Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 852 The Gathering of Heroes Opens

June 1st is Children's Day.

Tang Zhitong woke up yawning, the memory of last night's "not recognizing the bed" still ringing in her ears, only to be proven wrong.

Now, Tang Zhitong missed Xiao Wang even more. Xiao Wang not only smelled nice, but he also didn't snore.

Breakfast was eaten at the Sijiucheng Hotel, and then the participants of the Heroes' Gathering walked to the meeting hall.

This was Tang Zhitong's second time entering the hall after it was built, and also his first time entering the largest conference hall.

Before entering, there is a routine check. Tang Zhitong had been here before, so he had already hidden the Type 54 pistol in the wardrobe before leaving, and the bullets were separated, with the bullets lying in the space.

Seating is divided into zones, with a seating chart posted outside the entrance, and staff inside maintaining order.

There is a note with your name on it on the back of each seat; just sit down according to your name.

When Tang Zhitong sat down, the meeting had not yet started.

It was a bit hot walking from the Sijiucheng Hotel, but it was different once we entered the conference hall; it was very cool inside.

As one of the top ten projects, Russian technical personnel were invited to provide guidance at the beginning of the construction. With the joint efforts of engineers from both sides, an effective central air conditioning system was built for the hall, which can provide a constant temperature environment for almost all rooms in the entire building.

Having been here for two years, this was the first time Tang Zhitong had ever experienced air conditioning; the comfort was so intense it almost made her pores open.

Many delegates were discussing how cool it was inside, almost like a cave, but Tang Zhitong was only thinking about having another chilled watermelon...

Lost in thought, Tang Zhitong lost her nervousness and looked around the venue with great interest. The red star above her head shone brightly. The venue had three floors. There were people on the first and second floors, but the lights on the third floor were not on.

In addition to Chinese characters, the banner above the stage also thoughtfully included pinyin, demonstrating meticulous attention to detail.

This time, Tang Zhitong did not sit with Luo Qingquan; instead, Wang Bo sat next to her.

Wang Bo was visibly nervous; his knuckles turned bluish-white from gripping his hands so tightly, and a light sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Looking around, many attendees were wearing coats; some were excited, some were nervous, but very few were sweating.

"How's work lately? A lot of surgeries?" Tang Zhitong nudged Wang Bo's elbow, leaned slightly towards him, and asked.

"It's alright, we can have one surgery every three to five days on average." Wang Bo was so busy being nervous that he didn't even notice that Tang Zhitong was sitting next to him. He was startled when Tang Zhitong bumped into him.

"Good, keep this pace, and you'll be an expert in the future." The meeting hadn't even started yet, but many people were already exchanging ideas. The huge conference hall wasn't empty; whispers could be heard everywhere.

"Hehe, I dare not even think about it." Wang Bo smiled and shook his head at Tang Zhitong. Although some people now call him a doctor, or even a "miracle doctor," he always felt that he still had a long way to go before he could be called a "miracle doctor."

"How is that woman I met at your production team the other day? Has she gone for a follow-up check-up?" Tang Zhitong asked when he saw that Wang Bo's condition had improved.

"You mean Sister Chunxue? She's recovering well. I saw her participating in the wheat harvest just a couple of days ago." Wang Bo thought for a moment before remembering who Tang Zhitong was asking about.

"Hmm, it seems the production team has taken her back." Tang Zhitong wasn't too surprised by this result. Chu Chunxue hadn't returned to the iron wheelbarrow, which meant she could still get food in the production team.

"We can't just watch her go hungry, but there's a lot of gossip going around, so Chunxue's life isn't easy." Wang Bo shook his head and sighed as he thought of Chu Chunxue.

Although Chu Chunxue did not say that she returned to her parents' home because of the divorce, after she returned, her brother and sister-in-law kept asking her about it, and there were often sounds of them arguing, so the matter was no longer a secret.

Not only did her brother and sister-in-law treat her badly, but even the neighbors gossiped about her. Even Wang Bo's own mother told him to stay away from Chu Chunxue, fearing that Chu Chunxue would become attached to her eldest son.

"Let's eat first before thinking about anything else." Tang Zhitong could imagine the scene. At present, feudal remnants still have a market among the people, especially when it comes to women, which is very unfriendly.

A widow is considered unlucky for her husband, and a divorce is seen as a sign of a woman's lack of virtue.

Because of the wars in previous years, there were relatively few young and middle-aged men. As long as they were not mentally challenged or disabled, they could generally find wives. However, widows and divorced women had difficulty remarrying and could only look for mentally challenged, disabled, or widowed men.

Moreover, Chu Chunxue is not divorced yet. If she really can't withstand the pressure from her family and remarries hastily, her life will probably be even more difficult in the future, and the Liu family will inevitably go to demand an explanation.

The two exchanged only a few words before the stage began to come up one after another, and the audience quieted down.

The delegation from the capital city was seated at the front, and Tang Zhitong was sitting below them. It was the first time he had seen the bigwigs who frequently appeared in the newspapers from such a close distance.

It's unclear who started it, but the initial applause escalated into a full-blown clapping session, marking the beginning of the largest gathering of cultural and educational heroes since the liberation...

After the leader's opening remarks and work report, the representatives will speak.

Each person's seat was provided with writing paper and a pencil, which was already sharpened and easy to use.

Each representative summarized their achievements in their industry and position, and Tang Zhitong listened attentively while taking notes of the highlights.

I learned from the practices and ideas of advanced representatives, and also took notes on some things that interested me. Of course, the presence of a reporter also contributed to my focus and seriousness.

The reporter seemed to have a pass to the entire venue, moving around to find the perfect angle to take a photo that satisfied him.

Although there was no camera, Tang Zhitong could only clap between taking notes, unlike when he was bored at school and twirled his pen.

These kinds of small actions, even if they are not photographed, or even if they are remembered by the delegates next to you, will be reported to the organizing committee after the meeting, which is also very bad.

Jia Guizhi, a representative from Beiguan Primary School in Heishan County, learned from the experience of rapid literacy campaigns in rural areas and combined it with the characteristics of children. She compiled a literacy textbook using methods such as singing to teach characters and learning characters through pictures, and conducted an experiment on intensive literacy learning.

This gave Tang Zhitong an idea: preschool and primary education are not as demanding as they used to be.

Most kindergartens remain at the stage of play and ensuring children don't cry. The same goes for primary schools; most parents choose to leave everything to the school. Of course, this doesn't mean they completely ignore everything; if a child does poorly on a test or the teacher contacts the parents, the child will inevitably get a beating when they get home. While this is the case in most cases, some families still value their children's education.

Could you make some flashcards and illustrations for preschool literacy? Or some exercise books for elementary school students?
Tang Zhitong felt that this still had potential.

Extracurricular reading is out of the question; it carries a lot of subjective ideas and is easy to be found fault with.

Shen Shuzi, an outstanding teacher at the Liudong Management Area Kindergarten of Dehua People's Commune in Helong County, expressed her determination at today's meeting: "To dedicate everything to educating the next generation!"
Tang Zhitong was rather mundane; he only recorded Tang's determination but didn't find any ideas on how to monetize it.

However, it is not vulgar to a certain extent, unlike some milk powder and diaper manufacturers who rack their brains to grab the subsidies they haven't even received yet.

On behalf of the Luxian Primary and Secondary School Curriculum Reform Committee, Liu Fonian presented the conference with a set of 116 newly compiled primary and secondary school textbooks, totaling 8.95 million words.

They established thirteen curriculum reform committees based on the primary and secondary school curricula, and adopted a mass movement that combined specialized organization with mobilization of the masses to carry out curriculum reform.

Several hundred teachers and students from East China Normal University, along with members of the Primary and Secondary School Curriculum Reform Committee, conducted investigations and research at more than 300 units, including universities, primary and secondary schools, factories, urban and rural people's communes, and scientific research institutions. They also interviewed advanced workers, experts, students' parents, and even kindergarten children, and held more than 1,000 symposiums and investigation meetings.

Through extensive and in-depth mass movements, a wealth of materials and opinions were obtained, and a complete set of teaching materials was compiled.

Tang Zhitong responded with enthusiastic applause. Both are universities, but today's universities are deeply connected to the masses, while universities decades later are always doing some inexplicable things. Not only can we see that Du Fu was influenced by a certain religion from "Ode to the Goose", but they also forcibly linked the stele of Shang Tang and Hammurabi together. It can be said that they went to great lengths to prove that the stone was not a modern forgery.

Tang Zhitong believed it was necessary to make those people reread Water Margin, as it clearly stated that Wu Da was killed by a woman.

If Wu Song could see this, he would probably be happy to use his stern rod to help that woman pass her kidney stones.

The morning meeting has now concluded, and everyone left in an orderly fashion to return to the hotel for lunch.

As soon as Tang Zhitong stepped out of the hall, he felt like he was back in summer, and it was just one word: hot!

Some people took off their coats, but many delegates were still wearing them. Tang Zhitong thought that they probably hadn't expected the weather in Beijing to be so warm, so they didn't bring suitable shirts. After all, quite a few people were wearing detachable collars under their coats these days.

Some delegations chose to go to dinner immediately, while others gathered their members together to take a group photo outside the hall.

Taking photos together seems to be a Chinese obsession. Although Tang Zhitong had taken a photo with Xiao Wang on their wedding anniversary, he just wanted to get back to the hotel and have a drink of water.

The conference was very lively, but water cups were not provided for the delegates' seats.

To have a water cup, one must at least be qualified to sit on the dais. Moreover, Tang Zhitong didn't see anyone below bringing their own. He didn't know if it was because it was inconvenient to carry, or if no one was thirsty.

On the way, Tang Zhitong began to think about the insulated glass cups that the Women's Federation was coordinating to produce. He was unsure how well they would sell. If they weren't popular overseas, could they be exported and then sold domestically? Tang Zhitong guessed that people who frequently attended meetings would like those insulated cups.

Back at the Sijiucheng Hotel, Tang Zhitong first downed two glasses of water before starting to eat.

The food was similar to last night's, a standard four dishes and one soup, with visible egg drop soup and minced meat.

Although vegetables are now available in large quantities, the supply of meat and eggs remains limited, so ordinary households do not have this way of eating.

No wonder Ma Wei once said that some people now enjoy attending meetings and attend every single one. Besides the unlimited cigarettes, the working meals are probably also an important factor.
"How was it? Did you find anything?" After returning to his room after dinner, Luo Qingquan hung up his coat and asked.

"Yes, the biggest gain was the education I received." Tang Zhitong said earnestly, seemingly just making polite remarks, but actually from the bottom of his heart.

The vast majority of the delegates at this conference came from the front lines of various industries and had extensive experience working at the grassroots level. Tang Zhitong felt that he could not reach their level.

"Why do you always look down on yourself? If you ask me, you're qualified to go up and give a speech this afternoon. Any one of the things you've done is enough to amaze people. Being low-key is a good quality, but you shouldn't underestimate yourself." Luo Qingquan was somewhat dissatisfied with Tang Zhitong's reluctance to step forward. It would be a pity to bury such a good talent.

"Hehe, it's better to keep a low profile." If given a second chance, Tang Zhitong certainly wouldn't want to be a lamb to the slaughter, but he really didn't want to stand out.

These days, climbing too high and too fast is called being an ambitious person. Even if you are promoted passively, you may unintentionally block someone else's path. If you encounter a petty person, they may bring up a casual remark from the past when things get heated.

No matter how upright one's roots are, one cannot become arrogant. How many people with upright roots and noble lineage have been persecuted?
Tang Zhitong wasn't an outgoing person to begin with. He would occasionally dream about having a water glass at a meeting, but most of the time he would just follow his own personality and be a harmless little rabbit.

Of course, we can't let ourselves be bullied. We have to play dumb to outsmart the enemy. In a moment of crisis, we can unexpectedly pull out our protective charm and scare those bastards to death.

"Didn't you sleep well last night? Go get some sleep now, I'll wake you up later." Luo Qingquan shook his head at Tang Zhitong's insistence. With Lao Ye looking after him, Tang might have his own plans; he could only offer empty words.

"I can't sleep for much longer anyway, I'll read the newspaper." There was a two-hour interval between the morning and afternoon meetings. Considering the time spent walking back and forth and waiting for the food to be served, there wasn't much time left to sleep. Fortunately, Tang Zhitong wasn't sleepy at the moment, so he picked up the newspaper and decided to check the latest developments.

It must be said that the service at the Sijiucheng Hotel was excellent; newspapers were delivered to each room free of charge, and they were delivered that day's issue.

In the afternoon, the meeting continued. Tang Zhitong entered the room carrying his coat, sat down to cool off before putting it on.

First, Zhang Huaiying, a representative from Xiyang County, spoke, vividly depicting the cultural prosperity of the county, where workers and farmers actively participated in literary and artistic creation activities. New examples emerged, such as grandfathers composing songs and grandsons setting the music, and wives cutting paper and husbands adding lyrics.

"Artistic creation? That's something I can give it a try," Tang Zhitong muttered down his thoughts.

Xiao Wang not only helped me learn some music theory recently, but also suggested that I go to the music academy to study with a teacher for a short period of time during the holidays.

After listening to the report, Tang Zhitong felt that further studies were not a bad idea. At least he could recreate those popular and risk-free songs to fill Xiao Wang's pocket.

Next, the leader of the carpentry youth commando team of the Third Construction Company gave a speech at the conference entitled "Using the strategic thinking of so-and-so to fight the production battle," the content of which was similar to the report he gave at the Sijiucheng Cultural and Educational Association last time.

Next came the speech by the representatives of the health system. Tang Zhitong nodded and took notes. It was enough for him to participate in the "Barefoot Doctor's Handbook". He would not be working deeply in the health system in the future, so there was no need to get too involved.

I nodded in agreement, but it was also because I was too tired. I went to bed too late last night, and with so many meetings and paperwork, I was easily summoned by the Duke of Zhou (a figure in Chinese mythology associated with sleep), so I had no mind to think about anything else.

(End of this chapter)