Although the HR department head was present, the final decision to hire or not rested with a Vice-Principal. Upon reading the note written by the HR head, the Vice-Principal simply wrote “I Agree” at the bottom. The note was then passed to another interviewer, who also wrote “Agree” and added a “+1”. In this way, the three of them communicated through notes and made an unprecedented joint decision. The woman who was in charge of HR stood up, grinning, and told Angela, “Miss Lombardo, after careful consideration by all three of us, we have reached a consensus that your qualifications and background are perfectly suited for our young talent program. I am pleased to inform you that you have been hired!” Angela was taken aback. “Do I still need to go through a second interview or take a written exam?” she asked. “No need,” the woman replied with a smile. “Although our usual recruitment process includes one-on-one interviews, two-sided evaluations, and written exams, only one aspect is critical. The others can be flexible and adjusted based on the situation.” The woman continued, “Miss Lombardo, considering all the aspects of your profile, we believe you are an excellent fit for the young talent position we have open. As you are currently based in Hong Kong, we see no need to put you through additional trips and assessments. If you are confident in your willingness to teach at our university, we can move forward with the process right away. We will complete the recruitment process today and have the signing materials ready for you to review and sign tomorrow morning. What do you say, are you ready to move forward now, or do you need some time to think it over?” The truth was, these three interviewers were more nervous than Angela. Nearly every double first-class university on the mainland was eager to recruit someone like her and had similar young talent recruitment plans. With Angela’s credentials, getting hired as a lecturer at any mainland university would have been effortless, given fair competition. They were puzzled as to why Angela, being a native of Hong Kong, chose to come to Aurous Hills.

“I’d be happy to!” Angela replied without hesitation, as the unexpected outcome of the interview was the best result she could have hoped for. Little did she know that the three interviewers were actually more nervous than she was. Worried that she was merely casting her resume to their university and that she had no special affection for Aurous Hills, they were eager to secure her employment before she potentially signed with another university. “Great!” the woman exclaimed with relief, “The contract will be signed tomorrow at 9 AM. I will have it ready for you, Ms. Lombardo, and all you need to bring are the necessary documents. No need to make copies, we can do that here.” “Perfect,” Angela replied with a smile. “I appreciate the offer and I’ll be here on time tomorrow morning.” “Just one more thing,” the woman added, “Since your circumstances are unique, we can offer you a teacher’s apartment for your convenience. I can take you on a tour tomorrow or you can choose a room in advance.” Angela had originally intended to decline the offer of a teacher’s apartment, as she had plans to purchase her own suite in Aurous Hills. However, after considering the high housing prices in the area and the perception of others, she decided it would be best to accept the apartment arranged by the school and quietly purchase a suite at a later time. With this in mind, she smiled and said, “Thank you, I really appreciate it.”