It didn’t take long for Li Ming to get a response to his messages. Not even mentioning their own experiences, considering that they were his friends and wanted to help out, they had also asked other people they knew for recommendations. So while Li Ming was still busy finishing his curse, he was pretty much slammed with reports on which companies were good to apply to as a gay man.

Actually, he hadn’t expected this much of a response. While he knew that there were some people that were out, he still felt that most weren’t at their place of work. So they wouldn’t know how well the company dealt with their identities.

But as it turned out, he had been wrong. There were more than enough people with experience in that regard. Some had only left him a sentence or two, while others directly forwarded him screenshots of conversations they had had with others about the topic.

There was quite a bit to go through. For the next few days, that was pretty much all he did: Thanking everyone, looking through these messages, checking up on the companies online, and trying to see which ones might be a good fit for him. Then, he started to work on his applications.

Soon enough, the course had ended, but he figured he’d need to be more flexible time-wise so he could rush over if one of the companies replied to him and wanted to see him on short notice. Thus, he didn’t dare to be callous with planning the week or two. He did however sign up for an online course that he could work on at his own pace so that he would still have something to show in case it took him longer to get hired and he was asked about this period.

He didn’t know whether he had good luck or not but he actually did get one response pretty soon and it was even an invitation for a job interview. Seeing this, he heaved a sigh of relief even though he inwardly felt nervous.

It was good that he had gotten a positive response this fast since that meant he might not be out of work for much longer. But, at the same time, it had been a long time since his last job interview. He couldn’t help but be afraid that he wasn’t quite in the loop anymore in regard to the dos and don’ts. It seemed that he had yet one more thing on his to-do list: preparing for this interview so he wouldn’t royally screw up.

Being busy with his preparations, the time for the job interview soon arrived. Li Ming got up early that day to prepare while trying his best not to panic. Even when he walked into the company’s place, he tried to calm his mind.

An anxious security guard definitely wouldn’t look good. Even though a job interview was a situation that was out of the ordinary, the same could be said for when something happened that would need him to do more than stand around or make his rounds to check for problems. So he couldn’t let anyone catch onto his anxiety.

The company he was interviewing for was a hotel chain. Contrary to what the name might imply, they specialized in smaller hotels with a cozy atmosphere. It was the kind of place where you would feel right at home as soon as you walked in.

This was something that had convinced him to apply. He had been surprised that they hired security despite that but then, after looking more closely, while the hotels looked simple at first glance, everything was high-quality. It was the type of object you wouldn’t want anything to happen to.

They might not be expecting any of the guests to act out but they might be afraid of what others would try to do. Thus, in every location, there were still two or maybe three guards depending on the size of the area the hotel covered.

Sometimes, the security guards would be sent to another location if they were short-staffed because somebody got sick. But usually, those short-term transferals only happened in your own city or close by. So he wasn’t worried about that. In fact, it was another selling point of the company. He felt that it might be a change of pace every now and then that would make sure he didn’t get too comfortable again. Also, he could switch from one place to another which was nice as well. Overall, he really had a good feeling about this. If it were to work out, he’d be quite happy.

He walked up to the reception, telling the man on the other side why he was there.

Actually, come to think of how this was a chain, he was surprised that the interview would be at one of the hotels instead of the local headquarters or something. They should have something like that, shouldn’t they? After all, as a hotel chain as large as this, surely, they would have to do many organizational tasks as well.

He couldn’t imagine that they would do all that from one of their hotels. Surely, there should be lots of staff members as well, right? It just seemed … odd. But he wasn’t privy to any details and he also wouldn’t think too deeply about it. That wasn’t something that he needed to concern himself with. As long as everyone was friendly, he’d be happy.

The young man smiled at him and nodded. “Of course, just a moment. The boss will be here any minute. You can sit down over there and wait.”

He motioned to the other side of the small lobby, and Li Ming nodded. He went over and sat down, feeling calmer now that the first hurdle had been taken. The receptionist had seemed happy as well so this should indeed be a good environment to work in. Just thinking about it, he felt more relaxed.

While he was being secretly happy and hoping for the best, the door opened again and a young couple walked in. Li Ming habitually glanced over and then did a double-take, unable to believe just who he was seeing.

The man also looked over and then raised his brows. “Bro Li? What are you doing here?”

Li Ming looked at Si Tao and his girlfriend and felt that he should be the one to ask that question. They were still in Shanghai. He might be applying for a job but Si Tao certainly wasn’t. So why were these two in a hotel? If he wasn’t wrong, then they both lived in the city. Them appearing here was strange.