Chapter 55

Chapter 55

The Republic of China Trainee (Six)

Song Qi had only disappeared for these two nights, and after that, the frequency of his return home returned to normal. Yu Manyi tried to focus her attention on preparing for the exam rather than being in the same room as Song Qi. Her anxiety stemmed from the receipt slip that Song Qi had brought home for her after registering that day—

Registration was done in order of candidate number, and Yu Manyi’s candidate number ended with 267. This meant that there were already 266 people who had registered before her, and she registered on the last day before the deadline.

She had a feeling that the number of registrants would exceed 300, yet this year, there were only 30 trainee spots. During her interview, she hadn’t even outperformed the other five candidates, and now, facing competition from 300 people, it felt like the world was collapsing in front of her.

But there was some good news: Yu Manyi no longer dreamed of the Yu family house catching fire. The nightmares she had now were about the Commercial Publishing House’s exam results being posted, a long list of names from top to bottom, all of them belonging to someone else.

As for her, she didn’t pass the exam, her money was all spent, and when she came to, she was already sitting in a coffin-like sedan chair, traveling from south to north, crossing the Yangtze River and then the Yellow River—

Yu Manyi was startled awake in the middle of the night. If she didn’t pass, she would have to return to become Liu Fengyan’s little wife! She stared with wide eyes and went to the living room to light a lamp and study, startling Song Qi, who had stepped out to drink water. Since he couldn’t sleep well with the light, he sat down in the living room with Yu Manyi to read a book in English.

Yu Manyi’s English was quite average, and when she casually glanced at the book cover, she could only make out the word "RADIO."

What was RADIO? What was he reading it for?

But her mind was full of exams, and she had no interest in paying attention to Song Qi.

In any case, Yu Manyi stayed up late for seven days of intensive study, finally arriving at the day of the Commercial Publishing House’s written exam. To avoid running into Liu Fengyan’s acquaintances on the way, causing unnecessary complications, Song Qi had arranged for Fang Qian to pick her up. Since the exam was on a weekend, the idle Lu Xiangcang also came along.

Yu Manyi felt both grateful and pained—weren’t these three university students supposed to have nothing better to do? Why did they have to come watch her, a correspondence student, take the exam? The four of them sat in the car, with Song Qi driving, and she felt immense pressure.

Fang Qian’s family had considerable wealth, and the genuine leather seats in the back were far more comfortable than a carriage. Yu Manyi, holding her newly bought painting supplies (which further reduced her remaining funds), curled up, listening to Lu Xiangcang chat cheerfully from the passenger seat:

"This Commercial Publishing House is really the military academy of the publishing world, especially the art department. I’ve heard that half of the commercial painters active in Shanghai these days are from there. Some even more famous ones have opened their own art schools and advertising studios, gaining fame and fortune! After a trainee passes, three years of training are comparable to an undergraduate degree, with courses in Chinese painting, watercolor sketching, and even trendy courses like decorative advertising. The teachers are either famous masters or foreigners!""You are really too dramatic," Fang Qian said, "You should be working for a newspaper."

"I actually had that idea, but my art skills are nothing to boast about! My level is so bad that I can only focus on the fringes of the industry!" Lu Xiangcang clearly didn’t understand Fang Qian’s implication and continued to praise the Commercial Publishing House.

"However, in my view, getting into the Commercial Publishing House is better than going to university. University is all about learning, but what you two are studying is exactly what society needs today. As for people like me, I studied something my parents thought was respectable, but it’s useless in society, and when it comes to job hunting, it really is a huge headache!"

"However, this Commercial Publishing House, although it is in the old printing business, switched to a joint-stock system a few years ago. Plus, with the capital wind blowing through Shanghai, they place the highest priority on 'business' when training people. There are many famous artists in Shanghai now, so why are the people from the Commercial Publishing House spreading everywhere?"

"I think that’s because they don’t focus on just reading books when they train apprentices, and they already have a commercial mindset from the start! This is exactly the type of talent society needs today!"

Lu Xiangcang’s speech elevated the Commercial Publishing House to extraordinary heights, making Yu Manyi more and more eager yet increasingly nervous. In the meantime, Song Qi had already driven the car to Qipan Street, where the street in front was jammed with people coming to take the exam and those accompanying them. The car couldn’t go any further, so Song Qi had to find another way, and Fang Qian accompanied Yu Manyi to the exam site on foot.

The exam site was set at the headquarters of the Commercial Publishing House, a four-story, five-column European-style building. The first floor had storefronts, the second floor had awnings over the windows, and from the third floor up, there were arched flower windows and carved patterns, with a Baroque rooftop arching in the middle at the top.

In front of the publishing house, there was a constant flow of people coming and going, with many dressed in suits and looking scholarly, and some with glasses that gave them a highly intellectual appearance. Yu Manyi noticed Fang Qian inserting his waist and sighing, saying:

"Past this street is Shanghai County, which has long been lined with tailor shops. It was so dilapidated that I never wanted to come. But now, it’s all prospered thanks to this publishing house. It gives off quite a cultured vibe. Tsk tsk."

Fang Qian, having grown up in an area where land was extremely valuable and accustomed to the architecture along the Huangpu River, was naturally unfazed by the Commercial Publishing House. However, for Yu Manyi, this scene was still quite stunning.

She had visited many places for interviews, but no matter how luxurious the place was, it was always just renting an office or a corridor inside a grand building. Yet the Commercial Publishing House had built a whole, exquisitely detailed building all by itself. According to Lu Xiangcang, the Commercial Publishing House had built four such buildings in all of Shanghai!

A clock hung at the top of the building, with the hour hand almost pointing to 9 o'clock. Some late candidates squeezed their way into the building, and Yu Manyi quickly bid farewell to Fang Qian and went inside to report. Her name was printed on the form along with others, and Yu Manyi squeezed her way in and told the teacher responsible for the check-in, "Number 267, Rossela."

She had been practicing diligently these past few days and had managed to produce the rolled "r" sound correctly. It was the only foreign name in the registration list, and the teacher clearly remembered her. When he looked up at her, he appeared slightly confused because of her East Asian features.Yu Manyi hurriedly handed over her passport.

"I am, a mixed-race person," she explained, following the words that Song Qi had taught her, "I inherited my mother's looks, but took my father's surname."

"Do you have a Chinese name?" the teacher asked, "I’ll make a note of it."

"Will it be made public?" Yu Manyi asked cautiously.

"The public notice and the employment records will use the official name," the teacher said, "But your name is hard to remember, so it’s better to add a Chinese name for easier reference within the staff."

With that, Yu Manyi sighed in relief. She took the pen the teacher handed her and, in the designated remarks section, wrote in a bold, flowing script:

Candidate No. 267 for the Commercial Publishing House Art Department, Yu Manyi.

Four years had passed since the university entrance exams, and Song Qi had long since forgotten the feeling of waiting for the admission results. However, in these past few days, Yu Manyi, who was as restless as an ant on a hot pan, made him reminisce about those days:

"I’m definitely not going to make it." This was the first thing she said every morning while having breakfast. By the time Song Qi returned from work in the evening, she would be standing by the window, gazing at the night, and saying with a hint of sorrow, "With my tastes, I should just go back and get married."

The grading period actually lasted for 10 days, and Song Qi thought these teachers were being too lazy—why would it take 10 days to look at 300 paintings? Picking out 30 shouldn’t be that difficult, right? At this rate, if Yu Manyi didn’t go crazy, he would.

He also tried to ease her stress, even going so far as to reluctantly give up the curtains, casually asking Yu Manyi if she wanted to alter some clothes, when in reality, he just hoped she would shift her focus.

Yu Manyi replied calmly, "If I don’t pass, I’ll have plenty of clothes to make in the future."

With that, Song Qi didn’t dare intervene further. People who had just taken exams were like walking bombs, their tempers all flaring, and remnants of feudalism were no exception.Finally, the tenth day arrived, the day the Commercial Publishing House would announce the results!