It wasn't a big deal not looking, but once he did, he was shocked.
"Oh my goodness…"
"Where did this celestial being come from?"
Tang Yuan looked at Xiao Yayue's resume, growing more and more astonished with each line.
At 16, she scored 736 on her college entrance exam, becoming the top scorer in Zhe Province, and enrolled in Yanjing University the same year.
At 26, she graduated from Guanghua College, Yanjing University, with a Ph.D. in Sociology.
At 27, she passed the national civil service exam and began working in the General Office of the Ministry of Commerce.
At 31, she resigned and moved to Singapore, becoming the Executive Assistant to Ms. Ho Ching, CEO of Temasek Holdings, Singapore's national investment company.
At 35, she resigned and traveled the world.
This resume was completely different from those of the first four applicants Tang Yuan had seen. While equally impressive, the career paths of the first four applicants consistently showed an upward trajectory with clear goals, whereas Xiao Yayue's career path seemed erratic.
Despite entering a ministry right after graduation with a promising future, she chose to resign and move to Singapore just as her career was about to take off.
As for Xiao Yayue's second job, it was no less impressive than her first.
Temasek Holdings, Singapore's national investment company, is a holding company regulated and registered by Singapore's Ministry of Finance. It manages equity in 36 state-owned enterprises, including Development Bank of Singapore, of which 14 are wholly-owned, 7 are listed companies, and 2 are limited liability companies, with approximately 2,000 large and small subsidiaries and a total workforce of 140,000 employees. Its investment portfolio is currently valued at 220 billion US dollars.
And Ho Ching, the person Xiao Yayue served, was ranked 6th on the United States's Fortune magazine's list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business last year. Her husband is even Singapore's Prime Minister, making her truly a woman at the pinnacle of global influence.
An Executive Assistant is already a solid senior executive in a corporate hierarchy. If Xiao Yayue had persevered a bit longer, she might have been parachuted into a CEO position at one of Temasek Holdings' listed subsidiaries.
Yet, despite such a bright future, Xiao Yayue chose to resign again, opting to travel the world during her prime career years. One could say it was utterly willful.
Even Tang Yuan couldn't help but exclaim, "What a truly remarkable person!"
Tang Yuan slowly put down Xiao Yayue's resume and turned his gaze back to her.
"May I ask why?"
Tang Yuan looked at her classically beautiful face and couldn't resist asking.
"Why did I resign twice?" Xiao Yayue seemed to anticipate Tang Yuan's question. She smiled serenely, "The first time was because I found life within the system too monotonous. It felt as if my entire being was caged, without freedom, without self. And that kind of life wasn't what I wanted, so I decisively chose to resign."
"As for the second job, I actually liked it very much. Ms. Ho was very good to me, both a mentor and a friend. She taught me many things and allowed me to stand on a higher platform, seeing this vast world. However, her son was truly annoying; he even tried to assault me once while drunk, and I taught him a good lesson."
"Although Ms. Ho didn't blame me afterward and even supported me, such an incident left a thorn in both our hearts. So, to avoid further awkwardness, I chose to resign again."
Facing Tang Yuan's gaze, Xiao Yayue, with a very calm demeanor, recounted her two work experiences to Tang Yuan. Even when it came to the more sensitive parts, she did not hide anything, speaking frankly.
"Very free-spirited, very open-minded," Tang Yuanpraised after hearing Xiao Yayue's account. He then asked, "After your second resignation, why did you decide to travel the world?"
Xiao Yayue smiled, "I just said that being by Ms. Ho's side, I saw a much vaster world. And at the time, I felt that 35 years old for a woman should be a rather important watershed. There are many things that if I didn't do then, I might not be able to do later."
"So, over the past year, I have traveled to the seven continents and eight oceans. I went to South America to experience the most primitive grasslands, to Northern Europe to witness the magnificent aurora borealis. I challenged skydiving in the East African Rift Valley, ice swimming in the Arctic, and Mount Everest in Tibet."
"Everywhere I went, I hired professional photographers to take pictures for me. After traveling around, just the photos and videos filled my 1TB hard drive. Although there are still many places I haven't had time to visit and many things I haven't had time to do, those can still be done after I turn 35."
Listening to Xiao Yayue's narration, Tang Yuan felt that she truly lived the life she wanted. She knew what she wanted, and most importantly, she knew where she should stop and rest.
This was something even Tang Yuan in his previous life hadn't figured out.
"Since there are still many places you haven't visited and many things you haven't done, why didn't you choose to finish those before coming back?" Tang Yuan asked with interest.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yayue suddenly showed a hint of girlish playfulness, "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"
"Let's hear the lie first."
Tang Yuan raised his hand to refill his own cup of tea, then picked up the teapot and poured Xiao Yayue a cup, which was a first in today's interviews.
"I want to save those places and things for my future self, to leave some anticipation for my life."
"What about the truth?"
"I played for a year and ran out of money."
When Tang Yuan heard Xiao Yayue's final answer, he almost spat out his tea. Even though he didn't, it still made him choke, and he coughed for a long time before recovering.
"You were a senior executive at Temasek Holdings for four years, earning millions annually. Did you spend it all in just one year?" Tang Yuan asked with a hint of surprise.
"Oh, oh…"
"No, not really. I just ran out of cash on hand. The year before last, I bought an apartment in Shanghai, and if I were to continue traveling, I might have to sell the house."
Xiao Yayue timely offered Tang Yuan two tissues, explaining with a smile.
Tang Yuan wiped his mouth, gaining a general understanding of Xiao Yayue.
High IQ, high EQ, principled, capable, freedom-loving, independent, open-minded, free-spirited, soberly aware…
These were all the labels Tang Yuan placed on Xiao Yayue.
Of course, as they had just met, whether these labels were accurate was unknown for now. But from the current perspective, Xiao Yayue's outlook on life and personality were quite to Tang Yuan's liking, essentially meeting all his requirements for a personal assistant.
Now the question was…
What did Xiao Yayue want?
Ogboridi_Pere & Patrick_Djan, thank you both for the power stones, I really appreciate….