Choosing Sides

By the time the two were disarmed and brought before Nie Yun, they had already adopted a submissive, head-bowed posture.

"You two are quite sensible. I actually thought you'd try to put up a fight." Nie Yun sat in the captain's chair, legs crossed, resting his chin on one hand while watching them with a half-smile.

The two cursed inwardly; anyone would be just as cowardly as us if they had this many guns pointed at them!

All around the walls of the captain's quarters, dozens of AKs were aimed directly at them, and even a dozen rocket launchers had extended from the ceiling.

The two swore that from this day on, they were officially sufferers of trypophobia.

"This... big brother, you're joking. How could we dare? We just accidentally stumbled into your territory, we didn't mean any offense! Could you spare us, just for the sake of us both being human?" the leader said cautiously.

"Oh, what makes you so sure that I... am human?" Nie Yun lowered his head and curled his lips. The two couldn't see his expression, but hearing those words made their scalps tingle.

This... this guy really isn't human? Could he actually be an alien?!

"Al... alien?!" the third one exclaimed!

"Heh!" Nie Yun didn't answer directly, just let out a chuckle. "Click!" He snapped his fingers, and all the firearms in the room slowly sank into the walls and vanished.

"Gulp!" Watching this mind-bending scene, the two swallowed in unison.

Is this the kind of trick an Earthling could pull? This, my sister, is definitely an alien!

"Speak. Why did you run onto my island? Remember, you only have one chance. If you dare to lie, my backyard happens to be lacking a bit of fertilizer."

The two were completely consumed by the fear of a third-kind encounter; how could they possibly dare to lie?

As for why he looked exactly like an Earthling, with no horns on his head or a tail on his back—those were just minor details, okay!

Immediately, the two spilled everything like beans from a bamboo tube, detailing how they were shipwrecked, how they drifted here, and even revealing their entire backgrounds, not even leaving out the time they peeked at the neighbor's widow bathing when they were kids.

After listening, Nie Yun stroked his chin and looked at the two, pondering how to dispose of them.

The two brothers watched the contemplative Nie Yun, waiting nervously for their fate, while simultaneously wondering if the guy really did decide to slice them up for research, should they submit and be sliced, or resist a little and then be sliced?

That is the question...

"Are you... willing to work for me?" Nie Yun asked suddenly.

What? Work for an alien?

The question left the two stunned. Was the script actually supposed to go like this?

"Uh... what... what did you say?" the leader asked incredulously, as if he hadn't heard clearly.

"Oh, so you're not willing? Never mind then." Nie Yun stood up and started to walk away.

"Wait, we're willing! We're willing!" the two hurriedly shouted.

They didn't have a choice; didn't they see the gun barrels popping out of the walls again!

"You should have said so earlier! But our company is very professional. We require an interview for recruitment. Did you bring your resumes?"

"What? Company? Recruitment? This... no, we didn't bring any resumes." The two were on the verge of tears. People like us don't need resumes for anything!

"You didn't? Humans these days are really careless. Fine, let's simplify the process. Are you an undergraduate?"

"Yes, yes, I'm a postgraduate!" The leader wondered if he had walked onto the wrong set. Should he change his clothes? Should he put on a tie?

"Oh? A high achiever, huh? Which school?" Nie Yun was actually a bit surprised now.

"Tsinghua!" The leader puffed out his chest.

"Hmm?" "Hmm?" Two voices sounded with surprise; one was Nie Yun, the other was the third brother.

"Boss, you never mentioned you had that kind of experience!" the third brother said in amazement.

"Cough, cough! That's all ancient history. When I graduated, I was young and fearless, so I started a business project, but ended up drowning in debt. Things just kept getting worse, so how could I be embarrassed enough to say I was a Tsinghua postgraduate?"

"Oh!" The two nodded in understanding.

"So you're a top student! My apologies, my apologies! But I'm sorry, I don't hire 985 graduates here, only 211s!"

"Uh..." The leader was baffled. What kind of recruitment criteria was this?

He didn't know if it was just his imagination, but he felt this "alien's" tone was somewhat malicious.

"So I only have a position for a temporary worker. Are you interested?" Nie Yun's expression was flat as he eyed him sideways.

Top students—the most annoying kind!

"Yes, yes!" The leader nodded quickly. If he couldn't even be a temporary worker, he'd definitely end up as flower fertilizer. Only a fool wouldn't be interested!

"And you?" Nie Yun looked at the third brother.

"Me? I only finished two years of middle school. I've been slow-witted since I was a kid and dropped out before I could finish. Everyone says I only have brute strength, heh!" The third brother scratched the back of his head, looking a bit embarrassed.

"Sigh, you shouldn't belittle yourself. That guy, you know who, didn't he only have a primary school education and still achieve great things in the end? I think you're a great young man! I believe in you! From now on, you're a full-time employee!"

Who? Who is he talking about?

Hearing this, the leader felt like spitting up a mouthful of old blood. Did the double standard have to be so obvious?

He regretted his choices so much his intestines were turning green. Why did he go to Tsinghua? If he'd known, he should have gone to a vocational school!

This is the classic example of choice being more important than effort!

"Cough, cough! You speak so well! I couldn't agree more! What does a degree matter? Ah!"

"To be honest with you! My diploma was actually bought through family connections! I was a repeater in class since I was a kid, I never even got a single red flower in elementary school, and it took me eight tries to pass the CET-4 English exam. I'm ashamed! Truly ashamed!" the Eldest said, trying to make amends.

"Oh, so that's how it is! It doesn't matter, these are all minor issues. The most important thing in life is to have talent! I think you have a lot of potential!"

"How about this, I just thought about it. Regarding this 985 degree, we shouldn't be too discriminatory. I'll make an exception just this once and hire you as a permanent employee, the kind with a government-backed position!"

Nie Yun wore a gentle and amiable expression, dropping the sarcasm and acting as intimate as if he were looking at one of his own.

"Yes, yes, you are absolutely right! Thank you! Thank you so much!" the Eldest said, appearing moved to tears.

This time, it was finally politically correct!

As expected, no matter where you go, picking the right side is always the most important thing!

Overcome with excitement, the Eldest's face flushed a deep red, and then, quite simply, his eyes rolled back... and he fainted!

"This... he was actually this excited?" Nie Yun was stunned for a moment, then deeply moved.

"No, I think he just fainted from hunger," the Third said naively.

"Uh..."