Siheyuan: Return to the Era of Prosperity

Chapter 38 Submission
Shen Zhiyu copied his report again. He thought about submitting it and giving it a try. If it was selected, he could get some royalties.

The next three years were filled with disasters. The extra income also helped us avoid the attention of the beasts.

After spending more than an hour copying the report, Shen Zhiyu added some fire to the stove, covered his naughty brother with a quilt, and went to rest.

The next day, it was just dawn.

Shen Zhiyu and his two siblings quietly left the courtyard with paper money and other items and walked towards the suburbs.

Although the country has not banned visiting graves at this time, Shen Zhiyu still doesn't want too many people to know about it. Who knows if someone will bring it up later.

When the four of them arrived at their parents' grave in the suburbs, the sun had just come out and the weather was cold.

The four of them knelt in front of the grave, burning incense and paper, kowtowed and bowed. Shen Zhiyu prayed silently in his heart and promised the two elders that he would raise his younger brothers and sisters to adulthood.

After the memorial service, Shen Zhiyu left the suburbs with his younger brother and sister, whose eyes were as red as rabbits from crying.

"For your parents, you have to study hard and try to get into a technical secondary school or university, okay?" Shen Zhiyu reminded them again with concern.

"Brother, we will definitely study hard!" said sister Shen Zhifang solemnly.

Shen Zhihua and Shen Zhiwen also nodded to show that they understood.

Shen Zhiyu was quite pleased with his younger brothers and sisters' understanding. After a few months of getting along with them and accepting the original owner's feelings, he already regarded them as his own brothers and sisters.

Shen Zhiyu said to the three people: "Brother will take you to eat Donglaishun later."

Shen Zhifang frowned and said, "Brother, let's save some money. You are not a child anymore and you have to get married!"

Shen Zhiyu touched the little adult's head with a smile and said, "It's okay, you still have to eat and keep up with the nutrition. I have three little burdens now, so it's difficult to get married for the time being. But as long as you study hard, you can all get into a technical secondary school and have a job. At that time, good girls will not be chosen by me, so for my brother to get married, you three should also study hard."

"Ah."

The three of them nodded in tacit understanding.

Shen Zhiyu was a little dumbfounded. He was just joking with the three of them, but they seemed to take it seriously.

However, it can be considered an unintentional good deed if it can encourage them to study hard from now on.

To be honest, Shen Zhiyu is not in a hurry to get married. The original owner was born in 1941 and is only 17 years old now. It's still too early!
The four brothers and sisters chatted and said sweet words to each other and finally arrived at Donglaishun at around 11 o'clock in the morning.

The Donglaishun gate was open at this time, but there was almost no one there.

Shen Zhifang and the other two had never been to such a large restaurant before, and they felt a little restrained and uncomfortable.

After finding a small table for four people, Shen Zhiyu shouted to the waiter, "Excuse me, let's eat."

"Order!" A waiter threw the menu in front of Shen Zhiyu.

The service quality was really bad. Shen Zhiyu wanted to say something but didn’t say anything in the end.

These days, all waiters have connections, and there are no "No beating of customers" signs posted on the walls. Shen Zhiyu can only ignore this kind of phenomenon and not be annoyed.

"Two pounds of mutton, two pounds of cabbage, one pound of vermicelli, and eight steamed buns." Shen Zhiyu said after looking at the menu.

There were not many people eating at that time, so the dishes were served quickly. Not long after Shen Zhiyu ordered, they were all served.

"Let's eat some mutton first." Shen Zhiyu picked up a piece of mutton with chopsticks and demonstrated to his younger brothers and sisters.

The three of them were hungry and cold, so they followed Shen Zhiyu's example and ate mutton hotpot, which was very enjoyable.

It is said that Donglaishun's shabu-shabu mutton is fat but not greasy, lean but not dry, cooked in one shabu-shabu, and not overcooked for a long time. It tastes neither smelly nor greasy, and is delicious. It is indeed true. Shen Zhiyu tasted it once when he traveled to Sijiu City in his previous life. I don't know if it is because there are fewer good things to eat now, or for other reasons, the shabu-shabu mutton now feels very different from that in later generations.

The four brothers and sisters ate up all the meat, vegetables and steamed buns in no time.

My younger brothers and sisters even had a taste of the hot pot soup.

The waiter seemed to be accustomed to this situation, which made Shen Zhiyu very panicked.

It is indeed not the era of great material abundance like in the future. Many people still do not have enough food to eat and are at risk of starving to death. It is also unknown when hybrid rice will be successful.

No one knew how the country survived the three years of natural disasters. According to official figures from later generations, the population dropped by more than 10 million in three years, which is truly terrifying.

Shen Zhiyu had the will but not the strength, and he could only live his life well, but he still felt upset inside.

After leaving Donglaishun, he sent his younger brothers and sisters back to the Siheyuan and left them at home to study.

Shen Zhiyu washed up, took his report, and rode his bicycle to the Sijiucheng Science and Technology Newspaper Office.

After arriving at the newspaper office, he remembered that today was Sunday. There was almost no one in the office except for a few staff on duty.

"Hello, comrade. I'd like to submit an article. Who should I contact?" With a hopeful mentality, Shen Zhiyu asked a middle-aged man on duty.

"Young man, go find Xiao Gao. He works in the newspaper business and I'm just a janitor," said the uncle.

"Thank you, comrade!" Shen Zhiyu handed the uncle a Daqianmen, and he went to look for the Xiaogao that the uncle mentioned.

Xiao Gao is a member of the newspaper's implementation program and stays at the office on weekends to collect manuscripts.

"Comrade, are you submitting a manuscript?" the tall and thin man asked Shen Zhiyu.

"Yes, comrade, but who should I look for?" Shen Zhiyu replied.

The tall and thin man smiled and said, "Please leave your manuscript and contact information. The editor-in-chief will read it tomorrow. Whether it can be approved or not needs the editor-in-chief's approval. Please pay attention to purchasing the Ministry of Science and Technology recently. If it is published, you can come to the newspaper office to collect the manuscript fee. If it needs to be revised, we will contact you."

Shen Zhiyu took out a cigarette and said, "Excuse me, I'm Shen Zhiyu, a statistician in the production technology department of the steel rolling mill."

After leaving the manuscript, Shen Zhiyu went to the Huaqing University Library. Their school has a very rich collection of books and is also the best place to receive cutting-edge foreign science.

Today's Huaqing students are completely different from those in later generations. They have an ideal and passion to change the face of China, and they work hard to achieve this.

Shen Zhiyu found a book on management and began to read it carefully. He could quickly get into the state of reading and was immersed in it all of a sudden. He left reluctantly only when the staff urged him to leave when the library was about to close.

When he left Huaqing University, night had already fallen. Shen Zhiyu endured the hunger and found a small restaurant, ate a little, and then rode his bicycle back home.

He hurried home, but when he got home the gate of the courtyard was already closed and he could only knock on the door.

"Who is it?" shouted the third uncle Yan Bugui.

"Uncle, it's me, Shen Zhiyu." Shen Zhiyu replied. To be honest, he really didn't want to deal with them, but living in a slum was different from living in an apartment building, so he had to deal with his neighbors, otherwise he would be accused of destroying unity.

"Where have you been? Why are you back so late?" The third uncle asked, shivering in his fur coat.

Shen Zhiyu lifted the bicycle over the door frame and explained, "I was reading in the Huaqing University Library and forgot the time. I'm sorry to bother you today."

Yan Bugui locked the door again and replied, "It's getting late. You should go to bed soon. Don't come back so late in the future."

Shen Zhiyu nodded and pushed his bicycle back home.

(End of this chapter)