Bringing Along a Ball and Hiding from Foreign Devils Chapter 5.2

Part 2 But in any case, after these twists and turns, he was finally standing at the company, Vichy's, entrance. He didn’t tell Fan Wenfeng this time. Although he was given the opportunity to be interviewed again, this didn’t mean he would succeed. He didn’t want to disappoint him again. Ren Zhouyuan tidied himself up and walked into Vichy. The one who greeted him was still the HR from his interview on that day, the man surnamed He. It was the personnel manager. To be honest, Ren Zhouyuan was a little scared to see director Zheng. That day, director Zheng's tone was a bit arrogant as he settled him. This was magnified in his mind, so he could almost imagine the expression he made. The two-step process was a bit different than what Ren Zhouyuan thought. Although he hadn’t tried a formal interview before, he knew that the second interview was usually with the department head. Yet he was still with the Personnel Department’s people. The opposite party gave him a subject and made him write an opinion about it within a specified time. Ren Zhouyuan was happy to see the topic. The test's content was about the development a.n.a.lysis of China after the introduction of STEM. This was a bit like his recent research. In just half a minute, he had already made his outline in his head and wrote it down He soon finished. When he stopped writing, he saw that the interview people hadn’t come back yet. He checked his work again. There were no typos, so he could only look around in boredom. This room was a small conference room, but it wasn’t the same as a general meeting room. There was no impression of seriousness and reservation. On the contrary, there was this indescribable youthful atmosphere. It was a style that very much matched the customer base that Vichy was targeting. From earlier when he came in with Director He*, he discovered that the company’s layout was very modern. It caused people to feel like it was very cla.s.sy and high-end, however it wasn’t that strong. It didn’t make one feel overwhelmed.

*从刚刚何经理一路上待他进来 – MTL: From the manager who had just taken him in. I used yabla to piece it together

It was very different from that man. After sitting for a few more minutes, Director He finally came back, opening the conference room's door. Ren Zhouyuan heard the sound and looked toward the direction of the door. Two pairs of eyes locked on each other*. Director He was stunned for a moment and blurted out, "Finished so soon?"

*两人四目相对. Rough literal translation would be: "Both people’s four eyes faced each other "

Ren Zhouyuan smiled and handed him the topic on the table. Director He quickly picked it up and read it all the way through, his expression growing more and more serious. Halfway, he looked at Ren Zhouyuan then turned to the front and read it again from the beginning. The second time, Director He looked more carefully. Ren Zhouyuan was quite confident. He was so 一弄*. He couldn’t help but straighten his back, sitting more upright.

*被他这么一弄- MTL: He was so confused (from Bing). But that makes no sense. (弄) means to do; to manage; to handle; to play with; to fool with; to mess with; to fix; to toy with.

Director He read the whole text word by word. Afterwards, he let out a gentle sigh and looked at Ren Zhouyuan again, his eyes s.h.i.+ning  bit. He smiled kindly at Ren Zhouoyuan and said: "Our side has basically no problem. Of course, as long as you get through us, you will become a member of Vichy. But by chance, our President is at the company right now. He attaches great importance to the person hired for this position, so I'll have to trouble Mr. Ren to go with me." When Ren Zhouyuan heard the first half of the sentence, he felt a bit odd. But when he heard the second half, he was shocked. Must see the president…..that is….?! Ren Zhouyuan dazedly followed after Director He as he stood up, his heart in a frenzied mess. He was thinking of how to escape, a.n.a.lyzing the route he took when he first entered, which corner he could disappear into without being found. Staring at the back of Director He, he wondered if he could stun him for a second and escape before anyone else could notice. His mind was all over the place, thinking like a heavenly steed, soaring across the skies*, when the owner of the head in front of him stopped and said in a tone tinged with surprise: "Why* did the President come personally?"

*an idiom, meaning bold and imaginative; unconstrained in style
*怎么 – could either mean how, what or why.

Ren Zhouyuan's brain crashed for a moment. He moved his line of sight away from the director's head and saw two people coming. One was a Chinese man that he had not seen before, the other was precisely that man whose name was awfully long. The man with the long name said a few words to the Chinese and the Chinese man also replied. Then the two looked at him simultaneously. Ren Zhouyuan suddenly let out a sharp breath, feeling the hairs on his spine stand up. The man in the suit, an elite Chinese man wearing gold-rimmed gla.s.ses, was probably Leonid's secretary. He said a few words to Director He. Their voices weren't loud, but they weren't small either. However Ren Zhouyuan's attention was currently completely offline, naturally too preoccupied to pay attention to anything they may have said. Leonid seemed to have guessed his ident.i.ty and looked at him whilehis secretary and Director He talked. Ren Zhouyuan faced the gaze that was sizing him up, his tense mood gradually relaxing. That look, it was clearly like he was seeing a stranger. He was unsure of his own thoughts right now. A bit lucky, a bit biter, just like his stubborn pursuit for many years. In the end he discovered that, in reality, all his hopes and efforts came to nothing*. And now his current situation was the opposite. He had evaded that person for many years. Ultimately, his original thoughts of being at large* was simply his own wishful thinking.

*were futile
*like a criminal

However after clearly seeing the present situation, the worries in his heart finally dissipated*. He wanted this job.

*I feel like there's supposed to be some clever wordplay in this part. "To worry" has the same character as "to hang" or "to suspend," that being (悬). And the end of the sentence said "…finally fell to the ground," or (总算落地). So it may artistically imply that his worries (悬) were finally gone…as in fell to the ground (落地).

TL Note: orz again I apologize for the name mix up. Zhouyan and Zhouyuan are one letter different, but the characters clearly state that it’s yuan, not yan. Forgive me wuwuwuwu

But anyways, Leonid didn’t recognize him…or did he? Ah well, at least he got the job.