Chapter 618: [Chapter 25] 7 Days 77,777 Asking for Monthly Pass!
Chapter 25: Talent Scout? Pyramid Scheme?
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That painting, after Yu Xiaodi "admired" it for a while, was still reluctantly destroyed. However, after destroying it, she used her phone to take a picture, indicating that she still wanted to share it with Li Yan often, and if possible, share it with Zhang Yurong.
So later, they took a mat and ran outside to the private beach to lie down and sunbathe. It’s December now, and although the weather in S city isn’t very cold, it’s still cool. With this kind of weather, the number of people coming to the beach to play has already decreased a lot. Just two months ago, during the Mid-Autumn Festival, it was still crowded with people.
However, the Yu Family’s villa area has private beaches. Although the area is not as large as the public seaside bath, it’s still enough, and no one will disturb them; it’s quiet and comfortable.
The current sun isn’t that scorching; after the midday warmth, the beach isn’t freezing, and lying on it is warm and cozy. For Li Yan, this is a rare, leisurely life. Although doing this often can be boring, occasionally lying by the sea and sunbathing is truly a pleasure. Yu Xiaodi even more so, although the beach isn’t far from her home, throughout the year, the time spent playing there is limited. Now being able to sunbathe together with someone she likes, she even forgets the discomfort of her cold.
An afternoon passed like this, and at five o’clock, Li Yan accompanied Yu Xiaodi to have dinner at her house first before leaving. For Yu Xiaodi, it was already satisfying that he could come over and spend an afternoon with her. Although if he could stay overnight, she would be more thrilled, in the current situation, she didn’t utter a word.
...
After dinner, leaving the Yu Family, Li Yan came back to that hotel again.
When he arrived at the gift shop, it wasn’t even six o’clock yet, but upon looking, that female shop assistant had already come to work, and he immediately went inside.
Although he only dealt with the store manager at noon, the manager might have gossiped with the others, so when other employees saw him enter, they all showed an ambiguous smile. This made Li Yan feel a bit embarrassed. In their eyes, how did I become someone here to pick up girls?
"You are...?" Seeing Li Yan walk up to her, this female shop assistant seemed to have also received the manager’s rendition, so she reacted quickly, but still didn’t quite recognize Li Yan.
Li Yan smiled and greeted her, then lowered his voice and said, "The last time I came here to shop, you left a very deep impression on me. This time I’m here, I definitely won’t interfere with your life, just because of work, could we... talk in another place? We still have more than ten minutes before six, we can totally chat for a bit and then come back."
"This... I..." Although this female shop assistant wasn’t a stunning beauty, she was somewhat attractive among ordinary people. Seeing Li Yan’s demeanor, how could she believe it was purely for work? Her job was to sell gifts, and they could easily chat here, why need another place? Li Yan’s attitude made her see it as hiding the truth.
"Sorry, I’m already on duty now, and it’s inconvenient to go out during work hours. If you need anything, you can speak directly, we will all help you and make sure you leave satisfied."
Seeing others smiling and watching, and the manager coming a bit closer, she deliberately spoke loudly and then sought help from the manager with her eyes.
But the manager wasn’t like that. This area is a tourist spot, full of hotels, but of varying quality. Truly high-end ones are only a few, including this one. The cheapest standard room here, even with a reserved discount, is over a thousand, so customers who can afford to stay here, whether with their own money or company expense, have decent income and relationship potential.
So, seeing her employee seemingly being pursued but inexperienced in dealing with it, she didn’t decisively drive the guest away but rather, with a more mature mindset, assisted them beautifully!
"Zixi, it’s meal time now, there aren’t many customers. This gentleman came to find you at noon and now came specially again, why don’t you go have a drink and chat for a while first?"
For the manager’s enthusiasm, Li Yan responded with a smile, feeling a bit wistful, thinking, if I weren’t in need of people too, leaving this Zixi here would be a waste; I wouldn’t be embarrassed to poach your person.
The female shop assistant named Zixi, hearing the manager’s words, felt a bit dizzy, couldn’t help but suspect if they were teaming up to introduce a boyfriend to her.
"We won’t go far, just to the cafe over there to chat. Please!" Li Yan said, leading the way out.
Having clarified where to go, and still being within the hotel, everyone felt more at ease, collectively encouraging Zixi to go out with him.
Zixi was helpless, watching her enthusiastic colleagues, she was even more certain that this was their trick to help introduce her to a boyfriend. Not wanting to reject their good intentions, nor could she disrespect everyone, she could only helplessly follow them out.
...
At the café, after ordering a cup of coffee each, Li Yan prepared to directly explain his purpose to avoid her leaving early.
"Your name is Zixi, right? What’s your last name? Or should I just call you Zixi?"
"Zeng, Zeng Zixi." The waitress felt Li Yan was pretending, because if her colleagues had introduced them, it wouldn’t be possible for him not to know her name.
"My name is Li Yan, you probably don’t remember me, but that’s okay. Here’s the thing..." Li Yan handed over a business card. "About half a month ago, one evening, I was in your store buying a gift, you were the one who assisted me. At that time, I wasn’t sure what to buy, but your advice made me resolutely buy a slightly tacky music box and then you suggested I buy a bouquet of flowers, saying all girls like flowers. As it turned out, both gifts were great..."
Purely buying gifts, it was not unusual for them to provide a store business card, but directly leaving her his own card, she basically only encountered this with Li Yan. Though that time was just her jokingly asking for it, she wasn’t sure where she had put that card, or if she had thrown it away, yet seeing him now with a business card from a film company as a general manager, she recalled that evening’s interaction.
"I remember! Were your gifts satisfactory to your girlfriend? That’s wonderful, customer satisfaction is our honor." Having recalled it, realizing this was a past customer rather than someone introduced by her colleagues as a boyfriend, Zeng Zixi warmed up significantly, losing much of her caution.
"Thanks to you, but today I came..."
"The manager said you wanted to ask some questions about gifts? Haha, I started to misunderstand, thinking they were joking with me." Zeng Zixi felt a bit embarrassed.
"No. Do you remember what I said to you that night? You left a very good impression on me, your observation, analysis, and eloquence are very good, you understand customers very well. I mentioned that if our company had a suitable position, we might try to recruit you. At that time, you said to leave you a business card, just in case you wanted more options for job hopping."
"Oh... yes, it seems you did say that." Zeng Zixi furrowed her brows slightly, then apologized, "But I’m really sorry, I’m doing well in my current job, the treatment here is nice, you see everyone treats me well, I’m happy here, and I’m not planning to switch jobs right now."
Her rejection was within Li Yan’s expectations: "You probably think I’m one of those people who pose as talent scouts to deceive girls, right? I can responsibly tell you, this is not the case! First of all, our company is new, but Paradise Group is a big conglomerate. Take our hotel business for example, the Prince Hotel brand is from our Paradise Group. Secondly, I myself am in charge and not a talent scout. Thirdly, I’m not looking for you to become a star, nor am I boasting about packaging you to make you famous, you won’t have to pay any auditions or anything like that."
Seeing Li Yan’s serious demeanor, Zeng Zixi was a bit surprised. Because she was very aware that she wasn’t star material, being recruited for movies was definitely a scam. She herself didn’t want to become a star, so after confirming Li Yan was from a film company, she hadn’t paid much attention to preserving that business card.
"Then what movies have you made? Why are you looking for me?" Zeng Zixi offered him a chance to continue speaking.
Faced with her doubt, Li Yan was somewhat embarrassed: "You’re challenging me now, I said we’re a new company, actually, we’re only now investing in our first film, haven’t started shooting yet, it’s still in preparation. But as you can see, I’m the general manager, I can’t just oversee investments, even though the head company is very wealthy, I must also be responsible for each investment. The specific shooting project already has professionals forming a crew, but I’m starting to worry about post-production marketing. You have great sales concepts, and a very dedicated work ethic, so I came to find you!"
"You came to find me, to sell movies?" Zeng Zixi widened her eyes, looking incredulous, "Mr. Li, I sell gifts, ranging from a few bucks to dozens, expensive ones are hundreds or thousands, you want me to sell something worth tens of millions, billions in films?"
Li Yan also felt he was pushing the boundaries, "Haha, indeed. Not only do you find it hard to believe, I bet if I refer this to my colleagues at the company, they too would find it incredible. But I believe in your potential! Moreover, no matter what you sell, you’re essentially selling the same thing — a product! Your gifts are products, and movies, when marketed to cinemas and viewers, are actually a product too. So I think there’s a common ground here."
Zeng Zixi still shook her head; she started to feel Li Yan seemed less like a fraudulent talent scout but could still be involved in multilevel marketing!
"Put it this way, the film’s marketing won’t be solely your responsibility, we’ll have a team to work together. Also, you have time to learn, the first film can be a learning experience and a buildup of experience, this one isn’t a blockbuster. You shouldn’t feel pressured, have faith in your abilities!"
Facing Li Yan’s encouragement, Zeng Zixi responded relatively coolly: "Mr. Li, I find you have better eloquence than me. Actually, you could do much better!"
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