Chapter 48

This skills competition has four events; since many branch team members signed up for two events each, according to the rules, the first day will feature manual cash counting and rapid voucher flipping, while character input and counterfeit bill identification will be held on the second day, with the award ceremony at 4 p.m.

Team members with events will compete; those without can engage in free activities.

So on the first day, many took the opportunity to stroll through Nan Street and Zhongnan Shopping Center, while others went to watch movies at their street offices.

For this competition, all meals and accommodations are self-arranged by each team; that evening, the dozen or so members of Nanxin Branch ate together at the hotel.

The atmosphere was poor.

Because in the two events held today, Nanxin Branch was almost completely shut out—only one team member from Chaoyang Road Savings Office won second prize in manual cash counting, one from headquarters’ business hall won third prize in rapid voucher flipping, and Chen Meimei from the Credit Department received an excellence award in manual cash counting; all other competitors scored zero.

This wasn’t due to lack of proficiency among Nanxin Branch staff; the main reason was that Xia He prioritized training new employees, so several seasoned workers weren’t sent to compete, naturally resulting in poor results.

But Xia He still encouraged everyone: “It’s fine—tomorrow we still have character input and counterfeit bill identification; we’ll definitely do better!”

“Exactly... don’t lose heart, especially in character input—we’re definitely going to take first place!” Liu Meili also cheered them on.

“Liu Jie, are you serious? There’s ‘Six-Finger Key Demon’ in character input—how could we possibly win first?”

“Because we have a secret weapon!” Liu Meili smiled mysteriously, glancing toward Zhang Rong.

Zhang Rong showed no reaction, silently eating.

“Secret weapon? What secret weapon?” Xia He looked at Liu Meili in surprise, unsure what she was up to; Su Ming and Wu Shengli also stared at her.

“Dear leaders, don’t ask now—you’ll find out tomorrow!”

Seeing Liu Meili wouldn’t say more, no one pressed further.

After dinner, some went out to stroll, others returned to their rooms to rest; then Chen Meimei quietly asked Zhang Rong: “Do you know what the secret weapon is?”

Zhang Rong smiled mysteriously: “It’s me.”

“You?” Chen Meimei was astonished.

“Yes! I’m going to use Sogou Input Method.”

“Ah? Will that work?” Chen Meimei asked again.

“I checked with the city office—they said it’s allowed,” Zhang Rong replied.

“I’ve used Sogou Input Method too—its word and phrase creation is extremely powerful; if you add your typing speed, Zhang Rong, you might actually beat Li Lifen this time,” Chen Meimei said happily.

She was always happy whenever any unit employee won an award.

“It’s hard to say...” Zhang Rong said modestly, though his expression was proud. “Alright, no more talking—I’m going to find an internet cafe to practice some more.”

“Go ahead, good luck!”

At 9 a.m. the next day, the competition proceeded as scheduled at the branch headquarters building; there were only eight computers for character input, and since there were many competitors, they were divided into eight groups to compete sequentially, each typing a roughly 1000-character passage, scored by time taken and error rate—the higher the score, the better.

After drawing lots, Nanxin Branch was Group Seven, expected to compete in the afternoon; Li Lifen’s headquarters team was also Group Seven!

The competition began; after more than ten minutes, Group One finished, and participants exited the room, with results quickly posted outside the door.

The fastest was a typist from Zhongping County Branch, completing the task in 6 minutes 52 seconds at an average speed of 152 characters per minute, with six errors, scoring 86 points.

“This group didn’t do well—total failure,” Liu Meili said. “The winner’s speed was decent, but too many errors—nowhere near Li Lifen’s level.”

Zhang Rong knew Li Lifen’s best performance was 164 characters per minute with zero errors!

Subsequent groups entered the competition area one after another, and results were posted incrementally; when Group Three’s scores appeared on the wall, the onlookers erupted.

“Wow! Wang Xiaohong from Wuyang District Branch did it in just 5 minutes 40 seconds! That’s nearly 171 characters per minute—faster than Li Lifen’s best!”

“And not a single error!”

“Absolutely incredible!”

As everyone buzzed, Zhang Rong suddenly appeared from somewhere and whispered to Liu Meili: “Wang Xiaohong is using Sogou Input Method too!”

“How do you know?” Liu Meili asked urgently.

“I overheard it secretly when I just went to the Wuyang District Branch,” Zhang Rong said.

“Wow... Sogou really is powerful! Li Lifen’s probably done for! Zhang Rong, do you think you can beat Wang Xiaohong?”

“I’m confident—I’ve reached 180 characters per minute at my fastest.”

“That’s good, that’s good.”

Liu Meili relaxed— if Zhang Rong was telling the truth, Nanxin Branch might finally win a first-place award in a single event.

But things took an unexpected turn.

Just before the morning competition ended, Wu Shengli was suddenly summoned to an emergency meeting; he returned ten minutes later.

“Director Wu, what was the meeting about?” Liu Meili asked curiously.

“The organizing committee just announced that Wang Xiaohong’s score is voided,” Wu Shengli replied.

“Why?” Everyone was stunned.

“She used this Sogou Input Method, which has memory functions. The committee said branch computers handle customer secrets, so it’s not allowed,” Wu Shengli answered.

“What kind of excuse is that?!” Liu Meili was furious.

Wu Shengli looked puzzled. “Liu Mei, why are you so angry? This has nothing to do with us, right?”

“Director Wu, you don’t know—I told everyone last night that our secret weapon was Zhang Rong using Sogou Input Method!”

“What?!” Wu Shengli glanced at Zhang Rong, who stood nearby with an equally grim expression, and instantly understood.

“It’s definitely that woman Li Lifen scheming! Afraid someone would steal her first place, she used such a despicable trick! No way—I’m going to demand an explanation!”

Liu Meili could no longer contain herself and stormed toward the organizing committee’s office.

Inside the competition committee’s office, someone was already arguing—the female team leader from Wuyang Branch had arrived to protest the cancellation of her member’s score; Liu Meili’s entrance made the room even noisier.

Yang, chairman of the city branch’s trade union, was deputy chair of the skills competition committee; the bank president held the chair title only nominally, so Yang was in charge of the entire event.

A grown man couldn’t withstand the barrage from two women—he was overwhelmed—when a curly-haired woman interjected: “What’s the point of yelling? The committee has already made its decision!”

“Li Lifen?!”

Only then did Liu Meili notice that the woman had slipped into the room.