Chapter 17: Heartbroken

Lu Fan put aside all selfish thoughts and devoted all his time to "Public Basic Knowledge"!

The exterior plastering project for the affordable housing started, and Manager Wu, considerate of Lu Fan, actually prepaid 50,000 yuan in startup funds!

Du Wenlong and the others scouted a partner called "Bear." Lu Fan took time to meet him and felt that this person was very pragmatic and knowledgeable, so he decided to cooperate with him.

Lu Fan locked himself in the finance office, doing nothing but working and studying!

Time passed day by day, and Lu Fan gradually entered a good state, reciting the first two parts of "Public Basic Knowledge" by heart.

On October 3rd, Lu Fan took his brothers to the recruitment office to sign up for the adult college entrance exam.

The cadre in charge of registration was Wang Fei. Because most of the people signing up were "public servants" improving their education, he was very curious about these young people, patiently answered Lu Fan's questions, and kindly suggested that they sign up for the TV University, as it was easier to graduate.

All six of them signed up for the TV University.

After paying the registration fee and handing in photos, seeing no one around, Lu Fan gathered his courage and asked Wang Fei: "Leader, can you give us some pointers? We are afraid we won't pass."

Wang Fei smiled slightly: "Go to Yingjiang and ask around. It's not difficult; there are professionals who handle this."

Lu Fan hurriedly said: "We really can't find the way. Can you introduce a reliable person?"

Wang Fei felt these people were quite reliable, so he gave Lu Fan a phone number and told him to contact them himself.

Moreover, Wang Fei told them a piece of news: this year's adult exam site would be in Ningyang.

This was indeed good news. Money was needed everywhere now. Taking the exam in Ningyang meant the six of them only needed to ask for one day off, saving at least a thousand yuan.

Coming out of the recruitment office, Du Wenlong said excitedly: "Brothers, can we also become college students?"

Lu Fan smiled: "Wait until we pass! Xia Li, you are the smartest. You are responsible for contacting this person. I've heard that they have ways to arrange 'proxy exams.' It's best to ask about the market price so we don't get ripped off."

"Brother Fan, don't worry, I will handle it perfectly. Haha, I, Old Xia, will soon be a highly educated talent. Regardless of whether it's useful in the future, it sounds awesome!"

The group returned to the construction site in high spirits. Lu Fan continued to review, and these "little bosses" were all unskilled laborers for the exterior plastering project, so they naturally spared no effort in working for themselves.

On October 4th, Ningyang County held a government executive meeting and passed the "2007 Ningyang County Public Recruitment of Career Unit Personnel Work Plan."

As for the number of hires dropping from 400 to 388, all party group members knew it in their hearts, and no one raised any objections.

On October 6th, the County Committee Standing Committee was held, and the "Recruitment Work Plan" submitted by the County Government was reviewed and passed.

At the meeting, County Party Secretary Guo Mingxiong instructed that the recruitment be supervised by the County Discipline Inspection Committee and the Supervision Bureau throughout the process.

Since then, Ningyang's career unit recruitment work officially started, with Han Xuyang as the deputy leader of the leadership group, responsible for specific affairs.

On October 10th, the County Government released the "2007 Ningyang County Public Recruitment of Career Unit Personnel Announcement," which instantly became a hot topic in the county, and the people of Ningyang moved at the news.

After hearing the news, Lu Fan hurriedly ran to the gate of the County Government to look at the announcement. He read the recruitment scope and conditions for a full half-hour, but no matter how he looked at it, this recruitment had nothing to do with him. The four words "Junior College or above" made Lu Fan's heart turn to ash!

He really wanted to call Han Xuyang to ask why, but the number was never dialed.

Han Xuyang had been very busy recently, busy to the point of forgetting to give Lu Fan a heads-up or report the good news. Even if he wasn't busy, County Chief Han wouldn't take the initiative to inform him, to avoid side issues. The result was what mattered most.

Extremely disappointed and heartbroken, Lu Fan returned to the finance office like a walking corpse, lay on the bed and slept for the whole morning, suffering another major blow.

Decadent until the afternoon, Lu Fan received a call from his sister and heard good news: his sister had taken third place in the whole school in the midterm exam!

His sister's call allowed Lu Fan to regain his confidence.

If it didn't work this time, there would be a next time. Two years later, when he got his junior college diploma, he would see if there was an opportunity. He would just take advantage of these two years to recite "Public Basic Knowledge" by heart.

Lu Fan pulled himself together, picked up the reference book again, and began to prepare for two years later.

On October 21st, Ningyang County was bustling with activity. All hotels and restaurants were overcrowded because Secretary Guo Mingxiong personally coordinated with the Municipal Committee, Municipal Government, and Municipal Education Bureau to win the adult college entrance exam site for Ningyang this year.

After the adult exam started, Lu Fan and the others waited anxiously at the construction site. If the person who took the "proxy exam" was caught, it would be a total disaster—not only would they not be able to take the exam in the short term, but the money would also be wasted.

On the morning of October 22nd, the last subject, English, was finished. Fortunately, there were no surprises, and the adult college entrance exam was passed smoothly. They sat and waited for the results in November to see if they could be admitted to the TV University.

On November 1st, the Ningyang County career unit recruitment exam was held at the County Middle School.

Watching the candidates enter the exam hall one after another, deciding their lives with one exam, Lu Fan felt very low.

Returning to the construction site, he worked desperately with Du Wenlong for a day to relieve the bitterness in his heart.

Seeing the abnormality in their boss, the brothers took Lu Fan to a restaurant in the city to drink.

Du Wenlong chose a barbecue restaurant with a nice environment.

After three rounds of drinks, the young men started talking more. Especially Du Wenlong; only Lu Fan could understand the bitterness in his heart.

Just as they were drinking vigorously, a group of uninvited guests entered the barbecue restaurant. Several of them had tattoos and looked like hooligans. As soon as they entered, they shouted: "Boss, find a big private room, just keep the barbecue coming, and bring five cases of beer."

The leader saw Lu Fan in the lobby, walked over, and said arrogantly: "You little brats, earning that little money and learning to drink? Aren't you afraid of drinking yourselves to death? Do you want me to treat you?"

Le Xuezhi had already had a round of drinks. Encountering Lu Fan, who was "an eyesore," he naturally had no good words, and his language was full of provocation.

Yang Minghao endured his anger and said: "Le Xuezhi, are we eating your food? Or drinking your drink? We are all from the same village, keep your mouth clean!"

As soon as the words fell, Le Xuezhi's lackey rushed over, pointing at Yang Minghao and cursing, looking like he was about to start a fight.

Lu Fan could no longer endure it and was on the verge of exploding. One hand was already gripping a beer bottle. None of his brothers were cowards, and their eyes were full of anger.

Seeing this, the landlady hurried over to persuade them, speaking kindly to Le Xuezhi and signaling Lu Fan and the others to leave first.

The exam had just ended, and Lu Fan didn't want any side issues!

Lu Fan took the lead and left the barbecue restaurant. ===== CHAPTER 18 =====