A Good-for-Nothing

123. Recruitment of New Members to the Special Talents Training Program (1)

Translator: Dragon Rider

After being brought up in the conversation, the girl walked up to them. Though having a flinty face, she was fairly approachable. Seeing them, she waved a greeting.

“Hey, guys. I’m Lan Bai.”

The thickset man, after hearing Lan Bai’s soft tone, felt somewhat embarrassed. Fortunately for him, he was swarthy, which made it difficult for flush to show on his face. Stroking his head, he smiled, “Haha. Hello, I’m Kang Ba, a member of the Zang nationality.”

Kang Ba gave a hearty laugh and then said to He Zheng, “What’s your name, bro?”

“He Zheng.”

Kang Ba was very friendly. Even He Zheng, who was not very good with people, was not ill-disposed towards him.

So He Zheng walked up and stood beside them. Lan Bai flicked another glance at He Zheng, but He Zheng didn’t notice.

Kang Ba said, “Have you heard that the pass rate of this year’s interview will be far lower than that of any previous year’s interview?”

“Ah? Really?” A pleasant male voice came from the side.

The speaker was a young man, white-skinned, about five feet and ten inches, wearing a pair of black-rimmed spectacles, looking very neat. And he was very handsome, too.

Kang Ba and all the others were fairly surprised to see him. Kang Ba scratched his face somewhat awkwardly and said, “Really. Because there are a great number of applicants this year.”

“Ah? Really?” The young man, rather disappointed, heaved a sigh. “Then I guess it’s almost impossible for me to gain admission this year.”

He Zheng asked, “Is ‘really’ the only word you can say?”

“Ah? Re–” He realized in time and gave a smile in embarrassment. “I’ll try not to say that word so often. My name is Lin Zhuo. ‘Zhuo’ is the one meaning thriving.”

Kang Ba said, “The radical meaning grass plus the character ‘Chu’?”

“Yeah, my elder brother said that I was within an inch of being named Lin Zhuang (In Chinese, the character Zhuang means thickset).”

Others instantly burst into laugh. He Zheng also felt that this man was pretty interesting.

The couple of people got slightly more acquainted with each other, and then their conversation went back onto the topic of the test.

Kang Ba scratched his head. “Do any of you know about this year’s selection process? Are we supposed to display what we’re best at and then wait for further notification as applicants did in all previous years?”

He Zheng hadn’t made any inquiries about this aspect of the selection, but Lin Zhuo, who seemed to have some knowledge of it, shook his head. “People of the Supernaturalism Management Bureau (SMB) had formulated two sets of interview procedures before launching STTP. One of them is adopted when there are not many applicants, which is the on-the-spot display of skills you just mentioned. It’s a test on the ability to adjust to changing circumstances as well as individual strength.

But given that there are too many applicants this year, interviewers will ask us questions and decide which ones are better according to our answers. The questions won’t necessarily be academic. Most of them will be practice-oriented. This is also a test on the ability to adjust to changing circumstances. At the same time, we’ll be requested to display what we’re best at, which means it’s also a test on our personal strength.”

Lin Zhuo’s words were clear and logical, all his listeners open-mouthed.

Nobody knew when, but Hu Jiu had walked over from the sweet olive tree. He said nervously, “There will be questions? But I didn–didn’t review any of the subjects. I fear I might not be able to give acceptable answers to those questions.”

“There are subjects to be reviewed?” asked He Zheng.

Lin Zhuo nodded in the affirmative. “Yes, there are. Questions of the theory test are from the book called Five Years of STTP & Three Years of Mock Examination, just like questions of the annual recruitment examination held by SMB.”

Lan Bai and Kang Ba are members of minority nationalities, so they hadn’t suffered from great stress from the college entrance examination as most others had. A couple of people in this group, who had been through the nightmare of working on countless test questions in the exercise book called Five Years of College Entrance Examination & Three Years of Mock Examinations, instantly buckled at the knees.

One of them said, “Have any of you heard that the actual recruitment examination of SMB includes a math test? And every year it’s proctored by that Zu Zhichong guy. Jesus, the very name of him makes my legs buckle. I mean, how big a fan of the great mathematician named Zu Chongzhi does his father has to be to give him that name? I really have fears for him, the kind from the deep recesses of my soul.”

“Alas, cut the nonsense. What are you guys good at? Let’s do some sharing, okay?”

Kang Ba, a straightforward man who was not inclined to keep anything secret from others, said, “I’m good at controlling birds, such as eagles, falcons, etc. I can also communicate with them.”

Seeing Kang Ba had good nature, someone couldn’t help but banter with him. “So you’re the kind of legendary guy proficient in bird language (in Chinese, “bird language” also means nonsense).”

Kang Ba, who didn’t get the joke, scratched his head.

Lan Bai said, “I’m a grass-ghost witch.”

“What is a grass-ghost witch?” He Zheng had entered this profession not long ago, so he had little acquaintance with this kind of things.

Lin Zhuo adjusted his spectacles. “Many female members of the Miao nationality living in south Xinjiang are good at using Gu (a legendary venomous insect, or a poison made with poisonous insect, worm or beetle) and Lusheng Dance (Lusheng is a reed-pipe wind instrument). In western Hunan, Gu is commonly known as grass-ghost, so a woman good at using Gu is also called a grass-ghost witch.”

Lan Bai inclined her head.

He Zheng tossed Lin Zhuo a glance. “You seem to know a lot.”

“Not really.” Lin Zhuo waved his hand. “It’s just that I don’t like hanging out with friends and spend a lot of time staying at home reading all kinds of stuff.”

People standing on the side had some time ago shifted their gaze to Lan Bai. One of them instantly freaked out. “My goodness, Gu?!”

Lan Bai, who could tell that they were getting nervous, raised her hand. “Relax. I never cast Gu on anybody for no good reason.”

Kang Ba gave a hearty laugh. “If Lan Bai intended to cast Gu on you, you’d have fallen victim to it some time ago. There’s no need for you to be so worried.”

“What about you, Lin Zhuo? What do you excel at?”

“Me?” Lin Zhuo stroked his head, somewhat embarrassed. “I’m good at memorizing things. On top of that, because of my constitution, I’m the bane of yin and evil creatures. As regards other skills… Uh, I like making small gadgets. Does that count?”

All others were somewhat surprised to know that Lin Zhuo, who was a fair-skinned delicate young man of average height, possessed such powerful constitution. ‘It is true what they say ‘Men cannot be judged by their looks.”

Others also shared what they were skilled in.

“What about you?” Unexpectedly, Lan Bai asked He Zheng about it on her own initiative.

He Zheng tilted his head and thought for a moment before giving an answer. “Conjuring lightning, I think, and some simple Fu-craft (Fu is a piece of rectangular paper on which magical figures are drawn by Chinese Taoist priests to invoke or expel spirits and bring good or ill fortune) skills.”

“You’re a Taoist priest? Then why are you not staying with them?” Kang Ba was somewhat curious, pouting his lips at a group of people.

He Zheng looked in the direction he was pouting his lips. A little knot of people were standing there. Most of them were wearing Taoist robes, and the rest everyday clothes.