Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 872 871 A Repulsive Person
"Should we set aside some apricots? When the school leaders come later, it won't look good if there's only a table full of apricot pits," Huo Xiaoping quietly suggested after Tang Zhitong finished talking with He Ping and Wan Xianghong.

Upon hearing this, Tang Zhitong suddenly felt that the apricot flesh in her mouth no longer tasted good, and finally realized what was missing!
"Did you invite school leaders?" Tang Zhitong swallowed the apricot in her mouth with difficulty and asked in return.

"Huh? No, you didn't invite them?" Huo Xiaoping was stunned by Tang Zhitong's question. Had he forgotten about the school leaders?
"I've been too busy lately and have been careless, so I forgot about this." Three days to ask, two days to call, and one day to urge. Not to mention whether there are any school leaders on duty today, even if there are, it's not appropriate to go and contact them now. Tang Zhitong frankly admitted this while also thinking about whether there was any way to make amends.

“I ran into Counselor Zhuang the other day and asked him a question, but he couldn’t answer it.” Bi Bin was sitting next to Huo Xiaoping. The two had been getting along very well lately because they were working together on a hovercraft model.

"Oh, thank you, team leader. It's a good thing you asked, otherwise I wouldn't know how to wrap this up. Let's leave it at that. If we really invited the school leaders over, everyone would feel awkward." Although the research class uses students from the School of Posts and Telecommunications, it is led by the military. If Zhuang Lei doesn't come, inviting the school leaders would seem like overstepping the bounds.

Tang Zhitong was carefree; after thinking it over, he couldn't come up with a good solution. Since things had come to this, he decided to eat more later.

As for whether the school leaders had any objections, Tang Zhitong felt that with Director Ye's offer of a Beijing residency spot for Nuoteng and the honors he had brought to the school in the past, there shouldn't be any major problems.

If someone is so petty as to try to manipulate me with this, then I'll deal with whatever comes my way.

"Teacher Tang, do you have any wine? Let's go buy some to liven things up for everyone later?" Tang Zhitong had barely finished speaking when the person who had just called himself a sports champion asked from across the table.

"We'll be having a celebration banquet with water instead of wine. I'm only responsible for one thing: making sure everyone enjoys themselves. And everyone else is responsible for one thing: not eating until you're sick of it," Tang Zhitong said with a smile, glancing at the classmate.

Currently, there are only two wineries in the entire city of Beijing that can maintain production, and they can only maintain the most basic operation. They cannot increase production capacity as they did in previous years.

Buy some? Where can he buy them? Even if he has money, he can't buy them given his status!
The supply of baijiu (Chinese liquor) is insufficient to meet the demand. Currently, it seems that only the miners can receive a monthly supply of one jin (500g) of baijiu and two jin (1kg) of liqueur.

Mr. He, the owner of the tavern in the flower market, is quite resourceful. He brought in some illicit liquor from the countryside, but the price has already increased compared to before, and it is sold with side dishes to maximize profits.

This isn't about buying wine; it's about enlightening myself, lamenting that there's no wine today!
Tang Zhitong understood, but today's situation wasn't suitable for making any explicit statements, so he could only maintain the status quo for now.

Tang Zhitong's words made some students laugh. Who wouldn't be happy to be able to eat their fill? However, He Ping, who was sitting to the side, was not happy.

He Ping wasn't particularly close to the other students in the research class. Tang Zhitong had only brought him over to test the insulated boxes. Once the project ended, everyone went their separate ways, and they probably wouldn't see each other again for the rest of their lives.

Tang Zhitong is, after all, her best friend's husband. He Ping knows he's worried about offending people, but she's not afraid!

So, He Ping, on the surface appearing righteous and chivalrous, actually used a feigned retreat to advance, saying in a sarcastic tone, "Drinking is good, but I've heard that some people's behavior when drunk isn't very good. I can get some alcohol, anyone want to try?"

"That's 75% medical alcohol, which is completely different from the liquor you drink. Everyone's eyes are sharp enough not to fall for your tricks," Tang Zhitong said with a smile, letting the matter drop.

He naturally understood He Ping's intention to protect him, but this was his first time organizing a celebration party, and he couldn't let it end abruptly. He could only ask He Ping to stop the party for now.

"If you ask me, wine doesn't taste as good as meat. Let's eat more meat and a steamed bun later. After we're full, we'll go back to the classroom to make models. Drinking will only delay things. We won't drink today," Bi Bin chimed in.

The group's statements, a mix of encouragement and criticism, made the classmates who had been leading the drinking party put on a smirk.

"Let's chat for a bit, the food will be ready soon. We have braised pork today, so save room for later." Tang Zhitong tried his best to smooth things over in the face of his friend's encouragement.

Fortunately, not many students wanted to drink, and the atmosphere soon warmed up. Huo Xiaoping nudged Tang Zhitong and said, "Our teacher said the curved surface of the fan can be improved. Come out here and I'll tell you about it."

"Okay, let's go." Tang Zhitong, without suspecting anything, followed Huo Xiaoping out of the private room.

"Is it the fan in the insulated box or the fan in the electric fan?" Tang Zhitong asked when they arrived at the entrance of the small canteen.

"There's no fan here, I just found an excuse to get you out for some fresh air. I saw you prepared a lot of things for this celebration banquet, you must have put in a lot of effort, right? Some people just don't know any better, don't take it to heart." Huo Xiaoping smiled, he knew from a young age that not everyone could get along.

After the insulated box project ended, the reason he was still able to work with Bi Bin on hovercraft models was simply because he felt Bi Bin was a trustworthy person. As for the others...

"Hey, it's alright. There are all sorts of birds in a big forest. We can't let a few people ruin this celebration banquet." Tang Zhitong laughed along, but he didn't take it to heart. He had personally promised to hold the celebration banquet, and he had to keep his word.

Even though those students were a bit unruly, they still contributed to the insulated box project. If I don't give them a way out today, I'll be too petty.

As we all know, the ability to measure and recognize talent is an important part of leadership. If you want to go far, you can't rely too much on personal preferences and favoritism.

"They'll remember this victory celebration. They probably won't have such a sumptuous meal again for the next two years," Huo Xiaoping said, then sighed.

"What? What news have you heard?" Tang Zhitong agreed with Huo Xiaoping's statement, but in order to conceal his identity as a prophet, he did not want to show it too obviously.

"There are difficulties in allocating grain. Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai are under pressure, but the pressure is even greater at the local level, and there are also many complaints. They say that the rations for residents in the capital are too high and they are demanding that we find a way to reduce the rations and bring them in line with the local rations," Huo Xiaoping said, turning his voice down a notch.

“In some places, the quota is indeed not high. There’s nothing we can do but work together to overcome the difficulties.” Tang Zhitong nodded, not surprised by what Huo Xiaoping said.

Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai cannot produce enough grain themselves and request grain transfers from local areas. However, local areas also lack grain. The problem is not poverty but inequality, which leads to the conflict.

"And yet, some people are still dragging their feet on reducing the quota, wanting to wait a little longer." Huo Xiaoping's words were laced with sarcasm, his true thoughts written all over his face.

"Why? The wheat harvest is over, how can the compiled data still be acceptable?" Tang Zhitong knew that there had been constant natural disasters in recent years, but there was resistance to compressing the quotas. Perhaps the data had been inflated?

"How is that possible? The total output is simply appalling. Some people want to maintain the last shred of dignity left in Beijing and are pinning their hopes on the upcoming rice harvest." Huo Xiaoping shook his head, utterly despising this kind of short-sighted behavior.

“Then they’re probably going to be disappointed. The newspapers have been talking a lot about drought relief.” Tang Zhitong shook his head as well.

"Sigh, the situation is even more serious than reported in the newspapers. Some organizations are already organizing people to research food substitutes." Huo Xiaoping sighed again.

"Having survived so many years of disaster, ordinary people probably know better than experts what is edible and what is not." Tang Zhitong doesn't approve of this "looking at plums to quench thirst" approach. He thinks it would be better to use that time to think about how to combat drought and how to grow crops according to local conditions.

“Some people have set their sights on Chlorella,” Huo Xiaoping said, losing even the will to sigh.

Tang Zhitong opened his mouth as if to speak, but couldn't utter a word. The last time he saw a report about Chlorella was last year; the newspaper said it was a high-quality livestock feed.

If they're targeting chlorella as a food substitute this time, this year will be the most difficult one, especially with winter coming up in a few months...

Tang Zhitong not only dared not think any further, but also felt that the weather wasn't so hot today...

Seeing Tang Zhitong staring in disbelief, Huo Xiaoping raised his hand as if to pick up a cigarette and asked, "Do you have any cigarettes? I'd like to have one."

"I'll give you one." Tang Zhitong reached into his pocket and pulled out most of a box of cigarettes. This was a stock that Wu Haiyang had given him before, which he had taken out of the closet under the pretext of socializing and put into his storage space.

"Didn't you quit smoking?" Huo Xiaoping asked, seeing Tang Zhitong skillfully put a cigarette in his mouth.

"Children shouldn't ask questions they shouldn't ask." Tang Zhitong smiled, took out a match, lit it for Huo Xiaoping first, and then lit it for himself.

Xiao Wang is pregnant, which means Tang Zhitong has achieved his KPI for the year. Facing the impending famine, Tang Zhitong feels powerless, but he can still break his rule and smoke a cigarette to relieve his emotions.

Huo Xiaoping was clearly a non-smoker; one puff of his cigarette made him cough violently.

Tang Zhitong wasn't much better off. He had quit smoking for nearly half a year, and his body had long since gotten used to the state without nicotine. After taking a puff of a cigarette, he not only coughed but also started to feel dizzy.

"I really don't know what's so great about this cigarette." After coughing, Huo Xiaoping looked at the cigarette in his hand, wanting to throw it away but also feeling a little reluctant.

He remembered his father locking himself in his study at home, smoking one cigarette after another, making phone calls incessantly. Whenever he opened the study door, it was always filled with smoke, making it hard to get used to.

"You'll understand once you're addicted to cigarettes." Tang Zhitong switched to taking smaller puffs, which reduced the irritation and made it less likely for him to cough, but he still found the smell of the cigarette somewhat unpleasant.

Huo Xiaoping tried to take another breath, and then coughed again.

This time, Huo Xiaoping didn't hesitate any longer. He threw the cigarette on the ground and stomped it out: "I've only had two puffs, what a waste of such a good cigarette."

"If it can ease your mind, then it's not a waste." Tang Zhitong was very open-minded about this. The cigarette in the man's hand might not just be a habit, but also a good medicine for treating anxiety, or even a bullet fired at the enemy.

Mr. Zhou smoked all his life and wrote countless famous works. He probably never imagined that a portrait of him with a cigarette butt would lead to a complaint that he would have a bad influence on teenagers.
Following this logic, not only should Mr. Zhou's portrait be changed, but textbooks should also be revised, and history should be reviewed.

People no longer need to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, nor do they need to commemorate Qu Yuan, because drowning is a more serious negative influence than smoking.

There's no need to memorize Li Bai's poems anymore, because drinking is harmful to health. Li Bai wrote about wine in so many of his poems, and many of them were written in a drunken whim. I'm afraid the children will be even happier. "Bring in the Wine" is so long, and finally we don't have to memorize it anymore!
And then there's Yue Fei, who was so scared that he washed his tattoo overnight. How could someone with a tattoo get a job in the system? Perhaps the story of Yue Fei's mother tattooing words on his back should be changed to Yue Fei's mother using a brush to write the word "bestow"? Because the ink can be washed off.

Even Zhu Ziqing's "The Back View" had to be changed; "crossing the railway tracks and climbing the platform" had to be changed to "going around the platform to buy oranges".

Even "The Founding of a Republic" had to be reshot overnight!
Bah! When faced with problems, people don't reflect on their own family education first, but instead blame external factors. Even if Mr. Zhou abandoned medicine for literature, he couldn't save such people.

The two returned to the private room, and Shi Zhengze approached them: "Teacher Tang, I've thought it through and decided to take your advice and go to the Second Commercial Bureau."

"Okay, wherever you go is a contribution to the country and society. Do a good job." Tang Zhitong smiled and said polite words.

Because of the insulated box incident, the research class gained three more spots to stay in Beijing. This couldn't be kept secret. After Shi Zhengze started it, many students in the research class looked to Tang Zhitong, hoping he could put in a good word for them so they could also stay in Beijing.

Many people have this idea, but few actually put it into practice in public.

However, there were indeed people who didn't care about the negative impact. The sports champion who suggested drinking directly volunteered to Tang Zhitong, saying, "Teacher Tang, I don't mind the hygiene. I can go and serve the general public by promoting insulated boxes."

She offended Shi Zhengze with a single sentence, implied that the Health Department was not as good as the Second Commercial Bureau, and also implied that other students who did not fight for it were looking down on the Health Department. She was truly a master at offending people.

In this situation, Tang Zhitong didn't know if he was really stupid or pretending, so he simply categorized him as a simpleton.

Faced with such a stubborn person, there are some things that, even if possible, must not be done now.

Tang Zhitong responded with a smile, "Sure, it's good to have the determination to serve the people. You can go back and ask your advisor if you can stay."

"Can't Teacher Tang give me a recommendation?" the sports star asked persistently.

"You overestimate me. I'm just a student, like you. I don't have the final say." Tang Zhitong shook his head with a smile, rejecting the offer decisively.

When young people have nothing, honesty and loyalty are their best assets, but there are prerequisites: they must be open to different situations and possess the corresponding qualities.

It's obvious that this clueless idiot on the other side has none of these qualities.

Even though they had some past relationship, Tang Zhitong was thinking of staying away from him in the future.

Er Lengzi wanted to speak again, but was pulled back by his classmate. Tang Zhitong saw this, smiled and said nothing more. No one in the private room tried to bring up the matter again.

When Tang Zhitong went to see Director Ye the day before yesterday, he learned that Director Ye had secured three spots for staying in Beijing. One of them was given to Shi Zhengze in his own name, so the allocation of the other two had to be left to the school. That's the rule of the day.

Director Ye's intention was clear: to use this incident as an example to teach his son-in-law how to do things, how to make more friends, and how to build relationships.

Tang Zhitong doesn't mind building his own network of relationships, and he doesn't even mind risking breaking unspoken rules and suffering backlash to build it, but only if the person is worth it.

It's obvious that being a sports champion isn't worth Tang Zhitong doing this for.

(End of this chapter)