I, Yan Jiefang, will live to 2025 in this courtyard house.

(There was a mistake earlier. Dongmianhua Hutong was renamed in 79. Before that, it was called Mianhua Hutong, but I'll just keep calling it that in this book and the new book. I'm too lazy to change it.)

Yan Jiefang's house is located very close to the drama academy, since they are in the same alley.

This alley is not long, reportedly only about 400 meters long, and you can easily walk through it in a few minutes.

After carefully inspecting the results of the repairs, Yan Jiefang readily paid the remaining balance.

Then he changed the lock on the room.

After all, it's always good to be cautious and wary of others.

Back at No. 95 courtyard, Yan Jiefang pulled Yan Jiekuang aside and handed him a key:

"Jie Kuang, I have a favor to ask you. I live in a house over at Mianhua Hutong. Do you remember the location?"

Yan Jiekuang took the key and nodded:

"I remember, it was in a courtyard diagonally opposite the drama academy."

"On sunny days, could you open the window for me early in the morning and close it after school in the evening to let the air out?"

"This is easy, Second Brother. Don't worry, leave it to me. I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

Yan Jiefang was quite at ease with his third son. The boy was very diligent in both his studies and his work, and he was sure to entrust this matter to him.

"Alright, then it's up to you!"

As he spoke, he took out a timeless fountain pen and two bottles of ink from his pocket (his spatial storage) and handed them to him.

"Jie Kuang, study hard, I'll be waiting for you at vocational school!"

Yan Jiekuang, gripping the object, nodded vigorously:

"Thank you so much, Second Brother! I will definitely live up to your expectations! I will definitely get into a vocational school! And I will become a successful person in the future!"

In this day and age, for an ordinary elementary school student, owning a genuinely brand-new Yong Sheng fountain pen is a matter of great pride and prestige in the class!

Even with Yan Jiekuang's composure, which surpasses that of ordinary children, he was still deeply moved at this moment.

In other words, Yan Jiefang was just an ordinary vocational school student who could only buy the Yong Sheng 612 ticket, which didn't require a ticket.

If he had an industrial ticket, he would definitely go straight for an Eternal Life 101 or Hero 100, which cost around 30.

In the courtyard, Yu Li, who was chatting with Liu Yuyan, felt a pang of resentment as she watched Yan Jiefang buy a fountain pen and ink for the third son.

At the beginning of the month, on the same day she married Yan Jiecheng, Xu Damao in the same courtyard also married Lou Xiao'e.

This naturally creates a comparison.

As a result, they only set up two tables in their front yard, and the dishes were not very presentable.

There was only one meat dish: braised cabbage with pork cracklings. Everything else was vegetarian, even stir-fried radish strips counted as a dish.

However, the Xu family in the backyard held an eight-table banquet, with six kinds of meat dishes alone, including braised pig's head, braised pork, four-happiness meatballs, braised pork hock, stir-fried three kinds of meat (pig kidney, pig liver, and lean meat), and braised ribbonfish.

The last dish was a fruit platter!

The head chef is a renowned chef like He Daqing.

This greatly shocked all the beasts in the courtyard, and almost everyone in the courtyard ran over to watch.

The spittle was practically flowing out of the river.

The backyard was bustling with activity, while the front yard was deserted.

What's worse, the father-in-law Yan Bugui and the mother-in-law Yang Ruihua both ran to the backyard!

If Yan Jiecheng hadn't pleaded so earnestly, the Yu family would have almost stormed off with their daughter.

Because of this incident, Yu Li felt inferior to everyone else in the courtyard.

Afterwards, Yan Jiecheng complained indignantly:

It's all the fault of the second brother, Yan Jiefang, for not lending them money; otherwise, how could their wedding have been so shabby?

Hearing this, Yu Li also felt that her husband was right.

You, Yan Jiefang, only earn 7 or 80 yuan a month, why don't you borrow money? What harm would it do to borrow a little money?!

Brothers, my foot! How can you act like a brother?

So when Yan Jiefang returned this time, Yu Li didn't even say hello.

It's not a nose, and it's not an eye.

Now, seeing him buy a new fountain pen for his third son makes me wonder, if you have money to buy a fountain pen for your third son, why don't you have money to lend us for our wedding?

Yan Jiefang noticed her attitude, but he always treated Yu Li as an insignificant passerby and didn't care about her thoughts at all.

...

On April 18th, the long-awaited live-fire target practice finally came to Class 1 of Radio Technology.

At 9:00 a.m. sharp, all the students boarded open-top Jiefang brand trucks and headed to the Wenquan Xishan shooting range.

(The original route was: Jiuxianqiao Dashanzi → Dongzhimen → Deshengmen → Beitaipingzhuang → Wenquan Xishan Shooting Range. The entire route was mostly suburban dirt roads. The speed of the Jiefang open-top truck was only about 30 kilometers per hour, and the one-way trip took about 1 hour.)

Everyone sang popular songs of the era, such as "Returning from Target Practice," with great excitement. ("Returning from Target Practice" was released in 1961 and became a nationwide hit.)

Yan Jiefang stood on the back of the truck, gripping the railing, looking at the somewhat desolate scenery on both sides of the road in the warm spring breeze, his heart filled with unease.

He had been waiting for this day for quite some time.

He has been looking forward to the live-fire target practice event ever since he learned about it last year.

About an hour later, the truck stopped outside the firing range.

There are soldiers guarding this place.

After all the students got off the bus, they lined up and walked two or three kilometers under the guidance of their homeroom teacher before officially entering the shooting range.

Unlike when Yan Jiefang went directly to the shooting range after the liberation, he did not go directly to the shooting range.

During this period, everyone was first issued Type 53 rifles without bullets, and then followed the instructors to learn how to disassemble the magazine and clean the barrel.

Yan Jiefang, like everyone else, squatted on the earthen slope and used a strip of cloth dipped in a small amount of gun oil to wipe the metal parts.

He could tell at a glance that the rifle in his hand was in good condition, without much damage, and could guarantee very accurate shooting.

He was fairly satisfied with the rifle.

Once everyone had learned enough, they would have to conduct an hour-long unarmed drill before the actual shooting.

Then comes the time to distribute the ammunition.

A row of soldiers from the armed forces stood next to the ammunition boxes and began to call out names and distribute ammunition.

...

"Yan Jiefang!"

"arrive!"

Yan Jiefang stood in front and took three bright yellow bullets from the soldiers of the armed forces department.

This is a 7.62mm full-power live round.

...

Once the ammunition is handed to you, you cannot load it immediately; you must follow instructions and proceed step by step.

Not long after, deafening gunfire rang out ahead.

There were a total of 5 target lines marked on the shooting range, and 5 students took turns each round.

The next group will only be allowed to play after they leave the field.

To Yan Jiefang's surprise, the scores were recorded during the target practice.

It was completely different from when he was in college and he just randomly fired shots.

Groups took turns playing, and each person scored a different number of points.

Some students who scored high shared their scores with their classmates with great excitement, while others who missed the target were dejected and silent.

Soon it was Yan Jiefang's turn. He lay down at his shooting position as called by the instructor.

Then, they quickly loaded the three bullets into the magazine.

Before the instructor could shout "Ready!", he unleashed a super critical hit on the rifle in his hand!