The Fiery Era: Starting from Longxugou

Upon hearing the teacher's agreement, Zhao Shi'an thanked the teacher and returned to the classroom, where he used his spare time to write an explanation of the situation.

After finishing their morning exercises during the long break, the students rushed back to their classrooms to collect their flour purchase vouchers and scholarships from their homeroom teachers.

Zhao Shi'an took out paper and pen to continue writing the explanation. After finishing the explanation, it was soon his turn.

"Zhao Shi'an!"

"arrive!"

As Zhao Shi'an spoke, he quickly walked up to the podium. The class monitor handed Zhao Shi'an a small card and then put a checkmark next to his name.

Zhao Shi'an thanked the teacher and then handed the explanation to the homeroom teacher, saying:

"Teacher, this is the explanation I wrote! Please take a look!"

"good!"

Li Zhankui took it, glanced at it, and nodded, saying:

"Well written! Well then, I'll hold off on issuing your scholarship for now. We'll see how to handle it after you register at the school!"

"Thank you for your help, teacher!"

As Zhao Shi'an spoke, he picked up the flour coupons and stepped down from the podium, examining the coupons in his hand. This was the first time he had ever been so close to the coupons of this era.

The ticket is single-sided, with the back blank. The words "Beijing Municipal People's Government Grain Bureau" are printed at the top of the front, and below it is the flour purchase certificate. There are eight characters on each side, from left to right: "No replacement for lost tickets, invalid for alterations, valid for the current month, invalid after expiration".

In the very center are the words "四市斤" (four jin), stamped with a red seal, and a red serial number.

The entire flour ticket is about 10 centimeters long and 5 centimeters wide.

There are five types of flour coupons: 1, 4, 8, and 10 jin (5 kg) and a collective purchase certificate. Ordinary residents are allocated 8 jin (4 kg) per month, and additional flour coupons are issued according to their assigned duties.

Public and private enterprises, farms, government agencies, organizations, and students in education and cultural institutions will be issued an additional 4 jin of flour purchase certificate per person per month by their respective units.

The No. 11 Middle School belongs to the cultural and educational student category. Every month, students are given four jin of flour coupons, plus the basic ration for residents, totaling 12 jin.

"Teacher, Zhao Shi'an, him?"

Seeing that the homeroom teacher hadn't given Zhao Shi'an the scholarship, and that Zhao Shi'an didn't seem to care, class monitor Liu Zhenhua asked him quietly.

Zhao Shi'an's family situation was no secret in the class, especially after he achieved fourth place in the class and tenth place in the grade in the exam. The class was full of curiosity about this new transfer student, and many people went to his original class to inquire about him. While they didn't know everything about his family situation, most of them did.

Zhao Shi'an's family makes a living by growing vegetables and does odd jobs during the off-season. In addition, he is dressed plainly, with many patches on his cotton-padded clothes and cloth shoes, and frostbite on his hands. His family doesn't look wealthy at all. Why did he suddenly refuse the scholarship?

"Oh! Zhao Shi'an's article was published in the newspaper, and he received the payment. He felt it was inappropriate to continue receiving the People's Student Aid, so he came to me to explain the situation and gave up the aid!"

His approach is excellent! Everyone should learn from him! Of course, there should be a balance in learning; right now, your focus should be on the college entrance exam! You can try writing more seriously after you get to university!

Seeing the puzzled looks on the class leaders' faces, Li Zhankui patiently explained, encouraging everyone while also giving them a heads-up!

Upon hearing the homeroom teacher's words, the class monitor, academic representative, and Youth League secretary all looked at Zhao Shi'an with solemn expressions.

This freshman, who had just skipped a grade, scored lower than the three of them in his first exam. Now that his article had been published, all three of them felt immense pressure.

"Teacher, we will be careful!"

"Teacher, don't worry, we will learn from Zhao Shi'an!"

"Teacher, we..."

Seeing the three of them express their opinions one after another, Li Zhankui was very pleased. He encouraged them a few words and then left the classroom.

When Zhao Shi'an returned home from school at noon, he handed the flour coupons to his mother.

"Mom, these are flour coupons from school. Go buy some flour when you have time!"

"Hey! Alright! You must be starving! Wash your hands and sit down to eat! I used a lot of flour in today's noodles! Eat more, there's more in the pot!"

Liu Guiying took the ticket and urged her eldest son to wash his hands.

After Zhao Shi'an washed his hands, he sat down to eat. Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Shijie couldn't wait any longer and started slurping down their small bowls of noodles.

The two little ones have been very happy these past few days. Although they haven't had any eggs to eat, they've been able to enjoy steamed buns and noodles mixed with white flour thanks to their older brother.

"Mom, the school gave out scholarships today, and I went with the homeroom teacher..."

Zhao Shi'an brought up the matter of giving up the student grant while eating.

"Oh! You just don't want it anymore? That's almost 100,000!"

Liu Guiying felt heartbroken when she heard that her eldest son didn't want the scholarship. She couldn't even earn 100,000 yuan a month doing odd jobs, and her eldest son just gave it up.

"Mom, we can't take this money! I would have definitely taken it before, but now that my articles have been published and I've received 38 yuan in royalties, my income has increased, and I no longer meet the requirements for student aid. We can't take advantage of the country!"

Zhao Shi'an understood his mother's reaction. A monthly scholarship of 9.5 yuan was no small sum. His mother worked hard for a month making matchboxes, paper flowers, silk flowers, and velvet flowers, and she might not even earn that much!

The family has managed to save over a million yuan. If it weren't for the father's odd jobs and the mother's part-time work, plus his scholarship, they wouldn't have been able to accumulate any wealth. They would have faced considerable hardship just by growing vegetables.

This famine was a necessary expense. After the landlords and vegetable bullies were overthrown, his family became employees without means of production. Purchasing farm tools, seeds, fertilizer, and repairing houses were a huge expense. Fortunately, the farmers' association provided a low-interest loan in the first year, and although the family barely made ends meet, it was much better than before liberation.

"Mother knows, but I just feel uneasy..."

Liu Guiying knew her eldest son had a point, but the thought of losing nearly 100,000 yuan in income each month still pained her.

"Mom, I know you're reluctant to spend the money. The teacher said that once you get into university, the scholarship will be even higher, at least 120,000 a month. This money doesn't depend on the family income; it's given as long as you get into university!"

Now that the student grants are gone, you'll receive even more once you get into university!

We've only temporarily lost four months of subsidies; we'll earn them back quickly once we get to university!

Zhao Shi'an knew his mother was reluctant to part with the money, and he understood her reaction very well. People who have suffered hardship will be careful with every penny they spend, and giving up a monthly income of nearly 100,000 yuan must be very difficult for them!

He immediately used the university grant to distract himself. Compared to the grants for junior and senior high school, the university grant, or rather the stipend, was more appropriate. It started at 12, with higher amounts for teacher training students and junior college students. It seemed that there were additional subsidies for those studying agriculture.

"12 a month? Do you really have that much money after going to university?"

Upon hearing her eldest son's words, Liu Guiying's attention was indeed drawn to the higher scholarship amount.

"Yes! When the student aid system was reformed two years ago, our teacher told us that you and Dad encouraged me to study hard and go to university!"

Zhao Shi'an recalled the past, the 52 reform of student aid, the most noteworthy of which was the student aid for workers and peasants accelerated middle schools, where 100% of students received 30 yuan per month, and then the student aid for universities, the highest of which was 32 yuan per month for transferred cadres.

"I remember now, that's right! Boss, you're capable, study hard, you'll definitely have a bright future if you get into university..."

After hearing this, Liu Guiying was no longer sad. Her son was capable and would receive a higher scholarship if he went to university. He was only receiving less money for a few months.

"Mom, older brother! I want to go to university too!"

As Zhao Xiaoyue ate her noodles, she listened to her mother and older brother talking. She looked up at them and spoke very seriously. In her mind, going to university meant eating lots of eggs and flour, and receiving money. She wanted to go to university too.

"Me too!"

Zhao Shijie immediately expressed his opinion.

"Haha! Study hard, and you'll all go to university!"