Shine on Me

I froze, slowly turning my head to see Zhuang Xu's expression as cold as his voice. The dining table fell silent instantly, the previously relaxed and cheerful atmosphere vanishing without a trace.

"No..." After a while, I managed to utter two words, wanting to explain that I wasn't actually being picky—I was just casually repeating complaints I'd heard from senior employees during my internship. But saying that would probably sound more like making excuses.

I shut my mouth.

"Why don't you go find a job yourself? Don’t you feel ashamed being a parasite relying on your parents all the time?"

"..." After holding it in for a long time, I said, "No, I don’t."

He didn’t continue, but the dark depths of his eyes seemed to fill with disappointment.

Dejectedly, I unwrapped my chopsticks. My earlier thought that being ordinary friends would be fine was clearly wishful thinking. Zhuang Xu probably disapproved of me from head to toe. Even if we were friends, we’d be worlds apart—the kind who could never see eye to eye.

"Zhuang Xu," Siliang interrupted him. "That’s unfair. Lots of people are like that—it’s not just Xiguang."

"Oh? She’s the only one I know." He paused, his tone carrying his usual seriousness. "And that’s genuinely what I think."

"Stir-fried pork with dried tofu, coming right up!" The waiter loudly announced as he delivered my dish, followed by the others' meals. Siliang changed the subject and started talking about something else.

This meal finally taught me what it meant to eat without tasting the food.

The next few days were spent shuttling between the library, dorm, and cafeteria. Only when I actually started writing my thesis did I realize how much harder it was than I’d imagined—completely different from the slapdash papers I’d cobbled together at the end of every academic year. A little over a month was nowhere near enough time, especially for someone like me who had no foundation and had muddled through my major courses.

But there was no point regretting it now. All I could do was make frequent trips to the library.

Before I knew it, the end of the month arrived.

That night, only Xiaofeng and I were in the dorm. I lay sprawled on my bed studying materials while Xiaofeng hummed a tune, typing up her resume on my laptop.

After a while, bored, I pushed aside the pile of dizzying research materials and struck up a conversation. "Didn’t you already get into grad school? Why are you still going to the job fair?"

"To see if there are better opportunities," Xiaofeng replied without stopping her rapid typing. "Plus, I want to experience what a job fair is like. I’ll still need to find work in three years."

Who would’ve thought that Xiaofeng, who usually seemed scatterbrained and forgetful, actually had such foresight? Then again, at this nationally renowned university, the vast majority of students were ambitious and driven. Lazy slackers like me were the minority.

After lying there a bit longer, I spoke up again. "I’ll go too."

"Go where? The job fair?" Xiaofeng turned to me in surprise. "Xiguang, are you having a breakdown?"

I ignored her, rolling onto my back to stare at the ceiling. Zhuang Xu’s disapproving expression from that day flashed through my mind... Yeah, I was having a breakdown.

But I quickly regretted it ==

Because I discovered that writing a resume was no easier than writing a thesis—especially when you had little to show for yourself.The day before the job fair, I gnawed on my pen for ages before finally stretching what could have been said in 100 words into five pages. Then at eight in the evening, I rushed out to print them and add a cover. The print shop near campus was ridiculously expensive, and of course, it was packed at this time. By the time I finished, it was already past eleven at night. Luckily, I had already informed the dormitory auntie downstairs.

The next morning when I woke up, my regret intensified. Since the job fair started at 8:30 a.m. and our school was far from the venue, we had to get up at six.

Six o'clock. Six o'clock! It was the first time I had gotten up at six since high school.

Then, when I reached the bus stop and saw Zhuang Xu and his dorm mates, my regret peaked.

Why didn’t anyone tell me Zhuang Xu was going too? Didn’t he already have a job?

And wouldn’t he think I was only going because of what he said? Even though that was true, but still...

I gloomily boarded the bus.

Fortunately, my frustration was soon drowned out by drowsiness. I was so sleepy. Holding onto the handrail, I couldn’t help yawning.

So tired!

I vaguely noticed Zhuang Xu glancing at me a few times.

I knew I looked terrible, but whatever. It’s not like he’d like me even if I pretended to be ladylike.

After over an hour, we arrived at the job fair.

It was my first time attending one, and the moment I stepped into the exhibition hall, I was genuinely shocked. People, people everywhere—so many that I had never seen such density outside of Nanjing’s packed buses.

At the same time, I realized Zhuang Xu was absolutely right. Relying on my mom’s connections to get a job was truly shameless.

Because finding work now was just too hard.

With everyone pushing and shoving, and people stopping for different lengths of time, our group quickly got separated.

After just a few steps, I knew I couldn’t take it anymore. It was hard to breathe, let alone move. The not-so-spacious venue was crammed with tens of thousands of graduates, shoulder to shoulder, pushing against each other. Every booth was surrounded by layers of people—forget submitting a resume, even seeing which company it was proved difficult.

By the time I squeezed my way out of the sea of people, I was practically exhausted. I found a random spot to sit down and catch my breath.

I had never attended a large-scale job fair before and had no idea it could be this terrifying. I had only managed to submit one resume before escaping, and breathing fresh air again felt like surviving a disaster.

It took about an hour and a half before I saw Siliang and the others emerge. During that time, I leaned against a tree and caught up on sleep—

"Watermelon, how’d you finish so fast?"

I waved the resume still in my hand. "I only submitted one."

Xiaofeng rolled her eyes at me. "Then why did you even come?"

Just as I was about to reply, the remaining resumes in my hand were suddenly snatched away. Startled, I looked up—it was Zhuang Xu.

He flipped through them hastily. "What are you planning to do with these? Just throw them all away?"

"Uh..." I hadn’t thought about it. Probably leave them aside and toss them out after graduation. Thinking about it now, it did feel a bit wasteful. Though the money wasn’t much, if converted into delicious beef noodles from the shops near campus, it seemed like a real shame.

With that thought, I regretted not forcing myself to submit them earlier.

"But it’s too late to go back in now. They’ve probably stopped accepting resumes."He frowned and glanced toward the venue—it was indeed almost over. "I have a senior from my department who's in charge of Shengyuan's recruitment this year. I'll hand it in for you."

Before I could refuse, he had already turned and walked back into the venue. Reflexively, I looked at Rong Rong, who was chatting with Siliang as if she hadn't heard anything.

It took over half an hour before Zhuang Xu finally emerged, empty-handed—the resumes he'd taken were all gone.

"I saw a few companies still there, so I submitted them along the way."

"What companies? Did they actually accept them?"

"A few based in Shanghai." Zhuang Xu seemed reluctant to elaborate, so I didn’t press further. I assumed he’d probably just tossed them onto their tables—but why had it taken so long?

Rong Rong suddenly smiled and said, "Why didn’t you mention earlier that you knew someone in recruitment?"

Zhuang Xu looked at her impassively. "Do you need backdoor connections?"

Rong Rong choked, snorted, and fell silent.

I scratched my head, unsure what to say. Xiaofeng tugged at me, and I took the hint to walk ahead with her. She whispered, "Watermelon, do you think Zhuang Xu was deliberately trying to provoke Rong Rong?"

I stayed silent.

Xiaofeng tugged again. "Well? Was he?"

"How should I know?" I snapped irritably, quickening my pace.

I hadn’t held much hope for those resumes anyway. The media kept harping on about the millions of graduates this year and how bleak the job market was. My qualifications weren’t stellar—those resumes were likely sunk without a trace.

But shortly after May Day, I unexpectedly received a call from Shengyuan, inviting me for an interview the day after tomorrow.

Since I took the call in the dorm, everyone heard most of it. The moment I hung up, Xiaofeng shrieked, "Watermelon, you’ve hit the jackpot! Shengyuan is super famous and loaded!"

She seemed even more excited than I was. After cheering for a bit, she inexplicably turned to Rong Rong and asked, "Rong Rong, did you get a call too?"

Rong Rong’s face went pale. Without a word, she grabbed a book and walked out.

Everyone stared at Xiaofeng in bewilderment before sighing silently. Sometimes she was foolishly wise, other times wisely foolish—her IQ was utterly unpredictable.

After the initial excitement faded, I grew puzzled. My credentials—English Level 4, Computer Level 2, no scholarships—were mediocre at best. Even with A University’s reputation, they paled in comparison to Rong Rong’s thick stack of honors certificates.

Why had I gotten an interview when Rong Rong hadn’t? Was it really because of Zhuang Xu’s senior?

No wonder Rong Rong was so upset.

I’d always been careless about things before, but this time, I prepared for the interview with trembling diligence. I memorized an English self-introduction and even did mock interviews with Xiaofeng. Maybe… it was because this opportunity had come through Zhuang Xu.

Sometimes my mind wandered. Zhuang Xu had said relying on parents’ connections for a job was shameful—but did this count as getting a job through his connections?

The thought left me feeling both bittersweet and strangely warm.