So the search for staff was anything but easy， searching and screening was worth doing， however， and I have learned a lot from that. Some generally accepted opinions， such as： “Chinese people are all so extraordinarily eager” or “Chinese people are disloyal to the employer” or “You have to supervise Chinese in any respect， or they will steal everything， they are so tricky” appear to me not any longer such universally applying. All of this I do not perceive that way. At any rate I lost no employee whom I wanted to keep. All the others who had not proven themselves I gave every chance to improve， operating with transparent messages. Finally， those who did not fit us in their style of working went by themselves， I did not have to fire anyone.
Chinese employers and staff may， on average， be cleverer and trickier as Germans， I cannot judge that. As long as ingenuity and trickiness are applied for the benefit of consumers and company， I can only be grateful. Of that I have seen many examples. But unfair tricks and financial schemes (for example， charges of fraud or bribery， phony invoices， of which some amount vanishes on a black account) are to me an abomination， I would not witness them neither on the assets nor on the liabilities， and I have not witnessed any in my company， but I do know all too many examples from other companies in China.
In such companies ethical principles do not seem to apply. If the company leaders themselves fiddle with customers， exploit their suppliers， keep playing them off against each other and perform dirty tricks wherever they can， perhaps as well circumventing the tax office， who shall then expect internal loyalty and honesty from their staff？
WuJiao (吴姣) is a young woman in love with life and hard work. Since I do not want to have any nepotism in my little Chinese company， I emphasise that we will not employ her (she is a friend of SunLi). She works in a company that organises all types of events – company parties， product launches， large family gatherings， official receptions for prime ministers or dignitaries.
She is efficient， fast working， straightforward. This is not appreciated by her immediate superior who is fiddly and happy to blow up her work with words and reports more than is compliant with reality. With WuJiao it’s vice versa， she uses very few words， because the work was indeed done and can promote itself.
Her superior starts to bully WuJiao. Minor and ever more vicious taunts spoil the day， until she quits one day without having another job. Now she calls all her friends， they arrange to meet for dinner and discuss the situation in detail. WuJiao actively applies to many companies.
Soon she is invited to Walmart， the interview is positive， she is only requested to send a certificate， then she will be hired. But where to get a certificate？ The former company， and especially her former superior will issue none， at least not a positive one. WuJiao and SunLi get the idea to forge the certificate themselves. SunLi is as well available for a phone interview in a neutral tone， praising the virtues of WuJiao.
WuJiao is hired. Less than three months later， she quits： “It’s mind-numbing there，” she says. “We just fill in papers forcing our suppliers to speed up deliveries and lower prices， one supplier is being blackmailed by alleged promises of another， that I will no longer comply with.”
Again she is out. Soon she finds a job as a teacher. After six months probationary period the contract is not renewed. Allegedly the students are not fond of her. She has grown too small， her stature does not promote her enough. After some back and forth her contract is extended after all.
WuJiao also is still looking for a friend. Despite the lack of women she does not find Mr. Right， and SunLi’s various attempts at referring her are of no help， either.
Jun Yang (军扬)， “Laptop Jun”， an employee in a software company， is a very remarkable man. He is an old college friend of SunLi and an expert in computers， especially in software. Whenever I have a problem with my laptop (which is not uncommon)， Laptop Jun will help. He never allowed himself to be even invited to dinner， if I would put water or tea， he only takes a few sips， the fruits that I’m offering will be left lying， he works on and on without a break.
Once there was a giant problem， it was difficult at all to locate the error. Laptop Jun could not be sent home， but by two o’clock in the night he sent me on my couch (“Go sleeping for a few hours！”)， at six o’clock in the morning I woke up， Laptop Jun was still busy， “I’m almost done， I found the error， I shall go home and then in the company.” He did not even allow me to make a breakfast for him.
Laptop Jun does not only give me aid， or SunLi， he helps everyone who needs or wants his help. Free and immediate. When he speaks， you think of machine gun fire.
Meanwhile， my Chinese is quite o. k. for daily use， but his speech， ten times the rate of
even an ordinary Chinese， is a profound challenge.
He is a genius and an incredibly nice guy. But he has no girlfriend.
SunLi has referred him already to two or three women， but each of them he “lost” – one because the girl doesn’t like his boring way of caring， which is to make her computer powerful with all the fancy software while the girl has quite limited interest in computer performance， and another because he never told her that he found her actually quite nice (he insisted she did not tell him anything， either.…).
Now， however， one last attempt has been made by SunLi and another friend of hers who has a colleague whom they both consider a 100% match to Laptop Jun. SunLi has arranged their meeting and appealed to Laptop Jun’s conscience： “You have to speak with her， you have to take the time， you cannot just work， and if you are bound by some support work for somebody else – tell her！”
Her friend meanwhile informed the colleague： “He is a very nice guy， but he has trouble communicating. When he’s not talking to you， that’s no refusal， that’s weakness and uncertainty.”
This time it works， the two marry in the summer. Actually， of all relationship problems I have so far witnessed this was one of the few which could be solved by all the matchmaking activities among friends and families which are endlessly notorious in China， one of the few that is known to me as having been successful.
