Chapter 39: Women Are Fickle

Zhou Le only received the call after meeting with Su Yingxia.

It was only after this meeting that he learned his assistant had called the company, which in turn contacted Han Han to help him secure the role. To show his gratitude, Zhou Le specially took her out for a meal. They ate a copper pot hotpot at Donglaishun, a Meituan voucher deal for two that cost 138 yuan.

"Brother Le, where are we going next?" Having enjoyed the hotpot courtesy of her boss, Su Yingxia’s cheeks were flushed. For the first time, she felt a real sense of accomplishment in her work. It was just a pity she hadn’t been able to treat him herself.

"Let’s go to Xidan. Help me pick out a gift," Zhou Le said. Tan Siyun had previously used all her savings to buy him a bracelet, so he naturally felt he should reciprocate. Unfortunately, his former coworkers mostly bought gifts worth a thousand yuan or so, so there was no point in asking them for advice.

"Xiao Su, what kind of gift do you think is best for a girl? Preferably something a bit expensive, with some real value."

Su Yingxia thought for a moment. "Usually jewelry or a handbag. Clothes work too, but those usually require trying on."

"Then let’s go with jewelry."

Although Su Yingxia couldn't afford such things herself, she had certainly heard of them. However, after visiting several luxury stores and having Su Yingxia model a few pieces, he couldn't find anything he liked. Finally, they entered Van Cleef & Arpels. Zhou Le spotted a diamond-encrusted necklace that caught his eye. It cost over 390,000 yuan.

"I'll take it." Zhou Le paid with his card on the spot.

Afterward, he dropped by the store across the way and bought a Longines watch for over 5,000 yuan.

"Wear this. Since you’re my manager, it’s a bit of a joke if you walk around wearing a watch that looks like a toy for children."

Su Yingxia was flattered but overwhelmed. "No, this is too expensive. Besides, Brother Le, this isn't a child's watch; it’s a Casio digital watch. It cost over 800 yuan!"

"Eight hundred isn't even enough for a single meal of mine," Zhou Le remarked.

"But Brother Le, our lunch just now only cost a little over a hundred," Su Yingxia said softly.

Zhou Le explained righteously, "That’s because I used a group-buying deal. Otherwise, it would have been over two hundred." He continued, "Plus, you are my assistant and my manager; I’ll need your help for many things in the future. You should accept it—if you don't take it now, who knows when you'll get another chance?"

In the end, Su Yingxia accepted the watch. They proceeded to head back by subway.

However, Su Yingxia still voiced her confusion: "Brother Le, why didn't you blink when you spent nearly 400,000 on a gift, but you still take the subway? A taxi would only cost a few dozen yuan."

"Because I'm broke," Zhou Le said, shrugging helplessly. "I only had 400,000 in total. I spent 390,000 on the necklace and over 5,000 on the watch. Now I have barely 4,000 left to my name."

Su Yingxia was stunned. She had never seen an artist like this! She hadn't even heard of one!

"Then why didn't you just buy something cheaper?"

"That wouldn't do. Look at this bracelet I’m wearing—a friend spent tens of thousands to buy it for me. That was her entire net worth, so I have to use my entire net worth to buy her a gift in return. I can't afford the really high-end ones, so I had to settle for this; otherwise, I would have preferred the one that cost over 700,000."

Su Yingxia: "......"

"How about we go return the watch?" Su Yingxia felt even more guilty now.

"Still thinking about that child's watch of yours?"

Su Yingxia: "???"

"It is not a child's watch, many adults wear them!"

"No difference. Anyway, help me book a ticket to Suzhou later."

"Oh, okay." Su Yingxia hurriedly pulled out her phone to check for flights, only to realize Suzhou didn't have an airport. "Brother Le, there’s no airport in Suzhou. Should I book one to a nearby city and then take a car?"

"A flight?"

"Why buy a flight? Just get a hard sleeper berth. Connecting transport is too much trouble—it’s time-consuming and exhausting."

Su Yingxia felt her worldview being challenged. She had already considered that Zhou Le might be short on cash and was prepared to look at economy class seats.

"A hard sleeper......"

"What’s wrong?"

"No, nothing." Su Yingxia put her phone away, feeling it was time for her to step up as a manager. Since Su Yingxia had just rented an apartment and hadn't set it up yet, she went to Zhou Le’s place to rest. Zhou Le had a lifelong habit of taking an afternoon nap, so he went straight to bed upon arriving home.

Su Yingxia pressed her ear against the bedroom door for a while, and once she heard no sound, she ran to the kitchen and called the Director of the Artist Management Department. As it turned out, the director had never heard of such a request either—an artist asking the company to reimburse travel expenses, and for a hard sleeper ticket that cost only a few hundred yuan. It was heartbreaking just to hear.

Su Yingxia thought that if Brother Le didn't want the hassle of flying, he at least deserved a soft sleeper. After much pleading, the director finally agreed. After all, Zhou Le was a newly signed artist.

"Forget the soft sleeper, just book him a business class seat."

Hearing this, Su Yingxia was filled with gratitude.

"Don't worry about it. Since you’re his assistant now, you are his person. Everything must revolve around him. Fulfill all his needs, and if you can't, find a way. Do you understand?"

"Understood!"

Su Yingxia hung up, thinking about what Director Lu had said. They had gone through training, and that group was full of young people with various styles. She had been handpicked and assigned to Zhou Le. As for "fulfilling needs," that naturally meant every requirement. She knew how the industry worked; if you want rewards, you have to pay the price. But since she was with Zhou Le, she considered herself quite lucky.

......

She went online to look for business class tickets, only to find they were sold out. Panic set in instantly. She opened her go-to travel app, booked two tickets, and clicked the "share to boost" button.

"Friends, please help me out, click to boost!"

Afterward, she sent out five-yuan red packets in several group chats.

......

After waking up, Zhou Le noticed several WeChat messages on his phone. He checked them and saw a slew of messages from Nazha.

"So bored."

"Are you there?"

"Wanna play games?"

"My Diaochan is super strong lately!"

"Log in!"

"?"

"Heh, men.jpg"

Zhou Le felt a headache coming on. While others would kill for the variety show she was on, Nazha was just playing on her phone?

"What's up? I was taking a nap," Zhou Le replied.

He had just started to get out of bed when Nazha replied instantly.

"Heh, nothing. Some people are working hard, while others are snoring away. Do you think I feel mentally unbalanced? I wouldn't care about such things. Human joys and sorrows are not connected."

Zhou Le: "......"

You look at that long, rapid-fire rant and tell me you don't care? Women really are fickle.

"Alright, Auntie, I'll treat you to hotpot when you get back." Zhou Le thought that meal deal was pretty good.

Nazha replied instantly again:

"Really?"

"Let me tell you, this show is so boring, and there are some old women here too......"