Chapter 70 - A Lot Like Me

On the other hand, Gian Lake arrived at his and Lim Shinyi's meeting place 10 minutes earlier but the latter seemed to arrive even earlier than him.

"You're quite early, Miss Lim." of course she is, she's the one who is really looking forward to this meeting,

"I need to make a good impression, don't you think so?" For a young woman like her, her temperament is quite commendable.

Being raised in a family like them, since young they were already expected to be prim and proper at all times.

The two of them engaged in a couple of minutes of idle talk, trying to warm with each other before they went straight on the heart of their meeting for today.

"I bet you already know that I only pick two students every year. Not to brag but there are at least hundreds of aspiring perfumers who apply for that spot every year."

Because of her interest in perfumes and in Gian Lake, Lim Shinyi had already made her homework before and she furthered her research when her sister-in-law told her that she could meet GL in person.

"Yes, I know and I too will try to apply for that spot." she has never been determined like this even she was just starting on acting.

"The process of selection was done under the strict supervision of my staff and everything will also be approved by me. From all the applicants it will trimmed down into 20, who will undergo a training and discussion for three weeks to gauge their knowledge about scents and from that we will only pick 10 and those people will have to submit a new scent base from what they have learned."

He looked straight into her eyes, "I'm only telling you this because it is a known knowledge for everyone and your probably know of this already."

"I do."

"Because of your connection with Ana, I will open a backdoor for you and if you did your research you will know that I don't entertain things like this. But, remember that this not an all-the-way backdoor but still a backdoor. Now my question is, will you accept it or not?"

She knows that Gian Lake doesn't care about connection and the likes and now she's a bit confused as to why he's saying these things in front of her now. Coming here, she actually doesn't have any idea that this conversation will lead to this.

"I know of that, so now I wonder why would you do this for me. Did my sister-in-aw asked you to do this?" it is possible that her Big Sister Ana would have asked GL for her sake.

"Don't misunderstand. The only thing Ana did was to ask me to meet you and that's all, she got nothing to do with the offer I just made."

"Then why would you allow me to do something you yourself don't like?"

"Listen here young lady, I know you must have conflicting emotions regarding my offer after all you have a pride to uphold and there is nothing wrong with that but I must tell you that your application will only be thrown to the trash bin by my staff."

That was a rather direct statement. For someone like Lim Shinyi, there are only few people who could do this in front of her. "I doubt if you have tried attending work shops, seminars, or training regarding this."

It's true, although she is very much interested she had never really attended a formal training but she had visited perfumed factories during her day-offs and she had only done self-learning so far. "No. I haven't"

"That is exactly the reason why, if your prior knowledge is very little do you think they will take a second look at your name? No. Also, my staff are all from America, do you think they would care if you're a big shot in this country? Of course not."

"Then what are you suggesting?"

"I can give you a spot in the Top 20, you won't need to submit any applications and your spot will be guaranteed but from there you will have to strive hard on your own if you really want to be selected at the end."

It was tempting, very tempting. Lim Shinyi isn't dumb, she knows that the probability of her passing the selection is very little and Gian even pointed everything at her face.

"The offer was indeed very tempting, but I have to decline." she said in a firm manner.

Gian raised an eyebrow while his lips were curved upwards a little which looked more like a smirk plastered on his handsome face. "Then why are you rejecting such an impressive offer. This is the only time I'm offering you this."

Lim Shinyi put on a smile. As much as she want to accept this offer, her pride will not be able to take it.

Ever since she started in the entertainment industry, her family had been very clear about not helping her get a project or anything. As her grandfather once said, 'one can only appreciate success if it was laced with his own sweat and blood'.

"I do appreciate the offer but I'd like to give it a try on my own, if I fail then so be it. If I fail after doing everything I can then it must not be for me. Also, I've never been fond of entering through the backdoor."

A memory suddenly flashed on Gian Lake's mind, a similar scenario it's just that in his memory it was him who was in her position when he said, 'I'm sorry but I like doing it the hard way.'

Seeing the man smile, Lim Shinyi felt nervous. Did she offend him? What if he decided to hate her for this? "When you rejected me, did you even think that I will blacklist you?"

She didn't think of that! But, she really don't want to accept the offer nor does she want to give up on being a trainee under GL. "That..uh..can I rely on your good relationship with Big Sister Ana for that?"

The reply he heard made him chuckle, this young woman really knows what she wants."Quite greedy, aren't you?"

"Fortunately, I was taught that if I have something I want,I need to work harder to get it no matter what."

Gian Lake's first impression was that this young woman, being raised in a good family would be a spoiled brat who would never know what it means to work hard but seeing how she responds to him, he knew that she was raised well.

"Alright. Then I look forward to how you will be able to convince my staff to pick your application among the hundreds of applicants we will have."

"Hmm.. Can I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Did you really want me to accept your offer?"

"Why? Are you hesitating after all?"

"No, not a bit. I'm just curious."

"If you accepted my offer a while back, I would have blacklisted you from entering the selection even if you are Ana's sister-in-law. Does this answer your question?"

She was quite shocked with what she heard, then if she accepted the offer there would be no more chance of her being trainee under GL anymore!

"Yeah, more than enough really."

After their meeting, Gian Lake was already on his way to the airport for his flight back to New York. As he sat at the back seat of the car that was prepared for him, he sent a message to Xi Ana.

'I already met your sister-in-law.

Ana, you knew this aren't you? That she's a lot like me.

I look forward as to how she further amaze me.'

-Gian