This was the kind of thing Xu Ye had only ever seen on television before.

He hadn't imagined anyone in real life would actually do it.

He was stunned for a long moment before he managed, "Isn't that making a game of it?"

Zhao Ming laughed. "You don't know how it works. Every résumé that reaches me is from somebody outstanding. At a minimum they're top graduates out of the 985s and 211s. But at a big company like ours the positions are very limited, and even if you interviewed every one of them, in the end you'd still be cutting more than ninety-five percent. So don't hold it against me. I'm only saving time."

What Zhao Ming said wasn't untrue.

Interviews at a big company ran through several rounds, and anyone who got as far as an interview at a firm like Lisheng Capital would be strong on both credentials and caliber. Even so, Xu Ye found Zhao Ming's method fairly absurd.

Xu Ye glanced into the wastebasket, then went over and fished the résumés back out. He leafed through a few of them at random and sat back down on the sofa with a laugh. "You go ahead with your work. I'll just have a look through these. I'm mooching lunch off you at midday."

"No problem at all."

Zhao Ming clipped on his staff badge, laughing as he did it. "A few years abroad, and when I came home nothing felt right anywhere — except the food. That I adjusted to instantly. Let me tell you, the stuff they serve at the high-end restaurants over there only looks good. It actually tastes worse than Shaxian Snacks. When I had no appetite abroad, I ate rice with Lao Gan Ma." [TL: 沙县小吃, "Shaxian Snacks," is a ubiquitous chain of cheap Chinese fast-food shops; 老干妈 is a jarred chili sauce, the standard way of getting a bowl of plain rice down.]

"I know a few street stalls that make good stir-fries. Someday when there's time, my treat."

"Ha, you're a good man."

Going through the résumés in his hand,…