After dinner, Mi Cai and I escorted Mr. Ban to the outskirts of the residential area. The hotel where Mr. Ban was staying was just across the street, but he would have to leave tomorrow morning.
As Mr. Ban was about to leave, I asked him, "Mr. Ban, when will you co to Suzhou next ti?"
"I'll co when I have ti. Next ti I'll bring you so rice and flour," Mr. Ban replied.
When Mr. Ban emphasized 'you', I felt a wave of helplessness. By the ti he cos next, I would have already left Mi Cai's house and drifted to so unknown corner of this city. In fact, I didn't want Mr. Ban to co to Suzhou, because my failure and destitution always made feel extrely guilty when facing him.
Mr. Ban reminded before leaving, "Rember to fix the leaking pipe when you get back."
"I will."
Mr. Ban nodded, patted my shoulder, and then turned around and left without saying another word.
Watching Mr. Ban's retreating figure, I knew he wanted to say sothing to , but he didn't. He didn't want to burden too much.
I lit a cigarette, feeling waves of unstoppable loss. Today, Circle and Yan Yan got married, Jian Wei beca Xiang Chen's girlfriend, and ... it's better not to ntion.
I thought: I should go back and pack my bags, and find a corner in this city where I can live peacefully, but not settle down, tomorrow night.
......
Mi Cai went upstairs before , and I didn't go back until I finished my cigarette.
Once I got ho, I found the toolbox and replaced the leaking pipe that Mr. Ban had ntioned. I checked so other places to make sure there were no hidden dangers, and then I went back to my room to pack my bags.
Mi Cai was standing at the door of my room at so point. She asked , "Did you fix the leaking pipe?"
"Yes, I've checked other places too. If the pipes break or the light bulbs need to be replaced in the future, just call and I'll help you fix it," I said, packing my guitar into its case.
"Oh, but there are still cockroaches in the room. Do you have a way to get rid of them?"
I laughed and joked with Mi Cai, "You managed to drive away a big living person like , can't you handle a few little cockroaches?"
Mi Cai didn't say anything, just looked at .
"I was just joking. After work tomorrow, I'll buy so insecticide and sprinkle it in the bathroom. It's almost winter, and the cockroaches won't be active, so you don't need to worry."
"Oh."
Mi Cai went back to her room, and I continued packing my bags. Halfway through, I sat on the bed to rest, looking around. I took a cigarette out of the pack but didn't light it. After all these years of ssing around, I should at least keep my word when I leave, even if it's just a trivial matter.
I put the cigarette back in the pack and lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling out of habit, emptying my mind, unwilling to recall what had happened at noon.
......
The next day, I went to work as usual. Today, I had another eting with the representative from GUCCI. This was the last negotiation before GUCCI set up a counter in our mall. If everything went smoothly, I would get a brief respite. Ever since Circle handed over the responsibility of GUCCI to , I had been working overti.
I was discussing the advertising space with the representative from GUCCI in the mall's square.
The representative from GUCCI asked , "You promised to give us the central advertising space at the south entrance as soon as possible to support our opening promotion."
"There's definitely no problem. We've reserved this advertising space for GUCCI a long ti ago. Your presence has, to so extent, elevated the operating level of our mall. We will definitely prioritize international first-line brands like yours when allocating our mall's premium resources."
The representative from GUCCI nodded and said, "We chose to enter your mall because we saw your sincerity in the proposal. There are not only your Bao Li Departnt Store in Suzhou's high-end malls!"
"Yes," I replied, not wanting to flatter too much.
As I accompanied the representative from GUCCI around the mall, she suddenly stopped to look at the promotional posters displayed in the middle of the aisle.
"Miss Zhao, what's wrong?" I was a bit puzzled. The promotional posters she was looking at were the ones Le Yao had shot.
"What do you think of this print model?" she asked .
"She has a strong cara presence and is very adaptable. Her temperant and appearance are quite international. She can create an artistic image for the product's advertisent. Oh, and she's one-quarter Italian," I answered truthfully.
"That's quite a coincidence. Our GUCCI is an Italian brand. Are you close to her?"
I hesitated before answering, "We're friends, I guess."
Miss Zhao nodded and looked at Le Yao on the poster again. After a while, she said to , "I think her image and temperant fit our product positioning very well. You should contact her to shoot a promotional poster for our opening."
I was a bit troubled and said, "I'm afraid that's not possible. She's filming in Hengdian right now and probably won't have ti for the next few months."
Miss Zhao frowned and said, "I don't want to hear words like 'afraid' and 'probably'. Your answer makes doubt the execution ability of your mall. We've already negotiated this far, and I don't want such a small matter to affect our cooperation."Such a blunt threat left feeling annoyed, but considering that this project was related to Circle's career prospects, I didn't lose my temper. However, I instinctively didn't want to contact Le Yao. Moreover, shooting such a promotional poster might require going to other places for location shooting, which couldn't be completed in a day or two. As a newcor to the crew, Le Yao couldn't possibly have the entire production team adjust to her schedule. Naturally, she would treat acting as her top priority. If I asked her to co back, wouldn't that be making things difficult for her?
"Miss Zhao, I'll try my best to contact her, but I can't guarantee whether she can spare the ti," I responded, but I had no intention of contacting Le Yao.
Miss Zhao waved her hand impatiently and said, "Forget it, I won't make things difficult for you. I'll go talk to your manager, Chen." She left alone and headed towards the office area.
......
As expected, shortly after I returned to my office, the manager's office called over.
I was annoyed again. This was clearly a case of using superiors to pressure . For a small employee like , she couldn't be bothered to waste too much ti talking.
I entered the manager's office, where Manager Chen Jingming sat with a displeased expression.
"I'm here, Manager Chen."
"Do you know why I called you?" Chen Jingming asked with a cold face.
"I don't know," I responded negatively.
Chen Jingming's voice rose a few notches as he tapped his fingers on the desk, "Zhao Yang, how can you not understand the situation? GUCCI is the eighth international first-line brand to enter our mall. Do you know what this ans for our mall? ...It ans that according to international rating standards, our mall has officially reached the level of top-tier B-class departnt stores! It's of milestone significance!"
"Manager, even if you don't ask and answer yourself, I know."
Chen Jingming suppressed his anger and said to , "If sothing goes wrong at this critical mont, not only you, but our entire planning departnt will be in trouble!"
"Don't make things difficult for . If the model can't fit into her schedule, what can I do? Besides, for this project of setting up a counter in our mall, both sides have invested a lot of manpower and resources. For the sake of a small matter like a promotional poster, it wouldn't ruin the cooperation that has been discussed for so long."
"Before the contract is officially signed, no one can take chances. Other malls are eyeing the GUCCI brand, and it's not ruled out that GUCCI might terminate the cooperation plan at the last minute," Chen Jingming said with an increasingly serious expression.
I continued helplessly, "Even if the company fires , I can't guarantee this!"
Chen Jingming stared at for a long ti with a chilling gaze, "There's sothing you probably don't know. The board of directors attaches great importance to this matter of GUCCI setting up a counter in our company. If the counter can be successfully set up, there will be major personnel changes in our planning departnt. Circle, as the direct person in charge of the whole project, has the chance to beco the deputy manager of the planning departnt, and you... have a great chance to replace Circle as the leader of the copywriting planning team!"
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Three updates today, all done. Co on, give a thumbs up to the chapter below, let see how many old readers have co. The website's recomndation hasn't been officially given yet, so the current readers are probably from the previous book.
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