Chapter 838: Each Person's Thoughts

Zhu showed no sign of anger; instead, he leaned in with a grin like a child: "Hey, tell me, what happened? Looking at you, Prince, you must have been scolded by the King, right?"

Chai looked somewhat dejected: "Sigh, 'scolded' is an understatement. I was fined a hundred days' wages. That's not even the main thing; the main thing is that I'm forbidden from taking the qualification exam for a whole year. In this year, I'll just have to be content as a Seventh-level Engineer. If I want to test for the Eighth-level, I'll have to wait until next year."

"Oh my, that is truly miserable. If your project at the Xuanyuan Tribe had passed inspection, you would have been qualified for a promotion. With this happening, I'm afraid you'll have to wait many more years. And this is the first time; I don't know if your ban for a year means the results from the Xuanyuan Tribe will still count for you. If they count, it's fine, just a delay in time. If they don't, then you've truly suffered a huge loss."

Zhu did not gloat; instead, he felt a sense of empathy. As the earliest and currently only Eighth-level Engineer in Huaxia, he knew very well the difficulty of this Eighth-level rank and the importance of this title.

In the beginning, Baifeng would rather leave the Eighth-level Engineer position vacant than let anyone move up, unless they achieved results that satisfied Baifeng.

Below the Fifth-level, it all depends on basic skills. If your skills are qualified, you can pass the evaluation for your title. For Sixth-level and above, skills are one aspect, but your own understanding, your contribution to the industry, and even your own achievements are all part of the assessment. It is evaluated by Baifeng. There is only one opportunity per year, and the higher the level, the fewer the spots. There is only one Eighth-level spot per year, two for the Seventh-level, and so on.

For teachers below the Fifth-level—for example, when testing from apprentice to First-level—a Fourth-level Engineer can be the examiner. For Second-level, a Fifth-level can test them. For Third-level to Fifth-level, those at the Sixth-level or above serve as examiners. This teaching role is still very difficult.

Other departments in the Ministry of Works are basically the same, but departments like the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Health have their own special set of methods, which are not at all interchangeable with the titles of the Ministry of Works.

Bing had a gap and a generation gap with both of them in terms of title, status, and age. His workstation was not in this office but next door. At this time, everyone's projects had basically stopped, but they were not on vacation, so they were all doing other work, which is why everyone was present.

Bing was also questioned by everyone, and Bing did not hide it. The fact that his exam had fallen through could certainly not be hidden. To avoid delaying projects, exams were held in the Winter. Now, these people were either reviewing or, if they had no exam plans, preparing exam content for lower-level students.

But when Bing said he couldn't take the exam, everyone still felt a secret joy, because this was equivalent to having one fewer strong competitor. Everyone had witnessed Bing's ability; he could have steadily moved up a level this year. But since he couldn't take the exam, it meant one of his spots was left vacant.

However, they couldn't be entirely happy. Even if a spot was vacant, it didn't mean they would definitely pass. Under the principle of "better to have nothing than to have something inferior," unless the technical level was similar, they had to select the best among the good and eliminate people. Only Bing's departure could give them a better chance, but if their level wasn't enough, there was absolutely no possibility of being a substitute.

Bing also sensed the others' emotions, but there was nothing he could do. Fortunately, he still believed in his own ability; passing was only a matter of time. His opponents would at most be one year ahead of him. He believed he could overtake them in the Sixth-level to Seventh-level exam.

Now he was more worried about his sixty days of docked wages. Although his family was well-off, it was still far from being comparable to someone like Chai. Chai had already stepped into the Noble circle, while his family could only be considered half-wealthy, having only climbed up from the bottom for a few years.

Sixty days, which was two periods of wages, was still very painful for him. According to Baifeng's scolding, his family would certainly not starve to death, and they wouldn't even need to eat coarse grains. When they really ran out of food, they could apply upwards, and the wealthy Ministry of Works could provide him with food subsidies.

However, things like cloth and Wine that were distributed at the same time were somewhat hard to come by. He had been thinking of using his wages to exchange for more meat to have a fat Winter, but now the idea of exchanging for meat was shattered.

The only hope was that Baifeng said he was docking wages, not subsidies. Those who went on business trips to other places like them had certain subsidies. It was calculated based on distance; the further they went, the more they were given, and the hardship level had to be considered. The subsidies for those in Xiao Town might even be higher than their wages.

But working at the Xuanyuan Tribe, the subsidies one could get were not small. Anyway, the Workers who stayed in Huaxia were very envious. As long as the work location did not leave the city, there were no subsidies, and they only received fixed wages. If the project duration was not completed smoothly, they would even be docked. But for those who went out, the requirements for the project duration were very relaxed, and they could even exceed the quota.

Hearing that Bing had also been docked wages, his colleagues sincerely sympathized with him: "Then your punishment is really heavy, it's a bit miserable. I don't know if your luck is good or bad; you made it to Deputy Team Leader, but you were implicated and punished."

"Oh, by the way, what is the punishment for Caigong?"

"What Caigong? Now he is called Chaigong. Are you so poorly informed? His name has been changed. His punishment is about the same as mine; he is also forbidden from taking the exam for a year. The wages docked are more than mine. Sigh, it's all miserable, all miserable," Bing said, shaking his head and sighing.

"Oh, I see. That is indeed miserable," the colleagues echoed, but they were somewhat shocked inside. They didn't expect the rumors to be true; even Caigong had changed his name.

Once the questions were asked, it became uninteresting. Everyone chatted casually for a few more sentences, and after inquiring about some news, they returned to their workstations. Bing was still waiting; he thought that after Chai finished handing over the work, they would be able to go on vacation.

The Workers of the Engineering Team below had already been given a vacation. Only the few of them in the leadership layer had to come back to report on their duties first. Only after explaining everything clearly could they go on vacation. It was uncertain how long the vacation would be; perhaps they would be assigned other work.

Chai and Zhu basically finished handing over the work while chatting. In Zhu's view, it was no big deal; they could just continue according to the original plan next year. For a period of time after that, there was temporarily nothing for Chai to do. They had been away from Huaxia for a long time and were out of touch with the work here, so they couldn't help much anyway.

"Alright, Chai, you're on vacation. Go back, rest, and spend time with your wife and children." Zhu waved his hand, letting the somewhat exhausted Chai get off work.

Chai was not at all polite. Of course, he also missed his family, so he pushed hard and stood up: "Alright, then I'm going home. You notify Bing and the others too; I won't go over there."

"Fine, fine, don't you worry about it."