雖然再去找奚濤做最後的挽回,然後一起回國仍然是程弈田不時的衝動,但是之前去西部的想法卻也是一直揮之不去。兩種相互矛盾的選擇不停地在程弈田的腦腔裏衝撞,搏鬥。程弈田與尹伯文的對話很自然地轉到了對未來的討論上: “Where do you want to live and what do you want to do after you graduate?(你畢業之後想要做什麽,住在哪裏呢?)”
“I already did.(我已經。)”MSN的另外一個優點就是你可以回去看看自己說的,可以及時更正或者解釋,尹伯文看了那行字,這才發現自己的思維有些跳躍,“I mean, I already graduated.(我的意思是,我已經畢業了。)”
“But, you are still staying in the graduate student dorm.(可是,你還住在研究生公寓啊。)”程弈田很是不解。
“Yeah, it's a deal I made with Prof. Little. I convinced him to be on the board of my company. Finally, he accepted my offer, and extended my research assistant fellowship. I need the money, you know.(是,我跟裏頭教授說好的。我說服了他加入我公司的董事會,他就讓我延期,繼續做研究助理。我需要錢,你是知道的。) ”
程弈田一直都想問尹伯文這個問題,他總是口口聲聲說自己需要錢,但是因為每次他們相遇時都有其他的事情發生,弈田一直都沒有機會問起。“How come? You don't need much to support yourself here, living as a student. I live a decent comfortable life with the stipend prof. Harald provided. Wait a moment, you said you have a company?(為什麽啊?像一個學生一樣生活並不需要花多少時間的。漢偌德教授給我的獎學金,我一個人用足夠了,而且還挺舒服的呢。嗯?你說什麽,你還有一個公司?)”
“Yep, I do, that's why I need the money. (是的,我是有個公司,這是我為什麽需要錢。)”尹伯文瞟了一眼計算機屏幕上的時鍾,“I am sorry, Yitian, I got to go, I have a meeting with the CTO and COO, TTYL.(對不起,弈田,我得走了。我跟我們的首席技術官和運營官有個會,待會兒見。)”
TTYL,弈田猜,這是talk to you later(待會兒再跟你說。) 的縮寫。他有個公司?CTO,COO(首席技術官,首席運營官)都有了,難道他還是個CEO(首席執行官)?一個外國人,在美國創業?想來也好笑,這個CEO(首席執行官)當得也挺窩囊,整天嚷嚷著要錢,那擺著著的500塊一小時的工作不要,偏要去幹20塊一小時的法語老師;原本7900塊可以賣掉的車,就讓奚濤一封長信吃掉了900塊,那可是45個小時法語課的報酬。好吧,程弈田是猜不透他的,不需花這個心思。弈田倒是有個忙要請他幫,留言好了。回不回,由這個CEO來定。“I wanted to keep my options open, so, I applied to a few openings in the west coast, and got some interviews. I am wondering if you could do some mock up interviews with me. Matt, my lab mate and good friend, just left for a long vacation. So, you will not turn me down, would you?(我想要多幾個備選的,所以啊,我申請了西部的好幾個公司,也獲得了一些麵試的機會。我正在想你是不是可以幫我做做模擬麵試什麽的。不巧的是,我實驗室的好朋友Matt去度假了。你不會不幫這個忙,是吧?)”
程弈田希望MSN有個智能選項:隻有重要或者有意思的事情才會把人從半夜裏吵醒。“My pleasure.(我的榮幸)”大半夜裏,一骨碌爬起來的弈田沒來得及披個睡袍,看到的是這個可有可無的雞肋。這兩天Ashdown(MIT宿舍)的空調好像有點毛病,幾十秒的功夫,她渾身所有保護機製都快速啟動,露在短袖睡衣外的胳膊上摸起來讓人心麻的雞皮疙瘩越來越多,提醒她趕緊回去穿件衣服。她滿心期待,盯著屏幕,不舍得失去即時看見來自Charles(查爾斯)河對岸的新消息的機會。“TTYT(待會兒再跟你說)”又是一個縮寫,好吧,tomorrow(明天),希望這15分鍾寒夜裏的等待不會讓自己感冒。程弈田坐下打出“talk to you tomorrow too(我也待會兒再跟你說)”她這才想起來自己隻顧著等看他說些什麽,忘了對他的消息做回應,當然,人家就隻能說talk to you tomorrow(明天再跟你說).
“Oh, you are there! Great.(啊,你還在呢!太好了。)”
“You woke me up!(是你把我吵醒的好不好!)”尹伯文看見了一個不高興嘟著嘴的小人在屏幕上一閃一閃。
“Ah, that's even better! You are already up, let's talk!(哦,不是更好!既然你已經起來了,那我們開聊!)”那個人耍起賴來,程弈田遇到了對手。
不行,真的需要一件棉衣,弈田伸手拿了掛在床上的長款羽絨服,抓起散在地上的厚棉襪,5秒鍾就武裝起了自己。“So, you got time tomorrow? I guess it's gonna be in the afternoon then, since I don't think we are going to be done until we are totally consumed tonight:)(你明天有時間嗎?我猜是要等到下午了吧,因為我想今天我們不談到很晚都奇怪的呢J)”
“Really? I am going to sleep soon.(真的嗎?我正要去睡呢。)”這回沒有表情符號,看不見人,程弈田不知道他是不是在開玩笑。
這也是程弈田最不喜歡MSN的地方,對話中沒有表情符號的時候,就像進行一場空對空的交流。沒有語氣,麵部表情,神態和手勢的閱讀,你永遠不能非常確定的知道對方想要表達的意思。
以前,奚濤總是說不能讓程弈田太辛苦,不用太經常去看他。雖然已經同城了一年多,除了60幾個星期天是程弈田去看奚濤的日子,其他的時候的交流還是靠MSN。多麽不方便。她多麽希望,多麽渴望,生命的某個時刻起,她可以麵對麵跟某一個人輕鬆地,完全地交換彼此的思想,分享彼此的愛好,承擔彼此生命中最美最重的寄托。可是奚濤和程弈田,沒有做到。
“Good night(晚安)”他還真是說到做到,程弈田也禮貌的回了句“Good night(晚安)”,將電腦置為靜音。
“Dear Yitian, It would be my pleasure to do the mock up interview with you tomorrow. I am not an expert in doing interviews, but I did manage to get job offer for 80% of the time. So, I would like to share some interview skills with you.(親愛的弈田,明天可以給你做模擬麵試,我感到非常榮幸。我雖然不是麵試專家,但是我的麵試成功率是有80%的。所以,我願意在這裏跟你分享一些我的經驗。)”
“First of all, be confident. You are one of the girls I know who are very confident and very assertive. Continue being yourself, look into other people's eyes when they talk to you. The first time we had the big 'debate' you looked into my eyes as if you were sure you were gonna win, no matter what.(第一,要自信。你是一個非常自信而且說話相當穩健的人。挺好,繼續發揚光大—跟人說話的時候看著別人的眼睛。我們第一次見麵那會兒,你就那麽堅定地看著我的眼睛,好像無論怎樣你一定會贏那場激烈的討論。)”
“Second, listen well, think as you listen. Try to summarize and repeat what you hear from the interviewer. It shows you understand their points and you are giving them the hint that you are going to respond to their points and questions accordingly. That, also calms them down and gives them the confidence that you will be able to present yourself well.(第二,好好聽,同時,好好思考。試著對麵試官的話進行總結和重複。這樣可以表明你是理解他們的話的,然後也暗示他們你將對於他們談話的焦點和問題一一作出應答。那樣做可以讓麵試官相信你一定會最好地發揮你的水平。”
“Third, be concise when you talk. Crisp, to the point. Show them your thought first, in a short way. If time permits and if they are interested in the details, then, give out details.(第三,說話的時候要做到簡單扼要。要很幹脆,每句話都說到點子上。先簡單地表達你的觀點。如果有時間,或者他們感興趣,再深入展開討論。)”
“Fourth, ask smart questions. Companies want to know your motivation, your expectations before hiring people. Show them you are interested, give them the feeling that if they miss you they will lose a great person who can help to resolve all the important operational issues. At the end, they can't afford not to offer you an on-site interview opportunity.(第四,問聰明的問題。大多數公司在雇人之前都很想知道你的想法和期望。大膽告訴他們你對他們的公司有興趣,讓他們覺得如果雇了你,你一定會幫他們解決棘手的但是非常重要的運營上麵遇到的問題。最後,麵試官們都覺得如果不給你一個去公司麵試的機會都會是一個天大的錯誤。)”
“The last but not the least, be polite, thank them for a nice talk with you, you are appreciated that they presented a wonderful way to be successful. Good luck.(最後,一定要有禮貌。要謝謝他們給你機會麵試,對他們給你提供的潛在的成功的道路表示感激。祝你好運。)”
發信時間是臨晨2:37分, 弈田重新回去睡覺之後的1個小時。