The moment the dismissal bell rang, Wang Qiqi quickly gathered her schoolbag, ready to bolt. Fast as she was, she couldn't outmatch Bai Ge, who hadn't even packed up yet but managed to snag the back of Qiqi's jacket. "Qiqi, I think we need to talk."

Talk? Wang Qiqi glanced around. Although her classmates were still packing, their eyes kept drifting toward them. She knew they were curious, and besides, she couldn't exactly escape, could she? "Sure," Qiqi leaned against her desk and said.

"Um, um," Bai Ge stumbled over her words while glancing at Duan Xiaomin and the others. Qiqi inwardly shook her head; this girl was clearly just the spokesperson chosen by the others.

Bai Ge was quite tempted by the idea of Qiqi earning money through translation, but she knew she didn't have the requisite skills. The problem was that Duan Xiaomin and Li Xin were whispering amongst themselves, with Gong Yiying inevitably stirring the pot. Finally, Bai Ge gritted her teeth and voiced the question everyone cared about: "Um, Qiqi, is this translation job actually profitable?"

Profitable? Wang Qiqi stared at Bai Ge for a long moment, making her uncomfortable. "I want to earn money too, but the issue is I'm not an English major; I study finance. Frankly, they only agreed to take me on because of my friend; I’m essentially an apprentice. How much translation income could I possibly have, let alone whether it's truly lucrative?"

Gong Yiying heard Qiqi’s words and immediately suspected she was being evasive. "Wang Qiqi, you don't need to be so stingy. Are you worried we'll steal your livelihood?" Hmph, Gong Yiying thought, Qiqi’s English scores in the college entrance exam were about the same as mine. There’s no reason she can do this job and I can’t. Gong Yiying had planned things out: first, earning some money from translating to dress herself up better, and second, perhaps meeting a wealthy suitor. The men at school were fine, but weren't established, successful men outside much better?

Livelihood? Wang Qiqi looked at Gong Yiying, seeing the challenge and defiance in her eyes. This girl was truly an ungrateful wolf. No matter how little friendship they had, Qiqi smiled at Gong Yiying. "Only the incompetent worry about having their livelihood snatched. Besides, I’m just an apprentice's livelihood; what’s there to worry about? I’m only receiving apprentice wages." Wang Qiqi named a price, stunning everyone. Some immediately exclaimed it was too low, while others simply disbelieved it. Of course, Qiqi was only quoting a three-tenths rate, but the point was, "Too low? I’m lucky to get anything at all. Go see if any translation agency will even take you in without charging tuition, let alone paying wages."

The others paused to think. Why were they surprised? Even if the pay was meager, if they could learn something, it would give them more career options later. And surely, they wouldn't be apprentices forever. As this thought dawned on them, their eyes instantly lit up. "If we go, will we get apprentice wages too?" someone dared to ask.

Wang Qiqi had no idea about that. "Maybe I can ask, but the interviewer back then was quite harsh," Qiqi kindly warned. "He’s very particular about the writing quality. Anyway, be careful during the interview. If he's willing to talk to you, it means he sees some potential. But if he stays silent, there’s no chance at all."

"What did you interview for specifically? It wasn't translating some English book, was it?" If that were the case, she really needed to borrow a few books to look over, just in case she got lucky and the test covered what she’d read.

Wang Qiqi thought to herself that she had no way of knowing, and besides, there was no shortcut she could give them. "I don't know the specifics, but when I interviewed, they handed me a manuscript they needed translated directly. I suppose it could be business-related, or perhaps literature. Overall, it was harder than the CET-4 exam." Qiqi arrived at this conclusion after some thought. While the CET-4 was somewhat difficult, many parts were predictable. But this work frequently introduced new terminology, requiring constant self-improvement; otherwise, it was exhausting. "Even now, I have to keep reading English books to raise my level, and more importantly, speed. They won't just hand you an article to ponder over leisurely; you have a deadline. Perhaps a manuscript is urgent, requiring you to rush to catch a bus or hail a motorcycle taxi to pick up the material, then translate it before rushing back. Sometimes, the travel expenses alone might eat up the entire wage. Or, if you make too many mistakes, you might spend ages fixing it, or it might turn into them dictating while you just take notes, resulting in zero income."

Hearing Wang Qiqi explain this, many people hesitated. Well, even if they could learn something, they certainly couldn't spend money on travel and end up with nothing. "I want to try," Gong Yiying decided she would give it a shot after all.

Wang Qiqi nodded. "I'll go ask, but I can't guarantee the result." She seemed to recall the Li couple was looking for people.

Gong Yiying muttered a thank you without much sincerity. In her view, Wang Qiqi was just doing a small favor, and Gong Yiying didn't believe Qiqi would truly help.

Wang Qiqi wouldn't sabotage this. If she failed to pass along the message, or if she relayed it and the Lis didn't show up, the blame would fall squarely on her. When Li Xiangdong received her call, his first reaction was to decline, but he quickly agreed. As for the hesitant matter Qiqi raised on the phone, Li Xiangdong naturally had no objection. "However, I’m not hiring anyone without any basic foundation. I absolutely won't take apprentices like that."

Li Xiangdong wanted to see if there were any hidden gems like Wang Qiqi. Even if he only found one or two, he could nurture them well and sign an agreement; that would solve his immediate problem.

Wang Qiqi said "Oh," hung up the phone, and shared the good news. Incidentally, the interview location was Li Xiangdong's studio, where Qiqi was also going to submit her manuscript.

Gong Yiying hadn't expected Wang Qiqi to actually take them there. She looked at Qiqi in disbelief. Could it be that this girl was really that kind-hearted? But since the fool had agreed, how could Gong Yiying pass up the chance? "Fine, let's go." She planned to see if Qiqi had really arranged things properly with the other party.

On the day Wang Qiqi had agreed with Li Xiangdong, she led the students who wanted to interview through a dizzying series of bus and subway transfers before finally reaching the location of Li Xiangdong’s translation agency. The journey left everyone feeling quite turned around. "Qiqi, you really come here like this every time?" Heavens, if Qiqi hadn't led the way, they would have been completely lost.

Wang Qiqi nodded, feeling genuinely embarrassed. To bring them here, she had thoroughly traversed the bus and subway routes over the past few days. "Sometimes I take a cab if I'm in a hurry; the bus-to-subway transfer isn't always sufficient."

Everyone started calculating the approximate travel costs. If they took a taxi, the fare would certainly be expensive. If they had many jobs, it might balance out, but with few jobs, wouldn't they lose money? Calculating this, some started to waver. Wang Qiqi noticed that some faces had lost the excitement they had when leaving home, and she inwardly rejoiced. Did they think the money was so easy to earn? This was only the first step; wait until Li Xiangdong interviews them, and then they’ll see his formidable nature. "Sometimes, you can't just look at the money; you have to see if you're learning something."

Gong Yiying glanced up at Wang Qiqi, who seemed to regard money as trivial compared to gaining skills. She secretly thought, You have money, so you can focus on learning skills. Don't I want to learn skills too? But the problem was, with such little money involved, she couldn't afford to waste time and resources. Sighing, Gong Yiying agonized over both options: sacrificing a bit now for a better future, or enduring hardship now so the path ahead would be smoother.

Li Xiangdong was in the office today. When he saw Wang Qiqi arrive, he immediately tossed her a document. "Urgent item. Go translate that in the corner."

Qiqi took one look and realized it wasn't in her area of expertise. Sighing, it seemed Li Xiangdong had no intention of making things easy for these kids. "Alright." Wang Qiqi took the manuscript and walked to a nearby spot to begin translating. As soon as she sat down, a man ambled over from beside her. "Here again?"

Wang Qiqi hummed in response. "Yeah, here to get chewed out."

The man glanced at the manuscript in Qiqi’s hand and saw it wasn't the answer he was looking for. "Mr. Li is quite good to you; at least he offers pointers. By the way, what is your relationship with Mr. Li?" Previously, everyone assumed there was some untold connection between Wang Qiqi and the CEO, but later, seeing Qiqi also had a good relationship with Mr. Li's wife, they realized they were mistaken.

"My classmate is Li Zhe's tutor." Where there are people, there is office politics. Even men gossip. Wang Qiqi noticed that every time she came here to translate manuscripts, this man would wander over. Though he outwardly chatted with her, he always kept a close watch on the manuscript she was translating, which Qiqi found rather strange, but she wouldn't pry. If he wanted to watch, let him watch.

The man let out a drawn-out "Oh." As he said this, several heads in the office bowed a little lower. Wang Qiqi failed to notice the silent exchange of glances among them.

Gong Yiying walked up to Wang Qiqi and started looking at her document. At this glance, she felt like fainting; she didn't understand many of the words. "This hard?"

Wang Qiqi nodded. "Yes. I expect I’ll be scolded again soon." Li Xiangdong, oh Li Xiangdong, you don’t have to give these kids such a harsh introduction, she thought, but she couldn't say anything. Today's interviews were happening because of her. If a few good prospects emerged, that would be fine. If not... sigh. But if not, even if they were envious of her later, all they could manage would be a few sour remarks. (To be continued)