My Terrible Life in Those Years

I sensed that the older woman in the office was still angry and completely ignored my gestures.

She glared at the man in the white shirt and glasses, then shuffled into her stall in her high heels.

I glanced at her departing steps. Although she was angry, her high heels and the legendary pencil skirt suited her perfectly, and she actually looked damn good. Of course, it only really showed off its charm on someone with a good figure.

If it were someone with the landlady's figure, let alone whether she could even fit into it, even if she could, the opening at the back of the skirt would probably rip open with just one step. What would be the point of wearing it then!

Thinking of this scene, I suddenly couldn't help but laugh.

Shu, a career woman, has very sharp ears and actually heard it. She turned around and glared at me fiercely. If looks could hit people, I guess she would have been black and blue by now!

Did she think I was laughing at her for something?

I shook my head with amusement. Why was this woman so angry? But I didn't think I needed to explain anything to her, so I left the greenhouse area without paying any attention.

Pay, buy tickets, queue, enter. There's no way to avoid this expense!

If it weren't for that career woman intervening just now, I would have almost suffered a great loss!

I took the elevator up to the second floor.

It's clearly completely different from the vegetable market-like greenhouses below.

The uniformly arranged banners displayed the full names of the recruiting companies, followed by company profiles, specific job positions and requirements, and compensation details.

All the information is clearly written. If you see a position that interests you or a company that seems suitable, take your resume and apply. Have a face-to-face interview with the interviewer. Get to know each other thoroughly and see if you're a good fit.

There's a form-filling area by the wall, with free resume forms provided by the venue, and pens are right next to the paper.

I gritted my teeth and started writing ten free resumes in a flash. If I didn't get any offers later, I planned to write another ten or so before I left.

I'd definitely be willing to do something like this, especially since it doesn't require any favors.

I suddenly had a feeling that these five yuan had drawn a line between the upstairs and downstairs buildings, just like the street at the entrance of Xiancun where I live now, dividing the world into two distinct areas.

I knew the importance of money before, or rather, a long time ago.

I know that money can buy many things I want, and it can also buy very good and expensive things!

With money, you can eat lavishly, buy gifts for your beloved, go on trips, and buy and spend whatever you want.

With no money, they could only afford plain porridge and pickled vegetables, and their bodies were wrapped in coarse cloth.

I used to come from a poor family, and maybe I was used to being poor, so I felt that there wasn't much difference between big meals and simple fare; the only difference was that I was eating enough to fill my stomach.

However, in the last two days, everything that has happened has had a significant impact on my original values.

Money has quickly taken a very important place in my heart in the face of harsh reality.

With ten really simple resumes in hand, I started canvassing stalls one by one.

The companies mentioned above are indeed very different from those in the greenhouses.

The educational requirements alone eliminated most of me.

The medium-sized and large companies that set up those stalls all require a formal bachelor's degree or at least a full-time associate's degree for ordinary positions.

After going around in circles, I felt utterly disheartened.

Of course, there was another hard condition that made me feel even more frustrated.

Almost all reputable and relatively large companies that I like require at least one year of work experience.

Where am I supposed to find work experience?

I can only mention a few work-study jobs I did at school, or the odd jobs I did during holidays.

When we were about to graduate, I talked with my classmates. We had asked senior students about how to find a better job. We discussed whether to write one or two true or false work experiences on the application. For example, we could extend the time frame of a two- or three-week internship to three to five months, or even half a year.

At least in the eyes of employers, applicants are not blank slates or seasoned veterans. Six months to a year of work experience is a plus for many recruiters compared to my resume, which only lists part-time work and casual labor.

But I didn't handle it that way, and I didn't write down much about my work hours and experience.

I feel more comfortable presenting my facts and sincerity than finding a job more easily.

Previously, some students even went so far as to obtain fake academic credentials. They wouldn't dare to get diplomas from well-known universities, but they didn't seem to feel any pressure about getting diplomas from ordinary undergraduate institutions.

First, there was no nationwide online verification system for academic credentials at that time; second, the probability of an unknown, ordinary school being detected was much lower.

I never engaged in such shady dealings. To be honest, I despise such fraudulent behavior from the bottom of my heart.

As someone once said, when you tell your first lie, you need to tell ten or even a hundred more to cover it up.

I think whoever said that is absolutely right.

I circled around the booth for a while, applying for several ordinary positions at companies of average size that required a college diploma. Many recruiters glanced at my resume, which was almost blank, and simply left it aside, telling me to wait for a notification.

My God, what notification? I didn't even write the phone number on it!

You could have just said it wasn't a good fit and given me my resume back. That would have saved me a lot of time filling out a new one!

But once they've received the information, it's not really appropriate to ask them to take it back, is it?

Feeling a bit disheartened and discouraged, I took the restroom to relieve some stress, holding the remaining documents in my hand.

I rolled up a few sheets of paper into a ball, tucked it under my arm, and after relieving the pressure, I washed my hands, bent down to tidy my clothes, and went out.

The stalls here are incredibly large, but why is the path to the toilet so narrow?

It doesn't resemble an international metropolis at all.

Before I could even take a second step after lifting the curtain, I bumped into someone.

My strides are so big, one of my strides is equivalent to two of others' strides.

With her own weight, she slammed into the wall, and then, with a crack, it seemed like her heel broke! Then, her foot twisted, and her whole body leaned against the wall.

"Hey, don't you have eyes?"

When I looked closely, smelled the fragrance, and saw a delicate face and the familiar pencil skirt, I immediately thought, "Oh no!"

Isn't that the career woman Shu?

"I'm so sorry, I didn't notice!" I quickly apologized. If I had been just a little slower, I wouldn't have bumped into him like this.

Shu, the career woman, snapped out of her daze and shifted her attention from her boots to my face.

That frosty face of hers makes me furious just looking at her.

"It's you again? Why are you everywhere? I even bump into you while going to the bathroom! And you broke my shoe! I must have forgotten to check the almanac before going out today, you're a jinx!"

I don't like hearing that!

"Hey, ma'am, it was my fault for bumping into you, and I already apologized. I broke your shoe, I'll compensate you, so why are you bringing up the almanac? How did I become your jinx?"

The charges are so serious, I'm not going to take the blame!