The Day of the Interview.
Johny Lee was terrified that Sarah and Maggi's expectations would crush him.
He was also afraid of causing them emotional whiplash if he failed, So, he hadn't dared to tell either of them that today was the big day.
After forcing down a bowl of porridge for breakfast to settle his stomach, Johny secretly tucked his admission ticket, ID card, and other documents into his inside pocket. He slipped out of the house, hailed a taxi, and headed alone for the battlefield.
White Cloud Times Building.
The 22nd floor was lined with a row of nondescript offices, neither large nor small. Each door bore a sign: Earthquake Bureau, Customs Office, and so on...
After asking a passing attendant, Johny followed her directions to the very end of the hall. Finally, he found Room 2216 in an inconspicuous corner.
There was no sign for the "Personnel Bureau" or the "Political Department." Instead, a simple piece of A4 paper with the words 'Waiting Room' was taped to the center of the door.
The door was wide open, and the stale smell of cigarette smoke drifted out.
Johny checked his watch.
It was still more than ten minutes before nine o'clock. He nervously clenched his fists, took a deep breath, and knocked on the doorframe.
"Come in," a man's rough voice called out.
Johny stepped inside.
"Hello. I'm Johny Lee.I'm here for the interview today."
"Oh, Let me see your documents."
Behind a large desk sat two middle-aged men in casual clothes.One was tall, around forty-five; the other was short, perhaps fifty. After scrutinizing Johny's admission ticket and ID, they gestured for him to sit down.
There was only one empty chair in front of the desk, directly facing the examiners. It was positioned slightly lower than their seats, forcing Johny to look up at them.
After sitting up straight, Johny felt his heart pounding uncontrollably against his ribs.
Before long, a middle-aged woman walked in from the hallway.
She nodded to the tall and short men and sat down next to them behind the desk.
"It's about time," the Tall Man said, checking his watch and holding up a stack of documents.
"Shall we begin?"
Johny stiffly uttered a single word: ".....Okay."
It wasn't surprising that he was nervous.
He had originally calculated that with his cheated written test scores, he would rank in the top three among the applicants. However, the woman from the Political Department had informed him on the phone that he was ranked fourth.
There were only four openings.
He was the last person inside the safety zone. If he wasn't careful.....if he stumbled even slightly, the candidates ranked fifth or sixth could easily surpass his total score with a strong interview performance and steal his spot.
One wrong step, and the whole game was lost.
Johny was facing the biggest challenge of his life.
Across the desk, the three examiners exchanged glances.
Finally, the Tall Man cleared his throat and spoke in a serious tone.
"What are your thoughts on this year's stock market?"
Here it comes! Johny's mind raced.
He had traded stocks before, playing around with his mother's savings back when they had money, so he knew the mechanics. Plus, he watched the financial news daily. There were many angles he could take.
Just as he was about to open his mouth to discuss trends and P/E ratios, he remembered something Grandpa Hu had told him during their tutoring sessions:
Don't underestimate any question; there's always a deeper meaning within.
That was close!
I almost started analyzing market trends like a day trader.They probably weren't testing whether he knew how to trade stocks.
They were testing his macro-perspective.
Johny composed himself and spoke after a thoughtful pause.
"In the first half of the year, the market performed well, showing a steady upward trend. I think this reflects the stability of the broader economy. From a policy perspective...."
He used the stock market performance as a springboard to analyze the national economy.
This was all knowledge he had crammed in over the past week. It wasn't particularly brilliant...essentially regurgitating textbook answers but it was standard, safe, and error-free.
It's best to be conservative. As long as I don't make a mistake, I can hold onto the fourth position.
"...And that concludes my answer," Johny said, letting out a long breath after two minutes of speaking.
The Tall Man looked at him with a blank expression.
"That's it?"
Johny was taken aback.
"...Yes, that's it."
What did he mean? Did I answer incorrectly?
The Tall Man didn't say anything further. He, the Short Man, and the Woman all scribbled on their notepads, seemingly writing comments.
Then the Tall Man flipped through the documents in his hand and spoke indifferently.
"If you were a civil servant and grassroots units frequently offered you many opinions through the internet, what would you do?"
Johny thought for a few seconds.
Suddenly, a fixed answer pattern he had memorized flashed in his mind...a kind of 'bureaucratic, structured' answer format. It felt appropriate here.
He immediately combined several phrases in his mind. "Currently, the internet has become an essential channel for gathering public opinion and reflecting the people's concerns. Grassroots units use the internet to offer opinions to higher authorities and report problems promptly.
As a higher authority, we must respond efficiently...."
He rattled off a paragraph as if reciting a government handbook.
Two minutes passed.
"...My answer is finished."
The Tall Man shook the documents in his hand, looking unimpressed.
"Is that all?" Not enough?
Johny blinked, feeling a spike of anxiety. He quickly grabbed another passage from his memory banks.
"If the opinions raised by grassroots units concern our work attitude or methods, I will collect these opinions, hold departmental meetings, actively correct our approach, and improve our service quality.
If the grassroots units..."
He spoke for another two minutes, trying to cover every base.
The Woman and the Short Man were writing with their heads down.
The Tall Man used the exact same tone as before. "Nothing else?"
The female examiner frowned. She tilted her head and glanced at the Tall Man, though she didn't speak.
The Short Man remained as steady as a mountain, tapping the desk with his pen, rarely looking up.
"...Uh, no. That's it." Johny felt a wave of depression.
He didn't want to talk anymore.
The next few questions followed the same pattern.
Johny felt his answers were appropriate and standard, but the Tall Man...who seemed to have woken up on the wrong side of the bed always followed up with dismissive phrases.
"That's it?"
"Finished?"
"Is that all?"
"What about other angles?"
"Nothing else?"
It sounded as if Johny's answers were garbage. Regardless of how he answered, the Tall Man's tone was aggressive and dismissive, designed to mislead and influence the scores of the other two examiners.
Damn, who did I offend?
Why is he so stifling?
Are all civil servant interviews like this? No, that can't be right.
I've never heard anyone describe it this way!
Johny's heart sank like a stone.
He knew this wasn't going well.
And being sensitive to social cues, he detected a hint of deliberate difficulty in the Tall Man's tone.
This wasn't just tough interviewing; it felt personal.
This is bad! Things are going to go wrong!!
Authors Note:-
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