Damn interview
The morning sunlight streamed through the gaps in the curtains, casting a diagonal line on the floor of the cramped rented room, with countless cat hairs floating in the sunlight.
In the mountain of cat food in the locker, a calico cat with glossy fur was rolling around contentedly. Her paws deftly pried open a can of meat, and her fluffy tail wagged happily.
After wolfing down her food, Sanhua stretched and said, "Meow meow meow meow—that's all for this week's footage."
The phone, still lit up red on the tripod high up, indicated "recording." Sanhua closed the locker, jumped to the high place, and ended the recording.
"Perfect." She looked back at the video she had just filmed; it was cute with an unintentional humor, just like a real cat.
Then Sanhua, with her phone in her mouth, jumped onto the unmade bed, and the old spring mattress immediately creaked.
Three-flower rolled wearily on the sheet, and as the sunlight shone on her yellow, black, and white fur, the surrounding space began to distort.
The fur slowly shed, the bones stretched out, and when the sunlight moved away, a human woman with messy hair was lying on the bed.
Yun Jin reached for the tattered charger on the bedside table, plugged it in, and her phone started charging with a "buzz".
A blue software popped up with a message.
"After comprehensive evaluation, your resume does not currently match the department's job requirements. We apologize!"
Yun Jin stared at the notification on the screen, her thoughts drifting away.
“Your academic qualifications and professional skills are excellent,” the HR said in a gentle but authoritative tone, “but we need a more outgoing and lively candidate for this position.”
Yun Jin wore a polite, fake smile, but her hands were already clenched into fists.
It's just a basic cashier position with a monthly salary of less than 3,000 yuan, yet it requires a junior accounting certificate, an Excel skills test, and relevant internship experience...
She met almost all the requirements, but failed here. She tried her best to appear outgoing and lively in the interview, but the HR still saw through her at a glance.
Yun Jin was indignant about this. What did being introverted offend anyone? Why should we, law-abiding citizens who neither stole nor robbed, be discriminated against?
After complaining for a while, Yun Jin sighed again. The current job market was indeed bad. In the end, things like academic qualifications, certificates, and internship experience were not as useful as her innate cat tail.
Thinking of this, faint cat ears appeared in Yun Jin's thick black hair. Through her practice of transforming into a cat over this period of time, she had mastered how to change the shape of a certain part of her body.
Who would have thought that the cat demon bloodline that we've always hated would now become an important helper at work?
Actually, the idea of becoming a pet blogger came from a sudden inspiration while scrolling through a mobile phone.
One ordinary night, Yun Jin came across an adorable pet video. It showed a beautiful Ragdoll cat taking a bath, and the number of likes next to it was "100,000+".
"Why didn't I think of that?" Yun Jin murmured to herself in the mirror, where a calico cat holding a cell phone quickly appeared.
During the first shoot, Yun Jin's cat-loving nature came out, and she became stiff and unnatural in front of the camera. However, when she looked back, she realized that these behaviors would be considered cute and playful when applied to a cat.
So, in the days that followed, this rented room of less than ten square meters became her film set.
By setting up a tripod high up and placing a mobile phone on it, one can simulate a surveillance perspective. Yun Jin even subscribed to a membership to better edit videos, although she never actually used it.
A video of her struggling with a charging cable earned her 10,000 followers overnight.
The account "Yunmiaomiao's Daily Life" has now accumulated more than 50,000 followers.
"I'm so smart." Yun Jin lay on the bed, selected tags for the video she had just taken, and then uploaded it.
"Beep beep beep".
The combination lock suddenly clicked, and Yun Jin conjured cat ears, holding her breath to listen to the sounds outside the door.
However, she quickly put away her cat ears, because she was all too familiar with this sound.
The door was slammed open, and a girl with messy bun hair stumbled in.
She was holding two rickety rolls of toilet paper in one hand and a red takeout bag in the other.
"Sis, this place is practically a complete junkyard." Yun Chen kicked the cat toy off the floor and slammed the takeout down on the relatively clean computer desk.
Yun Jin didn't understand why Yun Chen insisted on calling her "older sister," even though she had only been out a few minutes earlier than him.
Yun Jin didn't even bother to lift her eyelids, simply placing her arm across her face: "Yun Chen, why are you back at the boss so early today, showing him mercy?"
"The boss has disappeared without a trace."
As Yun Chen spoke, he cleared a small space. He almost kicked over the glass bowl containing cat food when he turned around. He stood on tiptoe to stuff the toilet paper rolls on top of the wardrobe, but ended up knocking the tripod over.
She sighed and gave up her futile struggle.
"The company has even emptied out all the office chairs." Yun Chen plopped down in the gaming chair, turned around to face Yun Chen, and said, "The HR lady took pity on me and stuffed two rolls of toilet paper into my hand."
Yun Jin got up and opened the takeout, the rising steam spreading in front of her: "I'll mourn for your new job for three seconds, Amen."
"Come on," Yun Chen said, unscrewing the bottle of mineral water and taking a big gulp. "That lousy company should have gone bankrupt long ago. Last week they made me run errands and wouldn't even reimburse the transportation costs. The day before yesterday they wanted me to Photoshop bank statements. Luckily I didn't..."
Yun Jin shook her head, opened her tablet to check the latest video, "Cat Steals Canned Food," which was seeing its views and likes skyrocket.
Yun Chen walked over and glanced at the screen. "Wait, didn't you just post a new video? How come it has so many likes?"
Yun Jin's fluffy tail had appeared out of nowhere and was swaying proudly from side to side.
"This isn't fair! We're born of the same mother, so why can you turn into a cat while I can only turn into a cow or a horse?" Yun Chen wailed.
Strangely enough, Yun Chen couldn't transform into a human when he was young, and he couldn't transform into a cat when he grew up. Their mother once thought Yun Chen was mentally challenged.
“Let me join you, dear sister,” Yun Chen’s voice cracked with a cheeky grin. “I’m currently unemployed.”
Yun Jin picked out all the scallions from the shredded pork with garlic sauce, thought for a moment, and then said, "Okay, I'll give you three packs of toilet paper a month, including accommodation but not food."
Yun Chen leaned closer, resting his chin on Yun Jin's shoulder and rubbing against her: "I knew it, sister, you're the best to me."
Yun Jin was infuriated by her sister's shrill voice: "Yun Chen! If you keep being so disgusting, I'll throw you out with the toilet paper!"
Yun Chen successfully upset his older sister and sat back down in his gaming chair, looking smug.
At that moment, a private message popped up.
Upon seeing the message, Yun Chen jumped up from his gaming chair, nearly knocking over the water bottle in his hand.
Her eyes widened, and her finger trembled as she pointed at the screen: "Sis, come look at this!"
Yun Jin lowered her head and combed her large tail: "What's wrong?"
Yun Chen scooped up the tablet and rushed to Yun Jin in a few strides, shouting, "The 'Amazing Furry Friends' program team wants to collaborate with you!"
The private messaging interface on the screen clearly displays:
[Hello, I'm Xiaolin, assistant director of "Amazing Furry Friends." Our production team was deeply impressed by your video concept and sincerely invites you to participate in the audition this afternoon. Latecomers will be disqualified. A million-dollar reward awaits you!]
Yun Jin instantly released her tail, snatched the tablet, and exclaimed in disbelief, "Could this be a scam?"
"I just checked, it's an officially verified account with a blue V mark." Yun Chen excitedly pointed to the profile page, "They do invite celebrity pets to participate in the filming."
Yun Jin's tail unconsciously curved into a question mark shape in the air.
"This is too unreal. I'm such a small blogger, it must be a scam..." Yun Jin muttered to herself, her cat ears standing up and turning anxiously on her head.
Without saying a word, Yun Chen grabbed her arm.
"Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Yun Jin jumped up suddenly.
"See, it's not a dream." Yun Chen quickly swiped his phone screen. "But don't get too excited yet. I checked the updates of other pet bloggers, and the selection process is still very strict."
"Okay." Yun Jin's ears, which had just perked up, drooped again.
“I want to give it a try, but I’m really traumatized by these interviews…” Yun Jin paced back and forth anxiously, “But he said there’s a million-dollar salary…”
As she walked, Yun Jin's figure honestly shrank, and before long, a distressed calico cat appeared.
"Sis, so cute." Yun Chen patted her head, then took out a breathable cat carrier.
After jumping into the cat carrier, Yun Jin was still wondering, "But then again, what if there are a lot of people there... What if I suddenly reveal my true form? Will I be captured and used for experiments...?"
"Relax!" Yun Chen zipped up the breathable mesh. "Be confident, sis. You're human, how could you not compete with a cat using the intelligence you've honed over the years?"
The sound of a pet delivery van horn came from downstairs, and Yun Chen grabbed the cat and rushed out the door.
Outside the car window, Yun Jin peered through the mesh of her cat carrier's ventilation holes at the endless stream of cars, her anxious tail unconsciously patting the seat.
The driver's navigation system mechanically announced: "Destination is 500 meters ahead. The total distance for this trip is 13.4 kilometers. Passengers getting off, please gather your belongings..."
"I don't think I'm ready yet," Yun Jin said weakly. "Why don't we go back?"
"Since we're already here," Yun Chen said in the most common Chinese language.
Following the signs, turn left and then right, and you'll arrive at a makeshift tent where a long queue has already formed, with many well-known pet bloggers waiting for their interviews.
After registering their information at the front desk, Yun Chen and Yun Jin lined up at the back of the queue.
Looking out through the breathable net, Yun Jin saw that the line was crowded with strange and unusual groups.
A blonde girl walks a poodle dressed in a Lolita dress; an old man with white hair has a myna bird wearing a bow tie perched on his shoulder, spewing profanities; and a bald man has a huge golden python coiled around him...
"Sis, we're so lame," Yun Chen muttered, her fingers unconsciously tightening around the cat carrier strap.
"Let's go home." Yun Jin huddled in the cat carrier, backing out. "There are so many people..."
Cats are sometimes like that; they're full of ambition in their imaginations, but their ambitions crumble in the face of reality.
The line moved slowly, and when the setting sun shone into Yun Jin's cat-shaped bag, it was finally their turn.
"Uh... I'm Yunmiaomiao's Daily Life, a pet blogger. This is my cat, Xiaoyun."
Facing the row of serious-looking interviewers sitting in the small room, Yun Chen's voice trembled slightly, and he slid his fingers across the cat carrier's clasp several times before finally opening it.
Yun Jin walked out awkwardly, her tail stiff as an antenna, all her previous movements were now useless.
"I'm sorry," the female producer slammed the folder shut, "the 'cute pet' category is already full."
“But we came as soon as we received the notice,” Yun Chen felt it was unfair, “and after we arrived, we’ve been waiting until now…”
"Besides, you don't have enough fans." The man with glasses didn't even look up. "Even if you had come earlier, you wouldn't have been selected. I'm sorry..."
Yun Jin pressed her ears to her head, hearing her heart pounding. Just like in the previous interview, the HR person said in the same tone, "We've already filled our positions. Thank you for coming all this way..."
Suddenly, Yun Jin had a flash of inspiration.
Large tears rolled down her cheeks, her ears were pressed back flat, her pupils dilated to almost fill her entire eye sockets, and her pink nose twitched slightly.
Yun Jin jumped directly into the female producer's arms and kept rubbing her fluffy head against her hand.
The female producer's voice instantly rose eight octaves, her carefully maintained professional image shattered, "Sweetie, I didn't mean to be mean to you..."
Just as her trembling fingers were about to touch the cat's ears, Yun Jin suddenly rolled over, revealing her snow-white belly, and her tail casually hooked onto her hand.
"Wow—!" The whole place erupted in cheers.
The producer wearing glasses had already taken out his phone and started snapping photos like crazy. The originally small room was instantly crammed with seven or eight staff members. Some held up cat treats to tempt her, while others secretly reached out to touch her tail.
Yun Chen quickly pressed his advantage: "Our Xiao Yun is exceptionally perceptive, why don't you reconsider?"
"Hmm... Congratulations on being selected!" The female producer was completely captivated, even smearing lipstick on Yun Jin's head. "Let's talk about the contract tomorrow... Oh my god, she's kneading her breasts!"
Amid the chaos of everyone scrambling to touch her, Yun Jin suddenly felt a tightness on the back of her neck and was unexpectedly lifted into the air.
A pair of light purple eyes appeared before Yun Jin's eyes.
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