She had been contemplating what she could do over the next couple of years to supplement the family income, especially since the Bai family was indeed quite poor.
With Bai Naihan, the only able-bodied worker, injured and requiring a few months of rest, someone in the family had to earn money and work credits.
Yun Qinghuan was well aware of her own limitations. With her small physique, even if she went to the fields to earn work credits, it wouldn’t amount to much. Moreover, she could end up exhausting herself. So, she had been thinking of finding a legal and profitable job.
In this era, one could engage in the black market to sell goods, but Yun Qinghuan was timid and unfamiliar with the strategies of the time. Taking the risk of engaging in illegal activities didn’t seem worth it.
Despite having learned various skills in her previous life, she found herself at a loss on how to use them to make money.
Now, seeing this serialized story, she suddenly knew how she could earn money.
In her past life, when she was an actress, she read numerous scripts daily to choose the ones she wanted to act in. She also read many novels and even wrote some during her middle and high school years to earn a bit of pocket money.
Although she didn’t make much money due to time constraints, and eventually stopped writing, her mind was filled with many stories, and she possessed a certain literary foundation.
She decided to try submitting her stories to earn some extra income.
However, the prevalent themes of this era were not romantic love but revolutionary friendship and nation-building. She needed to be careful not to deviate from the prescribed narrative, or she might be accused of promoting petit-bourgeois tendencies.
The themes she should write must all be positive, set against the backdrop of this era. Yun Qinghuan scratched her head in a bit of a dilemma, her eyebrows tightly furrowed.
Although it was challenging, she didn’t consider giving up. After all, she still wanted to work in the film and television industry in the future. As she aged, her acting roles may become limited, but she could transition into becoming a scriptwriter and director, fulfilling what she wanted to do in her past life.
Writing stories now was a form of early writing practice.
With this in mind, she bit the pen tip, looking at the notebook on the table, struggling to come up with ideas. Suddenly, her eyes lit up—she could write stories set against the backdrop of “educated youth” going to rural areas.
She could introduce challenges for the protagonist, have them overcome difficulties, and ultimately achieve the theme of young people going to the countryside for development. The rural areas could thrive under the guidance of these educated youth.
It was akin to the leveling-up and battling monsters theme in contemporary fantasy novels.
Deciding to write, she began with the female protagonist Lin Zhixia. After completing high school in the city, she originally planned to pack up and return home, preparing to work in the factory, thinking her future was already clear. However, at this moment, the school suddenly brought in a leader for promotion, announcing that the graduates could go to the countryside to contribute to rural development. Lin Zhixia was instantly filled with enthusiasm.
Although she was a female, the leader had emphasized that women could contribute just as much. During her school days, she excelled academically and hoped to make a difference in the future rather than follow the traditional path of marriage and childbirth like other female comrades. She wanted to take a different and extraordinary path.
So, upon hearing about the opportunity to go to the countryside for rural development, she was the first to sign up.
However, when her family found out, they strongly opposed it, believing that a young girl like her couldn’t endure hardships. Moreover, her parents thought that as a young girl, she should get married and have children when she reached a certain age. This became Lin Zhixia’s first obstacle in going to the countryside.
The story suddenly came to a halt at this point, surprisingly reaching three to four thousand words. Yun Qinghuan’s writing was excellent, combined with the well-structured plot, creating a desire to keep reading and find out what challenges Lin Zhixia would face and how she would overcome her parents’ opposition to going to the countryside. In short, it was full of suspense.
After reading through it, Yun Qinghuan felt satisfied, nodding in approval.
At this time, submitting manuscripts was done by hand, and Yun Qinghuan’s wrist began to ache from the fatigue. She rubbed her wrist, and when she looked up, she realized that it was already dark.
She had been too engrossed in writing. She quickly went to check on An’an beside her and found that he was no longer there. A paper with neatly written characters lay on the table, probably because he didn’t want to disturb her while she was busy.
She walked over, carefully examining the child’s writing. Although it wasn’t very neat, with some strokes appearing a bit crooked and lacking in strength, considering his young age and it being his first time writing, it was evident that he had put a lot of effort into it, and the letters were quite tidy.
Throughout the paper, there were traces of erasing and rewriting in several places. Some spots even had worn through due to frequent erasures.
Yun Qinghuan was pleased. Although the child’s handwriting wasn’t perfect, his attitude was upright. Upon inspection, she was surprised to find not a single mistake. Moreover, she could clearly see the improvement in his writing as it became neater towards the end.
Hearing voices in the courtyard, she quickly packed up and went outside. She saw that Liu Yuzhi had returned from the fields and was now preparing dinner.
Seeing Yun Qinghuan, Liu Yuzhi smiled, “Qinghuan, you’re out? The meal is ready, hurry up and get ready to eat.”
“Mom, you came back quite early today.”
Usually, when she went to work in the fields, she would work until it got dark to earn more work points. But today, she not only came back early but also had the meal ready.
Liu Yuzhi chuckled, “Indeed. It’s all thanks to the delicious lunch you made. You even packed so much for me. I ate well, and now I’m full of energy. I worked on my piece of land until the sun hadn’t set completely and earned a whole ten work points!”
She gestured proudly, showing off her achievement.
In this era, it was uncommon for women to earn a full quota of work points, while men usually did. Typically, Liu Yuzhi would earn around eight work points for good work.
Yun Qinghuan grinned, “Mom, you’re amazing!”
She gave her a thumbs up.
Liu Yuzhi laughed, her eyes squinting into slits.
Because there were still several pieces of the delicious flatbread left from the lunch Yun Qinghuan made, Liu Yuzhi directly steamed them, along with some fried winter melon.
The winter melon had a particularly refreshing aroma, so even though not much oil was used, it tasted quite good.
Originally, Liu Yuzhi planned to eat the steamed flatbread and leave the bun for them. However, Yun Qinghuan didn’t agree, “We each get one flatbread and one bun.”
As An’an was still young, he didn’t need to eat the bun; one flatbread was enough for him.
Liu Yuzhi didn’t argue and just smiled, but her smile deepened. When she thought about the things she heard while working in the fields, she looked at Yun Qinghuan with some concern.
Yun Qinghuan also noticed it. When Liu Yuzhi looked her way again, she raised her head in resignation, “Mom, is there something you want to say?”
Liu Yuzhi hesitated, “Did Lu Sunhua talk to you at noon?”
“Mom, did you hear something unpleasant?”
∞
Translator Note
Next release
– Dec. 25 (11pm)
(There’ll be extra chapters for Christmas. Stay tuned!)
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∞
- John 1:9-10
“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him…”
