Pharmaceutical Negotiator - Chapter 40

Qi An returned to her workstation, completely distraught. Li Hua looked up at her: “The report is this afternoon, how is the progress?”

“Ah.” Qi An looked at the messy pages on the screen in front of her, struggling fruitlessly, “Almost there.”

“Okay, send it to me to review first when you finish.”

“Understood.”

Ignoring her melancholy mood, Qi An could only lean over the desk again, diligently sorting through the documents in her hand.

She had recently video called Qi Shenli and told her that she would also be responsible for the negotiations with Senbao Pharmaceutical this time. Qi Shenli was full of emotion, feeling that her daughter was becoming more and more capable, already able to hold her own.

Although she didn’t say much, Qi An could see her relief. After Qi Zhiguo’s accident, Qi Shenli did not become too passive. As the head of a company, she had too many things to worry about and had no energy to linger on personal matters.

The impact of public opinion and the media’s relentless attempts to dig up scandalous private information made her feel baffled, so she became even more cautious and hopeful in her career.

This didn’t put too much pressure on her; instead, it ignited a lot of fighting spirit. She always only “competed” with herself, and her only requirement for Qi An was that she be happy and healthy. When Qi An suddenly said she was going to Beijing, and now she could still see the drive in her, Qi Shenli felt very, very happy.

Qi An did not go to the cafeteria for lunch. She left the building and walked south to a snack street.

Although it was noon, the clouds were very thick and dark. The oppressive sky and the gusts of cold wind swirling on the road made Qi An regret walking these extra steps, wishing she had just settled for the cafeteria.

But Si Tan-jie wasn’t around, and she really didn’t want to sit alone at a table in the cafeteria, constantly sending food to her mouth like a programmed machine, chewing a few times, and then having more food brought in.

The snack street was at least noisy and lively, full of hustle and bustle. Listening to the cries of the vendors, the conversations of passersby, and the continuous “WeChat received,” “Alipay deposited” from the payment machines, the sense of being a ‘corpse’ on her seemed to fade a little.

Crossing the street, Qi An wrapped her coat tighter around herself, bowed her head, and walked into the cold wind.

The snack street was not as lively as she had imagined. There weren’t many people, and the street was quite deserted. Some shops were even closed.

The wind blew across the ground, kicking up some sand that fluttered for a long time before settling.

She heard someone’s phone playing a very loud external broadcast. Qi An followed the sound and found an old man in a white vest. She didn’t know if the phone was tucked into his pocket or somewhere else, as he wasn’t holding it, and he was busy moving the tables placed outside back into the shop.

The huge sunshade standing in front of the shop was like a rootless fallen leaf in the strong wind, swaying precariously. The umbrella ribs were bent and deformed by the wind pressure, and the canopy was flipped up.

The old man finally freed his hands to fold up the sunshade after moving the tables.

Qi An faintly heard the sound from the old man’s phone it was a news anchor’s standard broadcast voice, talking about the landing of “Sejard” (a typhoon/storm).

“From the 18th to the 19th, northern regions will experience strong winds and severe convective weather. It is forecasted that Inner Mongolia, North China, Northeast China, and the Huang-Huai region will have showers and thunderstorms, with moderate to heavy rain in some areas, accompanied by strong convective weather such as thunderstorm gales and hail; Inner Mongolia, Northeast China, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Huang-Huai…”

Qi An walked away, no longer listening.

The publicity surrounding “Sejard” lately had nearly made her ears calloused. However, she was also relieved to see such a strong emphasis on awareness, which would allow people to prepare in advance and minimize losses.

Perhaps it was the impending heavy rain that made the snack street so empty.

The whole city seemed to be preparing to welcome this storm.

Qi An began to pray that the fish powder shop she frequented was still open.

A few more steps ahead, she reached a shop with a black wooden plaque that read “Zhuoyue Fish Powder.” The shop was small and the decor was simple and elegant. Because the light was too dim, a yellowish lamp was lit inside. The light was soft, and through the old fashioned wooden lattice window, a layer of faint gold was plated around the window, looking somewhat mottled and unclear in pattern at a glance.

Qi An had eaten here a few times. The meat was fresh and tender, the soup was rich, and it had good reviews on Dianping (a review platform).

She entered the shop and wanted to order according to her usual habit.

There was only a woman in the shop, who usually was busy in the back kitchen. Since there were no customers, she had come to the front, sitting on a wooden chair, spacing out.

Seeing a customer come in, she didn’t stand up and asked: “What would you like to order?”

Her accent carried the unique softness of a Southerner, sounding gentle.

Qi An originally planned to scan the code to order, but seeing no other customers in the shop, she directly ordered “Golden Broth Fish Powder, extra fish,” then found the payment code on the wall and transferred the money.

The woman turned and went into the back kitchen, and Qi An heard the “beep” sound of a machine starting.

It took some time for the pot to heat up, so Qi An took out her phone and scrolled through it. She wanted to video call Si Tan-jie, but was afraid the Southeast Asian assistant would answer again, so she didn’t dare to call.

Qi An opened the chat interface with Zhang Si Tan, pondered for a moment, and decided not to send anything, instead clicking into her Moments (social media feed).

Zhang Si Tan hadn’t updated her Moments in a long time. Although this overseas trip was tough, it was an enviable opportunity, so she had been very low key lately, not wanting to draw attention to herself.

Qi An scrolled through the Moments she had already seen, still re-clicking on them with interest.

When the fish powder was served, Qi An finally diverted some attention to the steaming bowl of noodles, holding her phone in one hand and chopsticks in the other.

The wind was blocked outside the door. In the cozy little space, with a bowl of noodles, an owner who liked to space out, and photos on her phone of the person she had coveted for a long time, Qi An felt strangely at ease.

Just then, a video call request from Zhang Si Tan came in. Qi An paused, quickly clicked the green button, opened the phone’s stand, and propped it up on the table.

“Si Tan-jie!” Qi An first looked at herself on the screen. The light in the shop was dreamy, making her face look small.

Then she looked at Si Tan-jie on the screen, who was wearing a beige suit, with a long scarf wrapped around her neck.

The scarf draped over her shoulder. Qi An stared at the snow-white neck, secretly swallowed some saliva, and rationalized that she was swallowing fish powder.

“Hmm, I saw the video you tried to call. I was in a meeting just now,” Zhang Si Tan explained.

“Are you eating?” she asked again.

“Mhm, I’m eating at the Zhuoyue Fish Powder place you took me to before,” Qi An nodded rapidly like a pecking chick.

“Go back early after you finish eating. I saw the news that it’s going to rain this afternoon, so be careful.”

“Check the doors and windows of your place tonight.”

“Oh, okay. I know,” Qi An nodded at the person on the screen while scooping up a spoonful of soup.

“Did you call me this morning for something?” Zhang Si Tan’s lips curved slightly, seeing Qi An’s obedient look. The feeling of confusion from being busy switching between two language environments all morning lessened a bit.

“Ah, no, nothing,” Qi An quickly scooped another spoonful of soup to mask her embarrassment.

She indeed had nothing specific. She just simply wanted to make a call, to hear Zhang Si Tan’s voice, to see what clothes she was wearing today, what she was doing, whether her hair was down or tied up, and if she had put on any accessories.

She just… missed her.

But Qi An couldn’t say that. She didn’t dare, nor could she bring herself to say such mushy words.

“Well, I’ll hang up first, I haven’t done the meeting review yet,” Zhang Si Tan explained her busyness to her.

“Ah.” Hearing that the other party was about to hang up, Qi An quickly racked her brain for a topic.

“Si Tan-jie, have you eaten?” Her voice was slightly rushed, but fortunately, through the screen, her anxiety was not very noticeable.

“Not yet, my assistant brought a working meal, I’ll eat it later.”

“Ah. Oh. Oh.”

Qi An was momentarily lost. A face of a girl with big eyes flashed through her mind, and she asked, “Is it the girl who answered the phone today?”

“Who?” Zhang Si Tan just asked, then immediately realized, “Yes, she’s my assistant, a Thai person.”

“Oh.” Qi An looked thoughtful, not really wanting to respond, but since two people were talking, she couldn’t not respond.

“She… she didn’t ask who I was when she answered the phone, nor did she say she would relay the call to you. I feel like this assistant isn’t very competent,” Qi An furrowed her small face, struggling to think of the assistant’s inadequacies.

“Hahaha, she’s like you, she just graduated not long ago. She participated in the Belt and Road Initiative project and was seconded here. Maybe they want to give more opportunities for young people to train.”

Ah, like me, just graduated not long ago…

Qi An listened to these words awkwardly, feeling very frustrated, but couldn’t find an outlet to vent.

“Oh.”

With a muffled sound, Zhang Si Tan turned her head at this moment, talking to someone, and Qi An suspected she hadn’t even heard her voice.

“Si Tan-jie, are you very busy?” Qi An asked.

“Hmm, not too bad, we can talk a little longer.”

“Oh.”

“Haha.” Zhang Si Tan chuckled softly. Her voice was lower. Qi An guessed that perhaps someone nearby had reminded her.

“Why do you sound so down? How’s the presentation preparation going?”

“It’s almost ready, the report is this afternoon.”

“Mhm, don’t be nervous, it’s fine,” Zhang Si Tan encouraged her.

“Si Tan-jie,” Qi An called out pitifully. The steam in front of her had reduced a lot and was no longer rising.

“I miss you so much.”

“Mhm, I’m returning soon, what’s wrong?” Zhang Si Tan raised an eyebrow, unaccustomed to such coquetry.

“Nothing, I just miss you,” Qi An pouted, mumbling the words quickly.

“Haha.” Zhang Si Tan laughed again, not saying anything more.

Qi An heard a sound outside the screen, not very standard English, but understandable. She instantly realized the voice belonged to the assistant.

Sure enough, Zhang Si Tan picked up a lunch box and put it on the table. A small half of the assistant’s face was visible next to it. She adjusted the screen to only face herself.

But Qi An still saw that small half-face: “Is it convenient for you two to eat next to each other?”

“Convenient,” Zhang Si Tan sounded somewhat puzzled, “There are other people sitting nearby, there aren’t many seats.”

“Oh.”

“Are you only going to say ‘oh’ today?” Zhang Si Tan finally couldn’t help but tease her.

“Oh.”

“” Zhang Si Tan rubbed her forehead, “Such a temper.”

“Hmm, she’s definitely not as obedient as your current assistant,” Qi An also felt that this was not good, but still couldn’t help but probe, saying the opposite of what she meant.

Zhang Si Tan clicked her tongue, looking seriously at the person on the screen, and asked her: “You’re acting very strange, you know.”

Qi An wanted to say “oh” again, but stopped herself in time.

She was not a roundabout person to begin with, and Lu Youran had also been texting her these past few days, telling her to be direct since they had kissed, shouldn’t she ask for a title?

So she was straightforward: “Si Tan-jie, why do you think I kissed you?”

It couldn’t have been because I was bored.

Zhang Si Tan was a little suspicious that she had misheard, leaned closer to the screen, frowned slightly, and said: “I thought you were drunk.”

“I wasn’t drunk,” Qi An argued.

Zhang Si Tan was silent, lowering her head to poke at the dishes in the lunch box.

“I’ll be back in two days, can we talk about it when I get back?” Her tone was still very calm, but Qi An felt though she wondered if it was just her imagination that Si Tan-jie’s emotions were also unstable, just like hers.

She nodded, somewhat impressed that she had so frankly spoken her hidden thoughts.