Chapter 3 Destination Confirmed

  "Would you like to come to the Petroleum Department?" The old man was stunned, and after a while, he came to his senses and said repeatedly: "Comrade Su Cheng, welcome, welcome, warm welcome to your contribution to the country's construction..."

  The poor old man, probably having been treated coldly for too long, was suddenly met with an enthusiastic student and became excited, gesticulating wildly.

  Su Cheng smiled shyly and said: "I really admire our Wang Jinxi's spirit of iron man, I hope to become a petroleum worker. I hope to work in the Petroleum Department."

  What an idealistic young man! The old man believed it right away.

  In this era, universities have too many young people who are dedicated to idealism. They are like the ancient scholars with honors, while receiving the greatest protection and care from the country, they also dedicate themselves to the country with all their might.

  Naive and unrealistic actions were as common as a pulse on China's land in 1987.

  The old man patted Su Cheng's shoulder heavily and said, "Being an oil worker is the proudest thing in my life. With a loud shout from oil workers, the earth will shake three times. For the country's glory, for the country's prestige, I'd rather live 20 years less, but I must take down the big oil field..."

  The whole house was filled with the old man's loud singing voice.

  Liu Zi looked at Su Cheng with a mixture of surprise and admiration, saying: "Old fellow, I didn't expect you to give up your job in the State Council just to go down to the grassroots level. This won't do, I must write an article to report on this."

  When he heard the three words "State Council", Liu Bing also showed a surprised expression. Compared to the Premier's office, their Ministry of Economy, which was about to be abolished, was indeed grassroots.

  The young teacher in charge of student affairs next door also sighed, saying: "Director Liu, you've picked up a treasure. Our Chinese department's Su Cheng is a famous talent throughout the school. The department even tried to persuade him to stay on as a teacher."

  Liu Bingxiao showed a big yellow tooth and nodded repeatedly, saying: "The spirit of being down-to-earth and hardworking is exactly what our Petroleum Department needs most. I encourage you to report it out, when we go back to the department, we will also report it."

  Su Cheng was taken aback, and the white-shirted diplomat asked with profound meaning: "Comrade, how's your foreign language level?"

  "Lao Tang, you can't do this!" Liu Bing was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and he jumped up, blocking Su Cheng in front of him, saying: "We've already got this person. Teacher Wang, please register him."

  At this time, he didn't care about considering the publicity issue anymore, and hurriedly said to Su Cheng: "Don't mind him, let me tell you about the treatment of our Petroleum Department. As a university student, you will have a house to live in after reporting for work, and within a year, we guarantee that you will have a two-bedroom apartment. After getting married, you can also apply for a three-bedroom apartment, which is one of the best among all departments in Beijing. The cafeteria food is plentiful, with meat every meal, and the rice and noodles served afterwards don't require grain coupons, so you can eat until you're full. Like me and my wife, we eat at the department's cafeteria during the day and at the family members' cafeteria at night, which saves us from cooking and also saves money. Last year during Spring Festival, we received a big carp, a big ham, and everyone on the bus was drooling. In our Petroleum Department, you can not only contribute to the country but also take care of your family, isn't that great? Additionally, if you have any problems in the future, just come find me, Old Liu, and I'll be able to speak up for you in front of the minister."

  The white shirt from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs smiled and said, "Old Liu, which department isn't like this? This comrade, working on connections is a lifelong thing, don't rush, think about it some more..."

  "I've made up my mind, I'm going to the Petroleum Department." Su Cheng replied firmly. He wasn't a true Su Da Cai Zi, his only skill was what he learned in petroleum school, the simple and straightforward principle of being the head of a chicken rather than the tail of a phoenix.

  The old man was inexplicably moved, urging them to complete the initial formalities. Before leaving, he grasped Su Cheng's hand and shook it repeatedly, saying: "Come to the Petroleum Department, be a petroleum worker, it won't go wrong."

  Su Cheng smiled stupidly.

  On the way back, Zhu Kai from Northeast China admired and said: "Su Cheng, you gave up the State Council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and made a decision to go to the Ministry of Petroleum, it's really awesome, I don't have such courage."

  "We should determine the position." Wang Ting suddenly put forward his opinion.

  Liu Zi slapped his thigh and said, "Right! How could I forget? Don't send it to the newspapers under them, that would be a loss."

  "It shouldn't be, right?"

  "Whoever said this is right, it's not that I'm afraid of ten thousand, but rather the one in ten thousand, if the Petroleum Department becomes a state-owned enterprise, then wouldn't its newspapers become corporate newspapers..."

  Su Kai listened with a smile on his face, without saying a word. Thinking back to a few days ago, when he and his roommates were also looking for jobs, they didn't have such happy troubles either.

  Not to mention CNPC headquarters, even going to grassroots oil fields as a blue-collar worker, can't find a way in, sighing at the gate.

  At noon, Liu Zi insisted on writing his first journalist draft. Su Cheng accompanied Zhu Kai to revisit the campus with an artistic heart. After dinner, they began to fall asleep out of boredom.

  The next morning, Su Cheng woke up to find that everyone in the dormitory had already left.

  University students in this era are all very planned. Wang Ting insisted on running at 5:30 every morning and went to the library three times a day, year after year.

  Su Cheng was once a diligent and hardworking good student, until he got shot in the thigh.

  Now he enjoys the treatment of a patient, with roommates bringing back meals for him morning, noon and night, surrounded by thick stacks of pure literature magazines and foreign books. By the standards of the 1980s, just those nearly hundred volumes of "Harvest", "Flower City" and "Contemporary" are considered luxurious.

  However, Su Cheng was actually not very interested in literature, and after flipping through it casually, he sat on the bed, staring blankly at the table tennis court downstairs.

  There are two rows of twenty or so pool tables, now only three pairs of people are using them, the back-and-forth is quite intense, fairly speaking, the technical level is also quite good.

  Su Cheng had a sudden itch and jumped out of bed, just thinking of going out, but the door opened first.

  "Excuse me, are you Mr. Su?" A man who looked like a cadre with a black leather bag stood at the doorway and seemed to not need his confirmation, paused for a moment before continuing: "I am Secretary Xiao Xu of Mayor Su's office, Mayor Su has a message for you."

  Su Cheng hesitated and murmured an "uh-huh".

  The man woodenly said with a straight face: "Secretary Su said that we should wait patiently for the assignment and don't need to worry."

  ……