On Monday, the office was very quiet during lunch break. Some colleagues hadn't come back yet, some were taking naps on their desks, and some were watching TV shows with headphones on. The air was filled with the aroma of coffee and fruit, and next door I could hear two young mothers talking about parenting experiences.
Zhan Xi was sitting at her workstation, looking at rental apps and saving suitable properties. She caught a cold yesterday and kept blowing her nose with tissues and drinking cups of hot water.
Wenqin, the department manager, was called to have lunch with Mr. Sun at noon. She came back at the end of her lunch break. When she passed by Zhanxi's desk, she knocked on her desk and said, "Xiaozhan, there's work to do. Come to my office."
"Hey!" Zhan Xi followed her in obediently. As soon as he sat down, Lao Qian from the marketing department came in hurriedly, holding a pile of documents and shouting, "Auntie, you are finally back. Hurry up and stamp it for me!"
Wenqin, who is nearly 40 years old, took the document and flipped through it, then said to Lao Qian, "Wait a minute, I'll tell Xiao Zhan about it and then I'll stamp it for you. We haven't even started work yet."
Old Qian sat down and waited nearby. Zhan Xi listened attentively, and Wenqin repeated to her what Mr. Sun had told her.
The matter was simple. In about 20 days, a major customer would come with a team to inspect the company. The customer was a Japanese man in his 50s. Mr. Sun wanted to give him a meeting gift, and he asked Wenqin to have lunch with him for this purpose.
It is said that this Japanese is serious and noble, and does not accept any expensive gifts. Mr. Sun thought that he could not afford any local specialties, so he asked around and learned that this Japanese has lived in China for many years and loves elegant things such as tea art and flower art, especially the flower creation works of a handmade flower art master in his hometown in Japan.
Zhan Xi was still in a daze when he heard this, and Lao Qian couldn't help but interrupt: "Are you going to buy imported flowers? Aren't these flowers wilted when they are sent over? It's very troublesome for plants to pass through customs, right?"
Wenqin had an expression that said, "You haven't seen the world before." "Handmade, artificial flowers, the flowers are all fake!"
"Fake?" Old Qian was even more puzzled. "Why don't you just buy fake flowers at the small commodity wholesale market? At most, they cost a few hundred yuan a pot. How can you give them as gifts? It's better to give them as local specialties."
"Don't interrupt!" Wenqin motioned him to shut up, and then said to Zhanxi, "Don't listen to what Lao Qian says. The flowers that Mr. Sun asked us to prepare are not cheap. They are all handmade. They are called... hot flower art! You don't need to buy them from Japan. There are people making them in China now. Xiao Zhan, your task is to find someone who makes this kind of flowers and make an elegant ornament. I guess you can find one online. You young people like to play short videos, so this task is handed over to you. You can find someone to make the specific flowers first."
Zhan Xi understood, but she was unfamiliar with this business and had heard of the "art of hot stamping" for the first time. She asked, "Sister Wen, what is the budget?"
Wenqin was also confused: "How would I know the budget? Mr. Sun couldn't tell me either. I guess it's in the low four digits. Any more expensive would be meaningless."
"Wow!" Old Qian exclaimed, "That's three or four thousand yuan? Buying a pot of fake flowers at this price! Mr. Sun is too greedy!"
Wenqin frowned: "What do you know! Handmade, handmade is the most valuable now! Handmade embroidery, handmade carving, they are handmade, they are just better than those made by machines, and they also show sincerity when given away."
Old Qian couldn't appreciate this elegance and kept silent. Wenqin gave Zhanxi a few more instructions and Zhanxi left the office.
Zhanxi couldn't say she liked this job very much. After all, she didn't find the job herself, but Chi Guilan used a lot of connections to get her in. Wenqin, the manager of the human resources department, was Zhanxi's distant cousin. The last time Zhanxi saw her was at her great-grandmother's memorial service. She was only five years old at that time. She didn't know how Chi Guilan got in touch with her for such a distant relationship.
Zhan Xi has been working for half a year. Her daily job is to do odd jobs for the department, which is equivalent to a clerk. She does whatever Wenqin asks her to do. Sometimes she also helps other sisters who are in charge of salary and benefits, recruitment and training, promotion and team building. She doesn't have any specific work content, which makes her anxious.
Sitting back at her workstation, Zhan Xi first searched for the art of hot stamping on her computer. After getting a general understanding of it, she opened her mobile phone and searched around in online stores and short video platforms. She actually found several stores and anchors doing this business.
Zhan Xi locked onto an anchor on the Q station whose videos had a lot of views. This person mainly made embossing works, and his works included headwear, accessories on clothes, bridal bouquets, floral ornaments on the table, etc.
I have to say that those headdress accessories are so exquisite and cute that they are almost indistinguishable from the real ones. There is a strawberry-shaped brooch, which is chubby and round. Zhan Xi likes it very much.
The videos have been edited and do not have a complete production process. They are accompanied by simple text commentary. The author does not show his face or speak, and only his hands can be seen.
Those are quite beautiful hands.
It should be a male, with fair skin, long fingers with distinct joints, faint blue veins on the back of his hands, and his nails are trimmed round and clean. There is a small red mole on the bottom section of his right little finger.
He rolled up his sleeves slightly, revealing his thin wrists, and when he was operating various tools, his ten fingers, whether straight or curled, were flexible and stretched, creating a pleasing posture.
With the lively music, Zhan Xi watched with great interest, and sighed in her heart that this man was really clever and manly! If her brother had such a pair of hands, her nephew would never have to worry about the manual homework in school.
As she looked at them, Zhan Xi couldn't help but look down at her own hands. It was a family trait that, although the skin on her hands was white, her ten fingers were chubby and the backs of her hands were also fleshy. She didn't look good in rings, and it was said that wearing a jade bracelet would make her look plump.
Everyone said that these were a pair of lucky hands, just like her name, full of joy. Zhan Xi pouted in frustration, she wanted a pair of slender hands, which would make her look more classy.
After watching several videos of flower making and seeing the information left by the host on the homepage that "we accept private customization of various hot flower products", Zhan Xi immediately sent a private message to the host. Fortunately, the other party responded immediately.
Zhan Xi explained the whole story and humbly asked the other party for the price.
The other party was obviously confused.
Xiaoyuyu handmade embossing:
Strawberry Cake: [Starry Eyes][Starry Eyes][Starry Eyes]
Xiao Yuyu Handmade Ironing Flowers: Dear, each flower has a price, and each work has another price. I don’t know what you want to do.
Zhan Xi found it a little hard to accept that a man with a pair of beautiful hands started by calling her "dear". But she thought that maybe all online shop owners were like this, so she thought it was good that he didn't call her "old friend" or "family member", so she didn't care too much.
She quickly went online to find some pictures of flower arrangements and sent them to the other party.
Strawberry cake: It’s almost a shape like this, can it be made using hot stamping
Xiaoyuyu Handmade Ironing Flowers: Of course you can.
Strawberry Shortcake: How much
Xiaoyuyu Handmade Hot Stamping: If you decide on one, I will give you a quote.
Zhan Xi picked a piece with bird of paradise and lilies. The red and yellow colors looked very lively, and it also had a festive name called "Good Luck Comes".
Xiao Yuyu Handmade Hot Embossing: Please wait a moment.
—
Next to the computer, Fang Xu was slurping a bowl of spicy hot pot and taking the time to send two WeChat messages.
Fang Xu: Good Luck.jpg
Fang Xu: Fish, how much does it cost to make this thing with hot stamping
After a while, the other party replied.
A big fish: 4000
Fang Xu: Is it so expensive?
What a big fish: The crane orchid needs to be made with poplin, which takes a long time to work on, and it takes a week to shape.
Fang Xu: Okay.
Fang Xu took out a napkin to wipe his mouth, then opened the Q station to reply to the private message.
Xiao Yuyu Handmade Hot Stamping: Dear, this one costs 6000.
Strawberry Cake: So expensive??? I was stunned.jpg
Handmade hot stamping flowers by Xiao Yuyu: Dear, you may not understand, the crane orchid in this model needs to be made of poplin, which takes a long time to work, and the whole pot of flowers has a complex shape, which takes a week.
Strawberry Shortcake: What is a Crane Orchid
Xiao Yuyu handmade embossing: Honey, it’s the bird of paradise.
Strawberry Cake:…
Zhan Xi sniffed at the phone and thought that the other person was indeed an expert. She didn't even know that bird of paradise had other names, let alone what poplin was.
Six thousand yuan, that's robbery! I could buy dozens of flowers with that.
Zhan Xi felt a little dizzy and put down his phone. He didn't have the energy to bargain with the other party. He thought about either changing to a simpler floral design or going to another store to ask again.
—
In the afternoon, Zhan Xi’s WeChat was busy all the time.
On one side is the chattering group of college roommates, on the other side is the work group, plus a blind date, Xiao Wang.
In the group of four fairies, Yao Ying was talking sweetly, enumerating the stupid crimes of the cooperating party A. Luo Xinran and Zhan Xi were too busy to reply, and only Zhao Qingqing was there to support Yao Ying.
Zhan Xide took a sip of water and asked a question in the group.
Egg Pudding: I want to rent a house near my company. Do you think it’s better to rent a single room or share it with others
Yao Ying: Why do you want to rent a house all of a sudden? Aren’t you living at your brother’s house
Egg Pudding: My brother’s house is too far away, I want to sleep more.
Yao Ying: Oh my god! Just to sleep a little longer, you don’t even want to stay in a free house
Egg pudding: It’s so arrogant!
Zhan Xi never talked about family matters in the group. He felt embarrassed to talk about such trivial matters. Only Luo Xinran knew something about it.
Zhao Qingqing: Fortunately, your company is far away. Renting a single room nearby is much cheaper than in the city, but it still costs more than two thousand, right
Egg Pudding: Yes, one third of my salary. I feel sad. Why don’t any big guys support me
Yao Ying: Why is there no big boss who supports me
Zhao Qingqing: Why isn’t there any big boss who supports me
Luo Xinran: …
Yao Ying: Do you know that you want to move out? Will she kill you if she knows
Egg Pudding: I guess.
Having shared a dormitory for four years in college, Zhan Xi had a good relationship with her three roommates. They had often heard Zhan Xi talk about Chi Guilan. Yao Ying described Zhan Xi as a "mama's girl" and said she had never seen a girl who listened to her mother so well.
Zhan Xi didn't know whether this was a compliment or sarcasm.
Egg Pudding: Alas... The blind date boss came to talk to me.
Zhao Qingqing: What are the conditions? Is it a civil servant or a public institution this time
Egg pudding: career editing.
Zhao Qingqing: That’s boring. Can’t your mother introduce you to a domineering CEO
Egg Pudding: [crying] I want it too!
Yao Ying: A career position is fine, come on! This group's poverty alleviation and prosperity depends on you, Xier!
Switch the dialog box.
Xiao Wang, the son of Aunt Zhu’s classmate: Hello, I’m Wang He, are you busy
Egg Pudding: I'm at work.
Xiao Wang, the son of Aunt Zhu’s classmate: I am also working, my workplace is near Wenxing Bridge, how about you
Egg Pudding: I'm here at Qingquemen.
Xiao Wang, the son of Aunt Zhu’s classmate: We are quite far away from each other. I am in the city, and you are almost out of town.
Egg Pudding: [Smile]
Zhan Xi didn't open her circle of friends to Wang He, but Wang He did to her. She saw Wang He's photo and he looked OK, but maybe because blind dating was too purposeful, Zhan Xi didn't have any feelings for him and just chatted with him casually.
The cold made her listless, and the thought of going home from get off work to find her brother not at home and having to face Qin Fei alone made Zhan Xi even more depressed.
Because of a few bags of garbage, Zhan Jie and Qin Fei were still in a cold war when they went out in the morning. No one paid attention to each other. Zhan Xi really wanted to ask them: Is it that serious?
After get off work, Zhan Xi returned home. As expected, Zhan Jie did not come back from overtime. Qin Fei brought her son to have dinner with her. Zhan Xi picked up a bowl of food for herself with a serving chopstick and said to Qin Fei, "Sister-in-law, I have a cold and I am afraid I will infect you."
Qin Fei's face lengthened immediately: "You mean you didn't wear a coat when you took out the trash yesterday and you got frozen?"
"No, maybe she was sweating while riding the subway and then was blown by the wind." Zhan Xi thought that her sister-in-law was too sensitive. He said no more, sat far away from her, and ate in silence.
Zhan Jie was not around, and the two women were so tacitly in sync that they didn't even want to do the superficial work. After eating, Zhan Xi washed the dishes and took out the trash, and consciously sat next to her nephew to help him with his homework, and did not forget to wear a mask.
While Weiwei was copying words, Zhan Xi was sitting on a small stool doing nothing. Thinking that he still had no idea about the pot of flowers, he moved the small stool further away, took out his mobile phone, looked for a new anchor, and played the video in silent mode.
Qin Fei saw this scene when she entered the children's room carrying a bowl of washed strawberries. She placed the bowl heavily next to her son's hand and spoke with anger.
"You can't help it for just a few moments?" She said coldly, "You hold your phone all day long. It's okay at other times, but you play with Weiwei while he's doing his homework. It affects his studies."
Weiwei even fanned the flames: "With a cell phone in hand, love lasts forever! Without it, you lose your soul!"
"What nonsense are you talking about? Who taught you that?" Qin Fei patted her son's head and said to Zhan Xi, "Zhan Xi, don't think I'm picking on you. If your brother and I weren't less educated than you, we wouldn't have asked you to help Wei Wei with his homework. You agreed to it yourself. If you don't want to, just tell me. I can still teach first grade stuff."
Zhan Xi had already put away his phone and whispered, "Sister-in-law, I'm sorry. I won't do it again next time."
Weiwei picked up a strawberry and ate it, his eyes rolling around looking at Zhanxi. The child actually liked his aunt very much, because his aunt was pretty and often bought him snacks and toys. When Qin Fei left the room, Weiwei picked up a piece of strawberry and wanted to feed it to Zhanxi: "Aunt, you eat it, the strawberry is so sweet."
Zhan Xi was so angry that she laughed. Of course she knew that strawberries were sweet. She tasted them when she bought them.
Rubbing her nephew's head, she said, "Auntie has a cold and won't eat. Hurry up and copy it. Look at your poor handwriting."
Weiwei hummed with a playful smile and continued to copy words on the table. Zhanxi didn't dare to play with his phone anymore, so he could only pick up the child's Chinese textbook and flip through it out of boredom.
At night, Zhan Xi hid in bed and looked at the rental information in the app again. She had no chance to move because she had to prepare for the national exam. Now that the exam was over, she thought she must look at a few houses over the weekend.
After checking the listings, she remembered the flower that she still hadn’t found yet. She opened another short video platform called P站 and once again searched for the anchor who played with hot flowers.
This craft is quite niche. It may not be difficult to get started. There are many people who play it, but not many people are good at it. The ones who open a business to accept customization are always those few who also have IDs on Q station.
After watching each anchor, Zhan Xi suddenly stopped because she saw a pair of familiar hands.
The fingers are long, white, and have distinct joints. There are blue veins on the back of the hands, and the nails are round and clean. There is a red mole on the little finger of the right hand...
You will never forget such beautiful hands after seeing them once. However, the anchor only released three videos, which were also edited but without music and text. They look dry and boring, and have very few views.
The release date was three years ago. Fortunately, Zhan Xi was patient and kept scrolling down, otherwise he would not have been able to see it at all.
Zhan Xi stared at the hands carefully and was sure that this was the same person as the one in the daytime. Although their IDs were different, they were both related to fish.
Did they change the station? Zhan Xi didn't hesitate and tried to send a private message to the other party.
Sugar-Poached Egg: Hi, good evening.
Tang Shuandan: Excuse me, are you the host of Xiaoyuyu Handmade Hot Embossing
—
The phone vibrated. Luo Jingyu looked at the private message that suddenly popped up on the screen. She was stunned for a moment and slowly typed a word.
What a big fish: Yes
The other party replied quickly.
Sugar-boiled Eggs: I asked you for the price during the day. Can you give me a discount
Luo Jingyu didn't know what product the other party was inquiring about.
What a big fish: Would you like to inquire about the price
Sugar-boiled eggs: good luck.jpg
Sugar-boiled eggs: Can I get a discount on this
Luo Jingyu remembered that he had looked at the picture very carefully during the day, studying every flower, every leaf, and every flower stem, and even used a calculator before quoting a price to Fang Xu.
He didn't reply and contacted Fang Xu directly on WeChat.
What a big fish: Good luck.jpg
What a Big Fish: How much do you quote to the customer
Fang Xu: What do you mean
What a big fish: The client came to me.
Fang Xu: No way
What a big fish: How much do you offer
Fang Xu: …
Fang Xu: 6000
What a big fish:…
Fang Xu: No, brother, let me explain!
Luo Jingyu didn't listen to Fang Xu's explanation. She quit WeChat with a stern face, opened P station again, and after some psychological preparation, she replied to the person who asked for the price.
What a big fish: This one is 6,000.
Zhan Xi was discouraged when she saw the reply, thinking that maybe niche products didn't have a pricing system and didn't allow bargaining. She didn't want to talk anymore, and when she was about to quit, the other party sent another message.
What a Big Fish: Today we have a promotion, all orders will be discounted, your good luck is coming.
Zhan Xi felt puzzled because the words typed by the other party were strange. Although the meaning was understandable, the use of word order and grammar made people feel that "this person's Chinese is very poor."
And he didn't even call her "kiss" anymore.
A question mark popped up in Zhan Xi's mind and he asked curiously.
Sugar-boiled eggs: How much is the discount
What a big fish: 40% off.
Before Zhan Xi could type, the other party sent another message.
What a big fish: Good luck, it’s very difficult, 3600 is definitely the lowest price on the entire Internet, I’m not lying to you.
Zhan Xi: “???”
Somehow, her originally depressed mood gradually improved, and she burst out laughing at the phone screen.
Tang Boiled Egg: Thank you, but it’s too late today. Let’s talk about it in detail tomorrow at work.
What a big fish: Okay.
Sugar-Poached Egg: If I place an order tomorrow, will the original price be restored
Luo Jingyu was stunned and found it difficult to respond. Typing those few sentences before had already cost him a lot of brain cells, and he didn't know if what he said was right. After thinking for a moment, he only dared to send an emoticon and typed two more words.
What a big fish: The Internet connects us, cherish this relationship.gif
What a big fish: Guess.
Looking at the twinkling roses and little stars, Zhan Xi was really amused.