Jiang Cheng immediately explained her idea of inviting Director Sun to attend the performance.

Director Sun immediately understood and said, “You’re aiming for me to set an example for you.”

“I knew you’d see through it at a glance, so we’re being straightforward.”

“Our night school attaches great importance to this play. If it gains enough influence, we might even get to perform in the provincial capital or Beijing.”

“I know such performances are quite ordinary, and directors usually don’t attend, so… we’re offering something in exchange for the opportunity.”

Speaking honestly, Jiang Cheng took something out of her backpack.

“Director Sun, this is a template I’ve organized. If you don’t mind, please take it and use it.”

For the first time, Director Sun looked at Jiang Cheng seriously.

He had first heard her name from his younger son, Sun Jiandong.

At the time, he hadn’t thought much of it.

A couple of days ago, his wife came back from the night school and praised Jiang Cheng again. The only thing he remembered was: “Our son isn’t good enough for Jiang Cheng.”

Today was the first time he met Jiang Cheng in person.

From the moment she entered, she appeared intelligent, confident, composed, and understanding of social nuances.

Director Sun took the template and looked through it. The more he read, the more he appreciated it, and the more he felt it was exactly what they needed.

Jiang Cheng stood quietly, observing the situation.

For an upright director like him, tricks and flattery wouldn’t work—honesty was the shortcut.

The office fell silent again, but this time without the previous tension.

Director Sun nodded repeatedly as he read.

After finishing the document, Director Sun said, “What you’ve presented is quite appealing to me.”

Jiang Cheng smiled sincerely and said, “The template, along with my translation skills, is what I’m offering in exchange for an opportunity for our night school.”

Director Sun laughed heartily. It had been a long time since he had encountered such a straightforward “scheme.”

“Alright! I agree.”

Once the matter was settled, Jiang Cheng immediately transformed into an enthusiastic butterfly, explaining the use of the template to several staff members of the machinery factory.

An hour later, these staff members approached Director Sun together.

“Director, can we keep Comrade Jiang here?”

Director Sun couldn’t understand what kind of “potion” Jiang Cheng had given them in just an hour.

As time passed, nearing the end of the workday, Director Sun invited Jiang Cheng and Principal Wang to dine at the machinery factory’s cafeteria.

It was the shift change between day and night shifts, and the place was bustling with people coming and going.

Lin Chengyuan, who had just finished his day shift, happened to see Jiang Cheng walking alongside Director Sun, engaged in a lively conversation.

“Hey, who’s the girl next to our director?”

“Don’t know, but she’s really pretty.”

“Wonder if she’s single.”

“Ouch—”

Some brought it up, others teased, and Lin Chengyuan’s expression grew increasingly unpleasant. Almost involuntarily, he blurted out, “She already has someone she likes!”

The teasing and curious colleagues turned to Lin Chengyuan.

“Lin, do you know her?”

“Where’s she from?”

After speaking, Lin Chengyuan felt a twinge of guilt, but he forced himself to remain calm. He wasn’t wrong—Jiang Cheng had liked him before.

“She’s a girl from the countryside. Don’t even think about it; your family wouldn’t approve.”

After Lin Chengyuan said this to the colleague who had shown some interest, the colleague quickly dismissed the idea.

His mother had given him a strict order: it had to be a city girl.

“Forget it, forget it. Someone that good-looking wouldn’t be interested in me anyway!”

The male colleague joked about it, and the others offered half-hearted consolations. A potential romance that had barely begun was now over.

Lin Chengyuan felt a secret sense of joy, mixed with an indescribable regret.

*

On the other side, Jiang Cheng was completely unaware of Lin Chengyuan’s antics. She was politely declining Director Sun’s job offer.

“Director Sun, once you see the level of my translation skills, you won’t want to invite me to work here.”

“Oh? What does that matter? Our machinery factory often needs translation services. Given today’s situation, I’ve actually been considering hiring a full-time translator.”

Jiang Cheng smiled mysteriously.

“Your magnanimity wouldn’t allow you to do that.”

Director Sun: “?”

“Someone like me is destined to serve the public and contribute to society. Holding onto such excellent skills would be a waste otherwise!”

After Jiang Cheng finished speaking, everyone at the table stared at her in stunned silence.

The bespectacled man stiffly turned his head and asked Principal Wang, “Is she always like this?”

Principal Wang nodded calmly.

“Daily occurrence, daily occurrence.”

The bespectacled man said admiringly, “Your composure is impressive!”

Principal Wang pursed his lips and replied indifferently, “You’ll get used to it.”

They continued eating.

It must be said, the food at the machinery factory’s cafeteria was excellent.

No wonder it was the top factory in the area!

After the meal, the people from Xinhua Bookstore finally arrived.

The store manager brought two translators, one old and one young.

The older translator was imparting wisdom to the younger one.

“Translation is an art where one sentence can have a hundred interpretations. So, as long as you’re confident in the accuracy of your translation, don’t undervalue yourself. Stick to your own ideas, understand?”

“Understood.”

“When we go in, carry yourself with confidence. It’s not about being arrogant, but if you don’t project confidence, people will assume you’re incompetent.”

“Got it.”

“This is a professional translation job, and the vocabulary will be quite specialized. If you come across something you don’t know, just remember it. We’ve brought dictionaries, so there’s nothing to fear!”

“Alright.”

…

As the two communicated, they followed the store manager into the building and arrived at Director Sun’s office.

“Knock—knock—knock”

After the secretary knocked to announce their arrival, Director Sun stood up to greet them.

They exchanged pleasantries for about two minutes before the bespectacled man impatiently interrupted, “Everyone, we’re still waiting to use this equipment. Can we hurry this along?”

Naturally, neither side objected, and they headed toward the workshop where the equipment was stored.

They arrived at the workshop.

Director Sun glanced back and said to Secretary Zhang, “Go wait for Comrade Jiang and let her know we’ve come here.”

“Understood, I’ll go right away.”

Secretary Zhang ran back to wait for Jiang Cheng, while the workshop door was opened.

Clang, clang, clang…
The bespectacled man immediately turned on the lights.

A steel production line came into view.

“Everyone, this way. These are the documents that came with the production line after we purchased it.”

The people from Xinhua Bookstore followed the direction the bespectacled man pointed.

All three of them gasped.

This much!
Before them were stacks of paper boxes, at least a hundred of them.

Hundreds of boxes filled with foreign language documents that needed to be translated by the three of them?

The Xinhua Bookstore manager didn’t even have the courage to look inside the boxes. He turned directly to Director Sun and asked, “This much? Just the three of us?”

For the first time, Director Sun’s face turned red with embarrassment. He said somewhat sheepishly, “It’s not just this much.”

The Xinhua Bookstore manager breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good, that’s good.”

“What I mean is, there are another hundred or so boxes in the next room.”

As soon as Director Sun finished speaking, the Xinhua Bookstore manager’s eyes rolled back.

“Hey, hey, hey—don’t faint!”

Director Sun quickly supported the Xinhua Bookstore manager, who was also his old friend.

“Old Guo, is it really that bad? This little scene has you scared like this?”

Manager Guo snapped back, “Screw you! You’ve never had good intentions!”

“Watch your language.”

Manager Guo glared at Director Sun, then kicked him in frustration.

“Watch my language? Watch my foot! You old scoundrel, you old swindler!”

Director Sun quickly dodged.

“You dare dodge! With this many boxes, you could bury three of us and still have leftovers. How long do you think it’ll take just the three of us to finish this?”

“It’s not just three people. I’ve hired an assistant for you, someone with a translation certificate!”

Speak of the devil, and she shall appear.

Jiang Cheng had gone to the restroom, and by the time she returned, the Xinhua Bookstore team had arrived.

However, she still walked leisurely toward the workshop. As soon as she entered, she saw the mountain of boxes and the two leaders bickering.

“An assistant? No assistant is going to make this any better!”

After Manager Guo shouted this, he had mostly vented his frustration.

“Jiang Cheng?”

“It’s you!”

Manager Guo was surprised, then turned to the young translator, Zhao Chengde, who had called out Jiang Cheng’s name.

“Zhao Chengde, do you know her?”

Zhao Chengde shed his usual composed demeanor and nodded repeatedly. “Manager Guo, this is Jiang Cheng, the prodigy I told you about.”

After introducing her, Zhao Chengde added, “Jiang Cheng, this is Manager Guo from Xinhua Bookstore.”

Manager Guo waved his hand to stop Zhao Chengde. “No need for introductions. We know each other. I personally issued her translation certificate yesterday and even gave her a free Russian lesson.”

“Oh—she taught me.”

After Manager Guo said this, everyone’s eyes turned to Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng, putting on an air of arrogance, said, “I didn’t expect to run into so many familiar faces. In that case, I won’t pretend to be polite. Thank you all for your trust and support. I’ll take on this job!”