Power and Wealth

Day of the interview.

Dong Xuebing was afraid that his mother and Aunt Xuan’shopes will give him too much pressure and he was scared of disappointing them. This was why he did not tell themabout his interview. He woke up early and had a bowl of porridge for breakfast,before secretly leaving for the “battlefield” alone.

Baiyun Times Mansion.

On the 22^nd floor of this building, there was a row of offices. At the door of theoffices, there were signages like Earthquake Bureau, Customs, etc. After askingthe directions with the receptionist, Feng Yu was directed to an office rightat the end of the corridor and saw Unit 2216. There were no signages outside.There was only a piece of A4 paper “Waiting Room for candidates” pasted on thedoor.

The door was open, andthere was a stench of cigarette smell.

Dong Xuebing looked at his watch. It was 10 minutes to 9 am.He clenched his fist and knocked lightly on the opened door.

“Come in.” It was a man’s hoarse voice.

“Good morning, I am Dong Xuebing. I am here for theinterview.”

“Oh, show me your documents.”

There were 2 men in civilian clothes sitting behind a desk.One was taller and about 45 years’ old, the other was shorter, about 50 years’old. Both of them looked at Dong Xuebing’s documents and waved to him to sitdown. There was an empty chair in front of them. Dong Xuebing sat upright. Hewas nervous, and his heart was beating very fast.

After waiting for a while, a middle age woman walked in from outside and sat behind the desk.She was much shorter than the taller man.

“It’s about time.” The taller man took out a stack ofdocuments. “Can we start?”

Dong Xuebing replied: “...... yes.”

Dong Xuebing was perturbed. He had thought that with hisresults from the AAT and the written test, he should be one of the top 3candidates. But the woman from State Security who called him told him that hewas fourth place. That means he was the fourth person that was interviewed. Ifhe could not answer the interviewers’ questions, he might even lose hisposition to the 5^th and 6^th candidates.

The State Security wasonly recruiting 4 people in this recruitment exercise.

The 3 interviewers looked at each other, and the taller man said in a stern voice: “Whatdo you think of this year’s stock market?”

Here it comes.

Dong Xuebing’s mind was working as fast as he could. He hadtraded shares before when his family still had money. He knows a bit about thestock market. He also watched the news regularly and had keep track of thefinancial markets. Dong Xuebing could answer this question in many ways. Butwhen he was about to open his mouth, he remembered Grandpa Hu’s reminder. Hehad told Dong Xuebing that behind every question, there was a hidden meaning.

Close. Dong Xuebing nearly told the interviewers about hisanalysis of the stock market.

The interviewers asked this question was not to know if DongXuebing play shares. They should be looking for other answers.

Dong Xuebing reorganized his words in his mind and said:“The earlier part of the year, all the major markets were doing well. I thinkthis is a good thing, but also a bad thing. From the perspective ofeconomics......” Dong Xuebing starts to talk about how the global economicsituation can affect China’s economy. This was what he learned over the past two weeks. Although it was not veryimpressive, it was better than repeating what was reported in the papers. Atleast he did not say anything wrong.

Dong Xuebing just wanted to besaved and secure his 4^th

position. This way, he would stillbe able to be a civil servant.

“...... That’s my thoughts about the stock market.” After 2minutes, Dong Xuebing stop.

The taller man looked at him: “That’s all?”

Dong Xuebing was stunned: “...... That’s all.” What does hemean? I did not answer his question correctly?

The taller man did not say anything. The 3 interviewers startto write something. It should be their comments and ratings of Dong Xuebing.After a while, the shorter man asked: “If you are now working with thegovernment and your men on the ground often make a lot of suggestions over theinternet. What will you do?”

Dong Xuebing thought for a few seconds. He remembered thestandard replies he memorized a few days ago. Those replies were to answerthese types of hypothetic questions. He felt that it can be used to answer thisquestion. He immediately rephrases the replies he memorized in his mind and responded: “Currently, the internet has becomea channel for people to voice their thoughts and sentiments. This is animportant channel for the government. When the subsidiary units use theinternet to make suggestions to the higher-ups,they will also reflect the issues they are facing on the ground. As thehigher-ups, it will be easier for us to understand what they are going throughand find ways to deal with the problems......” Dong Xuebing speaks for about 2minutes. “That’s my answer to your question.”

The taller man fanned himself with the stack of papers infront of him: “That’s all?”

Still not enough?

Dong Xuebing thought for a while and said a bit more fromthe various answers he memorized: “If the subsidiary units made suggestionsabout our working attitudes and operating models, I would consolidate all heir suggestions and all for a departmentmeeting. We should look into improving our work attitudes and operations. As aservice provider, we should constantly refine and improve the ways we dothings......” Dong Xuebing continued for another 2 more minutes.

The woman and the shorter man were writing something.

The taller man asked with the same tone: “Is there any morethings you want to add?”

The woman frowned and looked at the taller man withoutsaying a word.

The shorter man was tapping the desk with his pen. He keptlooking down on the document in front of him and seldom raise his head.

“Ermmm...... that’s all.” Dong Xuebing was frustrated.

Dong Xuebing continued to answer the next few questions. Hefelt that he had responded to thequestions well. But that taller man does not seem satisfied with him. He keptasking “That’s all? Finished? Nothing else? What about the rest?” after DongXuebing’s replies. He made it sounds like Dong Xuebing had givena very badanswer. He will indirectly influence theother two interviewers.

Damn, who did I offend?Why was this person making things so difficult for me?

Were all Civil Servant interviews like this? Cannot be. DongXuebing had never heard of such interviewers.

Dong Xuebing’s heart sank. He knew that he will not passthis interview. He could tell from the taller interviewer that he was trying tomake things difficult for him.

Damn.

He will not pass the interview......