nChapter 15: The Bateau Interview

nTranslator: May Wiggins Editor: Efydatia

nQin Guan was amused by the serious look on the assistant’s face. He nodded at her and walked to the round table.

nThe assistant covered her flushed cheeks as she thought to herself, “This boy is so cute when he smiles. He will probably pass the interview.”

nQin Guan filled in the resume carefully on the table. Although he knew that he might not match the taste of wine, he had to take the second round seriously. The assistant had told him so.

nAfter filling in the resume, Qin Guan handed it to the assistant and got the number eight plate from her. Then he went to the desk and joined the queue.

nHe stood at the end of the queue, waiting quietly for his turn.

nSome girls passed the interview and others failed, but those who failed did not look sad. It was probably because this was only a part-time job.

nSoon, it was Qin Guan’s turn. The sales director was a woman in her forties. Qin Guan smiled at her and put his plate on the table.

nThe sales director was surprised. She pushed up her glasses, thrilled to see a boy applying for the job. As a matter of fact, she had been a bit angry, because most interviewees had not lived up to her expectations.

nMost wine customers were Chinese men, thus female shopping guides were good for wine promotion. However, recruiters should not ignore female customers or male customers with a different taste. If customers could not feel the connotation of the wine, no seductive woman could convince them to buy it.

nThe interview had just gotten interesting. The sales director pulled her chair forward. Taking Qin Guan’s resume she said, “Qin Guan, right? Capital University of Finance and Economics. Good. I’ve got several questions for you. First, what do you know about wine?”

nQin Guan was a bit dumbfounded. He knew a lot about beer and spirits, because he’d drunk a lot of them when he’d been an equipment salesperson in his past life. However, he knew very little about wine. According to traditional Chinese table culture, businessmen or politicians usually ordered spirits. Wine was considered a finishing drink for a meal. Therefore, Qin Guan had never studied wine brands before. He only knew about spirits such as Maotai and Wuliangye. He had never even ordered expensive spirits at a karaoke bar, because he’d rather spend the money on gifts for his business partners instead. As for western-style restaurants and wineries, he sure knew nothing about them.

nQin Guan could only bite the bullet. He told the sales director, “I literally know nothing about wine.”

nThe sales director looked a little disappointed. She went on to ask, “Have you ever drunk any wine before? What brand was it?”

nQin Guan felt encouraged as he thought to himself, “I can do this! I don’t know much about wine, but I have drunk a lot of it.” He nodded at the sales director and said, “I’ve drunk a lot of wine, such as Changyu, Greatwall, Bordeaux, San Pietro… I must be forgetting some.”

nThe sales director was shocked. She reckoned Qin Guan had to be an alcoholic if he’d drunk so much wine at such a young age. She pushed up her glasses again and asked, “Since you’ve drunk so much wine, can you go over there and have a sip?”

nQin Guan nodded and said, “Okay.” He thought this would be quite easy for him. He walked up to the big glass table, picked up a bottle of wine and pulled the cork out. Then he took a goblet and poured some.

nAt first, the sales director had been excited, but as she saw how Qin Guan had filled the goblet, she immediately covered her face. She could hardly bear the sight, but she had to watch Qin Guan’s next step.

nWith a satisfied look, Qin Guan raised the goblet to his mouth. The sales director was feeling bored until she saw Qin Guan drink up the wine. Then a voice reverberated in her brain, “He drank it up in one go! Even an alcoholic would not have drunk wine like that!”

nQin Guan took a deep breath and turned to the sales director with the empty goblet in his hand.

nThe sales director was massaging her temples, wondering why that day’s interview was not going well. When she raised her head, she saw Qin Guan standing in front of the glass table with the empty goblet. He was standing against the sunlight, and the rays of light reflected on the glass table were shining on him. The rosy wine, the crystal goblet and the amber wine bottle made the scene before her look like an elegant painting.

nThe sales director was dumbfounded. Qin Guan realized there was still some wine on his mouth, and he wiped it with his hand, ruining the harmonious scene.

nAs if waking up from a dream, the sales director coughed awkwardly. Two voices were arguing inside her brain.

nOne voice said, “Look at his coarse manners. He totally ruined the lingering effect of the wine,” while the second one said, “You can teach him how to sip wine. The scene you just saw proves his charm. Let him pass.”

nThe sales director thought it over for over a minute before she told Qin Guan, “You have passed the interview.” Pointing at the tailor, she added, “Have your measurements taken over there. When you’re done, go to the small meeting room. You’ll receive a basic training there.”

nQin Guan nodded and went up to the tailor. The sales director put his resume into the box tagged “Accepted” and moved on to the next interview.

nThe old tailor did not talk much. When he finished measuring a female model, he waved at Qin Guan, gesturing for him to come over.

nQin Guan walked up to the man and took off his jacket, leaving his weskit on.

nThe tailor turned a page on his little notebook and began to measure him with a tape.

nShoulder Width: 53 cm; Bust Size: 105 cm; Waist Circumference: 68 cm

nAbdomen Circumference: 85 cm; Hips: 100 cm; Thighs: 49 cm

nThe tailor raised his eyebrows. The middle-aged man was not particularly eye-catching, but he was recognized as one of the best tailors in Beijing. He could not both design and tailor like a fashion designer, but he had made many clothes over the years for both starlets and fashion show models.

n“Gee, this young man is like a hanger!”

nHaving not said a word for so long, the tailor finally asked, “Young man, how tall are you?”

nQin Guan was putting on his jacket when he heard the man’s question. He smiled and replied, “183 cm. At least that was my height when I graduated from high school.”

nThe tailor looked him up and down before he said, “You must be taller than that. Go measure your height over there.”

nQin Guan looked at the direction the man was pointing at. There was a ruler for height measurement there. He nodded at the tailor, “Okay.”

nQin Guan stood straight against the wall as the tailor moved close to the ruler, standing up on a stool. He pressed down Qin Guan’s hair and read the ruler carefully, “As I said, you’re taller than that.” He patted Qin Guan on the shoulder as he said, “Good. You’re 185 cm, not 183. You’ve grown taller.”

nQin Guan did not know why the tailor had asked him to measure his height. He nodded at the man and wrote down his name and cellphone number on the small notebook just like he was told.

nLooking at Qin Guan’s back, the tailor picked up his notebook, thinking to himself, “Even male models hardly ever have such a perfect figure.”

nQin Guan, of course, was unaware of the tailor’s thoughts. He just believed growing taller was a good thing. In his past life, he’d also been strong and brave, but he had not been tall enough. His muscles had made him look short.

nQin Guan opened the door and walked into the meeting room. There were already three girls waiting inside. The girls went dumb when they saw that it was a boy coming in. When they recovered, they started chatting and laughing merrily.

nA member of the training department was pouring wine into glasses at the table and giving each interviewee one glass. Qin Guan and the girls waited for a while, but nobody else come in. The woman from the training department clapped her hands and said, “Today you will be trained here. I’ll give you a fast training course. Each of you will get material about this brand after the training. You can read it at home to get the general idea.” She picked up a glass of wine and moved it under the light as she said, “During the exhibition, you can’t wear perfume or cosmetics with a strong smell. You aren’t allowed to smoke either. Now let’s move on to the wine-tasting. Step one, observe the color and luster. If turbidity, sediment or suspended solids are found, the wine is disqualified. Of course, no such thing will be found on the wine at the exhibition.”

n“Step two, smell the fragrance. Pick up your glass and move it three centimeters away from your nose. Breathe in its smell through your nostrils. Remember, don’t exhale. Just inhale the wine. Don’t do it for too long, though. If you can’t distinguish the smell, shake the glass and smell it again.” The trainer shook her glass lightly.

nQin Guan used his amazing memory again, keeping every instruction of the trainer in his mind.

n“Step three, taste the wine. Wine has five different tastes: sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and puckery. When you taste it, take a sip of about five milliliters. As staff, you need to experience the whole tasting process for your customers. You can also guide the customers on how to have a taste themselves.”

nThe trainer poured wine into a glass and held the base of her glass with her thumb, index finger and middle finger. Tilting the glass away from her at a 45-degree angle, she shook the glass in her hand and moved it in a circle parallel to the table.

nThen she added, “You can move it clockwise or anticlockwise as you like.” Qin Guan saw the wine leave several traces on the inner wall of the glass after being shaken.

nThe trainer moved the glass to her nose and smelled it near the rim before taking a sip. She kept the wine in her mouth, tasting it repeatedly as if she was chewing on it so the fragrance could diffuse in her mouth. After going through all the steps, she finally swallowed the wine.

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