Shen Zizhen fell silent.
For the past decade, resources were scarce, and grain supplies couldn't keep up.
Although things had improved slightly in the last two years, allowing people to barely eat their fill, eating well was still a distant dream.
After returning to teach at the university, he had dedicated himself to nurturing students who were professionally inclined and willing to delve into agricultural research.
However, it was regrettable that, to date, apart from Su Sangong, no one more suitable had been found.
Xiao Mei, while capable, diligent, and willing to learn, lacked a certain insight and spark.
Xiao Tian might be a good choice, but she was only in her first year of high school.
Furthermore, given Xiao Tian's academic performance, she would undoubtedly aim for more than just an agricultural university in the future.
Such an outstanding and exceptional child deserved to attend a top-tier university.
"Elder, please rest assured, we will work hard. In the future, everyone in our country will be able to eat white rice and white flour, and have meat every day," Shen Zizhen vowed earnestly.
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Zizhen remembered that Xiao Tian had said something similar many times before.
Xiao Tian had even predicted that the economy would take off in the coming years, and the people's living standards would significantly improve.
By then, not only white rice and white flour, but also meat at every meal would be possible.
"This old man will wait!" the elder said with a happy smile.
Shen Zizhen secretly resolved to work hard to cultivate new varieties of grain seeds, for the sake of the smile on the elder's face.
At the school.
Dozens of examination halls were filled with students diligently writing.
Those who dared to participate in today's exam were all truly capable individuals, and the atmosphere in the examination halls was naturally even more tense.
In the morning, Chinese and Mathematics were tested, and the papers were distributed together.
The two subjects were tested consecutively, with a total examination time of three and a half hours, without any breaks.
Some teachers had previously suggested that the examination intensity was too high and that children of this age could not endure it.
However, Principal Yu of Seventh Middle School insisted that their school was selecting the best from the best, and that a spirit of hard work and perseverance was essential.
Principal Yu had even said that the gifted class was for exceptionally intelligent children, and such children, being bright from a young age, might indulge in play.
Su Xiao Tian was in examination room seven, working on her mathematics paper.
Su Xiao Tian was very familiar with these questions and answered them smoothly. She could write directly without much thought.
The female invigilator, observing Su Xiao Tian's rapid pace, strongly suspected that the student was not understanding the material but merely filling in the paper mechanically, writing whatever came to mind.
Because of this thought, the invigilator looked upon Su Xiao Tian with a degree of disdain.
She hadn't expected such an unlearned student to be present at this examination.
"Teacher Li, look at that student. She probably doesn't know anything and is just writing randomly."
The male teacher, referred to as Teacher Li, followed the direction indicated by the female teacher and noticed a girl writing at a very fast pace.
He frowned.
After staring at Su Xiao Tian for a while, Teacher Li shook his head slightly.
"Teacher Zhao, I don't think so. Look at the student's expression; it doesn't seem like she's writing randomly."
Teacher Zhao also turned her gaze to Su Xiao Tian's face and indeed found that Su Xiao Tian's expression was exceptionally serious.
So, this child truly knew the material?
But the questions this time, she had glanced at them earlier and found them challenging, requiring extensive calculations at the very least.
"Teacher Zhao, you can go and take a look," Teacher Li said softly.
After nodding, Teacher Zhao casually walked past Su Xiao Tian's desk, intentionally taking a few more glances.
As she looked, she was surprised to find that the child was indeed working on the problems, just at a very fast pace.
This was an agile child; otherwise, she wouldn't be able to write so quickly.
Oh, it wasn't just about writing fast; it was about thinking fast.
As Teacher Zhao watched for a while longer, she discovered that Su Xiao Tian's answers were all correct, without any issues.
She couldn't help but smile and nod approvingly.
This scene was observed by a girl not far behind Su Xiao Tian.
That girl looked at Su Xiao Tian, who was writing with divine inspiration, with a venomous gaze.
This girl was none other than Xiao Rui.
Xiao Rui, having overheard Su Xiao Tian and her companions' conversation at the school gate, especially seeing a handsome young man standing beside Su Xiao Tian, was consumed by jealousy, making her feel unbearable.
She had originally intended to suppress those she disliked in this exam, particularly preventing her from enrolling smoothly.
But she hadn't expected this annoying girl to actually be good at studying, even earning a nod from the invigilator.
No, she couldn't allow this to happen.
After the exam, she would go to her father and ask him to intervene.
In any case, this girl couldn't attend Seventh Middle School.
She was determined to find a way to approach that handsome and charming young man. Such doting and affectionate gazes should only be for her, not for other girls.
At this moment, Xiao Rui didn't consider that Su Xiao Tian might be someone she couldn't touch, nor did she consider that Chi Yiyuan might not even notice her.
Su Xiao Tian was unaware that someone behind her was consumed by jealousy and plotting to play dirty tricks.
She was concentrating intently on answering the questions.
Even though she had never doubted the outcome of this exam, facing every exam with full effort was her consistent habit.
In just forty minutes, Su Xiao Tian finished the extremely lengthy exam paper.
The exam paper had a massive volume of questions, and when it was designed, the school didn't expect the students taking the exam to be able to complete it.
After all, the last two major questions exceeded the previously defined scope.
This resulted in many students being unable to finish.
The school did this to select more outstanding students.
For the gifted class, they only wanted the very best.
Moreover, the consecutive testing of two subjects with a huge volume of questions also tested the children's ability to prioritize.
Spending too much time on the mathematics paper would inevitably drag down their Chinese scores.
Su Xiao Tian folded the mathematics paper and set it aside, then began answering the Chinese paper.
Teacher Zhao couldn't help but walk over and look at the paper Su Xiao Tian had folded and placed aside.
The exposed part of the paper showed the last two major questions.
After a brief glance, Teacher Zhao felt that Su Xiao Tian's solutions to these two major questions were correct.
However, the methods of solving them were somewhat different from the usual approaches.
Su Xiao Tian didn't notice the invigilators repeatedly stopping by her desk and carefully examining her answers.
She was fully focused on completing the Chinese paper.
Compared to mathematics, answering the Chinese paper took a bit longer.
Especially when it came to the reading comprehension and essay sections at the end, where there was no room for shortcuts. One had to read word by word and write word by word.
Fortunately, extensive reading had cultivated Su Xiao Tian's speed-reading ability.
Su Xiao Tian read very quickly, almost twice as fast as others.
She read and answered the questions diligently.
Teacher Zhao couldn't help but nod again upon seeing Su Xiao Tian's neat and elegant handwriting.
This child was indeed outstanding.
Meanwhile, Xiao Rui, sitting behind Su Xiao Tian, was repeatedly disturbed and couldn't even concentrate on answering the questions.
She wished her gaze could kill, wishing she could pierce two holes in Su Xiao Tian's back with her eyes.
After walking around the classroom several times, Teacher Zhao finally noticed that Xiao Rui hadn't even finished her mathematics paper.
She gently tapped on the desk.
Xiao Rui finally came to her senses. She had spent too much energy focusing on that annoying girl, which had delayed her own exam.
She quickly bent down and began to answer the questions diligently.
However, shortly after she started answering, Su Xiao Tian had already completed both papers.
And at this point, it had only been two hours since the exam began.
Teacher Zhao and Teacher Li looked at Su Xiao Tian folding both papers and placing them aside, exchanging glances.
With such speed in answering, and seemingly not wanting to check her work, did this child feel confident that she had done everything correctly?
And Su Xiao Tian, under the watchful eyes of the two invigilators, bowed to them and left the examination hall.
Xiao Rui's composure, which had finally settled, was instantly disrupted again. Was this darn girl really this formidable?
How could she finish the questions so quickly?
Although she had left the examination hall, the school gates were not yet open as others were still taking their exams.
Seventh Middle School was, after all, a school in the capital, and its teaching environment was incomparable to the County No. 1 Middle School she had attended before.
Compared to the County No. 1 Middle School, this place was like a landscape of lakes and mountains. There was even a stream within the campus, beside which stood an ancient and elegant pavilion nestled amidst lush green trees.
Su Xiao Tian strolled over and found a comfortable spot in the pavilion to sit.
Being close to the stream, it was cooler here than in other places, which Su Xiao Tian liked very much.
She took out a new book from the system library.
After taking out the book, Su Xiao Tian was dumbfounded. What was this operation?
It turned out to be a cookbook!
"Shanjia Qinggong"?
Su Xiao Tian had never heard of this book!
With a hint of doubt, Su Xiao Tian opened the book.
Unexpectedly, the content of the book quickly drew Su Xiao Tian in.
After reading the preface, Su Xiao Tian gained a deeper understanding of the book.
"Mountain dwelling steamed chestnuts are warm, wild rice serves new elk."
This book mainly introduced the dishes served to guests in mountain dwellings, focusing primarily on vegetarian cuisine.
The ingredients for the dishes in the book were mostly common vegetables, wild vegetables, flowers and fruits, and grains, with a small selection of poultry, game, and fish.
The ingredients were ordinary, but the cooking methods were ingenious, with many dishes being innovative and unique.
In fact, the book also contained many dishes prepared with traditional Chinese medicine.
Initially, when Su Xiao Tian saw the wild vegetables of the mountain dwelling, she thought that the vegetarian dishes recorded in this book did not align with current dietary choices.
However, after seeing the later dishes that were almost medicinal, Su Xiao Tian felt that she had struck gold this time.
She had to memorize this cookbook completely and gradually add these dishes to Yiming Pavilion, making them the signature dishes of Yiming Pavilion.
Su Xiao Tian read the book diligently, and time passed very quickly.
It seemed like only a blink of an eye before she heard the bell.
The morning examination was over!
Su Xiao Tian subtly put the book back into the system library and then stood up and walked towards the school gate.
As Su Xiao Tian was nearing the school gate, she saw two people ahead.
[Author's Note]
Tomorrow is Valentine's Day, and I'm giving you all a Valentine's Day gift. There's another chapter update today!