Chapter 1: The Willow is Dark and the Flower is Bright Section 2: Newspaper

  The three people's conversation was not loud, but since Zhuang Jihua was relatively close and had good hearing, he heard a few sentences of their conversation. Zhuang Jihua found it amusing - what were these two men's names? Ji Shi, Duo Sheng, or Chao Sheng? He also felt that eavesdropping was unethical, and besides, they were talking about some Mr. something, good people and bad people, which he couldn't make sense of. So he turned around to look at the street view, scanning it with his eyes, but immediately turned back, staring blankly at a stack of papers in front of him - he was certain that it was definitely a newspaper.

  A person who grew up in the information explosion era, came to an era with almost no information, the most painful and miserable thing is that they can't get any information. In his era, paparazzi were everywhere, newspapers, magazines, networks, anything with news value on this planet would spread across the network within 12 hours and be known worldwide within 24 hours.

  Today, the main purpose of coming to town is to find news, specifically to find newspapers. Unfortunately, there isn't even a post office in town, and literate people are scarce. From his newly recognized parents, he only knows that it's currently the 13th year of the Republic, and other than that, it's all about events within a 20-mile radius: the pig at the eastern house, the chicken at the western house, the daughter-in-law at the southern house, the son at the northern house, etc. Oh dear, what year is the 13th year of the Republic in the Gregorian calendar? What happened that year and what will happen are all a blank slate for someone who started receiving an American education from the age of 12.

  He had been trying to get news from the neighbors, the Zhuang villagers, after he gave up on the world, the country, the province, the city and the county. After seeing much and knowing much, the son of the village elder, Man Cang, talked with him for a few sentences about recent events in the countryside. Finally, he saw the newspaper... the legendary newspaper.

  He hastily lowered his head, picked up the tea bowl, took a few sips of tea, and calmed down. Seeing that the three people were chatting enthusiastically, he didn't want to go forward immediately, so he focused on tasting the osmanthus cake and small su biscuits; it turned out that he was also hungry, and in the morning before leaving the house, he had drunk two bowls of thin porridge, which had long since disappeared. The Zhuang family was not considered one of the poorest in the village, but they only had three mu of paddy fields. Due to the lack of labor force, they could only rent land from the landlord in the village. In fact, according to the generation order, it was also Zhuang Lai Shun's third uncle who rented four mu, two mu of paddy fields and two mu of dry land, which was also given at a discount by Zhuang San Shu because of his same surname. When he heard his parents say "discount", Zhuang Jihua was surprised and puzzled, that is, 70% of the rent, his stepmother explained that there were few people in the family, lacking labor force, and no cattle, the landlord would worry about not being able to take care of it, like their situation, generally only willing to rent two mu of dry land, it was also his third uncle who was willing to do so because of his same surname. Even with these four mu of fields, the family's annual income was only 6-7 shi of grain, and after deducting the cost of renting cattle, paying taxes, etc., the family could only save 4-5 shi of grain. As for how many kilograms one shi was, his stepmother stared blankly with her eyes wide open, unsure. The food was not enough, and as long as the Zhuang family didn't have labor-intensive work like farming, they mainly ate thin porridge, no buns? No, so he got hungry very early every day, and it made him miss the junk food of McDonald's and KFC in later generations.

  Now these two dim sum might be difficult to attract his appetite in the future, but for now... they will disappear into his stomach in a moment. After drinking a few mouthfuls of tea, he feels a bit full and turns his head to look at the three people at the table, where Glasses is talking about the local deity, Gu Valley God. After listening for a while, Zhuang Jihua suddenly feels amused because Bald Head and Suit seem uninterested in Glasses' words, but Glasses doesn't seem to notice, still speaking with great enthusiasm and interest.

  Here is the translation:

  It had been a while, and Glasses seemed to have realized he was singing solo, so he listlessly picked up his tea. An opportunity arose, and Zhuang Jihua was always good at seizing opportunities - otherwise, how could he have risen from product manager to regional sales manager in just two years? He stood up and walked directly towards the three men, but was immediately stopped by a pair of powerful arms. The attendants had been watching him all along, and his actions had already fallen into their sights, so as soon as he approached, they blocked his way. Zhuang Jihua was taken aback - although he had noticed that these people were the three men's attendants, he hadn't expected them to block his path. He thought his actions were harmless, but what he didn't know was that it was precisely because of this lack of malice that they only stopped him; otherwise, something even more astonishing would have happened.

  Three people saw their own attendants blocking this young man, not knowing what happened, and the glasses were a bit surprised. Looking at this person with his own eyes, he shouldn't be an assassin or something. So he asked: "What's wrong? Is there anything going on?"

  "I'm sorry, sir. I just wanted to ask you something. I didn't mean to disturb you... Your subordinate is truly sorry, please forgive me." Zhuang Jihua felt that he was a bit rash, so his tone was very respectful.

  "Oh, they're not under me, I'm not that capable." The glasses-wearing person said with a smile. "What do you want to ask?"

  "It's that newspaper, I don't know if the gentleman has finished reading it, if he has, can he lend it to me?" Zhuang Jihua pointed to the stack of newspapers on the table and added: "I'm willing to buy it at the original price, or even twice the price."

  Ugh... The glasses were almost choked by a mouthful of water, and the suit burst out laughing. "Mr. Jingjiang is so prosperous that others are looking for business everywhere, but you can even get business while drinking tea." The bald head still had a dull expression.

  Zhuang Jihua saw them laughing at him but didn't get angry. He knew that if someone were in his shoes, they would have the same expression. It's just that he really wanted to see that newspaper and couldn't be bothered with anything else. "If Mr. hasn't finished reading it, may I borrow it to take a look? I'll read it right here and return it to you immediately." Zhuang Jihua addressed him as "Mr." without getting angry, which left the three of them somewhat surprised.

  He was a straightforward person, picked up the newspaper and was about to hand it over to him, but suddenly put it down and said: "Are you looking for any news that is important to you?"

  He asked Zhuang Jihua with some surprise, thinking that the other party would ask why he didn't go to buy it. He had also thought of an answer, but after a moment's thought, this person must know the situation in this town, so he said frankly: "Nothing, just want to know what happened outside these few months?"

  "Oh?!" The glasses looked somewhat suspicious.

  "I haven't been back from America for long, and I don't have many friends in the country. Due to illness, I've been bedridden for several months, cutting off all news from the outside world. I really want to know what's going on outside, and newspapers are the best way to gather information."

  What he said was beyond the expectation of the three, especially when he said that newspapers were the best channel for gathering information, this view is a bit novel and his idea is quite strange.

  "It's interesting, it's interesting." The glasses said and handed over the newspaper.

  "Thank you so much, sir." Zhuang Jihua took the newspaper and turned back to his own seat.

  He opened the newspaper and finally knew he was in 1924. There were many news reports, including Sun Yat-sen's alliance with Russia, denouncing Cao Kun's bribery election, a famous actor performing at Shanghai's Great World, etc. The layout was simple, only four pages, with traditional Chinese characters, but this didn't stump him. In his later years, one of his neighbors was from Taiwan and they got along well, borrowing many books from them, so he was familiar with traditional Chinese characters. However, he never thought that this skill would come in handy here. He carefully read through the pages, reading each one multiple times, and on the advertising page, he found an ad that shocked him:

  "Whampoa Military Academy Recruitment Brochure"

  This school is established for the purpose of training revolutionary army officers and completing national revolution. It specially recruits military students and provides them with military education.

  2. The enlistment period for new recruits is one month. After the expiration of this period, those who pass the examination will be promoted to become students of this school, studying military science and graduating in one year.

  3. Applicants must, before March 25th, bring three 2-inch half-body photos, a middle school diploma or equivalent, and their party membership certificate or an introduction letter from the local party branch, to register at either the Guangzhou "Chinese Nationalist Party Central Executive Committee Provincial Office" or the Shanghai "Chinese Nationalist Party Shanghai Executive Department" (party membership certificates will be verified and returned on the spot, diplomas will be returned after the exam).

  4. The qualifications of the applicants are as follows:

  Age: 18 years old and above, 25 years old and below.

  B、Education: Graduated from old-style middle school or schools with equivalent degree.

  C. Physical condition: Good nutritional status, strong and able-bodied, no eye diseases, hemorrhoids, pulmonary disease, sexually transmitted diseases, etc.

  Qualifications: A member of the Chinese Nationalist Party, who understands the necessity of completing national revolution as soon as possible, or has the possibility of accepting this party's ideology, does not have thoughts that contradict this party's ideology, and is introduced by a current party member.

  5. Types of tests:

  A. Academic examination: Questions are set according to the old secondary school curriculum, and answers are required in written form.

  B. Physical examination: According to the regulations of the pre-army physical examination, including items such as height and weight.

  C. Character test: Use oral method to observe the degree and nature of understanding of Three Principles of the People, and infer interests, character, common sense, ability, etc., as well as whether there is hope for future development.

  Sixth: For those who take the exam in Guangzhou, regardless of where they come from to try out, whether or not they are accepted, no travel expenses will be provided. Those who are accepted in Shanghai and Kaifeng will be given travel expenses to come to Guangdong.

  7. After joining the team, clothing, books, food expenses, and miscellaneous expenses are generally provided by this school.

  Apart from this outline, there are also detailed rules regarding the examination procedures, subject arrangements and scores.

  He could hardly believe his eyes when he saw the news, Huangpu Military Academy, what a place it was, the cradle of future party and national stars, how many giants from both parties came out of there. Not to mention that Chiang Kai-shek, but also Zhou Gong, even if he were to be promoted by him, it would be a great honor. In later generations, almost everyone knew that studying in college was only one aspect, but more importantly, it was about building one's own social network. Zhuang Jihua, of course, had a deep understanding of this, Huangpu... it was Huangpu after all, if he could gain the favor of either Chiang or Zhou, his future would be bright and prosperous, his eyes began to shine with stars, emitting a common animal glow.

  It's March 5th now, and there are still twenty days left, it's just in time.