Chapter 63 Chapter 63 Interview

After waking up from a nap, Xia Qinqin heard that she had to go to kindergarten in the afternoon. She whined and was reluctant to get up from the bed. Meng Yufei patiently coaxed her for a while, then carried her out of the room to wash her face.

Lu Yannan had already gotten up and was sitting upright on the sofa, his little back straight.

Hearing the door open, he turned to look at Xia Qinqin who was acting coquettishly in her mother's arms.

Xia Qinqin felt a little embarrassed when being stared at, so she got out of her mother's arms. She was a grown-up girl, and she wouldn't stay in bed all the time.

"Brother Yanan, are you going to kindergarten this afternoon too?" Xia Qinqin asked.

Lu Yannan nodded.

Xia Qinqin turned her little head and looked around the house again, "Where's Dad?"

Meng Yufei said: "He has gone to work. Can I take you to kindergarten this afternoon?"

"Okay~"

Meng Yufei held Xia Qinqin in one hand and Lu Yannan in the other, and walked out to the kindergarten.

Xia Qinqin was a little reluctant when she just got up, but now she is looking forward to going to kindergarten. "Sister Fangfang must miss me a lot. We haven't seen each other for a long time. I don't know if classmate Xiao Ming has learned Teacher Tang's poem... Later I can learn singing with Teacher Zhou..."

She talked as she walked, and asked with her head tilted: "Brother Yannan, let's play on the slide together this afternoon. You didn't go to play yesterday, it was so much fun..."

Lu Yannan walked in silence, while Xia Qinqin kept talking to herself and asked Meng Yufei, "Mom, will you pick me up after school this afternoon?"

Meng Yufei nodded: "Of course I'll pick you up."

Xia Qinqin smiled contentedly, holding her mother's hand, she skipped into the kindergarten, and waved to Meng Yufei with a smile: "Mom, see you later!"

Meng Yufei smiled and waved to her, "See you later."

Xia Qinqin saw Lu Yannan standing quietly beside her from the corner of her eye. She walked over, took his hand, raised it, and waved to Meng Yufei, saying with a smile, "Let's say goodbye to Mom together."

Lu Yannan glanced at his hand, retracted it but didn't pull it... Looking at Meng Yufei who was smiling and waving in front of him, he curled up the corners of his mouth and revealed a smile.

As soon as they entered the classroom, Fangfang's eyes lit up and she trotted over, "Qinqin!"

Xia Qinqin also happily went over to greet her, "Sister Fangfang~"

The two children hugged each other with a smile, "Qinqin, why didn't you come yesterday afternoon and this morning? Teacher Zhou said you were not feeling well. Are you feeling better now?"

Xia Qinqin smiled and said, "I'm fine. As long as mom and dad are with me, I'll be fine."

Yang Yongming also ran over, looked at the two friends hugging each other, and interrupted, "Qinqin, I brought you some candy."

Xia Qinqin said: "I also brought some candies, which were sent to me by my grandparents and uncle. Let's share them together."

Several children walked to their benches. Fangfang and Qinqin sat down hand in hand. Yang Yongming wanted to sit on Qinqin's left side, but Lu Yannan walked straight over and sat down steadily.

Yang Yongming said in confusion: "Student Yannan, can we change seats?"

Lu Yannan: “No.”

Yang Yongming pouted unhappily and wanted to continue speaking, but facing Lu Yannan, he didn't know why he couldn't open his mouth.

Xia Qinqin took out the candy she brought from her bag and said to Yang Yongming who was standing there motionless: "Come and sit down, let's eat candy together."

Yang Yongming whispered, "Oh." and reluctantly sat down next to Lu Yannan.

"Let's have one each. Mom said that children can only eat one candy at a time. If you eat too much, your teeth will get worms."

Xia Qinqin handed one to Fangfang first, and Fangfang took it with a smile, "Thank you Qinqin~"

He then moved his hand to the side and spread out the two candies in his palm. Yang Yongming took one and said, "Thank you, Qinqin."

Xia Qinqin looked at Lu Yannan and asked, "Brother Yannan, don't you want to eat?"

"Oh, toffee is sweet too, you don't like it, right?"

Lu Yannan reached out and took the candy from Xia Qinqin's hand and said, "Thank you."

Xia Qinqin blinked. Oh, it turns out he also likes to eat candy.

Sure enough, there is no child who doesn’t like toffee.

Fangfang whispered, "Qinqin, Teacher Tang said he would teach us math today. Do you know what math is?"

Xia Qinqin said: "Are you counting? I can count to one thousand."

Fangfang was surprised: "Wow, you can count so many, that's amazing!"

Lu Yannan suddenly said: "Mathematics is the foundation of all scientific research. It is the language of communication among geniuses."

Xia Qinqin and Fangfang looked at each other in confusion. Yang Yongming said with candy in his mouth: "Wow, we have to learn foreign languages. My dad can speak Soviet."

Xia Qinqin said: "My mother can do it too, and she can speak English."

Lu Yannan suddenly turned to look at Xia Qinqin and said sternly, "Don't mention that you can speak English to others in the future." He then turned to Yang Yongming and said, "Don't speak Soviet either."

Xia Qinqin asked in confusion: "Why?"

Lu Yannan thought for a moment and said, "Because they are all the language of bad people. We should not mention them to others, otherwise others will think we are bad people."

He stared at Xia Qinqin, his amber eyes showing a seriousness beyond his age. He spoke word by word, "Do you understand?"

Xia Qinqin nodded inexplicably and said, "Oh, I see."

Student Lu is saying strange things again. Let's go home and tell Mom and Dad...

Meng Yufei returned to the office and had just put down her bag when Section Chief Chen from next door came to call her. Meng Yufei explained something to Xiao Zhang and followed Section Chief Chen to the supply and marketing cooperative.

The three people who were interviewed had already arrived. Zhao Meixia smiled and stood at the door to greet Meng Yufei and Section Chief Chen, and led them to the office to sit down. "Everything is ready. There won't be many people coming to the supply and marketing cooperative this afternoon, so let our store staff act as guests."

Section Chief Chen said, "Then you have to interview them carefully and give them problems that they often encounter in their work to see how they react on the spot."

Zhao Meixia nodded and said, "Okay, we will definitely cooperate with you. As a member of the supply and marketing cooperative, we also want to recruit a colleague with strong working ability."

After waiting for a while, Director Fu arrived and the interview began.

As Zhao Meixia said, the staff members acting as customers did raise many challenges and asked all the problems they had encountered in their years of work.

"Hey, why are these coarse cloths you sell so expensive? My hometown sells them 2 cents a foot cheaper than you. Can you give me a discount too?"

"I don't have any snack tickets. Please buy me a pack first and I'll pay you next time."

"What, sold out? How come they were sold out as soon as I arrived? Don't you want to sell it to me?"

…

When these questions were thrown out one by one, the expressions of these staff members were imitated very vividly. Meng Yufei felt that they must have enjoyed their performance very much.

The performance of these three interviewees was similar to what Meng Yufei had expected. Li Shuini had resigned in anger after being complained by parents when she was teaching a class before. She was not a person who could tolerate anything. Although she knew that this was an interview and the people in front of her were fake customers, Li Shuini still couldn't help but look unhappy when they were really criticized.

"It can't be cheap. The prices are different in every place."

"We have a rule that we cannot default on debts."

"Once it's sold out, it's sold out. If you don't believe me, just check it out for yourself."

…

She handled every problem well, but the expressions on her face changed from smiling to stiff to bored, which were all seen by the few people observing. It felt like she was suppressing her anger. If it wasn't an interview, there would have been a quarrel.

When it was Tong Caifeng's turn, she actually started arguing with someone. A customer rolled his eyes while speaking, and Tong Caifeng cursed back without thinking. The customer didn't give in either, and also retorted. The two of them started arguing before the interview was over...

Zhao Meixia and Section Chief Chen rushed over to stop them, one pulling them apart. Section Chief Chen said sternly, "Tong Caifeng, you are in an interview. Is it the right thing for a salesperson to argue with a customer like this?"

Tong Caifeng said angrily: "She did it on purpose, deliberately making things difficult for me!"

Section Chief Chen was speechless: "This is pretending to be a customer to buy things. Do you know what it means to pretend?"

Zhao Meixia also rebuked the people on her side, "Zheng Haiyan, why are you arguing with others again?"

Zheng Haiyan said: "I was just doing my job, pretending to be a customer and asking questions, but who knew she would start swearing at me right away."

Zhao Meixia pointed at her with her finger and turned to say, "Director, I'm sorry, this girl is too serious and pretends too much. I will criticize her when I get back."

Director Fu said, "This interview was originally meant to make things difficult for the interviewee. It has nothing to do with her."

Tong Caifeng was still yelling at Section Chief Chen, "This damn girl did it on purpose. Didn't you see how she rolled her eyes at me? It's so infuriating!"

Director Fu coughed and said loudly, "Chief Chen, please take the next person."

Section Chief Chen nodded, pulled Tong Caifeng to the back office, and called the last interviewee, Wei Shufang, to come out.

Zheng Haiyan looked at Tong Caifeng's angry back and stuck out her tongue. She did it on purpose!

Zheng Haiyan had received Tong Caifeng several times before when she came to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things. Every time, Tong Caifeng had the same attitude, arrogant and swearing.

This time, their identities were switched, and Zheng Haiyan was simply imitating Tong Caifeng's previous attitude towards her. She couldn't stand it before she had even said a few words.

Tong Caifeng usually talks to people like this. She has no idea when she offended Zheng Haiyan, and she can't understand why Zheng Haiyan deliberately makes things difficult for her. She just keeps yelling.

Wei Shufang did a much better job of these superficial efforts. After all, she had always been the "good stepmother" of the family home. She could handle these difficulties from customers with ease.

After the three people were interviewed, Director Fu, Section Chief Chen, Meng Yufei, and Zhao Meixia, the four of them voted.

As expected, all four of them voted for Wei Shufang. Their performance just now really made it impossible for them to vote for anyone else.

When the results came out, Li Shuini snorted and turned away. Tong Caifeng was obviously dissatisfied and wanted to yell, but Director Fu gave her a sharp look and she stopped talking.

Director Fu said, "There is a meeting at the military headquarters. I will leave first."

After seeing off Director Fu, Section Chief Chen said to Wei Shufang, "Since you have been chosen, why don't you come back to the office with me to handle the formalities? Director Zhao has been saying that he is short of staff. It would be better to handle the formalities earlier so that you can come to work earlier. Right, Director Zhao?"

Zhao Meixia nodded and smiled: "Yes, our supply and marketing cooperative welcomes new colleagues to come to work at any time."

Section Chief Chen asked Meng Yufei again: "Director Meng, let's go back together."

Meng Yufei said, "Chief Chen, you guys go back first. I still have something to discuss with Director Zhao about the procurement of materials for the May Day event."

Section Chief Chen nodded and said, "Then we'll leave first."

Before leaving, Wei Shufang looked at Meng Yufei and said with a smile, "Director Meng, I listened to your words yesterday and reported to Director Tian early this morning. I came to the interview with her consent."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "That's good. I hope everyone can do things according to the rules and order in the future."

After Section Chief Chen and Wei Shufang left the supply and marketing cooperative, Tong Caifeng was also about to leave, swearing. Meng Yufei suddenly asked, "Director Zhao, what were the criteria for selecting the three people for this interview?"

Zhao Meixia shook her head. "I don't know. It was the logistics department of your hospital that selected them. Director Meng, you didn't participate?"

Meng Yufei said, "I happened to be busy with work at this time, so I didn't get involved. I heard that Li Shuini was complained about when she was a teacher at school. She has a bad temper. Isn't she chosen here just to help the other two?"

Zhao Meixia glanced at Tong Caifeng who had stopped at the door, thinking that she was not as good as Li Shuini, but she nodded and said, "Yes, as salespeople, we need to have good temper and be able to communicate smoothly."

Meng Yufei said casually, "I feel like there are a lot of sisters-in-law with good personalities in the family home. I don't know why they were not selected, or why they didn't come to register. Oh, forget it, now that they have been selected, I won't say anything."

Tong Caifeng was listening intently, and Meng Yufei changed the subject: "Let's discuss the procurement of materials for the May Day event. There will be several performances, and we plan to give some benefits to the performers. What do you think we can provide?"

Zhao Meixia saw that she changed the subject and did not ask further questions. She followed her words and said, "Generally, the benefits provided by companies are probably towels, enamel cups, labor insurance gloves..."

The two began to discuss what to purchase, but Tong Caifeng's mind was filled with what she had just said. Yes, why did the Logistics Department choose the three of them for the interview?

First, she ruled out the issue of her own unworthiness.

Although Li Shuini is only a junior high school student, she had been assigned a job before. Not only did she not perform well, she was also complained about as a person with a "stain". How could such a person be selected!

And that Wei Shufang, she...she...

Tong Caifeng racked her brains to think of Wei Shufang's shortcomings: she had only a high school education, was a family member of a regiment commander, and had been with the army for two or three years.

By the way, Tong Caifeng’s eyes lit up when she thought of what Wei Shufang said at the end. She is still a kindergarten teacher now!

How can one person have two jobs!

It’s not fair, there must be something fishy going on!

Tong Caifeng left the supply and marketing cooperative in a huff and walked towards her family compound.

Meng Yufei said to Zhao Meixia, "Okay, the things you mentioned are all good. I'll go back and think about it. I'll come back to you to place an order after I've finalized the specific quantity."

Zhao Meixia smiled and said, "Okay, Sister Meng, come over anytime."

Tong Caifeng originally planned to go to the Logistics Department to question them, but when she arrived downstairs of the Logistics Department, she hesitated again. Thinking of the expressions of Director Fu and Section Chief Chen, she became a little scared.

When Meng Yufei came back, she happened to see Tong Caifeng standing downstairs hesitating. Seeing that she seemed to be preparing to go back, Meng Yufei stepped forward and said, "Sister Tong, what are you doing here? Are you dissatisfied with the result of this recruitment?"

Tong Caifeng rolled her eyes and said, "What do you care?"

Meng Yufei said, "Then I advise you not to go. Ever since the canteen pastry chef was reported for using a backdoor, the logistics department has been hiring openly for all jobs. The director has even specially formed a panel of judges, and the final selection is decided by everyone's vote."

Tong Caifeng asked: "Didn't you just say you didn't participate?"

Meng Yufei said: "Indeed, I didn't choose the three of you to go for the interview. But when the candidates were finally confirmed, I participated. Not only me, but also Director Zhao of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. This process was very fair."

"Who chose the three of us?" Tong Caifeng asked.

Meng Yufei: "I don't know about that. You can ask Section Chief Chen. Didn't you all register in the Personnel Department?"

After saying this, Meng Yufei went upstairs and returned to her office.

Tong Caifeng stayed where she was, rolled her eyes, and finally did not go upstairs, turning around and going home.

She has already thought of a way to seek justice for herself, and she is also going to write a letter to report it!

She also knew about the incident with the dim sum chef in the cafeteria. That incident caused a lot of uproar in the family compound and everyone knew about it.

Meng Yufei returned to the office. Section Chief Chen brought Wei Shufang, who had just finished the formalities, to the Finance Department. "Director Meng, I have already completed the formalities on my side. Please transfer Wei Shufang's salary to the Supply and Marketing Cooperative as well."

After the army took over the supply and marketing cooperative, the payment of wages also became the army's responsibility. The Logistics Headquarters transferred the wages of the supply and marketing cooperative employees to the family compound.

Meng Yufei nodded and said, "Okay, has the pay slip come out?"

Section Chief Chen passed the note in his hand over and said, "Yes, it has come out."

Meng Yufei took the note, looked down at the salary on it, raised her eyebrows and thought that this was fast enough.

Wei Shufang smiled and said, "Director Meng, thank you for your help."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "You're welcome. This is my job responsibility."

Section Chief Chen said, "Okay, I'll go back first."

"Chief Chen," Meng Yufei called her and said deliberately, "I just saw Tong Caifeng downstairs. She seemed to have something to talk to you about. I saw that she didn't look very well and she was still mumbling about unfairness."

As soon as these words came out, Section Chief Chen and Wei Shufang's faces changed. Section Chief Chen quickly regained his composure and said helplessly, "This Tong Caifeng is indeed as unreasonable as everyone said. We chose her for the interview because we took into account her hard work. I didn't expect that this would backfire. Director Meng, you also saw her performance in the interview this afternoon. It was really unfair to choose her."

Meng Yufei nodded and said, "Yes, according to the performance in the interview, choosing Sister Wei is a fair and just result."

After Section Chief Chen left, Meng Yufei said to Wei Shufang, "I have already paid you the salary for the kindergarten this month. The salary of the supply and marketing cooperative is 1.2 yuan more than that of the kindergarten teachers. I will give you the additional salary next month."

Wei Shufang nodded: "Okay, there's no rush."

After she left, Xiao Zhang said, "Sister Meng, it really is Wei Shufang."

"Yes, she performed the best during the interview and was elected unanimously."

Meng Yufei packed her bag while talking. She looked at her watch and saw that there were still ten minutes until the end of get off work. "Xiao Zhang, I have something to do. I'm leaving first."

Xiao Zhang nodded and said, "Okay."

Meng Yufei quickened her pace and followed Wei Shufang to the kindergarten. When she saw her reach out and push open the gate and walk in, Meng Yufei followed her into the yard.

Wei Shufang glanced at the large classroom, then turned to the small class. Meng Yufei followed her and saw her talking to Mrs. Zhang at the door. They were probably doing the final handover.

Meng Yufei turned around and went to the window of the senior classroom. She heard the innocent singing of the children. Zhou Wenqian was teaching them to sing.

Meng Yufei's eyes stayed on Xia Qinqin. She was singing along with the teacher seriously, her mouth opening and closing, her eyes full of smiles.

Lu Yannan next to him opened his mouth expressionlessly, his handsome eyes and brows full of impatience and resistance, forming a sharp contrast with the other happy children.

After singing a song, Zhou Wenqian said, "Okay, let's stop here today. Let's continue learning tomorrow. See you tomorrow!"

The child shouted happily: "See you tomorrow, teacher!"

Several children with bags walked to the front of the classroom and lined up skillfully. Zhou Wenqian took down the bags hanging on the nails one by one and handed them to them.

"Nuo, this is Xia Qinqin's backpack."

"Thank you, teacher~"

"Lu Yannan, your shoulder bag."

"Thank you!"

Xia Qinqin put on her own backpack. These past few days, she had been carrying the small schoolbag made by Meng Mu that was sent by Hai City. She looked at Lu Yannan's green shoulder bag and said, "I have a schoolbag of the same color as yours. How about I carry that small bag tomorrow?"

Lu Yannan slung the bag over his shoulder and said calmly, “It’s up to you.”

Xia Qinqin turned her head and saw Meng Yufei at the classroom door. She opened her mouth in surprise and blinked her eyes. It was really her mother!

Lu Yannan didn't hear what Xia Qinqin said, and turned around and said, "If you want to carry..."

"Mom!" Xia Qinqin ran out and threw herself into Meng Yufei's arms, smiling and asking, "Why did you come to the classroom to pick me up?"

Meng Yufei reached out and tidied up her daughter's hair, and said with a smile, "I just happened to be looking for Teacher Zhou. I just heard you singing at the door. You sang very well."

Xia Qinqin raised her chin proudly and said, "Mom, I remember all the lyrics of this song."

Meng Yufei praised: "Really, that's great, Qinqin has such a good memory."

Zhou Wenqian came over and said, "Sister Meng, did you hear their song at the door just now? What do you think of this song?"

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "I think it's very good."

I, Zhou Wenqian, said, "I would also like to add some simple dancing. I feel that singing alone is a bit monotonous."

"Of course, it would be better if there was dancing. I didn't mention it because I was afraid you wouldn't be busy enough." Meng Yufei smiled and said, "The children are too young. It would be difficult to teach them."

Zhou Wenqian said, "It's okay. I designed some simple dances for the children. They don't need complicated movements. They are just to match the song and make it more vivid."

Meng Yufei nodded and said, "Okay, you can give full play to your creativity. We are looking forward to your achievements."

When Xia Qinqin heard that they were going to learn dancing, she asked, "Teacher Zhou, do we all have to dance?"

Zhou Wenqian bent down and smiled: "Yes, do you like dancing?"

Xia Qinqin nodded: "I like it. I am a big kid now and I can learn to dance too."

Lu Yannan came over at some point and raised his head and said, "Teacher Zhou, I don't want to dance."

Zhou Wenqian said, "Okay, for those kids who don't like dancing, I'll design a dance for you guys to stand there and sing, okay?"

Lu Yannan added: "I don't want to sing either."

Xia Qinqin looked at him and asked, "Student Lu, why don't you think about anything? Singing and dancing is so much fun."

Zhou Wenqian looked at him and advised: "Yannan, every child in the class is learning to sing, you should join them too. This is the first chorus of the whole class, everyone should participate."

Xia Qinqin nodded and said, "That's right, that's right! Every child should sing. You can't stop singing just because you don't sing well. You have to overcome difficulties!"

Zhou Wenqian said: "Yannan has a good memory and he memorized the lyrics quickly. We can practice singing slowly."

Lu Yannan turned away unhappily and said unconvincedly, "What's so difficult about singing?"

Zhou Wenqian smiled and said, "Then we will continue studying tomorrow."

"Okay, let's go home first." Meng Yufei said goodbye to Zhou Wenqian and left the kindergarten with the two of them. "Yannan, come to our house for dinner tonight."

Lu Yannan nodded and whispered, "Well, okay."