Chapter 2
When my yakitori business with Oliva isn’t doing well, I asked Eddie for his opinion. He was kind enough to chat with me and mentioned that he wanted to open a dessert shop on Jiao Zhou road. After discussing the location, I explained the situation with the yakitori from Oliva and myself. Eddie agreed to help without any additional conditions.
Then I tell Oliva about him, and he agrees to meet Eddie. A new dream begins as Eddie becomes our floor manager. In the first month, we reach half a million in revenue - it’s like magic. Eddie has truly saved both Oliva and me.
Eddie has a single mum who is a journalist in Africa. She comes to visit Eddie in Shanghai one day. I received an invitation to have dinner with his mum and I brought some simple red tea as a sign of respect. She was pleasantly surprised by the tea. Such a lovely French lady!
Oliva told me that Eddie’s new roommate might need my help, and I’m happy to assist our chef in return. We agreed to meet at our favorite French duck restaurant one afternoon after closing time. Eddie’s friends, Mathild and Victor from CWT, joined us. They both work in the wine industry, with Mathild as Victor’s manager. They came to discuss the details of Victor’s visa issue, which he is understandably worried about due to his previous employer. Mathild also mentioned privately that Viktor has business issues in his hometown Bordeaux. and Shanghai is his last chance for the future. I have to do everything I can to support him.
I listen to his story and I choose to take on his issue as my own because Chef Eddie saved our shop. Victor may not see things from my perspective, but I understand that he is really panicking at the moment.
I haven’t had anyone teach me about strategies for taking risks.I think that I have this ability from my Mum.I reached out to the labor hotline at 12333 for assistance and sought advice from a lawyer friend. I felt well-informed and then invited Victor to accompany me to the labor court on An Yuan road. However, during our conversation, Victor seemed preoccupied with his phone, repeating my advice and then offering new opinions after each call. I was puzzled by this behavior, but he explained that another friend was concerned about him and wanted to combine my advice with their own experiences. I urged him to refrain from doing so in order to avoid any potential misunderstandings.
Finally, we completed our application form and started the legal case. I advised Victor to return to his office in case his ex boss decides to terminate him for being absent from work. He called his friend again for advice because he was afraid to go back to his old office. We had a discussion on the street about this solution until I explained that we needed an official termination letter or message from his previous company. I also reminded Victor that he could call the police for help if anything strange happened. I warned him to stay strong and look at things from my perspective.
Eventually, he went back to his office and, as we expected, his ex boss sent two colleagues to try and force him out. We talked on the phone and I encouraged him to stay put. In the end, he received the termination message from his ex-boss, which was crucial evidence for him before leaving.
The key to Victor’s situation is that many of his clients would follow him if he changed jobs, which would negatively impact sales for his former French boss. As a result, the ex-boss is refusing to cooperate on Victor’s release letter, affecting his new visa application. My point is that it’s not the salesman’s fault if clients choose different wine, and the company should have more supportive plans in place for future business instead of blaming their salesman.
During the first trial session in labor court, when the judge asked Victor to explain the situation from his perspective, he was visibly nervous and struggling to stand due to his shaking leg. I immediately offered my support by grabbing his right arm and encouraging him to speak honestly.
Despite this, we faced questioning from the lawyer of his former company. While we cooperated with their questions initially, I had to intervene after three questions as I felt unable to understand the lawyer’s intentions. I respectfully requested that the judge stop the lawyer’s line of questioning, expressing my concerns about potential traps. The judge was very understanding and ultimately ruled in our favor, signifying a victory in this initial round.
During the court case, I made a joke to help Viktor feel relaxed. Since Viktor’s ex-boss is also French, I told him that we are in China and under our law, we won’t let any foreigner beat another foreigner. So chill out. C’est la nouvelle deroite.
Their lawyer started the second round at the local court and then moved on to the final round at the senior court. At this point, we brought in lawyer Charlie. Mathild’s company covered our lawyer’s fees and in the end, we won after about 7 months. Victor is so happy! All of us are happy for him.
As a “Thank you”, he and Eddie gave me a 5-star hotel voucher for Hangzhou.They put it inside one simple envelop with word “Thanks”. I’ve never received a hotel room as a gift before, so Im really supervised because I dont get similar treatment form my local friend.Usually what we do is a box of tea or moon cake. Appreciate it.