Courtyard House: A Carefree Life Begins with a Lottery of Wish Power

Lin Zhuo arrived at the steel rolling mill early in the morning. Dozens of newly hired young people were arranged in a large room.

Those who take this exam are all workers.

As for vocational school graduates and university students, they are directly assigned to relevant jobs after graduation.

The candidates found their seats based on the names posted on the desks.

The three proctors read out the exam rules, then opened the sealed file folder, distributed the exam papers, and began the exam.

As soon as he got the test paper, Lin Zhuo glanced at it briefly.

The questions were all very basic, and were relatively simple math, physics, and chemistry problems.

Most of them are at the level of basic junior high school questions.

Mathematics is nothing more than calculating angles, calculating areas, and applying the Pythagorean theorem.

Physics consists of simple mechanics and electricity problems.

Chemistry questions mostly consist of simple conceptual questions.

Upon seeing the questions, Lin Zhuo knew what to expect. He wouldn't dare say he'd get a perfect score, but getting 90 points shouldn't be a problem.

Lin Zhuo picked up his pen and quickly answered the questions.

Lin Zhuo finished all the questions in less than half an hour during the two-hour exam.

After checking and finding no problems, Lin Zhuo didn't rush to hand in his paper. He didn't want to steal the spotlight and decided to wait until everyone else started handing in their papers.

With nothing else to do, Lin Zhuo began to observe the other examinees.

Some candidates clearly came from well-off families; they were neatly dressed and had fair skin.

Some of them looked like they came from ordinary families, and their clothes were patched.

Some candidates were writing furiously, some were deep in thought, and some had already fallen asleep on their desks, it was hard to tell whether they had given up or finished answering the questions early.

Some were stiff-bodied, glancing around furtively in an attempt to appear discreet.

In this era, parents generally do not place much importance on education.

Some students who finish junior high school may only know how to write a single character and count a few numbers.

These seemingly simple questions were like reading gibberish to them.

At this moment, Lin Zhuo felt as if a gaze was directed at him from behind.

Taking advantage of the proctor's inattention, Lin Zhuo tilted his head slightly.

I saw a thin, bony young man looking at his exam paper.

Part of Lin Zhuo's test paper drooped down the table, just wide enough for someone diagonally behind him to see.

The gaunt young man noticed Lin Zhuo's gaze, smiled somewhat embarrassedly, but continued writing furiously without hesitation.

Lin Zhuo didn't rush to put away the test paper.

Just then, one of the proctors noticed the young man, went over and warned him a few times, and reminded Lin Zhuo to cover his own exam paper properly.

At this time, some candidates had already handed in their papers, so Lin Zhuo handed in his paper early and left the examination room.

After the morning exam, we had lunch in the cafeteria, and in the afternoon we had a group study session on the factory's rules and regulations, which lasted until we got off work.

Lin Zhuo had just stepped out of the room when he heard someone calling from behind.

"Hey buddy, wait a minute."

Lin Zhuo turned around and saw that it was the young man who had copied his exam paper in the examination room earlier.

The young man extended his hand with a smile and said:

"Hello, Sun Jiale."

Lin Zhuo shook hands with Sun Jiale and introduced himself:

"Hello, Lin Zhuo."

Sun Jiale was very outgoing and said:

"People who know me call me Sun Wukong, or just monkey. You can call me that."

As he spoke, he leaned close to Lin Zhuo and whispered:

"I owe you so much for the exam this morning, otherwise I might have had to hand in a blank paper."

Lin Zhuo simply smiled politely and said:

"It was nothing, don't worry about it."

Sun Wukong said enthusiastically:

"Are you free tonight? Come on, it's on me, let's go out to eat."

Lin Zhuo was a little unaccustomed to Sun Jiale's enthusiasm and declined, saying:

"No need, I can go to the cafeteria myself."

"Don't do that." Sun Jiale forcibly pulled Lin Zhuo out of the factory.

Lin Zhuo couldn't persuade him otherwise, so he left the steel mill with Sun Jiale.

Not far from the door, there was a state-run restaurant, and there were more than a dozen people queuing up in front of it.

Sun Jiale explained:

"The dumplings at this shop are delicious; look how long the line is."

Lin Zhuo and his companion queued for more than half an hour before finally entering the restaurant.

Sun Jiale went to the window, paid 2.4 yuan and 2 jin of grain coupons, and exchanged them for 2 jin of dumpling coupons.

The dumplings only have one filling: cabbage and pork.

The two waited a few more minutes until a small table in the corner became available, and then they sat down.

Just as a pot of dumplings was ready, a waiter pushed out a small cart to serve the dumplings to the customers.

They took the dumpling vouchers from Sun Jiale and gave each of them two large plates of dumplings.

At this time, there are six dumplings per ounce, and 60 dumplings per pound. It looks quite impressive to have 60 dumplings per person.

However, in this era, people don't have much oil in their stomachs, so this amount of food is only considered very ordinary for an adult male.

This is basically the normal food intake for an adult male who does not engage in much physical labor.

If it's heavy physical labor, eating two or three pounds in one meal is not unusual.

Sun Wukong ran to the counter and bought two more plates of cold dishes and a pot of wine, filling the wine cups for the two of them.

While waiting for a table, Sun Jiale and Lin Zhuo compared their ages. Sun Jiale is one year younger than Lin Zhuo, so Sun Jiale kept calling him "Brother Zhuo".

"Come on, Brother Zhuo, let's have a drink. Thanks for helping me out today."

Lin Zhuo took a sip. Although he didn't know much about wine, he felt that it was inferior to the wine in the small tavern that his second uncle bought.

Sun Jiale warmly poured Lin Zhuo a small dish of vinegar and peeled a few cloves of garlic for him, saying:

"Brother Zhuo, the dumplings here are famous far and wide, hurry up and try them while they're hot."

As he spoke, Sun Wukong was about to put dumplings into Lin Zhuo's plate.

Lin Zhuo quickly stopped him, feeling very uncomfortable that a grown man was putting dumplings on his plate.

Lin Zhuo picked up a dumpling and took a bite. It was indeed filled with a large amount of filling and a thin skin, full of soup. The aroma of cabbage and pork instantly filled his mouth.

Lin Zhuo's mouth was so hot from the heat that he couldn't move it properly, and he could only breathe on it while mumbling:

"That's really good."

Before he transmigrated, a meal of pork and cabbage dumplings would hardly have impressed Lin Zhuo.

After time travel, although the memories remained, the physical body was vastly different.

This young body is so malnourished. He can only eat meat once every month or two, and eating pork and cabbage dumplings is a treat he can only have during the Chinese New Year.

Once living conditions improve, the same food will no longer taste the same.

This is why many people lament that the taste from their memories can no longer be found.

The two ate a few dumplings, and Sun Jiale said:

"Brother Zhuo, you're really amazing. I recognize all the words in those questions, but I just don't know what they mean."

"You, on the other hand, finished it in half an hour."

Lin Zhuo smiled and said:

"Aren't you afraid that I don't know either, and that I'm just guessing?"

Sun Jiale laughed heartily, somewhat smugly saying:

"Brother Zhuo, I'm not afraid to tell you this, but you'll find it laughable."

"I may not be good at studying, but I'm quite good at judging people."

"Based on my many years of experience as a bad student, I can tell at a glance whether you really know it or you're just guessing."

Lin Zhuo was amused by Sun Jiale's words.

"Then tell me how to tell the difference."

Sun Jiale said smugly:

"It's very simple, you can tell just by looking at how someone answers the questions."

"If someone knows how to do it, they will appear very confident and complete the task in one go."

"If you're guessing, you'll definitely start by scratching your head and thinking hard, then give up, and finally start guessing in a flurry of breath."

Lin Zhuo thought to himself, "This Sun Jiale is really a talent. It seems he copied a lot of other people's work when he was in school."

Sun Jiale looked around at the people next to him and asked in a low voice:

"Brother Zhuo, which workshop are you planning to go to?"