Power and Wealth

Swish, swish, swish......

The pages of the documentwere flipped over slowly. All the interview questions were asked.

Dong Xuebing was feeling frustrated, but he could not blowup. He could only bear with it.

The taller interviewer tapped on the document in front ofhim with his fingers and not saying a word. This interviewer had indeed wantedDong Xuebing to score poorly for thisinterview. On the second day after the written test results were released, hehad received a call from a leader. That leader had told him the name of a youngman who will be going for the interview. Although the leader did not sayanything, the taller interviewer knew that the young man was this leader’snephew. The leader was hinting to him to let his nephew pass the interview andget the position.

The tall interviewer checked the results, and the young man’s resultswere 5^th.He needs to get rid of one person in the top 4.

The first 3 people had handled the interview very well. So,this interviewer decided to fail the 4^th position candidate, DongXuebing. This person did not have anybackground and was from an averagefamily. Dong Xuebing’s results were onlyslightly higher than the 5^th

place. If he suppresses Dong Xuebing’s interview results, Dong Xuebing will drop to the 6^th or 7^thplace. This was why he was trying to make things difficult for Dong Xuebing.The other interviewers knew what he was trying to do.

But here’s the problem.

Although Dong Xuebing’s answers were not fantastic, he didnot make any mistakes. If the tall interviewer gave Dong Xuebing a low scorefor no reasons, he might get into trouble if he was found out. He decided to focuson the last interview question. Based on the interview procedures, the last question of the interview was up to theinterviewer. The interviewer can ask anything.

Dong Xuebing does not know that the moment he steps footinto this interview room, he was destined to fail.

“Uh, this is the last question......” The taller interviewer wasthinking hard about what question to ask.

Just when Dong Xuebing was preparing to listen to the finalquestion, a group of people walked pastthe interview room.

A younger woman was laughing and saying: “If you want to buya phone, you should buy an iPhone. It is the trendiest phone.”

A slightly older man replied: “I am still used to Nokia phones.”

“We should support our country’s domestic products.” Anotherman in his 30s said.

Their voices were quite loud. Dong Xuebing and the 3interviewers looked at them. When those people walked further away, the tallerinterviewer who was closest to the door, stood up and close the door. Hereturned to back to his seat behind the desk and asked: “This is the lastquestion of this interview. What are the colors and brand of those people’sclothes and shoes, who walked past justnow?”

“Ah?” Dong Xuebing thought he had heard wrong. “Can you please repeat your question?”

The taller man repeated his question impatiently: “What arethe colors and brand of those people’s clothes and shoes, who walked past just now?”

Dong Xuebing was stunned. All his focus was on theinterviewers in front of him. He did not notice those people who walked past.

The taller interviewer looked at him: “You can’t even tellme the color of one person’s clothes and shoes?”

The female interviewer’s face changed. She wanted to saysomething, but she paused and shook her head.

WTF was this question? How can one remember those people’sclothes and shoes without preparation? This was an interview and who would dareto be distracted to notice those people? This was too much. Dong Xuebing couldnot stand it any longer and asked: “Sorry, I do not understand what has theirclothes and shoe color got to do with myinterview.”

The taller interviewer looked at him emotionlessly: “We takea lot of factors into consideration during the interview. For example, yourobservations, memories, focus, etc. Can’t you answer me?” Seeing Dong Xuebing’spale face, the tall interviewer wrote something on his document and said:“That’s all. You can go back and wait for our call.”

That’s it?

I can’t get this position?

Fuck! Dong Xuebing was mad. Fine, you want to test myobservations, memories, focus skills?

Back!

......

The scene changes.

Dong Xuebing could hear the footsteps, “......buy an iPhone. Itis the trendiest phone.”

A slightly older man replied: “I am still used to Nokiaphones.”

“We should support our country’s domestic products.” Anotherman in his 30s said.

A younger woman was laughing and saying: “If you want to buya phone, you should buy an iPhone. This is the trendiest phone.”

“I am still used to Nokia phones.”

“We should support our country’s domestic products.”

The two men and that woman walked past the office again. Dong Xuebing immediately stared at them.

The taller interviewer closedthe door and returned to his seat: “This is the last question of thisinterview. What are the colors and brand of those people’s clothes and shoes,who walked past just now?” Theinterviewer was confident that Dong Xuebing was unable to answer him. Even hewho tried to remember what those people were wearing, he could not see theirshoes properly. Let alone the brand of their shoes. No one should be able toknow.

The female interviewer could not stand it. What sort ofinterview question was this? However, because of the leader notifying themabout his nephew in advanced, she kept quiet and did not stop the tallinterviewer.

Dong Xuebing closedhis eyes and did not say a word.

The tall interviewer looked at him: “You can’t answer me? Ok.This interview is over. You can go back and wait for our call.” He finishedsaying and was about to write down the results of the interview.

Dong Xuebing slowly opened his eyes and said with his eyeshalf-open: “That girl is wearing a cottonmaterial top, orange in color and a white pleatedskirt. She is wearing a pair of grey and white open toe heels. There is apurple colored flower print design on the heels.” The 3 interviewers wereshocked. Dong Xuebing continued: “That man in his 30s is wearing a brown andwhite strip T-shirt. He is also wearing a gold necklace. His pants are black incolored, and his shoes are a pair ofblack pointed toes leather shoes. At the pointed part if the shoes, there wassome dust.”

The taller interviewer dropped his pen on the desk, and the pen rolled to the edge and dropped ontothe floor.

Dong Xuebing took a deep breath and continued: “The last manwas wearing a casual shirt with embroidery patterns. The shirt is black incolor, and the embroidery pattern is adragon. The embroidery pattern has many colors, but it is mainly gold andwhite. His pants are a pair of grey jeans. The material is a softer material, and his shoes are of canvas material. The toppart of the shoes is brownish yellow in color, andthe bottom part is greyish white. The shoelaces on both feet are of a differentcolor. The left foot is red in color, andthe right is green.” Dong Xuebing had practiced his memories to cheat in thewritten test. He was able to remember things quickly. He looked up at theinterviewers: “Ermmmm...... That’s all.”

The taller interviewer immediately ran out of the room.

3 minutes later, he walked back into the office. The othertwo interviewers looked at him, and henodded listlessly.

They took in a deep breath to calm themselves.

The taller interviewer looked at Dong Xuebing as if he was amonster. “Ermmm... Very good. You... erm.....you go back and wait for our notification.”

Dong Xuebing stood up and bowed to the interviewers. “Thankyou for the interview.”

After Dong Xuebing left, the taller interviewer lit acigarette. “Incredible.”

“That’s right.” The shorter man said. “I have never metanyone like him. How did he remember all those details?”

“I also want to know how.” The female interviewer said. “Hedid not know what you are going to ask beforehand and had just glanced at thosepeople. How come he can even remember the color of the shoelaces and the dustat the tip of the shoes? This cannot be described as having good observationskills and memory. This was too unbelievable.”