Chapter 3

Jiang Xuefang nodded and said, "Okay, Xiao Xiao, let's go to your room." Jiang Xuefang was facing Xiao Yuanhang when she spoke and did not see the cold gaze of Director Tian behind her. However, Xiao Yuanhang saw it very clearly. With his extremely mature mind from two lifetimes, he still smiled at Jiang Xuefang as if he hadn't seen anything, nodded to her, and turned to leave the room, heading to his own room.

The Business Office is a very important large department in the train segment, similar to the technical room in an engineering unit. Its director is the most competitive candidate for promotion to a leadership position, incomparable to other departments. Three years ago, when the Education Office Director Tian Fen competed with Xiao Yuanhang's father, Xiao Qiliang, for the position of Business Office Director, she lost and has harbored resentment towards Xiao Qiliang ever since. To allow his son Xiao Yuanhang to take over his position, Xiao Qiliang resigned from his role as the Chief of the Crew Office. Tian Fen thought her opportunity had come, but after careful consideration, the segment leadership appointed Zhang Zhenming, recommended by Xiao Qiliang, as the Chief of the Crew Office. This made Tian Fen even more resentful. Now that Xiao Qiliang has retired, she has transferred her hatred to Xiao Yuanhang.

Xiao Yuanhang is just a small train attendant, while Tian Fen is a high-ranking middle-level official. Apart from business exams, she has no way to reach him. Every time there is a technical business training, Xiao Yuanhang never arrives late or leaves early, and his exam scores are always at the top. She has no chance to act against him.

During this selection competition for the technical performance contest organized by the Education Office, Tian Fen, upon seeing Xiao Yuanhang's name on the list, immediately targeted him. However, after studying Xiao Yuanhang's test paper for a long time, she couldn't find a single mistake, not even a wrong punctuation mark. Reluctantly, she had to let him participate in the technical performance contest. Xiao Yuanhang didn't know about this until many years later, when Tian Fen retired and Jiang Xuefang became the Education Director. It was during a casual chat that Jiang Xuefang revealed this information.

The technical performance contest had a set date, and other participants stopped working a shift early to review and memorize the questions at home. However, Tian Fen deliberately did not notify Xiao Yuanhang. He spent three days and three nights on a trip to the Yellow Sea, and only when he returned home did she notify him to go to Tongshui for the technical performance contest, giving him no time to review, hoping he wouldn't get a good ranking.

Xiao Yuanhang was well aware of this. The more you try to sabotage me, the more determined I am to get a good ranking. So he sought out Jiang Xuefang, who is stronger than Tian Fen in both technical business and character. He wanted her to explain the regulations and formulas for calculating passenger miscellaneous fees, but he didn't say this in front of Tian Fen and the other participants because the content of calculating passenger miscellaneous fees is not part of the train attendant group's practical exam. This content should be for the train conductor group and the business officer group. During the question-setting, one of the engineers in the passenger department, in a moment of inspiration, included such questions. Train attendants usually only handle ticket supplements, and rarely deal with over-weight baggage fees, which are usually handled by business officers. This was Xiao Yuanhang's weak point.

Although Xiao Yuanhang had worked as a business officer and train conductor for many years in his previous life and was very proficient in business, the time had been too long, and after becoming a leader, he no longer dealt with this content. His memory of it had faded, so he had to intensively review this area.

Opening the door and entering the room, Xiao Yuanhang asked Jiang Xuefang to sit on the chair in front of the eight-person table and brought her a cup of hot water. Jiang Xuefang, being very dedicated, did not drink the water first but said, "Xiao Xiao, what parts of the passenger regulations do you not understand? Point them out, and I'll explain them to you."

Xiao Yuanhang took out a pen and a piece of paper from his backpack and placed them on the table, smiling and said, "Sister Jiang, I've almost memorized the regulations. Actually, I want you to explain how to calculate passenger miscellaneous fees. I've been working for a short time and don't often deal with this content, so I'm not very good at it."

Jiang Xuefang said, "Xiao Xiao, the train attendant group doesn't test this content. Don't waste your time on it. Just practice the Northern route diagram and ticket supplement calculations!"

Xiao Yuanhang laughed and said, "Sister Jiang, it's better to be prepared for the unexpected. I've reviewed other areas, but I'm lacking in this one. If this type of question comes up, I'll be in trouble!"

Seeing Xiao Yuanhang's determination and the reasonableness of his words, Jiang Xuefang stood up and said, "Okay, I'll go get my books and come back to explain it to you."

"Xiao Jiang—-" At this moment, Tian Fen's sharp voice echoed in the corridor...

"Okay!" Hearing the director call her, Jiang Xuefang quickly responded and opened the door to go out.

In the corridor, Tian Fen loudly said to Jiang Xuefang, "Tang Jing and the others have many things they don't understand. Go and tutor them quickly."

Tang Jing, whom Tian Fen mentioned, is the chief of the 8th crew group on the Guhuang Line, a technical expert of the Guhe train segment, and has won the first place in the train conductor group of the technical performance contest multiple times. Two years ago, she even won second place in the passenger system technical performance contest of the Songjiang Railway Bureau, the best result the Guhe train segment has ever achieved in the bureau-level technical performance contest. She is a key candidate for promotion and is said to be about to be appointed as the deputy captain of the passenger fleet.

Jiang Xuefang hesitated for a moment and said, "Director Tian, Xiao Xiao asked me to explain the calculation of passenger miscellaneous fees. I'll finish it in a bit and then go to Tang Jing and the others."

Tian Fen, with a stern face, said, "If I tell you to go, go quickly. I'll explain it to Xiao Xiao."

"Okay, Director Tian, I'll go right away." With the direct superior's order, Jiang Xuefang dared not disobey and went to Tang Jing's room.

Xiao Yuanhang heard everything in his room and felt very frustrated. Although he had a strong aversion to Tian Fen, the technical performance contest was a crucial matter for his rebirth, and he couldn't let his hatred prevent him from learning. He quickly walked to the door and greeted Tian Fen, "Director Tian, hello."

Tian Fen glanced at Xiao Yuanhang and "hmm"ed in response, then walked into his room, saying, "Xiao Xiao, I heard Xiao Jiang say you want to learn how to calculate passenger miscellaneous fees?"

Xiao Yuanhang quickly smiled and said, "Yes, Director Tian, I don't often deal with this content in my work, and there are many things I don't understand."

Tian Fen's face darkened as she scolded, "At your young age, why do you have such lofty ambitions? Is that the kind of question you should be looking at? Just focus on the train attendant questions!" With that, she turned and walked out without looking back!

"You!" Xiao Yuanhang was almost choked with anger by Tian Fen!

Watching Tian Fen's arrogant back, Xiao Yuanhang's anger gradually subsided. His forty years of life experience had taught him how to control himself. If he were 18 years old in his previous life, he would have rushed forward to argue with her.

There are many ways to Rome, and calculating passenger miscellaneous fees is not your exclusive domain, Tian Fen. It's just a matter of formulas. If you don't tell me, I can ask someone else. Even if you keep Jiang Xuefang busy, you can't stop her from sleeping. I can ask her to teach me in the evening!

Thinking this, Xiao Yuanhang calmed down and opened the passenger regulations to read. The content of the regulations was already in his head, and reviewing it before the competition would help him remember it better. However, the content was extensive, and he had almost reached dinner time after reviewing it.

Xiao Yuanhang looked at his watch and quickly put on his coat, locked the room, and went downstairs. He came to a cosmetics counter in the station front mall, looked at a bottle of wolf oil cream, and asked, "How much is this bottle?"

"20!" The salesperson stood there without moving, with no smile on her face, as if she didn't care whether he bought it or not.

In this era, cosmetics were very limited. Besides face cream and powder, the most recent addition to the market was "powder cake," which cost six yuan per box. For a working-class person earning only 60 to 70 yuan a month, this was a luxury, and married women couldn't afford it. Products like wolf oil cream and Yulan oil were the most high-end cosmetics at the time!

In this era, Xiao Yuanhang couldn't afford to be picky about the salesperson's attitude and bought a bottle of wolf oil cream without hesitation. He planned to give it to Jiang Xuefang, as he needed to learn from her and building a good relationship was necessary. He would need her help in the future.

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{Piaotian Literature}