Chapter 22: The Opportunity for Promotion

After dinner, Mi Cai and I accompanied Ban Die to the outside of the residential community. His hotel was just across the street, but he would have to leave early the next morning.

Before Ban Die left, I asked him, “Ban Die, when will you come to Suzhou next time?”

“I’ll come if I have time. Next time I come, I’ll bring you some rice and flour,” Ban Die replied.

When Ban Die emphasized “you,” I felt a wave of helplessness again. By the time he comes next, I will have already left Mi Cai’s house and be wandering somewhere else in this city. Actually, I don’t really wish for Ban Die to come to Suzhou, because my failure and destitution always make me feel extremely guilty when facing him.

Ban Die, who had been silently giving me advice, said, “Remember to fix the leaking pipe when you get back.”

“I will remember.”

I nodded, patted my shoulder, said nothing more, and then turned to leave.

Watching Ban Die’s retreating back, I knew he wanted to say something else to me, but he didn’t say it out loud. He didn’t want to give me too much psychological burden.

I lit a cigarette, feeling a wave of unstoppable sadness in my heart. Today, Fang Yuan and Yan Yan got married, Jian Wei became Xiang Chen’s girlfriend, and as for me… better not to mention.

I thought: I should go back and pack my luggage now. Tomorrow night I should find a corner to settle down in this city, a place where I can survive, but not establish myself.

…

Mi Cai went upstairs before me, and I only returned after finishing my cigarette.

After entering the house, I found the toolbox and replaced the leaking pipe that Ban Die had mentioned. I also checked other areas and, after confirming there were no hidden dangers, returned to my room to start packing my luggage.

Mi Cai had stood at my room’s doorway without me noticing. She asked me, “Did you fix the leaking pipe just now?”

“Yeah, I checked other areas too. If any pipes in the house break in the future, or you need to replace a light bulb, just call me, I’ll come to help you fix it.” While speaking, I put my guitar into its case.

“Oh, but there are also cockroaches in the house. Do you have a way to get rid of them?”

I smiled and joked with Mi Cai, “I’m such a fierce living person, and you can get rid of me, so how can’t you handle a few little cockroaches?”

Mi Cai didn’t say anything, just looked at me.

“Just kidding with you. I’ll buy some insecticide powder after work tomorrow and spread it in the bathroom. Winter is coming soon, and cockroaches generally don’t move around much, so you don’t need to worry.”

“Okay.”

Mi Cai went back to her room again, and I continued packing my luggage. When I was halfway through packing, I sat on the bed resting and looking around. I pulled out a cigarette from the pack but eventually didn’t light it. After being such a jerk for so long, I might as well be a person who keeps his word when I leave, even though it’s just a small thing.

I put the cigarette back into the pack and lay on the bed, habitually staring at the ceiling, emptying my mind and not wanting to recall what had happened at noon.

…

The next day, I went to work as usual. Today I had another meeting with the representative from GUCCI. This was the final meeting before GUCCI set up their counter in our mall. If everything went smoothly, I would briefly get a chance to catch my breath. Since Fang Yuan handed the GUCCI project to me, I had been working beyond my capacity.

I stood at the mall’s plaza discussing the advertising space with GUCCI’s representative.

The GUCCI representative asked me, “You must quickly confirm the central location at the main south entrance for our advertising space to support our opening promotion.”

“There won’t be any problem. We’ve reserved that advertising space for GUCCI for a long time. Your presence in our mall elevates its business level to a certain extent, so naturally we prioritize our best resources for top international brands like yours.”

The GUCCI representative nodded and said, “We’re willing to enter your mall because we saw your sincerity in the proposal. Suzhou has more than just your Baoli Department Store as a high-end mall!”

“Yes,” I replied, unwilling to say too many flattering words.

I accompanied the GUCCI representative around the mall, and she suddenly stopped to look at the promotional posters placed in the middle of the corridor.

“Miss Zhao, what’s wrong?” I asked, puzzled. She was looking at the set of promotional posters that Leyao had taken.

“What do you think of this model in the poster?” she asked me.

“She has a strong sense of camera presence, great potential, and her appearance and demeanor are quite international, capable of artistically creating the product’s advertising image. Oh, she also has a quarter of Italian heritage,” I answered truthfully.

“That’s quite a coincidence. Our GUCCI brand is indeed Italian. Are you familiar with her?”

I hesitated before replying, “We’re friends, I guess.”

Miss Zhao nodded and continued to examine the poster of Leyao before saying to me after a while, “I think her image and demeanor match our product positioning well. Contact her to shoot a set of promotional posters for our opening.”

I felt a bit reluctant and said, “I’m afraid that won’t be possible. She’s currently filming in Hengdian and probably won’t have time for the next few months.”

Miss Zhao frowned and said, “I don’t want to hear words like ‘probably’ or ‘should.’ Your answer makes me doubt the execution capability of your mall. We’ve already reached this stage of discussion, and I don’t want such a small matter to affect our cooperation.”

This blunt threat made me feel annoyed, but thinking about how this project relates to Fang Yuan’s career prospects, I didn’t lash out. However, I instinctively didn’t want to contact Leyao. Besides, shooting such promotional posters might require filming at other locations, which couldn’t be completed in just one or two days. As a newcomer joining the production team, Leyao couldn’t possibly make the entire production adjust to her schedule. Naturally, she would treat filming as her top priority, so asking her to come back would only put her in a difficult position.

“Miss Zhao, I’ll try to contact her, but I can’t guarantee whether she’ll have time or not,” I replied evasively, with no intention of actually contacting Leyao.

Miss Zhao impatiently waved her hand and said, “Forget it, I won’t press you on this matter. I’ll talk to your manager Chen.” With that, she left me and walked toward the office area.

…

As I had expected, shortly after returning to the office, the manager’s office called me to come over.

I felt another wave of annoyance. This was clearly using authority to pressure me, and she was too lazy to waste more words on me, a small employee.

I entered the manager’s office, where Manager Chen Jingming was sitting unhappily in his chair.

“I’m here, Manager Chen.”

“Do you know why I called you?” Chen Jingming asked me with a cold expression.

“I don’t know,” I responded passively.

Chen Jingming tapped his fingers on the desk, raising his voice a few notches. “Zhaoyang, how come you still don’t understand the situation? GUCCI is the eighth international top brand entering our mall. Do you know what this means for our mall? It means that according to international rating standards, our mall has officially reached the top-level department store Class B level! This is a milestone event!”

“Manager, even without you explaining it, I know that too.”

Chen Jingming suppressed his anger and said to me, “If there’s an accident at this critical moment, not only will you personally suffer, but our entire planning department will face serious consequences!”

“Don’t pressure me, okay? If the model’s schedule really can’t be arranged, what can I do? Besides, both sides have invested a lot of human resources in this project of setting up a counter in our mall. It shouldn’t ruin the cooperation we’ve been discussing for so long over such a small matter as promotional posters, right?”

“Until the contract is officially signed, no one can afford to be complacent. Other malls are eyeing the GUCCI brand. It’s possible that GUCCI might terminate the cooperation plan temporarily,” Manager Chen Jingming said with an increasingly serious expression.

I continued helplessly, “Even if the company fires me, I still can’t guarantee this matter!”

Chen Jingming stared at me with a creepy look for a long time before saying, “There’s something you probably don’t know yet. The board of directors attaches great importance to GUCCI setting up a counter in our company. If the counter is successfully established, there will be significant personnel changes in our planning department. Fang Yuan, as the direct person in charge of the entire project, will have the opportunity to become the deputy manager of the planning department, and you… you have a great chance to replace Fang Yuan and become the leader of the copywriting planning team!”