Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen

"That Uncle Chen has been working here for 30 years. He used to be a security guard, but now he is a gatekeeper. He still recognizes me." Li Weilian said as he drove the car out of the dark Ma Baodao.He looked at his watch: "Anywhere else you want to go?" Dai Xi shook her head. "Then go back to Tsim Sha Tsui." Drilling into the cross-sea tunnel again, Dai Xi regained his courage: "I still have a question." "Okay." His voice sounded tired. "I want to know, how did you get into West Bank Chemical?" "Why do you ask about this?"

"I just want to ask..." In fact, Dai Xi just wanted to talk about something that would make him happy, anything. Li Weilian thought for a while, and then said: "Although I regard the revitalization of my mother's garment factory as my responsibility, it is for my mother, not my own ideal. I never want to spend my whole life in a place like Ma Baodao. So I came to In the first three years after Hong Kong, I helped my mother run a clothing business while studying at the evening school of the University of Hong Kong. Dai Xi, maybe you don’t know that when I graduated from high school in Shanghai, I didn’t go to university. I worked as an apprentice in Jinshan Petrochemical Plant When I was working, I took the university’s self-study exam, but there was an accident, and I almost failed to obtain a bachelor’s degree. It’s my third attempt to study evening classes at the University of Hong Kong, and I must never do it again. Failed. Fortunately, everything went well this time. It took me only three years to pass all the courses and obtain a certificate from the University of Hong Kong. Only then did I have further basic conditions...

"After helping my mother buy the second factory, I began to pay attention to the job advertisements in newspapers, but was disappointed to find that good opportunities were still hard to come by. The employment conditions of large companies are very high. I am very confident in my English, and I can speak Cantonese fluently, but these are far from enough. Those job advertisements often require British and American education, relevant work experience in large companies, etc., which I simply cannot match. "Until one day, I found an advertisement for language exchange in the advertisement section of the South China Morning Post."

"Language exchange?" Daisy asked. "Yes, it is also very popular in Shanghai now. It is to learn each other's mother tongue and replace the fee with the exchange." "I see." Dai Xi thought, language exchange has indeed been popular in Shanghai for several years, but it is used by many Shanghai girls as a way to catch foreigners. Li Weilian continued: "It was an advertisement for an American looking for Chinese-English exchanges, and the Chinese language must be Mandarin. I was interested, because there were very few people in Hong Kong who could speak Mandarin at that time, so I decided to give it a try. It would be good to speak more English. I called him according to the number left in the advertisement, and made an appointment for a time and place to meet. So on that day, I walked into the Bank of America Center building for the first time in my life... Dai Xi, can you Do you remember which building it was?"

Dai Xi nodded. The Bank of America Building is located in Central, not far from the Jardine Building where West Bund Chemical is located.Similar to the Jardine House, its exterior wall is also milky white, the difference is that the roof is decorated with red and blue stripes, reminiscent of the colors of the Stars and Stripes.The Bank of America Building is an office building where large American companies, banks and law firms gather. "The name of this American is Wesley Hoffman, one of the three partners of Hoffman Law Firm. Dai Xi, it is very interesting that I met Wesley and realized the gentleman's lessons I learned from Mr. Yuan Bohan. They are all well-founded. Wesley's speech, manner, and dress are completely a living gentleman model. While my eyes were wide open, new confidence was born in my heart. I realized that the education I had received, those I have always been I thought that things that were divorced from reality would be of great help to my development. And for this, I should really thank my mother for her foresight.

"Wesley and I quickly became good friends. To be precise, we have been friends for years. He was already a very successful barrister in the United States in his middle age. He opened his firm in Hong Kong purely out of his preference for oriental culture. .My language skills, knowledge and upbringing also surprised Wesley. When he learned about my living situation, he began to try to help me. He introduced me into his circle of friends and took me to their class activities. club, taught me to play golf and bridge, and even invited me to spend Christmas at his home. The knowledge Yuan Bohan taught me began to play a big role in enabling me to deal with all these occasions. Wesley also visited the Seven Sisters himself He said he happened to be passing by the garment factory on the road, but I know he came to see the place where I live. It is no exaggeration to say that Wesley is a real noble person in my life. Without him, I would not be where I am today. I am grateful to him from the bottom of my heart.

"Wesley is a director of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, and he is very familiar with the American executives of West Bund Chemical in Hong Kong. When he heard that West Bund Chemical intends to develop business in mainland China and wants to recruit business representatives who can travel between mainland China and Hong Kong, I also Just when he was applying for this position, he secretly wrote a letter to the person in charge of preparing the Chinese representative office at that time, strongly recommending me." "What year was that?" Dai Xi interjected.

"1988." "Oh. Then you were..." "Twenty-five." Dai Xi said softly, "You're younger than me now." Li Weilian smiled: "Yes, I have been in West Bund Chemical for twenty years. West Bund Chemical is my first job, and it is also my only job so far. From this point of view, I can be regarded as a He is a dedicated person. Dai Xi, you only went through one interview when you entered West Bund Chemical, which took less than 20 minutes. But I went through nine rounds of interviews, at least one hour each time, for nearly four months." "My God, what are they trying to do?"

"The main reason is that I have prejudices against people from the mainland. The Hong Kong executives in the company look down on me at all, but the Americans have a better impression of me, which may be because of the novelty. At that time, the competition for this position was fierce, and there were several people born in Hong Kong. The applicants all have excellent European and American diplomas and experience in large companies. Naturally, Hong Kong people do not want to be recruited by other companies, and let me, a "mainland boy" with a very different background, succeed. Fortunately, Wesley recommended me directly to the person in charge of the US preparations. He had a very good impression of me, and specially invited several other executives from the United States to interview me. As a result, the inspection of me became a tug of war, which lasted for a long time... During those interviews, I was asked all kinds of questions. Political opinions all the way to sexual orientation."

"Ah! Sexual orientation?" Dai Xi was dumbfounded. Li Weilian's expression was extraordinarily relaxed: "It's ridiculous, isn't it? Later I found out that because an American who supported me was gay, Hong Kong people who opposed me wanted to make a fuss about sexual orientation. All in all, I haven't entered In the workplace, I have fully seen the bullying and fighting. But the more I do this, the more my fighting spirit is aroused. At first I just wanted to give it a try, but later I decided that I must get this position. I put all my energy into preparing Every time I interviewed, I performed better and better, and finally nine interviewers voted, five to four——I succeeded.”

"It's too thrilling! But, it's really good." Dai Xi was greatly relieved. She wanted to say that West Bund Chemical must be proud of the correct decision at the beginning, but she swallowed her words.Dai Xi was not used to flattering others, and he felt it was unnecessary for Li Weilian, so saying this seemed to be contemptuous of him. "Daisy, this is not a Christian cross, but a mascot for the Indians to worship the wind of the seasons." Li Weilian suddenly changed the subject. "Oh..." Since last night, Dai Xi has noticed the cross-shaped wooden carving hanging on the rearview mirror, and has been thinking about its origin. This Indian cross has the original color of light brown wood, with rough and solid carvings. It is hung with black strings, exuding a primitive and mysterious tension. "You like these too?" "Well," Li Weilian replied, "I don't only appreciate exquisite and luxurious things." Dai Xi had no choice but to lower her eyebrows and be pleasing to the eye, she thought, I really asked for it.I remember Professor Higgins said: Every man is a narrow-minded child in private, and the more talented, courageous and generous he is, the more so. I really don't know how long he plans to hold his grudge! The road back was fairly smooth, and the silver BMW soon drove onto the highway leading to the Peninsula Hotel. Li Weilian asked: "We're almost there. It's only eleven o'clock, so it's still early for dinner. Do you want to go shopping?" "Go shopping?" Dai Xi was not interested, she looked at the gradually approaching Victoria Harbor, and suddenly called out, "Oh, I want to go by boat!" "By boat? What boat?" "It's the one on the ferry..." Dai Xi struggled to explain. Li Wei raised his eyebrows: "Star Ferry, why didn't you say so earlier!" "Can't you sit now?" Dai Xi didn't understand what he meant. Li Weilian sighed: "If you had said earlier, we wouldn't need to drive back to Tsim Sha Tsui. We can drive back to the Four Seasons Hotel and then take the Star Ferry from Central. If we take the boat now, we will go from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island." , the direction is reversed." "That's it..." Dai Xi was a little frustrated, "I just remembered. Forget it, let's talk about it later." "Don't worry, let me think about it." Li Weilian said, the European-style front door of the Peninsula Hotel flashed through the window, he drove the car directly in front of Marco Polo and stopped, and said to Dai Xi: "Wait I'll take a moment." Not long after, Li Weilian came back and opened the car door: "Come on, let's go to the boat." "Great!" Dai Xi jumped out of the car in surprise, "Then what about this car? Where's my luggage?" "I made an agreement with the hotel, let them drive the car to ifc before 1:20, and bring your luggage with you. It's the same when you take the airport express from there. As for lunch, it's in Central Let's find another place." He paused, then asked with an emphasis, "Is that okay?" "Row!" They walked side by side along Canton Road towards Victoria Harbour.The weather was worse than in the morning, the overcast clouds over the harbor gathered into a gloomy gray-black, the sea breeze hit the face, it was cool and wet, and there were also bits and pieces of rain. "It might rain soon," Li Weilian asked Yuan Kong, "Dai Xi, are you cold?" "No." Dai Xi shook her head. This was the second time she had walked this road since she came to Hong Kong.The first time was the first night when she arrived, she walked to the harbor alone, the weather was clear that night, the Canton Road was bustling with people, the wind was warm, and there was a feeling of spring that was false and real.Today's situation is completely different. Whether it is the bleak street scene or the cold temperature, it all indicates the real winter.