Potentials(1)

"Oh I'm An Xiaodi, mama and you?"

" My surname is Wen." The woman chuckled softly and proceeded to sweep the floor as she started to talk enthusiastically. " I work here and to be honest I haven't seen you at all."

" Oh I'm an applicant ma'am." An Xiaodi laughed awkwardly scratching her head. She also joined the lady to sweep.

" An applicant huh. Well what kind of job did you go for? A manager?"

" Oh no ma'am. I hoped to get the salesgirl job."

The old woman was suddenly taken aback by her reply. She didn't expect that An Xiaodi would want to go for a lower position. However, she's young enough to handle such job.

The old lady smiled gently and she started to walk to the exit after she finished sweeping. An Xiaodi followed her and proceeded to help her carry some trash bags.

" Why did you chose Shorewomans and Sales? The competition is quite high and plus they're really strict about the type of people they employ. I'm sure you got rejected at the interview?"

" Oh. I have always wanted to work at a place that is open to the public in high standards. Their business and ways of handling everything is superb so I wanted to learn from them on how to interact and serve customers with utmost respect. And no, I wasn't rejected... Something must have went wrong for them to delay us today so I'll try and come tomorrow again." An Xiaodi answered her with a light sigh.

" I suggest that you give up dear. This place is too tough to handle on your own. Judging by the way they treated you today tells me that they don't value you guys." The lady kindly adviced her.

" Well there's only one way to find out if they don't really care about us. I'll be coming here everyday to check if they're going to host the interview." An Xiaodi answered again.

The old woman was rendered speechless by her determined mind, for a short time.

" You look like an applicant with an elegant finesse for leadership and team work." She finally said." Sales girl job doesn't fit your potentials."

" Well ma'am I prefer to start from the bottom before I move to the top. I prefer to connect well with people and understand them well." An Xiaodi said.

The old woman laughed and pointed out.

"You reminded me of the owner of Shore woman and Co back in her days when she started this company. She was somewhat like you. She was a sweet lady with good upbringing and patience. Never looked down on anyone or anything." She shrugged.

An Xiaodi was rather surprised to hear that.

" You've been here for years?! Wow, that's really cool!"

" Yeah back in the days when I was in my twenties I used to personally clean her office and trust me she was always happy to see me. Sometimes she'd give me a few gifts as appreciation and other times she'd add bonus. Not that she was showing preferencials, she was equal with everyone too. She always has this tendency to chat with people and set a smile on anyone's face."

Old woman continued to blabber for a long time which An Xiaodi listened attentively and laughed at the jokes the old lady cracked once in awhile. At a point she decided to just sit there and listen to her tales.

Old memories are rather nice to hear and remember.

She finally left after she waved the woman good bye. Her day wasn't wasted then. At least she had a great time chatting with the old woman.

...

Two weeks later, the same Shorewomans and Sales hosted a screening for all the applicants again and this time around there were many girls that came for the screening process. This was because for the past few days they've been giving them the interview time line but they keep on leaving the applicants waiting. So they decided to officially give the final date for the screening.

On the final day of screening process, each applicant were given numbers and seats to prepare for the sets of questions they'll give.

An Xiaodi sat down again while fiddling with her number card. She was number twenty nine, the second to the last applicant in the females. There were about four males that had applied for other jobs too.

Apparently the owner of Shore woman and Co was here in person to discuss with the interviewers and observe the whole process. Therefore palms couldn't be greased[1] under her watch.

Some girls were looking at themselves in the mirror to check their appearances. Some portrayed as the innocent and gentle, some the calm and collected with hint of intelligence, and some the capable and confident girls.

It was an all out battle.

" Number one." The official called out and a very pretty and delicate girl stood up and bowed before following him to the interview room.

She strutted in her hills with graceful precision and calm. Her doe eyes twinkled.

[1] To grease someone's palms means to bribe the person.