a few modest words, chatted with his father and uncle for a while, and then ate dinner.

The next day, after the morning reading session, Li Zhankui came to the classroom and gave everyone a few words of advice:

"After you finish your morning exercises, remember to come back to the classroom to collect your flour certificate and scholarship! Don't forget! Class monitor, please remind them!"

"Okay, teacher!"

"Okay, get out of class dismissed!"

As Li Zhankui spoke, he walked out of the classroom, and the class cheered continuously.

Looking at the lively crowd, Zhao Shi'an suddenly remembered that he had just received his manuscript fee. Although he hadn't exchanged it for cash yet, mainly because the post office was closed, he had a money order and could withdraw the money at any time at the nearby post office.

With the royalties, he was no longer considered a poor student. After all, scholarships are awarded to students from impoverished families. His family was indeed struggling financially before, so receiving a scholarship was understandable. However, it would be inappropriate for him to receive a scholarship now that he could earn his own money.

Thinking of all this, Zhao Shi'an got up and left the classroom, quickly catching up with Li Zhankui.

"Teacher, there's something I need to explain to you!"

Zhao Shi'an ran up to Li Zhankui and said.

"Shi'an, is it about the scholarship? Don't worry, since you skipped a grade and are now in your final year of high school, and your personal information has been transferred from your first year, you can collect your scholarship from me!"

Upon hearing this, Li Zhankui assumed that Zhao Shi'an wanted to ask about the scholarship, so he immediately explained that Zhao Shi'an's family made a living by growing vegetables, and during the off-season, his parents relied on odd jobs to earn money, and they lived a very frugal life.

Zhao Shi'an's family is classified as farmers, so he is guaranteed to receive a scholarship. Even if no other school offers a scholarship, he will definitely receive one.

There was an unwritten rule at No. 11 Middle School: students from peasant backgrounds were guaranteed to receive scholarships, and the same was generally true for poor peasants.

"Teacher, I'm not here to ask for a scholarship. As you know, my article was published, and the payment arrived yesterday. Considering the payment, I don't meet the requirements for receiving a scholarship."

"How about we give this money to other students from impoverished families?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Shi'an hurriedly explained that as a transmigrator, it was one thing to accept a scholarship when he had no income, but to take advantage of such a small amount of money after receiving royalties was really a bit disgraceful. If he became famous in the future, it would be a stain on his reputation for life!

Nowadays, everyone values ​​giving back, so we shouldn't be greedy for such small gains!

"Oh? The royalties have arrived? How much is it? If it's not much, you can keep the scholarship! The college entrance exam is coming up soon, use this money to improve your diet and get more nutrition, look how thin you've become!"

As you know, our school provides financial aid to almost everyone. Even if you were to give up your spot, it wouldn't be easy to find a suitable replacement right away!

Li Zhankui looked at the thin but bright-eyed Zhao Shi'an with great admiration, a man who had just started earning an income and was able to resolutely refuse a scholarship.

Just this courage alone would make him think twice if he were in Zhao Shi'an's shoes. He never expected that Zhao Shi'an would come after him to cancel the scholarship application immediately after he said he would issue it yesterday, having just received his royalties!

It should be noted that each high school student can receive a monthly stipend of 9.5 yuan, which is a considerable sum for a teacher like him, yet Zhao Shi'an simply gave it up.

"Not bad! A total of 380,000, 300,000 for Longxu Ditch, and 80,000 for the article on removing limescale!"

These royalties are enough for me to improve my meals, so I'd like to apply to cancel my student grant! If it's really difficult to cancel, could you see which family is struggling financially and give the money to a student in need as a donation?

Hearing his teacher's words, Zhao Shi'an understood. However, he would try to avoid accepting the money if possible, and if he really couldn't refuse, he could simply donate it.

According to the 1952 People's Student Aid Policy, ordinary middle schools would receive 9.5 yuan per student, which would be 30% of the total number of students, while junior middle schools would receive 8.5 yuan per student, which would be 20% of the total number of students.

In other words, only 30% of high school students can receive financial aid. Including him, there are 39 students in Class 1 of the third year of high school. According to the normal ratio, 12 students should be eligible.

When No. 11 Middle School was first established, it was built for the working people, most of whom came from poor families.

The school is a complete secondary school, encompassing junior and senior high school levels. Even if the funds are distributed strictly according to the ratio, there is still a significant shortfall.

When the school was founded, it provided assistance to students from disadvantaged families.

Considering the special circumstances of No. 11 Middle School, the district allocates a much higher percentage of scholarships than surrounding schools. The surrounding middle schools also give up their unused quotas to No. 11 Middle School. Therefore, No. 11 Middle School has achieved a situation where almost all students are covered by the scholarship.

"Wow! 38! That's a lot! It's more than a worker's salary. Even if you write one or two articles a month, your royalties are higher than your student grants. No wonder you wanted to give it up!"

It's kind of you to think of this. I've agreed. Please write an explanation and submit it to the school later!

Li Zhankui was astonished to hear that the manuscript fee was as high as 38! He knew that writing articles could make money, but he never expected that Zhao Shi'an's manuscript would receive such a high fee so soon after it was accepted!

"Thank you, teacher!"