I carried the dinner I had bought, stepped across the dew-dampened grass, and approached Jian Wei, who was sitting nearby, holding a thick stack of documents, reading them under the dim streetlight. Her hair had fallen forward as she bent her head, partially covering the corners of her eyes, giving her a slightly hazy appearance.
I patted her shoulder and sighed, “You really don’t have to read documents even while sitting here, do you?”
Jian Wei didn’t look up, quickly replying, “Since last month, I’ve gotten used to bringing important documents here to read. This place makes me feel relaxed.”
I sat down beside her and sighed again, “I remember when you were in college, your attitude toward studying wasn’t particularly serious either. Why is it that now you’re always working like a workaholic?”
Jian Wei lifted her head, tucked her dangling hair behind her ear, and looked at me, complaining, “Back in college, I dated a troublemaker. How could I possibly have had a serious attitude toward studying?”
I seemed to have already become comfortable hearing Jian Wei talk about the past, so I joked, “I did my own thing, and you did your studying. Actually, there was no conflict. But you always wasted your study time by hanging out with me at bars.”
“If I hadn’t been afraid that some fox-like girls in the bars would steal you away, why would I have accompanied you?”
I smiled but didn’t say anything.
Jian Wei frowned and asked, “What are you smiling about?”
I waved my hand and said, “I’m not just smiling randomly. I was just thinking about the first time we met, when you were shy before even speaking. Actually, you were quite gentle back then.”
Jian Wei was momentarily stunned, then unreasonably snapped at me, “Go die already, right there is the city moat!”
After being scolded by her, I was speechless for a while, then handed her the food box I was holding and said, “Eat dinner first. Once you’re done, I have something important to talk to you about.”
Jian Wei took the food box from my hand and asked while flipping through it, “Where’s the Kanda food you were supposed to buy for me?”
“I didn’t buy it. That stuff is neither hygienic nor nutritious. Why bother eating it?”
Jian Wei threw the food box aside, glaring at me and said, “Who gave you the right to make decisions for me?”
Feeling unhappy inside, I still patiently replied, “After a day of high-intensity work, wouldn’t eating a proper meal be more appropriate?”
Jian Wei completely ignored my kind advice, not even glancing at the food box she had thrown aside, and said, “I’m not eating. Just tell me your important matter quickly.”
The matter of Zhuomei had been on my mind, so I ignored Jian Wei’s temper and said to her, “Right now is a critical stage for Zhuomei’s IPO. Mi Zhongde might deliberately create a PR crisis for Zhuomei to damage its brand image and prevent its listing.”
Jian Wei almost instinctively exclaimed, “Has he gone mad? In doing so, won’t the Zhuomei Group itself be the one hurt in the end?”
“He doesn’t care about Zhuomei itself, but rather about control over it. As long as he holds control, he still has a chance to make a comeback. You understand what I mean otherwise.”
Jian Wei nodded and asked, “What do you need me to do in this matter?”
“Provide top-tier PR services to deal with the potential PR crisis Zhuomei might face. I believe you definitely have such PR resources at your disposal.”
“Can I simply understand this as cooperation between me and Mi Cai this time?”
I nodded and said, “You can understand it that way. But this is purely a business collaboration, and Mi Cai will pay you accordingly for the business services.”
Jian Wei looked at me and replied seriously, “Sorry, our advertising company hasn’t launched PR services yet, so I’m afraid I can’t help.”
I was very surprised by Jian Wei’s refusal and remained speechless for a while, filled with disappointment after being rejected. I was even more worried about Mi Cai because the uncertain PR crisis could come at any moment. If we didn’t prepare adequately in advance, once it arrived, it would definitely deal an unprecedented blow to Zhuomei, and its IPO would be indefinitely postponed.
After calming myself down, I said to Jian Wei, “Can you at least give me a reasonable reason? Saying that we don’t provide PR services is too superficial.”
After a long silence, Jian Wei said to me, “You want a reasonable reason, right? Then let me tell you: I think this matter isn’t something you and I should be discussing. Since it’s Zhuomei’s business, it should be discussed directly between Zhuomei’s CEO, Mi Cai, and me.”
“Aren’t you just being difficult? You know she’s in the U.S. right now.”
Jian Wei smiled faintly and said, “Making an international call shouldn’t be too difficult, right?”
Suddenly, I felt very troubled because Mi Cai had asked me to first obtain the PR case studies that Jian Wei had worked on for reference before deciding whether to proceed with the collaboration. However, Jian Wei insisted that Mi Cai should personally discuss the collaboration with her, otherwise she wouldn’t consider it. This conflict made my role as a mediator seem very forced, especially since neither party seemed particularly enthusiastic about the collaboration. Yet, as an outside observer, I clearly understood how much Mi Cai needed this collaboration, and perhaps Jian Wei also needed it, as it could expand her company’s business scope and bring in a significant amount of revenue.
After weighing the situation, I decided to focus on Jian Wei as the breakthrough point and, with a thick skin, said, “After all, Mi Cai is the client and you are the service provider. It’s only natural and reasonable that you should take the initiative to pursue this business opportunity.”
“Fine, then give me Mi Cai’s phone number. I’ll contact her and pursue it.”
Jian Wei’s aggressive attitude made it even harder for me to understand what she was thinking, so I hesitated…
Jian Wei urged, “Isn’t it you who told me to pursue it? Then give me the number!”
After hesitating for a long time, I finally gave her Mi Cai’s number and convinced myself: direct communication would be more efficient, after all, in this commercial era, efficiency is the most important thing.
Jian Wei entered the number I provided into her phone and immediately dialed it. I felt nervous and wanted to say something to her, but she gestured for me to be quiet and then turned on the speakerphone so I could listen to their upcoming conversation.
Finally, Mi Cai’s voice came through on the other end of the line, and she asked, “Hello, may I ask who is calling?”
“Hello, Ms. Mi, this is Jian Wei from Sima Advertising.”
Mi Cai was clearly very surprised, as it took her a long time before she replied, “Oh, hello, Ms. Jian.”
When Jian Wei and Mi Cai addressed each other as “Ms. Mi” and “Ms. Jian,” it meant that they had clearly defined their roles and recognized this call as a business discussion, which slightly eased my anxiety, so I listened quietly to what they would say next.
After introducing herself, Jian Wei got straight to the point and said, “Ms. Mi, Zhaoyang has already told me about the current situation Zhuomei is facing. He hopes that my advertising company can form a professional PR team to deal with the potential PR crisis. I’d like to ask, is this also your wish, Ms. Mi, or is this just Zhaoyang’s one-sided idea?”
“If your advertising company has enough confidence to help me solve the problem, then of course it is my wish.”
“And if I don’t have enough confidence?”
“If you don’t have enough confidence, I won’t let Zhuomei take such a risk.”
Jian Wei smiled and replied, “I understand what you mean, Ms. Mi. I’m very glad to have this opportunity to communicate with you tonight.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
“Then, Ms. Mi, I won’t take up any more of your time. I wish you success in your work.”
“Thank you.”
Jian Wei ended the call with Mi Cai so abruptly that I felt their conversation had no real substance. At least, Jian Wei hadn’t actively pursued the opportunity, and Mi Cai hadn’t shown a strong desire to collaborate. This matter still seemed to be only my own one-sided hope. I complained to Jian Wei, “Didn’t you say you were going to pursue this? Why are you still acting so superior to the client?”
“Am I?”
“Of course.”
“But we’ve already reached a consensus on cooperation.”
I was shocked and asked, “You’ve reached an agreement on cooperation? How come I didn’t hear any of that?”
“We women understand each other’s conversations.”
“You’re making it sound so mysterious. Are you just trying to fool me?”
“If you don’t believe me, you can call or text Ms. Mi to verify it yourself.”
I was completely confused, unable to figure out how they had reached an agreement. So, half in doubt, I sent a message to Mi Cai: “Have you already decided to cooperate with Jian Wei’s Sima Advertising?”
After a short wait, Mi Cai replied: “Yes, we’ve already reached a consensus. Tomorrow I will have Chen Jingming go to her company to discuss the details of the cooperation.”
Looking at this reply, I blinked several times in disbelief, unable to figure out how they had reached an agreement. I sent another message to Mi Cai: “Then you won’t even look at the PR cases she worked on before?”
“Our conversation just now has already dispelled my concerns, so there’s no need to look at them.”
“Then can you tell me how you actually reached this agreement?”
“It’s something that can be understood but not explained in words.”
I felt a bit depressed and turned back to Jian Wei beside me, asking, “How exactly did you two reach this agreement?”
“If you can figure it out, then do so yourself. If not, I can only give you four words—no comment!”
I really couldn’t figure it out, so I stopped forcing myself, because at this moment, their reaching an agreement was the most important thing. I hoped even more that they could successfully complete this collaboration and thus help Zhuomei’s IPO succeed.
…
The night grew deeper, and I suddenly remembered that Jian Wei hadn’t eaten dinner yet, so I asked her again, “Do you still want to eat the meal I bought for you earlier?”
“No, I’ll go buy some Kanda myself.”
“You’re not making any sense. You’re choosing to eat that stuff instead of a nutritious meal set.”
“Mind your own business.”
“Fine, I won’t mind. Anyway, I can’t understand women’s thoughts.”
Jian Wei impatiently looked at me and walked toward the riverside, seemingly really intending to go eat the Kanda by herself.
I shouted after her, “How are you planning to build the PR team for this collaboration?”
Without turning her head, Jian Wei replied, “Tomorrow I’ll go find Jian Boyu and borrow a few people from him first… Don’t worry, this collaboration with Zhuomei is also an opportunity for our company to expand its business scope, and I will do my best!”
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