Fengjiu paced outside the premises of Jiuchong Group, wondering how she would make her introduction. The night before, she had been planning carefully on how she would propose her business deal with Jiuchong Group, have her debt repaid and leave happily to enjoy her life wandering the different realms.
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Apart from her textile business and the baking classes she held, she had a small side-business which was involved in media and publicity, having done a few advertisements some time back, but this field didn't really interest her, so she would mainly focus on textiles and designing fashionable pieces. Today, she would present her side-business, Little Qingqiu Ads, to Chong Lin for them to forge a business deal with each other.
It had taken her some time to find the precise location of Jiuchong Group. She had to take the subway, first moving from Point A to Point D with the blue line, then changing to the green line for one stop, and finally taking the purple line from Point F-1 to N. Then, she had almost got lost while trying to walk from the subway station, crossing the overhead bridges, and then walking across the zebra crossings while watching traffic and the green man, until finally she found where Jiuchong Group was located, on Lavender Street.
After twenty minutes of considering over and over again whether to enter the building, she mustered up her courage and dialed Chong Lin's number, but it was turned off. She redialed about five times, before finally shouting out loud to herself, "Fine, it's now or never!"She would take the initiative to enter the building to find Chong Lin herself, since she wasn't able to reach him.
She reminded herself what she was here for. Debts had meant a lot to the foxes. They believed in not owing anyone any debts, particularly when this person had saved her life, or rather, her body from pain. She shuddered at the thought of the likely pain from being hit by a fast-moving vehicle.
Fengjiu walked herself over to the front desk. "Good morning," she said to the girl with fake double eyelashes and gigantic curls sitting behind the counter. She noticed that the girl had such thick makeup on her that it almost covered her entire face. This must be the trend in the mortal realm of the twenty-first century, she silently thought to herself. The tag that the girl had clipped on the outside of her uniform read in block letters, "Zhi Yue."
"Good morning, Miss," the girl, presumably the receptionist at Jiuchong Group, responded, trying very hard to smile. "How can I help you?"
"I am looking for Mr. Chong Lin," Fengjiu answered.
"I'm sorry that Mr. Chong is in a meeting right now with CEO Dong. Do you have a prior appointment?"
"No, I don't," Fengjiu said. "Then I'll just sit around and wait for him until he's out from his meeting." Before the girl could say anything more, she moved towards one of the sofas and sat herself down, crossing her legs and reading a magazine from the rack placed nearby.
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Four hours had passed, but there was no sign of Chong Lin or Dong Hua. Fengjiu impatiently headed to the front desk again.
"I'm sorry Miss, I've just found out that Mr. Chong is on sick leave this morning," Zhi Yue said apologetically.
"Is there anyone substituting his duties, whom I could talk to?"
"I'm afraid not. It was an emergency, so CEO Dong has his own ways of handling his affairs without Mr. Chong."
"Then, may I see CEO Dong?" She looked hopefully at Zhi Yue.
"CEO Dong won't see anyone without an appointment. Perhaps you could leave your name and number, and I will give you a call when your appointment is set up."
Fengjiu knew how it was like with these large groups of companies from her prior experience of dealing with such companies in the mortal realm. Probably her business card would go into the wastepaper bin, and she would be never to be heard of again. There had to be many different departments, so many that she wouldn't be able to get to Dong Hua easily. The building also appeared to be heavily guarded, as four tough-looking smart-dressed security officers paraded the hall, armed with batons and walkie-talkies. If she darted in, no matter how fast she was, Zhi Yue would be sure to call for help from security.
Also, she couldn't transform into her original form because she would be caught on one of the many security cameras in the building, and this would cause further issues between the realms. As she was in the mortal realm now, and they had their individual rules, she knew how going against the preset rules would affect Qingqiu. She couldn't behave as she liked in the mortal realm, she had to do as the mortals did. It was a punishable act if her identity was exposed. There was the risk that it would also indirectly affect or injure someone, particularly a helpless mortal, if she, as an immortal, broke the rules. It was just like how they weren't allowed to cast magic, as it would backfire on the caster and possibly hurt someone in the area of effect.
"I'll continue waiting then," she said pleasantly to Zhi Yue.
Zhi Yue looked at her strangely, as if to say 'this person just won't quit, eh?'. "CEO Dong has a number of appointments today. His time is fully booked."
"Can you just make an exception? It's very important," she said. Thinking quickly to create an excuse, she lied, "It's a matter of life and death. I have a personal debt to him, and I'm afraid I'm very sick now, so I need to see him as soon as possible." She pretended to cough on her sleeve.
The girl looked to be in a difficult state. "But I can't..." she started, and then paused when seeing a man in a black coat approach. "Ah, Mr. Xing, you're here. Could you help me out here?" While he looked important, he also looked friendly.
"I'll take over from here," the friendly-looking man said. He had a very trendy haircut and he looked like someone who could be trusted. Fengjiu decided to tell him what she was here for. The man invited her to follow him, and she did. Being the bold person she was, she had no fear of getting into trouble, neither did she feel that this man was out to put her in danger. If she was in danger, she would probably use one of her tricks to get away. After all, she was a fox, and a nine-tailed fox at that. Foxes were crafty, after all.
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She followed the man to one of the meeting rooms in the building.
"I'm Si Ming," the man introduced, passing her his business card, which she responded with giving him her business card in respect of Little Qingqiu as well. Si Ming's position in his business card read as 'legal adviser and business consultant of Jiuchong Group'. Did it mean he was an attorney?
"I'm Xiao Jiu." She looked exceptionally charming in her pink dress. Mortal dresses went well with any occasion, provided it didn't show off too much cleavage or was too short. Maybe she was a bit overdressed for the occasion, but the plain dress had brought out her innocence and sincerity very well.
"I heard from the receptionist that you are here to see the CEO. Is there something urgent?" he asked politely, looking at her but not staring, in a way that was considered appropriate in the mortal realm. She knew that in the mortal realm, mortals looked at each other in the eye but not in a challenging manner, and this was considered to be polite. It was rude for mortals to not look at each other in the eye when talking to each other.
"I have a business proposal, but I wanted to thank him for saving my life."
"Are you repaying a debt of gratitude?" Si Ming asked, as if he could read her mind.
"Uh, how did you know?" Fengjiu asked in surprise.
"Chong Lin has told me," Si Ming said with a smile. Fengjiu could see that his smile was very genuine, unlike that of Zhi Yue earlier. "Actually, I think I might be able to help you, but you have to be patient. The CEO just doesn't like to be disturbed. Actually, he wouldn't care much about this debt. You really don't have to be indebted." He looked at her with concern on his face, but at the same time, he seemed to be interested in this bizarre young girl.
"This is my business proposal," Fengjiu said, handing Si Ming a neatly bound booklet. "My business provides a number of services, ranging from decorations to advertisements and provision of manpower for events."
"So mainly, you do events?" Si Ming asked. "Jiuchong Group will have a public event coming up. I can't divulge much details now, but I will be sure to communicate with you in the future on this."
She couldn't believe her ears. At thirty thousand years old, she was still a childish fox, and she almost jumped for joy. Excitedly, she forgot her position as a professional business owner in the mortal realm and immediately asked Si Ming, "Really? You are willing to go so far to help me?"
Si Ming chuckled. "Yes, for a date."
Fengjiu gulped. Date? Was this man she had just known. interested in her? Were mortals all so straightforward?
"I was just joking, Miss Bai. Anyway, an opportunity to work together is a good thing for Jiuchong Group. Especially if you could help with our big event."
"When is it expected to be?" Fengjiu asked. "And what will be the theme?"
"That's very smart thinking," Si Ming said. "I think it'll be in the second week or the middle of next month, since we are already approaching the end of the month. Jiuchong Group has a lot of businesses, but since it will be the Mid-Autumn Festival soon, we are looking forward to promoting our businesses using that as a theme. We are also planning to give out mooncakes to attendees for free publicity and to promote Jiuchong Group in the market. Would you be able to arrange that?"
She was a good baker. Now that she knew the details and how easy it had sounded to her, there would be nothing that would keep her from striking the business deal with Si Ming. She agreed readily, giving him her word that she would be able to provide as much assistance as she could with the event. She knew about the festival and how the mortals would reunite with their families on this day. In addition, she had also read up on how it was celebrated differently in each part of the world, but the most common practice was to consume mooncakes and to light lanterns to commemorate the event.
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