Chapter 6 The Director's Favor

  Finally, at lunchtime, Gao Yuan and Tan Xiaohui came to the first floor, each ordering three dishes and a soup. Just as they were eating, Gao Yuan's phone rang. Seeing that it was his cousin calling, he was overjoyed and hurried out to answer it.

  It turned out that Brother Biao brought him good news: "I have a classmate who is the director of your General Administration, she is very familiar with Director Zhou of your branch, I asked her to give Director Zhou a heads up, and it just so happens that she is now on a business trip in Linhai, your Director Zhou will be responsible for receiving her, she said she has already told Director Zhou about you, and Director Zhou said he would personally attend your interview this afternoon, don't worry!"

  After hearing his brother's words, he was so excited that he almost cheered and jumped for joy. He thought to himself: "It's still my brother who is the most powerful, it seems that studying for a few more years is really beneficial!" It turned out that when this brother was in high school, he had been held back twice, thus establishing relationships with three cohorts of classmates. Later, his brother finally got into college, worked for a period of time, and then took the graduate exam, adding another two cohorts to his network. In total, he had at least five cohorts of classmates within his social circle, earning him the nickname "Five Dynasties Elder". More than ten years ago, most of his brother's classmates had already entered government agencies, financial institutions, and schools all over the country, and now they were almost all high-ranking officials. As long as his brother needed help, he could find people to assist him everywhere, making Gaoyuan feel that his brother was born for his sake alone.

  Gao Yuan walked back to the cafeteria with a spring in his step, and Tan Xiao Hui saw that he was beaming with joy. She couldn't help but feel surprised: "Did you take some kind of stimulant?" Gao Yuan said: "Yes, having meals with my little junior sister, little beauty, and little witch is enough to get me excited!" Tan Xiao Hui said: "You're not being honest, I'm not going to talk to you anymore!" Gao Yuan said: "Some things can't be said out loud." Tan Xiao Hui said: "Then you must have just gotten off the phone with your girlfriend, right?"

  Gaoyuan discovered that when Tan Xiaohui said this, she was actually staring at him steadily, and there was a hint of expectation in her eyes. Gaoyuan deliberately teased her saying: "Yes, my girlfriend called me." Tan Xiaohui suddenly lowered her head and continued eating, Gaoyuan saw the fleeting disappointment in her eyes. Gaoyuan laughed and said: "I was just kidding, I don't have a girlfriend yet!"

  Tan Xiaohui's face lit up with joy, her eyes shining brightly as she stared at him and said: "You're lying again!" Gao Yuan said: "I'm telling the truth, I really haven't found a suitable girlfriend yet." Tan Xiaohui was taken in by his sincere expression, unaware that Gao Yuan's words actually hid a deeper meaning. It turned out that Gao Yuan had been close to more than one or two girls at school, he just hadn't made up his mind who to choose as his girlfriend yet.

  After lunch, the interview started in just a few minutes. After all, there were too many people participating in the interview, and if they didn't hurry up, it would be evening before they could finish interviewing everyone. Gao Yuan was okay, ranked ninth, but Tan Xiaohui was at the end of the second group, with over a hundred people ahead of her. The two sat on the sofa in the aisle, watching as one person went in and came out, then another went in and came out, their hearts growing tighter and tighter.

  Finally, it was Gao Yuan's turn. He took a deep breath, puffed out his chest and smiled as he walked in. Just as Tan Xiaohui had said, there was a long conference table with at least twenty interviewers sitting along the window side. When they saw Gao Yuan enter, a middle-aged woman gave him a friendly smile, as if she knew him, then gestured for him to sit down on the chair opposite the interviewers, while also reminding him specifically: "Don't be nervous."

  It wasn't until later that Gao Yuan learned that she was the deputy director of personnel affairs, surnamed Shui, with a single character name "Jing". Director Shui Jing's concern effectively alleviated Gao Yuan's tension, and he sincerely thanked her before walking steadily over to sit down in the chair. With confident, calm, kind, and pleasant eyes, he greeted the interviewers, then his gaze fell on a female leader sitting directly across from him.

  The woman was in her forties, with a dignified and elegant appearance, fair and full of flesh. Her temperament was noble and generous, and the subtle care between her eyebrows, eyes, and lips was naturally revealed, with a hint of proper reserve. As soon as Gao Yuan saw her, he immediately thought of Soong Ching-ling, the mother of the nation. He thought to himself: "I guess she must be Director Zhou that Brother Gou mentioned."

  Gao Yuan was thinking, and then Shui Jing said: "Please make a brief self-introduction, no more than three minutes." Gao Yuan stood up, imitating Tan Xiaohui's gesture, bowing to everyone, and then said loudly: "My name is Gao Yuan, from South-Central University of Finance and Economics. I am a master's student in accounting. During my time at school, through hard study, I have passed the Certified Public Accountant exam, the Registered Asset Appraiser exam, the Registered Tax Agent exam, and the Judicial Exam..."

  Gao Yuan said up to here, the opposite side immediately became noisy, everyone started discussing and whispering to each other. Some said: "Really awesome!" Some said: "This is what we call talent!" The woman opposite Gao Yuan also showed great interest in his words, only to hear her ask: "Did you pass the four qualification exams?" Gao Yuan deliberately downplayed it, saying: "Yes." Shui Jing reminded from the side: "This is Zhou Ju!" Gao Yuan thought: "It's really her!"

  Gaoyuan nodded and smiled at Director Zhou, Gaoyuan found that this smile might be the most heartfelt, sincere, respectful and kind one he had ever made since he was born. He felt surprised for a moment, he really couldn't think of how he could make such a show, he even admired himself a little.

  Director Zhou said: "You have so many qualifications, you can easily go to a fund company, securities company or other units, the income is much higher than here, why do you insist on choosing our bureau?"

  "People have their own ambitions! I've always believed that while money is valuable, love is priceless. If it's for the sake of public duty, both can be cast aside! In my view, finding a high-paying job can only bring material satisfaction to oneself. In comparison, if I were to work at our bureau, I would have the opportunity to serve more people, and that sense of spiritual fulfillment cannot be compared to personal happiness. Therefore, despite having received offers from multiple financial institutions and central enterprises before, I resolutely rejected them all. My goal is singular: to dedicate myself to public service and benefit society as a whole!"

  Gao Yuan suddenly realized that he was being hypocritical. In fact, he had always hoped to find a high-paying job, but those companies were too unstable. What he needed most now was a stable source of income, and only a civil servant position could provide that. Moreover, no company had offered him an offer yet, as this was his first job search and he still had half a year before graduation. He wasn't in a hurry to find work, and even this unit was just a tryout when he applied for it. Unexpectedly, he made it into the interview, and if he passed, he would have to apply for early graduation.

  Gao Yuan thought that the most hypocritical thing was his own words, although they were false, but he said them with such grandeur and righteousness, as if only the great heroes in movies could say such things! When he spoke those words, he even moved himself to tears, and he really couldn't believe he had such talent.

  Gao Yuan's words triggered a unanimous applause from everyone, and Director Zhou was visibly very satisfied. She whispered a few words to the person next to her, then turned to Gao Yuan and said: "Not bad, we really do need excellent talents like you. That's all for the self-introduction, I have something to attend to first, so I'll leave now, you all continue!"

  Hearing Director Zhou's affirmation, Gao Yuan's confidence surged, and he thought to himself: "It seems that asking Big Brother for help wasn't in vain, I don't even need to do a self-introduction anymore, but I wonder what the next step is."

  "Please, everyone is free to ask questions," said Shui Jingchu. Gao Yuan thought to himself, "As Brother Gou said, it's time to ask professional questions." At this moment, a man wearing glasses asked, "May I ask, if you were to join our unit, what specific tasks could you perform?" Gao Yuan replied, "I'm an accountant, so I can do accounting calculations and internal audits with ease. Additionally, I can also work on internal control aspects."

  "Are you familiar with internal control?" asked the glasses. "My graduation thesis was on internal control," replied Gao Yuan. The glasses said, "Please tell me about the differences in internal control between the US and Germany."

  Gao Yuan was taken aback, he indeed had not done any research on internal control abroad. He quickly thought of an excuse: "Originally I planned to do a comparative study of internal control internationally, but my supervisor told me that it's already very good if I can do well in domestic research, so I can only study foreign internal control later."

  The glasses heard Gao Yuan's words and actually smiled awkwardly: "It was my question that was too biased, I'll ask you again, which is more important, profit indicator or cash flow indicator?"

  Gaoyuan saw that he was blaming himself, so he knew that Zhou Ju must have made arrangements beforehand, so he changed to a simple question. Gaoyuan answered his new question without thinking, and the glasses praised him highly: "Very good!" Then two more people asked some common sense questions, and Gaoyuan answered them one by one. Under everyone's admiring gaze, under the personal leadership of Shui Jingchu, Gaoyuan walked out with courtesy.

  Tan Xiaohui was still waiting outside, saw Gao Yuanzhi walking out of the conference room with a satisfied expression, and asked in a hurry: "How is it?" Gao Yuan said: "It's okay." Tan Xiaohui said: "Speak clearly!" Gao Yuan said: "Everyone seems to be very satisfied!" Tan Xiaohui exclaimed: "Shixiong! Congratulations to you!"

  Suddenly, a burst of surprised glances shot over from all directions. At this moment, the woman he had met after handing in his paper that morning walked up to him and said sternly, "Leave immediately after the interview!" Gao Yuan thought to himself, "Who is this? How can she be so rude?" It wasn't until later that Gao Yuan found out her name was Yan Li, the head of the personnel department, and also the direct superior of Deputy Director Shui Jing.

  Gao Yuan could be said to be fearless, he deliberately pretended not to hear, his eyes didn't even glance at Yan Li, he calmly bid farewell to Tan Xiaohui, and then floated out of the Supervision Bureau's courtyard. At the moment his feet stepped out of the gate, he remembered a sentence: "I, Hu Han San, will be back!"