Chapter 4: If you want to survive, you must take wild paths

Lin Yao and his partner, Tan Ming, ran into each other downstairs at the Taoxiang office building. Tan Ming was young and sharp. After graduation, he worked in pharmaceutical sales for two years. When he hit a roadblock, Lin Yao recruited him, and he worked with her for two years. Now, he handles both talent acquisition and client development, is familiar with the pharmaceutical industry, and has the ability to independently manage deals. Long Weihe dislikes his oversight, but Lin Yao does and is interested in making him a partner when the time is right. He has always worked with Lin Yao. The two arrived at the appointed time and were seated in the reception area to the side of the front desk. The hiring manager came over to greet them, saying they had a meeting and would have to wait. They were used to this; it always took at least half an hour. After waiting for about ten minutes, two men entered the reception area, both dressed in suits and ties, looking like elites. Lin Yao recognized one of them: Chen Wenzhong, a so-called top recruiter for a well-known foreign company, K Hunter, who was in charge of the South China medical team. He glanced over and recognized his colleague. They often met at industry forums and had even crossed paths. Chen Wenzhong, with a sense of superiority, gave them a slight nod without expression. Tan Ming chuckled in response. Lin Yao, looking down at her phone, pretended not to notice. The recruitment manager, now out of a meeting, met Chen Wenzhong and the others before heading inside. "Everyone's been laid off, and there's still room? We arrived first, and we're still sitting here," Tan Ming muttered. "I guess they've arranged for a few companies to come together and create competition." "A smokescreen, thinking we're interested in a bloody duel. Boring." Tan Ming had barely finished his words when another company arrived: Youke, a medium-sized local headhunting firm. They were led by one of their partners, Lu Fan, whom he also knew. They worked in all kinds of industries and took on all kinds of work, but their work was unprofessional and they often broke industry rules. Lu Fan, a slick-faced man, treated them with exaggerated swagger, as if they were old friends. From a distance of about ten meters, he grinned and raised his hand, "Hi—" He was also led away before them. Lin Yao muttered, "You damned hunting dog!" Lu Fan had secretly taken her orders a few times, using underhanded tactics and a rather unpleasant expression in his snatching. An hour later, they met up with Zhou Zixin. After a few pleasantries, Zhou Zixin jumped straight into the subject of Li Xuan. "That Li Xuan isn't good enough. It's nothing to do with me. It's mainly because she doesn't meet the requirements of the sales manager and won't pass her probation period." She was lying. "Did she fail her probation period? Were we laid off?" Lin Yao asked with a smile. "We're actually optimizing after the new year, so it's not considered a layoff. Everything is running smoothly at the company. Li Xuan didn't pass her probation period. Sorry, I can't sign the invoice they handed me." Just one sentence made me want to...

Lin Yao and his partner Tan Ming met downstairs of Taoxiang's office building.

Tan Ming is young and smart. After graduation, he worked in pharmaceutical sales for two years. When he encountered setbacks, Lin Yao recruited him and he worked with him for two years. Now he can do talent search and customer development. He is familiar with the pharmaceutical industry and has the ability to handle orders independently.

Long Weihe didn't like his oversmartness, but Lin Yao liked it and was willing to take him in as a partner when the time was right. He had always been a partner with Lin Yao.

The two arrived at the appointed time and were seated in the reception area on the side of the front desk. The recruitment manager came over to greet them and said they had a meeting and needed to wait.

They are used to it and it happens like this every time they come, starting at half an hour.

After waiting for about ten minutes, two men entered the front door. Both were dressed in suits and looked like elites. Lin Yao knew one of them: Chen Wenzhong, a top hunter for a well-known foreign company, K Hunter, in charge of the South China medical team. He glanced over and recognized his colleague.

We often meet in industry forums and even have orders.

Chen Wenzhong, with a sense of superiority, gave them a blank nod. Tan Ming chuckled in response. Lin Yao looked down at his phone, pretending not to notice.

The recruitment manager was not in a meeting at the moment. He came out to pick up Chen Wenzhong and the others and then went inside.

"Everyone has been laid off, and there are still positions to be opened? We arrived first, and we are still sitting here." Tan Ming said in a low voice.

"I guess they arranged several of them, deliberately bringing them together to create competition."

"Smoke bomb, thinking we're interested in a fight to the death. Boring."

Just as Tan Ming finished speaking, another company arrived. It was a local medium-sized headhunting company, Youke. The leader was one of their partners, Lu Fan, whom he also knew. They worked in all industries and took all kinds of orders. They did their work unprofessionally and often broke industry rules.

Lu Fan, with his slicked-back face, acted as if he were meeting old friends. From a distance of about ten meters, he grinned and raised his hand, "Hi——"

He was also taken away before them. Lin Yao bit his tongue and blurted out a few words: "A dead hound!"

Lu Fan had secretly taken advantage of her orders several times, but his methods were despicable and his face was extremely ugly when he tried to steal her food.

An hour later, they met Zhou Zixin.

After a few pleasantries, Zhou Zixin went straight to talking about Li Xuan.

"That Li Xuan is not good enough. There's nothing wrong with me. The main thing is that she doesn't meet the requirements of the business boss and can't pass the probation period." She was really lying.

"Didn't she fail the probation period? Wasn't she laid off?" Lin Yao asked with a smile.

"We're actually doing a post-year optimization, so it's not really layoffs. Everything is running normally at the company. Li Xuan didn't pass her probation period. Sorry, I can't sign the invoice they handed me."

This is just one sentence that is trying to erase the hard work of others in serving you.

"Mr. Zhou, although our team is small, we're focused, and everyone's expertise can support the quality of our candidates. We're sorry for the problem with Li Xuan. I remember she signed a probationary performance form. Could we review which assessment items she had problems with? If it was her fault for not completing the assignment, according to the agreement, we can refund the money and not charge the remaining fees."

"Her overall quality is poor, and her character is very questionable. She refused to sign, so there's no point in bringing this up."

It is really hard to explain the issue by talking about comprehensive quality and character.

"According to our cooperation agreement, the performance appraisal form needs to be signed by her personally. If not, we still need your support for the payment service fee." Lin Yao did not intend to give in.

"Think long-term. I can overlook your lack of delivery quality for this position. There are still some positions available this year. I'll talk to you later."

They found other headhunters to talk to them in front of them. It was a smokescreen, but who could they fool? Lin Yao smiled and glanced at Tan Ming.

Tan Ming understood her. He immediately responded, "Mr. Zhou, are you sure you want us to do this? Let's discuss your job requirements and contract first."

Zhou Zixin shifted over, resting her elbows on the table. "We still need to sort out the talent profile, and there must be no problem with the match this time. We can't sign the contract until Li Xuan's matter is resolved, but I can tell you the general direction of our needs, so you can start looking for someone."

If she couldn't erase the written word, she'd just make empty promises. She wouldn't even acknowledge the agreement before her, so how could she acknowledge a gentleman's agreement? Lin Yao smiled. With another company or person, she might have opted to maintain a channel for future cooperation. But with Zhou Zixin, she knew it was all a sham, a mere pretense of using a fake position to wipe out the money.

"I'm sorry. We invested a lot of energy in your position last year. Li Xuan personally interviewed you and you were satisfied. Payment of service fees according to the contract is a basic industry rule. If we break it, we would be sorry for the hard work of our team and our peers. If you have other positions you need, Mr. Zhou, we can still guarantee the speed and quality of delivery, and you can find one first without signing a contract. But we hope to keep these two things separate and in parallel."

After hearing what she said, Zhou Zixin rocked back in his chair, a look of displeasure on his face. "Alright, that's it for now. I have a meeting. We'll look at the financial plan regarding the money. I'm very disappointed with your recommendation of Li Xuan. Our cooperation ends here. Goodbye."

"Zhou Zixin is so fucking disgusting." Tan Ming came out cursing and jumped down the stairs of the building.

"Not all HRs are like her. If we can't get the job done by one company, we'll try another. Taoxiang HR has had two new hires in three years. Zhou Zixin was reportedly hired by a small boss. She's siding with the small boss and won't stay long. We'll try again when someone new comes in."

Lin Yao was upset, but she suppressed her negative comments in front of her colleagues, saying she wanted to keep someone else with her. Tan Ming, at this point, could have joined a large headhunting firm, with a larger platform and easier client acquisition. Several people left, but he stayed the longest, choosing to fight her through.

The two of them went their separate ways. Tan Ming returned to the office first. The time for Lin Yao's phone call with a candidate had arrived, so to avoid rescheduling, they stood downstairs of Taoxiang's office building and chatted while also getting some fresh air.

After half an hour on the phone, Lin Yuxun sent a message, "Have you checked your scores?"

Today is the day when the postgraduate entrance examination results are released.

She quickly checked her score: 252, nearly the full score for English, with a deduction for comprehensive management. The top two students admitted to this college in previous years had scores around this level.

It's a high score, but I'm not particularly happy about it.

For her, it seems that no effort can make up for the regret of the college entrance examination.

She replied:

"I checked, it should be available."

She took a screenshot of the search interface and sent it to Long Weihe.

Long Weihe said she wanted to take her out for dinner to celebrate. She said she would cook for herself that night and told Huang Yun not to cook. The anger that had been brewing in Zhou Zixin's room had died down.

She finished her work in the afternoon and ran to the market to buy vegetables.

During Huang Yun's stay, she was often called over for dinner. Even in such close relationships, she emphasized balance. Long Weihe liked spicy food, so she bought two pounds of large, hard-shelled black tiger prawns, and added lotus root, potato slices, and celery as side dishes to make spicy shrimp. Huang Yun usually skipped dinner, only drinking soup, so she bought a black-bone chicken and the five-fingered ginseng that Tang Ruifen had sent her, so they could be stewed together. Qian Duoduo had recently taken a liking to sweet and sour pork, the sweet and sour kind. She had never made it before, so she checked her phone at the vegetable stall and bought the ingredients based on what people had shared.

She picked out some fish in the aquatic section, then a few large scallops. Seeing her in her elegant white suit, the fishmonger's wife warned her in a Chaoshan accent, "Stand back. Watch out for blood splashing on you." She then chopped up the sweet-scented osmanthus fish, cleaned it quickly, and handed it to her in a bag.

After returning home and washing and cutting all the ingredients, she discovered that the white sesame seeds to be sprinkled on the spicy shrimp were missing, and the oyster sauce was also used up, so she ran to Huang Yun to get them.

I met Long Weihe who was picking up Qian Duoduo, holding a big bouquet of pink roses in her hands.

"Lin Yao! I don't want that star anymore!" Qian Duoduo puffed up his cheeks and pouted when he saw her.

Long Weihe restrained him, "The flowers haven't even been delivered yet, and you're already getting excited!"

He reluctantly took the flower and handed it to Lin Yao, saying angrily, "Here, it's for you!"

"What are you talking about? Is your attitude decent?" Long Weihe glared at him and reminded him.

His lips softened. "Spring blossoms, and autumn harvests. I wish you academic success."

The four-character phrase Wen Zouzou must have been taught by Long Weihe on the way.

Lin Yao smiled, "Thank you——"

Taking the flowers, she looked from the small one to the big one. "What's wrong? What's pissed you off?"

Long Weihe hung up his schoolbag and shrugged at her, looking helpless.

"Did Long Weihe provoke you?" She squatted in front of him.

"I went to tease that tearing girl, and she really tore up the book I gave her to read!" Qian Duoduo made a crazy tearing motion in anger.

Lin Yao burst out laughing, then stopped laughing. "What book? I'll buy you another one."

"It's the kind of bear picture book that makes you happy to read it."

Long Wei laughed at him, "It's not the picture book's fault, it's that it didn't make people laugh, so it doesn't earn two stars."

"No! I said I don't want stars anymore! I don't want stars! I don't want stars!" Qian Duoduo stomped his feet, anxious.

The two of them understood him now. Picture books and stars were secondary. The little boy was frustrated and did not get the little girl's smile.

"You're a man, how can you back down after a little setback?" Lin Yao stood up and took the white sesame that Huang Yun had been looking for for a while, and tried to persuade him, "If you try a few more times, girls will be friends with you if you have patience."

Long Weihe took him to wash his hands. "You still need to use some methods. You are great at using books as tools, but she may not like what you like. You should observe and see what she likes, and then talk to her about what she likes."

Qian Duoduo knew the situation when facing the two women's mouths, wiped his hands, stopped talking, pouted, took the fruit plate handed to him by Huang Yun, and sat on the sofa in the living room to eat his own food.

"I'll go to your place and do it together." Long Weihe changed into home clothes and followed Lin Yao.

"I'm almost done. I'll just take some ingredients. You guys can come down later."

"I won't interfere. Let's discuss how to arrest Shi Zhenglin tomorrow."

"Are you planning on looking for someone?"

"Didn't you say we could have a chance encounter? There's no other way, no matter how hard you think. Using a middleman won't work, so just go and do it yourself. It'll have to happen sooner or later, and I'll be his bootlicker, and apologize to him."

The two returned to Lin Yao's place and, according to the running map they had previously captured from someone else's WeChat Moments, decided to go directly to the green belt by the river where he was most likely to finish his morning run and return home.

Long Weihe found a vase, put some flowers in it, set the table, and leaned against the kitchen door while chewing an apple. "It feels like I'm at the end of my rope. You came up with such a bad idea. Two years ago, he called me a wildcatter."

"If you want to survive, you must take the wild route. Be brave! Go after him!"

As soon as the words of encouragement came out, the hot oil and soy sauce in the pot collided with each other, and the coriander and chopped green onions sizzled and released their fragrance. Lin Yao picked up the pot and poured the prepared sauce over the steamed fish. "The dish is ready, serve!"