Chapter One: A Dream of Peking University

  "The probation period is one month, 1,500 yuan. If the performance is good, after three months of formal employment, the salary will be increased to 1,800 yuan. Do you have any other questions about the salary?" A young woman with thick makeup on her face asked Su Cheng while tapping on her newly done crystal nail.

  Su Cheng shook his head.

  "Alright, you can come to work next Monday." The girl waved her hand to signal him to leave and called the next person in.

  Su Cheng walked out the door, without a bit of excitement about finding work. His family were oil field workers, and it was not easy for him to get into a university in Beijing, studying petroleum engineering. People back home saw his parents and said: "Your Su Cheng has made it, he's going to be a big shot in the capital one day."

  Unfortunately, the reality is that graduation means unemployment. Waiting for oil field companies to hire is a distant hope. Without a local household registration and without a strong background, an ordinary university student majoring in petroleum can't make a living no matter how good their grades are. CNPC and CNOOC are just pie in the sky; he couldn't even get into slightly larger companies. Finally, after continuously lowering his expectations, he ended up at this small logistics company, where he watches goods and records vehicle traffic in a logistics company with fewer than 30 people.

  Su Cheng thought of his parents at home, whose hair had all turned white, and felt extremely guilty. He was in this state, let alone bringing them to Beijing to enjoy life, it's likely that in the future he would still make them work hard.

  He was preoccupied with his thoughts as he walked along the road and didn't notice a car suddenly dashing out from the left side of the road.

  A piercing sound, Su Cheng felt his body lightly floating up, his mind a complete blank.

  ……

  As soon as Su Cheng opened his eyes, he saw a group of people dressed like migrant workers surrounding him.

  A boy wearing an old-fashioned green military uniform laughed and said, "Su Cheng, you're always bragging about how good your body is? How come, it's not even August yet, and you've already gotten heatstroke."

  "Where am I?" He didn't know these people at all. How did they know his name was Su Cheng, and that he had heatstroke? Didn't he have a car accident?

  "You're crazy! This is a school, you were just looking at the bulletin board and suddenly fainted." He was wearing a white sweatshirt that only his old man would wear, with a towel hanging around his neck.

  Su Cheng suddenly felt his head was extremely confused, countless information flooded into his mind, the person in front of him was called Liu Zi, he was his roommate, and now he was at Peking University, no, not the current Peking University, but the original one, he was a university student in the early 1980s.

  He was hit by a car and surprisingly hit a Chinese early Northern University student with the same name and surname as himself.

  "It's okay, I'm fine. I've been standing for too long and feel a bit dizzy. I'm really fine." Su Cheng refused their help and accompaniment, he wanted to think things through carefully.

  "Well, it's fine if nothing's wrong. But there's nothing good to look at on this bulletin board either, they're all companies that nobody goes to. Just take a quick look and head back to the dorm early." The man in green military uniform saw that Su Cheng was insistent, didn't try to persuade him further, and pulled the others away.

  Liu Zi, who was dragged away, didn't want to leave and complained: "Wang Ting, why are you dragging me? You clearly know that Su Cheng is malnourished and fainted, how can you just leave him behind like this?"

  "Shut up, I'll deal with you later."

  "Suzhou has a strong sense of self-respect, he sent all the grain tickets and whatnot back home. You're not unaware of this, saying it to his face won't solve anything. Let's go discuss it among ourselves." The man in green military uniform dragged Liu Zi away.

  He seems to have some authority, and a group of people followed him.

  Wang Ting turned his head and took a glance at Su Cheng, who was standing straight in front of the bulletin board. His back figure was very thin, and when the wind blew, the hem of his slightly oversized clothes fluttered, making him look even more desolate.

  Su Cheng didn't notice what they were saying, his eyes were completely absorbed by the content on the bulletin board.

  "Procter & Gamble... Shell... Matsushita Electric... International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)... @#%%@#%%... This pile of recruitment ads, any one of them is a Fortune 500 company, they actually say it's not a decent company, what's wrong with this world?!"

  Before he came back to himself, two men beside him who had rolled up their pant legs were in discussion.

  "Jian Guo, are you going to be a reporter for People's Daily?"

  "Yes, people have arrived on the other side, what about you, has the State Council made a decision?"

  "It's settled, once I finish writing my graduation thesis, I can go over there."

  ……

  My god! What kind of crazy era is this? He's a graduate from a decent university, and even the State Council can't hire him. Not to mention state-owned enterprises, he can't even get into a logistics company with 30 people...

  "This isn't our Chinese department's Su Da Cai Zi, where are you planning to go? I heard the State Council General Office is selecting people, your chance isn't small, at that time we might be colleagues!" The old farmer-like student patted Su Cheng's shoulder...

  "The General Office of the State Council? Me?" Su Cheng pointed at his own nose.

  "Not again, what's new this time? Let me guess, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs? Customs? If I had to say it, you have a good foundation in English, and you'd be quite suitable for the Ministry of Foreign Trade." The man named Jian Guo was quite enthusiastic.

  Su Cheng was tongue-tied and didn't know what to say. In his life, the names of these central government organs were always distant and mysterious, often only seen in news reports.

  Can I also be among them now?

  "Is there a recruitment from Zhongshi Oil?" Su Cheng asked out of nowhere.

  "It's the Petroleum Department, right?" The other party said with a deep understanding: "The Petroleum Department is also a good unit, but you're an arts student, what did you do in the past? If I were to say, why not go to the State Council to write materials, or stay in school, it's not bad either."

  Staying in school means becoming a teacher at Beida, and Su Cheng has already started feeling that his brain is not being used enough.

  Jian Guo added with a kind reminder: "When it comes to assigning units, you should decide early on, otherwise, once the time is up, you can only follow the assigned arrangement."

  Assigning work, something that can only be thought of in dreams, has become a chore for university students at this time. Su Cheng doesn't know whether to cry or laugh...