Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Zhang Dabiao was very curious: "What's the difference? Urban poor and poor farmers are all people at the bottom of society who have neither land nor tools of production. No one is superior to the other."

He Yushui said in a low voice, "That's really different. Your father was a fake Taoist priest. He looked at the tombs of landlords and capitalists, but he also took on wedding and funeral work for ordinary people."

"But Aunt Mu was supposedly one of the top courtesans in the Eight Great Hutongs. Think about it, what kind of people did she entertain?"

"Mu Wanqing was supposedly sold to a family in the alley, and was eventually adopted by Aunt Mu. But who can guarantee that she was truly adopted, and not the illegitimate daughter of some high-ranking official? If we think about it further, what if her biological father is a remnant of the old regime, or even a traitor..."

"So I reckon that given their family's situation, they might not even pass the certification review..."

Zhang Dabiao then opened his eyes wide.

He hadn't expected there to be so many twists and turns involved!

He always advocated equality for all. Although it may not be possible to achieve this even in later generations, the most basic understanding among people regarding the law and basic civil rights is that everyone is equal.

Of course, if you have power, influence, and money, you're a VVVIP and there's nothing that can stop you, but these basic things should be equal for everyone.

Therefore, he never looked down on Aunt Mu, nor did he look down on other people's status.

You may look down on certain professions in later generations, but you might still live a worse life than those professions.

Moreover, he never expected that so many stories could be unearthed from this identity.

and so--

Is Mu Wanqing feeling inferior because of her family's background?

Or there is another possibility—

She knows who her biological parents are, and their family background is even worse.

Zhang Dabiao shook his head. Why are you prying into other people's privacy like this?

"Rain, you... guessed that yourself?"

"I overheard those older women talking about it during their casual chats. Don't worry, I've never mentioned it to anyone else."

"..."

Zhang Dabiao didn't know how to handle this matter either, so he decided to just pretend he didn't know anything.

Zhang Dabiao stood up and walked out of the courtyard.

"Da Biao, where are you going?"

"Go find Hu Zi and Liu Gen and persuade them to take the college entrance examination first, instead of rushing to work after graduation."

"Why? Their grades are really bad, they probably won't pass the exam." He Yushui was a little puzzled. Hu Zi and Liu Gen's grades were really terrible, even worse than Yan Jiecheng's, and they almost dropped out of school.

Yan Jiecheng can't find a job. Why don't they just take a workstation and go to work? Why are they waiting to take the college entrance exam?

How could I possibly pass the exam?

"I just did some quick calculations, and the college admission rate this year is quite high, so they have a chance," Zhang Dabiao said jokingly.

I just remembered about the college admission rate, so I still have to tell both families. Wouldn't it be great if someone from your family went to college?

As for the workstation, you can keep it, return it, or sell it to someone else for some money.

He Yushui tilted her head and thought for a long time—"How about I do some calculations?"

"Could it be that Grandpa Zhang really passed on all his skills to him?"

------------

Da Tou started working as a temporary worker right after graduating from junior high school. He started working as soon as he got a job, and he was paid 31 yuan as a permanent employee. Yan Jiecheng, on the other hand, will have to wait another six months to become a permanent employee, and his current salary is only 22 yuan.

Tiger is a high school sophomore and has decided to drop out of school to work. He's currently working on it and is still hesitating about whether to finish the semester.

Liu Gen is 18 years old this year and is a senior in high school like Mu Wanqing. He originally planned to wait two months to get his high school diploma before starting work.

Zhang Dabiao went to Hu Zi and Liu Gen's house to explain the situation, but of course he couldn't directly say that the college admission rate was very high this year.

Zhang Dabiao said that since Liu Gen was about to graduate anyway, he might as well give it a try. If he passed the exam, it would be like the government was supporting him for four years, plus a subsidy. He added that if the employment notice from home wasn't needed, it could be transferred at a higher price, or Zhang Dabiao could buy it back at the original price.

Tiger, why don't you try skipping a grade and taking the exam? If you pass, you can go to school; if you don't, you can go to work.

Tiger chuckled foolishly, "I'm last in the whole class..."

Zhang Dabiao—Never mind what I said…

However, Tiger said he'd shamelessly go to the school to ask tomorrow, because Zhang Dabiao must have a point.

The two families thought about it and agreed that it made sense.

Then let the child prepare well for the exam. If they don't pass, they can come back to work. If they do pass, then the job can be transferred.

The permanent employee's position can't be held for long, unlike Zhang Dabiao's temporary purchasing job, where he does the work of a purchasing agent while retaining a permanent position, which is tacitly approved by the factory, and the manufacturing plant is short of people at the time.

However, they have relatives and friends, so they have their own arrangements for this workstation.

------------

As for Mu Wanqing's matter... Zhang Dabiao couldn't offer any advice.

This is when people's pride is at its peak, so you can't exactly run up to them and say, "I'll take care of you."

Our relationship isn't that good yet. If the other person gets upset, we might not even be able to remain friends.

In his later life, Zhang Dabiao had a good relationship with a girl in junior high school, and they were somewhat interested in each other. However, because of a small joke, the two did not speak to each other for several years.

Later, Zhang Dabiao even forgot what joke he had made back then. He couldn't figure out why the girl had stopped paying attention to him. They had just missed each other inexplicably, without a beginning or an end.

Therefore, direct assistance is not feasible.

Zhang Dabiao also calculated their family's situation. They only had about 100 yuan. Aunt Mu worked in a sewing cooperative under the street office. To put it bluntly, one person was in charge of seven or eight older women. They would take some materials back to sew, and then send them to the supply and marketing cooperative to sell.

The monthly fee ranges from 15 to 20 yuan, which is actually a decent wage, but it's very taxing on the eyes. Aunt Mu, on the other hand, regularly gets traditional Chinese medicine to regulate her body, which averages out to about 5 to 10 yuan per month. If she catches a cold and starts coughing in the autumn or winter, the cost will be much higher.

If Mu Wanqing goes to university, she probably won't have to worry about tuition and living expenses thanks to the government's student grants, but if Aunt Mu has no one to take care of her...

Unless we find Aunt Mu an easy job close to home with employee medical insurance, and Mu Wanqing gets into a university close to home so she can come back every day.

Only in this way can her concerns be eliminated.

Zhang Dabiao was at a loss. "I'm only in sixth grade. Am I thinking too far ahead by meddling in these troublesome things?"

Let's take a step by step.

------------

Li Huaide brought Zhang Dabiao the sour cream recipe, milk, a little butter, and a small portion of yogurt.

Zhang Dabiao began conducting experiments with Qin Jingru.

There is a formula for this stuff, but it's impossible to set up a factory or workshop in China to manufacture it, as that would be too wasteful of resources and manpower.

Moreover, raw materials were extremely scarce. Li Huaide wanted to achieve something behind closed doors, which is why he approached Zhang Dabiao.

A 100% replica is impossible, but the key is to create a localized, similar-tasting alternative that can be made by hand with limited manpower. Li Huaide, an acting deputy director of a steel rolling mill, is already somewhat neglecting his duties by doing this, so he has to do it secretly.

Zhang Dabiao was covered in bumps. "Are you trying to make me write a research paper?"

Then let's try looking up some information. I downloaded about a hundred cooking PDFs on a whim. Each one is only a few tens of megabytes in size, so they don't take up much space at all.

After a week of hard work, he and Qin Jingru spent every day after school working on this thing, and they never expected that they would actually manage to make two different formulas.

Fermented milk + oil emulsification method or starch thickening method!

The experiment was a success!