Running Away Hand in Hand with the Second Female Lead - Chapter 43

 43 – With Young Master Fan’s Connections, It’s As Easy As A Snap Of A Finger

Qin Juran carefully placed the painting onto the mounting belt that the craftswoman held out. They had already spent a long time painting by now, so all that was left was to fill the dyes in the measuring cups and wait for the soap to harden in the mold.

Since this place was rather far from their campus, Qin Juran left S University’s address down so that they could mail it once the soap was ready.

Once they left, Qin Juran couldn’t help clutching the canvas once again to admire it. Ruan Nan raised a brow in response: “You’re not mad that I drew you as a fox?”

As Qin Juran climbed into the car, she cocked her head and asked, “You really think of me as a fox?”

Ruan Nan hesitated for a second, then nodded.

“Then what’s there to be angry about?”

“A little stray cat would never be able to outsmart a fox.”

It was nearly 6 p.m. already. Ruan Nan set the destination on her GPS, then sent a message to Lin Wei and the others notifying them that she was with Qin Juran and that they would come to the dinner together.

Lin Wei was ecstatic, but Zhou Ziqing quickly came up with an excuse that he had to accompany an important friend and might not be able to make it – whether it was because Qin Juran was coming or if he was actually telling the truth was a mystery.

After Ruan Nan reserved a small private room, she was about to start the car when Qin Juran received a phone call.

Not wanting to eavesdrop on her conversation, Ruan Nan purposely turned up the volume on her Bluetooth headphones. However, she still vaguely made out Qin Juran addressing the other party as “Mr. Chen,” followed by the question, “Right now?”

The call was very brief. After hanging up, Qin Juran had a serious expression on her face. Ruan Nan asked, “What is it?”

Qin Juran turned her phone around between her hands as if considering her options: “Ah-Ruan, I’m afraid I might have to pass on tonight. A while ago, a company contacted me for an internship over the break. We were supposed to meet tomorrow, but the HR representative just called me saying that they happened to be near S University tonight and was wondering whether I’d be able to meet them now.”

“Meeting at night? What company is this, is it safe?” Ruan Nan furrowed her brows.

Qin Juran nodded. Safety wasn’t an issue; this line of work tended to be more flexible and unstandardized, so the schedules didn’t necessarily follow a strict 9 to 5 agenda.

“The meeting location is a coffee shop in an upscale district near S University, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”

Before she achieved her goal, Qin Juran still wanted to try to conceal her exact job path from Ruan Nan.

“Then are you prepared for it?” Ruan Nan still had some doubts. “I can go with you?”

Qin Juran reached out to smoothen Ruan Nan’s hair, laughing, “Don’t worry, it’s not like I’m still a child, I shouldn’t have to take Ah-Ruan with me everywhere.”

Finally, Ruan Nan nodded wordlessly. Since Qin Juran’s formal clothes were back at her dorm, Ruan Nan picked up the speed and rushed towards their campus. Before she got out of the car, Ruan Nan asked, “You still haven’t told me which company it is.”

Qin Juran paused, “Wait until I pass. If the interview goes well and I’m accepted to work or collaborate, then I’ll host a celebratory dinner to make up for tonight’s, alright?”

Ruan Nan nodded, then spoke some words of encouragement before she left.

Once Qin Juran returned to her room, she wanted to immediately hang Ruan Nan’s painting on the wall, but she also didn’t want it to get dusty. Thus, she decided to find a different place for safekeeping for now.

After looking around for a while, Qin Juran finally decided upon the top shelf of the cupboard. Since it was only Huang Ying and herself in their dorm now, there was a lot of extra space. Qin Juran guessed that Huang Ying wouldn’t climb all the way up there to store anything.

Qin Juran stepped on a stool and carefully climbed up. As soon as she opened the cupboard, she nearly yelped. The entire shelf was filled with objects related to Fan Chuan: pictures, letters, a small bunch of keys, a scrunchie, and a book that seemed to be a diary. Qin Juran flipped open the cover, written on the first page were the words: “About our past and our future.”

Qin Juran didn’t have the habit of reading through other people’s diaries. She quickly assessed the items on the shelf, but she didn’t have time to take care of them at the moment, so she simply wrapped Ruan Nan’s painting in a small plastic bag and placed it inside the cupboard.

When she’d first reincarnated, she had cleaned out a box of pictures from her desk, but these items looked older. Perhaps they were memories of her unrequited love from high school.

It was quite the “fated” love story.

Qin Juran hurriedly closed the door and changed into a professional style white shirt and pencil skirt, topped off with a long casual blazer. She dabbed on a little makeup then headed out the door.

The “Sheng Heng” company’s HR meeting was in a coffee shop on Riverfront Road, which was in a relatively high-end business circle in the central city. If she called a taxi, there would probably be traffic at this time. Qin Juran glanced at her watch, then decided to take her electric bike. When she arrived, she boldly parked right outside the coffee shop entrance and placed an order first.

After a short while, the HR representative hurried inside the café. He looked to be a middle-aged man approaching his forties and was dressed in a professional suit. When he saw Qin Juran, he waved in a friendly manner.

Qin Juran had long prepared to be interviewed by a veteran HR, but this man seemed to be particularly amiable and approachable, so she felt reassured.

After standing up to shake hands, they sat down at a quiet seat by the window. Qin Juran walked over with cups of coffee for the both of them, then handed over the resume that she’d prepared.

Since the representative had already reviewed the electronic version, he simply glanced over it, then explained that he had a good understanding of Qin Juran’s situation. With her qualifications, she’d be a good fit for their company, and the rest was a matter of her knowledge in regard to the business specialty.

After chatting for a while, Qin Juran learned that this company specialized in producing creative ideas and KOLs.1 They planned to expand in the future to larger outlets such as popular video streaming websites and even hoped to produce web dramas or movies eventually.

Qin Juran was somewhat taken aback. Although she had already known that this world was extensive in terms of media and advertisements, how could such a small company with seemingly limited capital be so inclined to take such large risks to expand?

Mr. Chen sensed her apprehension and asked her what was wrong. Qin Juran voiced her concern: “Mr. Chen, in today’s world, no matter what industry you’re in, the top corporations already hold monopolies. Given the circumstances, if you want to make your way to the top and take a cut for yourself, it will be putting a lot of pressure and strain on the entire company.”

“In addition, if your company wants to enter the top, then you will have to deal with publicity and advertising agencies, brokerage companies, and even largescale online trade unions. By trying so hard to play in someone else’s field, wouldn’t you worry that you’d be using too much of the companies’ human resources?” 2

Once Qin Juran finished speaking, she realized that she might’ve come off too strong. She took a sip of her coffee and flashed a polite smile.

Meanwhile, Mr.Chen looked to be deep in thought, considering her words. He nodded and smiled, “Miss Qin, you most definitely are not lacking in knowledge; I can tell you’ve done your research. In regard to what you just said, I’m sure you understand what is considered the ‘lifeline’ to companies in this industry?”

“Investments?”

“Precisely. Although the Sheng Heng Company has only been established relatively recently, based on the fact that we are aiming so high and working to establish a solid foothold in S city, I’m sure it goes without saying how strong our financial backers are?”

Qin Juran paused. When she met Mr. Chen’s gleaming eyes, she immediately understood his meaning.

A company is supposed to build its way from the ground up, but with investments, it is not necessarily so linear. It was just like in her previous life, where she had excellent financial support and was able to have a much higher starting point since she first established her business.

This Sheng Heng Company might just be the effort of the child of some big shot CEO who wanted to break out on their own, or perhaps it was the new product of a larger enterprise that was trying to expand their market. In short, they were not lacking in money.

Qin Juran didn’t ask anymore, instead redirecting the conversation to discuss the duration and duties of the internship. She mentioned that this semester’s coursework was fairly important, so she was thinking of focusing on her school work and joining during winter break. She didn’t know which position the company would assign her to, but she was just considering whether to express her preference in event planning when Mr. Chen interjected:

“Miss Qin, would you be confident to lead your own team?”

“Lead a team by myself?” Qin Juran raised her brows.

“Not quite ready yet?”

Qin Juran flattened her palms on the resume before her: “It’s not that I’m not ready, but is your company really this confident in new interns?”

Mr. Chen seemed a little thrown off, and his eyes flicked away for a brief second: “Miss Qin, you did an excellent job in promoting Juju Tavern. If you choose to work at Sheng Heng, then the team that you’d lead would also be in the same veins of ‘nostalgic urban’ establishments.”

At this point, Qin Juran became somewhat dubious. The two of them sat quietly for a while, calmly sipping their coffee. Feeling the atmosphere becoming awkward, Mr. Chen cleared his throat, “Miss Qin, sometimes the greatest asset is your own ability.”

Qin Juran pursed her lip, considering his words: “Alright. Could I have some time to think about it and get back to you within a week?”

Mr. Chen: “Of course.”

The entire “interview” seemed to pass quickly, as it was nearly 10 p.m. before they even knew it. As the two walked out of the café, Mr. Chen glanced at his watch: “Did you drive yourself, Miss Qin? If you took a cab, then I happen to have a friend coming to pick me up, we could drop you off at your school on the way.”

Qin Juran brazenly pointed to the neon green electric bike parked right outside the café entrance. “Thank you for the offer, Mr. Chen, but I’m alright. I rode my bike here, it’s very convenient.”

Qin Juran politely said her goodbyes. Mr. Chen expressed that he’d be waiting for his friend to come before saying goodbye as well.

Soon after, a black Mercedes pulled around the street corner and stopped in front of the café. As Chen Zheng climbed into the car, the driver greeted him with a “Good evening, President Chen.”

“Mm.”

Chen Zheng’s driver was his wife’s younger brother, so they usually chatted during their rides. Seeing the pensive expression on Chen Zheng’s face, the driver replied, “What’s wrong, Brother-in-law? The interview with the new hire didn’t go well?”

Chen Zheng chuckled: “Oh, it went well, almost too well.”

“Then why the long face?”

Chen Zheng let out a cold laugh: “I can’t stand being the wingman for that man’s son – that little mop-headed boy thinks he can just use me when he likes. The Fan family sure knows how to make full use of their people.”

The driver responded, “Brother-in-law, is this the matter that young master Fan spoke with you about the other day? But with young master Fan’s connections, wouldn’t luring her in be as easy as a snap of a finger? Why is it so complicated?”

Chen Zheng snorted: “She’s a beautiful girl, very capable, and with excellent grades to top it off. There’s no boyfriend that’s deserving of such a girl – even though she rides around town on her electric bike, she is not arrogant at all. This girl could completely eat up the kind of young masters like Fan Chuan who had everything handed to them on a silver platter from birth.”

“But it’s fine, this is also an opportunity for me. As long as I help him, then my offer at Sheng Chuan is practically secured. Who would want to stay in such a small company for the rest of their life?”

“And you better shut your mouth, too – don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

Footnotes