Chapter 4

Su Ye had a good meal with cornmeal and dried sweet potatoes, pairing it with the remaining braised pork.

On the day of the recruitment exam, she rested well and went to take the exam at a school in the city. This was likely Su Ye’s last best chance, if she didn’t seize it, she would have to settle for sweeping the streets in the future.

Because jobs nowadays were assigned based on recommendations, and Su Ye had neither a high level of education nor good recommendations.

Su Ye handed her recommendation letter to the teacher in charge of the exam, and the teacher allowed her into the examination room.

As Su Ye entered the exam hall, she was surprised to see that there were quite a few competitors—seven in total. She took the opportunity before the exam to exchange a few words with her competitors.

She was shocked to find that five of them were secondary school graduates, and she couldn’t help but feel the harshness of life at this moment.

‘Don’t be scared, streamer, just go for it! Don’t embarrass your alma mater, you’re a well-rounded talent nurtured by the 21st-century quality education system!’

‘Feeling sympathy for the streamer, but also, a bit amused—how did this happen? Surprising! A university graduate is actually intimidated by technical school graduates.’

Sitting at her desk, Su Ye slowly sharpened her pencil and began to explain, ‘What you don’t know is, in this era, only the smartest students can attend technical school, while those who didn’t do well in exams can only honestly attend Primary school.’

The 1960s and 70s were the brightest and most dazzling times for technical school students. During this period, technical school graduates represented the smartest group of people. Students during this time had to work hard to get into technical schools because getting in meant obtaining an urban household registration, job placement, and a secure career. As long as you got into a technical school, food, work, and a partner were all taken care of. For this reason, the country strictly controlled the number of students admitted.

In the 1960s and 1970s, technical school students were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns, with only a few students per class able to pass the entrance exams. In remote counties and villages, there might not be a single one. They were trained by the government to learn professional technical skills, such as water conservancy, electrical design, machinery, and medical care. After graduation, they would directly enter factories or government institutions, making a significant contribution to social development.

It wasn’t until the college entrance exams were restored that the country began to prioritize higher education and the cultivation of high-quality talent, leading to the gradual decline of technical schools.

Su Ye had often seen older people on forums lamenting, ‘Technical school graduates used to be more valuable than master’s degree holders.” At first, it seemed like an exaggeration, but a closer search revealed that technical school graduates truly outperformed master’s graduates.’

In terms of treatment alone, it was incomparable. Technical school students didn’t pay tuition and received various state subsidies, while master’s graduates had to work hard to pass civil service exams. Graduates of technical schools would go straight to work at institutions, with these institutions eager to hire them.

In this era, where jobs depended on recommendations and a technical diploma was highly sought after, a few technical school graduates could completely block Su Ye’s path.

After Su Ye finished her explanation, the live stream chat was filled with a few seconds of ominous silence.

……

……

……

Su Ye finished sharpening her pencil with a smile, thinking, ‘What’s there to be afraid of? Just go for it.’

The elementary school exam paper had only one set of questions, covering Chinese, math, and art. The questions were simple, and Su Ye answered them with utmost seriousness. Despite this, she finished the paper in just half an hour, while the other competitors were still stuck on the final drawing question.

After handing in her exam paper at the podium, Su Ye noticed that there were several remaining papers on the proctor’s desk, printed with the bold words “Middle School Teacher Recruitment Exam”. It turned out that in addition to recruiting elementary school teachers for the city, there was also a middle school teacher recruitment exam, and the exam room for that was in the next classroom.

This elementary school was also affiliated with the middle school.

Su Ye’s eyes brightened as she looked at the exam papers. She requested the proctor allow her to take the middle school exam. In Su Ye’s eyes, this wasn’t just an exam paper—it was a golden opportunity, a long-term meal ticket to a steady job!

“Comrade, could you let me try this exam paper?”

The proctor remained silent, not responding to Su Ye’s request.

Su Ye lowered her voice, refusing to give up, and continued to coax him, “Anyway, it would be a waste to leave the paper unused. Why not let me take it?”

“Duplicating exam papers are expensive. Don’t waste the hard work of the workers, comrades.”

The proctor remained unmoved.

Su Ye cleared her throat and said seriously, “I believe the elementary school questions are too simple to truly screen for outstanding teachers like me. Missing out on me would be an immeasurable loss for the school.”

She gazed at the proctor with pleading eyes, as if insisting that if she didn’t get the paper, she wouldn’t leave. Her expression held a touch of pride, a bit of persistence, and a lot of shamelessness.

Finally, the proctor coughed, handed her the exam paper, and said, “There’s still an hour left. Take your time.”

Pfft—my “^[1]“fatty happy drink” is a playful or humorous translation of “肥宅快乐水” (féi zhái kuài lè shuǐ), which refers to a popular drink in China, typically cola, … Continue readingfatty happy drink” sprayed all over the screen.

‘Hahahaha, I truly admire this. Can you be any more shameless?’

‘Streamer, your face just dropped to the floor, pick it up quickly!’

‘I can’t look at this anymore, I’m most afraid of your ‘eyes lighting up”

Su Ye happily hugged the exam paper and went down to quickly start writing. The difficulty of the middle school exam paper was indeed on a completely different level compared to the elementary school exam.

In order to get into a technical school, the current middle school knowledge was a bit more challenging. The exam setter had a very high level of professionalism and had directly gone beyond the standard curriculum. However, the descriptions of the major questions in math and science were as concise as possible.

Bored, Su Ye took the time to count the advanced topics in the math section: Cauchy inequality, calculus derivatives, physics concepts like displacement and electric current, special relativity, chemistry topics such as Schrödinger’s equation and wave functions…

The entire exam paper seemed to convey an arrogant “go away” message. If it could be summed up in one sentence, it would be: “We don’t need middle school teachers.”

Middle school students checking in, it’s dazzling.

Was the assessment in the 20th century this strict? Our century… System reminder: your account contains banned words and has been automatically blocked.

After reading the exam paper, Su Ye let out a sigh of relief.

“I’m not afraid if the questions are difficult, I’m just afraid if they’re too simple.” She focused and systematically solved the equations, finishing the recruitment exam in half an hour.

When she submitted the paper, she smiled at the grateful examiner and casually walked out of the classroom.

‘^[2]“666” (pronounced liù liù liù) is Chinese internet slang used to praise someone’s skill or excellence, similar to saying “awesome” or “well done.”666! The streamer truly deserves to be a highly capable talent nurtured by 21st-century quality education with great ideals and aspirations.’

‘Streamer, what was your major in college?’

Su Ye cleared her throat and said, ‘Computer Science.’

In this day and age, it seems to serve no purpose.

Su Ye asked the school when the results would be available and was told in two days. She couldn’t help but marvel at how fast things were being handled these days.

On her way home, Su Ye was in a good mood. However, among the competitors who took the exam today, five were from technical schools. As she thought about it, she sighed. After the exam, they would likely secure jobs with official positions, while Su Ye might not even be selected, even if she had turned in a satisfactory paper.

Sometimes, even when you know the outcome, you still hold onto a faint hope.

After leaving the exam room, Su Ye began to think about other job opportunities, preparing for both possibilities.

—

When Su Ye returned to the residential compound, she had just entered the door when someone tapped her on the back. She turned around.

It was He Meimei, the enthusiastic woman who had helped Su Ye clear the blockage in the canteen a few days ago.

She smiled and asked, “Comrade Su, are you done with your exam?”

Seeing Su Ye’s confused expression, she explained, “I teach at the city’s No. 1 High School. I saw you come to our school for the written exam. By the way, Teacher Liu mentioned that there was a girl in your exam room who insisted on asking him for a middle school exam paper. She was very determined, and he remembers her very well.”

He Meimei clearly didn’t know that Su Ye was the person in question. She gossiped, “Do you know that comrade? To be honest, I’ve seen that exam paper, and it’s quite difficult. It was designed for university students.”

“I entered the system a few years ago, but if I were to take the exam this year, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to find a job.”

Su Ye awkwardly replied, “I don’t quite remember.”

“Well, I have something to do, so I’ll leave first.”

Su Ye thought to herself, ‘Oh no, I got carried away. How could someone with the original owner’s elementary school education understand how to write such difficult questions? I need to go back and organize my thoughts.’

He Meimei enthusiastically grabbed Su Ye’s arm. “Don’t go, I’ve steamed some white flour today. Please stay and have a meal.”

As soon as Su Ye heard the mention of white flour, her steps immediately halted. Since waking up, her mouth had never touched fine grains, and the delightful taste of flour was deeply etched in her memory, never fading. Every night, Su Ye thought about steamed buns and noodles made from flour, and she drooled just thinking about it.

She grabbed He Meimei’s hand. “I really can’t accept your kindness, but thank you for the offer.”

Although Su Ye was verbally refusing, her legs were moving toward He Meimei.

“Why are you being so polite? Are you leaving or not?” He Meimei said.

Before long, Su Ye arrived at He Meimei’s house. The layout of He Meimei’s house was exactly the same as the one in Su Ye’s room—a long, single room where three generations of a family squeezed together.

He Meimei rummaged through the bed, then pulled out a child, skillfully feeding the baby for a while. Then her mother-in-law poured hot water from the kettle and made a cup of milk powder.

Su Ye glanced at the milk powder and was surprised to see that the granules were green. She was stunned for a moment but quickly understood.

What is this… green tea milk powder?

Babies shouldn’t drink tea casually! Warning!

Su Ye cleared her throat, and combined with the information she had seen on the exam screen earlier, she roughly guessed that her audience came from a time far removed from the 21st century.

Su Ye cleared her throat and couldn’t help but start explaining. ‘It’s called spirulina milk powder, a product unique to this era.’

She slowly began to narrate for everyone.

‘During the Great Famine three years ago, many food substitutes emerged. At first, there were ‘melon and vegetable substitutes,’ and later, when things got really dire, people turned to wild plants and tree bark. Spirulina became a popular substitute food during that time. In the years when there was no grain to eat, many people survived on spirulina-based products.’

‘Newspapers and journals frequently mentioned the nutritional value of spirulina, urging everyone to consume more of it. In reality, due to the underdeveloped cultivation techniques of that era, the nutritional value of spirulina was essentially a false proposition.’

In the live stream, comments started flooding the screen because of the milk powder.

‘Streamer, 666!’

‘Why does it feel like the streamer knows everything?’

Su Ye had only learned about it by reading a book, but even with her thick skin, she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed seeing the barrage of compliments flying across the screen.

‘Thank you all for the support.’

He Meimei, seeing the surprised look in Su Ye’s eyes, smiled understandingly. “This is a food product that has only recently become popular.”

“Don’t you have spirulina where you’re from? My milk supply is low, so I feed him with spirulina milk powder.”

Her mother-in-law, quite pleased, added, “This is a great thing, cheap, and you can get a free ticket by getting a doctor’s note. I heard it’s even more nutritious than regular milk powder!”

Spirulina is an algae plant rich in protein that can reproduce in large quantities in a short time. It is a major component of pig feed, but its nutritional value is actually very low. Babies who do not get enough nutrition are prone to becoming “big-head babies,” with underdeveloped internal organs.

Su Ye looked at the small baby in He Meimei’s arms, struggling to drink the spirulina-based milk powder. Compared to the babies Su Ye knew, who drank high-quality imported milk powder costing hundreds per can, this baby’s food was extremely simple and pitiful.

Su Ye swallowed and suddenly stood up. “I have things to do at home, I need to leave. I won’t stay for the steamed buns today, but next time, I’ll invite you to my place.”

He Meimei’s mother-in-law muttered, “She just sat down and now she’s leaving!”

He Meimei, focusing on feeding the baby, said, “Maybe it’s because she’s thin-skinned.”

“She’s Captain Gu’s wife. She just joined the unit recently.”

The last time He Meimei ran into Su Ye at the canteen, many people mocked Su Ye for not having enough food. Today, He Meimei’s family had a happy occasion, and for the first time, they steamed white buns to invite Su Ye over.

“So this is Captain Gu’s wife! What’s up, why does she sound so different from what others say? She looks like a proper person to me,” He Meimei’s mother-in-law said.