“Sit.” In the air-conditioned office, a middle-aged man of about forty sat behind a spacious, spotless desk. He nodded slightly at Gavin Dawson before speaking, “Your resume.”

“Here it is.” Gavin Dawson hurriedly handed over his resume, then sat up straight in the chair in front of the desk as instructed.

The middle-aged man took the resume, glanced over it quickly, then looked up in confusion. “You’re a recent graduate?”

“Yes.” Gavin Dawson nodded immediately. “Although I just graduated, my ability to learn…”

“I remember our company’s job posting clearly stated that we only hire designers with work experience, didn’t it?” The middle-aged man interrupted Gavin Dawson’s self-recommendation, eyeing him with suspicion.

“Well, I saw your company’s job posting online and came directly…” Gavin Dawson was well aware of this, but still wanted to give it a try.

“You can leave now.” The middle-aged man didn’t give him a chance to speak, his expression changing as he put down the resume and gestured toward the door.

“Huh? I…” Gavin Dawson was stunned and hurried to speak again.

“I said you can go.” The middle-aged man was even more impatient, waving his hand dismissively. In his mind, he cursed under his breath—this idiot, didn’t he see that the Chuangyuan job ad clearly says only experienced designers? Even if they made an exception for a few fresh graduates, they’d have to be from prestigious universities or have connections. But this guy’s resume listed a third-rate technical college that’s barely known even in Hecheng.

As for his background, he’s from a rural household in Xiahe Province, with no ties to Hecheng, the provincial capital—no connections at all. For someone like this, the man couldn’t even be bothered to go through the motions of telling him to wait for further notice.

“Can’t you give me a chance? I believe I can do well in design.” Despite the man’s terrible attitude, Gavin Dawson was unwilling to give up. After half a month of constant rejections, he no longer cared much about the interviewer’s attitude—though, to be fair, this was the worst he’d encountered in the past two weeks.

“A chance?” The middle-aged man was taken aback, then laughed, sizing up Gavin Dawson before sneering, “Next!”

“I…” Gavin Dawson tried to say more, but was cut off again.

“Next!”

Gavin Dawson was completely out of options. He could only stand up in frustration. As he left Chuangyuan, the receptionist at the front desk still wore a sweet smile, but to Gavin Dawson at this moment, it had lost all its charm.

“Damn, and this is supposed to be a famous company? Why is their attitude so bad?” Standing in front of the elevator, Gavin Dawson finally couldn’t help but mutter a curse.

After waiting a minute or two, an elevator finally stopped on the ninth floor. When the doors opened, Gavin Dawson walked in with his head down, glancing up at the figure inside. Even though he was in a bad mood, checking the numbers floating outside everyone’s body had already become a habit he’d picked up in just half a day.

But as he looked, Gavin Dawson suddenly froze mid-step—one foot inside the elevator, one foot outside—staring intently at the man for a moment. Only when the man’s face showed obvious impatience did Gavin Dawson force an awkward smile and step inside.

“Weird, Vitality Value: -0.7. That’s almost like a dead person, yet he’s still alive and riding the elevator.” After a brief laugh, Gavin Dawson moved to the back corner of the elevator, thinking as he secretly glanced again at the middle-aged man a couple of steps away.

This was a man who looked quite handsome and steady, exuding the mature charm of middle age. He wore a neat suit with shiny black leather shoes, and beneath his crew cut was a face that, though a bit haggard, still looked spirited.

The two numbers floating outside the man’s body: Spirit, -0.2; Vitality, -0.7.

Chapter 005: The Middle-Aged Man in the Elevator

Gavin Dawson clearly remembered that the patients he’d seen at the city hospital with a Vitality below -0.5 were either missing limbs or looked like mummies. But this guy was truly strange.

“Young man, why do you keep staring at me?” Maybe it was Gavin Dawson’s odd behavior earlier, or his continued strange peeking, but the man finally turned, coughed lightly, and spoke with a hint of displeasure, “Are you from Chuangyuan Advertising on the ninth floor?”

“Heh, sorry.” A trace of embarrassment flashed across Gavin Dawson’s face. He realized it was indeed rude to keep staring, so he quickly apologized. After hesitating for a moment, he lowered his voice and asked, “Sir, have you been feeling unwell lately?”

If the man had scolded him for being rude or had a really bad attitude, Gavin Dawson would have apologized but probably wouldn’t have asked further—after all, other people’s lives weren’t his concern. But since the man, though clearly displeased, still asked in a friendly way, Gavin Dawson couldn’t help but feel a bit of goodwill toward him.