When she didn't out rightly decline, he opened his backpack and brought out his laptop.
"I want you to go through the contents of this folder. There is a presentation and a sheets with figures. Tell me what you make of it", he pushed the laptop towards her.
Unsure of what awaited her, Jia Li scrolled through the first few slides before going back and reading them at length. The room was silent for the next twenty minutes, punctuated only by the clicks of Wang Wei's phone as he waited for her to finish reading up. She shut the laptop with a decisive click.
"You know I am not a big believer of fate. But it seems like that you came to Moganshan as my salvation. I am in! Tell me when to start", she said with a small smile.
He gave a start.
He had originally come up with the idea opening up English Language Coaching Institute in tier II towns for Chu. It was one of the ways that he had hoped to persuade her to stay back in China. But post the conversation at the coffee shop, he had thought that maybe Jia Li could be the right person for this. As things stood, there was no way that Chu would have the inclination or the time for this.
"I am surprised but really glad to have you on-board for this so quickly. There are few things that you need to know upfront though. One, this is a project being funded by our company, which means in one way Tang would be your boss. Secondly, the salary won't be much yet since it's a start-up and I have barely managed to get funding for the initial phase. Actually they all have written off this money. My father and Tang along with his father think that I won't manage to make this a success. I don't blame them for thinking like this. I have been extremely indifferent and unfocussed towards life per se up until now," he summarised with a self depreciating smile.
She waited a beat before answering, "I am fine with the low pay. The idea is to help make the institute approachable and viable for as many children and adults out there. Learning English has become the need of the hour and would improve the chances of employment multi-fold for the adults. Also, as a tourist destination, it would help improve our image and number of foreign visitors. It would also be beneficial to the children while applying to schools and colleges in bigger cities."
Hesitating a little, she continued, "as for me working for Tang's company, I will only take up this offer on the promise that my identity would be hidden from Tang and his family. From what I have read till now, this is your brain child and has nothing to do with him. I don't see why does he ever need to be told about who is at the helm of this institute. Also, this is not directly linked to the company's main FMCG business, right. Hence the chances of him visiting the place would be nearly zero. So if you promise to keep your mouth shut about my involvement here, I don't have any issues. I am ready to start when you tell me."
"You have my word on that. I will never voluntarily give away your identity to anyone," he said solemnly.
He continued, "but you don't need to join in right away. As of now, the building isn't fully ready yet. And we haven't hired enough staff…"
She interrupted him, "doesn't matter. I don't mind helping in finding the right people. Also, we can at least start spreading the word in the nearby areas about such an institute".
She had needed a direction and this seemed as good as any to start walking in. She was done thinking about the past and its sorrows.