"Zhizhi—is the food ready yet?!"
Tao Zhizhi poked her head out of the kitchen, wiped the sweat from her brow, and frowned as her exquisitely beautiful face, resembling that of Nuwa Bishe, exclaimed, "How come there are so many people? Even if I had eight hands, I couldn't possibly handle all of this!"
Su Bai, holding the tray, laughed and scolded, "You still have time to complain? It's packed again today!"
"Aunt Yang, how many guests are left?" A cool yet magnetic voice drifted into the kitchen, carried by someone dressed in an expensive custom-made suit who seemed out of place in the room.
"How would I know? There are so many people every day. Once these vegetables are sold out, that's the end of the day," Aunt Yang replied, busy as she was.
The man glanced at the long queue outside, which seemed to be the norm, and wasn't surprised. He casually hung his own pink apron around his neck and began to help Tao Zhizhi. The two exchanged a knowing smile, and Tao Zhizhi's thoughts were suddenly pulled back to a few weeks ago.
——
"I'm sorry, you don't quite meet our company's requirements."
With a perfectly timed smile, the interviewer uttered cold words from his 37° angled mouth. Tao Zhizhi calmly took back her resume and left the intelligent technology company with a heavy heart.
This was the thirty-first job she had ever applied to. Wandering through the campus recruitment fair, her eyes were filled with helplessness and uncertainty about the future. Looking at the salaries of three or four thousand yuan and the positions that hundreds of people were competing for, she couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"Hey, Zhizhi, you're here. There's a media company over there that seems to offer pretty good benefits. I passed the first interview. Do you want to give it a try?"
The voice of her friend Lan Xin pulled Tao Zhizhi back to reality from her quiet sorrow. In her hand was a promotional brochure that Lan Xin had given her. She opened it and read:
Five social insurances and one housing fund, an annual salary of 100,000 to 120,000 yuan, and a transparent promotion channel... instantly attracted her.
"Your qualifications are a good match for our job requirements. You can take the written test first."
Tao Zhizhi went to the test location to pick up the test questions and worked on them seriously. After the test results came out, she successfully entered the interview stage. Looking around, the interview room was crowded with job-seeking students. Tao Zhizhi was lucky enough to pass the first round.
"We will have a second interview in three days. Just go back and wait for our notification."
"How did it go? Did you pass?" As soon as Tao Zhizhi left the classroom, Lan Xin hurriedly came up to her.
"We can go together for the second interview."
A hint of joy appeared on Tao Zhizhi's worried face; she had finally seen a glimmer of hope.
"Phew, Xiaoxin, I'm so nervous."
Tao Zhizhi held Lan Xin's hand, her palms sweating.
"Next up, Tao Zhizhi."
With a nervous heart and a forced smile, Tao Zhizhi handed her resume to the interviewer and sat down in the chair...
After a while, Tao Zhizhi left with a disappointed look on her face. At the same time, Lan Xin from the next room also came out. Unlike Tao Zhizhi, Lan Xin couldn't hide her joy.
Seeing her friend's disappointed expression, she quickly composed herself and hugged Tao Zhizhi to comfort her:
There are countless good jobs out there; if one doesn't work out, we'll find another.
"I remember you said home is the only thing..." Tao Zhizhi's phone was playing frantically in her handbag. Lan Xin let go of Tao Zhizhi and left the media company hand in hand.
"Hey, Mom, what's wrong?"
After leaving the company gate, Tao Zhizhi answered the phone.
"Zhizhi, are you busy?" Tao's mother's tired voice came from the other end of the phone.
"I'm fine now, Mom, go ahead and tell me."
"Zhizhi, your grandma fell down a few days ago. Mom knows you're busy looking for a job and that's bothering you, so I didn't tell you. She's fine now, but your grandma hasn't seen you in so long and misses you. Do you have time to come home these next few days?"
Tao Zhizhi was very anxious when she heard that her grandmother had fallen. She knew that the elderly were not immune to falls. "I'll go back tomorrow if I have time."
Lan Xin, who was standing nearby, naturally overheard their conversation and felt sorry for Tao Zhizhi.
"Zhizhi, don't worry, go back home. I'll keep an eye out for any available positions here."
"Okay, thank you, Xiao Xin!"
——
Tao Zhizhi bought the earliest train ticket back to Qingshui City.
"Zhizhi, you're back!"
The neighbor aunties who were taking a walk in the community greeted Tao Zhizhi happily when they saw her.
"Hello Aunt Yu, I have to go now."
Tao Zhizhi didn't hide her hurry. She waved to the aunt and went into the apartment building.
"Okay."
Click~ Tao Zhizhi unlocked the door and saw her mother tidying up clothes on the sofa.
"Mom, I'm back. How is Grandma? Is she seriously ill?"
When Tao's mother saw her daughter whom she hadn't seen for several months, she gave her a big hug. "Zhizhi, don't worry, I'll pack your grandma's clothes now and bring her some food in a bit."
Tao Zhizhi put her luggage in the room and then came out to help her mother.
In the hospital, the grandmother, reclining on the hospital bed, held Tao Zhizhi's hand, her face full of heartache.
"Zhizhi, are you not eating properly? You've lost weight again. Don't try to lose weight like other people."
In the eyes of her parents, everyone had lost weight in just a few months. Tao Zhizhi touched her face, remembering that she had gained a few pounds just last week.
"Grandma, I'm not on a diet. I eat a lot at every meal."
"That's good. Young people are still growing, so they should eat more."
Grandma smiled kindly and gently patted Zhizhi's hand.
Tao Zhizhi only felt relieved after seeing her grandmother and needing to look after her for a few more days, and only when she was generally alright did she feel much better...
Mr. Tao had just gotten off work when he heard his daughter was home. He bought some of Zhizhi's favorite dishes, humming a little tune as he got on the elevator. As soon as he opened the door, he exclaimed, "Zhizhi, look what Dad brought you..."
"Zhizhi isn't here. She said she's having a get-together with her old classmates and will be back later."
Hearing Tao's father's deep voice from the kitchen, Tao's mother quickly responded and carried the dishes to the dining table.
——
Tao Zhizhi received a phone call from Lin Li, her former high school classmate, while she was in the hospital.
"Zhizhi, it's been a long time. I heard you've returned to Qingshui. We haven't gotten together in ages. How about we meet up for a chat tonight?"
Tao Zhizhi hesitated for a while, then agreed, thinking that it had been a long time since she had asked Lin Li out. At the dinner table, Lin Li talked about her high school days and reminisced about how time flies.
"Zhizhi, four years have passed in the blink of an eye, and we're about to graduate from university. It seems like just yesterday we were talking about our life ideals, and now we're about to enter the workforce. By the way, have you found a job yet?"
Tao Zhizhi smiled awkwardly and said, "Not yet."
Lin Li smiled and comforted her, "It's true that jobs are hard to find these days. I'm currently working at a media company in G City, and we're still short-staffed. If you have some free time recently, you can come and try out for our company."
Lin Li took out a business card that read "Lin Li, Human Resources Manager, Lingdong Media, G City".
Lin Li talked about her current life, with a 9-to-6 job and weekends off, and big bonuses for good performance, which made Tao Zhizhi's heart flutter, and she made an appointment for an interview next week.
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