Chapter 6: The Test of the Ashtray

Su Sheng then patted the receptionist's shoulder and blurted out, "You're doing great, I've got your back from now on."

"Mr. Su, stop joking, please. When the person inside comes out, it'll be your turn for the interview."

The receptionist hurried away after speaking, feeling it best to stay far from this slippers-wearing nepotism case—being just a receptionist, she wouldn't have any promotion opportunities anytime soon.

Su Sheng shook his head. This girl, just by personality, was so much better than the Iceberg at home. Better not to think about it anymore, or I'll get so angry I'll vomit blood.

Shortly after, the interviewee inside came out. Dressed in a formal suit, he seemed unfazed by the heat. Upon seeing Su Sheng, he paused for three seconds then showed a relieved expression—this next round should be even more secure now, thank heavens.

"I guarantee you won't pass the interview."

Su Sheng pushed the door and entered, leaving the suited man standing outside, utterly baffled. Are interview competitors this brash nowadays?

"Why is it you?"

Li Meixin, sitting in the main seat of the office, was somewhat bewildered. Given the deep impression from earlier at the main entrance, she had intended to look into it more closely, but how did security let this person through, and why did the receptionist even bring him to the final interview room?

No wonder the company's performance has been declining, there are loopholes in the system. For someone like this guy in front of us, no one would allow him to come in for an interview. He should have been directly eliminated at the front gate.

Su Sheng was also a bit taken aback, how could he encounter his older cousin in an interview? Seems like this so-called group isn't that big after all—probably not many competent people in this company!

"I'm here for the interview!"

"You're Su Sheng?" Another interviewer, glancing at the resume on his tablet, was also confused. What's this jumbled mess? How did it even get through?

Su Sheng had already settled himself into a chair. Across from him sat three people, big cousin in the middle, flanked by two middle-aged men.

Actually, today's interview was for a manager position, and Li Meixin had also just decided on a whim to take a look, not expecting to encounter such a situation.

"Snap!"

Su Sheng leisurely lit a cigarette, determined to annoy his big cousin—so disdainful, even for a relative, there's no one else like it.

Li Meixin couldn't hold back any longer, raised her hand pointing at Su Sheng, and called out, "Please leave, you've been disqualified."

"So soon? Shouldn't there be something to say in an interview?"

Su Sheng was astonished. Just before, he was praising how good the service from the receptionist was, even reminding him it was time for a pee break, but now he was face to face with such low quality, and a relative to boot.

Big cousin, what a family embarrassment!

"You're not welcome here, please leave!"

Li Meixin pointed towards the door, her mood sinking to rock bottom. What kind of person is this? Even if all the men in the world died off, she wouldn't give him a second glance. Any woman who ends up with a guy like this would have her life ruined. Wait, why am I even thinking about finding a man? Could it be the family pressures for marriage are getting to me?

"I'll leave after I finish this cigarette. After all, once I'm out the door, it's a no-smoking area. I understand your big company's rules!"

Su Sheng blew a smoke ring, acting as if there was no one else around, leaving the three interviewers utterly bewildered. Who is this patient, treating Tang Group like it's nothing?

"Where's the security, cough cough, quickly call security up, cough cough..."

Overwhelmed by the smoke, Li Meixin couldn't stop coughing and wanted to rush out the door. But with so many applicants outside, she couldn't just flee in such a disheveled state.

One of the interviewers quickly picked up the phone to call security, but it would still take a minute or two before they arrived. What to do now?

The other interviewer, a smoker himself, wasn't bothered by the smoke. He looked over the resume on the tablet and suspected something fishy—Su Sheng's bizarre resume got him a second interview, indicating he had to be a nepotism hire, and not just any hire, perhaps even someone the CEO sent.

This Su Sheng had offended CEO Li—it was like a battle between gods, and as just a small department manager, it was best not to get involved.

"Cough, cough... Why haven't you guys kicked him out yet?" Li Meixin covered her nose. She swore she had never encountered such a terrible scene in her life, stuck between a rock and a hard place, and completely at a loss for what to do with a shameless man who lacked any sense of decency.

"Please leave."

The two middle-aged interviewers could only steel themselves and approach him, but they were also frightened; Su Sheng's nonchalant smoking suggested he was either a lunatic or someone with powerful connections—either of those was bad news, one threatened their lives, the other their careers.

"I said I'd leave after finishing this cigarette."

Su Sheng looked at the two middle-aged men coldly. Actually, he didn't have a strong addiction to smoking. Precisely because he smoked so infrequently, he detested being disturbed while doing so. Who dared to try him?

"Please leave!"

The middle-aged interviewer who hadn't even had a chance to look at the resume couldn't withstand Li Meixin's pressure and reached out to pull Su Sheng, which was a mistake.

"Smack!"

There was a sharp cracking sound as Su Sheng lifted his hand and shattered the glass ashtray.

It was precisely because there was an ashtray on the desk that it proved smoking was allowed here. So what if he wanted to smoke one cigarette? He had come all this way for an interview and they couldn't even spare him the time to have one cigarette, whether he passed or not?

If it weren't for the fact that this company was owned by his wife and had been established by his father-in-law, would he believe he could smash the company's signboard.

"If you don't want to die, go stand over there!"

The proposition certainly scared the middle-aged men; they quickly withdrew their hands and retreated to one side.

Li Meixin was stupefied and jumped with fright. This man had such strength; he treated the ashtray like it was made of tofu—yet it was made of glass.

For a moment, the office fell into an eerie silence until Su Sheng was almost finished with his cigarette, and finally, the security guards arrived.

"Forget it, Manager Li, right? We'll see each other again."

Su Sheng extinguished his cigarette butt, got up, pushed past the security guards, and strode out. His own wife's company was definitely problematic, with major issues. The upper management was all decadent—no wonder his wife always had an Iceberg face. He had finally pinpointed the root cause of the problem.

On leaving, he decided to go out for a few drinks to calm down before he thought about ways to make money again!

However, as he passed the front desk, he was suddenly called by the receptionist, "Mr. Su, congratulations on passing the interview. I'll take you to HR to discuss your salary now."

At these words, not to mention the crowd of people waiting for their interviews, even Su Sheng himself became disorganized. He had not expected a big company's interview would be such a farce. Could it be that the interview was actually about seeing who dared to finish smoking a cigarette and that the ashtray was in fact a hidden test?

As shrewd as he was, he had serendipitously passed the interview. Indeed, as his father-in-law used to say, gold shines no matter where it is, and it's impossible to hide its luster.

Su Sheng speculated that perhaps the group had recently lost a shipment and thus wanted to recruit more formidable staff.

Understandable, he would probably do the same. Realizing this, he suddenly felt that he had something in common with his Iceberg wife at home.

And so, Su Sheng followed the receptionist once more. After a few turns, they reached another office, where he met with the HR department, and it was actually a manager who personally received him.

Not bad, they knew how to value talent. It seemed that none of the four candidates before him had passed the cigarette-smoking test, further highlighting his exceptionalism.

Suddenly, Su Sheng felt like he might as well just work here. As the saying goes, a good horse is common but a good horse's discoverer is rare.

However, what he didn't know was that the HR manager sitting inside was also utterly bewildered.

This man before her was actually handpicked for the job by the president—what kind of background did he have? He didn't bother to tidy up his unruly hair, was that even a shirt he was wearing? Crumpled, with buttons done incorrectly, not to mention, was he wearing slippers? Jeans paired with a shirt and slippers—how insane!

"Mr. Su, correct? First of all, congratulations on passing the interview. Next, I will explain to you the salary and benefits as well as the company's rules and regulations!"

The HR manager warmly greeted Su Sheng with a handshake, wearing a professional smile and doing her job, no matter how dissatisfied she was in her heart—she had to complete the task personally assigned by the president to the fullest!