"Yes," the staff member smiled, "The meeting will last for 20 minutes. Please wait here."
Gu Yaozhi agreed and sat down on the sofa in the lounge area.
After thinking for a while, she took out her mobile phone, looked at the logo in front of the front desk, and searched the name of the exhibition company.
It turned out that this company was a subsidiary of Pei Group. It was established relatively recently, just two years ago, so it should have been founded when Pei Chi graduated from University.
She looked up at the public office area inside. There were about dozens of employees sitting in front of the computer and working in an orderly manner. They looked busy but comfortable.
It is not difficult to see that this company is well managed.
Ten minutes later, she was led to the meeting room.
The staff of the Art Association were also there. The subsequent conversation went more smoothly than she expected. Others were very satisfied with her work.
Except for the man sitting opposite her.
He leaned back in his chair and slowly flipped through the documents without raising his head.
Gu Yaozhi tried her best to hide her peripheral vision and ignore his existence. After thinking for a while, she couldn't help but ask: "I just returned to China, why did you choose me?"
"Don't think too much."
The man suddenly spoke and looked at her leisurely, "I'm just a little painter who helps the poor and is not well-known."
His response inexplicably reminded Gu Yaozhi of the misunderstanding that night because of an umbrella, so this was a hint for her not to be self-indulgent.
"..."
The executive manager in charge of this exhibition is Zhou Xia, a woman in her thirties with an easy-going temperament. As if to ease the atmosphere, she immediately took over the conversation and said with a smile: "To be honest, Miss Gu, we chose you this time because of Mr. Zhong Huaili."
Gu Yaozhi was stunned: "My teacher?"
Zhou Xia hummed: "Mr. Zhong couldn't hold an exhibition in the near future due to time issues, so he recommended you to us."
"Of course, we also looked at your information. You are a top student at the Academy of Fine Arts. You have won a very prestigious art award for college students during your school years. These are also within our considerations," Zhou Xia continued: "So, as long as you have this intention, our company would like to sincerely invite you to hold a personal exhibition."
Gu Yaozhi understood the reason and smiled and said: "I have this intention."
"It's just..." She hesitated, "I don't have many existing paintings. If I hold it in the near future, how long will it take?"
Zhou Xia moved her lips and was about to speak, Pei Chi put down the documents in his hand and raised his eyes lightly, "Three months."
Gu Yaozhi met his gaze
After meeting several times, she still couldn't face Pei Chi freely, and her words were also half a beat slower.
The man leaned his arm on the table, supported his chin, and said casually: "Why, can't you finish it?"
Pei Chi was the boss of the organizer. After Zhou Xia clearly expressed his invitation to Gu Yaozhi, his attitude made everyone present a little confused.
But Gu Yaozhi knew clearly.
"No." She sat up slightly, "I can finish it."
After staring at her for a moment, Pei Chi hummed.
For a while, the inexplicable atmosphere in the conference room was eased.
The meeting lasted for thirty minutes. At the end, someone came in and handed Pei Chi a few documents. He leaned back on the chair, the documents were placed on the edge of the table, and the movement of signing was neat and tidy.
The light behind him poured in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. He lowered his eyebrows, his face was half against the light, and his black hair was scattered on his forehead. He looked very focused.
It seemed that it should be a very important document.
Gu Yaozhi's eyes unconsciously stopped on Pei Chi for two seconds, and then left the conference room.
Before leaving, Zhou Xia stopped her at the front desk, "Ms. Gu, I will be responsible for the progress of the exhibition from now on. If you have any questions, you can contact me at any time..."
While speaking, Zhou Xia touched her pocket and found that she didn't have a business card with her. She turned around and asked an assistant passing by to get it.
The assistant had an intern tag hanging around his neck. Hearing this, he quickly responded and walked quickly towards an office.
Zhou Xia turned around and looked at Gu Yaozhi's face for a few times. The girl in front of her had long, slightly curly hair, black eyes and red lips, and a generous temperament. She had a good impression of her at first sight.
She couldn't help but praise: "Miss Gu, I've always wanted to say that you are so beautiful since I saw you."
Gu Yaozhi smiled: "Thank you."
Zhou Xia hesitated, and then said: "Just now in the meeting room, don't mind it, our boss is just like this, and he is usually very strict with us."
"Alas, the temper of the young master," Zhou Xia smiled at her intimately, "But our boss is still very serious and responsible at work. Since he agreed to this exhibition, it means that he still recognizes you."
Gu Yaozhi said softly: "Well, I know, thank you Manager Zhou."
She can understand Pei Chi's attitude and the behavior of the man who disliked her in the elevator. This exhibition fell on her, but Pei Chi looked at Zhong Huaili's face and couldn't refuse.
For her.
Based on the past between the two, there is no recognition to talk about.
Zhou Xia seemed to want to say something, but the phone in her hand suddenly rang, "Excuse me, I need to take a call."
Then she stood aside, "Baby, Mommy has to work overtime today..."
In the corridor, the assistant came back with the business card. Seeing that Zhou Xia was busy, the assistant gave the business card directly to Gu Yaozhi.
After Zhou Xia hung up the phone, she smiled and said, "Miss Gu, we have something to contact. The phone number on the business card is my WeChat. You can add me if you need it."
"Okay," Gu Yaozhi put away the business card, "Then I'll leave first."
—
Coming out of the company building, the gentle breeze blew across her cheeks, warm and cozy.
The meeting ended smoothly, but she felt a little stuffy.
Walking along the street towards the subway entrance, the sunlight fell between her eyebrows through the branches, a little dazzling, and unconsciously, the last look she saw Pei Chi just now gradually overlapped with the willful boy in her memory.
During the summer vacation of the first year of high school, Gu Yaozhi went to art class as usual.
She got up late that day and encountered a traffic jam. She got off the bus two stops early and planned to take a shortcut to save time.
It was very hot. She walked along the shade of the trees. The cicadas were chirping in the morning and the air was beginning to feel stuffy.
When she reached an alley, she turned in. Just after walking a few steps, she saw two groups of people standing not far ahead. They were both young boys. They seemed to have a conflict and blocked the road with a lot of noise. It seemed that they were about to fight.
Gu Yaozhi suddenly stopped, clenched her fists, and stepped back subconsciously.
Backing up to the corner, she glimpsed a motorcycle repair shop on the side of the road ahead. On the stone platform at the door, a boy wearing a white short-sleeved shirt was sitting on it, one leg lazily hanging down, his eyes lowered, concentrating on wiping the black and green helmet in his hand.
Gu Yaozhi glanced at the alley and then looked at the boy.
After thinking for a while, he walked towards him.
"Student Pei."
The boy raised his eyes to look at her and then retracted his gaze.
"..."
Gu Yaozhi said softly: "Can you do me a favor?"
The boy didn't respond.
Last time, because Pei Chi borrowed her meal card, she bought a cup of fruit tea on her way back to express her gratitude. As a result, because of this incident, rumors spread in the school that she was pursuing Pei Chi.
In order to prevent the rumors from continuing to ferment, when she met Pei Chi in school, she almost didn't look at him, and the two of them didn't have any eye contact. In this way, slowly no one mentioned it again.
I guess he was quite annoyed because of this matter, and now he didn't really want to pay attention to her.
She continued to say, "It seems that someone is going to fight in the alley over there. I'm afraid of being hurt by mistake. Can you take me there?"
This time he spoke, his tone was light: "Take a detour."
"I'm going to be late for class. It takes half an hour to go there. It's a bit too late."
The boy stopped what he was doing and looked at her. The wind blew across his eyebrows and eyes. He pulled the corner of his lips: "Your teacher, is he so unreasonable?"
"..."
Gu Yaozhi found that asking him for help seemed to be a waste of time.
After looking at each other for a moment, she pursed her lips, "Then excuse me."
When he turned around to leave, the boy suddenly jumped down from the platform, raised his hand to brush his hair, and sighed softly in his throat, "Trouble."
Then he put one hand in his pocket, glanced at her, "Follow me."
Gu Yaozhi blinked and quickly followed him. When they entered the alley, the two groups were still in the stage of shouting and establishing authority, so Pei Chi walked over and called a boy's name.
She looked over and the boy who turned his head at the sound looked familiar, like a classmate from their school.
Pei Chi raised his chin: "Move aside."
The boy glanced at him and Gu Yaozhi, and let out a cry, asking his people to move back.
The group of people on the opposite side saw the boy who suddenly appeared and couldn't help asking: "Who are you?"
Pei Chi glanced at the man, "If you don't move aside, I'm their man."
He was taller than the boys, holding a helmet in his hand, and looked very imposing standing here. The two groups were equal in number, so the man thought about it and made way for them.
Pei Chi took her over, and then he looked back at the people standing still behind him, and raised his eyebrows: "Fight."
"..."
"..."
"Hey, Pei Chi..." The boy who knew him called him.
"No matter." The boy said in a cold tone, leaning lazily against the wall, and continued to wipe the helmet in his hand.
Gu Yaozhi realized at this moment that this fight was probably not going to happen, but she owed Pei Chi another favor.
She looked up and thanked him.
Pei Chi didn't look up, and hummed perfunctorily.
She was in a hurry, so she walked towards the alley, and couldn't help looking back at the corner.
The boy stood there, one leg bent at the knee and tapping the ground, not in a serious state, and the whole person looked sloppy, but he was very focused on wiping the helmet.
The attitude towards things seemed to be polarized.
Those who care about it are very concerned.
Things that don't care about, don't even give a side glance
Gu Yaozhi's eyes stopped on him for a while, and she turned around.
"Mr. Pei, will you come here tomorrow?" Gu Yaozhi approached and asked, "I'll buy you some water."
She was not used to verbally thanking others for their help, and she might not find a suitable opportunity after school started.
After she finished speaking, she saw Pei Chi's fingers tapping his helmet and turning his head. With this action, the lines of the boy's jaw became thinner and smoother.
Then, he smiled with an ambiguous meaning, "Mr. Gu, don't make your purpose so obvious."
"Want to chase someone," he stared at her, "Can we be a little more creative?"
"..."