Chapter 94: "Playing Oneself
Chapter 94: Chapter 94: "Playing Oneself
Zhang Yan had briefly chatted with Old Niu before, so he knew that the hands he had available were mostly youths without proper jobs or students still in school.
He hadn’t held much hope initially. His previous expectation was merely to find out where Xia Xiqing went every day, and he planned to investigate the rest himself.
He just hadn’t expected Old Niu’s people to have mapped out every single detail so clearly.
He was actually quite curious about these kinds of talents. He wondered what kind of experiences could forge such special skills, especially while still being semi-unemployed.
Seeing Zhang Yan’s intrigued expression, Old Niu didn’t look proud. Instead, he gave a bitter smile.
"They don’t deserve to be called talents. They’re just ordinary people trying to make a living. And to be exact, it was two people.
"One is Li Fan. He’s someone with a very low presence in real life, the type with such an average face that you’d never find him once he blends into a crowd.
"He has no other skills. His only merit is that he can calm his mind and keep his composure, so the probability of him being discovered while tailing someone is extremely low.
"The other is Zhang Shuai, known as the Emperor of Temp Workers. He has experience working for over a hundred companies and individuals, so he can talk a bit about almost any industry.
"He’s the type who can’t sit still. He loses interest in whatever he does after three minutes and can’t stick to anything. His only merit is being clever and knowing how to handle social situations.
"After all, the commission you offered is very generous, Mr. Zhang. In order to complete this job perfectly, Li Fan even got several of his friends to help."
Zhang Yan nodded in sudden realization.
Apart from a tiny handful of geniuses, the "stats" of the vast majority of people in this world were actually quite similar. The only differences were luck and choices.
And even if there was one small protruding corner in their stat panels, it might never be discovered in their entire lifetimes.
"Old Niu, I’m quite fond of these two. I might need their help on a regular basis in the future. Could you ask them for me if they’re open to long-term employment?"
"Long-term employment? What about when there’s no work?"
"My preliminary idea is to give a base standby fee of 3,000 a month and hire them for at least half a year. If there are tasks, I’ll give them bonuses based on the results. However, because this is a personal hire, there won’t be any social security or housing fund benefits."
Old Niu fell silent. It wasn’t because the treatment was too poor, but rather, it was a bit too good.
Zhang Yan hadn’t entered society yet. He had only offered a standard monthly salary of 3,000 based on his experience as a keyboard warrior on the internet.
But in reality, as long as one looked away from those few tier-one and super tier-one cities, leaving aside the unemployed, there were plenty of people who worked hard, leaving early and returning late, yet only earned a little over two thousand a month. And now, Zhang Yan was promising a standby fee of 3,000!
If real work came up, all Li Fan had to do was follow a specific target around, with food, drinks, and transportation reimbursed. Zhang Shuai could even be considered to be working one job while collecting two paychecks. It was an incredibly sweet deal!
Old Niu admitted to himself that he was feeling sour. He looked at Zhang Yan resentfully, his eyes practically screaming, "Do you still need more people?"
"Zhang Datuhao, you really are generous with your money. I’ll ask the two of them for you later. It shouldn’t be a problem."
Receiving an affirmative answer so easily, Zhang Yan was also quite satisfied.
He thought, "This is, in a true sense, my first time recruiting subordinates. Thinking about it makes me a little excited!"
However, he couldn’t help but sigh mentally. True talents were becoming increasingly cheap these days.
In his Friends Circle, his classmates from Provincial University were doing alright, but many of his older classmates from high school and middle school were facing the dilemma of unemployment right after graduation.
Waving away those laments, Zhang Yan asked the most important question of the day. "Tell me in detail, what exactly is this so-called plan of Fang Hanyu’s?"
"This will have to start from shortly after Zhang Shuai infiltrated Yikoo Magazine..."
At 9:16 PM, Zhang Yan and Si Mingcheng met at a corner table by the window in McDonald’s for their final meeting before the banquet.
Two cups of cola and a plate of fries, no ketchup.
Today, Si Mingcheng lacked his usual breezy and nonchalant air. His brows were tightly knit, and his face looked a bit tired.
However, having known him for years, Zhang Yan could still see a hint of excitement in his deep eyes.
He was looking forward to tomorrow’s banquet.
"You little punk, you went to eat barbecue and didn’t even bring me."
"Tch, even if I invited you, could you actually come out? You took half an hour just to reply to my WeChat. You must be busy as a dog."
"You’re not some great beauty, so you should be glad I even replied. But yes, I was really busy today."
"A great beauty in your eyes must be at the level of Senior Sister Xia. Those other fish you easily hook don’t have that kind of luck."
At the mention of Xia Xiqing, Si Mingcheng suddenly put on a "hooked fish" expression. "Recently, Xia Xiqing has suddenly become a bit easier to get along with. A while ago, she actually took the initiative to care about what I was eating for lunch. I had already given up on chasing her for years. Do you think my chance has come again?"
COUGH, COUGH, COUGH. Zhang Yan choked on a mouthful of cola.
Looking utterly disgusted, Si Mingcheng split the fries in two and pushed the portion closest to Zhang Yan further away.
"Sorry, it went down the wrong pipe. Brother Gan, tomorrow is just a party, isn’t it? Is there a need to treat it like you’re facing a formidable enemy?"
Bringing up serious matters, Si Mingcheng’s expression turned solemn.
"It’s not as simple as you think. On the surface, it just looks like a gathering to expand one’s network, but in reality, it’s a display of power.
"Allies who openly take a stand on such occasions are considered true allies. Together, these allies in turn represent your strength, which can sway the bets of the fence-sitters."
"So what you were busy with today was trying to get more people like me to publicly stand with you tomorrow?"
"No, I was helping to lobby the fence-sitters who are wavering between my cousin and my brother, trying to get them to ultimately choose to support my cousin.
"As for me, I’m a lost cause. There might be quite a few people who call me brother in private, but on this kind of occasion, basically no one is willing to bet on me anymore."
"Then shouldn’t I keep a low profile too, or just not go at all?"
"On the contrary, not only must you not keep a low profile, you must be as high-profile as possible!"
Seeing Zhang Yan’s confused expression, Si Mingcheng continued to explain.
"No matter who is added or removed from my side, it’s impossible to hide it from my brother’s informants now. The more we try to hide, the more importance he will attach to it, and the more resources he will invest into digging up your background.
"Conversely, if you act high-profile enough, behaving like an incredibly tacky nouveau riche and acting a bit impulsive, he will merely sneer and look away."
He thought, "So that’s Brother Gan’s plan. I’m totally familiar with this... my ass!"
"Wait, Brother Gan, so in your eyes, I’m just an incredibly tacky nouveau riche!?"
Realizing he had let slip his true thoughts, Si Mingcheng awkwardly took a sip of iced cola.
"What I meant was... I want you to act *like* an incredibly tacky nouveau riche. I believe in your acting skills!"
He thought, "I don’t believe you for a second!"
Although he felt indignant in his heart, Zhang Yan also knew that this was largely true.
Perhaps ordinary people like Chi Xinyue and Xiaoyan wouldn’t be able to tell the difference, but Brother Gan, who had grown up rolling around in a pile of second-generation rich kids, could definitely see through to his true essence at a glance.
The gaps in perspective, habits, and cognitive awareness were omnipresent. Before this, the only presentable thing Zhang Yan possessed was perhaps his confidence.
However, Zhang Yan hadn’t remained stagnant either. He had actually undergone tremendous changes over these past few days. One day, he would completely astound everyone.
"Don’t worry. When the time comes, I’ll play the part perfectly."