Chapter 3 [The Dumbfounded Interviewers!]

In the blink of an eye!

The surrounding scene had completely changed!

The sky was blue, the ground was gray!

Zhang Ye was the first to feel the change in temperature around him. It was already August, and the air was still unbearably hot and restless. Hmm, why does Zhang Ye always describe the environment like this? It's not because his vocabulary is limited, or because his cultural level is low—he doesn't just know a few adjectives. Really, it's not that at all; it's because… because… forget it, the world of an artist—if we explained it, you still wouldn't understand!

"Interview is at ten; let's hurry."

"Brother Sun, what's there to be in a hurry for? You're definitely going to get the job."

"That's not necessarily so. This time for the broadcasting host position, they are recruiting only two people. I heard that over twenty people passed the written exam. The competition is fierce."

Due to the rapid change catching him off guard, Zhang Ye lost his balance and slid down to the ground. Leaning on the floor to stand up, he stared blankly around him. This was no longer the corridor he had been in before. He had actually reappeared in front of the broadcasting station's building—the very place he had just saved his progress. Even the conversation he overheard from the interviewees after saving was exactly the same. Checking his phone again, he realized he had truly gone back half an hour!

My God! This…

Let's not think about it now; the important thing is the task at hand!

Zhang Ye ran through his thoughts and then reacted. There was no time for pondering this mystery now. He had to secure this broadcasting host position. The save had given him a chance to try again. Even though he might not understand what was happening, he had to seize the opportunity. Without delay, he decided not to head upstairs and instead quickly searched online using his phone. Because he had memorized the first sentence of the interview prompt earlier, it was very easy to search for. Zhang Ye soon found the article's origin – it was from a graduate thesis written by an unknown student at a university in the South. It was likely that the interviewers had also randomly picked something from online. Now, he had only about twenty-five minutes left. Without another word, he sprinted into memorizing the text! The script of one thousand words was long, but fortunately it wasn't some ancient prose or a classic literary work. This thesis wasn't overly pedantic with its wording; every sentence was connected and in line with common sense and understanding. Zhang Ye had even studied a bit of law, so he already knew some of the phrases. Relatively, the difficulty was reduced a lot.

He had to memorize it; his success or failure depended on this moment!

...

At the broadcasting station building, at the interview location.

A female assistant opened the door and checked her list. "Zhang Ye." She called once, but there was no response. She called again, louder, "Has Zhang Ye arrived? It's your turn!"

At the end of the corridor, Zhang Ye was coming briskly while muttering as if reciting a mantra, "I'm here, I'm here!"

The female assistant was extremely suspicious. Over the years, she had interviewed hundreds, even thousands of people, and it was the first time she saw someone reciting like a chant for an interview. Have monks and Taoists also started applying for jobs now?

Inside the room.

During a break, eight people sat drinking tea and exchanged opinions.

A woman in her forties, Li Honglian, said disappointingly, "This batch of interviewees is just too ordinary."

Zhao Guozhou, who was a few years older than her, also said, "Yes, it's far worse than the interview we had in the first half of the year. What good are good written test scores if their ability falls short!"

A young man from the back said, "Leaders, there are still quite a few people waiting. There should be some promising ones."

"Hopefully, but I don't think so. I believe it's hopeless." Zhao Guozhou clicked his tongue. "That little Xu from before was acceptable; if not, we will have to take him."

Li Honglian glanced sideways and said, "I also think little Xu is pretty good."

At that moment, the door was knocked upon, and the next interviewee, Zhang Ye, entered.

The group stopped their conversation and casual chatter, and their scrutinizing eyes shifted towards him.

"Hello, teachers." Having known earlier that the interviewers would interrupt his self-introduction, Zhang Ye had decided this time to change his introduction style. He loosened up and, frankly speaking, with a touch of resentment and annoyance in his heart (he was never one to back down—if someone respected him a foot, he would respect others a yard), he said, "My real name is Zhang Ye."

Zhao Guozhou burst out laughing, "Then do you have a stage name as well?"

Zhang Ye replied off the cuff, "I have two stage names. One is Zhang Tenglan, and the other is Zhang Kongjing."

In this world, those two "great men" no longer existed. The few interviewers didn't understand what he meant and, before they knew it, found themselves being teased by Zhang Ye.

Li Honglian ignored Zhang Ye and lowered her gaze to review his resume.

The result was the same as before—same scene, same expression. This time, Zhang Ye keenly noticed that two of the interviewers had slightly frowned—a sign that they were dissatisfied with his external appearance. Strangely enough, even though broadcasting is an industry where the audience cannot see the face, the requirements for a broadcasting host still include a standard of being attractive. What does "attractive" mean? It means that one must look better than the vast majority of people. The broadcasting host industry has always maintained this standard.

In the middle, Zhao Guozhou and beside him Li Honglian were the two main interviewers. Since the two broadcasting host positions were created from the remaining gaps in their frequency schedule, they were very serious in choosing candidates; no one wanted an issue on their watch. So when they saw someone with such an average appearance like Zhang Ye, they had already mentally checked him off. Moreover, Zhang Ye's resume showed no work experience, meaning that even after being hired he would have to go through a period of training before he could start working. Thus, they had not even considered hiring him. It is one thing to have graduated from a professional broadcasting school, but among all those broadcasting school graduates, how many have actually become hosts? Only the very few exceptionally outstanding ones.

Zhao Guozhou and Li Honglian exchanged a glance, fully understanding each other's attitude—this person was definitely not suitable. They decided to give him a random question and brush him off; there was no need to waste more time!

Using the same gesture as before, Li Honglian took out a script, glanced at Zhang Ye, and said, "The interview consists of two questions. For the first one, you have to take a quick look at this script and then recite it by heart."

Having experienced the time rewind, Zhang Ye was already aware of their trap and attitude. Without showing any expression, he stood up and took the paper.

Sure enough, just ten seconds later, Li Honglian meanly raised her hand and took back the script, "That's enough. Now recite!"

The other interviewers had a clear idea in their hearts—ten seconds? Not only is it impossible for a fresh graduate, but even for veterans who have been in the industry for many years, it is impossible to memorize over a hundred words in ten seconds. Well, to be precise, ten seconds at most allows one to read two hundred words. And even if the candidate recited two hundred words, they would at best score around forty or fifty marks. Why would that be unqualified? Because this script was over nine hundred words, and ten seconds would only cover one-fifth of it! If one could recite three hundred words from memory in ten seconds, that would be a perfect score, but everyone knew that no one could achieve that.

It was clear that they were deliberately making things difficult—in essence, they were indirectly telling Zhang Ye that both his conditions and abilities were insufficient. What surprised them, however, was that Zhang Ye did not question the mere ten seconds given for memorization; on the contrary, he remained especially calm and leisurely sat back in his seat.

Li Honglian was stunned; she looked at Zhang Ye's face for any sign of anger or shock, but found nothing.

The other interviewers were equally perplexed. Is this guy really stupid—truly, truly, stupid? Even when being made to suffer, he did not even show the slightest reaction. It seemed that they had indeed made the right call; such a naive kid, even if recruited, would be no good—too simple-minded to handle big responsibilities.

Zhao Guozhou urged, "Begin! Hurry up! There are many people waiting behind!"

Li Honglian and the other interviewers immediately began scoring Zhang Ye's performance without even really listening to him—one gave him twenty points, another gave him fifteen, both very low. Meanwhile, they had already turned to the next candidate's resume.

They pressed him, yet Zhang Ye didn't seem anxious. With a composed expression, he looked at them and in a rhythmic cadence began reciting, "Notary institutions are a special judicial activity that guarantees the implementation of our country's laws and the stabilization of social order. Notarization is an activity in which a notary institution, based on an application from a natural person, legal person, or other organization, certifies various civil legal acts, events, or documents with legal effect in accordance with legal procedures. In the process of notarization, it is imperative to abide by the law…"

When he reached one hundred words free of the script, Zhao Guozhou looked up.

When he reached two hundred words free of the script, Li Honglian exclaimed an "eh?" and looked at him in surprise.

But as he reached three hundred words free of the script, all the interviewers put down their items and looked at Zhang Ye in astonishment!

Unaffected by anyone, Zhang Ye continued unceasingly, "Because if the parties to a notarization provide false materials or fail to perform the notarized legal documents, it will have a negative impact on the reputation of the notary. Therefore, integrity is the fundamental basis for the existence of the notary industry…"

In the eyes of Zhao Guozhou and Li Honglian, reciting three hundred words from memory was already a miracle—a seemingly impossible feat—but Zhang Ye kept reciting!

"This is…"

Three hundred words!

Five hundred words!

Eight hundred words!

The interviewers' faces turned horrified!

When he came to the last paragraph, Zhang Ye still maintained a steady pace, "As an important form that reflects integrity, notarization is the most acceptable and adoptable means for people to acquire trustworthiness in the construction of a social integrity system." Pausing, he cleared his throat, "Thank you, teachers, I have finished my recitation!"

A female interviewer's pen fell from her hand, rolling to the floor with a clatter!

Zhao Guozhou was dumbfounded and tilted his head, "Old Li? This… did he recite while turning his back?"

Li Honglian looked at the paper in her hand and gasped, "…Nine hundred and twenty words, not one word missing!"

The interviewer on the far left nearly fell off his chair and exclaimed in shock, "How did you do it? Ten seconds? You memorized it all?"

Zhang Ye smiled slightly, "I guess I'm a fast reader and have a pretty good memory—one glance was almost enough."

Ten seconds is barely enough to roughly glance over nine hundred words. Not only was he fast, he was unbelievably fast! One might wonder if Zhang Ye had previously memorized this thesis—but upon thinking, that was impossible. This thesis had no title; it was something randomly found online, and there was no possibility of prior exposure. Even when Li Honglian grabbed the prompt, it was done casually. There was absolutely no way the other person could have known it in advance!

My goodness! Are you even human??

Zhang Ye's performance left everyone stunned!

All the interviewers were in disbelief—as if they had seen a ghost!