Short, but it made Emily Thompson quite happy. She squeezed her way out of the crowd again, rubbing her slightly sore legs and arms, carefully pondering the words of this recruiting company. It seemed that “waiting for interview notification” and “waiting for interview time notification” implied completely different things. She was just about to share this great news with the senior who had accompanied her all morning, but unexpectedly, she couldn’t find him. She looked around for a long while, but couldn’t spot that familiar face.

Huh? Where did he go?

Noisy, stuffy, crowded... In this space where the air was poorly circulated due to the sheer number of people, her momentary joy was instantly replaced by sudden disappointment. Several times, Emily Thompson glanced back unintentionally, always holding a sliver of hope in her heart—hoping to see that just-familiar face and those mischievous eyes when she turned around. But every time she looked back, all she saw were strangers—strangers with worried, lost, and anxious expressions. Only now did she realize how different that senior was; there was no worry or nervousness on his face. It felt as if this difficult environment was nothing to him.

After searching intently several times and still not finding him, she had no choice but to lean against the upright aluminum panel wall of the corridor. This senior was no different from the other smooth-talking, eager classmates around, except that after a busy morning, it was clear he was genuinely helping her. Yet she hadn’t even properly said thank you. The joy she had just felt standing confidently in front of the recruiters was something she had wanted to share with him, but now that he was gone, Emily Thompson’s mood shifted from joy to disappointment, leaving her feeling quite frustrated. The frustration made her physical discomfort more pronounced—her legs ached, her calves were swollen, her arms hurt a bit, and she was still sweating from being jostled earlier.

A few more minutes passed, and the stuffy environment made Emily Thompson feel even more restless... Gone!? Just disappeared like that? I didn’t even get to ask his name... Emily Thompson rubbed her arm, standing like a lost little deer in an inconspicuous corner, still foolishly waiting for that kind-hearted senior to appear...

Chapter 08: Meeting and Parting with Fang Shi, A Promise for Another Day

When you’re out in the world, what are the chances of meeting someone kind who helps you?

Don’t be too optimistic—the odds aren’t high, almost as slim as winning five million in the lottery.

But don’t be too pessimistic either. Truth, goodness, and beauty may be on the verge of extinction, but they’re not completely gone.

At least in Emily Thompson’s heart, they haven’t disappeared. At least today, she felt that the senior she met at the job fair was a good person. But why is it that good people are so easy to miss?

Where did he go? Did he think I could handle it, that I’d taken the first step, helped me, and then just turned and left... Or maybe he had his own things to do. She seemed to remember him saying he was also unemployed... How could such an outstanding senior, an alumnus, also be out of work? Is the job market really even tougher than the newspapers make it out to be?

While rubbing her legs and arms, Emily Thompson used the purest and kindest thoughts to ponder the senior who had helped her. Several times she straightened up from her bent position to look around, but all she saw were unfamiliar faces. Strangers came and went around her. In this hot yet indifferent environment, Emily Thompson found herself magnifying the image of that not-so-tall senior in her mind, making him seem taller and taller, and the taller he became, the more frustrated she felt...

Strictly speaking, it hadn’t been long since she squeezed out of the crowd in front of the recruitment booth; it just felt long to Emily Thompson.

During this seemingly long stretch of time, Emily Thompson kept searching anxiously with her eyes. Each disappointment deepened her frustration, and just as she was bending over, rubbing her legs and feeling very let down, suddenly... a hand reached out right in front of her, almost touching her nose. In that hand was a box of ice cream—a pale yellow box, with fine droplets of water on it, fresh from the freezer. In such a stifling environment, just looking at it brought an instant sense of coolness.

Startled, she looked up in surprise, and instantly broke into a radiant smile... Beside her, she didn’t know when the senior had returned. One hand offered her the ice cream, while the other held an old-fashioned popsicle, which he was noisily slurping without any concern for appearances. He gave her a mischievous grin and gestured, “Eat up! What are you staring at?”

Emily Thompson smiled, feeling a rush of words rise to her throat, but she held them back and simply took the ice cream, smiling gratefully. She lifted the lid, took the small wooden spoon, scooped a piece, and, with great poise, brought it to her mouth for a delicate taste. The cool, sweet flavor and refreshing sensation instantly swept away all her earlier unhappiness.

Legend has it there are four great ways people can move each other: giving a cotton-padded jacket in winter, giving ice cream in summer, providing a beacon when lost, and lighting a bulb in the dark. Shawn Lawrence had managed two of these in one morning, truly earning many of his junior’s radiant smiles. Standing face to face, one slurping a popsicle, the other eating ice cream, the two of them couldn’t have looked more silly and happy. After being bumped by several passersby, it took Shawn Lawrence a while to realize where they were. Pointing outside the lobby, he started walking and casually asked, “Let’s go, it’s almost noon. How did it go just now?”