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

Director Zhao and the others sat down. Qin Jingru poured them tea, and Director Zhao asked Zhang Dabiao with a smile, "Tell me, what did you do after graduating from a vocational art school?"

"Drawing... helps the country design products, sell them better, earn foreign exchange for the country, improve the quality of our product packaging, and allow the world to understand our excellent national culture through packaging design and art design. What is national is also international..."

These were all prepared in advance, just in case they were asked during the interview.

"What is national is also international...that's an interesting saying."

Then Director Zhao asked with a grin, "So, have your designs for lighters, nail clipper sets, and multi-tools already earned foreign exchange?"

Zhang Dabiao nodded blankly: "Ah."

"Did the department promise you that once you graduate, you can choose whichever department you want to join?"

"Ah, yes."

"Aren't you already earning foreign exchange for the country?"

"...I guess so."

"Whether you go to a vocational school or a high school, isn't that just going through the motions? You're already helping the country earn foreign exchange. You've already done what college graduates are supposed to do, and you're doing it very well."

Zhang Dabiao was a little embarrassed by the praise: "That's true, but... but reading more books is always beneficial."

"I only need a degree, but I can't say that."

"You're the boss, even if you want to take care of me, you can't be so blunt."

"That's why we're here. You're such a kid. If you wanted to go to vocational school, you should have said so earlier. If you had just said so earlier, it would have been fine."

"We thought you were going to go to high school and then go to university. We were still wondering whether you should study an industrial or manufacturing major."

"And then you went to a vocational school for art, look what a mess this has become."

"Our ministry has quotas for exemption from the recommendation system, or if our ministry doesn't have enough, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Food and Health, and the Ministry of Light Industry also have quotas."

"You child, you didn't even discuss such a big matter with us earlier."

These days, there are various admission policies for art students, including those with special talents, those who are outstanding workers, peasants, and soldiers, and those who are "three good students." Each policy has its own methods.

Not to mention the ministry, the school itself has quotas.

Zhang Dabiao was stunned for a long time before weakly asking, "Haven't I mentioned this before?"

"Who did you mention it to?"

"Okay, I was wrong..."

Indeed, he hadn't mentioned it. He had only discussed it with Mu Wanqing, He Yushui, and Qin Jingru. Most people in the courtyard thought he was going to attend high school normally.

If it weren't for his exaggerated drawing that earned him first place and his paper being collected for review, the higher-ups would have had no idea he had gone to take the entrance exam for a vocational school.

Furthermore, Zhang Dabiao took the entrance exam for a vocational school, and what's even more incredible is that the academic exams were organized by the school itself, consisting of only three subjects: Chinese, Mathematics, and Politics, and I heard the difficulty level was...

If it is a guaranteed admission, the academic exam is waived, but the student still needs to pass the junior high school graduation exam.

Zhang Dabiao was furious. "Then what the hell am I doing learning Russian every day?"

No exam!

I thought there would be a standardized test!

Then, at the end of May, Zhang Dabiao was directly admitted through a special admission program—he received a pre-admission notice from the Sijiu City Arts and Crafts School for Interior Design (Commercial Art). This caused a stir in the courtyard.

Of course, some people whispered behind his back that Zhang Dabiao got in through connections, but when everyone saw Zhang Dabiao's professional exam results, he was first in his school.

What else is there to say?

To shut them up completely, Zhang Dabiao patiently went back to junior high school to attend classes normally, took the graduation exam, obtained his junior high school graduation certificate, and produced his academic performance.

Of course, that's a story for later—late June: with the pre-admission notice and junior high school graduation certificate, go to the Arts and Crafts School to complete the formal admission procedures.

But out of the three subjects—Chinese, Mathematics, and Politics—he only scored 250 out of a total of 300…

Scores in physics and chemistry are not included in the total score for art-related vocational schools.

Russian, not on the test...

Zhang Dabiao was embarrassed. His grades were certainly good, far exceeding the passing score, but the number just didn't sound good.

Anyway, that's settled. I just need to wait until September to register for school.

Then everyone started talking about how another cadre had been appointed from their No. 95 compound!

Liu Guangqi shook his head helplessly: "My brother Da Biao is incredibly capable! Whether you graduated from high school or vocational school, as long as he nods, you'll be a cadre wherever you go."

"He's already been on the department's radar for a while now."

When everyone thought about it, they realized that Zhang Dabiao's inventions over the past two years had earned the country a lot of foreign exchange, so he was always treated as an honored guest wherever he went.

Forget it, I'm not going to compare anymore. Comparing yourself to others will only make you miserable.

They have 300,000 to 400,000 yuan in savings, and you're still here analyzing whether they'll become a cadre after graduating from vocational school.

It doesn't matter whether I become his or not.

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

As for Mu Wanqing, the process was a bit more complicated, after all, her family's background and situation were still somewhat sensitive.

However, the ministry intervened, explaining that it wasn't a key major and that the applicant applied to the Sijiu City Art College, a municipal college, majoring in music performance, so the application was barely approved.

Overall, I passed the professional exam without any major setbacks. The academic exam was also organized and set by the college itself, and the difficulty was lower than that of the regular college entrance examination. Moreover, the professional exam accounted for more than 70% of the score.

Preliminary professional examination: ① Sing/play two pieces of different styles; ② Sight-singing (staff notation/simplified notation); ③ Ear training (single note, interval, and chord identification); ④ Rhythm test;

Professional re-examination: ① Sing/play 3 challenging pieces (including 1 Chinese piece); ② Written test on music theory; ③ Q&A on artistic perception; ④ Interview on professional direction (if composing, a work must be submitted);

Academic subjects: Chinese (including art criticism essays), mathematics, and politics, with a total score of 300 points and a passing score of 180 points.

Zhang Dabiao had helped her with mock interviews earlier. Although she didn't get first place, he felt that passing the test was no problem.

This isn't something you can just do because you think you sing well and then go straight to the exam and pass.

She continues to work at the factory, waiting to go back to school at the end of September. Moreover, Li Huaide is very good at interpersonal relationships and explained to Zhang Dabiao that Mu Wanqing's work position could be transferred to someone else, and they could decide for themselves.

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

The issues concerning Zhang Dabiao and Mu Wanqing's vocational school and university education have been resolved.

He Yushui and Liu Guangtian still had to take the college entrance examination as usual, and spent their days at home studying hard, especially Liu Guangtian.

He couldn't understand those books at all, but he could only try to pass the exam once and see what happens.

At the end of June, for some unknown reason, rumors of staff reductions began to circulate from higher authorities. It was said that starting this year, the urban population would be reduced by more than 20 million within three years, with the workers being relocated to rural areas.

Therefore, large state-owned enterprises like steel rolling mills are even more cautious about hiring. They'll probably have to downsize soon, so why would they need to hire anyone?

Yu Haitang graduated from high school and wants to work in a steel rolling mill?

There are no targets, there are simply no targets, we have to wait.

The neighborhood committee didn't have any work targets, and a large group of young people went to check and ask every day, but there was nothing they could do.

If she had known this would happen, she would have preferred to try taking the college entrance exam. Now she can't even register. Yu Haitang is so angry that she throws tantrums at home all day long, and the Yu family is in chaos.

So she set her sights on Mu Wanqing's workstation.