Gao Shujing: "It's just a form of address. If you don't mind, you can just call me by my name."
Captain Huang: "Yes, we're all family. Calling us 'Educated Youth Gao' or 'Officer Gao' is too formal. We should call us by our names."
Leaving the commune, Captain Huang's heart, which had been frightened by Gao Shujing's salary, began to beat again.
Captain Huang: "Shujing, college students are so valuable, how can you just throw away this job like that? That's fifty-six yuan!"
Gao Shujing had previously instructed them to call out names, so Captain Huang simply did so.
Gao Shujing said calmly, "You can earn money anywhere. I just want to do something meaningful. I didn't ask for the job assigned to me by the government before, but I still got this salary when I went to the countryside."
The Xia family's social standing was indeed bad, but Gao Shujing was a college graduate. Before the Gao family fell from power, his job would be assigned as usual, so he wasn't lying when he said that.
Captain Huang: "That's what you say, but if Director Liu doesn't use you, won't you lose this money?"
Gao Shujing: "As long as a cadre is dedicated to serving the people, I will not be short of this salary."
Captain Huang thought about what Gao Shujing had done, and it was true. Any president who was serious about doing things could see Gao Shujing's abilities, and that meant he would get the money.
The treatment of college students motivated Captain Huang, who thought about training a college student so that he could earn money anywhere after graduation.
But when he thought of his eldest son, Da Dan, who was thirteen years old and in the first year of junior high school, and who had barely managed to get in, Captain Huang felt heartbroken. It would be even more difficult for him to go to high school and university later.
Captain Huang used to think that reading was important, but the children's interests were even more important. His expectation for them was that they could recognize words, and that they could study as far as they could after that.
That won't do now. Captain Huang felt he had to harden his heart and make Da Dan study like crazy. A college graduate's starting salary is fifty-six yuan, which is too much. Captain Huang said he couldn't ignore it.
Captain Huang: "Shujing, how did you study back then? You were so good that you got into university."
Gao Shujing: "Just read more books. Read whenever you have free time. Read a book a hundred times, and its meaning will become clear." He was able to understand so much because he indeed read whenever he had free time, and he read a lot of books.
Captain Huang was full of questions: "A hundred times, what do you mean by 'self-seen'? He was just a primary school student and didn't understand."
Gao Shujing: "It means that if you read a text a hundred times, you will naturally understand the knowledge in the book."
Captain Huang made a decision in his heart: he would make his son, Dadan, read more books. If a hundred times wasn't enough, he would read them two hundred times. He would naturally learn them after reading them many times.
Captain Huang, who thought he had found the secret to studying, changed the subject: "After the electricity was restored, most of your energy will still be spent in the brigade. Will you still receive the same treatment as before?"
The team originally gave him full work points, a salary of five yuan, plus a 10% profit share from each item he repaired that was sold.
Knowing that college students are valuable, Captain Huang felt that they hadn't given them enough treatment before. But Shangfen Brigade was in the countryside and couldn't offer the same treatment as urban government officials. It was already quite an achievement that they could give them this much.
Over the course of a year, even as the brigade leader, Gao Shujing's income was less than that of the brigade itself.
In fact, Gao Shujing's income, given by the commune and the production team, was more than the income he would have received from a job assigned by the state.
If he put his heart into it, he could climb the ranks just as fast as the government assigns him a job. Even if he's not interested in these things, the Xia family is in Shangfen Brigade, and he can't possibly abandon them to climb the ranks on his own.
Gao Shujing: "Okay."
Captain Huang: "I told you you're an honest person and wouldn't hold a grudge against us over these things."
Gao Shujing: "It's all for the development of the brigade, it's what we should do."
Captain Huang rubbed his hands together: "In the president's office, you said you would select two people from each brigade to learn circuits from you. Is it the same for our brigade?"
Gao Shujing: "Of course, the captain can recommend candidates, but they must be honest, hardworking, and not too stupid."
Upon hearing the affirmative answer, Captain Huang quickly filtered through the candidates in his mind. Anyone who could become Gao Shujing's apprentice and learn even a little bit of his skills could become a technician in the brigade.
If you study well, it's not impossible to find a job in town or city; skilled workers are in short supply everywhere.
Thinking of his own son, Captain Huang wanted to send him to university, but that path was too long and uncertain. Following Gao Shujing might be more practical.
But after graduating from university, the starting salary was only fifty-six yuan. This number kept pounding in Captain Huang's heart. He wanted Da Dan to go to university, but he also wanted Da Dan to study circuits with Gao Shujing.
Captain Huang was torn: "Shujing, is it easy to get into university?"
Gao Shujing: "In the past, having ability was enough, but not so much now. Many university professors have gotten into trouble. The college entrance examination has been discontinued, and there are no universities now."
Ordinary people only care about how well their crops are growing in the fields and don't pay much attention to national strategic matters.
Even though Captain Huang was the captain, he only got more information from the commune or other captains, and he didn't specifically inquire or subscribe to newspapers to learn about the latest national conditions.
Just like Yu Rujia's traditional Chinese medicine, the town's newspapers were full of articles about it. Before they revealed that traditional Chinese medicine was very popular, no one in the team knew about it.
There is only one high school student in Shangfen Brigade, Huang Lijie. Her academic performance is average. When she comes back, she can only talk about things in the city and does not take the college entrance examination.
Before the large-scale educated youth were sent to the countryside, many rural people were unaware that the college entrance examination had been abolished.
The people in the brigade only knew that college students were impressive, but they didn't know exactly why they were so good. This is why Brigade Leader Huang couldn't calm down for a long time after learning about the treatment that President Liu gave to Gao Shujing.
Upon hearing the news that the college entrance examination was canceled, Captain Huang jumped up immediately: "What? The college entrance examination was canceled? When did this happen?" His voice was cracking with anxiety.
Captain Huang had just made up his mind to properly nurture his son, Da Dan, and had already planned how long Da Dan would study each day when he received this explosive news. How could he not be excited?
Gao Shujing was startled by his sudden loud voice and took two steps back. He looked at Captain Huang, whose eyes were wide open, and was somewhat puzzled as to why he was reacting so strongly.
Realizing he had frightened someone, Captain Huang immediately composed himself and said apologetically, "Shujing, I didn't mean to. I was just a little surprised to receive this news. What happened?"
Gao Shujing: "It's been just these last two months. The college entrance examination has been suspended, and there will be no more universities in the future. This decision was made based on a variety of considerations."
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