The growth system comes at the age of 30

Chapter 303 Cousin Li Wenhui (4K)

"It's another year of college entrance exams."

Teacher Li was playing on her phone with her head resting on Chen Jingle's abs when she suddenly spoke.

"Ah."

Chen Jingle responded and squeezed Teacher Li's hand to indicate that he had heard her.

They were both lying in bed, looking at their phones in the same way, just in different directions.

It roughly forms a shape resembling the Chinese character "卜".

It's Friday night, and tomorrow's the weekend. After showering, the two lay in bed, feeling a bit reluctant to move. It just so happens to be the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao), and the internet is flooded with news about it.

This kind of major event that attracts the attention of the whole society happens every year.

However, there have been relatively few trending topics related to this year, indicating a somewhat lukewarm reception.

In the past, the whole nation was supportive, but this year there have been many sarcastic voices.

Li Beixing wondered, "Looking at those parents of test takers online, with their cheongsams and flowers, it seems so exaggerated. We've never seen anything like that here."

Chen Jingle laughed and said, "Do you think everyone is like people in Lingnan, going to the exam hall by themselves and going home by themselves after the exam? If your family is in the countryside, you might have to help with farm work after you get home from the exam."

For example, after finishing his college entrance exam, he only rested for three days before packing his backpack and going to work in a factory to earn tuition fees.

I worked for two and a half months straight, I was exhausted, and the pay was low.

I really don't want to experience that terrible feeling a second time.

“You know what, when I took the college entrance exam, my parents didn’t do anything special. They just cooked dinner at home and waited for me to come back. It was pretty much the same for all my classmates.” Li Beixing chuckled and winked. “But my family was relatively well-off, so after the exam, I went on a trip. Then I came back and got my driver’s license.”

"That 296GTS, was it the one your dad bought for you after you got your driver's license?"

"Yeah. Actually, I haven't driven it that many times. The horsepower is too high, and I was afraid I, a novice, wouldn't be able to control it." Li Beixing rolled over, grinning, "But it's yours now. Of course, so am I."

"fool."

Chen Jingle chuckled, then fell into deep thought: "Speaking of which, the fact that the whole society attaches so much importance to the college entrance examination, compared with the bleak employment environment for college graduates today, has a rather dark humor quality."

"That's true."

Upon hearing this, Li Beixing frowned in thought: "I feel that the past few years of college entrance exam takers and college graduates have had a pretty tough time. I was lucky; at least I attended two years of regular college courses and found a job smoothly. Many people spent almost all four years taking online classes, learned nothing, and couldn't find a job after graduation."

"There are personal reasons, and then there's the so-called general trend of the times."

Chen Jingle held her hand: "Once an economic crisis hits, it's not something that can be solved by hard work alone. In the face of a raging torrent, there is indeed limited what an individual can do. It's already good if an ordinary person can get through it with some savings. But look at four or five years ago, when the economy was booming, how many people were blindly consuming and borrowing, and how many people had savings in their pockets? Once the crisis hits, the first ones to give up are those who blindly leveraged themselves."

Li Beixing recalled the news articles he had come across and asked Chen Jingle a rather academic question: "Is the essence of excessive consumption a consumerist trap deliberately created by capital?"

After a brief moment of thought, Chen Jingle replied: "In my personal opinion, the essence of overconsumption is the result of a conspiracy between capital, human nature, technology, and social culture. Appropriate overconsumption is acceptable, as it helps to redistribute the value of time, exchanging the certainty of the future for the uncertainty of the present. Some productive overconsumption, such as student loans and entrepreneurial investments, is actually acceptable. However, excessive overconsumption may lead to hedonistic overspending. The key is to distinguish between investments in the future and overspending on the future to satisfy unrealistic fantasies in the present."

Li Beixing seemed to be deep in thought.

Chen Jingle smiled slightly and didn't say much. Whether it was his family or his parents-in-law's family, their financial management concepts were all on the conservative side.

Look at Hongqi, such a large company, its debt is not high. It is the result of my father-in-law, Comrade Li, choosing to develop steadily out of careful consideration.

Otherwise, they could easily achieve rapid expansion in the short term through bank loans.

However, that comes with high risks. Once the cash flow breaks down, the company can become insolvent and go bankrupt in no time.

In short, things like overspending and excessive consumption are none of their business.

……

Feeling the topic had veered off course, Chen Jingle returned to the earlier question about the college entrance examination and asked Li Beixing curiously, "By the way, is No. 8 Middle School a college entrance examination venue?"

Teacher Li shook his head: "No, generally speaking, there are enough exam rooms for the college entrance examination. For the junior high school entrance examination, they may need to requisition some. This is because the senior high school sections of rural junior high schools have been shut down, leaving only junior high school sections. Students from rural junior high schools have to come to the city to take the junior high school entrance examination. These rural students are mainly arranged to take the exam at several schools in the central urban area. If the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 schools cannot accommodate them, they will be diverted to the No. 6, No. 7, and No. 8 schools."

She paused for a moment, then laughed and said, "But it's only a matter of the next few years. In a few more years, the student population will plummet and we won't need No. 8 Middle School anymore. It might even be shut down. If it is shut down, I might lose my job."

Teacher downsizing is nothing new.

Teachers are being reassigned to other positions in many provinces across the country, and many places have even canceled teacher recruitment altogether.

Clearly, the number of teachers far exceeds the number of students.

According to a survey report by Beijing Normal University, by 2035, there will be 150 million primary school teachers and 37 secondary school teachers nationwide. If we include high school and university teachers, the surplus number of teachers may exceed 200 million.

I wonder how many people will be forced to change careers in the future.

Ultimately, learning ability and personal technical skills are more important; a diploma alone is not enough.

Chen Jingle just smiled slightly: "If we don't want to work anymore when the time comes, we can retire early and travel around to relax, okay?"

"Okay!"

Li Beixing's face was full of anticipation.

To be honest, she wasn't particularly passionate about being a teacher; she just wanted to make her life a little more structured.

Given her family's circumstances, she could easily do nothing, stay home, and live off her parents for the rest of her life.

As long as she doesn't start a business or squander money recklessly, under normal spending conditions, the family's money will last a lifetime.

Holding Teacher Li's small hand, Chen Jingle looked at the ceiling and said with a smile, "My original plan was to save up enough money before I turned 30, then retire and live a carefree life. When I got tired of lying at home, I would go on a trip to relax. As long as I didn't spend money recklessly, I could at least guarantee that I could live a carefree life for 20 or 30 years. But I only lived a carefree life for less than a year before I had to get up and work honestly again."

It just goes to show how strange fate can be.

If the system hadn't come along, he might have really stayed in bed forever.

But if that were the case, he might not be able to be with Teacher Li. After all, his lazy and irresponsible attitude made him somewhat unworthy of the excellent Teacher Li.

"It feels like you're practically retired now."

Li Beixing said with a smile.

Chen Jingle shook his head: "It's far from it. At most, it's freelancing. You still have to work to make a living. You can't do whatever you want and not have to do anything. You can tell what real retirement is like by looking at those old men and women who get up in the morning and sit in the teahouse until noon, or travel around and have fun."

If it weren't for the money, probably no one would like to work.

Li Beixing turned to look at him: "If you think it's too tiring, then don't do it. Anyway, my parents have money, I can just ask them for it later."

Chen Jingle couldn't help but laugh: "There's no need for that. It'll be fine once the price of my work goes up. At that point, one order a month will be enough to support my whole family."

Nowadays, the price of his works, especially his paintings, has risen to 8 yuan per piece, which is already considered a good price.

However, it's still quite a distance from those big shots who sell paintings for hundreds of thousands or even millions. The problem is that he didn't invest heavily in operations or collaborate with galleries or auction houses; otherwise, the price could easily have doubled.

"Then you'd better work hard!" Teacher Li said with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm trying."

Chen Jingle rolled over and snuggled into Teacher Li's arms.

……

The three-day college entrance examination passed in the blink of an eye.

For someone like Chen Jingle, who has been out of school for seven or eight years, the college entrance examination is even more distant than that, so there's really nothing to feel sentimental about.

My aunt, Chen Xiaomeng, has arrived.

However, it wasn't about his cousin Li Wenhui's college application; he just hoped she could find a summer job.

"I originally wanted her to go to KFC, McDonald's, or Xuewang stores to see if they were hiring, but when I asked, they all said they had already hired or didn't need anyone. So I wanted to ask if you have any suitable positions for her, even if it's just odd jobs. I really don't want her to go to those assembly line electronics factories in Dongguan or Shenzhen, where the work is tiring and the food and accommodation are bad."

My aunt smiled awkwardly.

The family now basically knows that Li Beixing is the daughter of the owner of Hongqi, and Chen Jingle works at Hongqi. With this connection, if needed, they could easily ask him to help arrange a good job.

Currently, everyone in the family has stable jobs, so there's no need for anyone to change jobs.

Moreover, favors are something you can only use once, so Chen Xiaomeng felt it was better not to ask for them unless absolutely necessary.

Chen Jingle was actually quite happy that his aunt took the initiative to ask him for help.

He doesn't have many reservations; he helps whenever he can.

He understood his aunt's feelings. The more honest and poor a person is, the more likely they are to grit their teeth and endure rather than swallow their pride and ask for help, all for the sake of their so-called self-esteem. If someone is willing to help, things will be much easier for them.

My aunt's family situation wasn't much better than his family's before. They bought the house a few years ago to make it easier for her younger cousin, Li Wenrui, to study in the city. It was a case of getting on the high end of the property ladder.

My uncle is a furniture carpenter with a decent income, but working on construction sites is incredibly hard, and it's common for payments to be delayed. In addition, my aunt is a full-time stay-at-home mom who is very competitive with her kids, so she has enrolled both of them in various tutoring classes.

The family of four barely managed to make ends meet.

Chen Jingle did not entirely agree with her sister-in-law's family education philosophy, but expressed respect for it.

At least during the Mid-Autumn Festival gathering last year, after he talked to Sister Xiu and his aunt, his aunt's thoughts had changed.

Her approach of seeking Chen Jingle's help is correct.

"Okay, I'll make the arrangements."

Chen Jingle did not refuse: "The salary may not be very high, after all, she is an intern, but I will try my best to let her learn real skills."

The aunt nodded quickly: "I understand, I understand. She just graduated from high school and is here for a summer job. Even if you offer her a high salary, I wouldn't dare to accept it. What if people say you're taking too much care of your relatives? Let's stick to the rules."

See, this is what an honest person is like.

Other people would be eager to get the highest possible salary, since they'd rather take advantage of their relatives than not.

At this moment, Chen Jingle suddenly began to understand his father-in-law, Comrade Li.

For a large family to collectively overcome difficulties and achieve upward social mobility, the efforts of one person alone are insufficient. It requires the collective effort of everyone, working together towards the same goal and continuously moving forward.

If even one person is dragging their feet, it will create various obstacles and troubles for the goal, thus delaying progress.

However, in such a large family with dozens of members, there will inevitably be some fools.

In this situation, it's good enough if we can avoid causing trouble.

That's why the younger generation needs to read more, understand things, and learn to use dialectical thinking to look at problems. Even if they don't become rich and powerful when they grow up, at least their underlying thinking logic will have changed.

In terms of family education for the next generation, they will definitely do a better job than their parents' generation.

……

Chen Jingle met his cousin Li Wenhui.

She is about the same height as Chen Qiyun, both of them are petite. Compared to the Lunar New Year, her face is rounder and she has some pimples on her forehead.

Anyone who has gone through the college entrance examination knows that the pressure on test takers is immense.

However, his energy and spirits were noticeably better at this point, probably because he was relaxed after the exam.

"Brother Le~"

Li Wenhui greeted everyone politely with a smile.

"Did you estimate the score?" Chen Jingle asked her curiously.

Li Wenhui smiled shyly: "I did a quick estimate, and it's probably around 610."

Chen Jingle smiled in surprise and said, "That's great! It's improved a lot compared to half a year ago. It seems that your hard work has paid off and you performed very well. With this score in physics, you can get into a very good school. I feel that you have a chance at a mid-to-lower-tier 985 university or a decent 211 university."

I remember my aunt saying that Li Wenhui's score was only around the first-tier university cutoff.

That's quite an improvement in just six months.

"We'll have to wait for the results to come out to know for sure," Li Wenhui said with a slight smile.

Chen Jingle nodded and asked, "Are there any majors you're particularly interested in?"

Li Wenhui shook her head: "I haven't thought about it, and I don't know."

Chen Jingle chuckled: "It's nothing, it's normal. High school seniors usually bury themselves in studying, doing practice problems, and taking exams. I had a brief chat with your mother before, I don't know if she told you about it later?"

"I've mentioned it a little, but I still only have a vague understanding," Li Wenhui said hesitantly.

Chen Jingle nodded: "Okay, I'll list a few majors for you. Think about which one you're most interested in. There's no need to rush to give an answer. You have plenty of time to think about it, at least until the results come out on the 25th."

“Okay~” Li Wenhui naturally had no objections.

She already knew from her mother that her cousin was the most successful one in the family and was willing to help her arrange a summer internship. She felt a little nervous but also excited.

"Come on, let's go buy some things first. I'll tell you about the work arrangements on the way."

Chen Jingle waved to her.

(End of this chapter)