I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 4: The Age of Striving

Shazhou City is under the administration of Wudu City, so the high school entrance examination is usually the unified examination of Wudu City. This year it is still a bit difficult. The score lines for national key high schools are very low, basically none of them exceed 610 points; the score lines for provincial key high schools are generally below 590 points.

Because it was somewhat difficult, it was disastrous for many candidates who lacked confidence but were capable enough, resulting in a considerable number of "failed" candidates.

It wasn't until the following year that the difficulty level returned to normal.

Ultimately, whether an exam is too difficult or too easy, it's a failure in organizing an exam.

However, this is good news for Zhang Da'an who has been reborn.

He's been slacking off for so long, it's time he showed some of his professional skills.

Before his rebirth, Zhang Da'an studied traditional engineering, but that didn't stop him from later specializing in vocational skills training. During that time, he also set up a number of cram schools and managed to run a company in a respectable way. Zhang Da'an is quite capable.

He has a good memory and is efficient at solving problems, which are the foundations that allow him to make a living in this field.

The high school entrance exam is on June 11th. Before June 8th, Zhang Da'an did 15 rounds of practice papers, averaging two rounds a day. On the 9th, he went to the Nantao River to fish for mandarin fish and caught 15 mandarin fish while digging under the bridge. It was a very auspicious sign.

"You little dog Zongsang (beast), you better not mess with me, or I'll break your legs."

Uncle Zhang, who was taking Zhang Da'an to Binjiang Middle School for his exam on his motorcycle, couldn't hold back in the end and kept cursing as he took off his helmet.

"I'll sell the few mandarin fish in the net cage to Zhoujiaqiao. Mr. Zhou, the owner of the mutton shop there, has placed an order."

"..."

Seeing his nephew's composure, Uncle Zhang had some doubts and muttered to himself. Only after Zhang Da'an leisurely went inside did Zhang Zhengdong intend to leave. However, just as he turned the car around, someone called out to him.

"Old Zhang, who is that young man? Is he the 'scholarship' you mentioned?"

"..."

Zhang Zhengdong blushed when teased like that, but fortunately, his years of military service gave him an advantage; his tanned skin made it impossible to tell if he was blushing.

"Oh my, Lao Zhang, you're keeping this a secret? I can tell at a glance that this young man is quite talented; he might just be the top scholar this year."

"You think you can talk nonsense?!"

Zhang Zhengdong immediately started cursing.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's the rush? I'm just telling the truth..."

As he spoke, the other person took out a cigarette and offered it to him.

Although I knew the other party was deliberately making sarcastic remarks, "Hua Zi" was quite nice.

Have one.

laugh.

Click on it.

“Old Zhang, after your Dongwei Port is disbanded, would you like to come to my ‘Prince Port’ as a vice principal? It’s the same rank, and I’ll put in a good word for you with the Education Bureau.”

"I'll fuck your mother's bitch, get out."

"Oh dear, you never have a clean mouth. How can you be an educator? If you ask me, you could be more flexible with this 'scholarship' award. We're all middle schools along the river, so it doesn't matter who gets it. How about this: our 'Port-au-Prince' school, even if we don't aim for provincial or national key schools, you could allocate three to five thousand yuan of that scholarship to us. Anyway, we'll be principals in the future, so it's a sure thing, and our reputation won't suffer..."

"Get lost, I'd rather go to the security department than go to your Port-au-Prince Middle School."

"Oh, going to the security department is a good idea. You can really use your strengths there, after all, you've been in the army for several years."

"Xu Xingchu, you're a real beast!" "Hahahaha..."

Xu Xingchu, the principal of Taizigang Middle School, and Zhang Zhengdong were old acquaintances. Xu was a bit older and didn't have much of a future because Taizigang Middle School was a rural middle school, only better than Dongweigang Middle School. It had a historical heritage; going back several hundred years, it was still a rural private school.

Therefore, although both were junior high school tutoring classes for literacy, the facilities and resources of Taizigang Middle School are much stronger, and it often produces the top scorers in the junior high school entrance examination in Shazhou City.

That truly has a certain heritage and foundation.

Unlike Dongweigang Middle School, which is a rural makeshift school that relentlessly ruins people, this school is truly dedicated to educating people.

Despite the mockery, Xu Xingchu was right about one thing: if Dongweigang Middle School were to be closed down in two or three years, a significant number of teachers and students would definitely be transferred to Taizigang Middle School. It wouldn't be impossible for Zhang Zhengdong to become a vice principal there.

However, Zhang Zhengdong was a stubborn man and refused to go to someone he knew to earn a living.

"I'm going back now. Call me if you need anything."

"Hey, wait a minute, let's chat for a bit more."

Xu Xingchu stopped Zhang Zhengdong, who was trying to leave quickly, and then lowered his voice and said, "The dinner a couple of days ago was a dinner to ensure the success of the high school entrance exam. Chen Weizhong, Ge Yuejin and the others made fun of you. I guess they'll make fun of you on purpose when they go to the city for a meeting in a couple of days."

"Entering Mother's..."

"There's nothing we can do about it. In a couple of years, several rural middle schools will be closed or merged, and I heard the higher-ups are going to reorganize school districts. There will be a lot of problems then. No matter how they treat you like a soldier, you're only thirty-nine this year, right?"

"Ah."

“You’re considered young, Lao Zhang. At your age, at least… let me put it this way, if a new school or department were established, there would be plenty of places for you. If we don’t step down now, some of them who are over the age limit will retire with half a grade less in salary.”

Taking a puff of his cigarette, Xu Xingchu's eyes held a meaningful look. "Consider this a snack. Why did the bureau approve your scholarship application so readily? On the surface, it was approved along with several other schools in the city, but in reality, someone specifically put you in to skip the queue. Except for Dongweigang Middle School, which is a junior high school, the others are all high schools."

"I also have a high school section."

"..."

Speechless at Zhang Zhengdong's words, Xu Xingchu wondered, "You call that a high school?"

After twenty years of hard work, they still can't produce a single high school student who can get into a university.

Seeing Xu Xingchu's disdainful look, Zhang Zhengdong's face flushed again. He quickly started his motorcycle and sped away.

However, on the way, I kept thinking about Xu Xingchu's words. Thinking about it, it was true. Although I was useless in running and managing the school, I was young.

At only thirty-nine, it's the perfect age to strive and work hard.

Very good. I need to work hard and try to become the dean of studies at a larger school after Dongweigang Middle School is dissolved.

As for this high school entrance exam, let it be, leave it to fate.

After finishing the Chinese exam in the morning, Zhang Zhengdong went to pick up Zhang Da'an. At that time, there was a huge crowd outside Binjiang Middle School, all parents who had come to pick up their children. Sobbing and comforting voices could be heard everywhere.

However, those were all students from Binjiang Middle School, whose ability to withstand pressure was too poor, unlike the students from Dongweigang Middle School, who were still laughing and joking when they came out, saying that they didn't know how to write the "luo" in "he dang jin luo nao" and ended up writing "he dang nao huang jin".

Principal Zhang was very pleased to see his students. Putting aside their test-taking skills, our students have the best mental qualities in the city!

Then he received a call from his father, who pulled out his awesome Motorola. Principal Zhang had barely said "hello" when his fingers tightened, almost crushing the precious Motorola.

The old man in the family said that his good nephew Zhang Da'an had handed in his exam paper early and gone back to the village to set up shrimp traps.

Woo~woo~
Beep!

Principal Zhang, his face dark, sped off on his motorcycle. He was determined to show his nephew that his skills from his years in the army hadn't deteriorated!
(End of this chapter)