5. Incompatible Fate

The insolent little girl, Xiaobai, did not end up dancing. She kept casting side-eyes at Zhang Tan, successfully "infuriating" him until he walked away.

By then, the children had begun to head to bed. After 10:00 PM, parents arrived at the Little Red Horse Academy one after another to pick up their children. Some were already so sleepy that they were carried off in their parents' arms, continuing to doze peacefully while clutching their parents' hands tightly. Others were more mischievous; having woken up after a brief nap, they were full of energy and insisted on playing games with the adults before they would agree to go home.

Past midnight, only five of the more than thirty children remained in the academy, and Xiaobai was among them. Three were fast asleep, while one had just woken up, propping himself up to peer outside—his father was coming. Xiaobai, however, felt no sleepiness at all. She remained full of energy, tossing and turning in bed until she finally climbed out and ran to the reading area. She leafed through a picture book with great interest, though she felt a bit lonely without any friends to talk or play with.

Zhang Tan stayed until the very last child had left before returning to his room to rest. This was the work of a late-night academy—reversing day and night, it was quite exhausting.

The next day, Zhang Tan went for his usual run in the courtyard, grabbed breakfast outside, and then returned to shower and dress. With his backpack on, he headed to the job market. Just as he boarded the subway, he received a text message notifying him of an interview at the Pujiang Film Studio at 2:00 PM.

Zhang Tan did not change his morning plans and still spent some time at the job market. He noticed a strange phenomenon: there were plenty of job openings for screenwriters and no shortage of applicants, yet very few placements were made. The screenwriting industry faced a structural scarcity—on one side, the market was desperate for experienced and capable talent, a supply-demand mismatch; on the other, numerous newcomers could not find suitable work. If they couldn't land a screenwriting role, they had to settle for editing jobs or take positions that were screenwriting in name only, functioning instead as office clerks or "jacks-of-all-trades" who did a little bit of everything.

Zhang Tan came up empty-handed as well. He had lunch at a nearby restaurant and arrived early at the Pujiang Film Studio. With time to spare, he sat in a nearby café and only stood up twenty minutes before his scheduled interview.

"Hello, I'm here for an interview." The receptionist was a beauty who rated an 85 out of 100—very easy on the eyes.

"Please show me your interview notification text." Zhang Tan opened the message on his phone for her.

"Thank you, please follow me." She took him to the elevator and up to the eighth floor. "The others here are also interviewing. Please wait in this area. Interviews start at 2:00 PM; you will be called in one by one."

A dozen people sat in the waiting room, men and women of various ages. Everyone kept to themselves; no one spoke. Zhang Tan found a seat and waited quietly. About ten minutes later, a staff member came in to announce the start of the interviews, which would proceed in the order of arrival.

Over an hour later, the staff member returned and called out, "Zhang Tan? Who is Zhang Tan? It's your turn."

"I am," Zhang Tan said, raising his hand. He gathered his backpack and followed the staffer into the meeting room. Inside sat two men and a woman; the woman sat in the center and appeared to be the lead interviewer.

"Zhang Tan, is it?" the middle-aged man on the left asked. "You graduated from the Beijing Film Academy? The Directing Department?"

Zhang Tan sat down, feeling no nervousness, and nodded. "Yes, I just graduated and returned to Pujiang a few days ago."

"Are you from Pujiang?"

"I grew up here."

"You studied directing, so why do you want to be a screenwriter?"

...

Less than ten minutes later, the interview concluded, and he was told to go home and wait for news.

When he returned to West Chang'an Street, night had already fallen. Zhang Tan stood near the late-night academy and took a look around. He hadn't noticed before, but the neighbor next door was a boxing gym. Curious, he walked in to take a look. It wasn't very big—less than half the size of the academy—and seven or eight people were practicing. No one paid him any mind, so he turned and left.

Old Li greeted him, "Master Zhang is back."

Zhang Tan smiled in response. "Have any of the kids arrived yet?"

"In a little while, Xiaobai will be here."

That child was always the first to arrive and among the last to leave. Old Li, the security guard, felt a bit helpless and had a headache; as soon as Xiaobai arrived, she would surely pester him to "knock some sense" into Zhang Tan, as if he would ever agree to that. Xiaobai—that little girl who always said "I can't be bothered"—gave Zhang Tan a headache, too. She had held a grudge against him since the moment they met. She was a little firecracker; not only had she bitten him, but she also found fault with him everywhere. According to inside sources, Xiaobai had been spreading rumors among the children and teachers that he was a "nasty black-bottom," inciting everyone to unite against him.

Thinking of this, Zhang Tan remembered Xiaomi, the child taken away by the police. He wondered if her family had been found and decided to ask Auntie Huang later.

He went back to his room, dropped his backpack, showered, and changed into shorts and a short-sleeved shirt for a walk. As he turned a corner, he bumped into a child, knocking her flat on her back with her legs in the air.

"Ouch!"

The child was incredibly agile. Without waiting for Zhang Tan to help her up, she scrambled to her feet, put her hands on her hips, and glared at him fiercely. "You nasty black-bottom, what do you think you're doing?! You knocked me down again!"

"Hmph! You've got me so mad I'm spitting fire!"

The child was wearing a faded blue tracksuit, the same style as her red one, with the two large characters for "China" on her chest. Only one child dressed like that: Xiaobai.

Sure enough, the child he had knocked over was Xiaobai, with her distinct regional accent. Zhang Tan was surprised—how had he managed to knock her over again? It almost felt like he was targeting her.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, little Xiaobai. Did you get hurt?"

"You've got me so mad I'm spitting fire!"

"Sorry about that, really." You're just too small, and you're always running around; I couldn't stop in time, Zhang Tan thought to himself.

Xiaobai scolded him up and down, let out a cold snort, cast him another side-eye, and walked away, too proud to speak to him any further. Zhang Tan watched as she scurried off to the guard booth to talk to Old Li again.

Old Li certainly had a knack for people; even such a difficult child loved chatting with him, Zhang Tan mused. Little did he know, Xiaobai wasn't chatting—she was complaining.

"Grandpa, the black-bottom knocked me over again! You be the judge—aren't you mad?"

Old Li glanced at Zhang Tan under the distant corridor and asked Xiaobai with a chuckle, "What happened?"

Xiaobai rattled off a string of complaints, urging Old Li to confront Zhang Tan and stand up for her.

"Oh my, I need to use the restroom, my stomach hurts. Xiaobai, don't you run off anywhere." Old Li used the excuse to slip away.

Xiaobai: Σ(⊙▽⊙”a

Seeing that Old Li had really left and the booth was unattended, she peered left and right. The "black-bottom" was gone too, and there wasn't a soul in sight. She crept over to the academy's iron gate, intending to push it open and sneak out to play, but when she pushed, it was locked! She kicked it in frustration and headed back.

"Kids? Are you kids there?"

Xiaobai had no choice but to wander the academy alone, calling out as she walked. Even though she knew there were no other children there besides her, what if? What if one popped out of the ground?

Finding not a single soul, Xiaobai picked up a soccer ball and began to kick it around by herself. The ball rolled, clattering right to the feet of Zhang Tan, who was out for his walk. The two stared at each other.

Should he kick it back? Zhang Tan couldn't lower himself to a child's level. He smiled at her, received a side-eye in return, and, unbothered, skillfully juggled the ball before kicking it back to her.

Xiaobai looked surprised; perhaps she hadn't expected the "black-bottom" to have some moves. Seeing the ball fly over, she wanted to show off her own skills. With a shout, she yelled, "Watch my feet!"

She swung her leg hard, intending to send the ball flying high, but she missed completely, sending her own little shoe flying instead. The falling ball landed squarely on her head. With an "ouch," she plopped onto the ground.

Zhang Tan was stunned, and Old Li, who had secretly returned to his post, was equally shocked. Old Li pretended not to see and went back to his phone. Zhang Tan quickly retreated from the scene of the accident, hoping to avoid being framed for a "staged" injury.

He couldn't be blamed for this, surely. Perhaps his stars just weren't aligned with Xiaobai’s, leading to constant friction.

Back in his room, Zhang Tan couldn't help but peek outside. He didn't see Xiaobai, but he heard the sounds of huffing and puffing from the courtyard below. Looking down from his balcony, he saw Xiaobai chasing the soccer ball around the yard with ferocious energy, as if she were taking her anger out on it.

Before long, other children began to arrive and joined Xiaobai’s game. Soon, it was a group of children laughing and chasing the ball. Just then, Zhang Tan’s phone, sitting on his desk, rang. He picked it up and saw an unfamiliar number.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Is this Zhang Tan? I'm from the Human Resources Department of the Pujiang Film Studio..."