KC | Chapter 43

The nine-to-five office drone bitterly chewed on a jianbing while still having to sign customers and keep working.

Chen Xi spent the whole morning dealing with piled-up work. At noon, he ate a bowl of noodles with Zhang Yuanji. Noodles symbolized that everything would go smoothly. But Zhang Yuanji thought, Xiao Chen was probably just wanting something a little soupy, easier to digest…

Seeing that Chen Xi looked listless, Zhang Yuanji asked with concern, “Brother, have you been worn out lately?”

“Brother Zhang, before this, didn’t you say you could have the general manager of Gu Lin Finance help introduce me to the boss?” Chen Xi was entirely focused on work and was completely off the same wavelength as Zhang Yuanji.

Since there was no way through Xu Dongxu, then he could only look for the boss.

“Yeah. But I heard from someone that Gu Lin worked with Lan Hai before, and Gu Lin doesn’t have a very good impression of us. Their marketing general manager is pretty hard to deal with, and the boss doesn’t seem to manage things much.”

“Mm.” Gu Lin was Lin Yiran’s scar, Chen Xi did not say too much to Zhang Yuanji.

Zhang Yuanji flipped through his phone contacts, pulled up a phone number for Chen Xi, and said, “This is the phone number of Gu Lin’s finance general manager, I already said hello to her. You can just say you were introduced by Uncle Li from taxation, and ask her to help arrange a meeting with President Wang.”

Chen Xi nodded and memorized the number. He found a quiet place and called Gu Lin’s finance general manager. The other side said that tomorrow, at 8:15, was their payroll day, and Wang Yaohua would most likely come to the company to sign papers. She would help make the introduction. Chen Xi thanked her, added her on WeChat, and after he returned to his workstation, said “thank you” to Zhang Yuanji.

“Hey, we’re brothers, what’s there to be so polite about.”

Lin Yiran had said, “Don’t bypass Xu Dongxu and go straight to President Wang.” If Xu Dongxu had not blocked every road, Chen Xi would not have come up with this last resort.

Chen Xi calmly reviewed the information he had gathered from Gu Lin over these past few days, preparing for tomorrow’s meeting with Wang Yaohua. While sorting through the people and their relationships, he suddenly thought of Xiao Qiang. Chen Xi clicked open Xiao Qiang’s cockroach avatar again and carefully recalled,

Did Xiao Qiang add me through a WeChat QR code?

That meant I most likely had met him before.

A cockroach I had met before…

Chen Xi suddenly remembered, Xiao Qiang was the pest-control client he had failed to reach a deal with three years ago!

Back then, Xiao Qiang claimed his company’s pest-control product was an “exclusive secret recipe.” In the dead of winter, he dragged Chen Xi to take the subway and then the bus, running twice out to a factory beyond Yucheng’s Fourth Ring Road. After hemming and hawing for ages, he finally grunted and strained himself into a cooperation at the lowest price. Only when the ad went live did they discover that Xiao Qiang’s so-called “exclusive secret recipe” did not even have credentials for disinfectant supplies, and without proper paperwork, they could not cooperate on ad business, so they could only refund the money.

Back then, this cockroach had said quite a few unpleasant things: “We’re giving you money and you still don’t want it,” “My product really works,” “You all are idiots,” “I don’t care what kind of review you have, with money I still can’t get my ad up?”…

It was clearly him who wanted to run ads but was short on money, he had no proper credentials and still wanted promotion, he did not understand the process and still blabbered nonsense, and in the end he turned things around and threw the blame back. Chen Xi was completely not on the same channel as him, and there was no way to communicate.

This little girl Xiao Fang looked pretty normal, so how did she know Xiao Qiang?

Could it be that Xiao Fang’s home needed pest control, and Xiao Qiang handled it for her?

This cockroach was probably interested in Xiao Fang. He had pushed me to Xiao Fang, just wanting to use me as an opening, to find some excuse to talk to Xiao Fang.

If I said I had a good relationship with Xiao Qiang, would Xiao Fang also end up treating me like a cockroach?

QAQ

Lan Hai required staff to be on the job by 8:30 a.m., and Chen Xi got up at 8:00 and still made it in time. Gu Lin required staff to be on the job by 9:00 a.m., and Chen Xi still got up at 8:00, because he had to take the subway for half an hour.

If you had not experienced the morning rush hour, you were not a qualified office drone. Recently Chen Xi could not sleep at night and could not wake up during the day. Dazed, he held onto the subway handrail and heard the carriage announcement, “1936 Villa Mansion Design Agency reminds you, XXX Station has arrived…” and instantly he was completely awake.

Just one “villa mansion” section from Gu Lin could pull out the budget for subway ads, so it seemed the framework agreement for 30 million yuan in ad placement with Jingmei was not groundless.

Xiao Fang had drunk Chen Xi’s milk tea for half a month. Looking at the Chi-Chi Berry Strawberry in his hand, she touched her slightly puffed cheeks and frowned, saying, “Don’t buy any more, really, don’t buy any more.”

Chen Xi, who had played a fickle rich woman’s man and a greasy guy, smiled without speaking, thinking, You can’t stop feeding someone once you’ve taken their hand, and you can’t stop feeding someone’s mouth once you’ve eaten their food. The milk tea could not be cut off, he could not let this informant drop the ball.

Chen Xi very naturally opened the front desk computer, entered the password Xiao Fang had told him, and checked the clock-in records.

Xu Dongxu had already clocked in today. Wang Yaohua was not on the attendance list.

That made sense. If you were the boss, what was the point of clocking in? If I started a company, I would just sleep at home every day.

For Xu Dongxu to be able to stay so long in a group company like Gu Lin, besides ability, there had to be other reasons too. Chen Xi wanted to verify Lin Yiran’s guess, that Xu Dongxu was the boss lady’s relative. If it was a family business, then indeed Xu Dongxu could not be bypassed, and even going to talk to President Wang would push me toward Xu Dongxu. But if not?

Chen Xi asked, “What’s the relationship between President Xu and our boss lady?”

Xiao Fang said in surprise, “What kind of gossip is this?”

Chen Xi: … I came to you to find out information, and you’re asking me for gossip.

“I heard Xu Dongxu was demoted before, and the boss lady was the one who got him back up.”

“Oh, oh, I heard from the cleaning lady that this was because ‘President Wang looked down on the new marketing general manager, so he had the boss lady bring President Xu back.’”

Hm? So it was President Wang who wanted Xu Dongxu reinstated, and the so-called “boss lady highly regarded Xu Dongxu” was just a cover?

If that was the case, then it would be troublesome. Xu Dongxu and Wang Yaohua had an unusual relationship, and he could not tear down Xu Dongxu in front of Wang Yaohua. In the end, he might still not be able to get around Xu Dongxu.

Chen Xi stamped Xiao Fang with the label of “innocent, cute, and sweet,” and thought: It would be great if Xu Dongxu were as easy to talk to as you.

Then he suddenly thought, Lin Yiran had fucking wasted half a day for nothing, and all the information he gave was wrong!

Xu Dongxu was not rigid, and not some connection-based insider. Following this reverse logic, Wang Yaohua should not be gentle either.

In order to meet Wang Yaohua, Chen Xi had gotten off work yesterday and found a fairly proper British-style suit. A deep blue shirt with a textured feel paired with slim-cut trousers made him look like an English gentleman from the last century, with elegance in every movement.

Xiao Fang looked at Chen Xi and got a little red in the face. She said haltingly, “Brother Xiao Chen, um, that, do you, do you have a partner?”

Chen Xi was startled by the question and suddenly remembered that when Xiao Fang had first sent a WeChat friend request, she had also asked him, “Do you have a partner?”

1: Why did she ask that, how did Xiao Qiang introduce me to her?

3: Through these past few days of contact, did she fall for me?

2: Could it be that she thought I kept coming to find her because I wanted to meet offline?

No, no, that absolutely would not do, I could not delay her.

“I don’t have a partner, and I don’t plan to look for one.” Chen Xi said frankly, “You’re a good girl, you’ll definitely be able to… find someone better than me.”

“It’s not that I want to date you!” Xiao Fang cut Chen Xi off, thinking: You’re fine if you don’t talk, the moment you talk you make me feel sick!

“Ah?” Chen Xi touched his nose awkwardly and said, “Then you want to introduce someone to me?”

Xiao Fang nodded.

Chen Xi said, “I don’t have plans to date anyone, but if the other person earns a million a year, has a good figure and nice looks, has a car and a house… maybe I could consider it.” As long as the other person liked me.

Xiao Fang was stunned silent by this grand speech and had no choice but to take a sip of milk tea to calm herself down, thinking: It’s already pretty good if someone as greasy as you can even find a partner, and you’re still being picky.

Xiao Fang said softly, “Brother Xiao Chen, I… my cousin from my aunt’s family, he’s about the same situation as you.”

“Ah?” Chen Xi’s pupils shook. He thought: Your cousin? You want to introduce me to a guy? Which eye did you use to see that I’m gay?

“My cousin doesn’t earn a million a year, but his parents have some savings, so buying a car or a house is no problem. He’s a pretty good person, I was thinking…”

Chen Xi cut off Xiao Fang, “No, no, don’t make random guesses. I’m not avoiding dating because of my orientation, it’s really because my standards are too high and I can’t meet the right person. And also because I’m too busy with work, I don’t have the energy, and even if I dated someone, we’d still have to break up.”

“Brother Xiao Chen, you don’t need to be afraid, I don’t discriminate against this, and my mouth is very tight. The only mutual friend we have is Xiao Qiang, even if I exposed you, there’d be nowhere for me to say it. My cousin has already come out to the family, my aunt and my uncle don’t object, they’re just afraid of men.” Xiao Fang paused, then said tactfully, “Men are too messy. I think you’re a pretty good person, so I thought I’d try to match you up.”

Chen Xi rubbed his forehead, thinking: Men really are pretty messy, one drink of alcohol and they can get together. Your precious giant panda cousin should just be left for someone else.

“Before, didn’t you say Xiao Qiang had a good relationship with you? When he pushed your friend request over, he said, ‘This is gay, not allowed to flirt!’ I immediately thought of my cousin!” Xiao Fang said something astonishing.

No wonder Xiao Fang had been so proactive in chatting with me, so she was actually trying to introduce a partner to her cousin!

Back then, in order to get close to Xiao Fang, I said I had a good relationship with Xiao Qiang, and I never expected this cockroach to smear me right away!

Xiao Qiang introduced me to Xiao Fang, but he was also afraid Xiao Fang would talk too much with me, so as soon as he came up, he blocked my path and said I was gay!

I said I had a good relationship with Xiao Qiang, which made Xiao Fang misunderstand that I was gay, that was just me lifting a stone to smash my own foot.

Looks like as a salesperson, if you tell lies, you will absolutely get karmic retribution!

Xiao Fang pulled out photos on her phone and did her best to promote her cousin: “This is my cousin, isn’t he pretty much ‘has looks and a great figure’?”

Chen Xi felt it would be rude to ignore her, so he symbolically glanced at the photo on Xiao Fang’s phone.

Xiao Fang thought: What kind of expression is that, like my cousin is the one reaching too high for you. If it weren’t for his special situation right now, I wouldn’t be making this bridge at all.

The handsome guy in the photo looked like a celebrity at first glance, but there was just something missing, and Chen Xi could not say exactly what was missing. Maybe he looked too much like a person and lacked a bit of dog-like energy.

Chen Xi had originally wanted to refuse, but he suddenly noticed,

The background behind the person in the photo was Pingsheng Education!

Chen Xi stared at the WeChat avatar and immediately became interested. Pingsheng Education, it was Pingsheng Education on my list!

Pingsheng Education, the one I had been working my ass off to find a key person for, had actually delivered itself right to my door!

“Your cousin, he works at Pingsheng?”

Xiao Fang nodded, then shook her head. “He’s at Pingsheng, but he doesn’t really go to work.”

“Uh, what do you mean?”

“Pingsheng was opened by my uncle-in-law.”

Fuck, Pingsheng’s crown prince was Xiao Fang’s cousin!

The three little people in his head began making a racket again,

1 was screaming wildly: Cousin, are you charging ahead or not, charge, charge, charge, charge, charge, charge!

2 had lost its reason: Pingsheng, are you signing or not, sign, sign, sign, sign, sign, sign! (1)

Spineless 3: He came here to find a partner, not to do ads. Using his cousin like this is immoral.

2 regained some rationality: I think we should charge forward a bit. No matter what, first get on this bridge. Worst case, after meeting offline we can just say it’s not suitable, right? There’s no loss.

With the majority winning, Chen Xi said against his conscience, “I also think your cousin is pretty much ‘has looks and a great figure’…”

Xiao Fang happily pushed Chen Xi’s WeChat card to her cousin. Chen Xi, with his back turned to Xiao Fang, opened the friend-add request and deliberately did not approve it.

“I’m afraid your cousin is busy and won’t have time to check WeChat. How about you give me his phone number instead?” I’m not ready with a script yet, and all my Moments are Lan Hai promotion policies. If I add him as a friend and don’t let him see my Moments, that’d be awkward. If he sees my Moments and finds out I’m in advertising, how am I supposed to keep talking?

I’d better get the phone number first, and think long-term later.

“Oh, okay.” Xiao Fang sent Chen Xi her cousin’s phone number.

After getting the phone number of Pingsheng’s crown prince, Chen Xi felt this place was no longer suitable to stay. He threw away the half cup of milk tea, rode the escalator upstairs.

Author’s note:

(1) Borrowed from a certain coffee livestream slogan, “Coffee, are you charging or not…”