Chapter 8: At the End of One's Rope

  The next day, after breakfast, Cong Ye took the resume he had printed yesterday and went to the street to find a suitable job. Because Cong Ye was not familiar with Guan Hai Cheng, he could only look for those job intermediaries. One house, two houses, three houses. Each house required a registration fee of 100 yuan, then left the phone number, waiting for the other party's notice. Cong Ye had only over 2,000 yuan in his hand and didn't want to spend money on a mobile phone, so he could only leave Yan Qing Cheng's phone number.

  After searching for a whole morning, Cong Ye didn't find any units that urgently needed people, so he could only return to Qingcheng Medical Hall and wait for news.

  One day passed, two days passed, and not a single phone call came in. Zhong Ye couldn't sit still any longer, so he personally went to the intermediary company that had registered to inquire about the news. After visiting several intermediary companies, the answers he got were surprisingly consistent:

  "Sorry, there is no suitable job opening for you at the moment."

  One family said so, Congye believed it; two families said so, Congye had some doubts. Several families said so, and Congye felt there must be a problem inside. But what was the problem? Congye couldn't guess either.

  Another day passed and Congye went again to inquire, and got the same reply: there was no suitable unit for him.

  Congye had a small idea, and quietly observed from across the street in front of an intermediary company. After a long time, she saw a sturdy man holding his resume walking out of the intermediary company. Judging from his facial expression, Congye was certain that he had already found a job. She quietly followed him for a few steps, and only approached him after they were out of sight of the intermediary company to strike up a conversation.

  "Big brother, I think you're from a intermediary company, are you looking for a job?"

  "Who are you?"

  "Oh, big brother, don't misunderstand me. I also came to the intermediary company to find a job, but the other party always said there was no suitable unit for me. What kind of work did you find?"

  "It's like this, I'm relatively lucky, just now an intermediary informed me that a company is interviewing for a security guard position."

  "Security?"

  This is exactly the kind of job Cong Ye was looking for, but why did the intermediary company respond like that when there were units looking for security guards? It's clear that the big brother in front of him had misunderstood Cong Ye's meaning, so he immediately explained:

  "Brother, to be honest with you, I'm a person who has nothing but physical strength, and I'm already very satisfied that I can find a job as a security guard. It's definitely better than working on a construction site under the scorching sun."

  "Haha, brother is right, I'm also useless like him. Why don't we go to the interview together and see?"

  "Alright, it's just up ahead, we'll be there soon."

  "What's your honorable surname, big brother?"

  "My surname is Wang and I'm Lian."

  "My name is Cong Ye."

  "Look at this brother's build, quite strong too."

  "It's barely acceptable."

  Two people chatted and soon arrived at a clothing company that recruits security guards. Seeing the two resumes handed over, the person in charge of recruitment asked:

  "Are you all introduced by an intermediary company?"

  "Yes."

  "Hey, wasn't it said that there would be only one person today?"

  "Oh, I see. When I arrived at the intermediary company, I had just finished calling you, so I was told to come along with them without further notice."

  After reading the resumes of the two, the person in charge found that Cong Ye was a demobilized soldier who had just retired from the army and was still very interested. After asking a few simple questions, he said directly to the two:

  "You can report tomorrow."

  Cong Ye was still very happy after being hired by the other party, and the two came to the street, congratulated each other, and parted ways. Cong Ye returned to the City Overturning Medical Hall in Rizhao Lane, without saying a word, Yan Qingcheng saw the result from his face.

  "Have you found a job?"

  "Ah, found a security job at a garment factory."

  "Hehe, great! Your sister-in-law made you a delicious meal for lunch today."

  "Thank you, sister-in-law, I'll do it instead."

  "No way, this time I'll definitely take care of it."

  Cong Ye sat in the ruined medical building, looking through the window on the back wall at Yan Qingcheng's figure busy in the simple kitchen, a sense of happiness he had never felt before arose. He thought to himself:

  "If I had such a wife and such a home, how good it would be!"

  He immediately shook his head violently and scolded himself, how could he think that way, she was the beloved wife of his elder brother.

  Cong Ye, chi fan le.

  These days since coming to the medical hall, Cong Ye had already eaten several meals made by Yan Qing Cheng. He still sincerely admired his sister-in-law's culinary skills, and today's lunch was especially so. Although it was just four ordinary dishes, they were truly a feast for the eyes, nose, and taste buds.

  "Sister-in-law's cooking is great."

  "It's barely passable."

  Although it was a humble remark, there was a hint of pride in his tone.

  "Where is barely passable, even the head chef in the hotel is nothing more than that. Zhi Ge is really..."

  Cong Ye originally wanted to say that Zhi Ge was really lucky, but thinking of the long queue that had already been sacrificed, he suddenly stopped. He didn't dare look at Yan Qingcheng opposite him and lowered his head to eat two mouthfuls of rice quickly.

  Cong Ye, tomorrow after going to work, you must pay attention to restraining your temper. You have never been in contact with society before, and its complexity is not something that can be compared to the military camp.

  "Sister-in-law, I will definitely work hard."

  After lunch, Yan Qingcheng asked Cong Ye to take a nap and told him:

  "The first day of work is very important, you must leave a best impression on others."

  Cong Ye thought, there's still one more night, as long as she slept well at night. However, seeing Yan Qingcheng being so serious, Cong Ye didn't disobey her, and obediently returned to the west wing, lay on the bed, opened her eyes, and stared at the ceiling above.

  Although he had only been with Yan Qingcheng for a few days, subconsciously, Cong Ye had already regarded her as the woman who needed his care. In his heart, he secretly thought: Sister-in-law, although your husband is no longer around, I, Cong Ye, will definitely let you live a good life.

  As she thought about it, Cong Ye really fell asleep in a daze.

  "Cong Ye, Cong Ye, wake up, your phone."

  Cong Ye was woken up by Yan Qing Cheng and took over the phone, without noticing the caller ID on it, and said directly:

  "Hello, I am Cong Ye."

  "I am the clothing company you came for an interview this morning. I am now formally notifying you that you don't need to come to work tomorrow."

  "What? Why?"

  "There is no why."

  After finishing speaking, the other party hung up the phone.

  "How could this be?"

  Yan Qingcheng did not expect such a result either, facing Cong Ye who seemed to be muttering to himself, yet also seemed to be asking himself, for a moment he didn't know how to comfort him.

  "Maybe something unexpected happened to the other party, don't take it to heart. It's just a recruitment unit, keep looking and you'll find another one."

  Congye didn't respond, but instead fell into deep thought. He had discovered some problems that morning. When others went to the intermediary company, there were units recruiting security guards, but when he went himself, there weren't any. Moreover, the responses from several intermediary companies were surprisingly all the same. Although the person in charge of recruitment at the garment company had clearly taken a liking to him and told him to start work the next day, suddenly everything changed. Congye wouldn't believe that nothing was amiss if he tried. Was it possible that the developer with extensive connections and a deep background was secretly interfering? It shouldn't be, but why would he do such a thing? Was he trying to force Congye to leave Guan Haicheng and Yan Qingcheng? The sudden emergence of these doubts made Congye himself hard to believe.

  "Thorny leaves?"

  Jian Congye was still in a daze, and Yan Qingcheng called out to him with some concern.

  "Yeah, sis, I'm fine. Anyway, I'll continue looking for a job later."

  As he spoke, he came down from the bed and followed Yan Qingcheng to the courtyard. First, he washed his face with cold water, and saw that Yan Qingcheng was still standing in the courtyard looking at him, seemingly not trusting him. Cong Ye wiped the water droplets on his face with his hand and walked up to Yan Qingcheng, saying:

  "Sister-in-law, don't worry, I won't believe that I can't find a job. How could such a big company like Guanhai City not have a suitable job for me?"

  "It's definitely there, so don't give up. I won't go today, but tomorrow morning your sister will accompany you to find it."

  "No need, I'll handle it myself. You stay here and watch the house, be careful in case they launch a surprise attack."

  Seeing Cong Ye had returned to normal, Yan Qing Cheng turned and went ahead. Just as Cong Ye was about to continue getting familiar with the warm flow in his meridians within the courtyard, he suddenly heard the sound of Yan Qing Cheng and another girl talking from up ahead.