Chapter 2: A Fortunate Find

After returning home, Li Xiuyuan sat down at his desk and began to think about the future.

What he had just told his mother about the provincial civil service exam not being over yet was not merely a reassurance; it was the truth. More importantly, hidden within it was a precious opportunity.

Under the usual rules of the civil service examination, the written test generally selects candidates for the interview at a ratio of three to one.

The post he had applied for was in the county government office, a position that was hiring only one person. By regulation, the top three written-test scorers would enter the interview. Li Xiuyuan had placed fifth in the written exam, and under ordinary circumstances he would have had no chance at all.

But before the interview, there was still one more step: the interview qualification review.

Only after passing that review could the top three written-test candidates take part in the interview. That review included political vetting and the examination of all kinds of personal files and records.

If someone failed the review, or if someone gave up the interview and did not show up for qualification screening, then the vacancy would be filled by the next person in line according to rank.

In his past life, after Lin Jingya broke up with him, Li Xiuyuan was devastated and stayed holed up at home. He even turned off his phone, completely unaware that his own post had become the greatest lucky break in the entire province that year.

During the interview stage, problems arose with his post. First, the top scorer in the written exam failed the qualification review and did not pass.

As for the second-place candidate, the exam had only been a trial run; that person had ambitions for the national civil service exam in the third quarter and was aiming high. Besides, the score gap from first place was too wide, so he simply did not bother with the qualification review and withdrew.

Under normal circumstances, the next two candidates should then have been given the chance to move up.

But in his previous life, Li Xiuyuan’s phone was turned off and he could not be reached, so he too was deemed to have given up his qualification.

In the end, the sixth-place scorer entered the interview. And the even more bizarre outcome was that this sixth-place candidate had actually stumbled into a massive windfall and successfully secured the job, receiving the county government office’s notice to report for duty.

When Li Xiuyuan later learned of this, he nearly regretted it to death. He went on to apply for hotly contested provincial exam posts for two more years, yet each time he was too proud for his own good and no such opportunity ever came again. In the end, he applied for a post in a township government and went off to the countryside, wasting many years there.

When he met that candidate again, the one who had lucked into the county government office years ago, it was long afterward, when the man had been transferred to serve in the township as deputy party secretary.

At the township’s welcome banquet that night, Li Xiuyuan drank himself into a miserable state. The deputy township head, who had always been rather kind to him, helped explain that the township secretary had arrived, and the young man was simply happy, so he had drunk a couple of extra cups.

The deputy secretary smiled faintly, gave a gracious nod, and did not take offense. He patted Li Xiuyuan on the shoulder and said, "Young man, work hard. I am optimistic about you. Your future is boundless."

The bitterness of that moment was so sharp that even now, thinking of it made Li Xiuyuan want to cry.

Sometimes the difference between one person and another is just that one chance. A person only gets a few opportunities in life to change their fate, and once missed, they never come again.

A county government office, the very center of county affairs, where one spent every day around the county’s top leaders—promotion to deputy section chief was not exactly as easy as a game, but for those with ambition, with enough years, it could still be achieved.

But in the countryside, getting promoted to deputy section chief could consume an entire lifetime.

Thud!

Li Xiuyuan slammed the table.

He would take the exam. He had to seize this precious opportunity. This lucky break was his and his alone. Working in the county government office meant a starting point that no other unit could compare with.

Such a good chance, he could never give up. Since he had been reborn once, he would do everything he could to climb higher and see the peaks and vistas he had never seen before.

And he would do it for his family as well, so that the next time someone like Lin Jingya tried to threaten him, he would not have to grind his teeth and swallow his anger in silence, too afraid to say a word for fear of offending the powerful and bringing ruin upon his parents.

Right now, he could begin preparing for the interview and wait quietly for the call from the provincial personnel bureau.

Thinking of this, Li Xiuyuan took out his civil service interview materials and began to read.

A week passed in the blink of an eye. During those days, aside from eating, Li Xiuyuan hardly left his room at all. The only time he went out was to visit a clothing store, where he ordered a custom-made suit to wear to the interview.

A week after breaking up with Lin Jingya, the qualification review for the provincial exam interview also began. Li Xiuyuan paid closer and closer attention to his phone, rushing over at once whenever it rang.

On April 3, ten days after the breakup, Li Xiuyuan received a call from the Provincial Personnel Center, notifying him to attend the interview qualification review.

Li Xiuyuan answered as calmly as he could, but after hanging up, he could no longer restrain himself. He pumped his fists and shouted, venting the excitement surging in his heart.

The county government office—this was the post with the highest value in the entire county. In his previous life, missing this chance had ruined his whole life.

Just then, Zhang Qiuhe and Li Jianguo happened to come home at noon for a nap.

Hearing the noise from their son’s room, Zhang Qiuhe grew worried. Had the breakup hit him so hard that something was wrong? Should they call their married daughter back to comfort her younger brother?

"Mom, Dad, the Provincial Personnel Center just called to tell me to go for an interview," Li Xiuyuan reported excitedly to his parents.

After hearing this, the couple looked happy on the surface, but in truth they were not nearly as thrilled, for a very simple reason.

Getting into the interview by luck did not mean he would actually make it through.

After all, ahead of Li Xiuyuan were the third- and fourth-place scorers, both of whom had written-exam scores better than his. If Li Xiuyuan wanted to secure the job, he would have to stage a comeback in the interview and overtake those two. A single point lost in the written exam meant he would need to outperform them by more than two points in the interview.

Making it into the interview only meant there was a chance. The chance was still not very large.

Still, although the couple felt the odds were slim, they would not crush Li Xiuyuan’s confidence. They thought that going to the provincial capital for the interview could count as a change of scenery and a chance to relax.

Li Xiuyuan understood his parents’ feelings very well, but he said nothing more. Words were not as convincing as facts.

Over the next week, Li Xiuyuan made several trips to submit all of his documents. Then he found his name on the list of candidates approved through the interview qualification review, and the interview time and venue were announced as well. The interview would be held on April 23 at Hedong University in the provincial capital.

Li Xiuyuan was still quite confident about this interview. He had taken part in many such exams in his previous life. These interviews were usually structured interviews, and the interviewers were all deputy division chiefs or division chiefs.

To ensure fairness and impartiality, the seven examiners for each room had to be drawn from a pool of thirty people who were notified in advance. Who would actually serve as examiners could only be decided on the final day. In addition, the interview process was anonymous, so one could say that fairness and impartiality were protected to the greatest extent possible.

As long as fairness and impartiality were maintained, Li Xiuyuan was confident he could pull off a reversal in the interview. No joke—after more than ten years working at the grassroots level in his previous life, even if he was still only a rank-and-file civil servant, his foundation was not something a green youngster who had not yet made it through the door could compare with.

On April 21, two days before the interview, Li Xiuyuan boarded the coach bound for the provincial capital.