I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 125 Times have changed

After the college entrance examination last year, I actually saw some old women in the countryside cut out Zhang Da'an's photo from the newspaper, put it in a frame, and then put up a pig's head as an offering, worshipping this living "God of Literature" in the hope that he would bless their grandson to get into the county's top high school...

The police quietly dismantled the incident and gave a serious reprimand, but it didn't escalate into any major news; at most, it became a small topic of conversation in the county.

It's only May this year, and there are still some days until the college entrance examination. I don't know if there are any superstitious old men and women doing this, but an online "electronic exam god" has already been born.

Most importantly, the product name "Golden List Blog" is very auspicious. If you make a wish here, you are guaranteed to pass the imperial examination with flying colors.

Unlike other temples, the "electronic exam god" responds extremely quickly, and on occasional auspicious days, it can even reply online.

As for whether it's possible to fulfill vows online, the "Electronic Exam God" himself said, "I didn't take any of your incense money, get lost."

The summer enrollment fee for Xindongweigang Middle School is going up again. Parents who didn't enroll last year are already regretting it. Parents of students who enrolled in the "Top Scholar Accompanying Class" back in 1946, 1995, also feel that they were too foolish.

It would be better to just stay at Xindongwei Port Middle School.

We're all going to have to come anyway.

In order to prepare for the exam, the online "insulting Li Jiqi" incident has come to an end. Zhang Da'an returned to the Mazhou campus to prepare for the exam and also to give the students a final psychological boost.

Actually, it doesn't really matter whether he's here or not this year. The coaching team of "Zhang An Education" is already fully staffed for all subjects. And because of the addition of "Teacher Bai from the health room", the students' morale is even better than the previous year.

This year, in particular, the number of students has more than doubled, and the individual differences are very obvious. Some students are suffering from depression without knowing it. At first, the parents thought that depression was just a psychological problem. After careful communication and explanation, they realized that depression is depression and depression is depression.

Depression is like losing a hand or foot, or becoming deaf or blind; it's a physical problem, not a psychological one, and cannot be resolved through psychological adjustment.

You need to take medicine.

Because of this incident, Xindongwei Port Middle School was even praised by the Medical Association. After all, popular science work is a long and arduous task, and the funding for medical and health popular science has always been very limited.

The fact that some schools were able to correctly recognize the problem and cooperate in solving it made many medical workers feel like the sun had risen in the west.

This means that Zhang Da'an's personal influence was indeed substantial; otherwise, if it were an ordinary middle school principal, the student would most likely have been expelled and the matter handled discreetly.

Zhang Da'an doesn't care about this or that; he just wants to get to the point. He's not afraid of the Education Bureau making trouble for this little thing.

Of course, if we trace it back to the source, the main reason Zhang Da'an didn't let go of the student with depression was that he couldn't bear to part with the money.

Have I ever refunded a single penny to the parents all these years?!
My money!!!
Fortunately, the trainees' families were not poor and could afford the medicine, so this heartwarming story could continue. If it had been a trainee from a poor family, perhaps the tragedy would have already occurred, and Zhang Da'an would have been powerless to help.

While Coach Zhang is not yet adept at interpersonal skills and is rather ruthless, and doesn't have any real dreams, he has inspired many people with dreams over the years.

It's quite darkly humorous.

"Brother Da'an, my mom has dried shrimp again. They're all freshwater shrimp from the near sea, and they're really sweet and juicy."

"Don't give me that. Last time you also said it was sweet water, and those huge black tiger prawns, you turned them into dried prawns? If it weren't for the fact that they were actually quite delicious, I would have hung you up and beaten you. This time, the best part is that the prawn meat still has a sweet taste."

"Don't worry, Brother An, this time it'll be sweet."

How is your dad's health?

"My skin condition is much better now. My body doesn't itch anymore, and I've quit smoking."

"Nonsense, can you smoke while you're trying to cure an illness? Maybe you need one to calm your nerves?"

“My mother smokes all the cigarettes now; she took away all of my father’s cigarettes.”

"Beautiful~~"

For a moment, Zhang Da'an felt that "Pineapple Boy's" family humor was exceptionally high.

Three boys from "Pineapple Boy's" hometown village came to Zhang Da'an's place to be his "cousins," as long as they weren't his "adopted brothers."

Of course, some older people were thinking that if it were "Da Anzai"... it wouldn't be a bad idea if they gritted their teeth and decided to try.

The money the three boys sent home was used not only to repair their house, but also to build a cement road for the village. Originally, the village planned to name it "Sanyi Road" (Road of Three Righteousnesses), but Liang Chunbo and the other two insisted on naming it "Zhuangyuan Road" (Road of Top Scholars), just like Wuxing Village.

After inviting a Taoist priest to greet "Jiang Taigong," the basic procedure of erecting a stele and inscribing words still exists. The main purpose is to record which year, month, and which great philanthropist sponsored the road.

The road looks ordinary, just a cement road, but it can now carry a hand tractor and a motorcycle, which completely changes its nature.

With proper reinforcement, a "125" motorcycle can easily carry 500-600 jin (250-300 kg) of mangoes and lychees with added rear seats on both sides.

In the past, the problem in Liang Chunbo's hometown village was that there were too many potholes. Although the best way to transport orchards in the mountains was still by hand-held tractors, they dared not load too much. When they encountered a series of small potholes that they had to cross, it was not uncommon for vehicles to overturn and people to die.

After the road surface is paved, the transport capacity can easily double or triple in just a few kilometers.

Fruit prices are still low, and the first batch of lychees still doesn't fetch a good price. However, this year, the harvest is plentiful and faster than in other villages. With the total volume increasing, the biggest advantage is that the fruit from our own trees is being sold quickly, resulting in sales four to five times more than the same period last year.

In this situation, even knowing that the vendors were making more money, it didn't matter much. Some fruit wholesalers from Nandu who never bought from remote mountain villages even bought 20 tons of fruit this time because the Liang family's produce was indeed fresh and plentiful, just to test the waters. They also agreed to bring a batch of wampee fruit with branches and leaves to sell when it comes to market in July.

In the past, in Liang Chunbo's hometown, yellow-skinned fruit could only be sold cheaply to local customers who wanted to eat some at the end of autumn. It was basically not profitable; it was more like giving it away for free. People would then eat a little bit as a snack.

The village named this road "Sanyi Road" for a reason; it was indeed because of three righteous young men.

If "Pineapple Boy" weren't so far away in Jiangkou Province, the ancestral hall would definitely be the main focus of this year's Qingming Festival.

Of course, there were also some cunning individuals who, after the road was repaired, persuaded the older generation to get the three "Pineapple Boys" to continue contributing money to repair the ancestral hall...

This enraged Liang Chunbo's father, who lived in the nursing home, and he grabbed a weapon, ready to fight.

Strangely enough, this little incident gave the villagers a sudden feeling...

The times have changed.

In the past, when people were successful and made money, the first thing they would think of was building ancestral halls.

But things are different now; "Pineapple Boy" is back and the first thing he does is repair the roads.

Even without witnessing it firsthand, many people can imagine that the influence must be due to "Da Anzai".

As the college entrance examination approached, the elders of the Liang family and the elders of another prominent family in the village would make bets over tea, betting on whether "Da'anzai," who lived far away in Jiangkou Province, would be the top scorer in Jiangkou Province's college entrance examination this year.

Some people think it's uncertain, while others think it's a sure thing; we'll have to wait and see in June.

After Zhang Da'an finished his mobilization, he went to the "top student class" to talk to them about filling out college applications in advance.

This "Top Scorer Class" is a new IP, not a "Top Scorer Tutoring Class". It is the product of trying three models last year.

The goal of the "top scorer class" is simple: to become the top scorer in the district/county college entrance examination. Of course, it would be even better if they could become the top scorer in the prefecture-level city.

Coach Zhang doesn't like taking out loans, so the top scorer in the district/county college entrance exam is the most reliable candidate.

After all, there were quite a few outstanding students among the batch of students recruited last year. Whether or not they were admitted to Xindongweigang Middle School, they would still be able to get into key universities. The only difference is that they could not become the top students in their respective districts and counties.

"The development of various industries in society can be summarized in one sentence: the next fifteen years will focus on infrastructure construction."

"Therefore, if an individual wants to achieve a remarkable career, when filling out their college application, they should lean towards the field of infrastructure construction based on their personal life plan. Civil engineering, transportation, computer software and hardware, medical and health care, and public safety are all options."

"Brother An, I understand civil engineering to mean infrastructure construction, but do computer science and healthcare count too?"

A student from Jiyang City who came to the Mazhou campus to repeat a year of high school raised his questions.

"Highways are infrastructure, but information superhighways aren't? Without a developed communication network, how can we support the widespread adoption of computers and the internet? As for healthcare, do you think hospital construction is a joke? A characteristic of urbanization is population concentration. Concentrated populations require convenient management, which necessitates supporting facilities. Hospitals will be further differentiated at various levels, from individual points to a broader area. Being a doctor is tough, but overall, career development in healthcare, whether in terms of average income or social status in urbanized areas, is generally higher. However, if you want to become a doctor, remember to exercise first."

"Huh? Why?"

"Nonsense, what if the patient knows martial arts? You can't manage without learning some joint locks or grappling techniques."

"Then why should I study medicine? I'll study mechanical engineering instead."

"Idiot, even a mechanical engineering graduate from Tsinghua University only makes five or six thousand a month."

"I'm starting my own business."

"That's fine then. You can study mechanical engineering. If you plan to work a regular job, then don't study it. Even if mechanical engineers stop being hired starting this year, there will still be enough for the next twenty years."

"..."

One student, who had initially thought that studying mechanical engineering would make it easier to find a job, was so shocked by Coach Zhang's words that he trembled and timidly asked, "What about automation? Is that feasible?"

"The package is fine. Automation will be a perennial major in the future, as will electrification. Materials... well, you can choose materials when you do your PhD, but it won't be a bad major until six or seven years later."

Students in this class don't need to worry about getting into a prestigious university; they only need to figure out how to fill out their college applications and choose a major.

"By the way, Brother An, do you plan to make 'Xiaobai Antivirus' bigger and stronger in the future?"

"Originally, I wouldn't have done it. After arguing with people online for half a year, how could I not grow big? I had to grow big."

"Then I'll study computer science and follow you, Brother An."

"Yeah, Brother An, do you need someone with a food science background?"

"That makes sense. From now on, we can just come directly to Brother An when we're looking for a job, right?"

That's why they're called the "top student class"—their thinking is indeed clear, and their decision-making is decisive!
(End of this chapter)