Luo Jingyu didn't think he was humorous. From childhood to adulthood, the word humor had never been associated with him. He didn't know that the two words he typed with true feelings in the middle of the night would make a strange girl laugh for a long time.
On the contrary, he was in a bad mood at the moment and opened the chat box with Fang Xu again.
What a big fish: Why did I quote 4,000 and you quoted the customer 6,000
Fang Xu: Don't worry, listen to my explanation. Who would quote the actual price at the beginning? You must let the customer bargain.
What a big fish: Will the customer bargain
Fang Xu: No, I didn’t reply later. [Depressed]
Luo Jingyu sat at the workbench, supporting her forehead weakly.
What a Big Fish: This is not the first time, the 4,000 includes your share, I have calculated it.
Fang Xu: I know! This is the bottom price. Do you understand the bottom price? Yu, you are not cut out for business. You don't know any negotiation skills. By the way, why did they find you? Where did they find you? Did you post the video on QQ
Luo Jingyu has indeed never posted a video on Fang Xu's main Q site. Not only that, he has never posted a video on any short video or social networking platform with a large number of users. This is Fang Xu's requirement.
He said Luo Jingyu had problems with written communication and was afraid that he would ruin the deal, so he asked him to concentrate on making products.
The account on the P site found by the customer was registered three years ago. If the private message hadn't suddenly popped up today, Luo Jingyu would have almost forgotten about this app.
Fang Xu kept asking questions relentlessly.
Fang Xu: We agreed that you would be behind the scenes and I would be in front of the stage. If you post content on other sites, it’s against the rules, Brother Yu!
What a big fish: The p station deleted the corpse account three years ago, I will delete it.
Fang Xu: Okay, if the customer comes to you again, just say that you have changed your station and ask him to come to me. It is not right for one person to steal the business of another.
Luo Jingyu didn't reply, but Fang Xu kept typing, and soon a long paragraph popped up.
Fang Xu: Yu, I have seen many such customers. He may go to other places to inquire about the price, or just ask. Sometimes he will come back to ask again after a few days. Those who really want to do it will not run away. I give him enough room for bargaining. In the end, he will be very happy if the price is more than 4,000 or even 5,000. I will give him a few accessories, and he will be very grateful. This is how business is done. Besides, this level of hot stamping needs to be very similar to the picture. Few people can do it. You have to have confidence in yourself.
What a big fish: I understand.
Fang Xu didn't send any more messages, and Luo Jingyu didn't continue the conversation.
He and Fang Xu have been running this business together for more than three years. For these niche handmade products, Fang Xu is responsible for editing, video production, and operation and promotion, while he is responsible for shooting videos and photos and producing the finished products. They agreed on a 30-70 split, with him taking 70% and Fang Xu taking 30%.
Luo Jingyu knew that Fang Xu would quote high prices to customers, and there would be suckers who would pay the bill. The extra difference would naturally go into Fang Xu's pocket, and Luo Jingyu didn't care.
What he cares about is that more people are simply scared away by the inflated prices. After all, no matter how much people like hot flower ornaments or other large hot flower works worth thousands of dollars, they will not buy them casually. The material cost is actually not high. What is truly valuable is the time and energy he has put in.
He couldn't beat Fang Xu, whether they were talking face to face or online.
In fact, he couldn't talk to anyone. Many things stuck in his mind, and he couldn't express them clearly even if he typed them. His sister Luo Xiaomei always advised him to practice reading and writing more, and communicate more with ordinary people. He was so old, but he still wrote things upside down, with wrong words and missing words, and couldn't distinguish between subject, predicate and object. However, Luo Jingyu always avoided this matter.
It's strange to say, the communication with Tangchuandan was the first time in the past few years that he faced a customer directly on the Internet. Luo Jingyu himself didn't know whether there were any grammatical errors in the words he typed, but he felt a little excited after realizing it belatedly.
It seems... communicating with customers is not as difficult as I imagined.
The tools and materials were still spread out on the workbench. Luo Jingyu leaned back in her chair and was in a daze for a while. She pinched her nose bridge with her hand, got up and went to the kitchen, took out two eggs and some red dates from the refrigerator, and prepared to stew a bowl of sugar-boiled eggs.
I haven't eaten sugar-boiled eggs for a long time. When I saw that customer's ID, I was actually tempted by him late at night.
After lighting the fire to cook the red dates, Luo Jingyu walked to the balcony and opened the glass window to get some fresh air.
It was an early winter night, past 11 o'clock, and the high-rise balcony was not a good place for ventilation. The cold wind blew on his face like a knife.
There are more than a dozen flower pots on the balcony, most of which are flowers and green plants that are not afraid of the severe cold. As for other potted plants that have requirements for temperature environment, Luo Jingyu has already moved them indoors.
He likes to grow flowers and plants, and he does the watering, fertilizing, pruning and pest control himself. He likes the scene of blooming flowers and lush greenery, and he likes the hint of fragrance that permeates his breath when the breeze blows.
In other words, he likes everything that is beautiful and quiet.
He has lived in a silent world since he was young. Jingyu is the name his father gave him. Before he could experience the joy of the birth of a new life, his parents had already expressed their apology and helplessness to him with a name.
Luo Jingyu sat down on a rattan chair, his black hair blown by the night wind, the plants swaying around him. He looked at the flickering city night scene in front of him, lost in thought for a long time.
—
The early morning for most families is busy, with some going to work and some going to school, and Zhan Jie's family is no exception.
Zhan Kaiwei was eating the wonton bowl slowly, Qin Fei was putting on makeup, Zhan Jie was squatting in the toilet, and Zhan Xi had already put on his down jacket and mask and was ready to go out.
After two nights, Zhan Jie and Qin Fei had reconciled. As a couple, they quarrel at the head of the bed and make up at the foot of the bed. The house was finally no longer filled with low pressure.
"Brother, sister-in-law, I'm going to work!" Zhan Xi shouted, but only heard her brother respond from the bathroom. She closed the door and hurried downstairs.
The subway was as crowded and busy as usual during the morning rush hour. Zhan Xi squeezed out of the car and trotted out of the station. She looked up and saw several high-rise residential areas nearby. They were all Zhan Xi's alternative rental options. She thought, it would be great if she could live here, and sleep an extra hour every day.
While waiting for the elevator downstairs in the building, Zhan Xi met two male colleagues.
After Xiao Wu greeted her, he made silly faces and grinned. Those who didn't know him would think he had some facial nerve disease, but Zhan Xi understood what was going on and could only lower his head and say nothing.
Lin Yan stood beside her, carrying a backpack, a bag of breakfast in his left hand, and a cup of hot coffee in his right hand. He asked in a low voice: "Have you had breakfast?"
"I ate it." Zhan Xi replied.
"Yeah." Lin Yan stopped talking.
Xiao Wu looked at this and that, then interrupted and asked, "Xiao Zhan, our department has agreed to go out for hot pot at noon, why don't you come with us?"
Zhan Xi almost didn't think: "No, thank you, I'm very busy these days, I have to work during lunch break."
Xiao Wu glanced at Lin Yan and said in a strange tone, "Is your department still busy?"
This is something that Zhan Xi may not like to hear, but the entire HR department is made up of girls. In the eyes of colleagues from other departments, they seem to be a group of useless people who only know how to dress up, gossip, care about assessments and attendance, and have their bonuses deducted all the time.
Zhan Xi didn't intend to respond, so Lin Yan spoke up: "Performance appraisals are required at the end of the year, and an annual meeting will be held after the new year. How can HR not be busy?"
"That's right." Xiao Wu quickly responded, "Hey Xiao Zhan, tell me, what is the grand prize for this year's annual meeting?"
As they were talking, the elevator arrived, and the three of them followed the crowd into the elevator, which was soon filled with people. Xiao Wu didn't know where he was squeezed to, and Zhan Xi was happy not to answer his question, but Lin Yan still stood beside her. When someone squeezed Zhan Xi, he stretched out his hand to block it.
Lin Yan is from the technical department, he is 27 years old, a graduate student, tall, gentle-looking, wearing a pair of black-framed glasses, and looks like a technical expert.
Three months after Zhan Xi joined the company, she organized a team building with her colleagues in the department. She met Lin Yan during the expansion training. At that time, it was a high-altitude project that required two people to walk across two sections of wires face to face and hand in hand. Zhan Xi was afraid of heights and her legs went weak. Lin Yan almost grabbed her hand and dragged her over.
Since then, Lin Yan treated her a little differently, and often ordered afternoon tea takeaway for the HR department. Colleagues saw it all, and laughed and joked while drinking the milk tea Lin Yan bought them. Zhan Xi was not stupid, and knew that Lin Yan had a good impression of her.
However, he hadn't said anything yet, so Zhan Xi naturally didn't know how to respond.
She has always been passive in this regard and has no special feelings towards Lin Yan, mainly because this guy is aloof and speaks less than she does. In the few times they talked, Zhan Xi felt that they were just awkward chats that would end in minutes.
They arrived at the floor where the company was located. After clocking in, Zhan Xi and Lin Yan went in opposite directions. Before they parted, Lin Yan asked, "Are you really not going to eat hot pot with us at noon?"
"Well, I'm really busy today, and I have a cold, and I'm afraid of infecting you." Zhan Xi was wearing a mask and had a strong nasal tone when he spoke, but he was telling the truth.
Lin Yan looked at her, and after a long while he managed to utter: "Drink more hot water."
Happy:-_-||
Zhanxi is really busy these days. After the Lunar New Year, the company will hold an annual meeting, which will be led by HR. Wenqin will give a work report at the meeting, and part of the PPT will be given to Zhanxi to do. Zhanxi has never done such an important job before, and is afraid of doing it wrong. Every day, he watches films from previous years to learn, and also helps other sisters with their work.
She was thinking about the pot of flowers, but time was running out as the Japanese would arrive in twenty days.
Zhan Xi downloaded several pictures of fresh flower arrangements, some of which had simple shapes, while others were more complicated than the "Good Luck" pot. He also found several anchors who made permed flowers on Q station and patiently sent them pictures one by one to inquire about prices.
To her surprise, several anchors explicitly told her that it was too difficult to do, or that they could do it but it would not look as good as fresh flowers, and that there would be no refund if she was not satisfied with the finished product.
Zhan Xi didn't understand it clearly. When she contacted "Xiao Yu Yu Hot Flower", the other party didn't say whether it could be made like the original. "Hao Da Yi Tou Yu" did mention that it was difficult. She thought anyone who could do hot flower could do it.
The quotes from the few anchors who could do the job were also varied. For example, for the pot of "Good Luck", some quoted 5,000, some quoted 8,000, and one female teacher even quoted 10,000.
After asking around, Zhan Xi made an Excel spreadsheet and filled in the photos and quotations of several candidate works according to different stores. Finally, she opened P Station and looked for "Haoda Yitouyu".
What happened was even more unexpected to her. The guy she had just chatted with the night before deleted all three videos from his homepage in just one night, leaving only a few private messages between the two of them.
Zhan Xi was confused, but still not giving up, so he sent him a private message.
Sugar-boiled egg: Hello.
Sugar-fried Egg: Hi, are you there
Tangchuandan: Why did you delete all the videos? Do I need to go to QQ station to find you
Sugar-boiled eggs: Is there still a discount today
Sugar-boiled eggs:
She waited until she got off work, but "Haodayitouyu" still didn't reply to her private message.
Zhan Xi had an indescribable feeling in his heart. After thinking about it, he could only open the Q station to find "Xiao Yuyu Handmade Ironing Flowers" and sent a private message to the other party helplessly.
Strawberry Cake: Hi, are you a big fish
The other party replied very quickly, as if he was holding his phone all the time.
Xiaoyuyu Handmade Hot Flower: Yes, dear~
Zhan Xi stared at the screen in a daze and thought to himself: No, you are not.
—
Luo Jingyu was sitting in the subway car, and messages from Luo Xiaomei came one after another on WeChat.
Luo Xiaomei: When you left the day before yesterday, Mom was so angry that she had a migraine. She is doing this for your own good. When you have time, go home and see her. Be patient.
Luo Xiaomei: You are 26 years old, it's time to have a girlfriend. The girl introduced by your brother-in-law is really good. You should be obedient and meet her, just to make friends.
Luo Xiaomei: You have to know what to say and what not to say when you meet someone.
What a Big Fish: I don’t want to find a girlfriend now. I don’t have time to find one.
Luo Xiaomei: Don’t use “了” randomly at the end of a sentence. Not all sentences have to end with “了”! Also, you need to know how to use these interjections, such as “吧”, “啊”, “吗”, and “了”. Xiaoyu, you really need to read more books or chat with ordinary people more. Your social circle is too narrow. Do you even fail to read lips now
What a big fish: I understand.
Luo Xiaomei: Remember to meet the girls!
What a big fish: Got it!
Luo Xiaomei: This “la” is used correctly. [Like]
Luo Jingyu exited the dialog box and saw that Fang Xu had sent her three more pictures of flower arrangements.
Fang Xu: Regarding the quotation, the last client said that he would report it to the leader and provide several alternative plans.
Luo Jingyu looked at the three pictures carefully, observing the shapes and numbers of flowers, leaves and flower stems in each work, and silently calculated in her mind.
The flower arrangements chosen by customers are all very unique. There is a piece called "Pure Charm of Lotus Pond" which only has one lotus flower, three lotus pods and a few lotus leaves. It looks very beautiful, but it is too simple for embossing.
He didn't use a calculator, just made a rough estimate, and then reported the three quotes to Fang Xu one by one.
Fang Xu: I will still quote a slightly higher price, just to let you know.
What a big fish: [ok]
Fang Xu: I told you, if you ask around, they will come back. They want to give gifts, they don’t care about the money, they only care about the quality.
Luo Jingyu didn't reply. He was indeed not good at external communication. During the cooperation period, he had no right to give orders to Fang Xu.
The conversation with the client last night was purely accidental, and after a day, he has calmed down.
Opening the P station, Luo Jingyu saw several private messages sent by Sugar-boiled Eggs every day, each one sent a few minutes apart. He scrolled up again and saw the conversation between the two of them the night before. What came to his mind was the sweet taste of the bowl of Sugar-boiled Eggs.
Naturally, he didn't reply. After looking for a while, he returned to the desktop and directly uninstalled the P station app.
Putting away the phone, Luo Jingyu looked up at the people around him. He was still dressed in black, wearing a mask, and had his hat brim pulled down, even the brown fur edges on the brim were removed, leaving only a pair of eyes exposed on his face.
The body can feel the vibration caused by the running of the subway, but there is no sound at all in the ears.
Luo Jingyu knows that the environment he feels is called "quiet" or even "silent" to others, but to him, it is as natural as breathing. Ordinary people wearing noise-canceling headphones may understand his feelings, but he will never be able to understand what is called a "world with sound".
I can’t imagine what sound is like.
There were not many passengers on the subway late at night. A young couple sitting diagonally opposite were chatting. The girl's head was resting on the boy's shoulder, and her lips were opening and closing slightly, probably whispering.
Luo Jingyu recalled her sister's doubts about his lip-reading skills, and felt a little unconvinced. She looked carefully and was surprised to see these two sentences:
—Last night... it hurt a little, today... I won’t let you... be a hooligan.
—I’m sorry, baby. Today… I’ll do it again… I’ll be gentler.
The boy touched his girlfriend's face with a wicked smile, and the girl shyly hit him. Luo Jingyu coughed and turned her head away, feeling that she was shameless.