"Number 123! Number 123, are you there?"
"Yes! I'm here."
Gu Qingqing stood up, tidied her hair, and straightened out her attire. Sitting beside her were a couple of sexy-looking women fixing their makeup. As for Gu Qingqing, she had just put on some basic foundation paired with simple clothing. The women flashed her dirty looks the moment she stood up, wondering if Gu Qingqing even knew what job she was about to sign up for. With such uncomplicated makeup and sparse attire, they thought it would be impossible that she would become the account executive of Xu Yi.
However, the smiles on their faces did not last long. Every single one who came out from the interview room was upset and dejected. One of them even started to cry as she stepped out of the room. It was apparent that it wasn't going to be an easy interview. The pressure bearing down on Gu Qingqing right now was almost unthinkable. Since her number was 123, 122 people must have walked through those doors before she did. The ratio now was 123:1, no different from acing the national exam.
Gu Qingqing drew in a deep breath before entering the room. No doubt, she was shaking in nervousness and anxiety right now. Previously, she had applied as a mere intern at Ming Sheng Company. All she needed to do was to write a simple resume and submit it to them.
As she gingerly stepped into the room, she spotted a single chair placed at the center. There was a long office table made of redwood beside the window and behind it, sat two women and a man. From the way they dressed, Gu Qingqing knew that they were the no-nonsense, straight-to-the-point, meticulous lot.
Pushing her dress aside, Gu Qingqing sat on the chair.
Moments later, the man with a receding hairline who was sitting in between the women looked up from the papers he was examining and scrutinized Gu Qingqing hard through a pair of glasses.
"Number 123?"
"Yes."
"What is your name?"
"Gu Qingiqng."
Unexpectedly, the man no longer looked at her in disdain. He then took a look at her resume, and his mood started to lift! At the sound of her name, the man seemed to relax his gaze. As he examined her particulars again, his bad mood seemed to improve significantly.
"Ms. Gu, you have a master's in advertising, right? Do you have any prior working experience related to this field?"
"I was an intern in my previous company, and I was given a position related to advertising planning," said Gu Qingqing as she nodded.
"May I know which company?"
"Ming Sheng, a tiny establishment."
When she left the interview room, Gu Qingqing was in bewilderment. If the interviewers were not happy with her, why were they smiling all the way? And if they were pleased with her, then why did they ask so little.
A few other women who were waiting for their turn smirked and giggled at her sarcastically when she stepped out of the room.
"If a woman like her gets to become the AE of Xu Yi, I'm sure there must be some scandal behind it!"
Gu Qingqing turned out to be the last candidate. Not too long after she had left the room, the officials came out to announce the results.
"Number 123, please stay back."
The noisy room suddenly fell into a hushed silence, with everyone left stunned as the news hit them.
"Why her?!" shouted one woman.
"Our general manager has personally hand-picked her. Feel free to direct any queries to him. Oh, speaking of our manager, here he is."
Everyone swiftly turned around, seeing several people walking briskly toward them. Heading the group was a man called Lin Zhouyi.
"Why him? Why him?!"
Evidently, Gu Qingqing was not the only one startled, for everyone else felt the same as well.
Standing amongst the large group of people, Liu Zhouyi had a broad smile on him. Though he looked calm and composed, his actions and demeanor proved that he was indeed a well-qualified leader.
"Greetings, manager!"
All the interviewers bowed their heads and greeted him.