The first class in the afternoon was politics. The teacher walked in with a smile, holding a stack of newspapers in his hand.

"Students, this is the first time we've had a political class in our college entrance exams. But don't be afraid, the principal has already applied to get us radios. Since we don't have textbooks, we'll have to learn from the news."

I have a newspaper from last December in my hand. Everyone's passing it around; after all, resources are limited.

Zhang Hongmei took the newspaper that was handed to her. Everyone was eager to learn, and their confusion about the new subject had finally given them a glimmer of hope, so they all wanted to seize it.

The teacher must be very satisfied with the student's attitude, otherwise they wouldn't always be smiling.

The bell rang, signaling the end of get out of class. "Alright, students, you can take these newspapers back to your dorms to read, but please take good care of them. After all, you've finished reading them, but the other students haven't. Okay, get out of class dismissed."

The second period is Chinese, the third period is history, and the last period is a self-study period.

The homeroom teacher came over again. "Classmates, we are now in our second year of high school, and our studies are very demanding. Therefore, we will have an hour of self-study time in the morning. I hope everyone will be on time."

After school, Zhang Hongmei rode her bicycle home. She still felt quite uncomfortable with spending the whole day in class without any breaks.

I had some dried radish filling steamed buns made outside for dinner. I'll have these for lunch tomorrow, but I didn't feel like eating dinner, so I ended up having a bowl of porridge for dinner.

Because a fire was lit at night, Zhang Hongmei slept outside.

I got up at five o'clock the next day, while it was still dark outside. I ate a plate of fried rice with eggs, drank a can of milk, grabbed two vegetable buns, and set off before six o'clock.

When I arrived at school at 6:10, all the teachers and classmates were already there. Since the classroom was dark even with the lights on, the teacher organized everyone to go to the playground to recite their lessons.

Zhang Hongmei experienced the tense atmosphere before the college entrance examination in her previous life again. It seems that no matter when or where, the college entrance examination is a crucial part of the process for students.

Breakfast is at 6:50, and class starts at 7:10.

The first class was math, and the teacher came in with the test papers.

"Classmates, this is yesterday's test paper. Overall, it was okay. Zhang Hongmei got a perfect score."

Upon hearing this name, everyone knew it was the girl's name; she was the only girl in the class.

"Now, please hand out the test papers. Everyone, look at your mistakes and summarize where you are lacking."

Our second-year high school curriculum tends to be fast-paced in its explanations of the textbook, so please be prepared. In this lesson, we'll focus on explaining the questions with the highest error rates.

In the second period of Chinese class, Zhang Hongmei scored 90 points, which was already quite an achievement.

The third period was politics, taught by the homeroom teacher. Since there were no textbooks yet, the teacher simply talked about recent news, which must have been quite a challenge for the teacher.

In the fourth period, history, the history teacher, though a woman, taught in a very rigid manner, and surprisingly, no students were sleeping. Zhang Hongmei was feeling drowsy and barely made it to the end of class.

While the other students went to eat, Zhang Hongmei secretly passed out a pack of wet wipes, wiped her hands, and ate a vegetable bun.

Some people eat quickly. When they returned to the classroom, they smelled the aroma of shredded radish. They must have used a lot of oil, otherwise how could there be such a strong aroma?

However, it wasn't appropriate for a boy to strike up a conversation with a female classmate. He thought to himself that everyone was talking about how this little girl didn't eat in the cafeteria because she was poor, but it turned out that she was well-off and brought her own food.

Indeed, just by looking at their rosy cheeks, you can tell they must have plenty to eat. Yet everyone says they can't afford to pay their share of grain.

They gradually returned, but no one went back to the dormitory to rest. They all stayed in the classroom to study. Their enthusiasm for learning was something that later generations of children could not match.

Zhang Hongmei was lying on the table, still not used to school life.

The teacher saw Zhang Hongmei lying on the desk as soon as she entered the classroom, but did not go over to call her. It is normal for the child to be tired at such a young age.

Zhang Hongmei now lives a regular life every day and is gradually getting used to it.

On Friday noon, Song Zigan came to find Zhang Hongmei and asked, "Hongmei, shall we go to the post office tomorrow?"

"Go ahead, we haven't gotten the newspapers yet. Without political books, we'll just have to listen and read more. You need to pay attention now." Zhang Hongmei regretted not asking Zhang Shouyi for help getting the newspapers.

“I know, I listen to the news and read the newspapers every morning now. Seeing your tragic experiences serves as a warning to me.”

"You're really something."

Where should I look for you tomorrow?

"At the post office at eight o'clock."

The next morning, Zhang Hongmei stayed in bed a little longer, got up at 6:30, carried two loads of water, ate breakfast, slung her bag over her shoulder, and set off on her bicycle.

When I arrived at the post office, I saw Song Zigan there on his bicycle, but the post office was not yet open.

Why are you here so early?

"I'm used to getting up early, and I don't have anything to do at home, so I came over," Song Zigan said nonchalantly.

"It's almost eight o'clock, and they'll be opening soon." Zhang Hongmei was uncertain whether she could get a reservation.

"It's okay if it's late, I'll treat you to lunch."

Zhang Hongmei looked at the boy helplessly, thinking to herself, "Does your mother know how generous you are?" "No need, you should be more frugal. Food is too scarce right now. Look at everyone on the street, they all look listless. That's because they're not getting enough to eat and have no energy."

"I have food coupons." Song Zigan was very unconvinced, perfectly portraying the eccentric teenager.

"You need to be frugal, because you might not be able to buy food even with ration coupons later. Be careful, young man." Zhang Hongmei unconsciously put herself into the role of a caring aunt again.

Song Zigan awkwardly turned his head away and ignored her.

The post office opened, and the two went in to inquire about the person; it turned out to be the director.

Zhang Hongmei explained her purpose: "Comrade Huang Ying, I wonder if it's possible to secure a reservation?"

"Since my brother has already asked you to come over, I'll definitely find a way to help you. Subscribing to a new one is impossible, but I can guarantee you'll get the newspaper every Saturday, this week's, of course. How about that?"

"Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you?"

"It's okay, the post office has its own quota, and my boyfriend's office also has one, so we can definitely get you the quota."

"Thank you so much! Can I come and pick it up every Saturday?"

"Sure, actually half of the meat last time was for me. I had just given birth then, and I haven't had a chance to thank you yet."

Zhang Hongmei quickly waved her hand, "No need to thank me, it's nothing."

“This is a big deal for us. I wonder if anyone in your village is still raising pigs this year? Look at me, people aren’t even getting enough to eat, where would we get the grain to feed the pigs?”

"Yes, people are starving, and no one can afford to raise pigs this year." Actually, some families in the village are still keeping their old sows, after all, they can't let the breed go extinct.