Chapter 12 – Making things difficul

Day of the interview.

Dong Xuebing was afraid that his mother and Aunt Xuan’s hopes will give him too much pressure and he was scared of disappointing them. This was why he did not tell them about 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 22nd floor of this building, there was a row of offices. At the door of the offices, there were signages like Earthquake Bureau, Customs, etc. After asking the directions with the receptionist, Feng Yu was directed to an office right at 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 the door.

The door was open, and there 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 the interview.”

“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 sit down. There was an empty chair in front of them. Dong Xuebing sat upright. He was 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 of documents. “Can we start?”

Dong Xuebing replied: “…… yes.”

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

The State Security was only recruiting 4 people in this recruitment exercise.

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

Here it comes.

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

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

The interviewers asked this question was not to know if Dong Xuebing 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 think this is a good thing, but also a bad thing. From the perspective of economics……” Dong Xuebing starts to talk about how the global economic situation can affect China’s economy. This was what he learned over the past two weeks. Although it was not very impressive, it was better than repeating what was reported in the papers. At least he did not say anything wrong.

Dong Xuebing just wanted to be saved and secure his 4th position. This way, he would still be able to be a civil servant.

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

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

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

The taller man did not say anything. The 3 interviewers start to 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 the government and your men on the ground often make a lot of suggestions over the internet. What will you do?”

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

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

Still not enough?

Dong Xuebing thought for a while and said a bit more from the various answers he memorized: “If the subsidiary units made suggestions about our working attitudes and operating models, I would consolidate all heir suggestions and all for a department meeting. We should look into improving our work attitudes and operations. As a service provider, we should constantly refine and improve the ways we do things……” 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 more things you want to add?”

The woman frowned and looked at the taller man without saying a word.

The shorter man was tapping the desk with his pen. He kept looking 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. He felt that he had responded to the questions well. But that taller man does not seem satisfied with him. He kept asking “That’s all? Finished? Nothing else? What about the rest?” after Dong Xuebing’s replies. He made it sounds like Dong Xuebing had given a very bad answer. He will indirectly influence the other 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. Dong Xuebing had never heard of such interviewers.

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

Damn.

He will not pass the interview……