I was reborn without dreams

Chapter 56 Birthday Arrives
The city was also eagerly awaiting May 10th.

"Finally, finally tomorrow is the 10th!"

Inside the Municipal Education Bureau, as soon as the routine meeting ended, the leaders were all all smiles.

Tomorrow is Zhang An's 18th birthday, so we should celebrate it for him!

"Old Qiu, is the cake ready?"

"The Zhengdong family doesn't eat cakes; they eat longevity noodles. It's usually just a bowl of minced meat and bamboo shoot noodles with two fried eggs. There's nothing fancy about it."

"So simple."

"There aren't many fancy things to eat in the countryside, it's always been like this. We've only started eating cakes in the last couple of years, but it's always my parents who buy them. Everyone knows about Zhang An's family situation, so noodles are still the best option."

"Zhengdong, how did you do it before?"

"Let's get him a bowl of noodles."

Zhang Zhengdong's ranking has risen. He used to be at the bottom, but now he ranks third in the entire department.

There's no way around it, the profitability of private education departments is truly phenomenal...

The "Top Scholar's Handbook" suddenly saw a surge in popularity in April, which was related to the widespread positive word-of-mouth surrounding "Zhang An Education".

For the first time, "The Top Scholar's Secret Exam Papers" sold throughout the entire province, and even reached Luzhou and Jianghuai Province, with sales increasing for twelve consecutive weeks. This was achieved despite rampant piracy.

These days, genuine books can only sell for a limited time. Normally, the first three months are the peak sales period, which accounts for 80% of the total sales. After that, whether it's a few months or a few years, sales are just sporadic.

It is incredible that a tool for copying exam papers, such as "The Secret Exam Papers of Top Scholars," could achieve positive growth for twelve consecutive weeks.

It's mainly related to the formula of "Top Scholar's Secret Exam Papers". The set is divided into two parts, which are two books. One book contains the question types, solution steps and answers at the end of the paper. The other book contains detailed "Top Scholar's Problem-Solving Strategies", which makes extensive use of mind maps. Therefore, many key points of problem-solving strategies do not need to be memorized. You can just circle them yourself with a pen.

So some people buy the first volume, can do the exercises and check the answers, but those are all their own problem-solving methods, at most with the teacher's explanation.

Only by buying the second volume will you have the "top scholar's mindset".

So just having a pirated copy of the first volume isn't enough; you have to wait for the second volume. And whichever wholesaler raises the price of pirated copies of the first volume, the wholesale price of the second volume will also increase, and the minimum order quantity is always 20,000 copies.

The staggered release dates of the two volumes are what the publishing company under the Shazhou City Printing Plant has to work on. The Shazhou City Education Bureau has been communicating with other districts and counties in the province, and if things go well, they can all generate revenue together.

Zhang Zhengdong, as the general manager of the directly affiliated education investment company, was actually just a figurehead. However, due to the company's excellent performance, his credit naturally increased.

This year, for the Lantern Festival, the Education Bureau had surplus funds to support other brother units in the city, such as welfare homes, nursing homes, and armed forces departments. They also gave Lantern Festival gifts to the families of martyrs and soldiers in the city. In total, they spent nearly one million yuan.

Life has clearly improved.

What's wrong with moving Section Chief Zhang's position forward a little?
Zhang Zhengdong thought to himself that he was still able to make such easy progress at around forty years old, and he really had to thank his good nephew.

too strong.

However, he didn't get carried away, because Uncle Zhang has absolutely no interest in advancement now. He's even thinking of quitting his job and taking care of his nephew's little plot of land.

If Zhang Da'an hadn't stopped him, he really was planning to do it.

Now his wife, Li Jiawen, has also come to Xindongwei Port Middle School. She does not work in front-line business, nor does she have the ability. She mainly does general affairs. This year, she will first improve her academic qualifications, and then see whether she will go to a front-line teaching position or a management position.

Zhang Da'an's aunt is currently acting as his eyes and ears, a human surveillance system.

The bureau also needs a human surveillance camera like this, so regardless of whether Uncle Zhang is willing or not, Li Jiawen, who was originally at Donggang Central Primary School, has been given a permanent position, and the announcement will be made next month.

Anyway, Teacher Li got in based on his own merit. Teacher Li himself also thought so…

"Isn't it too simple to just eat a bowl of noodles? We should at least show some enthusiasm for our work."

"No need, no need. He never celebrates his birthday. A bowl of noodles is enough for him. Being too nice to him will only make him suspect that you want to harm him. He's always been like this since he was little."

When this small detail was mentioned, the people at the conference table thought it was a bit strange, but when they thought about how Zhang Da'an was an orphan with only one person on his household registration, they couldn't accept that he had such a mentality.

"It's not easy either."

Qiu Jianmin took a puff of his cigarette and blurted out this sentence.

"Zhengdong has had a tough time all these years."

The top leader also remarked with emotion.

Put yourself in their shoes. A nephew is not a son. You can take care of him until he becomes an adult, but you can't sacrifice your own personal happiness to take care of him until he becomes an adult.

He got married after he turned forty, and it was his first marriage. He's only successful because of his nephew. What if he becomes a street thug? Wouldn't that be a huge loss?
So all the men in the bureau admire Zhang Zhengdong. Whether they have any grudges or not doesn't prevent them from admiring him. It's also normal that those young women have their eyes on Section Chief Zhang.

Unfortunately, they were a step too late, and Teacher Li Jiawen still managed to snag a great deal.

"Then let's listen to Zhengdong. Anyway, the college entrance exam is next month, so it's fine not to bother him."

"Should we make Xindongweigang Middle School focus all its efforts on the final two mock exams?"

"Let's keep a low profile. Now that we know the basic level, the next step is to shift the focus away from 'Zhang An Education' in June and July. If Zhang An gets the top score in the college entrance exam again, regardless of the province, city, or county, the emphasis should still be on promoting Zhang An himself, diverting public attention away from the 'top scorer tutoring class.' If we do a good job with this year's college entrance exam, we can collect the profits from the education investment company at the end of the year, and next year the city can upgrade the facilities of at least six or seven schools, and the upgrade funds will be readily available..."

Without money, it's impossible to achieve balanced educational resources. The municipal bureau now places great importance on new sources of funding. The higher-ups originally wanted to parachute in one or two people to take over the education investment company, but the municipal bureau leadership rejected the idea.

Not every act of flattery needs to be done. If you haven't done your job properly, why bother with flattery?

The next day, May 10th, as soon as Zhang Da'an woke up in the countryside, his old man Zhang Qihong called out over the wall, "Zhang An! Zhang An—"

"Get up—"

"The noodles are ready. Would you like more bamboo shoots?"

"More—"

Because his second son, Zhang Zhengdong, finally got married, the old man moved out of the first floor of the three-story house and into a small room on the side. It wasn't to make room for his son and his new wife, but to officially confirm who the owner of the house was.

As for whether he lived in the small house or the east wing on the first floor, it made no difference to the old man.

"Dad, so early? I was just saying I'd come..."

Zhang Zhengdong came downstairs with a toothbrush in one hand and a cup in the other, his mouth full of foam as he muttered to himself. A little while later, Li Jiawen, who had finished washing up, also came out and quickly went to the stove to take the strainer from the old man's hand.

Zhang Qihong readily gave up his seat and instructed, "Make sure there's plenty of minced meat."

"Good dad."

Li Jiawen nodded and, following the old man's instructions, fried a dozen eggs.

It's a birthday celebration, how can the noodles be complete without a fried egg?

(End of this chapter)