Chapter 74

The saying “gods and beasts are different” means don’t mess with me in my area of expertise

Zhao Xiaorou washed her face and sat in front of the makeup mirror, listening to her assistant go over her schedule. To this day, she still hated this part of the job. When the work was piled up in front of her, like a menu being read out, nobody was happy.

This new month was filled with beauty and luxury brand events, or fashion vlogs analyzing movie and TV show outfits. She was getting tired of it. It felt like ever since she had become single again, she didn’t have any new topics to work on.

The assistant, who had once almost been fired by Ma Liang, still stayed by her side. Seeing that Zhao Xiaorou wasn’t interested, she threw out a new offer.

“There’s a TVC for Omi, a new client. It’s the well-known fast-moving consumer goods brand you’ve complained about before…”

“Why didn’t they just approach me directly? Why go through Omi?” Zhao Xiaorou wasn’t interested. “What, are they still thinking about my ex-husband Wang Guangming, the one from the Blue Label?”

As soon as she said that, her hand, which was twisting the cap, stopped. She immediately changed direction, starting to pat her face with toner. “Fine, I’ll take it. Of course, I’ll take it.”

Ma Liang was with Unilever’s team.

Filming TVCs was one of Zhao Xiaorou’s favorite tasks. It was professional and technical, with scripts that were high-end from idea to final visual presentation. The ads were broadcast on large screens in public squares or on billboards, reflecting her style.

When she and her team of five or six makeup artists arrived at the filming location, there were three Omi staff members there, along with the filming team. About ten people were standing near the tracks.

Zhao Xiaorou thought to herself, as expected, there were too many people in the industry now. These useless people were the reason traditional 4A agencies couldn’t keep up.

While touching up her makeup, the script was placed in front of her. She glanced at it. The scenes were mostly from model angles, and there were only a few lines. The focus on Zhao Xiaorou was mainly because certain angles resembled IU.

Behind her, several Omi colleagues were sitting on the floor, working overtime, unkempt, still rushing through other brand pitches.

It sounded like these people hadn’t been with the company for long. They had just finished their closed training and were already on the job.

A few girls were discussing sanitary pads, and didn’t forget to praise Ma Liang for maintaining a straight face. The jokes were a bit crude, but the angles were good.

Zhao Xiaorou rolled her eyes after hearing this. It wasn’t because of anything special; it was just that they couldn’t talk about anything other than crude jokes.

An older person was saying, “The night before the pitch, Ma Liang went downstairs and bought us KFC. We only had half an hour to nap in the morning, and he came up with soy milk. Do you know how I felt in that moment? I just thought, my stomach was telling me, ‘Propose to him!’“

Zhao Xiaorou couldn’t help but laugh behind them. This routine never got old. When Ma Liang went downstairs to pick up bubble tea, he saw Zhao Xiaorou and smiled awkwardly. “Is she the model today?”

“Yeah. See, you paid the price for not having cultural awareness. You didn’t even understand her English name, did you?” SAE, who was nearby, was still laughing at him.

They handed out the bubble tea to everyone, and Ma Liang gave his to Zhao Xiaorou. “Here, you have it…”

“Thank you...” Zhao Xiaorou took the straw and handed the tea to the makeup artist, not even glancing at Ma Liang.

As they prepared to shoot, Zhao Xiaorou sat in the set office. The scene suddenly encountered an awkward situation, so she called for a delivery to her office and received an exquisite gift box. Her colleagues envied her, thinking it was a gift from her boyfriend. In reality, it was just a box of sanitary pads she had ordered.

What is this…

Zhao Xiaorou couldn’t say it too directly. She stood up and politely asked, “I didn’t quite get the brief for this shooting. Could you go over it again?”

She extended her finger and said, “Let this handsome guy explain it, in English.”

Ma Liang’s broken English was clearly intended by Zhao Xiaorou to make him look bad. Ma Liang felt a little awkward and kept glancing at his colleagues for help.

A group of four people came over to supervise the shoot. Zhao Xiaorou glanced at them. The four of them were all executors, and only Ma Liang was a male.

The other three women either thought Zhao Xiaorou was nitpicking or that she had some interest in Ma Liang.

After all, in their minds, Zhao Xiaorou was just a shallow internet celebrity. And coincidentally, the proposal that the four of them worked all night on was, to Zhao Xiaorou, rubbish.

One woman wanted to help Ma Liang out, but Zhao Xiaorou smiled and said, “No need for that, don’t waste so many people. You can keep working on the PPT.”

Ma Liang turned around and said, “Don’t worry, this is my ex-girlfriend. She’s just catching up with me.”

Everyone’s expression changed. Zhao Xiaorou felt disgusted. That move was too well played.

At that moment, she appeared to be nitpicking, settling personal scores, and seemed incredibly unprofessional as an internet celebrity.

But her face remained calm as she leaned back slightly and slowly said, “Work is work. I hope you maintain proper boundaries.”

Both of their eyes were smiling, but Zhao Xiaorou felt a thousand arrows in her heart. Damn it, Ma Liang, you should be sent to the “I Am an Actor” set.

After going to the restroom and finishing the script reading, Zhao Xiaorou overheard SAE, the one who had spoken earlier, complaining, “The internet celebrities nowadays, their personal lives are too loose. I already thought she was troublesome when she divorced Wang Guangming, and now look, she’s also messed with Ma Liang. After getting divorced, can’t she be a little more modest?”

She emphasized the words “divorced” heavily. Zhao Xiaorou stood frozen for a few seconds in the restroom. When she opened the door and saw the mirror, she thought to herself: up until now, the most unpleasant label on her was “divorced…”

She suddenly remembered what a senior she had once slept in the upper bunk with during her internship had told her: don’t marry easily, not for any other reason, but to avoid divorce. Divorce, in the minds of many ordinary people, was the most shameful thing.

She looked at her phone. The senior had been with Omi for nine years.

Back at the shooting location, Zhao Xiaorou gave the woman who had spoken earlier a serious look and picked up the script. “May I ask, did the client approve this proposal?”

“The client said to shoot a version and show it to them.”

“I think it’s fine, but—” Zhao Xiaorou emphasized the word “but” heavily, “nowadays, I rarely shoot daily-use products. Influencer reviews and KOCs selling products really affect the sales. If you’re asking me to shoot a promotional video, the target audience is office workers, so there needs to be an eye-catching creative. Did you ask the client what their target sales are?”

“No…”

“If you don’t ask about sales, how would you know what they need to achieve? This is wasting the client’s budget. Go get a water cooler, one with half a bucket of water.”

The four of them were a bit dumbfounded. One of them, getting impatient, said, “We have another case to work on, and we don’t have enough time.”

“This pitch is going to fail for sure. Let me add a scene for you. Switch the setting: a box of sanitary pads on top of the water cooler, with only half the water left in the bucket. Add some bubbles in the empty half of the bucket—the product is called Instant Absorb Blue, right?”

Everyone froze for a few seconds before going to the neighboring company to borrow a water bucket. From shooting to camera angles, Zhao Xiaorou watched closely through the monitor.

She didn’t just observe the storyline; she also specifically chose some angles that didn’t resemble IU so much.

“You guys, this is your first official case, right? In the future, I recommend you confirm everything with SAM before shooting with us. If the client doesn’t approve what we shoot today, we’ll have to redo it here.

If the concept isn’t elevated, and there’s no memorable point, even I, as a consumer, would find it plain.

I suggest you be more professional. If you’re unsure about writing the plan, you can always ask Natalie. Your leader is my friend. If I end up shooting this and it’s cut, she’ll probably think I’m unprofessional.”

Zhao Xiaorou smiled and returned to her standard “tea art” smile. “No need to be curious about who I am. When I was interning at OgilvyOne, Natalie and I slept in the same bunk.”

They shot until 4 PM. Zhao Xiaorou hadn’t even had a sip of water. After the shooting, she bowed to everyone and received a call from Natalie, who was full of praise: “You interns, especially the girls, are all so excellent. We came up with a great script after chatting with me on set.”

After speaking, she waved with a smile and said goodbye, always polite—Zhao Xiaorou never got angry in front of clients and partners. She had learned this over time.

No matter the situation, turning enemies into friends and taking off other people’s colored glasses to gain affinity was the key to lasting success. At least today, after this incident, these people would become her loyal followers.

As expected, Ma Liang came chasing after her as she walked out. He was no longer the boy who used to wear GAP clothes and sleep on the sofa in a small room. Now, he had an Apple Watch on his wrist with WeChat notifications popping up, with the word “darling” displayed.

The wind blew across Zhao Xiaorou’s cheek. The car hadn’t arrived yet, so she had a few minutes to criticize his hypocrisy, but she held back from speaking.

Ma Liang said, “Xiaorou, you’re still as excellent as ever. Seeing you today, I truly saw your professionalism. I hope we can meet again. I’ll never forget you.”

Having not had a sip of water all day, Zhao Xiaorou took a step back and kept a fresh distance between them. “Has the DO brief been done? Have you distinguished the client’s wants and needs?”

“Or are you still clueless, just watching others brainstorm in the room while you stand by, only to be sent downstairs to buy KFC?”

“Ma Liang, you can’t succeed in any industry. Why do you have to climb the social ladder in the advertising world by playing the gender game? It disgusts me.”

“Everyone in this company, regardless of gender, comes with dreams, willing to take pay cuts just to be here. Ogilvy is the dream palace of 4A people. But do you have even the slightest respect for this industry?”

“Look at the stuff on your desk, The Manager’s Handbook and David Ogilvy’s Quotes—have you even read them?”

The ID badge might be impressive enough, the pencil, notebook, and chopsticks are all so convenient, but do you think about taking them home and giving them to your mom?

When you’re following me around, if you want to hear about the client’s needs, budget, execution, and target sales figures, you wouldn’t be here unable to even put together a PPT. All you do is act cute with the female colleagues, throw glances, flirt, and send food. Don’t you find that low-level?”

“Rourou, don’t be like this. If you do this, I won’t be able to let go of you.”

“People like you, I can’t let go of you either. Out of all the men I’ve been with, none are like you, living solely off of male-female relationships. Whenever I think of you, I feel so ashamed I can’t sleep at night.

Of course, Ogilvy is a great place to learn how to package an image. After learning to package yourself well, who knows, when you’re living in a villa in the West Suburbs, you won’t even be able to come up with a matching couplet when boasting to a rich lady.”

After turning around, Zhao Xiaorou opened the car door and felt that her speech just now had scored at least 90 points. But behind her, Ma Liang shouted again: “Rourou!”

She turned back, and Ma Liang said passionately, “You’re the woman I love most in this life.”

“Stop it...” All the words she just said were in vain. Ma Liang, this type of man who only relies on gender relationships, trying to teach him to respect advertising was like playing the lute to a cow.

Zhao Xiaorou was slightly impatient, but scolding him didn’t suit her cool, indifferent suit: “The busty women you like couldn’t fit into this size 0 high-end garment of mine. I’m not your goddess, save those words for someone else.”

Zhao Xiaorou sent a long story about Ma Liang at Ogilvy to Hu Xiu, who hadn’t had time to read it—

The hospital had many foreign visitors recently, and Hu Xiu saw one after another with high noses and deep-set eyes, switching between Chinese and English in the conference room, leaving her no time to look at her phone for personal matters.

She saw Pei Zhen chatting with an older man, the man’s face was small, with tight and clear features, clearly a man of ideas.

Hu Xiu walked over, and Pei Zhen noticed her: “Let me introduce you, this is Shen Zhiming, just back from the US; Hu Xiu, the translator at the hospital, our female warrior.”

Hu Xiu shook hands with him. Shen Zhiming smelled like tobacco, a handsome guy who was clearly a heavy smoker.

Pei Zhen rarely introduced a friend so seriously: “He has a Master’s in Public Health from Harvard and works on mental health issues and humanistic care.”

“Are you working at the hospital?”

“No, I initially applied to the hospital, but unfortunately, there were no openings for me.”

Shen Zhiming smiled: “Volunteering works too, except for occasionally worrying about the funds.” After saying that, he looked at Pei Zhen: “Girlfriend?”

“No, colleague, good friend.”

Shen Zhiming smiled knowingly.

After work, Hu Xiu hurried to find Diao Zhi Yu. He hadn’t answered her calls for three days, obviously angry with her.

Hu Xiu guessed he might be rehearsing at the Shanghai Theater Academy, or watching a play there, so she took a taxi to the theater.

As expected, Diao Zhi Yu was standing at the entrance of the Duan Jun Theater, and the poster said “The Return of the Noblewoman,” a classic play. Hu Xiu walked over and covered his eyes: “Guess who I am?”

Diao Zhi Yu couldn’t resist these little tricks. He couldn’t pretend to be angry for long, and as soon as she touched his cheek, he smiled. Hu Xiu didn’t stop: “Don’t be angry, I specially came to apologize.”

“How will you apologize?”

“Red rubies at the door, chestnut cups, and cream squares. You can pick.”

“They’re all gone after five, you underestimated the old ladies around here.”

“Then what should I do?”

“Meat compensation…”

“Diao Zhi Yu, you’re only twenty-three, how can you say something so impure?”

The person in her hand chuckled: “You almost blinded me with your touch.”

“If you’re watching the play, I’ll go to the coffee shop next door to sit. See you in a bit?”

Diao Zhi Yu took Hu Xiu’s hand and led her inside: “Just sit in the aisle, the drama club has always been like this.”

Hu Xiu sat in the last row of the aisle. When she looked up, the seats had filled up quickly, and soon the air became thin.

She watched a three-hour play in a daze. Many in the audience were playing on their phones. It was hard to concentrate on such a relatively boring foreign play.

Diao Zhi Yu wasn’t paying much attention either. A few times he took out his phone, seemingly making notes.

Hu Xiu felt a mix of unease and joy—spending time with him through his lows and anxieties made her nervous too.

After all, she had said some harsh words earlier.

Spending the weekend with Diao Zhi Yu, watching him rehearse and perform, Hu Xiu didn’t take any translation jobs for eight days. For an entire month, she quietly observed.

This boy really seemed to want to be a serious actor. He was trying hard to shed his youthful image, aiming to transform into a true actor.

He would perform a segment from each piece in Western Drama Selections. Hu Xiu would sit across from him with a chair, watching him perform everything from Shakespeare to Ibsen. Each role had a certain resemblance, but there was still something missing.

Sitting on the floor, the drama book thrown aside, Diao Zhi Yu said: “Romeo and Juliet, do they really understand love? The things they say don’t sound like something a fourteen- and sixteen-year-old would say.”

Well, of course, Romeo and Juliet don’t understand love. It’s Shakespeare who understands love.

Propping her chin up, Hu Xiu watched Diao Zhi Yu act. Her thoughts gradually drifted. She was a bit tired, and in a daze, she thought he was doing military boxing. When Diao Zhi Yu finally got tired, Hu Xiu took out a Rhino of Love from her bag: “Here, try the lines from Ma Lu.”

“No need for the script, I can memorize it.” Diao Zhi Yu stood up, and the madness and passion surged like drunkenness: “You are my warm glove, cold beer, a shirt with the scent of sunshine, the dream that repeats every day.

You are pure, innocent, like glass, unpolluted, unchangeable. The sunlight passes through you, but it changes direction.”

Hu Xiu thought to herself, “That’s right.”

He probably hasn’t realized yet that he’s quite suited to acting in love stories, nor is he willing to admit it—that he’s a hopeless romantic.

She won’t be his final stop.