Lingmei's conference standards had always been first-class. The reason they insisted on trilingual hosting was that their clients were spread across the world, many of them industry heavyweights, and this particular conference required a live broadcast to every branch office worldwide. It put everyone to the test. Shang Zhitao had gone looking for someone on the market. Bilingual hosts, Chinese and English, were easy enough to find. Adding French made it difficult. She finally found a top graduate from a foreign languages college, someone beautiful as well as qualified, who quoted twenty thousand yuan, not including travel and tax. Shang Zhitao's company was small. She gritted her teeth and paid it. She brought her own black formal dress, had the makeup artist pull her hair back into a sleek style, put on rented diamond earrings, stepped into a pair of high heels, and walked onto the stage. The good posture she'd built since childhood served her well that day. She came ...
While Luan Nian was giving his interview, Shang Zhitao waited outside. Lingmei paid well, so she made sure to take good care of the account. This job finished, then the new year could begin, and she wanted to enjoy her holiday without complications. She couldn't afford a single slip, so she stayed on her toes. A reporter from the provincial station asked her, "How much longer before we can go in?" She glanced through the glass. Inside, Luan Nian leaned forward slightly as he talked, a sign, to anyone who knew him, that he was losing patience. "Less than five minutes and this round will wrap up," she told them. "You didn't even go check?" The reporter from the provincial station knew her well enough to notice she hadn't gone in to ask as she usually did, and raised an eyebrow. "I took a look. It's about done." She had arranged more interviews for Luan Nian than she could count, and she knew his moods better than anyone. Sure ...