But looking back when I was about 19 years old and was still learning my craft and from others about how to use my talents and how I can develop them so I could be the best version of myself and be rich, I encountered an old Chinese businessman. He was in competition with a young Filipino writer who has vision and heart to succeed in his art form, writing Tagalog and English pocketbooks. Mr. Shang has an assistant named Lin May who I later called May. She was the one who received my application as a sales representative. My dad was an engineer alright but he was still starting to build his career. After college I didn't get to a university because I wasn't really that smart but I had the ability to sell things and I was really good at marketing products, people and services. In the long run, I honed this skill and mastered every single side of it, why I became a billionaire.
This was what I have learned with Mr. Shang. He told me the first time we met, he gave me a piece of paper written in Chinese characters with an English translation saying "I'd die to see the day that my novels would be seen in every book stand and that people read them and cause their life joy, fear, excitement and romance..." He hired me even though I was inexperienced and the reason behind it was, he remembered the time when he was just starting as a writer in Shanghai. I was like him, innocent, naïve and new to the business world and one man named Jeffrey Bezzos helped him to pursue his dreams and now made him a millionaire in his own right. Mr. Shang said he never finished college but his talent in writing which he just developed through practice and grabbing every chance and opportunity others gave him to make his dream of becoming one of the greatest writers in the world a reality. People would laugh at him when he tell them stories about things, animals or events, as if that he's going crazy with the ideas and visions he sees. Mr. Shang called himself that because he came from Shanghai, and here in Milan, he was known for his scary and inspirational stories. He even has books on medicines and therapy, which I thought could also help Leila why I asked my assistant to find him, if he is still alive today. I pray he is, because I want to thank him for teaching me about the trade, the business, the skill and the character to be the person I have become, now.
Okay, Mr. Shang's real name is Shan Shi but people call him Rock because he is a strong fellow with literally strong or rock-like hands and arms since he can lift heavy things and people just like the guy who was working for him in his company. One time when we were all in a meeting, a man named Bob, the guy who heads the printing department (whose wife is Mr. Shang's marketing assistant, the woman I preceeded) fell and convulsed. His wife Elena cried and helped him running to the coffee station to get a spoon so she could place it on her husband's mouth. We were all shocked and got scared with what's happening with Bob. When he started relaxing and needed to be lifted and put to the clinic. Nobody could lift Bob because he was about 350 pounds and all the guys including me, a girl who has skinny arms wouldn't be able to even lift his leg. Three or four guys tried but since he was unconscious he was even heavier than his usual weight.
Elena was sobbing and couldn't do anything. But a man from behind us came walking, Mr. Shang, knelt before Bob and did some meditation with his hands clasped together. Then, without a warning, our CEO, Mr. Shang, lifted Bob without even flinching. He carried the man on his arms like the time I saw him lift his Harley Davidson motorbike from one side to the other when he was about to go home after work. He was doing it for the old woman cleaning our parking space since she couldn't get that side cleaner than what Mr. Shang wanted it. Jane, the sweeper smiled wider then ever and thanked Mr. Shang who laughed because he forgot to bring down the bike while talking with her. They both laughed and I smiled since the two looked cute, like they were lovers and all that. Hmm! Maybe they were!. Bob was diagnosed diabetic and needed to take more medications and shots for his condition. Elena was so happy and hugged Mr. Shang for his kindness, even shouldering the hospitali-zation and his care until he gets well.
I didn't know the reason why Mr. Shang hired me, a girl and to top that I told him that I'm not straight too, meaning I'm gay. His adopted daughter who was also his assistant, May, sort of liked me. She really liked who I am and what I am. She accepted my weirdness, agile and passion on sales and marketing. May loved me in secret. Unlike Mr. Shang who had losing white hair and long beard, May had long silky black hair but pretty small face. She is simple but fun to be with. The things I like about her most that kept me going even if I was scolded by Mr. Shang if I didn't reach my sales quota and all. This time and age, online apps and novels were more popular than hard bound books or works. So, I got the idea of introducing Mr. Shang and company to online book sales and markets It boomed, and people would buy his novels easily through the website and link, and in about a year Shang Hi Books were already at the top of Fortune 100 and New York Times magazine's top companies of the millennium.