The Fiery Era: Starting from Longxugou

"Classmates, although there is competition between our class and Class 2, it has also helped us to improve!"

Now we are all in the same class, a collective, and even more so, revolutionary comrades-in-arms!

Our battlefield is the college entrance examination. I hope everyone can take it seriously and study hard! May you achieve excellent results…

Hearing what everyone was saying, Liu Zhenhua quickly expressed his opinion. As the former class monitor of Class 1, he had naturally competed with Class 2 a lot. For the past three years, the teachers of the two classes would always unconsciously compare them during each midterm and final exam.

With the college entrance examination now held earlier and subject-specific exams, many former rivals have joined the same class.

The homeroom teacher announced this week's exam, giving them a chance to compete.

Exams are exams, competition is competition, but we must not undermine unity.

As the class monitor, he naturally had to set an example.

"Zhenhua is right! Everyone should take this exam seriously and do their best. We are never enemies, but revolutionary comrades-in-arms. Our battlefield is the college entrance examination..."

Seeing Liu Zhenhua step forward, the former class monitor of Class 2 also stood up to express his opinion.

Seeing the attitude of the two class monitors, the tense atmosphere in the classroom eased considerably, and everyone was somewhat disappointed.

Seeing this, Zhang Haitao discussed it with the students around him for a while, then sat down next to Zhao Shi'an in the first row and asked:

"Shi'an, how's it going? Are you going to show your skills in this exam? You're going to beat everyone in the class! You just skipped a grade and already got tenth in the grade!"

"You're currently in the top ten, and two of the top ten in the class are studying humanities. You're sure you can make it into the top five this time, right?"

Upon hearing Zhang Haitao's words, several familiar classmates asked him questions out of curiosity.

"Yes, Shi'an! Your teacher praised you before, you're sure to get good grades this time, right?"

"Exactly! Let's try to suppress everyone in the class!"

"Don't drag me into this when you're bragging! You all know how bad my Russian is, right?"

Listening to everyone's words, Zhao Shi'an remained clear-headed. Although he didn't intend to lower the scores this time, he hadn't managed to control them well last time. He had tried to play dumb to gain an advantage, but it backfired. Rather than continuing to control the scores, it was better to slowly reveal his true abilities. After all, the students at No. 11 Middle School were only of average level, just like any other ordinary high school. But even if they were average, they still needed to maintain the proper attitude.

"Hey! I'm telling you, you're the best at pretending. Last time I asked you how you did on the exam, and you said it was alright, but you ended up fourth in the class! Lately, I've seen you studying Russian every day. It's just that we're not sitting together anymore because of yesterday's class reshuffling..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Haitao gave him a look that said, "I don't believe you at all."

"If hard work paid off, everyone's Russian grades wouldn't be bad! Now that we've chosen our majors, and we're not taking history and geography exams, nobody knows how we'll do in the end!"

Seeing Zhang Haitao's reaction, Zhao Shi'an patiently explained that the two were not sitting together now. After the classes were divided, the seats were rearranged. Because he was young and malnourished, he was short and sat in the first row!

He was the youngest student in the class. Most students at No. 11 Middle School came from poor families and started school late. Many were just starting first grade when they were around ten years old. It was normal for them to finish high school in their twenties!

"Shi'an is right! I've been studying Russian for three years, and my grades have always hovered around the passing mark!"

"Me too. Russian seems easy when I'm memorizing it, but I always run into problems during the exam..."

The surrounding classmates agreed with this, and when the class bell rang, everyone quickly sat down.

Two days later, Zhao Shi'an, who had just finished two exams, returned home to hear his younger siblings shouting and yelling.

Upon seeing their older brother return, Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Xiaole immediately ran over to boast:

"Big brother, the melon has blossomed! Does that mean it'll be ready to eat soon?"

"Big brother, I'll watch until it blooms first! I went to the henhouse to collect the eggs, and when I saw the little melon bloom, Sister Xiaoyue knew..."

Zhao Xiaole hugged his older brother's leg and recounted the process of discovering that the little melon had blossomed.

"Almost there, almost there! Our Xiao Le is really amazing! I'll go check it out!"

Zhao Shi'an praised his two younger sisters a few times, impartially, and then led them towards the small vegetable garden in the yard.

"Shi'an, you're really something! Your aunt just started planting small melons, and yours is already blooming!"

Upon seeing Zhao Shi'an, Tian Fusheng said with a smile, "During this period, the eldest son of the Zhao family has been like a god of literature descended to earth. First, he submitted and published an article, then he wrote a method to remove alkali from water with vinegar, and he even turned bitter, coarse salt into white salt particles that were not bitter at all."

The small melons they planted are now flowering again, while the seeds they sowed have only just sprouted.

Each and every one of these incidents demonstrates that studying is truly useful.

"Yes! I thought it wouldn't bloom, but it bloomed just four or five days after being moved to the ground. Shi'an is really capable!"

Sun Cuilan praised her nephew without reservation.

"I just tried it according to what the book said, and I didn't expect it to actually work! Auntie, Uncle Tian, ​​I'll go take a look!"

Zhao Shi'an said a few modest words and quickly went to the vegetable garden under the shed. Zhao Xiaoyue and Zhao Xiaole followed him eagerly.

Arriving at the small vegetable garden, Zhao Shi'an looked down at the five or six male flowers that had already bloomed, and nodded to himself.

"Big brother, is it almost time to eat melons?"

Seeing her older brother's actions, Zhao Xiaoyue couldn't wait to ask.

"Definitely! Big brother is amazing!"

Zhao Xiaole shouted loudly, scaring away all the chickens nearby.

"Exactly!"

Zhao Shijie and Zhao Shixiong cheered for their elder brother.

"Brother Shian is amazing!"

Tian Qingshan and Tian Xiaocao also agreed.

"It'll be soon. In a few days, when the flower with the small gourd blooms, we'll help it, and then we can eat it..."

Zhao Shi'an said with a smile, "The flowers that are blooming right now are all male flowers."

In most melons, the male flowers bloom first. Artificial pollination after the female flowers bloom can improve the fruit set rate. Once pollination is successful and the fruit set is complete, the melon will enter a rapid growth period and can be harvested in about a month.

Distinguishing between male and female flowers in melons is very simple: the male flowers bloom first, and the female flowers bloom three to five days later.

The most obvious difference between the two is that the male flower only has a flower, while the female flower has a small, round, bulging fruit-like part under the flower base, about the size of a little finger.

After successful pollination, this small melon seed will grow rapidly and become the melon that people often eat.

If there is no pollination or pollination fails, the melon seedling will turn yellow, wilt, and eventually die in the next few days.

"Oh no! We have to wait a few more days! I want to eat it now!"

When Zhao Xiaoyue heard that she had to wait, she immediately became unhappy. She had been looking forward to it for so long, and she still couldn't eat.

"Ugh! It's so slow!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xiaole sighed like a little adult!

Zhao Shijie, Tian Qingshan, and the others were visibly disappointed.

"Don't worry! It'll be ready in two or three days. Once you see the flowers with small melons blooming, it'll be close to harvesting them. When the melons are ripe, you can eat your fill!"

Seeing the little ones' reactions, Zhao Shi'an couldn't help but laugh. He comforted everyone and made a promise.