Assistant Architect

Chapter 3

So this is chapter 3, things start to get interesting. and like always thanks to Shem for everything she did. Thank you senpai *give he a lot of hugs*

Translator: Blues

Editor: Shem

"What are you howling about in your room alone?" Fu Xinhui heard the noise and asked loudly from the outside.

"Ah ah ah……" Zhang Siyi opened the door. He opened his arms while screaming, to show his surging mood at the moment.

Fu Xinhui's dodge was not timely so he got a full hug from him.

Right at that moment, a voice came from the front door, "What are you two doing?" Jiang Hai was looking strangely at them. His left hand was holding the key and the right hand was carrying a lunch box from a convenience store.

Fu Xinhui : "……"

Zhang Siyi excitedly jumped at Jiang Hai: "Da Hai~ I received a job search reply! I’m going to the interview!"

"Really?" Jian Hai showed a smile then followed with: “What company is it?”
"Boundless Architecture Design Institute!" Zhang Siyi held his fist excitedly.

Three people sat down at the coffee table. When Jang Hai graduated, his family arranged a work for him. Besides several large designing institutes, he was not familiar with other companies on the market. So he asked: “What is that place? Is it good or not?"

Fu Xinhui also followed to ridicule: "I have never heard of it. I haven't heard any news from you since you have been looking for a job. It's not a bad company, right?"

 
Zhang Si Yi was bristling with anger, his brows went straight up and he quickly told them about “Boundless” background, it's evaluation and reputation on ABBS.

Jiang Hai nodded his head, "Sounds great. So when are you going to the interview?"

After his reminder, Zhang Siyi immediately shouted "Ah" loudly and soon covered his face while saying, “Tomorrow. What to do, I’m so nervous! What questions will be generally asked in the interview? Is it possible to not pass?"

 
Fu Xinhui tossed a raisin in his mouth, then said jokingly: “You look so handsome, there should be no problem."

Zhang Siyi: "Be serious! This is not a game!"

Jiang Hai scratched his head and said, "I haven't been interviewed before. Why don't we ask Su Yuan?"

 
Su Yuan was one of the girls who returned home with them at the same time. Her professional achievements were considered the best among several people, her career path was also very well planned. While they were still studying, she already got an internship in a Britain designing firm in Haicheng Division. They were few Chinese people, between several students they can be considered as close, so she was willing to help.

Zhang Siyi slapped his thigh and quickly went back to the room to take the Ipad to video call Su Yuan.

“Hello~!" Once connected, Su Yuan's passionate voice passed over from there, "Xiao Yi, how are you?"

 
The girl in the video was wearing a small black dress. One hand was holding a cell phone, talking to them, while the other hand was pushing aside the chain on her shoulder bag, revealing a mature intellectual beauty.

 
Before they became classmates, Su Yuan first studied English major at a local university for two years. Then went abroad to study architecture, so she was two years older than them. When she was in a good mood, she usually called Zhang Siyi and Fu Xinhui, adding "Xiao" word at the front.

 
At this moment, the video was crammed with a smiley face. The other side had a beautiful eye makeup and painted lip gloss.

 
"I'll go. Reng Meng Xuan will go?" This was the other female student who stayed in Haicheng.

“Where are you going?” Zhang Siyi asked.

 
"Just got off from work, Reng Meng Xuan called for clubbing." Su Yuan laughed.

 
"You guys have a pretty good life!" Zhang Siyi went near the two so they could also greet.

"Hey hey, of course. You guys want to go out together and have a drink?" Ren Meng Xuan warmly invited them.

Zhang Siyi was thinking about his upcoming interview so he quickly refused and told her his purpose of calling her.

After finding out that he got an interview notice from "Boundless", Su Yuan was surprised and envious: “Wow! I also submitted a resume to "Boundless", but they didn’t reply."

Zhang Siyi looked at the side to his ignorant friends, in his heart: See? This company is really very powerful. I didn’t brag to you.

After a few laughs, Su Yuan went back to the point: “Generally speaking, to give you an interview notice means they recognized you. As long as you have a talent and you submitted the collection of your works, there will be no problem. Some foreign studios will allow foreigners to interview you, to see your professional English and communication level, this point in the country already has a great advantage," Su Yuan shrugged, "In my opinion, to go to the interview is just like a walk in a field, talk about the treatment issues and nothing else."

But Zhang Siyi was still very nervous, he wasn’t as good as Su Yuan, so he naturally couldn’t have her calm atmosphere.

Su Yuan encouraged him: "Relax, young man. We are just a few of the new graduates who are young and clever, do you think the company recruits us as the last resort? No! They want a willing and hard-working cheap labor, so the most important thing is attitude. You have knocked on that door, and then as long as you can make an-all powerful look on the line, no matter what the interviewer asked you, you have to say that ‘you can'. Even if its not the case, you have to declare that you are willing to learn, in short, you have to mixed in. They are also in ‘betting stone ‘, but stone or jade to see is your own fortune."

Zhang Siyi was inspired by her remark: “Goddess, got it!"

Su Yuan waved her hand and smiled: "Okay, just go ahead boldly. Don’t worry! There will be good news, so please remember to eat."

Zhang Siyi raised his fist excitedly: "Of course!"

Stomach that had been full of chicken soup and with his excitement, Zhang Siyi didn’t sleep all night. A short while before dawn he was quickly awake.

He didn't sleep much at all because he was thinking about the interview. The whole people was like super Mario who had eaten a five-pointed star—rushed into the bathroom to wash his hair, took a bath, shaved, styled his hair and changed his clothes. He was tossing back and forth over for half an hour. He did a preparation carefully, just like the last time two years ago to get laid.

Finally, looking at the radiant handsome young man in the mirror, Zhang Siyi whistled, from the bottom of the heart, it gave birth to a long-lost self-confidence.

—Young man, you can do it!

The office was in Haicheng CBD, the distance from their rented house was only 20 minutes by subway. The transportation was very convenient. If in the future he could really work there, going to and fro was not a problem, just this advantage made Zhang Siyi happy, he was looking forward to the incomparable.

Caught up with the rush hour to arrive at the destination, Zhang Siyi looked up at the front of the high office building, 'Boundless' office was in one of the floor.

Looking around to the white-collar elites at the entrance, Zhang Siyi opened his arms, closed his eyes and took a deep breath of the city’s polluted morning air—a look of fascination on his face.

 
Soon, he would be one of these office workers, every–nine to five, just thinking about it made him happier.

 
Because it was working hours, there were lots of people, the elevator would always stop at each floor. Finally arriving at Boundless' office floor, the door opened, Zhang Siyi saw a large set of green plants.

It was an entire glass of lattice shelves, almost every shelf were placed with a pot of plants. There were herbs and succulent plants, seemingly random, but there was a kind of scattered artistic sense.

Through the gap between the potted plants and the glass, he could vaguely see the internal office area.

All of the iMac were laid on a neatly arranged white designing table, two designers were working intently on the inside……Ah! Ah! Ah! That's so cool!
Turning left, on the pure white wall at the end of the corridor, a red “Boundless” word suddenly jumped into view.

Going straight along the landscape wall in the end, Zhang Siyi saw a sentence written in black under the "Boundless" word.

"The never ending pursuit."

Zhang Siyi's heart beat fast, his whole body was like injected with a chicken blood and he felt an upsurge of emotions.

 
Further inside was the office's entrance. Zhang Siyi calmed down the mood and went to the front desk to show his purpose.

 
The other side warmly brought him in to a small reception room and also poured him a cup of hot water, then politely said: "Please wait a moment, I’ll notice the personnel department."

 
However in half a minute, Miss Wang of the personnel department came to greet him and told him that the director who would be interviewing him will come soon.

Zhang Siyi nodded his thanks. While waiting at the other person, he imagined in his mind the questions the director will ask him and the words Su Yuan had said. He was desperately trying to cheer himself.

Knock. Knock.

The sound of fingers tapping the glass door pulled back Zhang Siyi’s thoughts, he turned around and saw a tall, lean young man standing in the doorway. He was wearing a leather shoes, gray slacks, white coat and an open-air cotton shirt……wait a minute, this man looks familiar!!

 
Ah…… he looked like that handsome guy yesterday morning in the cafe……who got spilled with coffee!

Ao! Ao! Ao! Why is this man here?!

 
The man's expressionless face swept over Zhang Siyi and he slightly nodded towards him to show greetings. Then he calmly sat on the seat as if they only met for the first time.

……He had forgotten him, right?

It was unlikely to……
Compared to Zhang Siyi’s heart collapsing, the other seemed very calm. The handsome man slowly opened the file on his hands and asked: “Zhang Siyi, right?”

“Uh, um, hello, Director…Gu?" Zhang Siyi couldn't believe it. This person was an architect? Also the damn director? The man looked a little older than him! Why was the director so young?!

“Hello, my name is Gu Xiao.” The opposite young man took out a business card and gave it to him. Then he pulled out a pen and looked down at the document. In a businesslike manner, he lightly said: “Introduce yourself.”

 
Zhang Siyi glanced at the words on the business card—

 
Gu Xiao

Xiao Gu

National First-Class Certified Architect

Chief Architectural Designer

Design Director

 
Three full titles, each one could flashy blind Zhang Siyi…

At that moment, the original potential work opportunity was like a dream bubble that “pop” all at once, broken.

 
Zhang Siyi’s mind was full of those words of what his girlfriend had been scolding about yesterday morning. He concluded that they had left a terrible impression on the “director” in front of him, plus that cup of coffee……

Oh no, he did not dare to go on.

If said that last night, God let him experience what was called extreme sorrow turn to joy. Then now, Zhang Siyi deeply tasted a miserable experience of extreme joy begets sorrow.

It took only a moment to fall from the clouds to the bottom of the rocks.

He was done for. This job was over.

 
Gu Xiao glanced at him, Zhang Siyi recovered from the shock of his frustration, rigidly said: “I, my name is Zhang Siyi, a Ningcheng man, graduated from the British Department of Architecture C.”

(T/N: A county of southeastern Inner Mongolia, People’s Republic of China.)

Gu Xiao pointed to the file with the tip of the pen and said: "I already know about these. Say something else."

 
"…" Anything else? What to say?

Zhang Siyi had been completely distracted.

 
Gu Xiao put down the pen and rested his arm at the back of a chair. Just like yesterday, he looked at Zhang Siyi up and down, again and again, before saying: “You are not sloppy today.”

Zhang Siyi: "……." He really remembered ah ! ! （=皿=）

Director Gu knitted his eyebrows: "Or is it better to talk something about your girlfriend?"

Zhang Siyi's sweat was like a waterfall. This person was joking, right? But why did his eyes and tone seem to be not joking?

Gu Xiao waited for a while. Zhang Siyi forced himself to look helpless, so Gu Xiao signed and promptly said, "Tell me why you studied architecture? Why send a resume to ‘Boundless’? Are there any clear plans and ideas about your future?"

The author has something to say: (note)

ABBS: The largest architectural professional website and forum in China
iMac: Apple All-in-one machine
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Today was the last day. Oh, the top 100 messages sprinkled the little angel will be given a red envelope (login status), Muah! (づ￣3￣)づ

• 大 Dà means big, opposite of Xiao(little)
• Nine to five: normal work schedule for most jobs.
• Succulent plants: In botany, succulent plants, also known as succulents, are plants that have some parts that are more than normally thickened and fleshy, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions

• Injected with a chicken blood: jittery or agitated. Fun fact: there was a form of pseudo-medical therapy popular in China during the Cultural Revolution—practised mainly by village doctors—called chicken therapy. The therapy consisted mainly of simply drawing blood from a rooster and injecting into the patients. Claimed benefits included making the patient highly aggressive and strong. It was a great contribution for the call to ‘Prepare for war, prepare for famine, for the people!
• Extreme joy begets sorrow: Literal meaning is extreme happiness will generate sorrow