Chapter 60

Chapter 60

The two of them, both absolutely certain they would win, had made a bet. However, the interview results were a total shock.

They were both rejected.

Nan Mu: “…” Impossible! I don’t believe it!

Clutching his resume, Nan Mu marched straight into the HR office. “Excuse me! Could you please tell me why I didn’t pass the interview? Was there something wrong with my answers?”

“No, no, it’s just that you don’t quite fit the requirements for this position.” The HR representative was a young woman. Seeing Nan Mu walk in, she wasn’t startled; instead, her face flushed red. “I really hoped you would pass, but our supervisor didn’t agree…”

Nan Mu wasn’t buying that excuse. “How do I not fit? My major? If my major didn’t fit, why didn’t you just filter out my resume from the start? Why invite me for an interview at all? Since you did invite me, you shouldn’t just focus on my major. Look at the foreign language requirements for a sales position, the educational background, the capabilities… your supervisor said during the interview that good communication skills were needed. Are my communication skills not good enough? Please, tell me exactly why you’re rejecting me.”

The young HR girl’s face turned beet red. She couldn’t exactly say she had called him in just to meet her quota for the number of interviewees. So, she made up an excuse. “It’s… it’s because you don’t have… experience working in the pharmaceutical industry.”

Nan Mu let out a cold laugh upon hearing this. “The guy in line ahead of me earlier didn’t have pharmaceutical experience either, yet didn’t you hire him?”

Another HR staff member sitting at a different workstation appeared to be older. She stood up impatiently and said, “If you weren’t hired, you weren’t hired. Since you don’t want to hear these polite formalities, I’ll give it to you straight. You graduated from A University of Science and Technology. Looking at your resume, your grades in Materials Science are quite high. Why are you trying to switch fields? Besides, with a resume as impressive as yours, where couldn’t you find a job? Why come here to interview for a run-of-the-mill sales position?”

Nan Mu was momentarily speechless, while Wen Miao stifled a laugh behind his back. See? She had guessed right.

Seeing that Nan Mu seemed to have lost his momentum, the HR woman’s attitude became even more aggressive. “I bet you students just want to get an internship report signed, don’t you? Let me tell you, when our company hires for sales, we want long-term employees. When you newbies come in, we have to provide training. Isn’t the training cost an expense? How long would you college students even stick around? You’d definitely quit after a few months… You come in for two or three months to finish your internship report and leave, but have you thought about the cost to the company for cultivating talent?”

The HR woman got more worked up as she ranted, as if she were venting months of pent-up frustration. She showed no signs of stopping.

Nan Mu also started to regret coming back to demand an explanation for his rejection. He secretly nudged Wen Miao’s arm with his elbow.

Nan Mu was strong; even though he only gave her a light push, it sent Wen Miao stumbling forward.

“What, do you have a problem too?”

The HR woman asked with a frown, looking at Wen Miao who had suddenly burst in front of her.

Wen Miao: “…”

A single thought flashed through her mind: *Uhh… my brain is short-circuiting…*

But given the situation, she could only bite the bullet and ask, “I-I really do want to work here. Why was I eliminated too?”

The HR woman’s expression softened slightly. “As for you, there’s nothing wrong with anything else, but you have to understand that our sales positions require constant interaction with people. You need to be thick-skinned and know how to drink. In my opinion, you’re better suited for something like a secretarial or clerical role. You should try other companies; you’ll probably be successful there.”
Wen Miao remembered that Hongyun Pharmaceutical seemed to have an opening for a clerk. She eagerly asked, “Then can I apply for the clerk position instead? Do I need another interview?”

The HR officer froze for a moment and coughed several times. He suddenly glanced at the young HR girl and fell silent.

The girl also gave the two of them an awkward smile, then pulled Wen Miao along, saying she would see them out.

As soon as the three of them left the office, the girl couldn’t hold it back anymore. “Listen, don’t bother applying to our company again. It’s just a waste of time.”

Wen Miao was completely bewildered. “Huh? Why do you say that?”

“Do you remember the last question you answered during the interview?”

Wen Miao thought about it. “‘Have you ever had your rights infringed upon by others? If you encountered an infringement issue, how do you believe it should be correctly handled…’ That one?”

The girl nodded. “Exactly. To be honest with you, that question… you answered it wrong!”

Wen Miao was shocked. That was the ‘correct’ answer she had found on Baidu for how to properly protect one’s rights. “Where did I go wrong?”

“Sigh.” The girl waved her hand. “It’s not that you answered poorly. It’s that you answered it too well.”

Wen Miao: “…”

The girl continued, “Our company… well, there’s overtime, 996 schedules… there’s just a lot going on. Because you answered so well, the company leadership is scared. They’re afraid you won’t follow orders and that you’ll end up bringing a lawsuit against the company.”

Wen Miao: “…”

So the standard for this question was that the worse the answer, the better.

It seemed like those eighty-eight yuan from yesterday were worth it… and yet, somehow not worth it at all…

===

Wen Miao and Nan Mu walked out of Hongyun Pharmaceutical with their resumes, looking at each other.

“What do we do now?” Both of them had been rejected. Did they still have a chance to find out which medical examination center Hongyun Pharmaceutical partnered with?

“Hey! Mom! I passed the interview! …Right, right, at Hongyun Pharmaceutical… Of course, it’s the top pharmaceutical company in City A… A big dinner tonight? Great, great… I won’t be back that soon. I have to go for the pre-employment physical. All the big companies do this…”

Walking ahead, Wen Miao and Nan Mu suddenly locked eyes. With silent understanding, they stopped and turned around to wait for the guy on the phone to catch up.

He was the one Nan Mu had mentioned in the HR office-the fresh graduate with no experience.

The two followed him quietly. Once the guy hung up, they approached him.

“Hi, I saw you earlier. Did you pass the Hongyun Pharmaceutical interview too?”

The guy was startled, but he quickly recognized the girl in front of him. After all, among the group of interviewees, this girl had been particularly eye-catching. Her long black hair reached her waist, with the ends curling slightly to add a touch of playfulness. Her almond eyes were bright and soulful, and when she smiled, her eyes curved into crescents, making it easy for anyone to feel well-disposed toward her.

“Yes.” The guy’s ears turned slightly red. “You were in the same interview as me… Did you pass?”

Wen Miao’s eyes darted as she smiled. “I passed… So we’ll be colleagues from now on. Are you going for your physical this afternoon?”

“Yes, I think our batch is all scheduled for this afternoon.”

“Hmm… but I’m not really familiar with the location for the checkup. Do you know how to get there?”

The guy scratched his head. “I’ve never been there either… How about I check where it is?”

“That would be great!” Wen Miao said with a beaming smile. “My place happens to be nearby. Could you check which bus I should take from here to get there?”