I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 37 Changing Fate Against Heaven
The newly recruited 30 frontline staff members need training, and the veteran teachers are also mentally prepared, since their salaries and benefits will increase significantly after obtaining the "Zhang An Certification".

So there's no pretentious stuff here. After all, in a place like "Zhang An Education," seniority is as good as dog's, famous teachers are everywhere, and the security guards outside aren't temporary workers, but have real contracts.

They are all Zhang Da'an's "cousins".

These "cousins" were all old comrades-in-arms of Zhang Zhengdong's cousin, whom he contacted through the Armed Forces Department. They were scattered across dozens of counties and cities in Lingxi Province. Some were willing to come, and some were not, but those who were willing to come stayed.

After all, if they went back home, the pension would only be a few dozen yuan a month, and they would have to go to the Pearl River Delta in Lingdong to find work. It didn't matter where they went, especially since they had the support of the armed forces departments on both sides.

It was because of this incident that the city generally learned that Zhang Da'an's father had passed away early and was the head of the Private Education Section of the Education Bureau, who had been taking care of him single all along.

Uncle Zhang received an award for no apparent reason. After the municipal government's commendation ceremony, his old unit also sent people to visit and offer their condolences.

The claim that the pension is several tens of yuan a month is not accurate. In reality, Zhang Da'an and his "cousins" usually received around 500 yuan, with a maximum of 550 yuan. The amount also depended on the economic level of their place of residence. In rural Shazhou City, the pension was 10 yuan a month. In Lingxi Province, because there was no county-level economy to speak of at the time, there was no 10 yuan a month.

Then there are those who die from illness after being wounded, which is even fewer, only one hundred.

Therefore, more people received 100, while fewer received 500.

In the past two years, Jiangkou Province has tried to make adjustments, but due to the issue of the treatment of veterans from the earlier "founding war", the finances can only be implemented step by step.

Take Zhang Qihong, for example. He basically doesn't have to spend any money on hospitalization and medical treatment now. His cousin, Zhang Qisheng, also didn't spend much money on lymphoma treatment in Wudu City.

But it would have cost a lot of money five years ago.

Another factor is that the fathers of the "cousins" were key figures in the Vietnam War, and their registered residences were concentrated in Lingxi. Therefore, we need to look at the economic development level of their registered residences.

The new batch of "cousins" were a mixed bag, but fortunately none of them had tattoos. A few of them had been locked up for a few days for petty theft, but it didn't have a big impact. Zhang Da'an applied for military training to help the "cousins" get back on track with their discipline.

They actually preferred academic subjects, because many of them didn't finish primary school and instead followed their elders to cut sugarcane or carry sugar residue and fertilizer.

As a "representative," Zhang Da'an shares a common background with them, but their experiences differ, creating a relationship that is both close and distant.

The closeness goes without saying, but the estrangement stems from the fact that at such a young age, they have never met a boss who is even human, let alone an uncle or cousin. It would be good enough if the boss didn't covet their three dilapidated ancestral houses.

Time will break everything.

By the time of National Day, Zhang Da'an had become very familiar with them.

The initial anxiety and unease upon arrival gradually dissipated.

Accustomed to being outnumbered and outmatched, these teenagers unexpectedly became the most relaxed and energetic group at "Uncle" Zhang Zhengdong's wedding.

"Boss, I..."

"You bastard, what are you calling me in this situation?"

"Big cousin."

"Hey handsome, let me peel a piece of wedding candy for you."

"Hahahahahaha..."

Amidst the laughter, Zhang Da'an finally asked, "Pineapple Boy, what's the matter?"

The dark-skinned boy with a buzz cut asked somewhat shyly in a low voice, "Brother Da'an, is it too late for me to continue my studies?"

Tell me, why do you want to study?

"Brother Zhao and Brother Qian have pretty high salaries..."

"Hey."

Zhang Da'an smiled, then noticed the clear, bright eyes of the boys sitting together, as if they'd chopped sugarcane. He picked up a piece of cold beef, put it in his mouth, filled a glass of orange juice, and said, "Do you know how much Director Han earns in a year?" "No."

The boy, whose real name was Liang Chunbo, was very honest and simply shook his head.

"Annual salary of 150,000, plus other miscellaneous income, adds up to about 180,000 to 200,000 a year."

"..."

"..."

"..."

The wedding was still in full swing, but one table in the atmosphere-building group was completely silent.

"Pineapple Boy".

"Ok?"

"It's unrealistic to expect you to go straight back to school. After all, you've worked outside, you've been through some rough times, and you've met all sorts of people, both good and bad. It's impossible to expect you to continue acting like normal junior high students."

The words were blunt, but they were all true.

The people at this table all had a dejected look in their eyes.

"But roads are made by people walking on them, right?"

Zhang Da'an smiled and said, "I can arrange for you to audit classes, and I can even open a class, but you won't have student status. You can get your junior high school diploma through self-study, which can be done in Shazhou City, without having to go back to your hometown. Then you can get your high school diploma through self-study. Once you become an adult, you can choose between self-study and adult education. But it's best if you go back to your hometown to register for the college entrance examination yourself. A full-time university degree is more useful."

"Brother Da'an, will this work?"

"If I say yes, then yes."

Looking at the eyes of Liang Chunbo and the others, Zhang Da'an wondered how many of them would be able to persevere.

However, being thousands of miles away, without the bad company or ghosts, and without the need to go to the factory as a group to be ripped off by the foreman, is better than anything else.

Unlike being a security guard elsewhere, here, the armed forces department also supervises you. There are two instructors, one chief and two deputy, stationed at the station. There is also a guard post, a newly built paved road intersection, and a police station donated by "Zhang An Education".

For the teenagers, it's a bit like being in prison. They can't play cards or slack off like they used to when they were working. After a month of military training, it's not easy to put down many of the rules once they've picked them up again.

Because the people who came to give them military training were also veterans from the armed forces department, some of whom were in the same unit as their fathers.

To be blunt, it would have been much better if their father had died in battle; but the fact that they were either sick or disabled meant that their upbringing was not so bright.

It was when the instructors calmly recounted their experiences that the boys regained their hidden self-esteem. The days when they had to laugh along when others made fun of them were just days of helplessness.

Glory is something that is worthless when it is cheap, and unattainable when it is expensive.

This is especially true if it is the glory of one's parents.

Outsiders don't know why Zhang Da'an would go to find a complete stranger thousands of miles away, but as family members, they do have some idea about Zhang Da'an.

Whether it's the old man Zhang Qihong or today's groom Zhang Zhengdong, they both know very well that Zhang Da'an doesn't trust anyone; he only trusts himself.

These so-called "war orphans" who aren't actually "war orphans" are the same kind of people as him. It's just that Zhang Da'an is lucky. He lives in a place where he doesn't have to worry about food and clothing, and he doesn't have to pick mangoes, cut sugarcane, or steam sweet potatoes. Then, at the age of thirteen or fourteen, he took a fake ID card and went to work on an assembly line in some godforsaken place for twelve hours a day.

Zhang Da'an is defying fate.

Today's groom and his father know this well.

(End of this chapter)