Ye Wenjie, watch my moves closely.

Chapter 50: Unable to Recruit People

"Oh, someone's actually here."

The old man at the gatehouse put the lid on his thermos and greeted the two girls with a smile, "Come on in! We've been waiting for you for a long time. I won't bother you any longer, you can chat slowly."

After saying that, he slowly walked away with his thermos.

The two girls held their breath and quietly moved to the door of the interview room, peeking inside through the crack in the door.

Inside the door, only Li Youyu sat there alone; there wasn't a single person being interviewed.

"Ning Shi, look," the girl whispered, peeking out from behind the door and pointing cautiously at Li Youyu, "no one's coming. I've already told you, haven't I? Just listen to me, go to IBM. Their HR has asked me about it several times in private."

The girl in the white short-sleeved shirt gently pinched her companion's waist and said in a low voice, "You're too loud, Qi Xia. People can hear you. It's so offensive."

Li Youyu couldn't stand the two of them talking so loudly anymore, so he coughed loudly and said, "If you have something to say, come in and say it."

The two girls walked out from behind the door, looking embarrassed.

The woman in front of me was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt, the hem of which was tucked into a dark blue long skirt. Her long, black hair was tied back with a hair tie, and she looked simple yet elegant.

The woman behind her was wearing a bright red batwing shirt, her hair was styled in trendy loose curls, and her overall color scheme was rather vibrant.

The two young girls, in the prime of their youth, were covered in a layer of dust from the sandstorm, looking somewhat disheveled.

Li Youyu recognized the girl in the white shirt. "Your name is Ning Shi...right?"

Ning Shi was surprised. She nodded, bowed slightly to Li Youyu, and introduced herself generously, "Hello, sir. My name is Ning Shi, and this is my roommate, Qi Xia."

"I don't remember sending you an interview invitation."

Li Youyu said.

Ning Shi was immediately choked up, her cheeks flushing slightly.

Standing behind, Qi Xia felt indignant on behalf of her good friend for the offense she had suffered. "Sir, does being rejected from the resume disqualify you from even stepping into this building? We were just passing by!"

"Is it a sandstorm today? Did you pass by on purpose?"

Li Youyu asked.

Qi Xia had a very bad impression of his attitude and was about to retort when Ning Shi stopped him and said softly, "Sir, I came here specifically to see you today. I would like to ask you to give me an interview opportunity."

"Ning Shi, I think I've made it clear to you that I don't have any computer engineering needs at the moment."

The computer engineering support that the Deep Space Research Institute needs now is nothing more than compiling software. This kind of work, which is just an expansion of existing knowledge, can be done by IBM people. There is no need for the institute to find someone special.

Bringing Ning Shi in is a complete waste.

Qi Xia glanced at the resumes on the table that had passed the screening, and their quality was far inferior to that of her good friend Ning Shi, not to mention their attitude.

Ning Shi made a special trip here despite the terrible weather. Those people didn't even show their faces. Why did they get an interview opportunity while Ning Shi didn't?

"Ning Shi, let's go. The people in this kind of workplace are too arrogant. They'll stifle your youth, grind away your spirit, and trap you for life with a meager salary that's barely enough to support your family! You deserve to go somewhere better!"

Li Youyu remained silent.

He also wanted this girl named Qi Xia to persuade his good friend.

But this is not arrogance; it's that we don't want a top student to end up doing a marginalized job.

Making the best use of everyone's talents is his greatest responsibility to Ning Shi.

But Qi Xia didn't think so. Seeing that Li Youyu didn't react, she became even more certain that he was an ignorant fool who didn't know his place. So, she ruthlessly brought up the salary and benefits of working for a foreign company, trying to persuade her good friend to leave.

"Ning Shi, IBM's capital office will soon be collaborating with that mysterious chip team in China. Given the prospects of that chip, the domestic office will definitely become an important department for IBM."

I asked them about their salaries privately, and they said that working at the research institute for a whole year doesn't even earn as much as someone else makes in a month.

"Qi Xia," Ning Shi looked at her gently, shook her head, and said, "I want to try again."

"You, sigh," Qi Xia had no choice but to stand at the door with her arms crossed in a huff.

"Sir," Ning Shi asked.

"Can't you really give me a chance?"

Li Youyu countered, "Ning Shi, your friend is right. There are places that are more suitable for you. The people I'm hiring now are just doing simple auxiliary work. They don't need to be innovative or do any research. I'd like to ask you, why do you want an interview so badly? Is it just because the job is simple and will make things less strenuous for you? Looking at your resume, you're not someone who's willing to take things easy."

Li Youyu never resisted the idea of ​​lying down and slacking off, but in the special place of the Deep Space Research Institute, everyone was burdened with a mission and dared not rest. It was really not suitable to let people with such ideas come in and muddy the waters.

"Of course not," Ning Shi argued, clenching her fist. "I have things I want to do. I didn't join the Chinese Academy of Sciences to just lie down and do nothing. I want to use the power of this national institution to accomplish something."

"What do you mean?" Li Youyu asked.

"Can I not say?"

Ning Shi stammered.

Li Youyu gestured for Ning Shi to leave.

Ning Shi pouted and muttered, "Fine, I'll talk, but don't laugh at me."

"What are you laughing at?"

"They laugh at my naivety and wild ideas."

"But isn't science a discipline of wild imagination? Without Newton's flash of inspiration under the apple tree, how could there be the law of universal gravitation? In science, we are never afraid of wild imagination, but we are afraid of stagnation."

"Alright then," Ning Shi thought for a moment and said slowly, "I want to... I want to do research and development on artificial intelligence."

"Artificial intelligence?"

Li Youyu became interested.

In the early 80s, artificial intelligence was still just a fantasy in science fiction.

Anyone with even a basic understanding of computer science would consider artificial intelligence an unrealistic fantasy. Internationally, research in this area has almost stagnated, and few people are willing to spend time on this ethereal subject.

"What do you want to do?"

Ning Chi smiled sheepishly and said, "Please wait a moment, sir."

She took a thick machine out of her backpack and plugged its power cord into the socket in the interview room.

The machine screen suddenly lit up, displaying the IBM logo.

"A laptop?" Li Youyu recognized the thing.

Shortly after the trial of the No. 1 chip, several computer companies used this highly integrated chip to create portable mobile computers. Everyone at the Deep Space Research Institute was equipped with one, but Li Youyu thought the device was too poor in performance and didn't like using it, leaving it to gather dust in a corner.

However, for individual users in China, laptops are not cheap.

The official price is 5 RMB per unit, and you need connections to get one. For Ning Shi, an ordinary student, to be able to afford this computer suggests her family is quite wealthy.

Modern laptops haven't adopted the folding design of later generations; they simply have a 6-inch screen above a 26-key keyboard, about the size of a mobile phone.

Ning Shi inserted a disk into the side of the computer, and a few minutes later, a chat program popped up.

Her fingers flew across the keyboard as she typed the word "Hello" where the cursor was flashing.