Back to the Past to Become a Fishing King-Chapter 555 - 319 Character Test_2

So Zhang Yang suggested evaluating this little guy, and Uncle Liu was very diligent about it, certainly not brushing it off.

To prevent the workers from finding out, before Xie Xiaobao came to the factory, Uncle Liu even specifically called a simple meeting with the workshop workers to facilitate his 'performance'.

Yesterday, he carried fish bait for nearly a whole day, but Uncle Liu's skills in the workshop hadn't faded. However, now that he's older, he can't handle physical labor and his back's giving him trouble, returning to the army cot inside the office for a rest is just perfect.

What? You ask if there's no need to keep an eye on Xiaobao's performance?

Not for now, Uncle Liu has a deep understanding of human nature, especially for young ones in their early twenties like Xiaobao. Even if he slacks off, it'll only be after he's finished the cola and the sunflower seeds. The real test comes later.

Go to the inner office for a nap, then head to the monitoring room to watch the surveillance, nothing gets delayed.

Besides, sending off Uncle Liu made Xiaobao initially quite happy; finally, no more physical labor to do.

Chewing on sunflower seeds, sipping cola, looking around here and there, he showed obvious curiosity about every detail in the room.

Just like Uncle Liu predicted, for the first two hours, he behaved rather attentively, but after drinking the cola and finishing the sunflower seeds, Xiaobao became fidgety.

The phone was in his pocket, and Uncle Liu didn't confiscate it when he left. Anyway, there's no one around now, should he secretly take it out to play for a bit?

Once the reckless thought springs up from the heart, it becomes unstoppable.

The more Xiaobao thought about it, the itchier he felt, and his right hand reached into his pocket for the phone several times but he couldn't muster the courage to take it out for a peek.

Suddenly, a "ding" sounded, signaling a received WeChat message.

This detail became the last straw that collapsed his restraint.

The phone rang, checking a message shouldn't be excessive, right?

Very reasonable, at most just put it away after reading! Xiaobao comforted himself with this thought.

Soon, he took out the phone and unlocked it, glimpsing it was a fishing group message about a catch record somewhere, specifying the weight of reel-caught fish, along with the rules.

Despite being banished by his uncle, Xiaobao never exited these groups. Even if he couldn't fish for now, catching up on fishing spots was still good.

This glance wasn't just about checking a single message; Xiaobao quickly browsed through the unread WeChat messages, and then, like a thief, glanced around and continued looking down into his phone once he saw no one was watching him.

Oftentimes, the preciousness of freedom is not realized by ordinary people; those released from labor camps all know this.

For example, many people who are released maintain a habitual need to raise their hand to ask for permission even to urinate, otherwise, they couldn't do it.

Xiaobao's treatment in this room wasn't much different from imprisonment, Uncle Liu convinced him to stand watch here just to see how he'd behave when alone.

How exactly is he observing his behavior? What behavior is being observed?

It's simple, signs of self-control, keeping promises, consistency in words and actions, among other things. With years of experience, Uncle Liu could draw a comprehensive picture of him from analyzing the various little details in the room.

In this way, Xiaobao fiddled with the phone from early morning until almost 11 AM, when he finally heard a static sound coming through the intercom.

"Everything on the assembly line is running smoothly this morning!"

"Received!" Xiaobao replied in the manner Uncle Liu had taught him.

There was no further communication from the other end, Xiaobao checked the time, scratched his head and after a brief hesitation, put the phone back in his pocket.

Just half an hour away from the lunch break, maybe Uncle Liu might come over! Better not let him catch me! 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

In the monitoring room, Uncle Liu patiently watched Xiaobao's every move, the smile at the corner of his mouth gradually faded, replaced with a conflicted expression.

By Uncle Liu's standards, Xiaobao's character wasn't exceptionally good.

Agreeing to stand watch, but secretly playing with his phone—this revealed two issues.

A lack of consistency in words and actions, a tendency to be sneaky.

Moreover, a somewhat lower moral baseline, he didn't keep his promises and easily gave up adhering to them over minor details.

Having criticized the bad side, let's talk about some positives.

Xiaobao does have fairly high emotional intelligence, is observant and quick-witted when dealing with others; if not faced with certain temptations, and given adequate guidance, he could potentially pass.

Of course, this morning's packet of cigarettes earned him some impression points too; yesterday Uncle Liu gifted a set of workwear, and today Xiaobao reciprocated with smokers, indicating he understands manners and reciprocity.

At 11:20, Uncle Liu came out of the office, leisurely heading towards the watch room.

"Hey! Nice performance! What are you up to? Meditating?" Uncle Liu asked, pretending nothing happened.

"Nah, nothing to do, closed my eyes reminiscing about previous fishing gigs, playing movies in the head!"

Xiaobao gave a rather mystical answer that left Uncle Liu momentarily speechless.

Not sure if among the readers able to relate, those who can remember past events vividly in their heads, recalling specific little details from certain time points.

Xiaobao too has this knack for memory recall, so playing movies in his head wasn't just made up.

However, Uncle Liu lacked such abilities and thought Xiaobao was joking around.

"Hold the red button, and after three seconds, pull the main switch; it's lunchtime in the cafeteria!"

"Alright!" Xiaobao had been stifled all morning and had often felt an urge to press the red button to see what happens. Now he finally got his wish.

Soon, the switch was pulled, and the assembly line in the workshop stopped running.

"Hung out in the watch room all morning, how does it feel? Didn't sneak a play with the phone?"

Old Zhao asked seemingly casually, but he was actually giving Xiaobao a chance to regain some impression points.

After all, hiding the wrongdoings is entirely different from doing wrong yet voluntarily admitting it.

"Nope! You said not to play, so I didn't! Keeping promises is important!"

"Haha, alright, that's good! Not bad!" Uncle Liu nodded with a smile, dropping the topic.

Gave the opportunity, yet he denied, even emphasizing the need to fulfill promises, deception, hypocrisy… no hope for this kid!

...

After lunch, the usual routine, Uncle Liu and Xiaobao continued to rest on the cafeteria chairs, Uncle Liu once again pulled out his notebook on the phone, simply edited his judgment, and sent it over to Zhang Yang.

According to Uncle Liu, doing tests up to this point was essentially unnecessary, physical shortcomings could be improved through training, but when it comes to inner virtues… there's no fix! Such a small incident clearly revealed Xiaobao's character.

"Haha, Uncle Liu, isn't this test a bit too much! Swap us in there, we wouldn't hold up either!"

After reading the evaluation, Zhang Yang replied with a message ending with a grinning emoji.

"Let me ask you, if you couldn't hold up and made a mistake, would you admit it when questioned? And if not, would you continue to lie?" Uncle Liu's single sentence exposed the core of the test.

Character!

Character is a person's most core competitiveness when they reach a certain height in life.

Zhang Yang has a hundred ways to train a second-rate angler to a first-class level, but he can't change a so-called 'slick' in their early twenties, experienced in social intricacies for years.

"Since we're at this point, should we stick to the original plan?"

"Good! If he passes this hurdle, we'll give him another chance! This kid bought me cigarettes, adding impression points!"

"Haha, got it!"

...

After a few casual exchanges, Uncle Liu turned off his phone, closed his eyes for a break, and quickly fell asleep for a nap.

Meanwhile, Xiaobao, after spending half the morning fiddling with his phone, found it running low on battery, feeling a little tired. He was roaming around looking for a place to charge his phone.

Currently, Xiaobao has no idea that a new test, a terrifying one, is awaiting him.