Manager Wang And The Storyteller

chapter 11

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.