The time came to Wu Dao's fourth year of working at Fangzhou College, that is, the second semester of the third academic year. During this period, a new teacher came to the Chinese department, but he was already married when he came, so he did not live in the dormitory. Wu Dao and Meng Yihong continued to live their "two-person life".

In the next semester, Wu Dao will be promoted to lecturer, and Si Baifang will graduate from graduate school at the end of this semester and leave Jeju University. Si Baifang told Wu Dao that she did not take the doctoral examination and was likely to go to Beijing to work.

In the past three years, every year before the winter vacation, Wu Dao would receive Spring Festival gifts from the Hecheng town government. Hu Xueshan and Zhang Chunmei also called and texted to greet Wu Dao, but they never asked him to do anything.

The so-called reactive and unrelenting, every time Wu Dao received a gift from Hecheng Town, he felt ashamed of it, and he still felt guilty in his heart, feeling that he had fallen. What's even more terrifying is that he feels as if he has become accustomed to depravity.

Wu Dao wanted to call Hu Xueshan and Zhang Chunmei and tell them not to send him any more things, but he didn't want to take the initiative to contact them, not to mention that they wouldn't stop sending things. In the past, when Hu Xueshan called to greet Wu Dao, he proposed not to mail gifts again. Hu Xueshan said a polite word, which made him speechless.

Some of the things sent by Hecheng Town were taken back to Wu Dao's hometown in Qicheng County, and some were put in the dormitory, and he and Meng Yihong usually ate and used them. Wu Dao didn't tell his family the source of the things he took home, he was afraid that his family, especially Wu He, would show off everywhere again.

Wu Dao told Meng Yihong about his troubles. Meng Yihong said to him:

"It doesn't hurt to socialize with people from the outside, they give you gifts, and they won't let you do anything illegal. That's the kind of thing we don't have the ability to do. Besides, the person who gave you the gift is your former colleague, and the gift is not very valuable, so there is no obstacle to receiving it, and there is no need to have such a big burden in your heart. ”

One noon in March, Hu Xueshan called Wu Dao again:

"Professor Wu, is your work going well now, are you not in Fangzhou?"

"It's okay, in Fangzhou." Wu Dao said. Although he is not a professor, he does not want to deny it.

"I've been busy lately, haven't you?"

"It's okay, I work at the university, and I still have a lot of free time."

"I envy you, our cadres are not so free."

"Is there something wrong with Mayor Hu?" Wu Dao said. He thought to himself, there are many people who are late and leave early every day, and there are many people who go home after going to work, so why not be free? But you can't say that.

"There's something I want you to help me with. It's a big thing for me, it's a big thing for you. Chunmei also has a little thing to ask you for help with. Do you have any plans for tonight? ”

"Nothing is arranged."

"That's good, Chunmei and I will leave now, let's have dinner together in the evening, let's talk about it in detail when we meet."

"Okay then."

At five o'clock in the afternoon, Hu Xueshan called Wu Dao, saying that he and Zhang Chunmei had arrived at the gate of the central campus of Fangzhou University and asked where Wu Dao was. At that time, Wu Dao had just finished class and was about to go back to the dormitory, hung up the phone, and walked to the west gate. As he walked, he called Meng Yihong and told her that someone from her hometown was coming and she wouldn't go back to eat at night.

When Wu Dao walked to the west gate, Hu Xueshan was already standing at the door to greet him, with Zhang Chunmei and a young man next to him. Hu Xueshan said:

"Professor Wu, I haven't seen him for a few years, but he's still so handsome."

"I'm younger and more handsome than before." Zhang Chunmei said.

"Professor Wu, hello, I'm Xiao Liu, and I'm Mayor Hu's secretary." Said the young man.

"You call me a professor, I really can't afford it. I don't have a formal title yet, and I won't be able to evaluate lecturers until the next semester, which is still far from being a professor. Wu Dao said.

"We know your abilities, you are not a professor now, and you will definitely be a professor in the future." Hu Xueshan said.

"Yes, I will definitely be a professor in two years." Zhang Chunmei said.

"Don't call me professor now, it sounds awkward, and it's not good for my colleagues and students to hear it, so call me by my name or Mr. Wu." Wu Dao said.

"You are still so modest, then call it Mr. Wu, teacher is the most glorious profession in the world." Hu Xueshan said.

"If you want to be modest, Mayor Hu is also very modest. Mayor Hu is now the mayor of our river town, not the deputy mayor. Zhang Chunmei said.

"Congratulations to Mayor Hu." Wu Dao said.

"Everywhere, it's just a small cadre at the grassroots level, and it's all for the people." Hu Xueshan said.

"We are all serving the people, and we can't compare to Mr. Wu being a university teacher. Let's stop standing here and go to the hotel and sit down. Zhang Chunmei said.

Although Wu Dao didn't think much of Hu Xueshan and Zhang Chunmei's words, he couldn't say anything, so he had to nod yes.

Xiao Liu quickly opened the car door and let Wu Dao, Hu Xueshan and Zhang Chunmei get into the car. Xiao Liu is the driver.

The car stopped at the entrance of the famous Fangzhou Hotel in Fangzhou City. Wu Dao had heard of this hotel for a long time and knew that it was one of the best hotels in Fangzhou, but he had never eaten here and did not think that he would eat here one day.

Entering the hotel, the palatial hall meets the eyes of Wu Dao, in the center is a rockery, there is a waterfall on it, accompanied by the rhythm of light music, the lights are constantly changing colors, and the sofas, ceiling lights, and carpets in the hall are also luxurious.

The hotel staff came over and asked, how many guests there were, if there was a reservation. Zhang Chunmei said that she had called in advance to book a private room. After checking the information, the staff took them to the Fuhai Hall on the second floor.

The Fuhai Room is a small private room that can seat up to eight people.

Hu Xueshan asked Xiao Liu to remove the four chairs, and then asked Wu Dao to sit on the main seat, Wu Daoqian gave a few words, knowing that he couldn't hide, so he had to sit on the main seat. Hu Xueshan and Zhang Chunmei sat on both sides of Wu Dao, and Xiao Liu sat near the door. The waiter handed the menu to Xiao Liu, and Hu Xueshan asked Xiao Liu to give Wu Dao and asked him to order, Wu Dao said:

"I don't have anything particular about eating, as long as I can eat enough, I can order any dish, let's order something from Mayor Hu."

"How can it be done, today you are the protagonist, you must come and order." Hu Xueshan said.

"It's all your own people, so don't be humble." Zhang Chunmei said.

"Then I'll order it, and you'll order it after I'm done." Wu Dao said.

"We don't need to order, you can just order." Hu Xueshan said.

Wu Dao opened the menu, flipped through a few pages, and found that the prices of the dishes in this hotel were much higher than those outside, and many of the dishes had names that he had never seen before. He didn't pay attention to diet, so he ordered two common dishes, fried tripe and Di San Xian, and then gave the menu to Hu Xueshan. Hu Xueshan said:

"Just order these two dishes?"

"Just order these two. I rarely eat in hotels, and I can't think of anything more, so I'd better order it. Wu Dao said.

"Mr. Wu ordered this kind of home-cooked food, is it to save us money? I rarely eat in a hotel, so I should order a few good dishes today. Zhang Chunmei said.

"No, I think these two dishes are very good." Wu Dao said.

"I think that's it, I want braised sea cucumber with green onions, four treasures of white grill, sweet and sour carp, four happy meatballs, hibiscus chicken slices, braised prawns, Yipin tofu, and mullet egg soup." Hu Xueshan gave the menu to Zhang Chunmei and said, "Chunmei, you can order a few more." ”

"I want to pull the silk yam, the poetry of ginkgo, the kung pao chicken, and a clear soup white fungus." Zhang Chunmei said.

"How many dishes are these?" Hu Xueshan said.

"That's fourteen dishes." The waiter said.

"Fourteen is unlucky, Xiao Liu orders two more, sixteen dishes are just right." Hu Xueshan said.

"Let's stir-fry two more plates of vegetables, one Jingzhi stir-fry and one stir-fried cauliflower." Xiao Liu said.

"Do you still have fruit platters here?" Hu Xueshan said to the waiter.

"Send." The waiter said.

"That's good." Hu Xueshan said to Wu Dao again, "Teacher Wu, what kind of wine do you want to drink?" White, red or beer? ”

"I won't drink anymore, I don't drink now." Wu Dao said.

"I know how much you drink, and when you used to work in River Town, you didn't drink less. I remember, that time we went to the Northwest, we both drank a lot. Hu Xueshan said.

"I also remember that you were about the same age as Xiao Liu at that time. I thought you wouldn't drink, but I didn't expect it to be quite large. Literati love to drink some wine. Zhang Chunmei said.

"This hotel has Northwest wine, do you want to have a drink?" Hu Xueshan said.

Wu Dao remembered his trip to the Northwest six years ago, and heard that there was wine from the Northwest here, and suddenly he really wanted to drink a glass, so he said:

"Then drink a little, say it in advance, just one drink."

"Then let's get two bottles of Northwest Tequ first. Hurry up and serve. Hu Xueshan said to the waiter.

The waiter said "yes" and turned to leave. Xiao Liu poured tea for everyone. Hu Xueshan said to Wu Dao:

"Teacher Wu is a talent from Hecheng Town and Qicheng County, and he is a busy person, and we dare not easily disturb him if there is nothing to do. Chunmei and I both have some personal matters to trouble you. ”

"I can help, I will. It's just that I'm just an ordinary teacher who is soft-spoken, what can I do to help the two leaders? Wu Dao said.

Hu Xueshan said to Wu Dao: "It's a long story, Mr. Wu, don't you know, the current cadres are becoming more and more difficult to do, they must have ability, performance, and academic qualifications, and they can't do anything less." I originally graduated from the normal school, that is, the technical secondary school degree, and later got a junior college in the party school. The college degree was still too low, so I signed up for the on-the-job graduate school of Agricultural University.

This graduate student is just a pretense, and I don't have to go to class every day, just a few times a year. But at present, there is a problem, although the graduate students of Agricultural University have no gold content, they must also have a graduation thesis, and they cannot graduate without a thesis, how can I write a thesis? I couldn't help it, so I asked Xiao Liu to write an article for me, just write about the agriculture in our town.

If other tutors were okay to say, fooling a paper would be over, but my tutor is still a very serious person. After Xiao Liu wrote the thesis, I showed it to the tutor, and the tutor said that I wrote a work summary, not a thesis, and that such an article would be embarrassed when it was taken to the defense meeting, so I took it back for revision.

Xiao Liu changed it twice, but the tutor still said no. He said to Xiao Liu again, "Xiao Liu, did you say?" ”

"Yes, I really want to change the paper well, but the level is not good." Xiao Liu said.

"I was so worried that I couldn't sleep, so I thought about where to find someone to change my paper for me. You used to be famous for your ability to write in our town, and now you're a university teacher, so you're fine. Hu Xueshan said to Wu Dao.

"Writing articles is not a matter for Mr. Wu, I know this best. He can write in a few hours what others can write in a week, and he can't find fault with it. If it is someone else, who can have this ability! Zhang Chunmei said.

"I can write, but what is the content, I am a literature major, let me write a literary paper, then I am good at it, but Mayor Hu wants to write an agricultural paper, I don't understand it at all, and there is no material, it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice." Wu Dao said.

"It doesn't matter if you don't have materials, I have them. Mayor Hu's dissertation is about the agricultural development of Hecheng Town since the reform and opening up, and I have a summary of the work in the past few decades, and all kinds of data are readily available. Xiao Liu said.

As he spoke, the waiter brought two plates of food. Hu Xueshan said:

"The food is coming, let's drink some first, and let's start eating." He said to Wu Dao again, "The first cup is dry, and the rest will be free." ”

"Okay." Wu Dao said.

Several people touched their glasses, Hu Xueshan, Zhang Chunmei, and Wu Dao drank all the wine in the cup, and Xiao Liu also drank all the water. After drinking, Hu Xueshan asked Wu Dao to be the first to pick up vegetables. Wu Dao ate a few bites of food, and Hu Xueshan and Zhang Chunmei also picked up chopsticks to pick up the vegetables, but they were not eager. Xiao Liu was the last to pick up chopsticks.

Wu Dao suddenly envied Xiao Liu, he thought that if he could drive when he was working in Hecheng Town, and he would be a driver for the leader when he went out, he wouldn't have to drink so much alcohol. Putting down the chopsticks, Hu Xueshan said to Wu Dao:

"I'll leave the matter of the dissertation to Mr. Wu. I have three shopping cards from Fangzhou Supermarket here, and if you use them, they will be used as polishing fees. After the deed is done, there is another thanks. As he spoke, Hu Xueshan took out three shopping cards from his pocket and handed them to Wu Dao.

Wu Dao hurriedly said, "No", but the card was already in his hand. Hu Xueshan held his hand and said:

"Please, we have to defend in May, and the time is very tight. These are the shopping cards of Fanglian Supermarket, which can be used in all Fangzhou cities. ”

Wu Dao glanced at the shopping cards, each with a denomination of 1,000 yuan. Fanglian Supermarket is the largest supermarket in Fangzhou, with stores in Fangzhou City and various subordinate counties, and the shopping card given by Hu Xueshan can indeed be used in all Fangzhou City.

When Wu Dao was working in Hecheng Town, he knew that the town would buy some supermarket shopping cards every year to give away to people, and at the same time, there would be many people from outside to send shopping cards to the leaders of the town. The origin of these three shopping cards is unknown, but it is definitely not Hu Xueshan who bought it himself.

Wu Dao had the intention to return it to Hu Xueshan, but he didn't know how to refuse, and remembered that Hecheng had sent a lot of things to him in the past few years, and they were all sent by Hu Xueshan, so it was better to take this opportunity to repay the favor, so he said:

"The papers of each major are the same, the literature major has literary history, and agriculture also has agricultural history, I heard what Xiao Liu said just now, Mayor Hu's thesis should be written about the history of agricultural development. Xiao Liu gave me all the articles and materials, and I will look at the changes. ”

"Good. Mr. Wu, I'll give you both the paper and electronic manuscripts in a while, and the electronic manuscripts are in a USB flash drive. Xiao Liu said.

"We don't want the USB flash drive, Mr. Wu can keep it for himself in the future." Hu Xueshan said.

"Okay, I'll get the paper done as soon as possible." Wu Dao said.

"I'll toast you again, I'll do it, you can do it as you like." Hu Xueshan said to Wu Dao.

"The old leaders have done it, and Mr. Wu has done it too." Zhang Chunmei said.

"I'm not the leader, Mr. Wu is the leader, I really can't drink it, so let's just be casual." Hu Xueshan said.

Wu Dao picked up the wine glass and took a deep sip.

As he spoke, the waiter brought the dishes to the table one by one. Zhang Chunmei said to Wu Dao:

"Mayor Hu's matter is settled. I also have something to ask Mr. Wu for help. ”

"What's the matter, can't you ask me to write an article?" Wu Dao said.

"I'm not looking for you to write articles, but it's hard to say that I won't ask you to write in the future, until I'm a working graduate student." Zhang Chunmei said with a smile.

"What's that I can do for you?" Wu Dao said.

"It's still my son Wu Guodong's matter, he will take the college entrance examination in a few months, his grades are too poor, and he ranks behind in the mock exam every time, and there is no hope for the undergraduate examination.

Mayor Hu just said that in the current society, it is really impossible to have no academic qualifications, and it will be necessary to have academic qualifications in the future. If you don't have a bachelor's degree, you won't be able to find a job in the future, and civil servants and career editors will have to take the exam, and they won't be allowed to take the exam if they don't have a bachelor's degree. Zhang Chunmei said.

"Yes, now you have to look for a job based on your academic qualifications. It's really not good, if you can't pass the exam this year, you will repeat it for another year. Wu Dao said.

"He has been repeating his studies for a year, and he did very badly in the exam last year, and he did not pass the undergraduate line. There has been progress this year, but it is very limited, and I still don't think I can pass the undergraduate line. I heard that the children of teachers in Fangzhou College can go to Fangzhou College without passing the undergraduate line in the college entrance examination, is there such a thing? Zhang Chunmei said.

"There is this rule, which can reduce the admission by 20 points. However, the children of the teachers of Fangzhou College did not study in this school, most of them went to key universities, and some went abroad. Your child doesn't meet that either. Wu Dao said.

"No, isn't that coming to you?" Zhang Chunmei said.

"It's not okay to look for me, we're not husband and wife." Wu Dao said.

"Doesn't that get to the point? I've thought of two ways, you listen. Zhang Chunmei said.

"You say." Wu Dao said.

"The first way, my mother-in-law's surname is Wu, and my son and you have the same surname, so I will transfer my son's household registration to your family. When the time comes, you will tell the academy that he is your own brother. Zhang Chunmei said.

"I'm afraid this won't work, it must be a child, and the younger brother may not be in line with the policy." Wu Dao said.

"There is a second way, I will fake marriage with you." Zhang Chunmei said.

"Fake marriage?" Wu Dao felt inexplicable.

"yes, you haven't heard of it, have you? Now there are more people who are sham marriages and divorces, some of them are for the purpose of demolishing and demolishing more houses, and some of them are trying to evade family planning and have more children, all of which are taking advantage of the loopholes of the policy. Marriage and divorce are just a piece of paper, and the Civil Affairs Bureau will not investigate the truth or falsehood.

My husband and I first faked a divorce, I got a divorce certificate, and then I got a fake marriage with you, and the two of us have a marriage certificate, and my son is your son, so can't you enjoy the policy? When my son goes to college, let's go through a divorce and remarry my husband. As long as we don't say it ourselves, no one knows. Zhang Chunmei said.

Wu Dao couldn't cry or laugh, he never expected Zhang Chunmei to come up with such a solution, and he didn't know what to say for a while. Hu Xueshan also said:

"I think this method is good, it's all for the sake of the child. Besides, it doesn't take much effort, it's just a formality. ”

"When it's done, I won't treat you badly, and I'll give you a five-figure red envelope." Zhang Chunmei said to Wu Dao.

"There's no rush in this matter, let's wait until your son finishes the college entrance examination, if he passes the undergraduate line, he won't need such a poor school as Shangzhou College." Wu Dao said.

"If you can't pass the undergraduate line, the things of going to school will be on you, just do what you just said." Zhang Chunmei said.

"Okay then." Wu Dao prayed in his heart that Zhang Chunmei's son must fight for his luck and pass the college entrance examination.

After Hu Xueshan and Zhang Chunmei finished talking about asking Wu Dao for help, several people drank a few more rounds of wine, and after that, Xiao Liu drove Wu Dao back to Fangzhou College. After getting out of the car, Hu Xueshan and Zhang Chunmei took out four gift boxes from the trunk of the car and gave them to Wu Dao, and said thank you again and again.

Wu Dao returned to the dormitory with the gift box, and Meng Yihong was still waiting for him to come back. He gave Meng Yihong the gift box and the shopping card given by Hu Xueshan, and told him what happened. Meng Yihong didn't feel strange about Hu Xueshan and Zhang Chunmei, because this is real life, and she also smiled and said to Wu Dao:

"When you get a fake marriage, and then a fake divorce, we will all be divorced."

"Sister Meng, you're kidding me again." Wu Dao said.

After returning to his house, Wu Dao read the paper that Xiao Liu gave him, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, no wonder Hu Xueshan's tutor said that what he wrote was like a work summary, how could it be a little bit of a paper!

He read the text again, fortunately the information is relatively sufficient, and it is not difficult to revise the article, he only needs to reorganize it according to the logic, add some data, and finally write a sublimated conclusion, which is what a paper looks like.

Wu Dao finished revising Hu Xueshan's paper in two days, but he dragged it out for more than 20 days until mid-April before sending the paper to Hu Xueshan.

A few days later, Hu Xueshan called Wu Dao and told him that the paper met the requirements of his supervisor, and said some words of thanks.

At the beginning of May, Hu Xueshan successfully passed the postgraduate defense, and then mailed two Fanglian supermarket shopping cards to Wu Dao, both with a denomination of 1,000 yuan. Wu Dao gave Meng Yihong the shopping card again, and they used it when they went to the supermarket to buy things.