Riding the wind of rebirth

"Wow! This scenery is so beautiful!" As the car turned onto the road leading to Lianhe Town, the landscape changed dramatically. Streams and forests began to appear occasionally along the roadside, no longer the barren landscape or uniform pine forests we saw outside. Everyone's eyes were filled with lush greenery: "What's the reason for this?"

"This is because the Meigu River Valley has a unique climate due to the obstruction of several mountains," Zhou Zhi said. "In addition, the forests in this area have not been extensively damaged in the past few decades, so the ecology has been relatively well preserved. What you see on both sides of the road now are mostly virgin forests, which is quite rare around Xichang in Liangshan Prefecture."

"Further in, coming down from behind Lianhe Town, is the famous Dafengding Nature Reserve. The road we are on now is actually the spur of several Dafengding mountain ranges. Lianhe Township is actually located on a semi-slope terrace in a small basin, higher than the Anning River Valley and lower than Dafengding, and it is nestled up, so the landscape is quite unique."

"Xiao Miao said you have giant pandas here?"

“Giant pandas are over at Dafengding, they won’t come this way,” Zhou Zhi laughed. “I’ve been here for so long, and I’ve only seen one once from afar when I was riding horses with Xiao Miao by the reservoir in the back mountain.”

"Here you can find all sorts of birds, such as pheasants, pheasants, and owls; mammals like muntjacs, deer, and red pandas; several kinds of frogs; and salamanders and giant salamanders, which are all quite common."

"By the way, you can occasionally see Yunnan snub-nosed monkeys."

"But that's not possible now. The road from Meigu to Lianhe Town is too busy now, with cars of all sizes driving back and forth. Wild animals are very cautious, but there are far fewer of them here."

"Huh? What's that up ahead?" Yan Xiao had excellent eyesight; even sitting in the back seat, he could see a huge bird perched on a water-dividing stone in the distance of a stream ahead: "What a huge bird!"

"A monkey-eating eagle! A monkey-eating eagle without its disguise!" Liang Hong followed Yan Xiao's finger and also spotted the large bird on the distant stream rocks.

The large bird seemed to still be pecking at something under its claws. It didn't seem afraid when a car passed by, perhaps because it couldn't bear to leave the food under its claws. It raised its bald head, glanced at the food, and then continued to eat without restraint.

“Oh,” Zhou Zhi said, recognizing the large bird as it raised its head, “that’s a vulture.”

"Aren't vultures from Africa?" People don't know much about Xinjiang. Even the custom of sky burial is only known to some people who like books and magazines about nature and humanities. Many people don't even know that there are vultures in Xinjiang. Their understanding of vultures comes from the "Animal World" program, which often talks about the African savanna.

“That’s not necessarily true,” Yang He said. “I remember that the character Zuo Shandiao in ‘Tracks in the Snowy Forest’ was based on this creature, so it flew over from the Greater Khingan Mountains in Northeast China? Is it a migratory bird?”

“That’s not it,” Zhou Zhi laughed. “These things are plentiful on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and they are often blown down by strong winds.” He then explained the custom of sky burial to everyone and said, “So this might be why these things aren’t afraid of people.”

"That sounds terrifying." After seeing the vulture, the car continued driving forward, and He Shiqing said, "These vultures aren't good-looking either."

"But it's really big! It's no wonder it's called the Mountain Eagle." Feng Xueshan said as she gently patted Xiao Shunzi, who had just finished nursing, to help him burp.

"They are the cleaners of the plateau and grasslands, and a very important part of the ecological balance." Zhou Zhi laughed: "Their history in this world is much longer than that of humans. Maybe they think we are ugly and disgusting."

Hearing this, He Shiqing was no longer afraid and laughed, "Zhouzi, you have a rather unique perspective on this matter."

"Really? Oh right, I still don't quite believe you would skip class to go on a trip with Salt Mouse. Shiqing, has your workplace shown any interest in you?"

He Shiqing smiled and said, "What do you think?" "What do I think?" Zhou Zhi glanced at the smiling He Shiqing through the rearview mirror: "I guess that means it's settled."

He added, "Either Shuangliu Airport or Sichuan Airlines."

"Wow! That's amazing!" Yan Xiao slapped the back of the seat in front of him. "How did you guess that?"

"It's very simple. Shiqing needs to consider where you go. The best choice is to go back to Sichuan. Shiqing is a top student at Harbin Institute of Technology, majoring in aerospace mechanics. What are the top companies in Sichuan? Of course, it's either the airport or an airline."

Actually, research institutions are another option, but nowadays research institutions like Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group are not very profitable. Undergraduates only earn three or four hundred yuan a month. Sichuan Airlines and airports are different. They earn at least three thousand yuan a month, plus various good benefits. In this era, they are definitely high-paying jobs.

"So, are you guessing whether it's Sichuan Airlines or the airport?" He Shiqing continued to ask.

"In terms of compensation, the two are about the same, but if I were to choose one that better suits my profession, I'd guess... the airport?"

"You guessed right," He Shiqing laughed. "From now on, I'll be repairing airplanes at the airport."

"Shiqing came back early to intern at the airport," Yan Xiao said happily. "The school leaders strongly recommended her, and the airport leaders warmly welcomed her. Shiqing also had a task on her mind: to investigate the airport. The school leaders wanted her to get a clear picture of it so she could recommend it to her classmates when she got back."

"Wow, that's impressive. Is she going to act as a go-between? Gaining the trust of both sides is no easy feat!"

He Shiqing's situation is called an early internship, which is very rare in today's campus recruitment system, but it is not unique.

Generally, it is only the best students from good universities and good departments who can make this possible when a good company has such a need. Moreover, the company usually pays for it. Many students can even be considered to start working early, or they can be hired directly without a probation period after graduation.

Their tasks are generally two-way. Schools hope that interns will observe what kind of talent the employers need and what knowledge is required for the job, so that they can make targeted recommendations and provide students with advance training in the future. At the same time, it also allows employers to have a satisfactory evaluation of the quality of the students they have trained. On the other hand, employers hope to demonstrate their strength to the school, hoping to gain the students' admiration and build their reputation within the school.

Both sides rely on "early interns" to convey their intentions, so the schools send out their best students, and the organizations that accept them are the best.

This is a special phenomenon of competition and talent cultivation in an era when college students are still scarce. As long as these college students do not change employers after graduation, they will generally become the priority for promotion by their internship units. As long as they work hard, their future is generally bright.

Having joined the company six months earlier than others and being valued by the leadership—these two factors alone are enough to create a significant first-mover advantage.

Although this is to be expected for He Shiqing, who has been a top student since childhood, it is still a great thing and deserves congratulations.

Zhou Zhi laughed, "This time Principal Zhao is going to be terribly confused. I bet he'd never guess, even if he racked his brains, that the first student among his students to know how to repair airplanes would actually be the delicate little Shi Qing!" (End of Chapter)