I went to hunt for a job in a magazine company. For merely five editing positions, there were more than 300 applicants¹.

大学毕业后我去一家杂志社应聘。5个编辑岗位,报名者多达300多人。

After the written test, only 50 candidates could enter the final interview. On the day of the interview, I rose from bed at about 6:00 in the morning and got well dressed in the suit borrowed from one of my classmates. Shortly, I arrived at the interview site without having breakfast. The company required us to draw lots to determine the interview order. I was the 24th candidate to be interviewed. Preceding me was the 22nd candidate who was a short and plain-looking girl wearing light blue casual clothes without using any make-ups to cover her freckles². Her plain looking contrasted tremendously with other girl candidates who were in good dress and make-up in the intensive atmosphere. I greeted her by nodding my head and got a shallow smile in reply. I asked her where she graduated. She dropped down her head and kept silent for a short while, and then told me in a low voice, “I graduated from a junior college, the only one who does not get a bachelor’s degree among the 50 candidates.”

笔试过后只有50个人进入面试。面试那天,不到清晨6点我便起了床,穿戴好从同学那里借来的西服和领带,早点都顾不上吃就赶到了面试地点。杂志社要求用抽签的方式来决定面试次序,我抽到了24号。站在我前面的22号是一个身材矮小、相貌不出众的女生。她穿了一件浅蓝色的休闲装,脸上的斑点都没有用化妆品覆盖。她素面朝天的样子与细细打扮的女生们和屋内严肃紧张的气氛形成了鲜明的对比。我向她点了点头,她回了我一个浅浅的微笑。我问她是从哪里毕业?她低头沉默了片刻,小声说:“我是从一所大专学校毕业的,是这50个人里唯一一个大专生。”

I did not expect the interview would last for such a long time. Two hours had passed but only 10 candidates had been interviewed. As I had stomach inflammation and did not have breakfast, my stomach started to ache gradually. Half an hour later, I could hardly focus myself on the book and large drops of sweat ran down from my forehead, making me be only able to lean by the table for a rest.

没想到面试时间如此之长。时间过去了两个小时,却只轮到10号应聘者去面试。由于没吃早点,我原本就有慢性炎症的胃开始隐隐作痛。半个小时后我已经没有力气把精力集中到书本上,大滴大滴的汗珠从额头上冒了出来。我只能趴在桌子上稍作休息。

All of a sudden, someone patted on my shoulder. I turned round and saw it was the 22nd candidate. She asked me what happened. I told her, “I did not have breakfast this morning, so my stomachache comes to me again. It is nothing serious.” Then I grudged³ a smile to her. She said, “I am the next one to be interviewed. You should endure the pain and prepare now.” After she went in the interview room, I coordinated⁴ my suit again and prepared for my turn. After a while, a staff managing the interviewees at the gate came in and said to me, “No. 24, something for you!” I opened the paper bag and saw a bottle of milk and a piece of bread! Needless to say, it was the girl, No.22, bought for me after the interview. I felt considerably⁵ warm all over my heart at that time, because I had not imagined she would be so nice to help me, her rival, in such a intensively competitive condition! After I ate the bread and drank the milk, I felt far better. I had no clue what healed my stomachache at that time. The food or the girl’s golden heart?

有人轻轻拍了一下我的肩,我抬头一看,是刚才和我搭话的22号。她问我怎么了,我说:“早上没吃饭,胃病犯了。没事。”然后勉强给她挤出一点微笑。她说:“下一个去面试的人就是我了,你也该做做准备了,稍微忍耐一下。”她进去后我也整理了一下西装,准备面试。过了一会儿,门口管理秩序的老师进来了,说:“24号,有人捎东西给你。”打开纸袋,我愣住了,里面是一袋牛奶和一小块面包!不用说,这当然是22号女孩面试结束后给我捎来的。一股暖流立刻布满了我的全身。在明争暗斗的气氛下她竟然给我这个竞争对手送来了“救命草”。我咬了几口面包,喝了那袋牛奶,胃疼也好多了。不知是因为那些微不足道的食品,还是因为女孩的细心与善良。

Finally, I outstood among all candidates and managed to be an editor in the company. The first day I went to work, to my surprise, I saw No.22, who was also one among the five employed! Except that I was a college graduate and she junior college graduate, the other three were also masters graduating form famous universities.

最终我从众多应聘者中脱颖而出,成了那家杂志的编辑。上班第一天我看到新招来的5个人中竟然有22号女孩。除了我是本科,她是大专生以外,其他3个人都是名牌大学的硕士。

I asked her why she would get employed. She said with smiles, “As with educational qualification, I could not compare with you. But that day when I bought you the milk and bread, an interviewer went to the washroom with loads of materials in hands. He asked me whether I could help him to copy those data while he was in the washroom. I helped him. After I came back to him, he asked me why I would take the food in hands. I told him the truth. Then I got employed miraculously⁶.” At that moment, I came to realize that while the girl did the favor to me and the “stranger”, she also helped herself who did not possess comparable advantages.

那天,我问起22号应聘成功的原因,她笑了,说:“比学历,比能力我都不如你们。那天给你送牛奶和面包时面试团的一位老师刚好出来解手,他手里拿着一大堆资料,看样子他非常着急,说能不能帮他去复印一份回来。我就跑过去复印。回来时问我为什么手里提着这些东西,我把情况如实地告诉他。就这样,我阴差阳错地应聘成功了。”她在给我“救命草”、帮那位“陌生人”复印资料的同时,也拯救了没有任何优势的自己。