"Mr. Lin, this line of traditional style blind boxes your company, Chaoshang Creative, is doing has absolutely no originality. Right now the market is full of the same old stuff in new packaging. If that's all it is, there's no reason for us to invest those five million."
"Mr. Wang, please take a look at our plan B. We can upgrade the packaging material."
"No need. It's a waste of time."
"Wait. Mr. Wang." I stood up. "Please, just look at this set of data before you go."
"This is a five-million project," Shen Miao hissed at my elbow. "Please don't start acting up now. This guy across from us is a total skeptic. He won't believe any of this. If you mess this up, we're all doomed today."
"This isn't just regular market research data," I said. "This is from the past three months, when I visited seventeen different offline figure stores in the city and personally tracked the repurchase rates of discarded blind boxes. The data proves that a share of the audience is already experiencing aesthetic fatigue from excessive packaging."
Mr. Wang sat back down without appearing to notice he was doing it.
"So?"
"So my trump card is to use eco-friendly materials, and use reverse marketing to turn the uncontrollable minor flaws in production into unique, one-of-a-kind battle-damaged secret editions."
"You gathered all this data by yourself?"
"Yes. Step by step, all on my own. It's all first-hand real feedback. There isn't a drop of fluff in it."
"Reverse marketing. Battle-damaged secret editions. That's brilliant. This girl under your wing works hard and has a sharp mind. Mr. Lin, leave the proposal here. I'll send someone to sign the contract tomorrow."
I got all the way to the corridor before my knees remembered what had happened.
"Oh my God, Jin Jin. When did you secretly evolve into such a big shot?"
"Miao, you scared me to death. My legs were shaking like crazy while I was talking back there. But hey — it wasn't just nonsense."
Man, that feeling of winning purely on talent is absolutely exhilarating.
"You did great," Lin Chaoshang said. "It wasn't just luck. Sign the contract with me tomorrow. Su Jin, you have real talent."
"Cheers. Let's celebrate Chaoshang Creative landing that five-million deal. And a special shout-out to our head planner and MVP, Su Jin."
"Let me tell you a secret, Su Jin." Shen Miao leaned over the grill. "Boss Lin is usually such a stubborn stick-in-the-mud. He never shows up to our victory parties. He thinks we're too loud, and usually just drops a red envelope in the group chat and calls it a day. Today, he actually approved a three-thousand budget for our team building out of nowhere, and he even said he's coming in person."
He's coming in person? A notorious workaholic with such a cold, perfectionist streak? He's actually willing to come to a street-side barbecue? Must be a sign of the apocalypse.
He came, and he brought a crate.
"Here. Pass these out to everyone. One for each of you. The newest noise-canceling headphones."
"Oh my God, long live the boss."
"And this one is yours."
"This is just for me? It feels so light. It wouldn't be some kind of magic good luck charm, or maybe an amulet blessed by a monk, would it?"
It was a shoebox. Inside were flats in soft dark leather, lined, with my size stamped in gold on the tongue.
"Boss, about this—"
"You ran to seventeen different stores for it. Don't your feet hurt? Wear these when you go out from now on."
The whole table had gone quiet enough to hear the skewers.
"He gives us headphones to listen to music, but for Jin Jin he goes straight to custom-made soft leather shoes."
"These shoes probably cost as much as ten pairs of those headphones. Talk about blatant favoritism. Even business reimbursements don't work like this."
"She's the head planner," Lin Chaoshang said. "She deserves special treatment. Any objections?"
"No. No objections at all. Please, play favorites as much as you want. We're heading off to get some barbecue."
Oh my God, how does he even know my heels were blistered? These shoes feel so soft to the touch, but my heart is melting even more.
The phone call came four days later, and then the man himself, waiting in the lobby coffee shop with a business card already out.
"Miss Su, that battle-damaged blind box proposal from your Chaoshang Creative has absolutely set the industry on fire. I've already done my homework on you. All those data points were gathered by you alone. How much of a base salary is Lin Chaoshang giving you? I'll offer you double, plus year-end bonus, and the title of lead manager. Just come work for us at Xingyao."
Double the salary, plus the bonuses, plus the lead role. If this were half a year ago, I'd have hugged his leg and called him my savior. But now — sorry, I'm not interested. Boss Lin is the kind of guy who even hands over his New Year money and his bank books to me. Do I look like the kind of career traitor who only cares about money?
"Sorry, Director Li. I'm doing just fine at Chaoshang. The team atmosphere is great and my boss supports me. I have no plans to jump ship."
"Don't be so quick to say no. That Lin Chaoshang guy is famous for being cold-hearted and impossible to please. I heard he doesn't even show up for company events. He's basically a cold-blooded machine. If you stick with a boss who has no sense of human connection, what kind of future can you really have?"
"Director Li." Lin Chaoshang pulled out the third chair and sat down in it. "You're poaching my talent right in front of me. Have you forgotten all decorum?"
"Boss Lin, don't misunderstand. A rare talent like Miss Su will naturally choose a better platform. The market will naturally offer a fair price."
"She doesn't care about the platform, and she isn't lacking money."
"Boss Lin, that's a pretty bold claim. We're all just working for a paycheck, aren't we? Isn't that the whole point of going out to work? If Miss Su won't even consider an offer like this—"
"I laid all my cards on the table. Everything I own. It's all hers now. Everything I have is hers."
So what do I see in you? Your terrible temper? Your gloomy face? Or my own stupidity and money to burn?
This is clearly a public declaration of ownership and a backhanded marriage proposal. Lin Chaoshang, your aloof and untouchable persona has completely collapsed. Do you even realize your coffee has gone cold?
"Let's go. Get upstairs and sign the papers."
"Sign what papers? An anti-poaching clause?"
"Boss's wife equity stake. Ha. You're not getting away now."
"Jin Jin, why are you acting like a thief today?" Shen Miao caught my chin the next morning and turned my face toward the window. "Your dark circles are so heavy. What were you up to last night?"
What could I be doing? Last night, someone just had to drag me in to sign some agreement. He read off three solid hours of overbearing terms. My legs turned to jelly just thinking about it.
"I didn't do anything. Just stayed up late fixing a proposal."
"Drink this brown sugar ginger tea while it's still hot," said a voice above me, and put a cup down.
"Boss, my period started, too," somebody called from the next row. "I want some brown sugar ginger tea, too."
"There isn't any left. That's the only cup. She was working overtime last night. This is compensation."
Big brother, what happened to the secret relationship we agreed on? This acting wouldn't even fool a dog, you know.
At lunch he sat down across from me in the staff canteen and started putting pork ribs into my bowl.
"Eat more. You're way too thin."
"Boss, what are you doing? Everyone is watching."
"Let them watch."
"The staff food is terrible. I can't eat this," someone said further down the table. "We can't let it go to waste. Boss, how about I help you finish it?"
"No way. This is hers. Go to another table."
Boss Lin, do you have some kind of misunderstanding about the word low-key? If this keeps up, the whole company is going to know I'm the boss's wife.
"I don't like secret relationships," he said, when he had me alone in the copy room. "It feels like being a thief."
"Boss Lin, I'm begging you. I just used that blind box proposal to prove what I can do. If we go public now, everyone is going to say I got the project by pulling strings. Just bear with it. Bear with it one month, okay?"
"No way. That's too long. One week, tops."
He put a hand on the wall beside my head, which is when the door opened.
"Sorry to interrupt. You two keep on wall-pinning each other. I'll come back to use the copier later."
It's over. Now I'll never be able to clear my name.
"Then don't clear it," he said. "We'll just go public early."
Lin Chaoshang, you schemer. You totally left the door unlocked on purpose, didn't you? My professional reputation — it's all gone today.
"When on earth did you two get together?"
"No wonder he gave you those high-end leather shoes."
"No wonder he was even feeding you pork ribs at lunch."
"It was an accident. The printer just got jammed."
"It's over. It's over. Boss Lin is calling an all-staff meeting. He's definitely going to make an example out of someone."
He stood at the front of the room with his hands behind his back and waited until the last chair stopped scraping.
"This month, our success is all thanks to our lead planner for the blind box project, Su Jin. I am now announcing a personal matter."