Taking advantage of the weekend, Lin Yao planned to make some preparations for her interview on Monday.
First, Lin Yao found a hair salon and trimmed her medium-length, shoulder-length hair, then got it permed into cute little curls. It made her whole person look much sweeter and cuter. Lin Yao admired herself in the mirror for quite a while, very satisfied.
Now that her hair was done, the next step was to buy her battle outfit.
In order to show off her professional aura, Lin Yao specifically chose a Chinese-style clothing store. After selecting and comparing again and again, she picked out a short white embroidered qipao.
Lin Yao was already petite and delicate. After putting on the qipao, according to the shop assistant, all she lacked was an oil-paper umbrella and she would be ready to walk straight into a rainy alley in Jiangnan.
Lin Yao was also very satisfied with the outfit, so she took out her phone and snapped a few selfies in the mirror, then smugly sent them to Student Xiao Ming.
**Lin Yao:** How would it be if I wore this to the interview?
**Yue Mingyuan:** Not bad. Very good. You’d definitely look like a restaurant hostess standing at the entrance.
At the end, he even added a smug little emoji.
**Lin Yao:** You’re just jealous of my beauty.
Lin Yao replied fiercely.
**Yue Mingyuan:** Hehe…
Yue Mingyuan angered Lin Yao so much that she nearly fainted. She did not know whether it was psychological or not, but the qipao that had previously looked pure, natural, elegant, and graceful now looked more and more like something a restaurant hostess would wear.
“Miss, will you be wearing it directly, or shall I wrap it up for you?” the shop assistant asked softly from the side.
“Ah, well… there aren’t many chances to wear a qipao normally. Do you have any clothes with a bit of Chinese style, but that can also be worn casually?” Lin Yao hesitated for a moment before asking.
“Yes, we do. Please come with me.” The shop assistant led Lin Yao to the other side of the shop to continue choosing clothes.
In the end, Lin Yao bought a T-shirt with Chinese-style embroidery on the collar and cuffs, as well as a pair of cropped trousers to go with it.
==
Monday.
Tengfeng Group’s headquarters was not far from the residential compound where Lin Yao lived. Taking the subway, including transfers, would take about half an hour. If there was no traffic, driving there would only take fifteen minutes.
That morning, Lin Yao rarely got up early. She changed into her newly bought clothes, put on light makeup, and swept away the slovenly state she had been in for the past month or so, when she had barely washed her face or combed her hair. Full of energy, she went out for the interview.
The moment Lin Yao stepped into the first-floor lobby of Tengfeng Group, she could sense the company’s strong nouveau riche aura just from the material of the marble beneath her feet.
“I didn’t expect Xiao Ming to have such an impressive cousin.” Lin Yao sighed as she walked towards the front desk.
“Hello, how may I help you?” the beautiful receptionist asked softly.
“Hello, I’m here for an interview,” Lin Yao said with a smile.
“One moment…” The receptionist took a résumé form and a pen from the desk, handed them to Lin Yao, and said, “Please take the elevator over there to the twelfth floor.”
“Thank you.”
Lin Yao glanced at the résumé form in her hand. On the high-quality paper, everything was written purely in English.
It was actually an all-English résumé form. This was clearly China, alright? At least give me a bilingual Chinese-English version.
While complaining inwardly, Lin Yao could not help feeling relieved. Fortunately, when she had been job-hunting after graduation, she had casually asked someone to make her an English résumé. When no one was around later, she could just copy from that.
The elevator soon arrived on the twelfth floor. As soon as she stepped out, Lin Yao saw a clear sign on the opposite wall:
**For interviews, please go this way.**
Lin Yao followed the arrow inside. With her were two other beautiful women who had also come for interviews.
The three of them walked in together. The interview meeting room seemed to be at the very innermost part of the office, and the three had to walk along a corridor that almost ran through the entire office area to get there.
Lin Yao briefly glanced around and found that the office layout was quite beautiful. It was simple and fashionable. The desks came in different colours instead of being monotonous, and there were many green plants. The overall colour scheme and layout made people feel comfortable.
Only…
Lin Yao did not know whether it was her imagination, but as she walked forward, she kept feeling that the employees in the office were secretly looking her over. Their gazes seemed a little… strange. Was it curiosity towards a new colleague?
But why were all the employees on this floor men?
With these doubts in mind, Lin Yao continued walking forward. Because she was walking slowly, she gradually fell a little behind the two beautiful women in front.
At this moment, Yan Lüji, who had just finished fixing a bug together with the development department supervisor, stood up and headed towards his office.
Lin Yao had just withdrawn her gaze from looking around when she raised her head and saw an uncle with stubble, bloodshot eyes, and a tired expression walking towards her. Seeing that the other party was walking quickly and seemed very busy, Lin Yao took the initiative to move aside and let him pass first.
She also conveniently gave him a friendly smile.
Yan Lüji, who was in a hurry to return to his office and finish up the remaining work, gave Lin Yao a slight nod in thanks, then hurriedly left.
Lin Yao thought to herself, No wonder Tengfeng Group wants to hire a health-care doctor. Just that uncle who walked past earlier—there was no need to take his pulse. One glance was enough to see several problems with his body. If he did not regulate his health soon, it would become troublesome once he got older.
When she arrived at the interview waiting area, Lin Yao discovered another odd thing. Why were all the people here for interviews girls? And each one of them was dressed quite fashionably.
Lin Yao vaguely felt that something was not right, but since she was already here, she might as well finish the interview first. So she quietly found a place to sit and began filling out the résumé form.
Ding.
**Yue Mingyuan:** Have you arrived?
It was a kind inquiry from Student Xiao Ming.
**Lin Yao:** I’m here. Filling out the résumé.
**Yue Mingyuan:** I already greeted my cousin for you. Don’t be nervous.
**Lin Yao:** I’ll treat you to a meal after the interview.
If this interview succeeded, she really had to treat Student Xiao Ming to something good. Maybe a 180-yuan seafood buffet.
After waiting for about twenty minutes, it was finally Lin Yao’s turn. Holding her résumé, Lin Yao pushed open the meeting room door and saw three interviewers sitting on the other side of the long conference table. The serious, tense atmosphere made Lin Yao unconsciously nervous too.
“Hello,” Lin Yao greeted them while secretly wondering which one of the three was Yue Mingyuan’s cousin.
“Please take a seat.”
Lin Yao sat down as instructed.
“Hello, miss. May I ask how we should address you?” Interviewer A asked.
“My name is Lin Yao.”
The interviewer flipped through the résumés in his hand, but did not find Lin Yao’s, so he asked, “Sorry, I don’t seem to have your résumé here.”
“I… um…” Lin Yao remembered that she had seemingly come to this interview through the back door, so she said a little awkwardly, “I… I was introduced by a friend to come for the interview. I didn’t submit a résumé online, but I just filled one out.”
As she spoke, Lin Yao handed over the résumé.
“Don’t be nervous. I was only asking casually. Your image and temperament suit our recruitment standards very well.”
Image and temperament? Could this outfit really have earned her extra points?
“Please give us a brief self-introduction first.” The interviewer needed time to look over Lin Yao’s résumé, so he planned to have her introduce herself first.
“My name is Lin Yao. Lin as in two trees, Yao as in medicinal herbs.” Lin Yao began a standard self-introduction. “My family runs a traditional Chinese medicine clinic, so I’ve been exposed to TCM since I was young. I graduated from the best TCM university in Shanghai and interned at Shanghai Sixth Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine for a year and a half. I…”
“Then what made you think of coming to work at our company?” Interviewer B asked in confusion.
How was she supposed to answer that?
Of course it was because your salary is high…
“Your company is an internationally renowned large enterprise, and the corporate culture is also very good… hehe…” Lin Yao said “sincerely.”
“This position requires a lot of patience, and you also need to understand some IT knowledge. I wonder how much you know in that area?” Interviewer C asked.
“IT knowledge?” Lin Yao was dumbfounded. “Why would treating illnesses require IT knowledge?”
“Hehehe… although anxiety can also be considered an illness, part of your work will involve relieving our programmers’ stress through communication and chatting. So it would be best to understand some IT knowledge. Otherwise, when chatting, there won’t be any common topics,” Interviewer A said with a smile. “Of course, if you have other talents, that’s also fine…”
“Excuse me…” Lin Yao really could not hold back anymore. “What exactly are you talking about?”
“The basic duties of a programmer encouragement specialist…”
“…”
Without exaggeration, Lin Yao really wanted to flip the table at that moment.
When this big sister treats illnesses, she uses medicine. Who the hell uses talents and IT knowledge?
After this farcical misunderstanding, Lin Yao finally ended up sitting in HR Director Xiao Dong’s office.
Holding back his laughter, Xiao Dong brought Lin Yao a cup of coffee and said, “Why didn’t you call me in advance? Then this misunderstanding wouldn’t have happened.”
“Yue Mingyuan told me to come straight over and didn’t give me your number. As soon as I told the front desk I was here for an interview, they directly sent me up to the twelfth floor,” Lin Yao said, also very depressed.
“Hehehe…” Xiao Dong comforted her, “That’s also because Doctor Lin is too pretty, so they misunderstood.”
Although she knew the other party was only saying polite words, Lin Yao still felt much better after hearing them.
“Xiao Ming told me your medical skills are very good,” Xiao Dong said.
“They’re not as good as he said…” Lin Yao was rarely modest for once.
“That’s true…” Xiao Dong said. “That brat always exaggerates when he talks.”
“…”
Lin Yao decided to retract the tiny bit of goodwill she had developed towards Xiao Ming’s cousin just now.
“To be honest, when Xiao Ming first recommended you to me, I did have some expectations for Doctor Lin. But… forgive me for being frank, Doctor Lin is even younger than I imagined.” From Lin Yao, Xiao Dong could see the energy and freshness of a recent graduate, as well as the greenness and restraint of someone still inexperienced in dealing with people. But to say that such a young girl was a TCM doctor with excellent medical skills—Xiao Dong was doubtful.
“Manager Xiao, are you hinting that I didn’t pass the interview, or are you just doubting my medical skills because I’m young?” Lin Yao asked.
“Doctor Lin, what are you saying?” Although Xiao Dong did indeed mean that in his heart, she was still his cousin’s friend, so he could not casually dismiss her. Besides, who knew? Maybe she would become his cousin’s wife in the future. Then she would be family. He still had to give her some face.
“I’ve worked in HR for so many years and interviewed people from all kinds of industries, but this really is my first time interviewing a TCM doctor. I know absolutely nothing about TCM, so how could I doubt your medical skills? So this interview… for a moment, I really don’t know where to begin. Or perhaps Doctor Lin has some way to demonstrate?”
“I understand.” Lin Yao nodded, then looked at Xiao Dong and asked, “Manager Xiao, how about I take your pulse?”
“Take my pulse?” Xiao Dong said. “My body is very healthy.”
“Don’t worry. After I finish taking your pulse, you won’t be healthy anymore.”
From petty-minded Doctor Lin Yao.
What did that mean?
Why did that sound so strange?
Hehe… I’ve never seen an office worker who didn’t have a single problem with their body.
How dare you look down on me!
**Author’s Note:**
Job responsibilities of a programmer encouragement specialist:
A girl who sits beside programmers when they feel anxious and cheers them on.
Job requirements:
1. Fresh and pretty appearance, sweet voice, constant smile, loved by everyone;
2. Good at listening. Whether she is good at communication or not is unimportant, as long as she can tolerate the dead-homebody, impossible-to-communicate-with personality of IT engineers;
3. Whether she throws tantrums or not is unimportant. She must be good at discovering the warm-hearted nature of every programmer and successfully taming them.
4. She must understand the internet and technology. Otherwise, when chatting, everything will sound like clouds and fog, and the engineers will feel even more discouraged. [1]
5. Fashionable and avant-garde clothing. Single applicants preferred. [2–3]
===
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