Power and Wealth

Swish, swish, swish……

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

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

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

The tall interviewer checked the results, and the young man’s results were 5th. 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 4th position candidate, Dong Xuebing. This person did not have any background and was from an average family. Dong Xuebing’s results were only slightly higher than the 5th place. If he suppresses Dong Xuebing’s interview results, Dong Xuebing will drop to the 6th or 7th place. 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 did not make any mistakes. If the tall interviewer gave Dong Xuebing a low score for no reasons, he might get into trouble if he was found out. He decided to focus on the last interview question. Based on the interview procedures, the last question of the interview was up to the interviewer. The interviewer can ask anything.

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

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

Just when Dong Xuebing was preparing to listen to the final question, a group of people walked past the interview room.

A younger woman was laughing and saying: “If you want to buy a 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.” Another man in his 30s said.

Their voices were quite loud. Dong Xuebing and the 3 interviewers looked at them. When those people walked further away, the taller interviewer who was closest to the door, stood up and close the door. He returned to back to his seat behind the desk and asked: “This is the last question of this interview. What are the colors and brand of those people’s clothes and shoes, who walked past just now?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

The taller interviewer looked at him emotionlessly: “We take a lot of factors into consideration during the interview. For example, your observations, memories, focus, etc. Can’t you answer me?” Seeing Dong Xuebing’s pale 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 my observations, memories, focus skills?

Back!

……

The scene changes.

Dong Xuebing could hear the footsteps, “……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.” Another man in his 30s said.

A younger woman was laughing and saying: “If you want to buy a 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 closed the door and returned to his seat: “This is the last question of this interview. What are the colors and brand of those people’s clothes and shoes, who walked past just now?” The interviewer was confident that Dong Xuebing was unable to answer him. Even he who tried to remember what those people were wearing, he could not see their shoes properly. Let alone the brand of their shoes. No one should be able to know.

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

Dong Xuebing closed his 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 finished saying and was about to write down the results of the interview.

Dong Xuebing slowly opened his eyes and said with his eyes half-open: “That girl is wearing a cotton material top, orange in color and a white pleated skirt. She is wearing a pair of grey and white open toe heels. There is a purple colored flower print design on the heels.” The 3 interviewers were shocked. Dong Xuebing continued: “That man in his 30s is wearing a brown and white strip T-shirt. He is also wearing a gold necklace. His pants are black in colored, and his shoes are a pair of black pointed toes leather shoes. At the pointed part if the shoes, there was some dust.”

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

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

The taller interviewer immediately ran out of the room.

3 minutes later, he walked back into the office. The other two interviewers looked at him, and he nodded listlessly.

They took in a deep breath to calm themselves.

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

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

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

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

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