36 Lovesickness (1/2)

When they heard the news of Lin Qian organizing some market research, Li Zhicheng, Gu Yanzhi and Jiang Yuan were dragging their suitcases and just stepping out of the Milan Malpensa International Airport.

Further on the horizon was the rising and falling view of a forest and mountains. The beautiful city was situated not too far ahead. Whether or not they would find the materials suitable for the new product was still a big question mark.

Hopping in the taxi, staring at the message from Lin Qian, Gu Yanzhi laughed; he said to Li Zhicheng, ”She's even thought of doing marketing research. I didn't expect that from her—she's more patient than I thought.”

Li Zhicheng responded, ”She always has her own ideas. If we give her a direction and leave her with enough space, that'll be enough. She'll amaze us with the results.”

Gu Yanzhi chuckled. ”Did you learn this manipulation method from the military? Like when they usually talk about disciplining an eagle, and training a wolf?”

He was joking. Jiang Yuan, who sat in the front, also burst into laughter. Li Zhicheng couldn't be bothered to answer. Staring at the clouds in the sky, he suddenly broke into a slight smile.

Discipling an eagle?

It appeared that he was the eagle. A wild world was waiting for him, but he had been tied up by her softness and sweetness, and was most willing to surrender.

He received a message from Lin Qian. 'I'm going on a business trip. Doing market research in all the places. Will be back in about ten days.'

His slender fingers lightly tapped the screen; he responded, 'Good, see you in ten days.'

…

Around two weeks later spring arrived. Although there was still some chilliness left in the breeze, the sunshine had become warm and dazzling.

At noon, standing in front of a stylish apartment block in Chang Sha, under the bright sun, Lin Qian squinted at a towering coffee-colored building.

Soon, the young members of the group—about a dozen of them—scattered to the elevators with surveys. She also took out a few surveys from her backpack, as well as a delicate little present (a small desk calendar). She took the elevator straight to the top floor and knocked on the door of each household.

Household surveys that were so formal had only been carried out by the National Water Supply General Company, State Grid, and the National Census. So every time the residents opened the door for her, they were surprised. ”Household survey? Where are you from?”

Lin Qian usually responded with a smile. ”We're from a company. We just want to get some information on our consumers.” She then handed over the little present. ”I'm not selling anything, just want to ask you a few simple questions.”

Most people still didn't like the sound of it. ”Not necessary,” they would say, pushing her out and shutting the door.

However, there were a few willing to cooperate. Perhaps because of Lin Qian's friendly manner and the good impression she made—and the fact that she didn't look like someone from a pyramid scheme—some residents actually ended up filling in the surveys for her. When she happened to meet people who were really into the outdoors or outdoor gear, they would even have a nice chat with her.

Even for such a tall building getting five or six surveys done by the end of the afternoon could be considered lucky.

At the beginning of the task, under Lin Qian's encouragement, everyone had been full of motivation. But as time went on, they began to complain. After all, none of them had done such a menial task like sending out surveys since college. It was also hard to deal with the constant rejection—they felt dejected and depressed.

Lin Qian consoled them. ”The tougher experiences are, the more valuable they become.” And because we're the first in the industry to do this, once the new products become a success, we'll be the role model of the entire industry.” She also used her own experience as an example. Regardless of the apartments in whichever city they were in, she was always thick-skinned and jumped to action first by knocking on their doors.

The members slowly calmed down, and they also started to ignore rejections. They focused on the idea of ”fully understanding the consumers' needs” itself. Over a period of about three weeks, after traveling between five cities, they gathered 1,500 useful surveys. Although not much, with the accumulation of the data, and the gradual in-depth communication with the urban residents, everyone was able to brainstorm and contribute excellent ideas regarding the ”longbow.”

As a result, guided by Lin Qian, these ideas were later integrated into super effective marketing plans after the launch of their new brand, Aito. These plans largely contributed to the booming success of Aito and its ability to distinguish itself right off the bat. This will be discussed in detail later in the story.

It suddenly hit Lin Qian that about three weeks had already passed.

Every time she returned to the hotel—in the dead of night, exhausted, all by herself—she would lie heavily on the cool, fresh-smelling bed. She felt as though somewhere beneath the shell of an indomitable female boss, the proud and energetic Lin Qian was finally coming to life.

Staring past the dark yellow curtain at the clear moon outside the window, a lot of things flashed through her mind.

She thought of her perfected speaking skills. ”The tougher experiences are, the more valuable they become.” Hehe, how did I come up with that?So wise—everyone was speechless. Haha!

She then thought of the ideas and plans they had worked on together as a team—they were bright like gems. She couldn't help but get excited every time she thought of them.

Not sure how Li Zhicheng is doing with his business. I'll sure surprise him—does he know about the progress?

Tomorrow, she and her team were finally heading back to Aida.

Lying on the bed, her mind drifted for a while. She looked up; seeing the hat on the nightstand, her heart felt like it was being pinched by someone.

'We'll be back tomorrow,' she typed on her phone.

The message was sent, but after a while there was still no reply.

Holding her phone, Lin Qian flipped around on her bed.

He must be busy, that's why he hasn't responded.

But he must have no idea how badly she's been missing him lately—he wouldn't expect it.

Love is a bizarre feeling that you have absolutely no control over.

A month ago, she had still been following the rules, taking it slow, trying to get to know him before starting their relationship. She had also believed herself smart and selfish. Since he'd fallen for her first, and with such subtlety, she'd only feel secure knowing he fancied her more than she fancied him. She'd even had a theory that was rather mean. Although, her brother's theory was a little extreme: that perhaps men like him pursued women who were hard to get.

But, after the impulsive passionate kiss they shared the other day, her heavy heart had become… lighter.

She no longer wanted to control it; she no longer could control it.

Every morning when she opened her eyes, her first thought was of him. Before going to bed at night, her blurry mind was on him.

Whenever colleagues mentioned ”President Li,” her ears perked up. Words that had nothing to do with her, as long as they were related to him—even when he had raised his temper at the meeting that day—her heart palpitated. She seemed to gradually miss him more and more.

When she was questioned by her team the first time, her passionate speech had managed to stabilize the situation but only just temporarily—and barely. But once she left the meeting room, standing under the light all by herself, she felt lonely. Then she thought of him, of his cold, focused look, and the smile in his eyes. She took out her phone, wanting to send him a message, but worried that he could be a hundred times busier than her. So she put the phone back in her pocket and looked out at the strange city through the window. Into the dazed darkness of night, she stared blankly.

When the exceptional idea of celebrating had come up for the first time, she had smiled and waved everyone out the door. ”We have to celebrate. Dinner is on me tonight!” Everyone was excited and cheered loudly. Even as she headed out, surrounded by the group high in spirits, it had still been him floating around her head.

Even though everything was going so well, he wasn't by her side. She just wanted to hold his waist and bury her head in his chest—though she had never done that before.

His distance made her restless. This greedy lust had come from nowhere—was he even aware of it?

Her melodious ringtone suddenly started ringing in the empty room.

Lin Qian immediately got off the bed. She stared at the familiar name on the screen: Li Zhicheng.

”Hello.” She became quiet after saying only one word.

There seemed to be some background noise on his end of the line. Li Zhicheng's voice was also very soft: ”I was in a meeting just now.”

”Erm, me too.”

He also became quiet. Lin Qian could hear his light, shallow breathing.

”What time do you arrive tomorrow?” he asked.

Immediately she replied, ”The flight is at ten, so maybe around noon.”

”Good,” he whispered. ”I'll be waiting for you.”

Hanging up the phone, Lin Qian's face became hot, and so did her heart. She was tormented by the response, ”waiting for you.” She buried her head in a cool pillow for a little while, and she couldn't help smiling.

After what felt like a long time, Lin Qian finally returned to the company.

...

It was 1:00 pm, and the breakfast on the plane had not been filling. Starved, some colleagues said to Lin Qian, ”Let's go grab a bite together!”

Lin Qian was also a little hungry, but she said ”I'm good,” as if she weren't. ”I'm heading over to report to the executives. After lunch, you could come back to the company and inspect the data again. I'll be back in the afternoon.”

Stepping in the long-awaited office area on the top floor, Lin's feelings were flying out of control.

They would soon be together.

This awareness stayed on the surface of the most obvious spot of her heart. But how should she phrase it? Like, ”I want to see your second trick.” Or she could put it in his way, ”If this distance can be tolerated, what can't be tolerated?” That way, he would understand.

Or… she could just skip the talk, and give him a kiss?

What about that mysterious deal with her brother? Something about taking baby steps?

Who cares!

Feeling sweet and excited like never before, Lin Qian walked toward his office.

The cubicle outside was empty. Jiang Yuan wasn't around either. She cleared her throat and knocked on the door.

No response.

Huh? No one here?

She took out her phone, and after thinking for a moment called Jiang Yuan.

”Manager Lin.” It sounded very noisy on Jiang Yuan's end. ”President Li and I just came to Workshop Five. He's busy right now, but he said you could come straight over.”

Lin Qian knew how busy Li Zhicheng had been lately. Based on his character, even though he'd said he would wait for her, it wasn't surprising he had ended up at the workshop all of the sudden—even during lunch time. Clearly he was swamped and didn't have a choice.