Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
By the time Lin Yao arrived at work, it was already 8:45.
It was practically the same distance from Chaoyang Community to Yueyang Building, and East City to Yueyang Building. She headed out at practically the same time, and didn’t waste time waiting for the bus, but she was still more than a half an hour later than usual.
If something happened, such as a bus delay, there was no doubt that she would be late!
Lin Yao decided that she would head to work earlier and go home later to avoid the peak.
The phone in Lin Yun’s office suddenly started ringing, so Lin Yao hurried into the Director’s office to answer the phone.
“Hello? Hello, this is Lingyun Industry.”
“Good morning~!” The voice on the other end of the phone was especially deep, “I have a question to ask~”
He spoke Chinese, but with a very strange accent. It sounded a bit like a Hong Kong accent or a Taiwanese accent, but it wasn’t exactly right.
He didn’t drag his words, but his tone would go up at the last word of each sentence, and it gave his speech a very distinctive flair.
Lin Yao deliberately slowed down her words and asked, “What’s the issue?” Perhaps because Southern women were naturally inclined to speak in a soft tone, this characteristic became particularly noticeable once she slowed down, to the extent that even she herself noticed it.
The person on the other end of the phone chuckled. “I want to ask~, have you eaten yet?”
Lin Yao was stunned for a moment. What a bizarre question for him to ask?
The corner of her mouth reflexively curled up into a faint smile. “If you’re talking about lunch, then I haven’t eaten.”
“Ah~, is that so~.” The person on the other end of the phone chuckled again. “No wonder you speak so quietly~, I can hear that you haven’t eaten enough food~ haha~”
Lin Yao was slightly embarrassed. Her voice wasn’t as quiet as he described, but it certainly wasn’t loud either.
So, what about other people in the company?
Lin Yun was an assertive woman with much career experience. When she spoke she sounded energetic and strong-willed. She only showed her coquettish side in front of her beloved.
Jian Wen was a northern girl. She spoke with a little northeast accent, but she sounded self-assured.
Zheng Yuning came from the northwestern part of the country and spoke in a hearty manner…
Lin Yao couldn’t help but wonder if she left the impression of a meek and incompetent woman by speaking to clients in such a manner?
The gentleman on the other end of the phone rambled on and on.
“Be honest~, do Chairman Qin and Director Lin not provide you with enough food~?”
“If that’s the case~, I can help you talk to him~.” So he is implying that he’ll complain to her boss?
Lin Yao interrupted him and said helplessly, “Sir, perhaps you aren’t from China?”
The other person paused and replied, “Yeah~”
Lin Yao beat around the bush and said tactfully, “Perhaps you may not be aware that in China, no boss is responsible for an employee’s breakfast.”
The other person suddenly laughed. “Ahahahahahahaha~, when you put it like that it makes sense~ By the way, I haven’t asked your name yet~?”
Lin Yao inexplicably thought he was quite endearing because he was obviously quite old yet still had a streak of mischief in him.
“My surname is Lin, what is your surname?”
“Ah~, what a coincidence that your surname is also Lin~.” His tone became more solemn and introduced himself, “My surname is Wen~, you can call me Mr. Wen~, or you can call me Santoso~.”
Mr. Wen was an old overseas Chinese. He had crossed the Pacific with his elders during his childhood, and now that he’s old, he yearns for his motherland. He also liked to chat with young people in China.
Wen chatted with Lin Yao for a while, then finally said, “I really have to ask you to do me a favor~”
Lin Yao quickly grabbed the paper and pen, then asked him seriously, “Please tell me, I’ll record it.
Mr. Wen said, “The thing is~, I don’t know how to write this character~”
Lin Yao suddenly lost some confidence, and she asked, “What is the word?”
Mr. Wen said, “This word is used to describe a shape~, can you speak English~?”
Lin Yao thought about how she could ask the master as a last resort, so although she felt somewhat lacking in confidence, she still answered affirmatively, “Yes.”
Mr. Wen’s volume suddenly turned up considerably, and he exclaimed joyously, “Ah~ do you can speak English~? How~ impressive~ !”
Lin Yao instantly broke out in a nervous sweat. It would be even more embarrassing if she couldn’t understand him after all.
Mr. Wen said, “It’s much easier if you can speak English~, I wanted to ask about a Chinese character~, flat~, it can be used to describe a shape~, in English it is called flat, f-l-a-t, flat. Do you know how to write flat?”
Lin Yao was somewhat perplexed. “Are you talking about ‘bian’, as in Chen Xbian?”
“Ah~ That’s right~!” Mr. Wen exclaimed again, and he sounded very excited. “So you know Chen Xbian~?”
Lin Yao was speechless. “I know, after all, he is Taiwan’s…well-known celebrity.”
Mr. Wen chuckled for a while on the other end of the phone, and then said in a serious tone, “It is bian as in Chen Xbian’s~, please help me write it down on a paper~, and then fax it to me~.”
What? So simple? Lin Yao was a little dumbfounded.
Mr. Wen still felt a little unassured. He repeatedly told her, “Be sure to write it a bit bigger~ Ah~, you know~, old people~ not only are our ears not working~, even our eyes aren’t as good~.”
Lin Yao assured him by saying, “It’s no problem.”
The man on the other end of the phone slightly paused before saying, “That’s good~, I’ll wait for your fax~.”
After hanging up the phone, Lin Yao went to the warehouse to find a newly bought, never used marker, and a few sheets of A4 paper.
It was already close to work time, and the people in the office had all arrived.
To the disbelief of everyone in the office, in front of everyone, she solemnly wrote a big “flat” character on the paper.
Her handwriting was so-so and even looked a little ugly when written with a marker. So when she used the marker to write such a blown-up version of a character, ugly was an understatement.
She felt very dissatisfied, so she wrote it again, but she was still dissatisfied…
She repeated this no less than ten times before she finally selected a piece of her work that was slightly more appealing.
Just as Lin Yao was prepared to use the fax machine to dial international long distance, Lin Yun walked into the office with a smile on her face, and several salesmen greeted her.
After sending the fax, Lin Yao hurriedly said, “Good morning, Mrs. Lin!”
“Good morning!” Lin Yun had a bright smile on her face, and said, “Remember to go to the conference room for the morning meeting later.”
Lin Yao replied, “Yes, ma’am,” and was about to head to her seat to retrieve her meeting memo notebook, but Lin Yun stopped her.
“What are you holding in your hand? What were you doing just now?”
“I sent a fax.” Of course, Lin Yao didn’t feel that she was doing anything wrong. She handed the paper in hand to Lin Yun with poise and said, “This is what Mr. Wen instructed me…”
Lin Yun was shocked upon seeing the word written. Her hands started shaking from either shock or rage. She interrupted Lin Yao and asked, almost roaring, “What do you mean? Who did you send this to?”
Lin Yun’s sudden inexplicable anger and confrontational tone made Lin Yao’s mind go blank for a moment.
In Lin Yao’s mind, Lin Yun was the very embodiment of grace, elegance, tolerance…
Not long ago, Lin Yao couldn’t understand a single word when she received a call from a foreigner. She threw the words “Please send me by fax!” right in the foreigner’s face, but when Lin Yun witnessed the incident, she said it “wasn’t a big deal”…
Later on, Lin Yun asked Jian Wen to call the foreigner. Jian Wen couldn’t understand what the foreigner was saying, and said instead, “That foreigner’s English was terrible.” Lin Yun didn’t express any dissatisfaction either.
But at the moment, Lin Yun was furious and losing her temper because of this one-word fax.
How could this be? What was the problem?
After Lin Yao came back to her senses, it took more than ten minutes to explain why she sent this one-word fax, and everything concerning the matter.
She emphasized again and again, “Mr. Wen really asked me to write this word, and that it be written then faxed to him.”
Lin Yun was still somewhat unconvinced. She stared at Lin Yao for a long while, and she seemed to be looking for a fault to complain about.
Everything Lin Yao had stated were facts, and she had nothing to hide, so she didn’t flinch.
Finally, Lin Yun wordlessly walked into her office with a sullen expression.
The matter was resolved, but Lin Yao still felt ill at ease, and, from the beginning of the whole ordeal to end, she still couldn’t understand what exactly she did wrong.