Chapter 3: Finding Connections

  A month later, on the eve of the Spring Festival, Gao Yuan appeared in Linhai City, Room 301 of Linhai Hotel.

  He had applied for a civil servant position at the Lianyungang Customs and had passed the national unified examination, now he was here to attend an interview with the unit.

  He didn't want to come for the interview, because Wenjuan had also applied for a civil servant position in another unit in Linhai City, but she didn't pass. Haoyuan was planning to take the postgraduate exam with her, but she advised him to seize every opportunity. Helplessly, he came to Linhai.

  He had just settled in when he dialed his cousin's phone: "Brother, I'm in Linhai."

  "Aren't you studying in Hengchun? How did you end up there?"

  "I took part in this year's civil servant examination and a central government-affiliated institution has notified me for an interview."

  "Oh? Which unit specifically?"

  "Coastal Regulatory Authority!"

  "What a great unit! If you can get in, you'll at least be able to earn one or two hundred thousand yuan a year. You poor devil will finally be able to lift yourself out of poverty!"

  "But I heard that the admission ratio is very low, only 6 people are admitted to the accounting major, and more than 600 people participated in the national unified examination. Fortunately, I passed this level, but there were still more than 30 people participating in the unit interview, and it's said that many of them have connections. I'm worried that I won't be admitted, do you have any way to help?"

  "Haha, lucky for you, I have a classmate working at the Linhai Customs Bureau. Wait a minute, let me give him a call."

  Overjoyed beyond expectation, after a while, my brother-in-law called and said: "He said he would definitely help you think of a way."

  "Great! Brother, how can I contact him?"

  "His surname is Guo, so just call him Big Brother Guo, and remember his phone number."

  Gao Yuan wrote down the phone number, and his uncle said: "You can find him now."

  Gao Yuan dialed Gou's phone: "Hello, big brother, it's Gao Yuan." Gao Yuan didn't dare call him "Gou" big brother, as "Gou" is homophonic with "dog", he was afraid that if he called out too loudly, he would be misunderstood as being disrespectful.

  "Hello Haoyuan, I know everything about your situation, don't turn off your phone, wait for my call."

  Gaoyuan was full of hope, but after waiting for a day, it was already an hour before the interview, and there was still no news from Gou's side. Gaoyuan was greatly disappointed, thinking that Gou had no way to help him.

  Just then, Gou brother called: "Gao Yuan, come to my office quickly, I've got the written test questions for you."

  Hao Yuan was taken aback: "Big brother, isn't this a job interview? Why is there also a written test?"

  "They say it's an interview, but actually there are two parts. First is a written test, and then the real interview, where the unit leader asks questions in person and scores your performance, and then decides whether to admit you after that." Brother Gou's voice was very low, as if he feared someone might be eavesdropping.

  Gao Yuan hastily expressed his gratitude, took off his jacket and changed into a crisp suit, and rushed to the Linhai Customs Bureau. Along the way, one after another, people of the opposite sex came face to face with him, almost every one of them casting a surprised glance at him, some even staring at him without looking away.

  No wonder, Gao Yuan is recognized as the school's big handsome guy, and today he wears a suit, which makes him look even more talented. Suddenly, a girl in front of him exclaimed, bent down, originally, she was staring at Gao Yuan, accidentally stepped into a pothole on the side of the road, and happened to be wearing high heels, twisting her foot instantly.

  "Are you okay?"

  The girl lifted her head and exclaimed with a surprised face: "Nothing!"

  "It's all right!" Gaoyuan left, and he sincerely thanked these girls for their attention, which gave him great confidence.

  Finally, he arrived at the entrance of the Linhai Regulatory Bureau, and the guard let him in after hearing that he was there for an interview. Gaoyuan walked to the entrance of the office building, where another guard checked his ID card and interview notice before letting him in. He finally entered the office building and came to the elevator.

  Suddenly, a man carrying a briefcase walked in. He was of medium build, with a stoop to his walk and his head bowed low. His face was stern. As soon as he arrived, the security guard hastily stood up and saluted him, then rushed to the elevator and waited for it to open before inviting him in. But the man didn't even lift his head or utter a word of thanks; he simply walked into the elevator as if no one else existed.

  Gao Yuan thought to himself, "Why is he acting like a mafia boss?" He felt very curious and also stepped into the elevator. The man stood in the elevator, still with his head down, as if Gao Yuan didn't exist at all.

  Gao Yuan was wondering who he was, when suddenly he let out a loud sneeze. The sneeze came without warning, and Gao Yuan didn't even have time to turn his head. He just happened to be facing the man directly when he sneezed, and to make matters worse, there was a thick glob of phlegm in his throat that shot out along with the sneeze, landing squarely on the man's face.

  Gao Yuan was shocked and hastily wanted to wipe away the saliva, but he didn't have any tissues. He could only stare at the man, repeatedly saying "Sorry." The man finally lifted his head, his eyes gloomily staring at Gao Yuan, then pulled out a tissue from his pocket to wipe away the thick saliva on his face, and suddenly asked: "What's your name?"

  Gao Yuan reported the name, and before he finished speaking, he regretted it: "I guess he's a big leader. If I get into this unit in the future, if he finds fault with me for this matter, that would be really troublesome."

  Arriving at the 5th floor, Gao Yuan got off the elevator and came to Gu's office. Since it was a weekend, there was only Gu in the office, who told Gao Yuan: "Fortunately, I helped a personnel director once, she gave me the written test questions."

  Gao Yuan asked what the topic was, and Gou Big Brother said: "It's just asking you to draw a financial statement used by a government department, and then explain several important items on the statement."

  Gao Yuan was suddenly stunned: "I studied corporate accounting in school and had no idea how government departmental accounting statements were structured."

  "Look at this," said Brother Gou with a self-satisfied smile. With just a few strokes, he drew up a table and filled in the specific items. However, the table was overly simple, with only two columns and five or six rows. "Is that all?" asked Gao Yuan. "These are the key points," said Brother Gou. "If there were more, you wouldn't be able to remember them."

  Brother Gou finished speaking, took out a book, flipped to a certain page and stopped, handed it to Gao Yuan and said: "Look, this is the complete table, there are explanations at the back." Gao Yuan said: "I'll take note of it." Sat down on one side and started reading.

  Gao Yuan had an exceptionally strong memory since he was a child. He could recite a 1,000-word article flawlessly after listening to it three times. Now that the situation was critical, he concentrated even harder and within twenty minutes, he had memorized the table and its items by heart.

  When the written test began, Gaoyuan arrived at the conference hall on the top floor. There were at least 300-400 people seated inside. The test papers were handed out and a murmur of discussion erupted around him: "Why are they testing us on government accounting?" "This topic is really too biased!"

  Everyone was worried, but Gao Yuan was overjoyed. It turned out that the topic was given by Brother Gou. The people around were thinking for a long time, and no one saw anyone move their pen. Gao Yuan didn't even think about it, and a pen galloped horizontally on the test paper. In less than ten minutes, he had already finished the test paper.

  Gao Yuan stood up and walked out of the room with a satisfied expression, behind him, a burst of amazed voices rang out: "Wow, that's awesome!"