Li Jinshui was a little surprised. The young woman in front of him, Ye Mei, was actually the HR supervisor.
Even as the head of HR for the Youth Training Branch Camp, she held a fairly high position. Yet she had come all the way to the elevator to personally meet an interviewee?
"Seems like you don't quite trust my abilities." Li Jinshui didn't bother beating around the bush.
"No, quite the opposite. We take you very seriously." Ye Mei's smile didn't change, nor did her gesture. She continued to point steadily toward the passage on the right.
"Fine. Let's talk after the test." Li Jinshui shrugged indifferently. That was the confidence having real ability gave him.
Of course, he didn't really believe Ye Mei's claim that they took him seriously.
Setting aside the fact that his Qi-Blood value rivaled that of a Second-rate Martial Artist, there were plenty of students at martial arts high schools who had reached minor mastery in Stake Standing and entry level in a martial skill.
Their own school alone produced more than a dozen each year. Across all the high schools in Darong City, there were at least several hundred, if not a thousand or more.
For a wealthy giant like Daming Technology, being a genius was only the threshold for getting an interview. It wasn't enough to earn this much attention.
Ye Mei's actions were clearly more about scrutiny than regard.
As he entered the passage on the right, one of the walls silently slid apart, revealing a spacious room.
The four walls gleamed with cold metal, embedded with numerous irregular strips of light that cast a chilly blue glow. Various testing devices stood in the center of the floor, giving the room an overall futuristic feel.
"Let's start by testing your Qi-Blood value." Ye Mei lightly nudged her glasses up and looked at Li Jinshui. The sharpness and scrutiny in her gaze became more pronounced.
"Sure."
Li Jinshui nodded and walked straight to one of the Blood Qi Testers.
As the saying went, leave yourself some wiggle room in everything you did. When you were out in the world, never show all your cards.
He was just an impoverished orphan who had woken up only recently after being in a coma for two years.
If he unleashed his full Qi-Blood and produced a reading comparable to that of a Second-rate Martial Artist, revealing power beyond what a normal martial artist could manage, there would probably be only two possible outcomes.
Either he would receive more attention and better training, or the capitalists might hide him away for research.
After all, the excellent effects of Datang Pharmaceuticals' potions depended on the "Drug Trial Fund" they distributed every year.
There was the Drug Trial Fund in public. Who knew what they had going on behind the scenes?
Li Jinshui didn't want to gamble on the capitalists' humanity.
Anyway, as long as he got into the Youth Training Camp, he could mooch a few meals of Exotic Beast Meat or Supplement Potion and earn a little money. That would be enough for him to grow quickly. There was no need to bite off more than he could chew.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A rapid flurry of punches and kicks slammed into the target. The target absorbed and dispersed the force of his surging Qi-Blood, which was then transmitted to the instrument.
Li Jinshui only drew on seventy percent of his Qi-Blood. After throwing more than twenty strikes in a row, he stopped, panting, and made it look as if he had given it his all.
The instrument's screen flickered, then quickly displayed a number.
"Qi-Blood value: 362!"
Ye Mei's professional smile remained composed, but a hint of unmistakable surprise and delight appeared in her expression.
If a newly graduated college student had produced this result, it would have been nothing special. It wouldn't even have warranted her coming in person.
But the person standing before her now was a seventeen-year-old high school student!
A Qi-Blood value of 362 meant his Stake Standing had progressed beyond minor mastery. He had made further progress still.
"Very good, Li Jinshui. You're outstanding."
Ye Mei changed the way she addressed him, calling him by his full name. It meant she had decided to keep him in the Youth Training Camp.
"You flatter me, Supervisor Ye. Also, the martial skill I've learned is Basic Lightness Skill, which none of this equipment can test. How about I show you a quick demonstration?"
As soon as Li Jinshui finished speaking, he leaped into the air. His figure was as light as a swift, flitting through the room like a phantom. He made two quick circuits, then lightly touched the wall with his toes and drifted back to his starting point like a falling leaf.
He had reached entry level in Lightness Skill!
Ye Mei's eyes were full of admiration. At last, she picked up the folder in her hand, flipped through a few pages, and pulled out a golden sheet.
"Everyone else in the department has gone home. I'll provisionally rate you Grade A. Take this notice to the receptionist from earlier and have her arrange a room for you. We'll formally interview you within two days."
When Ye Mei finished, she gestured toward the door. "Go ahead."
"Sure thing. Goodbye, Supervisor Ye."
Li Jinshui didn't waste time. He took the golden notice and headed out.
Clearly, the test had only been to confirm whether he met the requirements. It hadn't been formal.
But none of that mattered. He had food and a place to stay here, as well as security. Perfect!
The metal door slowly closed.
Ye Mei watched Li Jinshui leave, then nudged her glasses up again, a faint smile playing at her lips. "Heh, minor mastery in Stake Standing at seventeen, and the martial skill he's trained is Lightness Skill. A perfect Chosen Delivery Rider?"
Her smile faded. She took out her phone and tapped the screen a few times.
"Hello? You got the file, right? He suddenly showed up at the company just now. I suspect a competitor is trying to plant a spy here. Hurry up and look into his background."
"A competitor wouldn't send someone this talented in as a spy? Heh, are you trying to make me laugh? Isn't that exactly what you're doing?"
"You think I don't know? How many property managers and Security Squad leaders in those upscale residential compounds were people I interviewed back in the day?"
By then, Li Jinshui had returned to the first floor and approached the receptionist again.
"Wow, you really got a Grade A rating!"
The receptionist was visibly moved as she took the notice.
"You're amazing! We'll be colleagues from now on. I'm Zhang Yaya. Just call me Yaya."
As Zhang Yaya quickly entered Li Jinshui's access permissions into the system, she said warmly, "Everyone's gone back to the dorms to rest by now, or they've gone to the Martial Arts Building for extra training. Come on, I'll show you to your room."
She led Li Jinshui to the elevator again.
"Li Jinshui, you might not know this, but the Youth Training Camp gets fewer than five Grade A recruits in a whole year."
As the elevator rose, Zhang Yaya explained softly, "People who reach Grade A at your age are usually kids raised by wealthy families. Even if they aren't, they tend to choose prestigious universities. Very few decide to become delivery riders, since this line of work really is dangerous."
Hearing this, Li Jinshui belatedly understood.
No wonder even his modest abilities had attracted so much attention. It seemed Daming Technology wasn't short on talent; the Youth Training Camp was.
Thinking about it, that made sense. Anyone who got into a prestigious university could join a big company after graduating and get a high-paying, low-risk job.
The Delivery Youth Training Camp was meant to cultivate elite delivery riders, but at its core, it was still about delivering food. The risks were high.
Anyone sensible knew what to choose.
But it wasn't that he was abnormal; it was that he was broke, and the whole world was against him.
"Here we are. The dorms are all on the forty-ninth floor. But since you're a Grade A trainee, you get a private room..."
Zhang Yaya stepped out of the elevator and cheerfully led the way.
Li Jinshui had also gotten a general idea of the building's layout.
All the employees' work and daily necessities, from food and clothing to housing and transportation, were taken care of in this one building.
Was this supposed to make work more efficient? It was downright terrifying. That was probably the power of capital.
The Youth Training Camp occupied floors forty-nine through fifty-three. The forty-ninth floor housed the trainees and instructors, the fiftieth floor was where the camp's senior management lived, and floors fifty-one through fifty-three contained offices, training areas, and the cafeteria.
Following Zhang Yaya, Li Jinshui swiped his card, opened the door, and entered his dormitory.
It was called a single dorm, but when he opened the door, he found it was really a luxury apartment.
It had one bedroom, one living room, and one bathroom, with at least eighty square meters of space. It was fully furnished with all kinds of appliances, and a faint floral scent hung in the air.
What caught Li Jinshui's attention most was the living room.
He took a deep breath, walked over, and stood before the floor-to-ceiling window that covered an entire wall.
Below him, the bustling streets blazed with lights, like a brilliant river of golden stars. It was beautiful and mesmerizing.
He liked this living room, with its sweeping view over all of Rong City.
Who could have imagined that before tonight—or even just a few hours earlier that day—he had been running for his life in an alley in the outer district, hunted down by others?
If he hadn't reached minor mastery in Stake Standing, if he hadn't also trained in Lightness Skill, Liu Daqiang and the others might have beaten him to death in that alley.
"Strength is the only ticket to having it all!"
Li Jinshui slowly clenched his fist.
He knew he was only standing in someone else's high-rise, looking down on a prosperity that didn't belong to him.
But one day, through his own efforts, he would reach the pinnacle of the martial path and become an unparalleled powerhouse who possessed everything.
And all of this was merely the beginning of a great legend!
Li Jinshui's gaze burned brightly, his eyes alight with resolute ambition.
He turned and looked at Zhang Yaya. "Yaya, I haven't had dinner yet. I'm so hungry I could pass out. I also got robbed on the way here today. Could you lend me tens of thousands to get something to eat?"