Chapter 17
I inadvertently left off a bit if chapter 16 yesterday. Sorry.. I got totally excited with all the comments I got so one extra chapter today ????
So please leave me your comments .. you may get extra chapters ????
Back to the novel..
Inside the room, the light was dim. This was all too unexpected.” I am sorry I came in….”
She hadn’t even finished her statement when the drunk guy stood up, pulled her arm, and forced the glass to her mouth. “I came here to find fun, what is this attitude?”
The person seem annoyed, the volume of the music was lowered, the waiter approached them with a puzzled look
Unfortunately, inspite of the waiter trying to mediate on behalf of Yan Liang, the drunk held her chin. Thankfully, he was too drunk so Yan Liang took the glass from his hand, and in the blink of an eye threw the contents of the glass at him
This splash stunned the drunk.
The room was quiet in an instant, the music stopped, and a calm voice called out,”Turn on the light.”
The waiter immediately responsed, opening the door and turning on the overhead light
Yan Liang squinted her eyes to adjust to the brightness, then looked at the drunk who had red wine splashed all over his clothes. Deliberate footsteps approached her. The man’s cold eyes swept over her, his demeanour showing he was obviously unhappy, “What’s happening here ? “
Embarrassed , she looked at the person standing in front of her, a voice echoing in her brain , “ Always remember the purpose, try to keep smiling…”
She smiled, extended her hand and said, “Sir, how are you?”
His eyes were sharp like a knife. Yan Liang smiled modestly, “ I am the person in charge of Ya- Yan.”
Chapter 17
Lu Zheng looked at her, his expression softened from a moment ago, though still not kind. “ I heard Xu Jinfu’s younger daughter is bad news. Seems to be true.”
Seeing this confident woman was unlikely to apologise, Lu Zheng then turned to look at the drunk, half asleep man and said, “Sorry Director Zhang, if you do not mind, I will ask the waiter to accompany you to the next room and send your clothes for dry cleaning.”
Lu Zheng’s words completely woke him up, and he immediately stood up and rushed towards Yan Liang. But before he could reach her, he staggered, almost falling.
Lu Zheng, realising his intentions, had extended his arm to block his path, his action seemingly casual but so full of strength that the director staggered on impact and Yan Liang was saved.
(Miumiu : aww.. white knight in shining armour)
“Zhang Director, I apologise on behalf of this girl”
Lu Zheng ‘s assistant had been waiting at the door for some time, catching his wink, he came forward. Lu Zheng put Director Zhang in his hands and said , “ Please take him back.”
And thus, he so easily settled the trouble stirred up by Yan Liang
Director Zhang left the room, the music continued to play, the rest of the people also resumed drinking. However, Lu Zheng was not going to invite Yan Liang to join them.
“Miss Yan, if I remember correctly, you were not invited today”, he said coldly, clearly hinting that she should leave. But Yan Liang was unwilling to take the hint, and said “Mr Zheng, it seems that you are not too busy now, can I take a few minutes of your time?”
Although this was phrased like a question, her face seemed to indicate this was more of an order than a request.
Naturally, Lu Zheng did not like that and flatly refused: “I am sorry, I am very busy. “
“You’re obviously free … …”
Seeing Lu Zheng’s annoyed face, Jiang Yu Nan’s advice again echoed in her mind and she immediately fell silent
“I can wait for the party to finish and talk to you after it is over.”
Clearly Lu Zheng wasn’t happy with that , but good manners prevented him from saying so.
“If you want…”
The waiter quietly opened the door for Yan Liang.With an embarrassed sideward glance, and a smile that was almost slipping, Yan Liang bade goodbye to Lu Zheng, “ Hope you have fun.”
She waited till almost two in the morning. It was embarrassing sitting in the sofa on the lobby.
From time to time, she saw her own dealers completely drunk as the waiters assissted them to the car. Of course, there were dealers who were still sober. Surprised at seeing her in the lobby, they asked, “Ms Yan? Why are you sitting here?”
She could only clench her teeth and smile. She was feeling sleepy, so she reclined on the sofa and tried to keep her eyes open, not daring to fall asleep.
The party only ended at 3 o’ clock in the morning. Lu Zheng was the last to leave, the others had already left. He was tired, and pulled out his tie as he walked through the lobby.
His car was parked right outside the revolving door; the valet was standing at the door, ready to give him the keys when Lu Zheng suddenly stopped. He was walking too quickly earlier and had barely noticed a figure slumped on the sofa. This time when he looked back – it was really that bad tempered Ms Yan.
*** ***
In the daze of sleep, Yan Liang suddenly felt someone patting her face.
She opened her eyes, in her blurred vision, she could see that a person was standing in front of her. She wanted to take a closer look, but sleep took over, and annoyed, she showed him the finger before she turned her body and went back to sleep.
Lu Zheng was taken aback, she was indeed showing her the middle finger. He smiled with dismay
In order to wake her up, Lu Zheng had bent his body towards her. Seeing her sleeping so soundly, he straightened up and turned to go.
He hadn’t taken a single step, when, for no particular reason, he turned back and sat in the sofa next to hers.
He looked at Yan Liang sleeping, unaware of all of this, and closed his eyes as well.
He was Lu Zheng, so nobody dared to disturb him. From 330 AM, they both slept soundly till Yan Liang jerked awake at 700 AM
The moment she opened her eyes, the first thought that crossed her mind was,”I am finished.”
How long did she sleep? She had no clue!
She was not sure whether it was the bright sunlight of the morning or the lights of the night, she wasn’t sure whether she had missed the only chance of talking to Lu Zheng. She slapped her forehead in frustration and sat up. Sure enough, it was early morning –
“Shit!” Sleeping in the sofa for one night, she felt as if she had a hangover, her neck aching, her head jammed. Yan Liang combed her hair back and leaned against the sofa with her eyes closed, “ Shit!’
“Its not a good habit to curse so early in the morning.”
Yan Liang suddenly froze.
There was actually someone around? And this voice…
She opened her eyes. It was Lu Zheng, sitting next to her.
*** ***
Suddenly, Yan Liang really did not know how to face him. In the ensuing silence, he looked at his wrist watch and reminded her, “You have … … five minutes.”
These words instantly sobered her up, she was wide awake and alert.
She immediately sat up, and said: “Long story short, I want to place Ya Yan in your departmental stores and commercial plazas.”
This was really straight to the point with no detours. Lu Zheng also did not beat about the bush, “Sorry, Ya Yan is not the kind of brand we sell in Ming Ting.”
As soon as he said that, Yan Liang took out a document from her bag. “ This is the planning book and the data analysis for Ming.”
Lu Zheng looked at the documents in front of him, hesitated a bit, then eventually took it from her.
At his side, Yan Liang went on, “’Ya Yan’ is indeed an old brand, but we plan to position this as a ‘classic skin care system’. It will be a new brand with great potential. For the funds, product development, advertising investment… in all of these areas, ‘Ya Yan’ and Xu’s other products will get absolutely the same treatment . I can wait until next year, when you talk to other brands about extension of contracts, for Ya Yan to have enough counters. Of course, we are not going to be stingy regarding entry level costs..”
She would have continued to go on, but Lu Zheng nodded silently, then closed the file. There was a deep meaning to this action, and Yan Liang fell silent
Was he impressed?
Yan Liang wasn’t expecting much success and sure enough, he said , “ You are telling me Ya Yan will be better in future. If I promise now, and the comeback of Ya Yan is not satisfactory, wont I be played for a sucker?”
Although she had expected him to refuse, but when she really heard him say the words, Yan Liang could no longer hold back, “According to the Ming Ting contracts, the brands are locked in for five years. If I come back to you next year, I will have to wait for five years for Ya Yan to appear in Ming Ting. I can’t afford that.”
Lu Zheng was immersed in his own thoughts, he completely ignored her attempt to play the sympathy card,” To tell you frankly, the truth of what you have said is yet to be verified. If the Xu group is really concerned about Ya- Yan, Mr Jiang will come and talk to me, why you ? While I admire your dedication, as far as professionalism is concerned, Mr Jiang and you still have a way to go.”
Although his words were not malicious, they stabbed her heart. Yan Liang was silent for some time, trying to reign in her emotions. As she opened her mouth to answer, Lu Zheng interrupted, “Your five minutes is over.”
This man had been sitting next to her and waiting for her the whole night and was now going away. Embarrassed, she watched him walking towards the revolving doors and called out, “ Rest assured Mr Lu, if there is any progress in the Ya-Yan project, you will be the first one I visit.”
The implied meaning was very obvious: Yan Liang, had made up her mind that she was going to stalk him till the end.