Chapter 5

PS: The new book needs care, please recommend it.

Xiaobai didn’t dance in the end. She would occasionally give Zhang Tan a dirty look, successfully scaring him away.

At this point, the children started going to bed.

After 10 PM, parents gradually came to Xiaohongmao Academy to pick up their children.

Some children were so sleepy that they were carried away by their parents, continuing to sleep soundly in their arms, but holding their parents' hands tightly.

Some children were more mischievous. After sleeping for a while, they woke up with plenty of energy and insisted on playing games before going home.

After midnight, only five out of the thirty-odd children remained at the academy, including Xiaobai.

Three children were sound asleep, one had just woken up, propped himself up, and looked out the door, waiting for his father to arrive.

Xiaobai had no intention of sleeping, still full of energy. She tossed and turned in bed, then got up and went to the reading area, where she read picture books with great interest, but felt a bit lonely without any children to talk or play with.

Zhang Tan stayed until the last child left before returning to his room to rest.

This was a day's work at the late-night academy, a job that turned day into night, and was very tiring.

The next day, Zhang Tan ran in the courtyard as usual, then went out for breakfast, came back, took a shower, got dressed, and set off for the job market with his backpack.

Just as he got on the subway, he received a text message notifying him to go to the Pujiang Film Studio for an interview at 2 PM.

Zhang Tan didn’t change his morning plans and still went to the job market. There was a strange phenomenon: there were not a few job openings for screenwriters, and there were quite a few applicants, but very few were successful.

The screenwriter industry was a structurally scarce position. On one hand, the market urgently needed a large number of experienced and capable talents, which were in short supply. On the other hand, many new screenwriters couldn’t find suitable jobs and could only work as editors, or be called screenwriters but actually do the work of clerks or jack-of-all-trades.

Zhang Tan also had no gains. He had lunch at a nearby restaurant and arrived early at the Pujiang Film Studio. Since it was still early, he sat in a nearby café for a while and only got up when there were 20 minutes left before the interview time.

"Hello, I’m here for the interview."

The receptionist was an 85-point beauty, very pleasant to look at.

"Please show me your interview notification text message."

Zhang Tan showed her the text message on his phone.

"Thank you, please follow me."

She led Zhang Tan to the 8th floor by elevator.

"They are all here for the interview. Please wait here. The interviews start at 2 PM, one by one. You will be called when it’s your turn."

There were over ten people in the waiting room, both men and women, some young, some middle-aged. Everyone sat quietly, no one spoke.

Zhang Tan found a seat and waited quietly.

After about ten minutes, a staff member came in to notify them to prepare for the interview, in the order of arrival.

An hour later, the staff member came in again and called out, "Zhang Tan, who is Zhang Tan? It’s your turn."

Zhang Tan raised his hand and said, "It’s me."

He packed his backpack and followed the staff into the interview room. Inside, there were two men and one woman, the woman in the middle, who seemed to be the main interviewer.

"Is your name Zhang Tan?" the middle-aged man on the left asked, "Did you graduate from Beiping Film Academy? The directing department?"

Zhang Tan sat down, not nervous, and nodded, "Yes, I just graduated a few days ago and returned to Pujiang."

"Are you from Pujiang?"

"I grew up here."

"You studied directing, why do you want to be a screenwriter?"

...

The interview lasted less than ten minutes, and he was told to wait for news at home.

When he returned to Xichang'an Street, it was already night. Zhang Tan stood by the Xiaohongmao Academy and noticed that the neighbor was a boxing gym, which he hadn’t noticed before.

He curiously went in to take a look. The place was small, less than half the size of the academy, with seven or eight people practicing boxing. No one paid attention to him, so he left.

Old Li greeted him, "Young Master Zhang is back."

Zhang Tan smiled and responded, "Are there any children here?"

"Xiaobai will be here soon."

That child was always the first to arrive and one of the last to leave.

The security guard Old Li was a bit helpless and annoyed. When Xiaobai arrived, she would definitely incite him to shave Zhang Tan’s head, as if he would agree.

Xiaobai, that "I won’t" little girl, was also a headache for Zhang Tan. She had a grudge against him from the start and was a little firecracker. Not only did she bite him, but she also looked at him with disdain. According to informed sources, Xiaobai spread rumors among the children and teachers that he was a "black ass" and incited everyone to gang up on him.

Thinking of this, Zhang Tan remembered Xiaomi, who was taken away by the police. He wondered if she had found her family and decided to ask Aunt Huang later.

He put his backpack in his room, took a shower, changed into a set of sports shorts and a T-shirt, and went out for a walk. At a corner, he bumped into a child again, who fell on her back.

"Ouch~~"

The child was very agile. Without waiting for Zhang Tan to help, she quickly got up, put her hands on her hips, and said fiercely,

"Black ass, what are you up to? You knocked me down again."

"Hmph! I’m so angry."

The child was wearing a faded blue tracksuit, the same style as the red one, with two large "China" characters on the chest.

Only Xiaobai would wear such a set.

Sure enough, the one Zhang Tan bumped into was Xiaobai, who spoke in Sichuanese.

Zhang Tan was also surprised. How did he bump into her again? It felt like he was targeting her.

"Sorry, sorry, Xiaobai, are you hurt?"

"I’m so angry~~"

"Sorry, sorry."

You’re so small and always running, I can’t stop in time, Zhang Tan thought.

Xiaobai scolded him for a while, gave him a dirty look, and walked away, not bothering to talk to him anymore.

In Zhang Tan’s gaze, she ran to the guard booth and started talking to Old Li.

Old Li is quite approachable, even a difficult child like her likes to chat with him, Zhang Tan thought.

He didn’t know that Xiaobai wasn’t chatting with Old Li but complaining.

"Grandpa, the black ass knocked me down again. What do you think? Aren’t you angry?"

Old Li glanced at Zhang Tan in the distance and asked Xiaobai, "What happened?"

Xiaobai rambled on, trying to get Old Li to confront Zhang Tan and stand up for the children.

"Oh, I need to go to the bathroom, my stomach hurts. Xiaobai, don’t run out."

Old Li used an excuse to leave.

Xiaobai: Σ（⊙▽⊙」a

Seeing Old Li really leave and no one in the booth, she looked around. The black ass was gone, and there was no one in sight. She sneaked to the iron gate of the academy, trying to push it open to go out and play, but it was locked!

She kicked it in frustration and went back.

"Children? Children, are you there?"

Xiaobai wandered around the academy, calling out, even though she knew no one else was there. But what if someone appeared out of nowhere?

Finding no one, Xiaobai picked up a soccer ball and played alone.

The ball rolled to Zhang Tan’s feet as he was walking. They stared at each other.

Should I kick it back?

Zhang Tan couldn’t stoop to a child’s level, so he smiled at her, got a dirty look in return, and didn’t mind. He skillfully dribbled the ball and kicked it back.

Xiaobai looked a bit surprised, perhaps not expecting the black ass to have some skills.

Seeing the ball fly over, she wanted to show off too. "Watch my foot~~"

She kicked hard, trying to kick the ball high, but missed and kicked off her own shoe. The ball fell and hit her on the head, and she fell on her butt with a cry.

Zhang Tan and Old Li, who had secretly returned to his post, were both stunned.

Old Li pretended not to see and continued looking at his phone, while Zhang Tan quickly left the scene to avoid being framed.

This wasn’t his fault.

He and Xiaobai seemed to be incompatible, always causing trouble.

After returning to his room, Zhang Tan looked back but didn’t see Xiaobai. Instead, he heard grunts from the courtyard below. Standing on the balcony, he saw Xiaobai chasing the soccer ball around the yard, full of energy, as if taking out her anger on the ball.

Soon, other children arrived and joined Xiaobai, quickly turning into a group of children laughing and playing with the ball.

At this moment, Zhang Tan’s phone on the desk rang. He picked it up and saw an unfamiliar number.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Is this Zhang Tan? I’m from the Human Resources Department of Pujiang Film Studio..."