Chapter 8 - Chapter 8

Doubt

A week after employing the services of the story teller and the great success of the Chou Dynasty restaurant under the management of Manager Wang . Senior Chou spoke with Manager Wang to employ the services of story tellers in all the branches of the Chou Dynasty restaurant.. Manager Wang told Senior Chou to involve each of the managers to be part of the selection so that it does not look as if their position was undermined.Senior chou agreed but insisted that Wang would be in charge of the selection of the Chou Dynasty restaurant story tellers, Manager Wang accepted.

Few days later, Wang hosted a meeting of the managers of the chains of the Chou Dynasty restaurant and in that meeting a day was fixed to interview the story tellers, but first, they all agreed that proper advertisement must be carried out in each of the branches as to attract prospective applicants. It was also agreed that Li would be involved in the selection.The meeting ended with all the other managers thanking Manager Wang for his excellent managerial and leadership skills as they left.

Li who had just officially resigned from his job at the publishing house because of the higher pay and responsibilities at the restaurant,was specifically asked by Manager Wang to look at talent and not class or education during the selection.Li called a few story tellers who where friends of his who still lived on the street, to apply and attend the interview, so they did. Few days later,the day of the interview came.All the managers were present, Li the story teller was also present.

Each story teller was given twenty minutes to tell a story,at the end of the story each of the managers as well as Li, the story teller would score each candidate after their performances. This process continued untill the last candidate finished telling his story. After that the managers including manager Wang and story teller Li compared notes according to the scores, the candidates with the highest scores were employed. At the end of the process, Manager Wang and all the managers and even Li the story teller,come to realize that the best talents weren't those who where trained professionally as story tellers, but those who were born with the skill of story telling. And so most of the story tellers chosen and employed were those that were born with the skill of story telling and have taken time to improve on their natural abilities . Most of Li's friends were chosen except a few. The entire process went very successfully.

With in a few months, the methods employed by Manager Wang to achieve success in his branch of the Chou Dynasty restaurant were implemented in all the branches and chains of the Chou Dynasty restaurants and they were all making great progress.

Li, on his own part, had become a bit of a celebrity and had gained enough money to live in a good part of town and even had his mother Yu joined him. Manager Wang employed Yu, who was an excellent cook and a wonderful storyteller in her own right, in his own personal business where she assisted Wang's wife and brothers to run the pastry shop.. In all, both mother and son were gainfully employed and had made good money from their natural talents.

As time went on, Manager Wang invested some of the money he was paid as manager and consultant for the Chou Dynasty restaurant, to expand his little pastry shop into a big pastry shop slash restaurant. He also used part of the money to prepare for the imperial exam.

The progress in his own personal life made some members of the Chou family become suspicious. They felt that Wang Joshi was taking the restaurant's funds to develop his own personal business. They discussed this among themselves until they finally brought it to the knowledge of Zhang Chou and his wife Min Chou. At first the elderly couple dismissed the thoughts saying that it was not possible for Manager Wang to steal from the Chou Dynasty restaurant because Manager Wang himself did not handle any funds from the restaurant, he made sure that any thing to do with monetary implementation was handled by the senior accountant and his assistant no matter how small the transaction may be. Senior Chou told the younger family members to go to the senior accountant Wu to get clarification concerning any financial misappropriation. Another member of the Chou family added to support what senior Chou said that If Manager Wang could revive their near dead chain of restaurants and turn them to be a huge success, how much more his personal business. And for someone with his skills, he could make huge progress in his personal life.

Manager Wang was a man of foresight, because a few weeks later Manager Wang sent his resignation, siting the fact that the Chou Dynasty restaurant has been successfully revived and was now the most successful in the entire province. Second, he need time to prepare for the final imperial exams that were close. Zhang and Min Chou, on receiving the resignation letter from Manager Wang, were sad. Manager Wang had become like a son to them, but they were happy that he was leaving for a good course. The imperial exams were the highest level of career part anybody could aspire to. They organized a beautiful send off ceremony for Manager Wang which was attended by all the managers and the esteemed members of the Chou family and some of the Rich and powerful customers of the Chou Dynasty restaurant.

Wang attended the ceremony with his wife and brothers. Before the end of the ceremony, Senior Chou presented a scroll with the Chou family insignia of recommendation and a large amount of money to Manager Wang. Manager Wang received both gifts with tears in his eyes. When Wang spoke, he said when he got this job he was afraid because he felt he could not deliver, but with the help and support of his beautiful wife and brothers, he had save the chou family restaurant. He had learned from his job and experience that family was important and that a tree can never make a forest..In conclusion, he thanked the chou family for the opportunity to serve and he also thanked the entire staff of the Chou Dynasty restaurant for their support and hard work that helped him actualize his goals.

As Manager Wang finished speaking, everybody got up and started clapping as he bowed and left the stage. After that, there was music and dancing. Foods and drinks were generously served.

Zhang Chou was quite impressed by the young man, even though he had only known him for six months. The elderly man had to admit, Wang was different from the rest of the young men he had come in contact with. Most people in Wang's position would cling to the restaurant even when their work was done, but Wang Joshi wasn't such a man, he happily let go in other to pursue bigger dreams. But the thing was that Zhang Chou wasn't ready to let go of the young man.

Wang Joshi worked very hard and pass the imperial exams, which was something he promised his parents in other to raise the status of the Joshi family and name. Working with the esteemed family like the Chou Dynasty had afforded him the money and the recommendation needed to go for the imperial exams. He wasn't interested in clinging to his position as the Manager of the Chou Dynasty restaurant, besides he was brought in to revive the restaurant and he had done so excellently, but it was a temporary position from the very beginning, so it was useless to hold on to it when the job was clearly overed1, more so the final imperial exam was holding within a fourth night so he had to prepare. The older generation of the Chou Dynasty who understood what great did ,Manager Wang had done for them by saving their families source of income and face, found it hard to accept the news when Wang tendered his resignation, but in the end they all came together and agreed to pay Wang Joshi handsomely for his great service.

When Li, the storyteller, heard that Manager Wang was resigning from the services of the Chou family restaurant, Li felt he could no longer work for the Chou family if Wang was not there. Wang Joshi was an excellent manager who made everyone feel at home, no matter their class or status. Wang was very considerate of others. Li was worried that without Wang to look out for his interest, he might not last long in the Chou Dynasty restaurant. In the few months that he had worked with Manager Wang, he looked up to Wang as his mentor. And so, one evening after his performance, Li went to Manager Wang's pastry and restaurant outfit where his mother also worked, and there Li expressed his concerns to Wang Joshi. Wang assured him that nothing would go wrong with his job as the storyteller in the chou family restaurant because it was the integral part of the success of the Chou Dynasty restaurant. Wang Joshi assured him that if for any reason The Chou Dynasty restaurant lay him off, he should not hesitate to come over and work with him, but for now he should continue with his job at the Chou Dynasty restaurant. With that assurance given to him by Wang, Li went back to continue his work as dedicatedly as ever.

Two weeks had passed, since Wang Joshi went for the imperial exam. He came out successful, and this earned him the position of a middle class minister in the capital city in the emperor's palace. All those that had been in contact with Wang in the business world and his family life celebrated this great success. When the news got to the Head of the Chou family, Senior Chou, he was thrilled and he shared the good news with all the members of the Chou family. But unknown to Senior Chou, many of the young men of the Chou family did not want to have anything to do with Wang Joshi, mostly because he succeeded where they failed.

A week after the celebration of his success in the imperial exams, Wang Joshi and his wife moved to the capital city, leaving his brothers and Li's mother Yu to take care of the business.

A few days later, when Li arrived at his place of work, to start the day as usual, he was summoned by the new manager to see him in his office, on getting to the new managers office, he met the senior accountant Wu also present. He bowed his head in greetings. The new manager was one of the young generation of Chou family who hated manager Wang and his success. The new manager began by asking Li the story teller why he did not resign from his job like his friend Wang Joshi. before he could answer him, he cut in and said that after today's performance he should tender his resignation because his services was no longer needed. Li listened, unperturbed, as the new manager continued. He said as the new manager, he would employ a new storyteller to do Li's work. Li took a deep breath and thanked the manager and the senior accountant Wu and walked out of the manager's office. Li was calm and relaxed because he had the support of the Joshi family, otherwise he could have broken down and cried. Li went about his work that day as calmly as possible. And at the end of the workday, he handed in his resignation and was given his pay off.

As Li left the Chou Dynasty establishment, he went straight to the Wang Joshi pastry and restaurant outfit where he shared the events of the day with his mother and Wang's brothers. Wang's brothers promptly employed him as the storyteller in their establishment, starting first thing in the morning. Although the pay was not much compered to the payments, he was getting in the service of the Chou Dynasty restaurant, Li was happy to be among friends and family.

Shockingly, as soon as Li started working as the storyteller in the Wang pastry and restaurant outfit, more customers started coming to the pastry and restaurant outfit until they were forced to put canopies and chairs outside for spillovers. And they also employed more cooks and experienced bakers to help meet the demands of their many customers. Many of the customers said that they had heard of the great story teller Li and were dying to attend his shows but they could not afford to go to the expensive restaurant, but now that he had come to their environment and their favorite restaurant and pastry shop they were thrilled to enjoy his wonderful stories.

When Senior Chou heard that the new manager had ended the appointment of the story teller Li, he almost passed out. He rushed to the Chou Dynasty restaurant and asked the new manager the reason for terminating the appointment of the story teller Li. The manager tried to fabricate lies against Li to justify his malicious action. but before the manager could go any further with his lies, Senior Chou told him to locate the story teller and bring him back within seven days or consider himself sacked. With that, Senior Chou angrily walked out of the restaurant.