242 Team 2 in 1 (1/2)
In the email, Han Chu mentioned that Ye Shuang could meet up with the other agent when she was 'convenient'. Ye Shuang believed Han Chu was hinting at the swapping of her gender. So far, Han Chu had not fully discovered the rules to Ye Shuang's gender swapping. If Ye Shuang did not say anything, he would keep his thoughts to himself, as if the accidental discovery that he stumbled across earlier did not even happen. If not for the fact that Ye Shuang would return to her own bedroom to change her clothes whenever she discussed official business with the man until midnight, perhaps Han Chu could really have convinced himself it never happened.
However, whether she was in her male form or female form, when she met someone for the first time, she had to reserve a few days to continue the interaction. In other words, Ye Shuang could not meet someone for the first time with Sister Shuang's identity one day and then change into Brother Shuang the next day to get to know the person again. Therefore, considering the amount of time that she had left until the transformation, Ye Shuang decided to wait one more day before she went to contact the other agent.
The night passed by without anything interesting happening. The following morning, Ye Shuang used her magnetic male voice to call the agent and told him that she needed to attend to some things, so she would meet him the afternoon of the following day.
The agent on the phone sounded very relaxed; it was a kind of relaxation that came from years of experience. Ye Shuang speculated the man's age was around forty. When he spoke, he was slow and casual, but the brain moved very fast. He was able to latch onto the main point instantly, and despite his way of speech, the agent was not one to give others face and cut right into the point.
”I will only be staying for a week in Shanghai. I don't mind how you arrange the time, but in seven days, my daughter will need to return to school. As long as you have confidence that you can resolve the issue within this period of time, I don't mind whether we meet earlier or later,” the agent said lazily, and laughter could be heard in the background—it sounded like he was at some kind of theme park. ”Similarly, if the issue is not resolved within these seven days, no matter what the problem is, I will have to leave. After all, we're all here to find a way to feed ourselves. Even for the sake of the peace of the universe, we cannot let our normal work be affected. Little Brother Ye, what do you think?”
Ye Shuang chuckled. ”These things cannot be solved in two or three days. I feel like Brother Han's intention is for us to meet first to share some support and information. Therefore, this small thing shouldn't take up too much time. I'm sorry, but how should I refer to you? What I mean is that, it won't affect your normal schedule.”
”My surname is Zhang; you can call me Brother Zhang.” The middle-aged man did not seem like he was willing to reveal his full name. ”Currently, we won't be interacting too much, so there is no need for us to get to know each other so well. Mr. Han's meaning is that currently you have the ability to approach the job scope of a mid-tier agent. Because of that, he wants to make some introductions and explain some things to you… Alright, I'll see you tomorrow at around noon then. Tomorrow, my family plans to go for local cuisine. Do you want to come along, Xiao Ye?”
Ye Shuang understood the implication. ”I also have some friends in Shanghai. Since Brother Zhang and Sister Zhang are interested, then let me book the restaurant for you.”
Did Agent Zhang not know people in Shanghai? Of course, that was impossible! As an agent who had entered the business earlier than Ye Shuang, even though he might not have the natural advantages that Ye Shuang did, he did have the experience and connections that he had collected over the years.
The man had probably come to Shanghai to expand his business several times already—after all, the economy here was vibrant, and there were many opportunities. It was the easiest place to find the talent to fit the client's requirement, but since the man had already placed Ye Shuang in the capacity of a junior and stated clearly that Han Chu had told him to lead Ye Shuang into the world of a mid-tier agent, then as a person who was going to be taught a lesson, there was no way that she would let this 'leader' pay for the meal on their first meeting.
The first conversation on the phone ended quite happily. Both parties had rather neutral impressions of each other; they needed to observe more before they could come to a conclusion. However, Ye Shuang did acquire some additional information. She suddenly realized that the agents under Han Chu did not seem to share the same status. At least before this, she had not heard that there was a separation of agents into high, middle, and low tiers.
After finishing the call with the agent, Ye Shuang used Brother Shuang's voice to call Boss Mo. She asked politely for some recommendations of good local restaurants and made her request of getting Boss Mo to make a booking for her. Boss Mo was willing to help her, and she was dragged to have a little chat on the phone with the man. They communicated about the issue regarding the cameo, and that officially ended what Ye Shuang had to do for the day.
The day after, Brother Shuang appeared. She changed and left the hotel in the morning. She soon arrived at the restaurant that Boss Mo had told her about through a text message. She entered the private room before calling Agent Zhang.
The agent arrived one hour later with his wife and daughter. As Ye Shuang expected, the man looked to be in his forties. His physique was not bad considering his age. Even though there was no muscle, at least there was not a beer belly either.
”Xiao Ye?” After the middle-aged man entered the room, he greeted Ye Shuang first. Then he stopped to take a good look of Brother Shuang's face. He smiled and nodded before sitting down leisurely. He then took care of his wife and daughter as they also took their seats. Finally, he opened his mouth to say, ”I only heard from Mr. Han that your surname is Ye. I'm surprised that you would end up being a movie actor.”
”It's just a cameo role.” Ye Shuang sighed. ”I've realized that all the new contacts that I've met recently tell me that.”
It was just a cameo character, but Ye Shuang did not expect the aftereffect would be so powerful and lasting. Of course, it was already better compared to when the movie was at the height of its popularity. At least now, Brother Shuang did not need to wrap himself up like a mummy when he left his room.
”The truly talented are often the famous ones as well.” The middle-aged man nodded and turned sideways to introduce his family. ”This is my wife and my daughter.”
And… that was it.
The man's wife looked very virtuous. After she entered the room, she did not appear particularly friendly, but she did smile at Ye Shuang. The man's daughter was at a high school age, and she wore a simple jeans and sweater. After she entered the room, she removed the sweater. She did not wear any extra accessories. There was only a simple protective seal that was tied around her neck using a red string. When she noticed Brother Shuang was looking at them, the wife acted normally, but the young girl had a blush rising to her cheeks. Her eyes darted away shyly like she was embarrassed being stared at by a handsome guy.
Ye Shuang looked at the middle-aged man, who was pouring the tea for himself and did not continue his introduction. The latter smiled and added, ”This is the first point that I want to say—there are three of us agents. Adding you, that will be four. There is no need for us to get to know each other as long as we have each other's contact information.”
There was no need to share names, career information, and background. The interaction was like online friends—they knew each other, but there was no need to get to know each other. Ye Shuang thought about it and asked, ”Is this to avoid possible implications? But what if the relationship does get closer?”
”Then so be it.” The middle-aged man moved slowly. ”There is not a ban in place. If both parties have a good impression of each other and decide it is not bad to be friends, then go ahead. There isn't a rule set in place to prevent that.”
He might have said so, but the middle-aged man did not add anything after that. Ye Shuang looked at the fact that he did not even introduce his wife and daughter's names, and she understood immediately—the man was not there to be friends with him. Then again, that was no surprise. After all, this was their first meeting. They moved onto the menu. Shanghai cuisine was famous for being oily and heavy on the taste. The man looked through the menu and ordered a few dishes that he liked before turning to ask for his wife and daughter's opinion and finally handing the menu back to Ye Shuang.
Ye Shuang looked at it. Even though the man did not step on eggshells around her, he was not there to take advantage of her either. The price and amount of the item that he ordered was enough for four people. Therefore, she smiled and ordered a few more dishes, ignoring the surprised look from the middle-aged man that felt like he was looking at a rich man.
They did not talk about business while dining. The middle-aged man asked for a bottle of wine to share with Ye Shuang. Occasionally, he would stop to grab some food for his wife and daughter, just like a normal family man. The main conservation at the table was between the middle-aged man and his wife. Rarely did Ye Shuang join the conversation. In any case, the conversation covered many areas but not personal information. If the atmosphere around the table was how the family had dinner at home, then it was clear that even the man's family was cautious with their personal information and was used to circling the conversation away from these topics.
After the lunch was over, the wife thanked Ye Shuang politely before asking the daughter to join her on a walk. They left the room. The middle-aged man wiped his lips and poured the rest of the wine into two glasses. He pushed one to Ye Shuang. Finally, he got to the main point. ”Tell me, what kind of cases have you done in your life as an agent?”
Wait, shouldn't we be discussing about the organization? Ye Shuang looked at the man in confusion. After a moment's silence, she introduced the companies and talent that she had handled before. She did not bring up the extra-marital affairs that she had cracked.
The middle-aged man nodded casually. He did not pay much attention. ”When you copied Mr. Han's data, you should have noticed that the data in his computer is restricted by permission tiers. Based on our current delineation, the content of your cases should all belong under official cases.”
”Then what about unofficial cases?” Ye Shuang was rather intrigued.
”There are two types of unofficial cases. One, you temporarily don't have the permission to know and access, and the other one will be the fringe cases that you'll approach when you're a mid-tier agent.”
The middle-aged man picked up the chopsticks and started to draw on the table. He drew three circles; the circles were of different sizes, and the bigger ones were enveloping the smaller ones. ”The core or the high-end ban zone is currently beyond your need to understand, and the one at the most outside is the most common legal cases and the official cases that I've mentioned. The middle circle, the one between the ban zone and the official cases, consists of the fringe cases. These cases are between legal and illegal. If you're not careful, you might trigger the nerve of sensitive groups and might even be persecuted by law.