After several minutes of conversation, the interviewer leaned forward slightly, folded his hands on the desk, and looked at Mi Beibei with a polite yet distant smile.
In a calm, even voice, he said, “We’ve carefully reviewed your résumé, and after speaking with you today, we’ve gained a better understanding of your qualifications.”
He paused briefly before continuing.
“We believe that your professional skills and work experience aren’t a good match for the requirements of this position, so we’re unable to offer you the job. I’m sorry.”
Mi Beibei’s heart tightened.
The familiar bitterness washed over her once again.
Again…
She sighed inwardly, feeling helplessness and unwillingness threaten to overwhelm her.
When she had first graduated from vocational college, finding a job hadn’t been easy, but it certainly hadn’t been this difficult.
Over the past few years, however, society seemed to have accelerated at full speed, and hiring standards had risen right along with it.
Every time she looked at a job posting, the educational requirements seemed to stab at her eyes.
Bachelor’s degree.
Master’s degree.
Opportunities for vocational college graduates had become fewer and fewer.
Each time she saw those requirements, it felt like swallowing bitter medicine, leaving her speechless.
Unconsciously, her fingers clenched the hem of her clothes so tightly that her knuckles turned white.
She awkwardly stood up, forcing a smile that looked even worse than crying.
Her voice trembled ever so slightly.
“It’s alright. Sorry for taking up your time.”
The moment the words left her mouth, she turned around in a panic and hurried out of the office as though escaping from a disaster.
Like someone who had lost her soul, Mi Beibei slowly wandered to the bus stop.
She absentmindedly looked up, only to see the familiar Route 23 bus disappearing into the distance, its red taillights growing smaller and smaller until they nearly vanished from sight.
A wave of sorrow surged through her chest.
Her eyes instantly reddened, making her feel even more miserable.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself before looking up at the bus schedule.
If she hadn’t looked, it might have been better.
The moment she saw it, her last bit of hope was crushed.
Route 23 only came once every hour.
Still unwilling to give up, she waited at the bus stop a little longer, staring fixedly in the direction the bus should come from.
The street remained empty.
There wasn’t even a shadow of a bus.
She instinctively reached into her pocket.
Her fingertips touched a few wrinkled banknotes and several coins.
That was everything she owned.
192.5 yuan.
Thinking about how that money had to sustain her for the days ahead, she gritted her teeth and made up her mind.
“I’ll just walk. It’s only forty minutes. I’ll treat it as exercise.”
Dragging her exhausted legs behind her, she slowly started walking home.
The blazing sun beat down mercilessly.
With every step she took, her fatigue and weakness grew worse.
She had no idea how long she had been walking.
She was thirsty.
She was hot.
Her throat felt so dry it seemed ready to catch fire.
Her legs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead.
Just when she thought she couldn’t continue any longer, a large roadside sign advertising near-expiration products caught her attention.
Almost unconsciously, she found herself walking toward it.
Inside was a warehouse.
Rows upon rows of shelves were neatly arranged, filled with all kinds of products.
There were drinks.
Snacks.
Instant noodles.
Self-heating hot pots.
And many other items.
“Hey, young lady! Come take a look!”
A loud voice suddenly rang out beside her.
“Everything here is near its expiration date. Most of it expires in just one or two months, so the prices are really cheap!”
Mi Beibei turned toward the voice.
Standing there was a chubby man in his forties with a friendly smile on his face.
“I’m the owner here. My surname is Wang.”
“Our store just opened recently. Whether you’re buying for yourself or planning to resell the goods, it’s a great deal.”
The moment Mi Beibei heard the words “resell them,” her previously dull eyes suddenly lit up.
It was like seeing a ray of hope in complete darkness.
“Boss Wang, I’ll take a look around first.”
She tried to keep her voice calm.
Boss Wang smiled warmly.
“Sure. Take your time. If you have any questions, just ask.”
Mi Beibei slowly walked over to the shelves.
She carefully examined every product, occasionally picking one up to check its expiration date.
Just as Boss Wang had said, the products had anywhere from one month to four months of shelf life remaining.
She walked back and forth between the shelves, weighing her options.
In the end, she skipped the drinks and snacks.
Instead, she chose instant noodles and self-heating rice meals.
She figured that even if she couldn’t sell them, they could at least become her food for the next several weeks.
Taking a deep breath, she tried to sound more professional.
“Boss Wang, how much are the instant noodles and the self-heating meals?”
Boss Wang grinned, revealing a row of slightly crooked teeth.
“One yuan per pack for the instant noodles, and two yuan per box for the self-heating meals.”
Mi Beibei quickly began calculating in her head.
One yuan each… A hundred packs would cost a hundred yuan…
She gently shook her head.
“I’ll take eighty packs instead. That’s eighty yuan.”
Then she started calculating the self-heating meals.
“Two yuan each… Thirty boxes…”
As she continued doing the math, she thought about the little money left in her pocket.
Her heart tightened.
This was practically the last lifeline she had.
Only after repeatedly calculating everything in her head and confirming she wanted eighty packs of instant noodles and thirty self-heating meals did she nervously tell Boss Wang what she wanted.
Boss Wang readily agreed.
With practiced movements, he quickly packed everything into a huge, sturdy shopping bag.
After finishing, he picked up one additional self-heating rice meal from the shelf and placed it inside the bag.
Smiling, he said,
“Miss, this one’s a gift. Come back again whenever you have time.”
Mi Beibei was both surprised and delighted.
Her eyes reddened slightly as she hurriedly thanked him.
“Boss Wang, thank you so much! You’re such a kind person! I’ll definitely come back!”
After paying, she carefully lifted the heavy bag.
Inside it wasn’t just food.
It also carried a small piece of hope for her future.
She stepped outside.
The sunlight was still blazing.
Yet her footsteps felt noticeably lighter than before.
Along the way, Mi Beibei tightly gripped the bag.
The weight made her arms ache, but she didn’t mind at all.
Her thoughts drifted.
Perhaps these instant noodles and self-heating meals would help her survive this difficult period.
Perhaps they might even become the opportunity that changed her life.
Holding onto that hope, she continued walking steadily toward home.
Twenty minutes later, Mi Beibei finally saw the familiar entrance to her apartment complex.
The security guard nodded at her.
She forced a faint smile in return.
Home was now only a short distance away.
And somehow, because of this single bag of near-expiration food, her life seemed to have quietly begun changing.
Standing beneath the shade of a tree beside the apartment gate, Mi Beibei looked around cautiously.
After making sure no one was paying attention, she squatted down and carefully took the self-heating meals and instant noodles out of the bag, arranging them neatly on the ground.
It was the evening rush hour.
People streamed past in endless waves, all hurrying home with exhausted expressions.
Mi Beibei took a deep breath, trying to calm her pounding heart.
But her throat felt as though it were blocked.
When she finally managed to call out, her voice trembled.
“Instant noodles! Self-heating rice meals! Near expiration! Cheap prices!”
Her voice was almost swallowed by the surrounding noise of traffic and pedestrians.
People merely glanced at her in passing before walking away without stopping.
Every indifferent figure disappearing into the crowd felt like another heavy step crushing her already fragile heart.
The courage she had worked so hard to gather slowly faded away.
Just as Mi Beibei was about to lose hope completely, a young man’s voice came from behind her.
“I’ll buy some. How much are they?”
She turned around abruptly.
Hope instantly lit up her eyes.
Her nervousness made her stutter.
“I-Instant noodles are two yuan a pack. The self-heating rice meals are four yuan each. They’re near expiration, but they’ve definitely not expired!”
She hurriedly explained, afraid he would leave the moment he heard the words “near expiration.”
The young man squatted down and carefully looked over the products.
“Then give me two self-heating rice meals and five packs of instant noodles.”
Mi Beibei was overjoyed.
Her hands trembled with excitement as she hurriedly handed him everything he wanted.
“Don’t you have a bag?” the young man asked in surprise as he accepted the items.
“N-No… Um… I forgot to bring any bags with me…”
Mi Beibei stammered nervously.
Her face flushed bright red, and she wished she could disappear into the ground from embarrassment.
“That’s alright.”
The young man didn’t say anything else.
He took the instant noodles and self-heating meals before disappearing into the crowd.
Watching him leave, Mi Beibei let out a long breath.
A small but indescribable excitement filled her heart.
She had finally made her first sale.
Although it was only a tiny transaction, she knew that every beginning was difficult.
This small success was, at the very least, a good start.