After Yan Mu came over, he didn't say anything. Instead, he just picked up a few pieces of beef and lettuce before sitting down at a nearby table. Evidently, he was already used to seeing his secretary and a.s.sistant getting along. As the boss, he didn't bother asking what they were talking about.
Many company secretaries have delicate relationships with their boss' a.s.sistants. Obviously, both of Yan Mu's right and left-hand men handled these problems very well and didn't need Yan Mu's worry. However, it would be better if these two people were a little bit farther away.
Lu Chengyu and Cao Jingshen sat down with their boss. As he drank a mouthful of red wine to suppress the taste of scallops, Lu Chengyu said. “Boss, what kind of mooncake is our company going to prepare for the Mid-Autumn Festival?”
Yan Mu looked at Cao Jingshen. It's obvious that this matter was under the responsibility of the Logistics Department, which was none of his business, so he didn't care about it.
Cao Jingshen shook his head. “I don't know. We might decide according to the old rules. Are there any problems?”
"Since boss just took office this year, it's better to launch a voting system in the company's forum to let everyone choose for themselves,” Lu Chengyu smiled. “Although it's only a small matter, at least it would let them understand that the new boss is different from the previous boss.”
Yan Mu, as president, really didn't pay attention to these trivial matters. However, although they might seem small, these little things go a long way.
As an a.s.sistant, Lu Chengyu putting forwards these ideas showed that he was a very careful person and experienced in his work. Yan Mu nodded and softly said, “Good.”
“Then, I'll prepare the voting process when I get back.” Seeing that Yan Mu agreed, Lu Chengyu wrote it down.
But no one knows, Chengyu actually didn't take note and problems arises later on.
“You three look happy, do you mind adding two more people?” Without waiting for an answer, Sheng Shaoyuan sat down with his tray, “This morning's bid was interesting. Mr. Yan is indeed a business elite.”
“Mr. Sheng overpraised. The real winner today is that young man from Liang Shi,” Yan Mu raised his cup of red wine to Sheng Shaoyuan. “We were only accompanying the young master as sidekicks this time.”
“Yes,” sighed Sheng Shaoyuan. “This trip can be considered as chasing a wild-goose[1].”
[1] 白跑一趟 [báipǎoyītàng]: to go on an errand for nothing.
Read this at Shunraikitranslations, it's totally free and there's a lot of cookies here~
Lu Chengyu listened to Sheng Shaoyuan with a smile, but from Cao Jingshen's att.i.tude, he could tell that there was something strange going on. This Sheng Shaoyuan's heart was much more complicated than what he showed on the surface.
“Is this young man Mr. Yan's a.s.sistant?” Sheng Shaoyuan suddenly looked at Lu Chengyu and said with a laugh, “He looks young. Nowadays, young people are getting more and more fierce.”
Lu Chengyu laughed and said, “Mr. Sheng is also young and promising. I just learned a little from Secretary Cao.”
After Sheng Shaoyuan heard what Lu Chengyu said, he slowly smiled and cut the steak on his plate. Turning to Yan Mu, he said, “This steak is a little bit old. There are some things that will be more delicious if it's tender.”
Yan Mu nodded: “That's true. Even old cows like to eat tender gra.s.s[2].”
[2] 老牛吃嫩草 [lǎoniúchīnèncǎo]: a romance where the man is significantly older than the woman
Sheng Shaoyuan's secretary silently thought, 'Isn't ‘old cows like to eat tender gra.s.s' a phrase to curse others?'
“Haha,” Sheng Shaoyuan's face changed slightly, then he smiled and got up, “I've been disturbing Mr. Yan for so long, I should return to my seat.” After that, he picked up his plate and left the table.
The secretary following him whispered, “Boss, are you interested in that a.s.sistant?”
“That little a.s.sistant is not a simple person,” said Sheng Shaoyuan, frowning and shaking his head. “And Yan Mu obviously intends to protect him. I prefer mutual consent, and it's better not to provoke such decent people.”
The secretary was silent. So boss, you do realize that you did bad things.
After lunch, they drove with the organizer to see the landmarks of M County. After dinner, when they returned to the hotel, it was already more than 11 p.m.
Once Lu Chengyu returned to his room, he took a bath and went to bed. As for other things, all of them were temporarily forgotten.
Sheng Shaoyuan actually didn't give up, he went to organizer and ask for chengyu's num
After returning to the capital, Lu Chengyu made a small voting poll and posted it on the forum. Judging from the votes the following days, the most popular mooncakes were egg yolk mooncakes [3], lotus seed paste mooncakes[4] and etc.; the most disliked one was probably Wuren mooncakes[5].
[3]
[4]
[5]
Some colleagues even left a message below saying how they wanted Wuren mooncakes to roll out of the mooncake circle, showing how bitter and disgusting this mooncake tasted.
So, at the end, Chengyu used his right as ceo a.s.sistant and choose wuren mooncake
While everyone was fighting over the mooncakes in the forum,《Soaring Birds》had just been audited. Now, all they needed to do was contact a theatre chain and win a slot to release this movie on National Day. This step was crucial; each year, who knew how many movies failed to appear in front of the audience because of there being no contacts with the theatre.
Because this year's Mid-Autumn Festival coincided with National Day, many upcoming movies took this as an excellent opportunity to be released, and many cinemas had already started introducing films with famous actors. It's already hard to say if a movie like《Soaring Birds》could be released, let alone being released during this holiday.
Therefore, when he left work Friday afternoon, Lu Chengyu thickened his face and went to find Yan Mu. He had prepared his speech and persuasion, but as soon as he finished talking about the film, Yan Mu asked, “Is this the movie you made with your friends?”
Maybe it's because the other party's att.i.tude was too casual, but Lu Chengyu got a little embarra.s.sed. He nodded: “I have some money in hand, so I went to invest in a small-cost film.”
Yan Mu frowned, obviously thinking of the box office war, “How about Yuhe Film City?”
“Yuhe?” Lu Chengyu was stunned. This was a well-known theatre chain in China. There were many cinemas under Yuhe Film City's banner, and this theatre chain had been invested and built by the owner himself. Of course, to choose movies for this well-known theatre chain, the owner must be very picky.
“Does Boss know the owner of Yuhe Film City?”
“He's my friend,” Yan Mu thought, “I'll take you to meet him tomorrow, so bring the movie with you. Let him watch it, and he will give the final say on this movie.”
“Thank you, boss,” Lu Chengyu knew Yan Mu's character. Willingly bringing him to meet the owner of Yuhe Film City was already the biggest back door. Wouldn't it be too much if he wanted the other party to directly give him the green light without even showing him the movie?
In this line of business, to form a relationship with someone, he needed to know the other party's rules. If he couldn't abide by those rules, he wouldn't last very long in the circle. Lu Chengyu planned to mix in the entertainment business for a long time, but if their first meeting led to the other party thinking that he, Lu Chengyu, was annoying, how far could he go in the future?
aRGHHH, MY TOOTHACHESS~! HOW CAN I EAT SWEET AFTER THIS, I LOVE SWEET!
Outside the teahouse beside the main road in Beijing, Zhuang Yu got out of his car and looked at his friend, who was sitting by the window, and the young man beside him. With a doubtful face, Zhuang Yu strode in.
“Mu-ge,” he sat down opposite Yan Mu. Looked at Lu Chengyu, he took off his sungla.s.ses and, with a smile on his face, asked, “This is…?”
“This is my a.s.sistant Lu Chengyu,” Yan Mu turned to Lu Chengyu and began to introduce Zhuang Yu. “This is my friend of many years. Now, he is the owner of Yuhe Film City.”
Zhuang Yu felt that something was amiss, but from Lu Chengyu's appearance and behaviour, he didn't seem like some artists in the circle who would hold someone's thigh for unwritten rules. Slightly smiling, Zhuang Yu said, “So you're the a.s.sistant Lu that Mu-ge has been talking about recently. h.e.l.lo.”
“h.e.l.lo, Mr. Zhuang.” Looking at the other party's outstretched hand, Lu Chengyu smiled and politely bowed slightly to shake his hands, “I've been looking forward to meeting you.”
Zhuang Yu's smile broadened, and he shook Lu Chengyu's hand, “Mr Lu is too polite.” Then, he looked at Yan Mu, “Mu-ge, last night you said on the phone that there was something you wanted to discuss with me. What is it?”
After Yan Mu explained his intention, Zhuang Yu scanned Lu Chengyu up and down un.o.btrusively, then gently chuckled, “Since it's Mr. Lu's film, there's no problem telling the cinema to release it on National Day.”
“I know Mr. Zhuang has a good relationship with the boss, but you're a businessman. The box office battles in the major cinemas during the short and long vacation are also fierce. I can't let the cinema suffer losses because of my selfish interests,” Lu Chengyu took the film out of his bag and put it in front of him. “Letting the boss introduce me to you is already the biggest back door, so the procedure of choosing films must follow the rules.”
“This…” The way Zhuang Yu looked at Lu Chengyu began to change, “What's wrong with Mu-ge‘s recommendation?”
“Boss is not a movie watcher, but an expert in investing in movies. I'm afraid his vision in choosing movies is not as good as that of the vegetable market aunt,” Lu Chengyu pushed the film in front of Zhuang Yu again, “So I would like to ask Mr. Zhuang to spare some time to watch this movie. If you think the movie can be shown, please consider arranging the cinema venues under your banner to show this movie.”
A small-budget movie like this didn't have grand premieres, nor press conferences, because even if they did, there weren't many reporters who would want to report it.
“Okay,” Zhuang Yu picked up the movie, then he said while smiling, “Xiao Lu, you are a straightforward person. I really appreciate youngsters who have both ability and a straightforward att.i.tude. Afterwards, if you have time, let's go out together and have fun. It'll surely be enjoyable.”
“As long as you are not playing ten thousand cards[6], Mr. Zhuang, feel free to call me.” Lu Chengyu heard that the other party had changed his address and his tone was relaxed, “Of course, if you are playing with cars or planes, don't call me. I'll probably can't stop myself from touching them.”
[6] its gamble, Lu Chengyu didn't use directly the word gambling.
Zhuang Yu was amused by Lu Chengyu's att.i.tude, so he ordered a cup of tea casually, “I don't like to play these. I usually play tennis or go to a farmhouse and spend the day there. Among my friends, I am a good fisherman.”
After listening to those words, Lu Chengyu had a better impression of Zhuang Yu, and he immediately became energetic, “Have you ever been to that farmhouse on the Eastside? The fruits and vegetables in that field are all-natural. They are big and full of water. The fish made by their cook are also very delicious and aren't comparable to that made in the cities.”
“How can I go there….” Zhuang Yu was also happy; he discussed with Lu Chengyu about which farmhouse had a good environment, how to catch fish, how to pick lotus buds, and even how to loosen the soil so that the vegetables could grow well.
Yan Mu seldom went to those kinds of places, so, although they mentioned the places' name, he didn't know about them. Yan Mu drank the tea silently while listening to his friend and Lu Chengyu's conversation about the agritourism[7] around Beijing's suburbs, as well as which foods were delicious and which weren't; they talked as if they regret not having met the other sooner.
[7] agritourism: tourism in which tourists stay with local people in rural areas abroad.
At the end of the day, both of them developed such a good relationship that they began calling each other ‘xiōng dì' [8]. Before they left, Yan Mu heard that they've already discussed where to go and what to do together on National Day.
After saying goodbye to Zhuang Yu, Lu Chengyu said to Yan Mu, “Boss, your friends are really nice.”
“Hmm, birds of a feather flock together[9],” Yan Mu opened his car's door, “Zhuang Yu is a good person, he's just a bit fickle[10].”
[9] 物以类聚 [wù yǐ lèi jù]: similar things come together (idiom); like draws like.
[10]花心 [huāxīn]: fickle (in love affairs) / dissipated / unfaithful.
Lu Chengyu laughed and followed him into the car. “Are you praising yourself?”
Yan Mu: “…”
In fact, his emphasis was on the latter sentence.
[T/N: Yan Mu trying to say that Zhuang Yu is not a good choice(?) because he's fickle in love, which is the sentence that Yan Mu try to emphasize.]
Towards dawn that evening, Yan Mu was woken up by Zhuang Yu's phone call. As soon as he pressed the answer b.u.t.ton, he heard Zhuang Yu's excited voice coming out of his mobile phone.
“f.u.c.k, Mu-ge, your friend is a genius. Tomorrow, call him to come sign a film introduction contract with me and ask him to make the posters more beautiful. I will hang them out for him to publicize.”
Yan Mu: “You…”
“Forget it, you tell me his phone number. I'm going to get in touch with him myself. f.u.c.k, Laozi chatted with him for so long yesterday but forgot to ask for his phone number, f.u.c.k, f.u.c.k.”
Yan Mu was stunned by his several ‘f.u.c.ks'. He heard the other side still chattering and took a breath. “Zhuang Yu, it's the wee hours of the morning now.”
“It's wee hours?” Zhuang Yu was somewhat surprised. He paused for a moment, perhaps taking a look at the clock, “Really, I forgot the time when I watched the movie. Mu-ge, say ‘okay' to Lu xiong di[8] and let him come to our company early tomorrow morning. I'm going to introduce this movie exclusively!”
Listening to the beep, Yan Mu put the phone aside.