Annual Skill Competition

Fang Qingye was stunned for a moment, then smiled and replied, "It's your class reunion, what would I go there for? Have a good time, bye..."

With that, Fang Qingye started the car, waved at Bai Ou again, and drove out onto the road.

Bai Ou pushed her bicycle and watched the car disappear into the distance, holding back a sentence she had not said just now.

In the announcement of the Class of Senior Three, Group Two's WeChat group, it was notified to all classmates: "Spouses (limited to boyfriends and girlfriends) are allowed to attend this class reunion..."

The next afternoon, the class reunion of the Class of Senior Three, Group Two from Nanxin No. 1 High School was held at an agritainment resort by the picturesque Longyou Lake.

The Class of Senior Three, Group Two was the school's key liberal arts class, and the students' college entrance examination scores were quite good. The top performers got into Fudan University and Nanjing University, with quite a few others entering prestigious 985 and 211 universities. Even the ones with the lowest scores, like Qian Xiaoli, made it into regular undergraduate programs.

After graduation, a small minority like Bai Ou went on to pursue master's degrees, while the majority entered the workforce. Many successfully passed civil service examinations to join the public sector, while others went to work for major corporations in metropolis cities like Nanjing and Shanghai. None of them were doing poorly.

Those who found themselves in a favorable position were naturally more than happy to attend such reunions. Not only locals from the Jinghai area, but also classmates working in Shanghai and Nanjing made special trips back to participate.

Quite a few brought their partners, and everyone introduced each other in a warm and harmonious atmosphere.

In class, Bai Ou was the kind of quiet, unassuming girl with few close confidants; her only truly close friend was Qian Xiaoli. The two of them were sitting on a swing under the shade of a tree near the courtyard, whispering to each other.

"Bai Ou, why didn't you bring Yezi along? I heard he's on regular leave and has nothing to do all day. I even saw him driving out to go fishing the day before yesterday," Qian Xiaoli asked.

I did ask him, but he wouldn't come...

In front of her best friend, Bai Ou didn't want to tell the truth, so she made up a lie: "I only got back the day before yesterday and haven't seen him yet." After replying, she quickly turned the question back:

"Xiaoli, how come you're here alone too? What is Dahai busy with? Didn't you invite him?"

"I did, but the guy wouldn't come." Qian Xiaoli stood by the swing with her hands in her pockets, looking straight ahead indifferently. "That fellow is currently chasing a girl from Ye's department named Chen Meimei."

"Ah? Then what are you going to do?" Bai Ou asked, somewhat surprised.

She knew about the awkward childhood moments between Qian Xiaoli and Song Dahai, but as they grew up, Qian Xiaoli had developed a strong fondness for him.

"I'm not afraid!" Qian Xiaoli smiled with great confidence. "My mother once took my birth date and time along with Dahai's to consult a master at Dihui Zen Temple for fortune-telling. The master said our horoscopes are an extraordinary match and we have the looks of a predestined married couple... He can't escape the palm of my hand!"

With that, Qian Xiaoli clenched her right hand fiercely, as if everything was completely under her control.

Bai Ou sat on the swing in silence, staring blankly at a cluster of blooming Crinum asiaticum flowers by the path, lost in deep thought.

.....

.....

The leisurely holiday came to an end, and Fang Qingye went back to work.

Right after returning to work, a major event came up: the annual system-wide skills competition was about to begin.

This was a traditional event for the Dongxing banking system in Jinghai City, held every July.

The skills competition consisted of four categories: manual banknote counting, voucher sorting and calculation, Chinese character input, and counterfeit banknote identification.

Among them, voucher sorting and calculation required contestants to complete the sorting, calculation, and recording tasks of vouchers within a specified time limit, testing their calculation speed and accuracy.

All seven sub-branches and the branch headquarters had to send participants for the four events, with five contestants per event, and each contestant could sign up for a maximum of two events.

Furthermore, the document issued by the branch this year explicitly stipulated: To improve the professional competence of young employees, every sub-branch must include at least one employee newly hired within the past three years in each category.

The skills competition was organized in the name of the municipal branch's trade union. While the subordinate sub-branches also had trade unions, none of them had dedicated full-time union staff; the union chairpersons generally held concurrent positions as office directors. Therefore, the organization of this activity practically fell upon the General Affairs Office.

That morning, as soon as Fang Qingye arrived at work, he was called into Wu Shengli's office.

"Xiao Fang, have you read through the document regarding the skills competition organized by the municipal branch?" Wu Shengli asked.

Fang Qingye nodded.

"This matter is spearheaded and organized by our General Affairs Office. In the past, it was mainly handled by Liu Meili, but doing it all by herself is truly exhausting. Therefore, I want you to also get involved, help select the contestants, and handle the pre-competition preparations." Having said this, Wu Shengli paused and emphasized:

"This is also Vice President Xia's intention."

"Director Wu, I naturally accept the work you arrange," Fang Qingye said. "However, I haven't been in the General Affairs Office for very long. To be honest, I'm not familiar with many employees across our three savings offices and two sub-branches. I can't even match some names to faces, let alone understand their capabilities. How am I supposed to select suitable contestants?"

"You don't need to worry about that. Liu Meili knows clearly. Your main role is to handle auxiliary tasks," Wu Shengli said.

So basically, running errands.

Fang Qingye understood.

"Alright, no problem."

The General Affairs Office had relatively more miscellaneous tasks, and he had already mentally prepared himself for this when he came.

"Okay, go find Liu Meili and discuss the specifics. Come straight to me if you encounter any problems you can't resolve."

Back at his desk, Fang Qingye was immediately greeted by Liu Meili as she saw him enter.

"Xiao Fang, come over here for a second."

When Fang Qingye walked up to her, Liu Meili handed him a list. "Take a look. These are the names of the contestants."

Fang Qingye felt a bit surprised.

"Sister Liu, you've already prepared it?"

"These competition events are the same every year, and the participating staff are basically the same group of people... Some people want to participate, but they can't because their proficiency isn't high enough. Others don't want to participate, but they still have to, because the department relies on you to bring back glory," Liu Meili said with a smile.

That certainly made sense.

There was also a more important reason: the competition prizes were extremely generous!

First, second, and third prizes would be awarded in each category, along with five excellence awards.

The prize money for the first, second, and third prizes was twenty thousand, ten thousand, and five thousand yuan respectively, while the excellence award also came with one thousand yuan.

This was no small sum!

Especially the first prize, which was equivalent to half a year's salary.

Fang Qingye carefully examined the list and spotted a few familiar names:

Chen Meimei and Zhang Rong.

Chen Meimei had signed up for voucher sorting and calculation, while Zhang Rong was even more ambitious, having signed up for two events: voucher sorting and calculation, and Chinese character input!

Fang Qingye also noticed that two temporary workers hired around the same time as them had signed up as well, primarily for banknote counting.

"Xiao Fang, logically speaking, you should sign up for an event too," Liu Meili said with a smile.

"Sister Liu, please spare me. I'm not good at any of these," Fang Qingye replied.

These five competition categories mainly focused on frontline staff, especially teller skill assessments. Aside from typing, he rarely touched the others.

Most importantly, he wasn't interested.

The prize money held no attraction for him either.

"Sister Liu, does this mean I just need to input this into the Excel spreadsheet?" Fang Qingye asked again.

"Right. Once you finish inputting and verify that there are no errors, print it out and give it to Director Wu. After he reviews it, it needs to be approved by President Su, and then the electronic version will be sent to the branch through the official document platform," Liu Meili said.

"Got it, I'll do it right now."

Returning to his desk, Fang Qingye opened the Excel spreadsheet sent by the municipal branch and began inputting the data.

This was extremely simple for him, and his fingers flew across the keyboard with a rapid clacking sound.

Cao Ting, who sat opposite him, saw this and said with a smile, "Xiao Fang, I don't get it. Why didn't you sign up for the typing competition? Your typing speed is so fast, and you even use the Wubi method, which is quite rare among young people."

"Sister Cao, our branch is full of typing masters; would it ever be my turn?" Fang Qingye replied without stopping his hands. "Besides, Wubi isn't popular anymore; Pinyin typing is the way to go."

"Yet the fastest typist in our branch still uses Wubi," Cao Ting retorted.

That was true... Not only at the Nanxin Sub-branch, but dedicated typists at other sub-branches basically all used Wubi.

However, whether it was Wubi or not didn't matter to Fang Qingye, as he had no intention of participating anyway.

The electronic registration list was quickly compiled. Fang Qingye printed a copy for Liu Meili to review, then took it up to Wu Shengli. Finding no issues, he took it upstairs to Su Ming.

As for Xia荷, there was no need to bother her with this; minor matters like this didn't require her attention, and the vice president would have the final say.

Once Su Ming signed off on the registration list, Fang Qingye returned to the office and had Cao Ting send the electronic version to the municipal branch through the official document platform, concluding the registration process.

Next came the primary focus: intensive pre-competition training.

Since everyone still had to work, training sessions for the contestants were scheduled after work hours at the sub-branch building. While some people were unhappy about sacrificing their rest time, the thought of earning prize money motivated everyone to participate quite enthusiastically.

Those practicing banknote counting counted notes, and those practicing typing typed away—it was a bustling scene.

Fang Qingye's task was to call a restaurant and order boxed meals to be delivered on time for the training staff. After eating, the employees would practice for a little longer, and then he would head out.

With nothing left for him to do, he would go home to rest.

Today, after the boxed meals were finished as usual, he watched Chen Meimei and the others practice typing for a while in the office, and feeling somewhat bored, he prepared to leave.

Just as he stepped out of the office door, Zhang Rong followed him out and whispered, "Fang Qingye, I have a brilliant scheme that can defeat Li Lifen, the typing expert from the municipal branch office known as the 'Six-Finger Keyboard Demon'."