Chapter 9: Fake College Student

"I understand." Erhu nodded.

Xu Qiang knew that people like the director of the town supply and marketing cooperative were not someone that anyone could invite. If you didn't mention a famous person, even if you prepared all kinds of delicacies, they might not be willing to come.

College students are still quite valuable these days. No matter which company they go to, they will be included in the cadre system. Moreover, the Shengli Machinery Factory that Xu Qiang is about to enter is no ordinary unit. Not to mention in this small county, it is also a number one enterprise in the entire JX province.

"College student!?" Liu Jun, who was standing by, heard the general idea and frowned, saying, "Can this thing be fake? We haven't even seen the gate of a university..."

Obviously, Liu Jun felt that Xu Qiang's idea of ​​pretending to be a college student was not reliable. After all, the farthest place these people had been to since they were young was the county town, and they had never thought about what a college was like.

What Liu Jun and Erhu didn’t know was that Xu Qiang was indeed trying to pretend to be a college student at the moment, but in fact he was a real college student in his previous life, and a well-known top expert in the domestic chemical industry.

"He's not a police officer, so who would check your ID? Just do as I say. I'll talk to Director Wang later, and you guys just listen."

"I'll listen to you." Although Liu Jun felt that this matter was unreliable, Xu Qiang was the boss now and he was paying for the meal, so he had to listen to him in everything.

Afterwards, the three of them split into two groups. Erhu went to invite people, while Xu Qiang and Liu Jun went directly to the "Wuzhou Teahouse" in the center of the town.

The Wuzhou Teahouse is definitely a time-honored brand in the local area. It existed before the liberation. At that time, it was indeed just a teahouse, a place for passing grooms and workers to drink tea and rest. After the liberation, it was converted into a state-owned restaurant. Because the food here is large in portion and tastes good, the locals like to come here when they entertain guests for dinner.

Before the 1980s, unless there was something big going on at home, few people would go to restaurants, and dinners would be hosted at home. But nowadays, more and more local people are starting to go to restaurants, and the business of Wuzhou Teahouse is getting better and better.

Xu Qiang and Liu Jun came to a square table on the second floor. Although there were many guests downstairs, they were all eating simple meals. The second floor was specially for banquets, but there were not many people. The two even saw a waitress knitting a sweater in the corner.

On the wall at the entrance, there was a sign with a line of large characters on it: 'No beating or scolding of customers!'

Seeing Xu Qiang and the other man arrive, the waiter stood up reluctantly, first poured them a glass of water, and then signaled them that they could order food.

"Braised fish fillets, chicken stewed with mushrooms, spicy tofu... and a bottle of Moutai!" After taking a look at the menu on the wall, Xu Qiang started ordering.

Liu Jun, who was standing by, didn't dare to utter a word when he saw Xu Qiang ordering dishes like this. You know, eating in this restaurant is not cheap. These days, if someone can eat in this restaurant, it's a very respectable thing and worth bragging about for two days.

After all, ordinary people at that time could not afford to go to a restaurant, and would only invite others to join them during festivals or major happy events.

Liu Jun has lived for more than 30 years and has never been so "luxurious". A few years ago, he worked for a family and the boss invited him to a small restaurant for a meal to express his gratitude. The meal consisted of two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, two cold dishes, and a bottle of Si Te wine. This was the best meal he had ever had.

But at this moment, Xu Qiang ordered food as if it was free, and basically ordered all the most expensive dishes on the menu on the wall.

"Uncle...this is also..."

"Just eat and don't worry about other things." Xu Qiang seemed to see through his thoughts, turned his head and said with a smile.

In Xu Qiang's opinion, one should not be stingy when treating someone to a meal. After all, the other party is a local celebrity and Xu Qiang has something to ask of him. Moreover, if he can establish a relationship with the director of the supply and marketing cooperative, it will be much easier for him to do business in the future.

In addition, when facing such a dinner party, Xu Qiang must also demonstrate some strength, otherwise, the other party may not even look at him, let alone cooperate.

"The total is 17.30 yuan. You need food coupons for two pounds and four ounces of food coupons. If you don't have food coupons, it's 18.10 yuan. Invoices will be issued at the door." The waiter now gave Xu Qiang a somewhat 'comrade-like' smile.

Even in the largest state-owned restaurant in this small town, such wealthy customers are rare, and there are only a few of them in a year. He is definitely not an ordinary person. He might be a millionaire or a high-ranking official.

"Go and pay the money."

Xu Qiang took out two big unity notes and handed them to Liu Jun, who was already stunned. The latter quickly came to his senses, took the money and immediately got up and left. My goodness, 18 yuan for a meal, this is almost his monthly salary.

Liu Jun really didn't expect Xu Qiang to be so generous in treating him.

But in Xu Qiang's opinion, restaurants these days are really cheap. Moutai is only seven yuan a bottle, which is something that people in later generations would never dare to think about.

Xu Qiang still has more than 300 yuan on him, which is the pension left by his father. His mother gave him 400 yuan, and he still has more than 300 yuan.

Just as Liu Jun paid the money, two more people appeared at the entrance of the stairs.

One of them was Erhu, and the person who went upstairs with him was a middle-aged man who was wearing a blue and black Zhongshan suit and was a little fat.

"Uncle, this is the Wang Zhong from the supply and marketing cooperative that I told you about, Director Wang."

Seeing Xu Qiang stand up, Erhu hurriedly introduced him.

"Hello, Director Wang!"

Seeing this, Xu Qiang immediately stretched out his hand with a smile on his face.

Xu Qiang was somewhat surprised to see that Erhu really brought people here. You know, the director of the town supply and marketing cooperative is a very popular figure in the local area, and it is not easy for him to give face to Erhu, who is penniless.

"You are...the college student that Erhu mentioned?"

"Hello Director Wang, I'm Xu Qiang."

"Uh." The moment of shaking hands, Wang Zhong felt the thick calluses on Xu Qiang's hands, and his brows slightly frowned.

"Director Wang, would you like to smoke?" Erhu, who was standing by, immediately took out a box of newly bought Peony cigarettes, opened it, took out a cigarette and handed it to Director Wang.

"Which school did you graduate from?" Wang Zhong took the cigarette but didn't smoke it. Instead, he asked directly.

"I'm from the Department of Chemical Engineering at Jilin University." Xu Qiang said with a relaxed expression.

"Jilin University, Department of Chemical Engineering..." Director Wang looked at Xu Qiang carefully again and then said, "What a coincidence, I also went to university in Jilin. I was at Jilin Agricultural University..."

"Your Agricultural University is not far from our school. It was previously called the Heilongjiang Provincial Agricultural Cadre School. Those who can be admitted to that school are not ordinary people. In addition to having high scores, the requirements in all aspects are also very high. Director Wang is really amazing to be able to attend such a university."

Xu Qiang saw that the other party was questioning his identity as a college student, but Xu Qiang was a real college student in his previous life, and he did know the situation of the university in Changchun, so he was very comfortable facing such tentative inquiries.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine, thank you. And you?"

When the two were talking, a sentence in English suddenly popped up, which made Liu Jun and Erhu a little confused, but the next moment, Wang Zhong and Xu Qiang smiled at each other.

At this point, Wang Zhong finally believed that the young man with calloused hands in front of him was indeed a college student. After all, in their county, there were not many people who could converse in English.

In fact, Wang Zhong went to university in the early 1960s. At that time, Russian was the main language used in universities. But when he was in his sophomore year, China and the Soviet Union became hostile, and English became a compulsory language in universities. It has been like this until now.

(End of this chapter)