Chapter 21: Recruiting a Translator

Early the next morning, An Yinan originally wanted to go to the mountain, but Xie Yuanyuan was prepared to lie around like a corpse all day, and Zhang Qian's door was also locked, so she might as well catch the ox cart to the County to buy some junior and senior high school textbooks.

After a bumpy ride to the County, An Yinan went straight to the Xinhua Bookstore; at the entrance of the bookstore stood a large blackboard with four large characters: "Translator Wanted."

She walked into the bookstore and didn't see anyone, "Hello?"

"Coming." A middle-aged man walked out from the back room, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and possessing a strong scholarly air.

"Buying books? Take a look first, I'll ring them up together." The middle-aged man put the book in his hand on the shelf before looking up at An Yinan.

"Is this where you are hiring a translator? Translating which country's language?" An Yinan asked.

"English, want to try?" The middle-aged man became interested; this recruitment notice had been posted for a month, and while a few people had come in to ask, their proficiency was truly too poor—not a single one had passed.

Nowadays, people who know foreign languages are either in the Cowshed or being protected by the state; a very small portion have learned a little bit, and let alone translating, even daily conversation is difficult for them.

"Sure." An Yinan nodded and took the materials that needed translating; just by taking a look, a sentence already appeared on the paper, and she didn't even need to consider the accuracy of the wording, plus she consciously slowed down her translation speed.

The middle-aged man watched from the side, then compared it to the answer key in his hand, this...

It couldn't be said to be word-for-word, but there were only tiny differences; it was exactly the same as the original translation.

And this speed was also too fast; a whole page of an English magazine, from start to finish, didn't even take fifteen minutes.

If he hadn't watched it with his own eyes, he wouldn't believe that anyone could have such speed.

With this translation speed, how strong must her spoken language ability be?

"Excellent, your translation completely meets the standard." The middle-aged man picked up the paper An Yinan had written on; the handwriting was clear, the translation was simple and concise, and the word choice was accurate and appropriate—it could be said the completion rate was 100%.

"What are the requirements?" Translating was safe and profitable, and to her, these were all minor matters; there were also some special words she had memorized—after all, she was someone who had almost entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but she still chose to do what she loved and chose fashion design.

"Let me introduce myself, my name is Chen Shao. I need to report your identity, and the higher-ups will conduct a political background check on you." Chen Shao introduced carefully; this point had to be passed, as the materials translated in the future might involve state secrets, and one cannot be a translator without passing the political background check.

"Currently, translation is divided into three types: the first is Ordinary Translator, three yuan per thousand characters, with an accuracy rate required to reach over 90%; later there are Advanced Translator and Confidential Translator, but these all require special assessments."

Three yuan per thousand characters; her manuscript from just now could earn her six or seven yuan.

This money seemed a bit easy to earn?

If Chen Shao knew she was thinking this, he would probably roll his eyes.

"Okay, I am An Yinan, an Educated Youth sent down to Quanshui Village. Do I need to prepare any other materials? When can I start translating?" An Yinan stated her identity.

After Chen Shao carefully registered everything, he looked up and replied, "Nothing else is needed; the people above will check. You can take these two magazines back to translate. After the political background check is passed, you can come to collect the translation fees, or they can be sent to you."

"Okay, the magazines and translated materials will be delivered in three days." An Yinan left with the magazines to be translated.

Chen Shao made a call to the higher-ups to report An Yinan's situation and personal information.

Unexpectedly, he didn't have to wait three days at all; that very afternoon, Chen Shao received a call from the higher-ups.

"Is there a problem with An Yinan's information?" Chen Shao was a bit strange; this call wasn't from the City, but from the Province.

He was the person in charge of the County-level Xinhua Bookstore, so he naturally reported the situation to the City; he hadn't expected feedback from the Province.

"There is no problem; you can let her take the translation materials, and the credentials will be mailed to you soon." The meaning from the Province was very simple: An Yinan had special circumstances and needed to go through special procedures, so the process moved very quickly.

"Yes, I understand." Chen Shao recorded the situation.

Now their Ping County had also produced a translator; with the volume of An Yinan's translations, his position, which hadn't moved in over ten years, also had hope of being shifted.

An Yinan didn't know what was in Chen Shao's mind, and even if she did, she wouldn't care; it was a matter of mutual benefit.

The time was still early, and she prepared to walk back to the village; when she reached halfway, she patted her forehead, "Forgot to buy books."

Seeing the translator recruitment matter had made her forget about buying books; she must remember in three days.

An Yinan's pace was fast; the speed of an hour's ox cart ride was about the same as her walking speed.

On the road back to the Educated Youth Station, a whistling man blocked her path, "Yo, where did this beauty come from? How come I, Er Gouzi, haven't seen her before?"

The man's eyes were shifty, he had the temperament of a hoodlum, and while talking, he struck a pose he considered very handsome, his face looking somewhat cynical.

An Yinan glanced at him and confirmed she hadn't seen this person before, but the name was a bit familiar; she didn't take it to heart, turned a corner, and prepared to walk around him.

But Er Gouzi still blocked her, "Beauty, don't go yet. Let's have a good chat. Where is your home? I'll have my mother go and propose marriage tomorrow."

Where in the village were there girls this fresh and lovely? Seeing this, his heart felt itchy; if he could marry her home...

Even if he couldn't marry her home, it wasn't impossible to...

An Yinan smiled without smiling; she remembered.

This person was none other than Aunt Lu's son; Auntie Liu had mentioned the name, but she hadn't paid much attention at the time, and it had taken this long to remember.

"Oh yeah? Chat about what?" An Yinan said.

Seeing there was a chance, Er Gouzi immediately straightened his clothes and put on a serious look, "What is your name? Where are you from? We can have an in-depth chat about marriage." While talking, his hand reached out to grab An Yinan's small hand; looking at those fair and tender little hands, how could the village girls compare?

In a place where she was a stranger, if he did something, this little girl would have nowhere to cry, and in the end, for the sake of her reputation, wouldn't she have to marry him?

Thinking this in his heart, a lewd smile appeared on his face.

Er Gouzi saw the beauty raise her hand, and he became even more excited; interesting, this girl was interesting. For the sake of her being so sensible, he would definitely treat her well.

However, with a "slap," it was fast, accurate, and ruthless!

The beauty had indeed raised her hand, but it wasn't to rest on Er Gouzi's hand, but to have a wonderful encounter with his face.

It hurt, it really hurt—not her, but his face hurt!!!

An Yinan tilted her head, looking innocent and cute, "Brother, did I hit you too hard? I didn't mean to, you know. So, do we still want to keep chatting?"

Er Gouzi wiped his mouth and saw the blood on his sleeve, "Bitch."

He clenched his hand into a fist, and just as he was about to strike, it was gripped by a large hand; that fist couldn't move forward even an inch.