The timeline system has gone awry; they insist that steamed buns are a magic pill.

"The second round has begun."

In the same hour, Li Qingqiu found that this time the questions were mostly about applying what he had learned. Fortunately, he had taken the civil service exam before, so he didn't have much trouble answering them by combining the quotes with his knowledge.

"Luckily, I had a spirit-enhancing talisman on me."

Li Qingqiu finished the questions in about forty-five minutes. "I have to hurry over there, otherwise it will be hard to get a seat at the state-run restaurant after get off work."

"carry out an assignment."

Li Qingqiu stood up without hesitation.

"Wow, that was fast!"

Ma Xiaoli found it very difficult; she really didn't know how to solve some of the practical work-related problems. But when she looked up, Li Qingqiu had already handed in his paper. How could that be? Did this guy really finish writing?

Not to mention her, Han Guodong was equally surprised. This guy didn't just write it casually, did he?

Who cares?

Han Guodong felt his face burning with embarrassment at the thought of being called out by Ma Xiaoli on the notice board. Caiju didn't think there was anything wrong with his character; it was all Li Qingqiu's fault. Han Guodong hated Li Qingqiu so much that he gritted his teeth, wanting him to lose face.

When Han Caiju saw Li Qingqiu's ranking, she was quite surprised and even went to look at the exam paper. Li Qingqiu's score was actually only one point lower than that of a colleague from the county archives bureau, who was a model student of Quotations learning selected by the region.

"what?"

"Is it Li Qingqiu?"

"Why did he come out so quickly?"

Just as Han Caiju was about to follow, a middle-aged man grabbed Li Qingqiu. "Li Qingqiu, why did you come out so quickly?"

"I have something to take care of. Could you please check my grades, Director Ma?"

"What's up?"

"I need to go to the county agricultural technology station to pick up an award."

"Oh, look, I forgot."

"Are you coming back here for lunch?"

"No."

With that, Li Qingqiu waved and quickly left. Han Caiju was about to say a few words when Li Qingqiu vanished in the blink of an eye. "A prize?"

"What do you mean?"

Han Caiju wondered to herself, could it be that winning the quote competition led to someone else taking over?

Li Qingqiu jogged to the state-run restaurant, where he saw several maids squatting at the entrance. Upon closer inspection, he recognized them as Li Qingmei and a few others. "Why aren't you going in?"

"Third Brother, you've arrived."

Li Qingmei smiled sheepishly. "We're embarrassed."

"What's there to be embarrassed about? Let's go."

Li Qingqiu smiled and pulled the group into the state-run restaurant. The eldest sister initially snorted at Li Qingmei and the others' clothes, but when she looked up, she realized that the young man looked familiar. Wasn't this the young man who had ordered ten servings of fried meatballs?

The older sister toned it down a bit. This kid's got a sharp tongue. Oh well, she decided not to stoop to their level. They're just country bumpkins.

"Let's order."

Li Qingqiu thought to himself that it was good to arrive early, as there were still tables available. He let Li Qingmei and the others stand in the tables while he led Xian'an, Xianle, and the food-loving Yin Yi to order the dishes.

The menu for today is written on a small blackboard hanging in the window: stir-fried pork slices and stewed tofu. It looks pretty good.

"Two servings of stir-fried pork slices, two servings of stewed tofu."

Li Qingqiu glanced around. "Do you have any fried meatballs today?"

"no."

"Braised pork?"

"No, look at the blackboard yourself."

The older woman rolled her eyes. Li Qingqiu thought to himself, "She'll get a beating sooner or later for this attitude. She'll be out of a job sooner or later." "Anything else you want?"

"Five more pounds of rice."

"Issue the invoice."

"Two servings of stir-fried pork slices, two servings of stewed tofu, and five catties of rice."

The older sister did the math. "Two yuan and twenty cents, and two ounces of grain coupons per pound."

"Give."

Stir-fried sliced ​​meat costs 45 cents, stewed tofu costs 35 cents, rice costs 12 cents per pound, plus 2 ounces of grain coupons.

Li Qingqiu took the ticket and looked at it. There wasn't much else worth buying. In those days, state-run restaurants were quite simple, only cooking a few dishes a day.

"Third Uncle, didn't we order too much food?"

"Not many, there are so many of us."

When the four dishes were served, everyone around looked over. Goodness, only a few people ordered two meat dishes, they really spared no expense.

"Don't just stare at me while you eat," Li Qingqiu said, noticing Li Xian'an and the others staring at him with a forced smile.

Rice, stir-fried sliced ​​meat, and stewed tofu, especially the stewed tofu which had a few pieces of salted meat in it; otherwise, the price wouldn't be so high.

"It smells so good."

Li Qingmei, Li Xianjing, Xian'an, and Xianle were all eating out for the first time. At first, they were a little embarrassed, but now that they were eating, Li Qingqiu was worried that five catties of rice wouldn't be enough for them.

"If that's not enough, add two more pounds of rice."

Li Qingqiu felt in his pocket that he still had some grain coupons left, enough for the group to eat their fill.

"That's enough, that's enough, finishing this bowl is enough."

Xian'an and the others didn't even leave the stewed tofu broth behind. Fortunately, everyone was in the same boat these days. When eating at state-run restaurants, there was no such thing as leftovers. In this day and age, there was no need to promote the "clean plate campaign." The bowls and chopsticks were cleaned without even being licked.

"Did you enjoy your meal?"

"That feels good."

Xian'an and the others felt embarrassed; they had been so focused on eating that they had forgotten they were out.

"We've finished eating, let's go to the department store to digest our food."

Li Qingmei stood up, and one by one they walked out of the state-run restaurant with their heads held high and chests out.

"Third Uncle, that stir-fried pork slices smell really good."

"Of course, stewed tofu is delicious too."

Xian'an and Xianle were talking back and forth, their voices very loud, as if they were afraid others wouldn't hear them. Li Qingqiu was both amused and exasperated; young people like them were just like that.

"I'll bring you here again to eat fried meatballs; they'll taste even better."

"Really, Uncle, can we come back next time we're picking snow mushrooms?"

"Okay."

The snow mushrooms can be harvested several times, with a difference of about a week between each harvest. If you don't have anything to do before the New Year, it shouldn't be a problem to come to the county twice.

"Very good."

"Alright, let's go, let's go to the department store."

Li Qingqiu beckoned the others to follow.

It was Li Xianjing and her friends' first time entering a department store. They looked around, but unfortunately, these days everything was in the store and they couldn't touch it. Moreover, the sales staff's attitude was really bad, especially when they saw what Li Qingmei and her friends were wearing, they just kept turning their mouths down.

Having seen plenty of novelties in the city, Li Qingqiu led the group on a leisurely stroll. "Later, after we sell the snow mushrooms, we'll go to the black market and buy some tickets. We can buy whatever we like then."

"Third Uncle, can I buy a pair of shoes?"

"purchase."

"Not just shoes, I'll buy each of you a pair of Dacron shoes later."

Li Qingqiu said with a smile that Dacron is still wearable in the summer, at least the fit is good.

The group chatted and laughed, ignoring the salesperson's cold stares. Li Qingqiu was now just waiting to sell the snow mushrooms.

With the family pillar task completed, the public community check-in is now open. Go to the supply and marketing cooperative to check in whenever you have time; you might just get some good stuff like cloth coupons, non-staple food coupons, or even pastry coupons and candy coupons.

After the group had taken a stroll and learned a lot, it was almost two o'clock. Li Qingqiu told the others to continue their walk while he went to the county agricultural technology station.

"After I receive the award, we'll meet at the county revolutionary committee."

The county agricultural technology station wasn't far away. Li Qingqiu came over with the notification letter, and the gatekeeper led him inside.

"Register now."

"Hey, it's you?"

Li Qingqiu was also somewhat surprised, not expecting to run into an acquaintance at the agricultural technology station.

"Your name is Li Qingqiu, right?"

"It's me, you're Han Caiju's friend, Wu..."

Li Qingqiu thought to himself that the original owner of this body had a really bad memory.

"Wu Xiaoyue".

Wu Xiaoyue looked Li Qingqiu up and down. This man seemed a little different from the last time he came. His clothes were cleaner and no longer patched.

"I almost forgot, what brings you to the agricultural technology station?"

"I'm here for the year-end summary meeting."

Li Qingqiu handed the letter to Wu Xiaoyue, who took it with some confusion and glanced at it, then looked surprised. "An award?"

"Please wait a moment, I'll register you."

Unexpectedly, Li Qingqiu was among those recognized at the agricultural technology station's year-end awards ceremony for his outstanding contributions to enriching agricultural products. Wu Xiaoyue thought to herself, "Didn't Han Guodong say that Li Qingqiu was just an ordinary farmer? How could an ordinary farmer receive this award?"

Most importantly, the subsidies for this award are quite substantial. Not to mention the cash subsidy of five yuan, which is already the highest level that the agricultural technology station can offer, there are also a lot of subsidies for meat coupons, non-staple food coupons, and tobacco, alcohol, and pastry coupons.

"I'm afraid only Station Chief Wang can make that decision."

Wu Xiaoyue was just a junior staff member in the agricultural technology station's office, responsible for some simple tasks and rarely had contact with the station chief.

"Li Qingqiu, come with me."

In the past, the summary meeting would have been an awards ceremony, but now it's more low-key and they don't hold them anymore. When Wu Xiaoyue arrived at the conference room, she was surprised to find that Station Chief Wang was very hospitable to Li Qingqiu.

"What exactly did Li Qingqiu do?"

Wu Xiaoyue became even more curious, and she was still in a daze even after Li Qingqiu had received the award certificate and subsidy and left.

"You're leaving already?"

Wu Xiaoyue muttered to herself, "This Li Qingqiu seems a bit mysterious. Does Caiju know he came to the agricultural technology station to receive an award?"

"It's a pity, it moved too fast."

Wu Xiaoyue glanced at the courtyard gate and decided to ask Caiju after get off work.

Li Qingqiu was somewhat embarrassed by the amount of gifts Station Chief Wang had given him. In the end, he couldn't help but remind him about the stability of the snow mushroom strain. Station Chief Wang smiled and nodded, saying he would take note.

Li Qingqiu thought that the other party probably just ignored him. And that made sense. He was just a country bumpkin, how could the head of the county agricultural technology station listen to him? He seemed enthusiastic just now, but it was just to show that the snow mushroom had been recognized by the leaders. After all, he was the first person to discover the snow mushroom.

"never mind."

Li Qingqiu felt that no matter how much he said, people wouldn't take it seriously. Good words are useless against a damned devil. Let them do whatever they want. If problems arise, it has nothing to do with him. He had already said what he needed to say and advised what he needed to advise.

Back at the entrance of the Revolutionary Committee, Li Qingmei and the others had been waiting for quite some time.

"Third Brother."

"Third Uncle."

"Li Qingqiu, you're back."

Ma Xiaoli's expression was a bit strange, and her attitude was also a bit off. You know, this girl would always make sarcastic remarks or argue with her when she saw her, so why was she acting differently this time?

"What's wrong?"

"You're not regretting it now, are you? Let me tell you, a bet is a bet."

Li Qingqiu looked at Ma Xiaoli. "Don't try to play the victim and gain sympathy."

"you."

Ma Xiaoli opened her mouth. "Don't worry, you won't be shortchanged on your cloth coupons."

"That's good."

Comrade Li Qingqiu.

Ma Mingliang grabbed Li Qingqiu's hand. "Well done, tied for first place. If you hadn't left early, with just a little check, you probably would have won first place."

"First?"

"What's number one?"