The next morning, Mi Cai and I woke up simultaneously to the sound of the alarm. Today was the day she would report to Li Xiaoyun’s company, and I had planned to accompany her. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her, but because I had worked at Li Xiaoyun’s advertising company for a while before, and hadn’t caught up with those colleagues since leaving Xuzhou. This was a good opportunity to greet them and hope they could take care of Mi Cai a bit.
Although I had returned the Q7 to Mi Cai, she insisted on taking a taxi to the company. I couldn’t convince her otherwise, so I gave in to her wishes. Thus, the two of us stood outside our residential complex, braving the winter cold, eagerly waiting for a taxi.
Mi Cai pulled her hood over her head and kept her hands tucked in her pockets, occasionally stomping her feet to stay warm. Despite this, her face had turned a purplish-red from the biting cold wind. My heart ached for her, so I positioned myself in front of her to block the wind while anxiously scanning the road for a taxi. But just like in any other city, during the morning rush hour, an empty cab was the most luxurious thing one could hope for.
Suddenly, a car horn sounded behind Mi Cai and me. Turning around, we saw Ban Da sitting in his car like a savior, signaling us to get in quickly. I was too cold to say anything, so I just grabbed Mi Cai and walked toward Ban Da’s car. When we opened the door, we finally felt warmth again.
Mi Cai and I sat in the backseat while Ban Da drove us toward Li Xiaoyun’s company. Along the way, I pulled out a cup of soybean milk from Mi Cai’s handbag that she hadn’t had time to drink yet. I inserted a straw and we took turns sipping it. We also shared a jianbing (a type of Chinese pancake with egg and condiments) that we had bought at the entrance of our residential complex. Unbeknownst to us, Ban Da had observed this through the rearview mirror and said, “I really want to know how you two would evaluate your current life.”
Mi Cai mumbled softly to me, “It’s all your fault for insisting we eat in the car. We could have finished it while waiting for the taxi earlier.”
I whispered even more softly, “I just didn’t want your hands to get cold, that’s all…”
Mi Cai pushed me, signaling me to answer Ban Da’s question, but I pushed her back with my eyes, indicating she was more suitable to respond. This time, Mi Cai couldn’t resist me and replied, “I think my current life is quite fulfilling. Having such experiences is also a pretty good life experience…”
Seeing that Mi Cai had only spoken halfway and then fell silent, I quickly added, “Answer complete!”
Ban Da simply said, “Then you two continue eating,” and said nothing else. Mi Cai and I were both confused about why Ban Da had asked that question. We no longer ate as casually as before, taking turns sips. I waited until Mi Cai had eaten half before finishing the rest.
Shortly afterward, we arrived at Li Xiaoyun’s company. Coincidentally, Li Xiaoyun had also just arrived. After stepping out of her car, she greeted us. Mi Cai and I walked to her side, and she instinctively said, “Good morning, President Mi, Zhao Yang…”
Mi Cai smiled and replied, “Good morning, Director Li… You can’t call me President Mi anymore. From now on, I’m your assistant!”
Li Xiaoyun realized she had slipped up and nodded awkwardly at Mi Cai, saying, “Right, even though I’ve approved it, according to company procedures, you still need a simple interview with the HR department and the general manager. I’m sure this is a piece of cake for you!”
“No problem at all.”
…
After entering the company, Mi Cai first went to the HR department for an interview with the HR manager. After greeting my former superiors and colleagues, I waited for Mi Cai in Li Xiaoyun’s office.
Li Xiaoyun brewed a cup of hot tea for me and handed it over while sighing, “Zhao Yang, I always feel like something is missing in my heart when I think of President Mi becoming my assistant… especially since she actually volunteered for this role!”
“You’re just lacking confidence, right?”
“Actually, yes, I do lack confidence… Think about it, she was the chairman of a group company, and now she’s my assistant. Shouldn’t I feel at least a little nervous?”
“You really don’t need to feel that way. Anyway, this is just temporary… She came to your company just to find a sense of working again. You should just be more considerate of her. She might not adapt to her new role so quickly.”
“Don’t worry. President Mi is a wise woman. We will work together without embarrassing each other… By the way, Zhao Yang, I want to ask, do you really understand the real intention behind Mi Cai’s return to Xuzhou with you?”
“We came back to Xuzhou just to live a simple life. What other intentions could she possibly have?”
“I just suddenly thought of it and asked. You know, when you first came back, I didn’t really feel anything. But after seeing President Mi truly entering this kind of ordinary life, I really felt how unimaginable this contrast was… I even wondered whether President Mi is using a strategy of advancing by retreating?… From what I’ve heard, the current Zhuomei Group isn’t exactly united. President Mi might just be lying low here, waiting for the right opportunity…”
“I really admire your imagination. You think this is like filming a business drama?… It’s not that complicated, is it!”
“I still think President Mi isn’t a simple woman. She definitely can accomplish a lot without making a sound… I think you should mentally prepare yourself to return to Suzhou anytime… Although you might not necessarily need this mental preparation, it’s better to have it than not, right?”
Li Xiaoyun’s words suddenly reminded me of my past experiences with Mi Cai. Back then, she hated me and always effortlessly made me suffer. For instance, she left me stranded on the highway at the border of Suzhou and Wuxi in late autumn, or locked me in an old house all day as punishment. She seemed to naturally understand how to advance by retreating and how to endure hardship, waiting for the right moment to deliver a crushing blow to her opponent.
However, I still couldn’t believe that she had returned to Xuzhou with me with ulterior motives. What Li Xiaoyun said was merely her own speculation without any factual basis. At the very least, Mi Cai had left Zhuomei cleanly and had even turned down the red-dressed woman’s offer to help her establish a new company. If she truly had come back to Xuzhou as a pawn in a corporate battle, then I would be the biggest fool in the world, always kept in the dark. I was certain she wouldn’t treat me the way Fang Yuan did. I firmly believed that there was nothing between us that couldn’t be shared openly and honestly.
Finally, I smiled and said to Li Xiaoyun, “You don’t need to overanalyze Mi Cai. Some things she doesn’t know have made her very tired. What she wants now is just a simple and ordinary life… I think our current situation is really quite good… By the way, I just took over a coffee shop yesterday. After a week of renovation, it will officially open.”
“A coffee shop? What kind of coffee shop is it?”
“What I’m envisioning is a coffee shop themed around visual media, and here’s how I plan to operate it…”
I spent ten minutes explaining my business plan to Li Xiaoyun. She looked quite surprised, and after thinking for a while, she gave me a thumbs-up and exclaimed, “Zhao Yang, I really have to admire your talent for marketing… Once those photography studios bring five or six people to your coffee shop for photo sessions, they can only take pictures of one person at a time. The other customers waiting around will have to sit in your coffee shop and probably order something to drink… This might seem like the photography studios are getting the better deal, but you’re actually the one profiting the most—not only gaining exposure, but also increasing your revenue!! Even scarier is that later on, you’re planning to develop your own photo shoot services…”
I calmly accepted Li Xiaoyun’s praise with a smile and replied, “Actually, this coffee shop still has many advantages. Although it’s a bit remote, the white-collar workers who come here don’t have to worry about finding parking spaces… When people go to a café to enjoy their coffee time, they’re looking for relaxation. Not finding a parking space really ruins the mood. You know, most of these white-collar workers have cars. There isn’t much difference in time between coming here or going downtown, and they can find the feeling they’re looking for here. Right now, what we’re lacking is just exposure. I believe that in the later stages, the coffee shop’s functional aspects will gradually fade, returning to the essence of coffee time. At that point, it will truly become a distinctive, branded, and profitable coffee shop!!”
“That’s a perfect marketing idea. It all depends on whether you have the execution capability!… This time, I still believe in you, Zhao Yang!”
I remained humble, “It’s not that my marketing idea is perfect—it’s just that I encountered a suitable coffee shop that could realize my marketing concepts. If it were another coffee shop, I wouldn’t be able to provide so many parking spaces and solve the parking issues for white-collar workers, right?”
Li Xiaoyun nodded in agreement. In fact, anyone in marketing understands that a good marketing environment is what enables good marketing ideas. I just happened to come across this color-themed coffee shop, which sparked this idea. Coincidentally, this underdeveloped residential complex had enough space to solve the parking issues for white-collar workers, making it seem seamless.
I then said to Li Xiaoyun, “By the way, your company should have business dealings with many large photography studios. Could you introduce me to some of them?”
“What’s with the word ‘help’ between us? Besides, it’s not like those photography studios have to spend any money. It’s a small matter that can be resolved with just one phone call. I’ll help you contact some photography studios that work with our advertising company.”
I nodded without saying thanks again. With Li Xiaoyun, a client director at an advertising company, helping me negotiate this matter, the persuasion power would naturally be higher. From this point on, I believed that taking over this coffee shop had started off on a good note.
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