Chapter 18: The State-Owned Restaurant
4 days ago
Su He had some suspicions before, but not about his exam paper being switched. He wondered if his predecessor had forgotten to write his name on the exam paper, or if there was a mistake in grading or transcribing the scores. In this era without computers, everything had to be done manually. While grading errors were less likely, they weren't impossible, especially with multiple-choice and true/false questions being graded continuously. As for transcribing scores, as long as it was done by hand, there was a possibility of error.
But now, hearing what Lao He and a few youths were saying, Su He had another guess: could his scores have been switched by someone else? In a society run by personal connections, there are always loopholes. As long as the connections are there and the money is spent right, under the pressure of power, such things are quite possible to do. Especially in this era of information blockade, even if scores were switched, it's likely that few people would know. The news couldn't spread out; under such circumstances, it wouldn't be surprising for someone to take a risk.
Su He decided to find an opportunity to check at the Education Bureau! But for now, he didn't have the chance. He didn't know anyone at the Education Bureau; showing up unannounced wouldn't get him anywhere. Su He thought of the warehouse; he could use it as an excuse to sneak into the Education Bureau to find out the truth before making any plans. However, he needed to scout it first.
"It looks like I'll need to make a trip to town in a few days!" Su He had attended middle school in town, so his exam papers were kept at the town's Education Bureau.
It was almost eleven o'clock, and Su He didn't plan on going back for lunch. "Xiao Nanhua, are you hungry?" Su He asked.
Xiao Nanhua nodded: "I'm hungry!" Saying so, Xiao Nanhua patted her belly; she looked incredibly cute!
Su He patted Xiao Nanhua's head and let her sit on Heixing's back. Xiao Nanhua was only three years old and weighed less than twenty catties, which showed her previous malnutrition! There was no helping it; they couldn't even eat their fill, let alone get proper nutrition.
Su He smiled and said: "Then brother will take you to eat at the state-owned restaurant!"
He had heard Lao He mention that they were going to a state-owned restaurant up ahead, which must be expensive. But Su He had money and didn't mind spending a little more. Besides, he wanted to hear more about what Lao He and others would say, like how they operated. This information would be helpful for Su He's future investigations.
The state-owned restaurant wasn't far; Su He led Heixing over and soon saw the restaurant's signboard! As he approached, he saw the youths who had been talking earlier inside.
Su He went up to inquire about the restaurant's charges and what food was available. Faintly, he could still hear Lao He boasting!
"What's this? The matter of my dad treating those leaders to a meal is on me!"
Su He wanted to listen more when a waitress came out and pointed at him: "Hey, what's wrong with you? Didn't you see this is a restaurant? What if your Water buffalo take a shit here? Hurry up and leave!"
Su He turned his head and frowned; he had heard that employees at former state-owned enterprises had very poor service attitudes!
There was no way around it; this was a unique situation where you had to rely on her, so how could she not be a bit arrogant?
The female server saw Su He frowning and became even more furious. "What’s the matter? You don’t understand me, do you? I told you to leave immediately, didn't you hear me? Are you deaf?"
Su He sighed inwardly and said, "We’re here to eat."
"Eat?" The server sneered, "Do you have food coupons? Do you have money? And you want to eat here?"
Only then did Su He suddenly remember that in those days, everything required coupons. Buying grain required food coupons, and buying oil required oil coupons. Even eating at a state-run restaurant required food coupons!
"Do we need food coupons to eat? Isn’t money enough?" Su He asked.
The server thought Su He was mocking her and impatiently waved him away. "Leave quickly. No food coupons, no food. Get out!"
Seeing that Su He still didn't leave, the server started calling for others. "A country bumpkin trying to eat at a state-run restaurant!"
Su He turned around and led Heixing away. He nearly went back to hit someone; the server was so rude. However, he suppressed his anger because if he got into a fight and was arrested, no one would look after Xiao Nanhua.
He had overheard some information: someone named Lao He had used his family’s influence to bribe an official in the Education Bureau responsible for copying scores, altering them so Lao He’s scores were swapped with someone else’s. Su He had suspected such things before. Once you know the right people, such manipulations are easy. It doesn’t cost much, just a few strokes of the pen. But they don’t realize that these actions can affect someone’s entire life.
Su He was furious, his face dark with anger. Xiao Nanhua softly said, "Dodo, I'm not hungry at all."
Su He was taken aback. Xiao Nanhua must be hungry since she only had a few pieces of pastry for breakfast. She must have seen him being turned away at the restaurant and thought he wouldn’t be able to get food, which made her feel bad.
Su He couldn't explain the misunderstanding. "Don’t worry!" He patted Xiao Nanhua’s head. "I’ll get you something to eat..."
After a moment’s thought, Su He remembered a well he had passed earlier. He had electricity in his warehouse but no water.
After leading the Heixing for ten minutes, they arrived at the well. Su He took down the buckets and rope and tied the rope securely to a bucket and lowered it into the well. With just a few swings, the bucket filled with water. He lifted it and cleaned the buckets first since they still smelled fishy from holding river snails and fish.
Seeing sweat on Xiao Nanhua’s forehead, Su He wiped it off. In this hot weather, there was no need to worry about catching a cold. Su He washed himself a bit too; the well water was refreshingly cool. Noticing Heixing looking thirsty, Su He quickly drew another bucket of water for him to drink. Heizi also drank some water. They had left in a hurry and forgot to bring water, showing a lack of experience.
"Xiao Nanhua, you stay here with Heixing and Heizi. I’m going over there to get some food. Don’t leave, okay? Don’t go with anyone or talk to anyone until I return!"
Su He needed to get some food from his storage and couldn’t take Xiao Nanhua with him. She might accidentally reveal the secret. As she grew older, it would be better, but if no one else knew about the storage, it would be even better.
Su He didn’t want to test anyone’s integrity with wealth. Human nature is unpredictable and easily changed.
Chapter 18: The State-Owned Restaurant
4 days ago
Su He had some suspicions before, but not about his exam paper being switched. He wondered if his predecessor had forgotten to write his name on the exam paper, or if there was a mistake in grading or transcribing the scores. In this era without computers, everything had to be done manually. While grading errors were less likely, they weren't impossible, especially with multiple-choice and true/false questions being graded continuously. As for transcribing scores, as long as it was done by hand, there was a possibility of error.
But now, hearing what Lao He and a few youths were saying, Su He had another guess: could his scores have been switched by someone else? In a society run by personal connections, there are always loopholes. As long as the connections are there and the money is spent right, under the pressure of power, such things are quite possible to do. Especially in this era of information blockade, even if scores were switched, it's likely that few people would know. The news couldn't spread out; under such circumstances, it wouldn't be surprising for someone to take a risk.
Su He decided to find an opportunity to check at the Education Bureau! But for now, he didn't have the chance. He didn't know anyone at the Education Bureau; showing up unannounced wouldn't get him anywhere. Su He thought of the warehouse; he could use it as an excuse to sneak into the Education Bureau to find out the truth before making any plans. However, he needed to scout it first.
"It looks like I'll need to make a trip to town in a few days!" Su He had attended middle school in town, so his exam papers were kept at the town's Education Bureau.
It was almost eleven o'clock, and Su He didn't plan on going back for lunch. "Xiao Nanhua, are you hungry?" Su He asked.
Xiao Nanhua nodded: "I'm hungry!" Saying so, Xiao Nanhua patted her belly; she looked incredibly cute!
Su He patted Xiao Nanhua's head and let her sit on Heixing's back. Xiao Nanhua was only three years old and weighed less than twenty catties, which showed her previous malnutrition! There was no helping it; they couldn't even eat their fill, let alone get proper nutrition.
Su He smiled and said: "Then brother will take you to eat at the state-owned restaurant!"
He had heard Lao He mention that they were going to a state-owned restaurant up ahead, which must be expensive. But Su He had money and didn't mind spending a little more. Besides, he wanted to hear more about what Lao He and others would say, like how they operated. This information would be helpful for Su He's future investigations.
The state-owned restaurant wasn't far; Su He led Heixing over and soon saw the restaurant's signboard! As he approached, he saw the youths who had been talking earlier inside.
Su He went up to inquire about the restaurant's charges and what food was available. Faintly, he could still hear Lao He boasting!
"What's this? The matter of my dad treating those leaders to a meal is on me!"
Su He wanted to listen more when a waitress came out and pointed at him: "Hey, what's wrong with you? Didn't you see this is a restaurant? What if your Water buffalo take a shit here? Hurry up and leave!"
Su He turned his head and frowned; he had heard that employees at former state-owned enterprises had very poor service attitudes!
There was no way around it; this was a unique situation where you had to rely on her, so how could she not be a bit arrogant?
The female server saw Su He frowning and became even more furious. "What’s the matter? You don’t understand me, do you? I told you to leave immediately, didn't you hear me? Are you deaf?"
Su He sighed inwardly and said, "We’re here to eat."
"Eat?" The server sneered, "Do you have food coupons? Do you have money? And you want to eat here?"
Only then did Su He suddenly remember that in those days, everything required coupons. Buying grain required food coupons, and buying oil required oil coupons. Even eating at a state-run restaurant required food coupons!
"Do we need food coupons to eat? Isn’t money enough?" Su He asked.
The server thought Su He was mocking her and impatiently waved him away. "Leave quickly. No food coupons, no food. Get out!"
Seeing that Su He still didn't leave, the server started calling for others. "A country bumpkin trying to eat at a state-run restaurant!"
Su He turned around and led Heixing away. He nearly went back to hit someone; the server was so rude. However, he suppressed his anger because if he got into a fight and was arrested, no one would look after Xiao Nanhua.
He had overheard some information: someone named Lao He had used his family’s influence to bribe an official in the Education Bureau responsible for copying scores, altering them so Lao He’s scores were swapped with someone else’s. Su He had suspected such things before. Once you know the right people, such manipulations are easy. It doesn’t cost much, just a few strokes of the pen. But they don’t realize that these actions can affect someone’s entire life.
Su He was furious, his face dark with anger. Xiao Nanhua softly said, "Dodo, I'm not hungry at all."
Su He was taken aback. Xiao Nanhua must be hungry since she only had a few pieces of pastry for breakfast. She must have seen him being turned away at the restaurant and thought he wouldn’t be able to get food, which made her feel bad.
Su He couldn't explain the misunderstanding. "Don’t worry!" He patted Xiao Nanhua’s head. "I’ll get you something to eat..."
After a moment’s thought, Su He remembered a well he had passed earlier. He had electricity in his warehouse but no water.
After leading the Heixing for ten minutes, they arrived at the well. Su He took down the buckets and rope and tied the rope securely to a bucket and lowered it into the well. With just a few swings, the bucket filled with water. He lifted it and cleaned the buckets first since they still smelled fishy from holding river snails and fish.
Seeing sweat on Xiao Nanhua’s forehead, Su He wiped it off. In this hot weather, there was no need to worry about catching a cold. Su He washed himself a bit too; the well water was refreshingly cool. Noticing Heixing looking thirsty, Su He quickly drew another bucket of water for him to drink. Heizi also drank some water. They had left in a hurry and forgot to bring water, showing a lack of experience.
"Xiao Nanhua, you stay here with Heixing and Heizi. I’m going over there to get some food. Don’t leave, okay? Don’t go with anyone or talk to anyone until I return!"
Su He needed to get some food from his storage and couldn’t take Xiao Nanhua with him. She might accidentally reveal the secret. As she grew older, it would be better, but if no one else knew about the storage, it would be even better.
Su He didn’t want to test anyone’s integrity with wealth. Human nature is unpredictable and easily changed.
