I sat down across from Jian Wei. She ordered a latte for me and a Misto coffee for herself, just like we used to do three years ago when we came to Starbucks.

In fact, I’m not really used to drinking coffee anymore because it makes me too prone to insomnia, but I still couldn’t shake off the thought of having this latte.

Without any unnecessary words, I cut straight to the chase and asked Jian Wei, “What’s the situation with your company now?”

“We have two top-tier advertising planners, three top-tier designers, and several senior planners and designers. We can fully meet the needs of our clients.”

I nodded. If Jian Wei’s advertising company had such a team, then they would have a strong foundation to negotiate with real estate companies.

“Where did you find these elites?” I asked, somewhat puzzled.

Jian Wei replied calmly, “I poached them from my father’s company, and some were introduced by friends.”

I fell silent. Although Jian Wei had said she wouldn’t rely on her father’s resources, when it came to starting a business, she would inevitably accept some help. But it was undeniable that with these industry elites joining, her company would develop more easily.

During my silence, Jian Wei handed me a document and said, “These are the cases our planners and designers have worked on. Familiarize yourself with them. It will be helpful for your negotiations.”

I nodded and started to flip through the document. It included some advertising planning cases for major real estate companies. I understood that these classic cases alone had already secured a significant advantage for successful negotiations.

At this point, Jian Wei looked at me seriously and said, “Zhao Yang, I need to remind you that this business is quite challenging. Although we have a significant advantage in planning and design personnel, our company’s advertising resources are very limited. So far, we haven’t secured a single outdoor billboard in Suzhou city. You should know that real estate mainly relies on large outdoor advertisements.”

I nodded again. The lack of advertising resources was indeed the biggest obstacle in negotiation. Compared to advertising planning capabilities, real estate developers value the advertising resources that an advertising company has. After all, no matter how good the planning is, it’s useless without a medium to spread it.

I asked Jian Wei with a puzzled look, “If the cooperation can be negotiated, how are you going to solve the problem of advertising placement?”

“We will buy advertising channels from other advertising companies that have resources.”

“That’s quite risky! What if those advertising companies refuse to sublet their advertising channels to protect their own interests?”

“That’s not something you need to worry about. You just focus on the negotiation. I will solve the problem of advertising channels.”

I looked at Jian Wei, feeling that her statements were somewhat contradictory. On one hand, she reminded me that the lack of resources could be a negotiation obstacle. On the other hand, she told me not to worry about the lack of resources and to negotiate boldly.

I took a sip of my coffee and didn’t think too much about it. After all, company bosses are good at playing this game. They remind their employees not to be complacent and encourage them not to lose confidence. It’s just that Jian Wei, as a new boss in the workplace, didn’t handle this balance well, which made me feel a bit contradictory.

I put the document Jian Wei gave me into my briefcase and asked her, “When will we arrange a meeting with the other company?”

“We can arrange a meeting after our planners and designers come up with a preliminary plan for the project. It should be in about three days. You can use this time to familiarize yourself with the real estate projects that Jinding Real Estate is developing in Suzhou.”

I nodded and asked, “Doesn’t Jinding Real Estate go through a public bidding process for this annual advertising agency?”

“They actually did a public bidding a while ago, but they didn’t find a satisfactory advertising company during the bidding process. So this is both a challenge and an opportunity for us. Do you have confidence, Zhao Yang?”

“I’ll give it my best shot.”

Jian Wei smiled and said, “I believe you can successfully secure this project.”

I simply responded to Jian Wei with a “Thank you for your trust”. In my heart, I understood the difficulty of securing this project. But in business, as long as you can accurately identify the customer’s needs and perfectly cater to them, the chances of success will be greatly increased. So, I need to put in some hard work to pinpoint this key point of customer needs.

…

After leaving the coffee shop, Jian Wei and I drove to the hospital to visit Circle. When we left the hospital, it was already eight o’clock in the evening.

Driving home alone, I couldn’t help but notice the couples on the street, whispering sweet nothings to each other. It made me feel a bit lonely and helpless, because it seemed that Mi Cai and I had never enjoyed the ease and simplicity of being in love.

For example, right now I wanted to treat her to a Häagen-Dazs ice cream, let her snuggle in my arms, and watch her happy smile. But the reality was: she was probably attending a high-end business banquet in Shanghai at this moment.

Her status and busyness had made it difficult for us to have such small sweet moments, so I didn’t dare to hope for them anymore.

When I got back to the old house, I immediately took out the project information of Jinding Real Estate and started studying it. I understood that for me at this stage, my career was the most important thing. After all, I was already 27 years old, and the time left for me to strive was getting less and less.Perhaps this is the downside of dating after stepping into society, after all, it’s impossible to have as much time to spend with each other as when we were in school.

After more than an hour, I finally felt tired, closed the documents, and stared blankly at the floor lamp across the sofa.

After staring at it for a while, I suddenly wanted to chat with it like I used to, talk about my recent troubles, and let it keep my secrets. These seemingly emotionless objects are actually the best companions when you’re lonely, because they will never mock or get tired of you.

After lighting a cigarette, I started to ramble… until the door of the room was opened.

I was somewhat surprised to see Mi Cai suddenly appearing in front of me.

She also looked at me in surprise and asked, “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I thought you weren’t coming back to Suzhou tonight.”

Mi Cai smiled and said, “If I didn’t come back, you would be bored alone, wouldn’t you?”

Knowing that Mi Cai came back specifically to accompany me, the overwhelming sense of loneliness just now vanished instantly. So I said to her, who was changing her shoes, “Don’t change, let me treat you to something.”

“Hmm? What are we eating?”

“You’ll know in a bit.” I said as I finished changing my shoes, then pulled Mi Cai and ran downstairs.

…

The temperature tonight wasn’t too low, the wind blowing over carried a hint of warmth. I asked Mi Cai to wait for me outside while I went into the shop to buy two ice cream cones.

I sat down next to Mi Cai and handed her one of the cones, saying, “This is for you.”

Mi Cai looked a bit hesitant and asked, “Should I really eat it?”

I nodded and said, “Don’t all girls like this? Just now when I was on my way home, I saw a girl eating it happily. It really fits the ad slogan ‘If you love her, treat her to Haagen-Dazs’.”

Mi Cai smiled, took the ice cream from my hand, and started eating while leaning on my shoulder… In this world where only the two of us existed, I finally felt that she was my girlfriend.

After Mi Cai finished one of the ice cream cones, I handed her the other one. She looked at me and asked, “Aren’t you going to eat?”

I shook my head, “Watching you eat is the most comforting thing for me. Go ahead.”

Mi Cai looked at me for a long time before taking it from my hand. But this time she ate very slowly. Then I inadvertently saw her holding her lower abdomen, but quickly let go.

I’m not that insensitive, so I asked her nervously, “Are you on your period? Do you have cramps?”

“It’s okay!”

I held her tightly in my arms, feeling touched but also guilty. I was really a jerk for letting her eat ice cream while she was on her period.

Mi Cai whispered to me, “Zhao Yang, I know that sometimes I’m too busy with work and don’t pay enough attention to you, neglecting your feelings. I hope you don’t blame me… But, I really enjoy simply and casually spending time with you like this!”

“Don’t say that, actually I’m the one who’s not doing well enough, always causing trouble for you.”

Mi Cai left my shoulder, her voice still very soft as she said, “Yesterday I found a bouquet of flowers in your car, you were planning to give it to me, weren’t you? Why didn’t you give it to me in the end, but went to the bar to drink instead?”