Chapter 45: The Hyper-Competitive Job Market

Li Xiao gasped as he looked at the resumes flooding his backend system.

In just a few short minutes, over thirty people had already sent him their applications.

Even the least qualified applicants were undergrads from prestigious universities. Over half were postgraduates, and several even held dual master’s degrees.

The corner of his mouth twitched. ’Is the job market really this much of a rat race now?’

His original plan was just to hire a junior assistant to help with menial tasks and lighten his workload.

Any adult who knew how to use a smartphone and a computer could handle this job, so he hadn’t even set any educational requirements.

Looking at all the resumes from candidates with master’s and dual master’s degrees, Li Xiao felt a headache coming on.

’This is a far cry from what I had in mind.’

However, in the brief time it took Li Xiao to process this, the number of applications on the platform jumped from over 30 to more than 80, and it was still climbing.

As the number of resumes threatened to break one hundred, Li Xiao finally started to realize what was happening.

Clearly, this flood of high-quality applications wasn’t just because he’d bought a premium membership for the recruiting software.

He glanced at the compensation package he’d offered. Maybe the pay was too good, which was why so many people were applying.

Li Xiao had no intention of interviewing them one by one. After all, the job wasn’t difficult at all.

As long as their resumes weren’t fraudulent, he could pick any one of them at random and they would be qualified for the assistant role.

So, without giving it much more thought, he randomly clicked on a resume.

Zhou Shishi, 24, from Yangcheng. Bachelor’s degree in Communications from Zhongshan University.

’Perfect. Her it is. She’s an alumna from my own university, so there’s a bit of a connection.’

Li Xiao dialed the virtual number provided on the resume.

The phone was answered after just two seconds.

A soft, gentle, and very pleasant female voice came from the other end.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Li Xiao got straight to the point, introducing himself and explaining the job requirements.

On the other end of the line, Zhou Sisi was already incredibly tempted after hearing Li Xiao’s introduction, but her experience at her last PR firm made her hesitate.

Although she’d graduated from Zhongshan University, she hadn’t chosen her major wisely. The career path for Communications was very narrow, with few companies to choose from.

After graduation, she successfully landed a job at a reasonably well-known PR firm through on-campus recruiting.

But after working there for a while, she realized the company didn’t actually need new employees; they just needed a batch of fresh graduates.

The government offered incentives to encourage companies to hire recent graduates.

In Yangcheng, for example, a company would receive a 1,500 yuan monthly subsidy for every recent graduate they hired, in addition to a certain amount of tax relief.

Her starting salary as a recent graduate intern was only 3,000 yuan a month.

This meant the company was essentially hiring recent graduates like her for free.

Once the graduates had worked for a full year, the government subsidies and tax breaks would end. Their internships would conclude, and the company would promptly kick them to the curb.

And Zhou Shishi was just one of the cannon fodder who’d been shown the door. This experience made her extra wary in her job search.

She asked timidly,

"Excuse me, but... this personal female assistant position doesn’t involve any... special requirements, does it?"

Li Xiao was baffled by the question. He assumed she was concerned about potential improprieties since it was an individual hiring, so he said directly,

"There are no special requirements."

"I’m running a TikTok account and just need an assistant to help me manage backend messages and edit videos."

"I didn’t choose you for any particular reason, other than the fact that out of all the applicants, you’re the only one who went to the same university as me."

"Don’t worry, I’ll have a lawyer draft a contract that protects both of us."

Zhou Shishi hadn’t expected to be hired by a junior from her own alma mater. Her worries immediately subsided a little.

Considering the 10,000 yuan monthly salary and the fact that it was a remote position, Zhou Shishi didn’t hesitate any longer.

"Okay, when is the interview?"

Li Xiao:

"I’ll send you a clip from a livestream after I finish my meal. Edit it and send it back to me for review. If it looks good, you’ve passed the interview."

"The job itself is very simple, and my standards aren’t high."

"You only need to do two things. First, edit videos. Second, I’ll set up a sub-account for you to manage. You’ll just need to handle the account and reply to comments and private messages. There’s a three-day trial period."

"As long as there are no issues during those three days, I’ll have my lawyer send a contract directly to you."

"If those terms are acceptable, shall we exchange contact info?"

Zhou Shishi was even more tempted after hearing Li Xiao’s terms.

Although she felt the job was so ridiculously simple, it was probably just something a rich kid had come up with on a whim.

This job probably wouldn’t last long, but a monthly salary of 10,000 yuan and the generous benefits were just too tempting. Even if she only did it for two or three months, it wouldn’t be a loss.

After weighing the pros and cons, Zhou Shishi stopped hesitating and decisively accepted.

"I think the terms are great. My phone number is 137..."

They exchanged phone numbers and added each other on WeChat, then Li Xiao hung up.

Just as he finished hiring his assistant, the four people who went for the test drive returned to the pickup lobby.

An ecstatic Huang Zhiyuan handed the keys back to Li Xiao.

Li Xiao took the keys and asked casually,

"So, how was it? No issues?"

Huang Zhiyuan shook his head again and again.

"No issues at all! A luxury car is a luxury car. A Mercedes at this price point is a world away from the base models. The acceleration, the comfort... both were fantastic."

Li Xiao didn’t press for details about the test drive. He glanced at the time—it was already past five—and announced,

"Alright, it’s getting late. There’s a decent restaurant nearby. Let’s go celebrate me getting a new car."

The other three naturally had no objections.

Twenty minutes later, the GLC was parked in a space on the side of the road.

An ancient-looking, traditional building stood on the bank of the canal.

When he saw the sign next to the main entrance, Huang Zhiyuan gasped.

"Jiuhe Garden?"