Chapter 86 - Li Caiyi's Proposition

Glorious Days Company was founded five years ago by the current chairman, Shao Yufei. Starting from a small bookstore business, Shao Yufei worked hard to gather the local people who were interested and talented in story-writing and started Glorious Days Company from scratch. 

Unlike the other publishing companies, Glorious Days had what you call a cultivation center, where young, aspiring writers could get lessons from professionals. They were also actively holding or sponsoring various writing competitions to spark the public's interest in the world of literature.

Li Caiyi read the company's profile on their official website carefully. She had only started looking through this just now, but it seemed like Glorious Days Company offered a lot of benefit for talented authors signed up under their wing. Li Caiyi was especially interested in the cultivation center. 

She had never met other authors in both of her life before. This might be an excellent chance to expand her experience and make a good connection for the future. 

Being the Madam Meng for years, Li Caiyi understood that relationships among the elites were necessary to be integrated well into this high-class society. It would be more beneficial to build a connection from a young age, since the connection would be harder to make later when everyone already had their own circles. 

Even more so if you were a socially awkward person like Li Caiyi.

She learned this the hard way. The memories when she attended those high-class banquets were not exactly memories she was fond of. 

There was information about the Shao Family too on the website. However, she could not find Shao Jingfei's name anywhere. 

He confidently said that every talent he suggested would most likely get immediate approval, so shouldn't he also be one of the essential members of this company? Was it because he was still a student? That was why he had not been considered as an official employee yet?

Li Caiyi then opened the page for the company's talent. There were lots of professional authors signed up under the company already. They came from various fields, so not all of them were novelists. Some excelled in essay, journalism, or poetry writing. There was a profile of a woman who wrote a storybook for children and a middle-aged man who created manhua stories.

"There were various types of authors signed under this company. This might work, after all," Li Caiyi muttered thoughtfully. She needed to find a way to earn more money as soon as possible. Without money, she would not be able to do anything. 

As she scrolled up and down, Li Caiyi suddenly got an idea.

She discreetly checked on the teacher in front of the class, who was currently busy writing on the blackboard. Then she sneakily sent a chat to Shao Jingfei.

[Li Caiyi: Shao Jingfei, I want to talk to you about your offer yesterday?]

She had yet to put down her phone when the screen lit up again. It was an immediate reply from Shao Jingfei.

[Shao Jingfei: Sure! Shall we meet up at the cafeteria after this?].

Li Caiyi's finger halted for a moment when she read that. 

Shao Jingfei came from a wealthy family, so it was not surprising if he suggested that place as a spot for their meeting. It had been a while since Li Caiyi went there, so she had mixed feelings about this.

However, Li Caiyi soon steeled her resolve. She still had some points and money, so there was no need to worry. It was not like she made a mistake or anything, so why should she have hesitated? Li Caiyi was an adult; she could not herself get intimidated by a bunch of high school students!

Besides, it was she who asked Shao Jingfei to meet up, so it would be unreasonable if she also held him back from enjoying his lunchtime. 

[Li Caiyi: Sure. Let's meet up at the cafeteria later!]

Li Caiyi tapped on the 'send' button and sighed deeply. Going to the cafeteria meant she would eventually bump into her siblings and Meng Renshu. She hoped nothing bad would happen later.

***

Lunchtime.

Zhou Ya, Chen Ruolan, and Feng Nian were worried since Li Caiyi suddenly said she wanted to go to the cafeteria today. Especially Zhou Ya, because she knew that Li Caiyi had drifted away from her group. 

Li Caiyi explained she had to talk with Shao Jingfei, and she would leave as soon as she finished speaking. The three finally nodded and let her go. 

Li Caiyi was happy her friends were worried about her, but she also felt complicated because of it. No matter how she thought about it, she should be the one who took care of them as the adult here, but it seemed like she was the one being babied every time. 

Well, they were getting along well, so she guessed it was okay?

When she arrived at the cafeteria, the place was packed as usual. Li Caiyi looked around to find Shao Jingfei, but she could not find him anywhere. 

"Li Caiyi! Over here!"

Li Caiyi jumped in shock when she heard someone calling her in a thunderous voice. She turned her head and found Shao Jingfei standing a few meters from her with a wide grin on his face. 

It was nice to finally meet him, but couldn't he call her more subtly? Li Caiyi could feel people stare at her, and she gulped nervously as she shrunk her neck, trying to reduce her presence as much as possible. 

She just stood there for five minutes, but she wanted to run away already.

"There you are! I have reserved seats for us. Let's go over there!" Shao Jingfei pointed at the table in the middle of the room, and Li Caiyi grimaced inwardly. She did not have any choice but to follow him.

Li Caiyi sat across from him, and Shao Jingfei pushed a bottle of lemon soda to her. "Here, drink this."

"Oh? Thank you," Li Caiyi accepted, albeit a little confused. However, since the one who gave it was Shao Jingfei, she did not think much of it.

"Are you not going to order anything?" Shao Jingfei asked curiously after noticing Li Caiyi did not bring anything to the table.

"No. I just came here to talk to you. I will eat my lunch with my friends after this."

"Is that so? It would be best if you asked your friends to come and eat with us. I don't mind at all. The merrier, the better."

"No, it's okay. They prefer to eat with people they are familiar with, anyway."

"I see. That makes sense. And? What do you want to talk about with me?"

Li Caiyi straightened her back before she spoke. "I wanted to ask one or two things about your offer yesterday. You said you were going to recommend me, but can I ask you first what you are going to recommend me as?"

"Of course, as a talented and young novelist. My eyes were never wrong. I know you have what it takes to work with us."

"Shao Jingfei, I actually have another proposition for you."

Shao Jingfei tilted his head in confusion. "What is it?"

"What if I sign up as a manhua story writer?"