It's time to strive!

"Captain Wang, how much would you like to know?"

Chen Weidong took out the only two yuan and fifty cents he had left, which was what He Yan and the others had lent him.

"No need, just take it back and give it to the child."

Wang Jianshui waved his hand, saying that these sheep belonged to the collective and were not his, and the milk was not from lambs, so he didn't even know how many. It would be better if Chen Weidong got the milk.

"Thank you, Captain Wang."

Chen Weidong expressed his gratitude, and then tentatively asked, "Are there any milk suppliers in the village who subscribe regularly?"

"We do have some, but not many. Why? You want to order some too?"

"Of course I wanted to. I have two young children, and Suman's breast milk is not enough. Our house is full of whole grains, so I wanted to give the children more goat milk to supplement their diet."

"Then we'll have to discuss it with Secretary Yang and the brigade leader."

Wang Jianshui stated frankly that he could make a decision once or twice, but if it continued for a long time, the villagers would definitely gossip about him behind his back, and it might even implicate Wang Jianshe, which he definitely couldn't do.

However, I also felt that Chen Weidong was spoiling the child too much. Nowadays, there are many families in the village who don't have enough breast milk when they have children, but most of them feed their children corn porridge or millet soup, and the children are still very healthy and lively.

"I understand. I'll bring this bucket to you in a bit."

Don't underestimate this gasoline can that no one wanted later; it's a rare commodity now. Most households still use wooden or tin buckets, and there are very few households in the entire Yangjiatun area that have plastic buckets.

"No rush, just bring it over when you have time."

Wang Jianshui waved his hand. If it were anyone else, he would really be afraid that the other party would not repay the loan. But he trusted intellectuals like Chen Weidong more.

Chen Weidong chatted with Wang Jianshe for a couple more minutes, then took the goat milk home.

"What is this?"

"I went and exchanged some goat milk with Captain Wang. I plan to give it to Sui Sui and An An to help them recover. You can have some too."

"How much does this cost?"

Su Man didn't object to giving Chen Xiaosui and the others drinks, but the family was currently broke and in debt.

"I gave Captain Wang's family some dumplings, and they didn't ask me for money."

Hearing that no money was required, Su Man breathed a slight sigh of relief. Although she felt a little uneasy, as if she had taken advantage of the group, she knew that her family couldn't afford to pay.

After pouring the goat milk into the empty bucket, Chen Weidong returned the plastic bucket to Wang Jianshui.

Back home, I lay on the kang (a heated brick bed) and picked up a copy of "People's Literature" to read.

This was the first time Chen Weidong had read this story, but he had read the first volume of the author's "Wild Gourd Tale," titled "The Journey South," which he found to be very well written.

After reading this story, Chen Weidong's dream of becoming a writer resurfaced.

Do we have paper and pens at home?

"Yes, it's by the window. What's wrong? Are you going to write a letter to your parents?"

"Oh, is that so?"

Chen Weidong didn't directly say that he wanted to write a novel. He said it wouldn't be too late to say so after the manuscript was approved, which would be a good surprise for Su Man.

Finding a pen and paper, she first wrote a letter home, mainly to tell her parents that Su Man had given birth to a son, to make them happy.

Then I took out another blank sheet of paper and started writing an outline based on what I had in mind.

The male protagonist, Xu Lingjun, was orphaned at a young age. His father abandoned him, and his mother died early. When he grew up, he was labeled a rightist because of his family background and sent to the Chulechuan Ranch, where he became a horse herder.

Despite the various misfortunes that cast a dark shadow over his life, his soul was once again purified on the vast and magnificent grasslands, nurtured by the simple and pure emotions of the working people, and he rediscovered friendship, love, and family.

Li Xiuzhi, Xu Lingjun's wife, was a young girl who fled famine in Sichuan to the Chulechuan region. She was intelligent, hardworking, simple and honest, adorably naive, shrewd, open-minded, reasonable, responsible, optimistic, and courageous.

By a twist of fate, she was married to Xu Lingjun inexplicably. However, she did not complain or blame others, but sincerely trusted her husband and lived a colorful and prosperous life, making Xu Lingjun feel the warmth of family.

Old Guo, a kind and honest herdsman from the grasslands, speaks with wit and humor. He offered warmth to Xu Lingjun during his most difficult time. During the special period, he cleverly protected Xu Lingjun from criticism and struggle sessions, and also enthusiastically acted as a matchmaker for Li Xiuzhi and Xu Lingjun, arranging their marriage.

……

Chen Weidong could only remember the names of these three characters; the rest were just names given randomly based on the plot.

After finishing the outline and establishing the protagonist's character, he thought for a moment and began to write.

The Chule River flows beneath the Yin Mountains, where the sky resembles a vast dome, covering the boundless plains.

Before dawn, I was awakened by the noise from the stable.

That's "Blackie" kicking the trough. This fiery hen always wakes up earlier than the other animals.

I put on my fur coat and went out into the yard. In October, the grassland already had a wintery feel in the early morning; the cold seeped through my thin clothes and went straight to my bones.

I stroked "Blackie's" mane, and it calmed down. This three-year-old colt was the first foal I delivered after coming to the ranch.

At that time, I was assigned to this remote military horse farm. On the night I delivered "Heizi," the old herdsman Bayin said to me, "The foal recognizes its owner. If you delivered it, it will be close to you for life."

……

I don't know how long I wrote, but when I looked up again, the kerosene lamp was almost going out, and Su Man, Chen Xiaosui and the other two were fast asleep.

Chen Weidong rubbed his fingers; he hadn't written in so long that his fingers felt a little numb.

My back felt a little cold, so I quickly crawled into bed, which warmed me up considerably, and I soon fell asleep.

Over the next few days, Chen Weidong helped He Yan and others clean the horse pen and prepare hay for the horses in advance. After returning home, he focused all his attention on writing, except for cooking for Su Man and her two children.

Chen Weidong wrote very quickly, finishing in just one week with a total of 38,000 words. His typing speed was incomparable to those tentacle monsters who later typed on computers, but in today's terms, he would definitely be the king of typing speed.

He read it himself and felt somewhat dissatisfied; it was too loose and not concise enough. Nowadays, when publishing articles, one should strive for a simple and unadorned language style and avoid flowery language in order to meet the true pursuit of literature.

Chen Weidong then entered the meticulous editing mode, which was the most agonizing. Sometimes, he would delete and add a single sentence or word repeatedly.

After revising and supplementing for another week, he finally managed to control the total word count to 25,000 words. He felt that he had reached his limit and there was no room for further revisions, so he stopped.

Now that the article is finished, it's time to submit it. But which newspaper or magazine should I submit it to?