The Sales Executive’s New Love Interest – Chapter 2

Song An Yi was a golden businesswoman. Therefore, each day was always busy training new members, whilst also servicing the old members attentively.

Usually after each order, the list would then enter the company’s system through the foreign affairs department. Colleagues then took over the single row of tasks. It wasn’t the same as before when each list needed to be properly taken care of, and each had certain conditions. However, there were still some exceptions. If VIP members of Efficiency paid for more than two years of membership and required a good consultation, even if they asked her to clean the toilet every day, she would do it. Song An Yi loved her job, and most of all, she loved money.

“Professor, do you want tea?”

Song An Yi smiled until it reached her eyes. The man in front of her was Efficiency’s money bag. Zhou Mo had paid three years of payment for his membership, and had never missed his fees. He was regarded as a Platinum VIP, so she had to do her best to please this person.

Currently, this Professor was sitting leisurely in the Zhou family’s study room reading. It was early winter, the warm sunshine from the window obliquely projected through the air. The scent of the tea permeated throughout the room, inducing an atmosphere nostalgic of the ancient times. This kind of atmosphere was difficult to describe as it had an ethereal feeling.

Before the story begins, let’s take a look at the full-time Professor Zhou.

Zhou Mo was a visiting professor of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Arts, also known for their collection of international heirlooms and antiquities. Ah, it is also important to mention that all this was owned by the Zhou family!

During the past few years, the Zhou family owned the largest pawnshops in the capital. In 1949, due to the chaos of the situation, it had led to the influx of wealth. A lot of treasured antiques were sold into the pawnshop. Although, the Zhou family no longer have operating pawnshops as of now, the Zhou family’s heir, of this generation, have still been collecting antiquities and occasionally auctioning them off.

Experts say, “The world’s richest person is not a banker, but a collector.” These days, regardless of whether your style was Chinese or Western, the Zhou family still had the largest collection. It was to the point where the Zhou family required strict regulations to control the management of their treasury. Also known as the World’s Little Palace.

Ah, her whole day would be spent on interacting with this eccentric man and breathing the dust of ancient antiques. It was very sophisticated, no? People say Professor Zhou was handsome. She looked at him and saw he had a high nose. His facial features were akin to a knife. Deep and charming, his sharp brown eyes were hidden behind his frameless-plain glasses. He seemed like the person who had a good temperament. His physique was tall and straight. The phrase that could describe him in this moment was, “tall poppy”.

[According to Wikipedia, “The tall poppy syndrome describes aspects of a culture where people of high status are resented, attacked, cut down or criticized simply because they have been classified as superior to their peers.”] 

Professor Zhou was taciturn, but he possessed an intimidating aura. Even if Song An Yi has known him for six months, she was still scared to be friends with him. He was mysterious which naturally made people curious, but Song An Yi wouldn’t dare to inquire about his life.

“Professor Zhou, how is the taste? Today, I added mint leaves and Shengjin licorice.”

Recently, Song An Yi has been experimenting with tea. She bought a variety of herbs and tea while making some unique combinations. Whether it was chamomile tea plus roses, or orange blossom tea with cinnamon leaves, she has mixed most of them. Her tea style was bold. She was honing her skills, so she could let her brothers and sisters in Efficiency taste her tea making abilities. No one wants to be a guinea pig. Therefore, she can sacrifice this Professor Zhou to become her scapegoat and try her first batch.

Of course, Song An Yi carefully thought of which flowers to add and which tea she should use. If she wasn’t careful, she could lose their Platinum VIP members. Then Efficiency would suffer abasement from other companies by being too stingy with their tea. No one was willing to drink her tea yet, but she has known Professor Zhou for six months. There was a bit of hesitation in handing him the tea, but he should consider their friendship.

One was a mysterious collector, and the other was a housekeeping businesswoman. Two people in different worlds; will there been an intersection? This dates back to six months ago. Her mother was taking a calligraphy class, and she got along with the teacher. The teacher was Professor Zhou’s mother; then the two started to become sworn sisters. Professor Zhou’s mother, who was worried about her son living alone, told her grievances to Song An Yi’s mother. Her mother then recommended her own daughter  to solve the problem.

Song An Yi was a professional person; she tried to separate her private life and business life as much as possible. This job could have been handled by one of the company’s most experienced aunt who could tackle this heavy task. The company could have accepted his request regardless of the time and date he chose. But this Professor Zhou, like the troublesome person that he is, had an eccentric personality. He personally did not want to clean the house as he wanted to hire someone else to do it; aside from that, he also wanted to monitor the housekeeper’s activities. Such as restricting them access from his bedroom and bathroom— preventing them from keeping the rooms clean and bright. Even other areas of the house haven been covered with a layer of dust, yet he still turns a blind eye to it.

He was quite aloof— not liking strangers coming in and out of his house, yet he still requested that this job should be handled by Song An Yi. When faced with the question of why, his response was very simple: “It’s about time you came to my house.” She was confused with his ambiguous response. It was direct, yet it had a lot of possible meanings. In her eyes, he was antisocial and didn’t like strangers, so she was confused why she was allowed into his house.

In the end, everything was a business deal. It was irrelevant that a Platinum VIP member was her friend. There was nothing good to discuss. Thinking about it, both of their parents knew that there was only a slim possibility of a relationship happening between them. At least their friendship did not reach the point where it was awkward. She was the only person who held a card that accessed Professor Zhou’s home. Other women could climb his bed every week, and he could choose another one the next day. The privileges he gave her made other women “bite their handkerchiefs” until they were green with envy. Even the neighbors asked her what her relationship was with Professor Zhou.

[Biting their handkerchiefs: being frustrated or angry. It is akin to grinding one’s teeth.]

But in Song An Yi’s mind, Professor Zhou was the company’s Platinum VIP member. He was also the son of her mother’s teacher. Therefore, she needed to be serious when doing this task. Occasionally sharing some interesting news, while at the same trying to not act bombastic. Being presumptuous in the presence of a handsome man was illogical, and she didn’t tolerate that sort of behavior.

The point is, she has a boyfriend, so the charming Professor Zhou was safe. His beautiful, female neighbors wouldn’t have to bite their handkerchiefs and cast her looks of resentment.

“Today’s mint leaves are fresh and were handpicked by me. Last Sunday, I went to the farmer’s market to buy a pot of mints. Mint shouldn’t be difficult to raise, right? Back then, I was casually raising some plants. All of them died. In the end, I was ridiculed by my mother and Xia Li Huan for a very long time.”

“Professor Zhou, you remember Xia Li Huan, right? She is Efficiency’s big boss. Every time when she’s on the phone, I talk loudly. So this time, I’m trying not to put the mint to death, or else Xia Li Huan will laugh at me again. Maybe then, all of Efficiency’s workers might be able to hear it.”

During these six months, their interactions were mostly the same. Professor Zhou had, as usual, little words to say; his visage remained stoic. The room would often be filled with her voice, but she was full of vitality. Nothing could sway her enthusiasm. Her dictionary never had the word quiet, nor was she familiar with it. She always shared news with him that she thought were interesting. Even if Professor Zhou did not respond, as long as he never told her to shut up, his reaction didn’t matter.

Seeing Professor Zhou’s cup was empty, Song An Yi poured the teapot to re-fill his cup. This British-styled cup was made of porcelain, and it had sophisticated designs, looking quite delicate.

“Professor Zhou, do you want some handmade biscuits?”

Zhou Mo blinked his long eyelashes. There was a moment of silence.

Song An Yi shrugged. It was quite clear that he was not ready to taste the flavor of the second catastrophe. Evidently, he must have been frightened by last time’s Longan rice cake.

She raised her hand and earnestly said, “Please rest assured. I swear that today’s snack does not contain any additional ingredients aside from what is found in the recipe.”

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I’m not really sure, but this might be a picture of Shengjin licorice. Please don’t hesitate to email me the correct picture. Thanks.

 

Chamomile Tea (but imagine the daisies as rose petals):

 

Orange Blossom Tea:

 

This is (hopefully) Longan Rice Cake:

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