Chapter 32 Contribution
I stocked up on candies and other things, including a lot of brown sugar. There was a lot of white sugar and rock sugar in the space, and the quality was better than that of this period, but the taste of the brown sugar was worse than that of this era.
Although the production process of brown sugar nowadays may not be so good and it is easy to break, and there are some residues at the bottom when it is rinsed out, it has a strong sweet smell of sugarcane, and she likes it very much.
I also stocked up a lot of canned food. The canned food now has no additives, just water, fruit and sugar. Not much sugar, so it tastes sour and sweet.
The most important thing is that after eating, she can can fruit in her own space and put it in these cans.
Canned food is not cheap either. The price of canned fruit ranges from 50 to 80 cents, depending on the manufacturer and variety. But the canned food nowadays is in large bottles, which is within her acceptable range.
Canned meat and fish are more expensive, about 0.8 to 1.2 yuan a bottle, and a can weighs about 20 to 30 taels. Add the money to exchange for these receipts, it is indeed not cheap.
People who live a normal life probably wouldn't be willing to eat it except during the New Year holidays.
But she is not a normal person. As long as she can get tickets, she will buy them without hesitation.
In addition to eating, drinking and having fun, she is also a person who can do serious work.
These days she traveled all over Yang City and submitted two articles to Fang Zheng's newspaper, which respectively described the spiritual outlook and living habits of the people of Yang City, and the urban development of Yang City. In summary, under the leadership of the country, all aspects are getting better and better.
She deliberately used a back door and delivered the manuscript directly to Fang Zheng's desk.
There is nothing wrong with the whole article. It has a clear political direction and is very good at flattery.
Fang Zheng gave her some pointers on the details of the press release. After all, a press release is different from an essay, and some parts cannot be too wordy. After a slight revision, it was adopted.
The newspaper's remuneration ranged from 2 to 8 yuan per thousand words. Fang Zheng went to the Finance Department and proposed 4 yuan per thousand words to her, earning a total of 6.2 yuan.
This was the pen name Fang Zheng had suggested to her several times, but she insisted on calling herself "Aspiring Young Man Xia Zhizhi," so Fang Zheng just let her go with it.
After receiving the royalties, she treated Fang Zheng and Fang Yuan, brother and sister, to a meal at a restaurant. The three of them ordered a plate of green pepper and dried tofu for 80 cents, twice-cooked pork for 9.4 ounces, grilled small mixed fish for 40 cents, and spinach and egg soup for 20 cents.
The price of dried tofu is now as high as that of meat. After all, to produce one pound of dried tofu, you need several pounds of beans, so the cost is there.
Three dishes, one soup, and the staple food cost her less than three yuan, plus half a catty of meat coupons and half a catty of grain coupons. No coupons were required for small miscellaneous fish, as there were many rivers and lakes here, and this dish could often be seen.
After dinner, Fang Zheng asked her if she would consider working at a newspaper in the future.
The newspaper basically does not recruit workers from the society. If there are occasional vacancies, one or two positions must be filled and recommendations from acquaintances are required. After all, working here is different from working in a factory, and one must have some level of skills.
The two manuscripts she wrote were quite good, and it seemed like she could make a living in this field. If Xia Zhizhi had this intention, he could help recommend her if there was a vacancy in the future. As for whether she could pass the exam, it would depend on her ability.
Xia Zhizhi must be happy in her heart, but since she has finally traveled through time, how can she not go to the countryside? If she doesn't go to the countryside, how can she make her own efforts for the development and construction of the motherland?
All of the above are false.
Mainly, she traveled to this peaceful era, and in exchange she had to complete some tasks that a female supporting role should complete.
She neither agreed nor refused, but just said that she still had more to learn.
Fang Zheng gave her the submission addresses for the Provincial Newspaper and the Haishi Metropolitan Newspaper, and encouraged her to write more, submit more, and try more. Finally, he comforted her, saying that both of these newspapers belong to large newspapers, and the editors receive a lot of emails every day. It is normal to be rejected sometimes, so she should not get discouraged easily.
He had a classmate who worked at those two newspapers, so he sent her a letter, saying that if Xia Zhizhi's manuscript was accepted, she would be given preferential treatment. He had met this friend of his younger sister several times and liked her very much, so he was willing to take care of her more.
Xia Zhizhi wrote two articles and submitted them separately. The one in the provincial capital was published, and the newspaper and the manuscript fee were sent back to her. The one in Haishi was returned. In line with the principle of not wasting, she turned around and sent it to the provincial capital. As a result, it was also selected. The manuscript fee of the provincial capital newspaper was 4 to 10 yuan per thousand words. The first draft was calculated as 6 yuan, and the second was calculated as 8 yuan. It was really a considerable income. [Baby, there was no manuscript fee during the wg period. During the period, I was always paid with books, notebooks, stationery, etc., and it was not until 1978 that the manuscript fee was restored]
She guessed that it was because Fang Zheng had stronger connections in the provincial capital, but of course it was also due to her excellent writing skills.
As a thank you, she gave Fang Zheng a headband, a retro green headband decorated with small beige flowers.
Fang Zheng didn't ask her why she gave him a women's product as a thank-you gift. She accepted it without much hesitation and looked quite happy.
She had never seen this headband on Fang Yuan's head, and she knew where it had gone.
Later, she stopped submitting more works because she would get her diploma in two days. Li Dongmei said with a smile that she would take her to the provincial capital to buy her two nice clothes. She also knew that the time had come to kill the pig.
It was such a waste of time to go with Li Dongmei. She said she wanted to go with her classmates and asked for money directly. Li Dongmei gave her 100 yuan and some cloth coupons and industrial coupons. From the way she spent the money so happily, I knew she had taken a lot of kickbacks.
Xia Zhizhi did not let Li Dongmei accompany her. She went to the street office to get a letter of introduction on her own, using the reason of visiting relatives. The letter was valid for seven days.
When the comrades in the office stamped her seal, she used her mental power to outline the shape of the seal, and then printed it on a sandbox specially found in the space. She then injected glue and waited for it to cool down before using it.
Even though it is not needed for the moment, it will definitely be useful in the future. She has always been an expert at being prepared.
She bought a ticket and went directly to Shanghai. It was a rare opportunity, so how could she not go for a stroll.
It is less than 300 kilometers from Yangshi to Shanghai, which is about the same distance as going to the provincial capital. I bought a hard seat ticket, which cost 2.3 yuan. Taking a train is not cheap nowadays. A hard seat of 100 kilometers costs nearly one yuan, not to mention a sleeper berth, which is more than doubled.
She packed her money, carried her small bag, and went out happily. It was impossible for classmates to go find each other, so she had to go by herself.
She took the bus to the train station. Trains were generally delayed at this time, so she arrived on time. She went to the platform to ask and found out that she had to wait another half an hour.
Yangshi Railway Station is not big, and there are quite a few people in the waiting hall. The sour smell of people and the faint smell of stinky feet mixed together, the air is very polluted, coupled with various noisy voices and the sound of children screaming, it is like a 360-degree attack from all sides.
She held her breath and ran to the platform and stood there. The air was not that turbid, but she could see her poop on the tracks.
Life is not easy, Zhizhi sighed.
The platform staff saw her standing there without moving and came up to her and said, "The train hasn't arrived yet. Go back to the waiting hall and wait."