North Entrance of Heping Street.
In front of the Apartment Building.
Johny Lee took a taxi from No. 15 Middle School to the Cancer Hospital, and then another taxi home.
Because of this detour, he arrived back at the residential area around the same time as Maggi and the others, who had taken the bus.
As soon as he turned the corner toward his building, Johny saw his mother, Sarah, and Aunt Sue walking ahead.
He quickened his steps and called out to them.
"Mom! Maggi!
I'm really sorry about earlier.
I truly had something urgent to attend to and couldn't make it."
"Johny..." Sarah hesitated, sighed deeply, but ultimately didn't ask any questions.
She assumed he had run off to deal with his frustration over the exam.
At the entrance of the building, Section Chief, just returning from work with his briefcase in hand, walked over from the other direction.
He spotted his family and called out.
"Just finished the exam?
The written test went fine, right?"
"I... I..."
Compared to his confident bragging before entering the exam hall, Tony's face was now a picture of utter dejection.
Johny found the contrast amusing and felt a little relieved.
So, even the genius struggled.
"Speak up!" Section Chief barked, his face stern.
"I've already made arrangements with the customs office here!
Everything depends on your score!"
Aunt Sue, looking displeased at her husband's harsh tone, pulled her son closer protectively.
Only then did Tony stammer out an explanation.
"This time... the Essay Analysis test was too difficult.
The questions were particularly obscure.
It's not something a normal person could answer.
I estimate... well, I only have some confidence in one question.
The others... the others were probably completely off-topic.
I won't get many points.
The combined score for the Aptitude Test and the Essay Test might not even pass the baseline."
Section Chief's face darkened ominously.
"What is wrong with you?
Huh? Didn't you study well?
Didn't you tell me there wouldn't be a problem?"
Tony snapped back, his own mood terrible. "Who knew it would be so difficult?
I guarantee very few people could have answered it correctly."
Section Chief shouted, "Don't tell me the questions were difficult!
That just means you didn't study enough!"
"It's not Tony's fault." Aunt Sue quickly defended her son.
"The questions were indeed too obscure.
I heard many people outside the exam hall saying the same thing.
It's not just Tony; everyone failed.
Oh, and Sarah's son, Johny, didn't pass either.
Tony is still better off; at least he got most of the Aptitude Test questions right."
Johny rolled his eyes.
Who said I didn't pass?
Section Chief waved his hand angrily.
"If you can't pass the interview score line, everything else is useless!"
Aunt Sue sighed.
"Let's try again next year."
Section Chief huffed twice in anger, flung his hand dismissively, and stormed upstairs.
Aunt Sue looked at Tony, then turned to Sarah.
"The National Civil Servant Exam registration will open in a few months.
Is your son going to take it again?"
Sarah gritted her teeth. "...Yes!"
Maggi patted Johny's hand comfortingly. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. Just take it again next year.
What's the big deal?"
Tony's grades had always been excellent.
If even he failed, everyone naturally assumed Johny—who was average at best—didn't stand a ghost of a chance.
Tony gave Johny a gloomy glance and followed his father upstairs, head hanging low.
Johny knew his mother and Maggi thought he had failed too.
He touched his nose awkwardly but didn't explain.
Let them misunderstand for now.
Even if he passed the written test with flying colors, he wasn't 100% confident he'd pass the interview stage.
What if he told his mother he aced the written test, only to fail the interview later? That emotional rollercoaster would surely raise Sarah's blood pressure.
I'll tell them when—and if—I actually get the job!
After dinner, Johny quietly retreated to his small room.
He turned on his ancient computer with its humming Pentium III CPU and began preparing for the interview stage.
He searched online for "past interview questions" for the agency he applied to.
Five minutes later, Johny stared at the screen in frustration.
He realized the government agency he applied to didn't even have its own website, let alone published interview questions. Even basic information about the agency's name was scarce.
He had applied to State Security.
The Ministry of State Security (MSS) is the intelligence and security agency of the People's Republic of China.
It is part of the police system, under the leadership of the State Council, and operates at the ministerial level.
It has subordinate departments in various regions: Provincial State Security Departments at the provincial level and State Security Bureaus at the prefecture level.
Because Beijing is a municipality directly under the Central Government, its local branch is called the Beijing State Security Bureau.
Mentioning "State Security" usually conjures images of spies, secret agents, and James Bond-style missions.
Everyone knows the name, but few know the reality.
However, Johny had heard that State Security personnel aren't all mysterious trench-coat-wearing spies.
It depends entirely on the department.
For example, the Municipal State Security Administrative Department he applied to was essentially an office job.
They worked regular hours, took public transportation, attended class reunions, and could even tell people where they worked—it was no state secret.
A senior from Johny's university who joined State Security once joked that those working in administrative clerical positions had zero access to actual intelligence. Working there wasn't all glamour; you couldn't drink excessively, couldn't speak carelessly about work, couldn't casually give out your home address, and faced numerous travel restrictions.
The only real perk?
The overtime pay was slightly higher than general government agencies.
Honestly, Johny wasn't particularly drawn to the mystique of the Republic's intelligence agency.
He had applied out of pure necessity.
There were simply too many restrictions from other recruiting agencies.
* Professional Exams: Agencies like the Municipal Public Security Bureau or the District Safety Supervision Bureau required a specialized professional subject exam in addition to the standard tests. Johny couldn't even pass the basics; a professional exam was out of the question.
* Experience: Most prestigious agencies, like the Municipal Political Consultative Conference or the Education Commission, required two years of grassroots work experience.
* Party Membership: Positions at the Red Cross or the Culture Bureau were often blocked by the requirement that only Communist Party members could apply.
* Education: Agencies like the District Land and Resources Bureau often required a Master's or Doctoral degree.
Then there were the other random filters: Accounting certificates, specific liberal arts majors, height requirements (above 180cm), gender preferences, and so on.
Johny had been shocked to find that he was eligible for less than 3% of the available government positions.
While some obscure Sub-district Offices accepted fresh graduates, they usually only recruited one person, making the competition fierce.
Disheartened, Johny had stumbled upon a recruitment speech given by staff from the Municipal State Security Bureau at his university.
It turned out that State Security was actively recruiting.
As long as there were no obvious physical defects, no criminal record, and no history of living abroad for extended periods, there were no restrictions on gender, Party membership, major, or work experience. There was no extra professional exam.
Moreover, the intake for this specific exam was four people—which was quite generous compared to the single-slot openings elsewhere.
Later, Johny learned that State Security actually preferred fresh university graduates.
Why?
Because they hadn't been exposed to society yet.
They had no complex backgrounds, no messy interpersonal relationships, and were considered "clean" and "pure."
Conversely, people who had worked in the private sector for a few years were seen as harder to mold.
Weighing the pros and cons, Johny had convinced his mother to let him apply for the Ministry of State Security.
It was the only place where the odds—however slim—were in his favor.
May everything go smoothly.
Authors Note:-
Well that's chapter 10
Support with power stones and collections