I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 158 The Old Man Lets Go of His Obsession

"Zhang An College" will be one of Zhang Da'an's core businesses for the long term. The reason is that the wave of private capital starting schools under the "private-public partnership" model will recede with changes in the market environment. At that time, a large number of private undergraduate colleges will go bankrupt due to lack of sustainability.

Unfortunately, the company went bankrupt just as it was entering the early stages of industrial transformation ten years later, when job specialization was becoming a major trend.

To be honest, those who benefited from this wave of dividends were the schools invested in by industry leaders in various sectors.

A booming industry leads to a booming job market, which in turn leads to a booming education sector – this is a very simple cycle.

Of course, there are various other reasons, but overall, a stable supply and demand relationship is at play.

When Zhang Da'an was paving the way for Zhang Zhengdong, he had already considered these things, which led to the establishment of the "Jiangkou Provincial Rural Education and Employment Pilot Demonstration Zone".

Zhang Da'an couldn't actually decide what form this organization should take.

But the general outline will not change.

In the future, when Zhang Da'an integrates resources, he will also aim to further enhance the value of "Zhang'an College" and make it a prestigious brand among private colleges.

When competing with established prestigious universities, this is a case of competing in a different area, on a different track.

Now, as long as Zhang Da'an sets the overall development path for the "Zhang'an Industrial Alliance" outside of "Zhang'an Education," it will continuously provide support for "Zhang'an Academy."

In this era of rapid development, employment is not only a concern for government departments, but also for universities.

If the employment rate of recent graduates is low, then it proves that the value of your school is... far less than it claims.

When a school's graduates can secure stable employment with decent salaries, then that school has nothing to boast about.

Just like Jiangning Audit College and Jiangning Meteorological College, there is no need for marketing; they can simply develop quietly.

What Zhang Da'an was going to do was actually quite extraordinary and secretive. The idea of ​​"Zhang An Academy" was conceived during the "Top Scholar Accompanying Class". Zhang Zhengdong's vocational skills training business for local "migrant workers" in Fengyi County can be regarded as a preliminary pilot.

The "98 Plan Students," which originated from the "Volunteer Targeted Training Program," can be considered as a formal attempt among college students.

Currently, the level of collective recognition and acceptance within Jiangkou Province is quite good, and it has a very good reputation.

At this point, "Zhang An Academy" further deepens, completing the "guaranteed job assignment" of the new era. If he manages to get this job, even if he leads people to smash up Jiangning Prefecture, people will praise him for smashing it up beautifully, for smashing up the spirit of the times, and for smashing up the highest masterpiece of modern art...

However, as always, this job is in the underworld, and you absolutely cannot let anyone discover your true thoughts.

He certainly doesn't dream of benefiting society, but he's very interested in doing some underworld work to take revenge on society.

So even during the Chinese New Year, Zhang Da'an was still busy perfecting his plans on the computer.

A business plan can't be less than several hundred pages long.

It's even more troublesome than compiling a new training syllabus for Xindongwei Port Middle School. There's no way around it; the college entrance examination in Jiangkou Province is about to enter a phase of unpredictable fluctuations every year. In the next twenty years, not a single year will be normal.

This year's college entrance examination experience is useless in the second year; the college entrance examination model can change every year and drastically every three years.

Fortunately, it's not a big problem for him. He's already a three-time champion in the college entrance exam and has retired from the exam world, leaving behind a "new Dongweigang dynasty." His record is verifiable, so if you're not convinced, let's have a solo match.

The old man found it strange that he was still so busy during the Lunar New Year. On New Year's Eve, while the cooks were preparing the dishes, he grumbled a few times: "Why are you still busy with turtles during the New Year? Wouldn't it be better to just eat, have a meal, and set off firecrackers?"

"I have big business after the New Year, and I rarely have free time. Before, I was in meetings and gave lectures all in multimedia. If the school didn't have enough staff now, I would wish to split people in half to use them."

"Say something nice during the New Year."

The old man, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, was speechless. His "literary star" was just a bit outspoken.

However, we can't blame him. He grew up with his second son, and it's all the fault of his second son, Zhang Zhengdong, who has such low moral character and has corrupted his grand-nephew.

"Hey, Zhang An, I forgot to ask you. When are you planning to have a son or daughter?"

"It depends on the situation. The current asset size is too large, and I'm afraid something might happen if I were to be supported."

"..."

The old man, seemingly completely oblivious to what his grand-nephew was talking about, gave up on the conversation and changed the subject, "So how much wealth do you have now? A hundred million, right? I heard from my third brother and the others that you're a multi-millionaire now, not much less than the richest man in Shazhou City. Is that true?"

"That's not the case. I just have less debt, more cash, and relatively less fixed assets. About a billion or so, but whether it's two billion or not, we'll have to calculate it."

"Damn it..."

The old man was completely stunned. His mouth gaped open, and he didn't even realize what was happening until the ash fell from his cigarette.

After a long pause, he flicked his cigarette ash and said with a slightly excited tone, "Finding a wife requires careful consideration; she should ideally be able to keep all sorts of shady characters in check. And then, I also need to try to live as long as possible; it wouldn't be worth dying early now. The longer I live, the more abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw I can eat. I'm not afraid of getting gout."

With unwavering resolve, Comrade Zhang Qihong declared that he wanted to splurge, to share the burden of his nephew's grandson, and to eat sea cucumbers, lobsters, and crabs!

However, when I thought about my nephew's wealth of over a billion, I suddenly felt that my idea seemed a bit outdated.

In terms of temperament, Comrade Zhang Qihong has always been very good at it, and his second son, Zhang Zhengdong, has inherited the core temperament.

The old man lit a cigarette and hummed a little tune as he strolled outside. There were newly built houses in front of and behind the village, but they weren't in the village; they belonged to Zhang Da'an.

The special reward for the top scorer in the exam was a plot of land for each top scorer. So, except for Uncle Zhang's house on the west side, which remained untouched, three-story houses were built on the east, south, and north sides.

Like a "fortress" built of reinforced concrete, all the buildings are interconnected. There is a backup generator in the basement, an uninterrupted power supply system, and three elevators.

When the old man comes to visit, he has to swipe his card at the west-facing side door first... He used to think his grand-nephew was crazy, but now he just wants to get another doorman so he can be the doorman.

The small building to the south is the security guard's house, which serves as a dormitory. The sewage pipes extending from it can connect to the public toilets in Wuxing Village.

The public toilets were built by the city, which resulted in Wuxing Village having an extra two-way four-lane road leading directly to the city center, along with a complete municipal sewage pipeline, despite having few factories.

Originally, according to the plan, it would be more appropriate to repair it after ten years, but because Zhang Da'an's business has grown bigger and bigger, and Zhang Zhengdong's level has risen higher and higher, there must be some conveniences.

Now, all the roads leading to the villagers' homes in Wuxing Village are paved, and there are streetlights at every corner. However, some streetlights are switched on and off by village officials, while others are managed by the municipal department and are turned on promptly at 5:30 pm.

Meanwhile, the entire village has 55 surveillance cameras, one police station, one service station, three permanent guard posts, and three mobile guard posts. Basically, it can be said that all these facilities are provided for Zhang Da'an's safety.

The reason is simple: Zhang Da'an's personal influence is no different from that of a county magistrate. Even though no organization has recruited Zhang Da'an, it doesn't prevent him from reaching the required rank.

It's just that its social influence is a bit special, so it can't be promoted in the same way as steel mills and textile factories.

This year, Zhang Da'an spent the Spring Festival in the countryside, and the police station even sent two cars over just in case.

The city had anticipated that Zhang Da'an would put on a large-scale "New Year's Eve dinner," and the result was quite a spectacle. The chef team was busy from morning till night, making a racket, and there were only five people on the table.

The chefs ate with the security guards and bodyguards in the south building, and then went home to eat their own New Year's Eve dinner.

Zhang Da'an wasn't so stingy as to make the chefs pack up leftovers. He made sure that everything, from abalone and sea cucumber to shark fin, was freshly prepared, boxed, and taken away.

As for the security guards, after they finished eating, they quickly called or video-chatted with their families. Nowadays, a computer webcam with 300,000 pixels is enough.

Two years ago, rural areas in Linh Tay province couldn't even get internet access, but starting last year, they stopped requiring villages to have a large number of monthly internet subscribers before providing service. As long as people were willing to sign up for a monthly internet package, the telecom company would send someone to install it.

After all, there were already quite a few "outsourced workers" at this time, and there were plenty of people willing to do the hard work.

"You might not believe it, but I ate sea cucumbers a long time ago back in Korea. They weren't good, nobody ate them. Later, a comrade from Shandong province said that cooking sea cucumbers required skill, and I've never had one in all these decades. Eventually, I went to my comrade's house and had a meal there, and it tasted a bit like rotten pork skin left overnight..."

"It's just for the taste, it doesn't have much nutritional value, it's not even as good as duck eggs."

"Really? It's so expensive even though it's not very nutritious?"

"Braised sea cucumber is all about the chef's skill."

"What about lobster? I think lobster is quite satisfying to eat. There are no bones or thorns, and when you bite into it, it's all meat."

As he spoke, the old man suddenly chuckled, recalling many things, even his childhood, adolescence, and youth...

In the past, during the Lunar New Year, he was always worried about things, this and that. Later, he was worried about his second son getting married and having children. When everything was settled, there was nothing left to worry about, and he wasn't as carefree as he used to be.

The deep furrows on his forehead, the scars on his neck, and his increasingly gray and sparse hair made the old man look very old.

He seemed to have completely left all his youthful vigor in the past, then picked up a piece of braised pork without soy sauce, took a bite, and his whole being was renewed: "Braised pork is still the best, braised pork is just so good."

"When you get old, just enjoy your life. If Grandpa still has things he wants to do, he can go wherever he wants. There's plenty of money, and we won't let him suffer on the road. We've modified a bus, and you can invite as many of your old comrades as you want to come along. The country is so big, don't you want to go to Beijing to see Chengtian Gate? Don't you want to bow to it? Don't you want to see your old comrades-in-arms?"

"I always feel like I can still do some odd jobs and save up some more money."

"Am I your grandson? Do you expect me to save money?"

"Hehehehe, hahahahahaha..."

The old man couldn't contain his laughter and suddenly burst into a happy and triumphant laugh.

"Want some Moutai?"

"Drink it, why not? I've only drunk Moutai three or five times in my whole life. Hmm... this tastes a bit different."

"Nonsense, you were drinking fake alcohol before."

"..."

Zhang Qihong's expression lost control again. He wanted to curse and swear, but when he thought about today being "New Year's Eve," he immediately shut his mouth, only grumbling, "Drink! Drink half a bottle! But I'll only drink today. I won't drink during the first month of the lunar year, and I won't drink at all during the whole year! I'm going to travel after the New Year and go around. You're right, it's a good opportunity to visit my old comrades."

"That's right, we should look forward during the New Year. Come on, have another drink."

"I'll have some braised pork first. Hmm, this chef's cooking is better than mine, so flavorful..."

As a result, he didn't eat much abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, or fish maw. Only shark fin made the old man nod in satisfaction. However, after asking his grand-nephew that shark fin was not as nutritious as pork ribs, the old man's obsession with abalone, sea cucumber, shark fin, and fish maw vanished on the spot.

I still have to eat braised pork.

This is more practical than anything else.

In previous years, the old man would go for a walk after dinner, but this year was different. He happily watched the Spring Festival Gala, mainly because the home theater at his grandson's house was really good.

The host spoke as if he were standing right in front of me.

"It's so good to have money..."

Huddled on the sofa, the old man sighed with great joy.

(End of this chapter)