Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 576 Chapter 575 Old Friend
After Tang Zhitong arrived at the Municipal Bureau, he inquired about the location of the commendation meeting, tidied up his personal appearance, and then went there.

There were already quite a few people in the hall. Tang Zhitong didn't see the seating arrangement, so he chose a place in the back row and sat down.

There was a row of tables and chairs on the podium of the conference, with two microphones on them. Above the tables and chairs was a banner with square pieces of red paper pasted on it. There was a word on each piece of red paper, and together they pointed out the theme of the meeting: The 1959 Sijiucheng Post Office Commendation Conference.

Tang Zhitong took advantage of his height and saw Ma Wei. She was sitting in the front row, chatting with the person next to her. It seemed that she had found her former companion from the Municipal Bureau.

Soon, the meeting began and leaders filed in.

Director Hu was in the middle. After he sat down, he flicked the microphone with his fingers. There was a "bang bang" sound in the conference room, and then it became quiet.

Director Hu cleared his throat and said, "Comrades..."

It is a long and eloquent article that closely follows the general situation, affirms the work achievements of last year, looks forward to the future, and puts forward requirements for the work in the new year.

After Director Hu finished speaking, the leaders in charge of the municipal bureau next to him took over.

Tang Zhitong was feeling a little bored. If it were the age of mobile phones, he could take a break and read a novel, but now he could only listen carefully, take notes, and applaud seriously.

Tang Zhitong looked at the clock and recorded the duration of each speaker. Most of them started with "I'll say a few words", but their speeches were usually not short...

After the speech, most of the time had passed and it was finally time to award the certificates.

This year's certificate is better than previous years. Last year there was only a certificate, but this year it has a cover, a red cover with gold-plated letters, which looks more upscale.

Advanced individuals received their awards in batches. Among the recipients, Tang Zhitong saw Zheng Jian, his first leader after entering the postal system and the director of the Hujialou branch.

After the individual awards were made, the advanced units were named, and finally the representatives gave speeches.

Talk about achievements, point out shortcomings, and express determination.

Tang Zhitong watched, listened, and counted from below. Regardless of whether they were individuals or units, most of them were grassroots front-line employees, and those like himself who held some official position were a minority.

The meeting ended at half past eleven.

Since Tang Zhitong was located near the back door, it was convenient for him to go out, but he did not leave immediately after going out.

When commending outstanding individuals, he can see Zheng Jian, and Zheng Jian will definitely see him as well.

It's better to say hello at this time.

As expected, Zheng Jian came out and saw Tang Zhitong, and greeted him enthusiastically: "I knew you must be at the door."

"I didn't know Chief Zheng was coming. If I had known in advance, I would have definitely gone over to sit with him." The two held hands. Over the past six months, they had not met many times, but they were still very enthusiastic.

"I didn't know you were coming. Come on, let's go eat first. I heard we can eat as much as we want today." Zheng Jian shook Tang Zhitong's hand a few times and pulled him directly towards the cafeteria.

"That's great. If I had known this would happen, I would have not eaten since last night." Tang Zhitong was joking but he was actually feeling emotional in his heart. Zheng Jian had lost weight. Although he was wearing a cotton coat now and his body shape couldn't be seen to have changed from the outside, his face had become thinner and his hands had also changed a lot.

When we first met two years ago, Zheng Jian's palms were so broad and strong, but when I shook hands today, they were obviously much bonyer.

"Hahaha, then it depends on how much your stomach can hold today." Zheng Jian admired Tang Zhitong's honesty. There must be someone who hasn't eaten since last night, but no one said it out loud. After all, it's not a glorious thing.

There have been evaluations for advanced individuals in previous years, but they were rarely awarded through this kind of conference. This year, there is an intention to take care of the advanced individuals. We cannot just evaluate them and give them honors without giving them any practical results.

Everyone knew that they would not eat less for this rare opportunity.

"Hey, Chief Zheng, is Master Geng okay?" Tang Zhitong didn't bother with the question of how much he ate.

If I eat as much as I want, I can bankrupt the cafeteria. If this continues for a few decades, I will definitely be the No. 1 foodie anchor. However, by then I will be in my seventies or eighties, and I will definitely be a person of status, right? Then I can't do this, it will be cheap.

"Master Geng retired a while ago, and his son took over." Zheng Jian replied as he walked towards the cafeteria.

"It's good to retire. I've been busy for most of my life and now I can enjoy my life at home." Tang Zhitong said with emotion. Thinking back to when he first joined the company, Master Geng would often beat his legs while taking him to deliver mail. Years of running around brought him many chronic diseases and he has always been feeling uncomfortable.

"Who says it's not true? It's a very urgent time. Factories outside are laying off employees and it's hard to find a job." Zheng Jian also lamented.

"The successor is Master Geng's youngest son, right? I remember he is about the same age as me." Tang Zhitong knew something about Master Geng's family. Master Geng's biggest headache was his youngest son's job. In 58, he said he asked someone to send him to a factory sponsored by the street.

“Well, his previous unit was called a factory, but it was actually just a small workshop with a few people.

Since last year, the factory has been getting worse and worse, and finally it was disbanded. The street office arranged a job for me to sweep the streets as a temporary worker, earning only ten yuan a month.

If a grown man continues like this, he won’t even be able to find a partner.

Master Geng didn’t have any good ideas, so he just told me to retire and take over my job.”

Zheng Jian talked about the whole story. It took a lot of trouble to get this done, but Zheng Jian didn't say anything.

"It's not easy. When Xiao Geng finds a girlfriend and gets married, please let me know so that I can give a gift." Tang Zhitong thought to himself that Master Geng had taken the right step. In the next few years, it would be more and more difficult to find a job in Sijiu City, and the general trend would be decreasing.

"Okay!" Zheng Jian agreed readily. Although he had not worked with Tang Zhitong for a long time, who doesn't like someone who remembers the past?
It's good to be nostalgic. After all, after the personnel transfer, I am also an old member...

The cafeteria is very lively. Everyone is from the same system and many people know each other. People who are familiar with each other choose to sit at the same table.

The table was already set with dishes and chopsticks, but they were all empty.

Everyone was bustling around, in high spirits, waiting for their food to be served.

The standard for a table is eight people. Tang Zhitong followed Zheng Jian and chose a table that was not full. They continued to chat about the people and things of the Hujialou Branch.

Zhang Yuan was arrested and a young man was transferred there; Master Geng retired and his son took over; Qian Zhongping continued to work as a salesgirl there; in addition, due to the increase in workload, Zheng Jian applied for another staff member.

Everything is changing, and yet nothing seems to have changed.

The crowd didn't have to wait too long before the cafeteria staff came out pushing a cart and bringing food to each table.

The cart was filled with vegetables in large bowls, and several staff members were responsible for serving the vegetables and rice, so the efficiency was quite high.

Although some soup was inevitably spilled on the table, no one complained and they all stared at the preparations for the meal.

The Municipal Bureau was very generous this time, providing four dishes and one soup, including cabbage, potatoes, radishes, onions, and cabbage stalks in soy sauce soup. The food was sufficient, and if something was out of stock, they could ask for more. Tang Zhitong tasted the food, which was a standard big pot dish, with oil floating in the air, but few pieces of meat, and a strong salty taste, which was perfect for eating with rice.

Even so, everyone ate with relish. The steamed bread and rice seemed to be given away for free and were the ones that were reduced the fastest.

Although Tang Zhitong said that he would skip some meals and eat as much as he could, he did not actually eat that. He ate more than usual and did not eat the amount for three meals in one go.

After dinner, Zheng Jian and Tang Zhitong chatted for a few words and then left. They had come for a meeting in the morning and had a backlog of delivery work, so they would have to work overtime in the afternoon to catch up.

At the gate of the Municipal Bureau, Tang Zhitong met Ma Wei, who was pushing a bicycle as if she was going to cross the road to the escort department.

"Ma Wei, there's nothing to do at work today, so I'll give you a day off and go back tomorrow." The north wind was blowing hard, and it was unknown whether it was going to snow. Tang Zhitong saw that Ma Wei's scarf was about to flutter, so he took the initiative to stop her and gave her a day off.

"That's great. Thank you, Chief. I won't go over today. See you tomorrow." Ma Wei accepted Tang Zhitong's kindness with a smile and said goodbye to Tang Zhitong happily.

Tang Zhitong waved his hand, watched Ma Wei go away, lit a cigarette, and thought about what to do in the afternoon.

There is really nothing to do at the office. The meal was already prepared in Chunshu Hutong this morning and I guess they have finished eating by now, so there is nothing to do when I go home.

After thinking it over, Tang Zhitong decided to take advantage of the fact that he had eaten a lot today and go to the Post and Telecommunications College.

Seeing that it was almost time to distribute food coupons, water coupons, and subsidies, I went to the Logistics Department to coordinate and distribute them in advance to the students who chose to stay on campus, so that they could arrange their own itineraries and those who needed to go home could go home.

Ma Wei walked straight north along the east side of the monument, turned west after crossing Chang'an Avenue, and Tang Zhitong only set out for the Post and Telecommunications College after Ma Wei disappeared.

Braving the north wind, Tang Zhitong arrived at the Post and Telecommunications College and went straight to the Logistics Department.

After hearing Tang Zhitong's request, Wei Zhizhen agreed readily and said nicely: "If you don't come, I will have to call you. Many classes have already been taken in advance."

"Okay, thank you Teacher Wei for your concern." No matter how much truth there was in Wei Zhizhen's words, Tang Zhitong was very grateful.

The Logistics Department had the foundation of Class 593 of the Cable Department, so they knew how much to issue. Tang Zhitong received the ticket first.

Before going to the Finance Department, Tang Zhitong made another request to Wei Zhizhen. Tsinghua University knew that they were going to hold a party for the students who stayed on campus. Tang Zhitong couldn't organize such a big scene, but he also wanted to make his classmates feel some warmth:
"Teacher Wei, there is one more thing I need to trouble you with.

The students in our class who stayed in school were all from other places. They couldn’t go back to reunite with their families during the Chinese New Year. This was also the first year they were away from home.

I was thinking of organizing everyone to make dumplings for dinner on New Year’s Eve.

When the time comes, use the food coupons and vegetable coupons to buy some noodles and vegetables from the canteen and borrow some kitchen utensils.

Can you coordinate?"

"Your idea is great! Some departments have done this in previous years, and some departments have proposed it this year. But this year is special. Director Ruan already knows about it and is applying for mobile food from the school leaders. I don't think there will be any problems. I'll call you when I get a letter." Wei Zhizhen didn't agree directly. Everyone knows what's going on with the extra rice in the cafeteria. If you make dumplings, the noodles have to be calculated based on the dry weight...

"Okay, thank you Teacher Wei." Tang Zhitong thanked Wei Zhizhen. They were both good teachers and they did not think of a one-size-fits-all approach in such a difficult situation.

After Tang Zhitong received the money from the Finance Department, he went directly to his class.

In very cold weather, today's college students have limited places to go, either the dormitory or the classroom, and some may even hang out in the library.

As soon as Tang Zhitong walked into the classroom, many classmates looked at him expectantly.

"What's wrong? We've only been a few days apart. Do you miss me?" Tang Zhitong took off his scarf and hat and placed them on the desk. He put the tickets and money on the table and started joking with everyone.

"Yes, we miss Teacher Tang so much and talk about you every day." A lively student replied below.

"Don't worry, just ask for tickets. Don't nag me, I'm afraid of sneezing." Tang Zhitong responded to the classmates' enthusiastic and expectant gazes: "Which classmate can volunteer to go back and call the classmates who are hiding in the dormitory. Don't go upstairs to the girls' dormitory, just call them downstairs. We will distribute the tickets and money today."

As soon as Tang Zhitong finished speaking, cheers broke out from the audience, and some enthusiastic students stood up and ran out.

The roster was ready, and Tang Zhitong distributed it to the students in the classroom first, asking each student to sign after he distributed it. Before he had finished distributing the roster, the students who were staying in the dormitory had already rushed over.

By the time all the papers were distributed, it was already 4 p.m. Tang Zhitong collected the roster, and some students started to make noises: "Teacher Tang, see you at the beginning of the semester!"

"See you at the beginning of the school term? That's not impossible. The school is applying for mobile food, saying that it can be used by interested classes to make dumplings together. I'd like to ask for everyone's opinion. Should our class participate?" Tang Zhitong asked with a smile while standing on the podium.

“Get involved!”

"Bah, bah, I said the wrong thing, I take it back!"

……

When the students heard the news, they were very enthusiastic. Making dumplings is a must-do during the Spring Festival, especially in the northern regions. Even if the family is poor and there is no meat, they will make a vegetarian meal.

"Then let's set a date. This year is the New Year's Eve, so there is no twelfth lunar month. Should we pack on the 28th of the twelfth lunar month, or on New Year's Eve?" Since Wei Zhizhen said it was not a big problem, Tang Zhitong told everyone first.

Tang Zhitong had made a plan. If the school did not approve the request, he would just buy some flour and then have a meal for everyone when school started. It just so happened that the street would be issuing food coupons in two days, so everything could be explained away.

"Teacher Tang, you don't have a holiday these two days, right? Will it delay your work?" Because of the last food coupon incident, Lu Yan is now full of gratitude to Tang Zhitong, so she asked from Tang Zhitong's perspective first.

"Well, I'm being trained, so it's okay to delay for a few days." Tang Zhitong smiled and nodded to Lu Yan. Fang Yuan really didn't care much about him, and almost let him do whatever he wanted.

"How about at noon on New Year's Eve? Not only will it delay Teacher Tang's reunion with his family at night, but it's also unsafe to walk at night." Liu Changling was very thoughtful. She could tell that everyone wanted to eat dumplings on New Year's Eve, and she didn't want to make things too difficult for Tang Zhitong.

"Okay, then let's do it at noon on New Year's Eve. Everyone arrange your own schedule, and then we'll celebrate the New Year together. It doesn't matter if you can't make it home in time. After this year, we still have many years to come. See you on New Year's Eve!" After Tang Zhitong finished speaking, he waved to his classmates and left the classroom.

It was a headwind when coming, but it became a tailwind when going back. Since the terrain was descending, Tang Zhitong saved a lot of effort on the return trip.

It was a cold day and there were not many pedestrians on the street. When Tang Zhitong was riding past Xinjiekou, two men suddenly jumped out from behind and pounced on the basket in front of the woman next to him.

Facing the sudden robbery, the woman grabbed the basket tightly and pressed the mouth of the basket with her body to prevent the two men from succeeding, while shouting, "Help! Someone is robbing me!"

Tang Zhitong had ridden about a hundred meters, and because of the tailwind, he could hear the woman's cry for help clearly.

It's unheard of to hear of someone being blackmailed for doing something righteous these days. Tang Zhitong didn't hesitate, got out of the car, turned the car around and pedaled back, shouting, "You're so brave, aren't you? How dare you steal things in broad daylight?!"

After seeing the tall and strong Tang Zhitong coming towards them, the two men looked at each other, decisively left the woman behind, and ran into the alley!
The woman climbed up from the bamboo basket tremblingly. What had just happened was too thrilling for her. Plus, she was hungry, so she staggered and squatted on the ground. The scarf on her head was blown away by the wind during the scramble and fell to the ground.

Tang Zhitong rode closer and looked forward. Hey, what a coincidence! This woman is someone he knows!
(End of this chapter)