The Fiery Era: Starting from Longxugou

"Students, although the college entrance examination has been moved up by a month, the subject-based examination provides a new path for everyone: whether you are applying for science, engineering, agriculture, medicine or humanities, you can review two or three fewer subjects."

The mountains and rivers seem to block the way, but then a village appears amidst the willows and flowers; a loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise!

Dear students, please adjust your mindset as soon as possible. The school and teachers will give you your full support! We look forward to your admission to your ideal universities!

After the principal finished speaking, the audience erupted in applause.

Fu Jufeng returned to his seat amidst applause from the teachers and students. Li Zhankui stood up, walked to the standing microphone, and began to speak:

"Students, this announcement came as a surprise, catching the school off guard. The teachers will work on a new review plan as quickly as possible in the next few days..."

Li Zhankui explained the grade-level team's response strategy, offered a few words of encouragement to the students, and then adjourned the meeting.

Upon hearing the end of the event, the class monitors directed their students to leave in an orderly manner.

The auditorium instantly erupted in noise, filled with discussions and complaints.

Back in the classroom, with school almost over, the teacher simply let everyone study on their own.

Without the constraints of teachers, the discussion about advancing the college entrance examination and subject-specific exams became quite heated.

"The reforms came too suddenly; with this change, many people are afraid they won't do well on the exams!"

"Who can argue with that? The college entrance exam being moved up and then divided into subject-specific exams has disrupted the study plan and affected everyone's grades!"

The teachers and principal made some good points, but for students who struggle with math and Russian, it's torture. Before the subject specialization, they could at least improve their scores with other subjects, but now that they've chosen specializations, the gap becomes even more pronounced with fewer tests.

"Indeed! I'm not good at Russian or math. If I apply for humanities, although I'll have to take three fewer subjects, my chemistry and biology scores are still pretty good. If I don't have to choose a subject, it can even boost my score."

You could apply for STEM fields like engineering, agriculture, or medicine! My physics score is just average, and without geography and history to boost my overall grade, my score won't improve...

"Hey! You guys are right! My Russian is bad, but my other subjects are okay. If I didn't have to choose a subject, I could get more points. But after choosing a subject, my scores will drop a lot no matter which one I choose."

Zhang Haitao agreed with this, saying that students like him who are bad at the compulsory subjects are the biggest victims of the subject-based exams.

"Haitao is right! This is so unfair to us. Specializing in certain subjects is beneficial for those who aren't good at physics, chemistry, biology, geography, or history..."

Zhao Shi'an listened for a while and said that subject-based exams have both advantages and disadvantages. This year's college entrance examination is the first time that subjects have been divided into subjects, and everyone takes the same compulsory subjects.

Unlike the modern college entrance examination, the math for liberal arts students is much simpler than that for science students. Science students receive no special treatment, and many science students are only average at learning foreign languages. Apart from a very small number of students who have studied Japanese, those who study English have no advantage at all and may even be unable to apply to good schools because of their poor foreign language scores!

When the bell rang, the students packed up their books and hurried home to discuss their chosen majors with their families.

……

"Auntie! The school announced today that the college entrance exam will be moved up a month, and there will be subject-specific exams..."

While eating, Zhao Shi'an talked to his family about the college entrance examination reform.

"Big brother, your mother and I don't understand! You've always been decisive and knowledgeable! Learn whatever you want, and if you don't understand something, ask your teacher and see what they say!"

Upon hearing his eldest son's words, Zhao Youtian thought for a moment and realized that he couldn't offer any advice, so he immediately let his son decide for himself.

"Yeah, I'm not very capable, so don't follow my example... Ask your teachers more questions, and study hard when you get to university..."

Liu Guiying kept agreeing with her. She and her husband were illiterate, and their son had to do all the household accounting. She knew she couldn't offer any good solutions, so she let her son decide for himself.

"Auntie, I understand! I just wanted to let you know that I'll ask the teacher about it these next few days!"

Zhao Shi'an nodded after listening. There is a shortage of talent in China now, so you don't have to worry about unemployment no matter what major you choose. Although there are no college application guidance teachers, they are not really needed nowadays.

"Okay! The college entrance exam is a month earlier, so I'll give you these two months to really catch up!"

Upon hearing that the college entrance examination had been moved up, Liu Guiying decided to make sure her eldest son ate and drank well for the next two months so that he could achieve good results!

"Yes, ma'am! Get the eldest some extra meat! He needs to eat at least twice a week! Don't worry about the cost! I'll go pick up some more goods when I have time!"

Zhao Youtian agreed with his wife's words. These days were the time when spring vegetables were ripening one after another, and he was busy harvesting and selling them, so he didn't have time to go out to pick up goods.

"Mother, no need! Have you forgotten? The sample copy of the article I wrote about salt production has been sent over, and the pay should be issued in a few days. It has a lot of words, so it should be worth at least two or three hundred thousand yuan. That's enough to buy meat!"

In addition, our seedlings of small melons and watermelons have been growing for over twenty days. Now that the weather is warm enough, they can be transplanted. If they get any bigger, they'll be harder to manage!

When Zhao Shi'an talked about submitting his article, "Household Coarse Salt Purification," which he submitted more than ten days ago, sample copies were sent out last week. According to the timeline, he should be receiving his payment by now. If the payment standard is still 100,000 yuan per thousand words, then an article of more than four thousand words would earn him 400,000 yuan, which would be enough to improve his family's life.

The melon and watermelon seedlings he had previously grown on the stove at home should also be transplanted.

Today is April 22nd. Two days have passed since the Grain Rain solar term, and the weather will get warmer and warmer. The cold snap in spring is basically over, and the fast-growing vegetables planted during the Spring Equinox, such as bok choy, spinach, water radish, and coriander, can be harvested one after another.

Coriander is cilantro, they usually call it by its scientific name.

"Oh! Yes, the little melon has grown four leaves, and the watermelon has three leaves. If they grow any longer, they will be harder to move."

Boss, anything you've got in mind?

Upon hearing his eldest son's words, Zhao Youtian quickly asked.

Last month, my eldest son said he would plant seedlings of small melons and watermelons on the stove because they were worried they wouldn't grow. But almost a month has passed and the seedlings are growing very well. Now that the weather is warmer, they can be transplanted into the ground and they will survive and bear fruit. We can harvest them at least half a month earlier than usual!

"Grandma, don't damage the seedlings! Try to plant the small melons in the yard; if there's no room, then plant them in the ground. Watermelons take too long to grow; just plant them directly in the ground!"

Zhao Shi'an gave a brief reminder: melons are not picky about the soil, but watermelons are more troublesome. He wondered what kind of melons would grow.

He planted several batches in the space, and they turned out quite well! Although the sweetness was much lower than in modern times, the taste was still pretty good. It's just a pity that they weren't very big, each weighing only about two or three pounds.

"Okay! Then we'll get up early tomorrow morning and move the melon seedlings to the field!"

Zhao Youtian agreed after hearing this.

"Big brother, big brother, when will the little melon bloom? I really want to eat it!"

Hearing that her older brother was going to transplant melon seedlings, Zhao Xiaoyue was extremely eager for them. She had been waiting for this day for a long time. The seedlings had sprouted and now had four or five leaves, but they hadn't bloomed yet, and she was getting impatient.

"Big brother, I want some too!"

Zhao Shijie also spoke up upon hearing this.

"Haha! Almost there! Once the seedlings are transplanted into the ground, we'll be able to eat them in just over a month."

Zhao Shi'an responded with a smile. He did have quite a few melons in his space, but it wasn't convenient to give them to his younger siblings. However, it would be soon; they would be able to eat small melons by the end of May, while watermelons would be more than a month later.