Chapter 10

Today is Tuesday, and it's Nie Zuo's interview day. As Mai Yan said, Wanlian International is just too popular. When news of a new department being established spread, countless resumes almost overwhelmed the HR department. People no longer cared whether the department matched their majors; the first step was to gain entry into Wanlian International's headquarters. Then, they could gradually showcase their talents. If you had the ability, you could even write directly to Liu Zeping, sharing your views on Wanlian International's future development. There had been young people who did this and succeeded.

Nie Zuo was given a second-tier number to bypass the interview. The internet helped the HR department reject many people, but he got his exemption number through a backdoor. The temporary hiring venue was a hall to the side of the main entrance, where dozens of security guards were maintaining order. The hall was packed with people standing and sitting around.

The internal affairs department was hiring 20 people, giving priority to those with market information collection experience and fluent English speakers. A sign was placed next to the hall. Nie Zuo handed over his resume, and a young woman scanned a QR code. She then said, "The morning interview schedule is full. It's 3 PM, and you are number 132."

Nie Zuo checked his phone. "But it's only 8:15 AM now."

The young woman looked at her phone and nodded. "Brother, your phone's time is accurate."

Nie Zuo smiled, understanding the difficulty of her job, and nodded to apologize for his question. He then left the hall entrance. Not far away, Nie Zuo sat under a tree. He didn't leave because he wanted to show Mai Yan that he was trustworthy. Bored, he began to observe and analyze the people around him. This was a skill, one that required years of practice, and it had become a habit.

None of the interviewees seemed to have any experience in information collection. The first essential talent for an information collector is the ability to observe details, as details determine success or failure. Everyone was lining up to get their numbers from the young woman, but no one noticed the four temporary cameras installed outside the hall, observing them. They were already being interviewed, and their every move was being watched. It seemed that Wanlian International took this recruitment very seriously.

However, Nie Zuo had no interest in this job. In the past few days, Xiao Yun had finally compromised with his wife and decided to take on a 30-year mortgage to buy a school district house. Once they moved into the school district house, Xiao Yun planned to open a fruit shop nearby. It would take six months at most and three months at least before Nie Zuo could work at Xiao Yun's fruit shop again. This perfectly aligned with Mai Yan's expectations, as he would be moving from Xinyang Town to the city.

Xiao Yun had three comments about Mai Yan: she was troublesome, she was controlling, and she was someone he had to win over. Despite only a few interactions, Xiao Yun had a very high opinion of Mai Yan.

"Nie Zuo!" A woman in a white business suit walked over and called out.

"Huang Yu, hello, hello." Nie Zuo stood up and walked over to shake hands with the woman named Huang Yu. Huang Yu was Mai Yan's good friend, colleague, and best friend. They both joined Wanlian International together, with Mai Yan moving from cashier to assistant accountant, and Huang Yu from clerk to administrative secretary. However, Nie Zuo's impression of Huang Yu was average. He rarely involved himself in Mai Yan's social circle and had limited interactions with Huang Yu. He had seen a few selfies of the two on Mai Yan's phone.

What do selfies reveal? For example, in ten selfies of Mai Yan and Huang Yu, Huang Yu's face was always farther from the camera. This made her face appear smaller, using Mai Yan's face to make her own look slimmer. If it were just one photo, it might be a coincidence, but Nie Zuo noticed that whenever Huang Yu was in a photo, she paid attention to the details of the shot.

Of course, this doesn't say anything about Huang Yu's character. What made Nie Zuo's impression of her worse was that she didn't care that Mai Yan had a boyfriend and encouraged her to have more options and give herself more chances. While this advice wasn't wrong, as a friend, it was different for Nie Zuo, who was the one involved. However, Nie Zuo didn't hold any grudges against Huang Yu, but he didn't consider her Mai Yan's best friend. In fact, when Mai Yan talked about her best friend, it was never Huang Yu.

"Here for the interview?" Huang Yu let go of his hand and joked, "Looks like we'll be colleagues soon."

Nie Zuo replied, "That would be my honor, or perhaps a misfortune for Wanlian International?"

"Ha ha." Huang Yu laughed, responding to Nie Zuo's polite humor. "I'll let them know to schedule your interview first."

"No need, thank you." Nie Zuo said, "I've already used a backdoor to skip one step, so I'll wait my turn."

"Alright... then, let's have lunch together. Our administrative department has a strict schedule, but Mai Yan will probably run late." Administrative and financial departments often worked overtime, even for half an hour.

It was strange. A few polite exchanges were enough, so why was she inviting him to lunch? Huang Yu's route to the headquarters didn't pass this way, and she greeted him as if it were a coincidence. Nie Zuo nodded, "Sure, I'll treat you."

"Nie Zuo, you're too formal. If Mai Yan is busy, it's only right for me to treat you. It's just a simple meal in the employee cafeteria, okay?"

"Of course, no problem." Nie Zuo smiled.

"Then I'll go first. I'll call you later."

"Okay, take care."

...

At 9 AM, the interviews began. The interview panel consisted of three people, and the interviews took place in the hall. The interview times varied from one to five minutes. What made the young people happy was that one of the interviewers was the vice president in charge of HR at Wanlian International. After talking to one young man, the vice president didn't think he was suitable for the internal affairs department but was very impressed with him. He took the young man's resume and told him to wait for a call from HR.

When the young man shared this news, it caused a stir. Initially, everyone had some understanding of the position they were applying for. Hearing about the young man's good fortune, they immediately started preparing their pitches to showcase their best qualities during the interview.

The vice president was fat, surnamed Mi, and always wore a smile. Some called him the smiling tiger, others the fatso, and his subordinates didn't like him. Vice President Mi was mainly responsible for the group's publicity and talent development, in other words, the head of publicity and HR.

Vice President Mi crumpled the resume and threw it in the trash. This was the resume of the young man he had said he admired just five minutes ago. A woman in her twenties, who looked quite delicate, asked, "Uncle Mi, didn't you really admire him?"

PS: Don't forget to vote.

PS2: Take it a bit slower; there are countless plot twists!

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