Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 867 The Dilemma of Work Allocation
Glycerin cannot be used directly as it will burn the skin. It must be diluted with water at a ratio of 1 part glycerin to 4 parts water. Dr. Lü had explained this to Xiao Wang, and he kept it in mind.

While Xiao Wang was busy, Tang Zhitong inappropriately told him a story called "The Little Bear Picking Mushrooms," almost getting him stripped bare and earning him two slaps in return.

To quell Xiao Wang's anger, Tang Zhitong hummed "The Little Girl Picking Mushrooms" afterwards.

Listening to the cheerful rhythm, Xiao Wang asked, "Is this the inspiration you just got?"

"Of course, I'm bursting with inspiration." Tang Zhitong lay sprawled on the bed. This song came at just the right time, and the ten yuan would probably arrive in his account soon, which would be just enough to make up for the cost of "buying" fruit recently.

"I feel like I won't be able to look at this song the same way anymore. Every time you hum it, I think of it again." Xiao Wang was not satisfied with this. If two unrelated things are linked in one's mind, it is difficult to unlink them.

"Are you still going to submit your work? You still owe the radio station a song request." Tang Zhitong chuckled. Little Wang is great in every way. When she's playing, she can even conjure up poses that even Ultraman couldn't do. But she's a bit averse to relying on external help and wants to do most things herself.

"Just submit it, I'll get paid eventually." Xiao Wang compromised with himself, not wanting to turn down the money.

"Alright, time for bed. We'll compose the piece together tomorrow." Tang Zhitong yawned; in his sage mode, sleeping was the most comfortable thing to do.

"Will you still remember it tomorrow?" Ms. Wang nudged her husband, worried that he would forget it completely tomorrow.

"Don't worry, I'll definitely remember it." Tang Zhitong muttered with his eyes closed. How far had he gotten from "The Little Girl Picking Mushrooms"? If he wasn't worried about being labeled a "writing king," he could create (or plagiarize) two songs a week without repeating any.

Friday, June 17th, was a sunny and refreshing day.

Tang Zhitong woke up humming "The Little Girl Picking Mushrooms":

The little girl picking mushrooms,
He was carrying a large bamboo basket on his back.

Barefoot in the early morning,
Walk through the woods and hills.

……

"See, I haven't forgotten, have I?" After humming the song, Tang Zhitong winked smugly at Xiao Wang.

"Silly boy!" Little Wang picked up a pillow as if to hit him, but quickly put it back with a smile.

After some joking around, Tang Zhitong washed up and ate breakfast. He escorted Xiao Wang to the entrance of the National Library of China and watched her go inside before getting on his bicycle and heading to the School of Posts and Telecommunications.

Everything is normal at the college. Some teachers have already started the final tutoring before the final exams, going through all the courses of the semester with the students and pointing out the common mistakes in each chapter.

Every chapter was covered, and each chapter had its own key points, which made Dou Yongchang and Lu Jian very perplexed.

This is why there are no New World University students; if it were them, they would probably be given 30 points worth of exam marks by their teachers.

During a break from studying, Tang Zhitong took out the application she had finished writing the night before with the guidance of classmate Xiao Wang and began to copy it out stroke by stroke.

I heard that this application is to be recorded in my file. I wonder if I will ever have the chance to see it again after I finish writing it today.

The classroom was quiet, and the teacher was walking around the students. If a student raised their hand, the teacher would come up to answer their questions, showing great dedication.

The quiet place was broken by a noise coming from outside the door: "Is Comrade Tang Zhitong here?"

Hearing someone call his name, Tang Zhitong could only temporarily tuck the application form into his textbook and walked out through the back door after the teacher nodded in acknowledgment.

"Team Leader Shi? What's wrong?" Tang Zhitong went outside and saw Shi Zhengze looking at her excitedly with a flushed face.

"My job assignment has been completed, thank you, Teacher Tang!" Shi Zhengze grabbed Tang Zhitong's hand and shook it excitedly.

"Congratulations, what unit?" Tang Zhitong was a little puzzled. Although she had mentioned the job arrangement to Director Ye, the two of them agreed that Director Ye would try to secure the job opportunity and let the school decide on the specific candidate. It didn't have much to do with her. Could it be that Director Ye said something behind the scenes?
"Two organizations want me, one is the Second Commercial Bureau of Beijing, and the other is the Beijing Health Bureau. I can't make up my mind, and I would like to trouble Teacher Tang to help me consider it," Shi Zhengze explained his purpose.

Before this, very few people could be chosen by multiple organizations, and Shi Zhengze never expected that such a good thing would fall into his lap.

Both companies were very good, and Shi Zhengze hesitated for a moment. After thinking it over, he realized that among his friends and connections, Tang Zhitong had the most experience, so he came to consult him.

"I see... Tell me everything from beginning to end, don't miss any details, and I'll give you my opinion." Tang Zhitong wasn't sure what position these two companies wanted Shi Zhengze for, so he planned to get the full picture before giving his opinion.

"My former class advisor contacted me today and said that because of my outstanding performance in the incubator and the incubator, the school has offered me two units at my suggestion."

The health bureau mainly follows up on the subsequent production, promotion, and maintenance of the insulated boxes.

The Second Commercial Bureau, on the other hand, focuses more on incubators, specifically poultry hatcheries, which likely also indicates an intention to promote them.

Shi Zhengze told her everything he knew.

After listening, Tang Zhitong frowned and pondered. There wasn't much information in it, but it puzzled him. When did he make the suggestion? It must have been Director Ye's doing.

Seeing that Tang Zhitong was thinking, Shi Zhengze did not interrupt him, but stood quietly to the side waiting for Tang Zhitong to speak.

“Both of these organizations have their advantages. The incubator is more medical-oriented, and we’ll be dealing with hospitals more often in the future, so there’s no guarantee we won’t have to travel for work.” Having participated in the compilation of the manual, Tang Zhitong understands the medical conditions of the time. Given the current material and economic conditions, the incubator can only be promoted in major cities at most, and it will be difficult to expand beyond that.

When people can't even solve their basic needs for food and clothing, no one will value the life of a premature baby too much.

"Business trip is great. To be honest, Professor Tang, I've never had the chance to visit other cities before." Shi Zhengze's eyes lit up as soon as he heard about the business trip.

Tang Zhitong smiled. Being able to travel on business is now a sign of ability, because it allows him to buy things from other places that are not subject to ticket restrictions to supplement his family income, which is quite enviable.

However, Tang Zhitong wasn't optimistic about Shi Zhengze going to the Health Bureau. He figured the business trip opportunities wouldn't be as plentiful as for a purchasing agent, and who knew what might happen after the wind picked up? "The Second Commerce Bureau isn't bad either. I can roughly guess what they want you for. Although there aren't any business trip opportunities right now, that might change in the future." Shi Zhengze's words already linked the Second Commerce Bureau to the incubator. Tang Zhitong, considering the current difficulties in egg production and chicken procurement, figured this personnel request must be related to that.

"What to do?" These days, "obeying assignments" is all the rage. Shi Zhengze was too embarrassed to ask his counselor too much after hearing the news, but he didn't feel that burden in front of Tang Zhitong.

"How about I make you the leader of the chicken hatching team? In the next three to five years, the demand for chickens, ducks and geese in Beijing will be quite high. You'll be very busy once you get there," Tang Zhitong replied cheerfully.

There are only two ways to break the supply deadlock of eggs and live chickens: one is to transfer them from other places, and the other is to rely on our own efforts.

In a city as big as Wuhan, eggs haven't been seen for several months. Tang Zhitong doesn't think the first method is feasible. Even if it is, it's probably just a flash in the pan and won't last.

For a stable and long-term supply chain, the only way is to heavily invest in chicks in the communes surrounding Beijing and encourage members to raise chickens. This approach is inseparable from incubators.

Tang Zhitong had seen the incubator that Shi Zhengze developed to help the post and telecommunications farm. The heated area was almost the size of a single bed, and it was filled with densely packed eggs. If all of them hatched, it would be comparable to twenty or thirty hens working together.

"Huh? You want me to hatch chicks?!" Shi Zhengze's face fell when he heard that was what he was going to do.

"Hatching chicks is only temporary. Do you really expect me to do it all by myself? Shouldn't I assign you a few assistants? After two or three years, shouldn't you be promoted? If I had to choose, I'd choose the Second Bureau of Commerce." Tang Zhitong offered his sincere advice. Could someone hatch eggs for a lifetime? Even if Shi Zhengze were willing, market demand probably wouldn't allow it!
Besides, the Second Bureau of Commerce controls the supply of non-staple foods in the entire city of Beijing. To put it bluntly, they could pick up enough vegetable scraps from inside to feed their families for several days.

Moreover, there is a certain rate of bad eggs when hatching poultry, but as long as the process is done properly, there will be no shortage of eggs to eat.

Even if it's windy, this unit is more secure than other units, since both factions need to be well-fed before they have the energy to shout slogans.

"Let me think about it some more?" Shi Zhengze took it seriously when he heard Tang Zhitong say that he would choose the Second Commercial Bureau, but he still found it difficult to decide.

"Okay, think about it. Give your counselor an answer as soon as possible so that the option you gave up can be given to other students." Tang Zhitong nodded and watched Shi Zhengze leave.

Last time, when I discussed with Director Ye about the goal of securing two positions in Beijing, I decided to aim for at least one. Since the school has given Shi Zhengze two options, it means that Director Ye has secured at least two opportunities to stay in Beijing this time.

Back in the classroom, after finishing the application, Tang Zhitong thought it over and decided to go and report the day's events to Director Ye in person, so as not to waste Director Ye's good intentions.

After lunch, I skipped the afternoon and went straight to the Women's Federation.

After hearing her son-in-law's purpose, Ye Zhijuan did not hide anything and admitted with a smile, "I mentioned to the leaders of your school that you proposed that Shi Zhengze stay in Beijing."

"Thank you, Mom. But isn't this going to have a bad influence on you?" Tang Zhitong had indeed mentioned Shi Zhengze to Director Ye, saying that he had ideas and had not only contributed to the incubator project but also thought of incubators. She could also sense that Ye Zhijuan meant well, but she still didn't quite understand.

"It has no impact. Your school is thanking you." Ye Zhijuan smiled, then sighed. "I only learned about the job placement problem for this year's graduates when I was coordinating the number of positions available in Beijing. Graduation is just around the corner, and many universities have not yet announced their job assignments."

"Really? At the beginning of this semester, our school selected many students with outstanding academic performance and assigned them to post and telecommunications schools in various places. There are also many senior students in the college who work part-time and study part-time to help teachers teach classes." Tang Zhitong had never thought about the job assignment problem for college students. In his mind, college students were the pride of heaven. Now that everything is in ruins and only half of it has been rebuilt, all walks of life still urgently need intellectuals to fill various positions.

If we're talking about how difficult it was for college graduates to be assigned jobs, we have to wait until the 1980s and 90s, when with the reforms, college graduates gradually lost their eligibility for guaranteed job placement.

"This year is different. Grain production has been basically tallied up. Not only are there grain shortages in various regions, but many factories are also facing difficulties and have experienced production cuts."

In order to reduce the food supply, most cities are reducing the number of urban residents, and even Beijing is no exception.

In 55, the country enrolled 9.8 college students, and in 56, it enrolled 18.5 college students, all of whom will graduate this year.

In this situation, neither Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, nor other major cities can accommodate so many college students. Where will the extra college students be assigned?

"I'm afraid only some remote areas will be available, but are college students really willing to go there?"

Ye Zhijuan shook her head as she spoke, saying that talent is the foundation, but the situation this year is just too severe.

Tang Zhitong was stunned upon hearing this, feeling as if he had seen this situation before.

When I first came here, there were many recent graduates delivering food on the streets...

However, this matter is too great, and even if one is exceptionally talented and knowledgeable in ancient and modern times, one cannot solve it.

Seeing her son-in-law standing there in a daze, Ye Zhijuan continued, "You're a reliable and good kid. I'm very relieved that Wenwen is with you. However, for your future, you should pay attention to building your own network of contacts. That's why I told the Post and Telecommunications Institute that it was your suggestion. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I think I understand a little." Director Ye's words were earnest and subtle, but they still allowed Tang Zhitong to grasp something.

"Yes, you're still young. You can gradually accumulate experience through work and study." Ye Zhijuan nodded in satisfaction and didn't elaborate further.

"Thank you, Mom!" Tang Zhitong stood up and bowed to Ye Zhijuan.

A person's perspective is greatly influenced by their original family. Tang Zhitong was born into both working-class and peasant backgrounds, which was correct in terms of class background, but his future prospects were very limited.

There are some things that no one teaches you. You only realize the path is blocked after you've been hurt and stumbled along. By the time you understand, it's too late, and all that's left is regret and remorse.

At this moment, Tang Zhitong thought of the spider web that Li Peiji had mentioned, and also of Lord Mengchang's three thousand retainers.

He believed that Director Ye did not mean for him to learn from the two of them.

He also believed that Director Ye was simply encouraging him to get to know more people and help them out in crucial moments, so that they would owe him a favor and he could leverage their help when needed in the future.

Tang Zhitong thought this approach was feasible. He had no shortage of money or resources, so he should be able to handle this kind of thing with ease.

(End of this chapter)