Chapter 209: Before The Party
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The preparation for the year-end party was almost done. Shao Yan had to stay back with her team to finalize all the checkpoints that they had on the list.
Shao Yan and her team were sitting inside a conference room; each was holding their own checklist and started to cross the item one by one.
Each department sat with their own team members as they went through the list. Overlapping voices filled the room as they work hard on this last day of preparation before the big day tomorrow.
"Audio speaker and extra cables?"
"Done."
"Attendance confirmation from the Master of Ceremony?"
"Done."
"Breakfast, coffee and tea for the morning committee?"
"Done, I also added juice and water just in case."
"What about the exit path, anyone checked the staircase?"
"I did. I ran up and down twice, they are clear."
Words were thrown among each other with one person asked the item and the other would answer, but surprisingly everyone who was sitting in circles, able to maintain the order as they had discussion with each other.
.....
"Xiao Yan, are you inviting Daniel and his family to come tomorrow?"
Shao Yan, who was concentrating on reading her email, raised her head from the computer screen to look at Li Na who was sitting next to her.
She put one hand on top of the laptop on her lap, "Hm, maybe just Daniel. It is only 'plus one' anyway, so I don't think I can invite her sister."
Li Na nodded before she said, "When I saw her yesterday, I was so amazed at how pretty she is. I thought I recognized her face somewhere, and then I finally remembered."
She unlocked her phone, and started to swipe her screen; after a while, Li Na handed over her phone to Shao Yan, "Here, take a look at this article."
Shao Yan received the phone and started to read.
'Husband and wife duo rule the antique market in the West; spreading the beauty of Chinese culture'
The article was telling a story about how Professor Chen met his wife when he was studying overseas, and then after they got married, the husband and wife decided to start a small business of trading antiques.
It then went on to introduce Axel Chen as their successor, and his spouse, Mandy Li. The two of them were dubbed as the new husband and wife duo in dealing with China antiques in Europe and Asia.
Pictures of the humble little store in the past that was set up at the living room of Professor Chen's house, to their current trading base in Frankfurt; also pictures of Axel while working in Shanghai port alongside some trusted men by his side, and Mandy in Beijing while inspecting the goods, were decorating the entire article.
As she read the whole article, she felt that Mandy and Axel were more and more admirable. Although the team started small, to now over two hundred staff; the two of them still handled some of the work themselves.
"I remembered this picture so well," Li Na used her index finger to point at an image of Mandy who was crouching down to dust off a blue and white ceramic vase. One side of the hair was tucked behind her ear as she looked down with the vase in her hand.
When Shao Yan scrolled more, she saw a picture of Mandy in close up right beneath the previous image.
"Don't you think she was exceptionally pretty here? I can see the pride in her face working side by side with her husband," and then Li Na heaved a soft sigh, "this is the true meaning of being a partner in life, I suppose."
.....
Shao Yan hummed in agreement before she returned the phone back to Li Na.
As she was about to say something, the sky that was already turned dusk and as the sun was getting ready to set; the clouds started to turn grey. Then came the rumble sound.
Flash of lightning was seen, and then a few seconds later, rain started to pour heavily.
All the people in the room turned their head at the same time to look at the window.
The raindrops were hitting the window mercilessly; and everyone went silent.
Suddenly, a voice decided to speak up and break the silence, "Well, I guess we have to call in for dinner now?"
People started to mumble and murmur amongst themselves, before uncle Huo clapped his hand, "Alright everyone, let's order something now before the sky gets darker."
.....
After receiving so many rejections from a couple of restaurants due to the bad weather, they finally found a pizza shop who was willing to deliver.
Uncle Huo decided to take charge in organizing the dinner order. He quickly placed in their request so all of them could get their meal soon.
Shao Yan was trying to bring her mind to concentrate onto her emails again, when suddenly her phone rang.
She peeked and saw that Li Xiqing was calling.
Just as she picked up and said hello, he started to say, "Yan Yan, if you are done with work, try to stay around until the rain calms down. I don't want you to drive home in this kind of weather."
Shao Yan nodded while pursing her lips. Slowly, she started to say, "En, we just ordered food actually, and my work is only 80% done, I think, so I still have a good two or three hours to go before I can go home."
She paused to give Li Xiqing a chance to say something back to her, but he also stayed quiet on the other line; seemingly also waiting for her to finish her sentence.
After a while, Shao Yan started to say, "Hm.. Don't wait up for me. The event is tomorrow, so after today, I should be able to take a rest. Alright?"
Li Xiqing was still silent, as he was thinking of what to reply.
"Hm.. Alright, I know. I was just calling to tell you don't drive home in this heavy rain. I'll call again later to check on you, alright?"
They chatted on other topics for another minutes, before they hung up the call.
Shao Yan glanced at the wide window. The rain was still pouring heavily, she could not even see the other buildings around them.
She took a deep breath from her nose and closed her eyes. Shao Yan slowly released the air through her mouth. She repeated the breathing process a few more times. Her mind was running in 100 mph right now, she was panicking over the items that she had to go through.
After a moment, Shao Yan opened her eyes, and after feeling she was much calmer, she forced a smile before bringing her head back down onto the computer on her lap, and started to work again.
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The preparation for the year-end party was almost done. Shao Yan had to stay back with her team to finalize all the checkpoints that they had on the list.
Shao Yan and her team were sitting inside a conference room; each was holding their own checklist and started to cross the item one by one.
Each department sat with their own team members as they went through the list. Overlapping voices filled the room as they work hard on this last day of preparation before the big day tomorrow.
"Audio speaker and extra cables?"
"Done."
"Attendance confirmation from the Master of Ceremony?"
"Done."
"Breakfast, coffee and tea for the morning committee?"
"Done, I also added juice and water just in case."
"What about the exit path, anyone checked the staircase?"
"I did. I ran up and down twice, they are clear."
Words were thrown among each other with one person asked the item and the other would answer, but surprisingly everyone who was sitting in circles, able to maintain the order as they had discussion with each other.
.....
"Xiao Yan, are you inviting Daniel and his family to come tomorrow?"
Shao Yan, who was concentrating on reading her email, raised her head from the computer screen to look at Li Na who was sitting next to her.
She put one hand on top of the laptop on her lap, "Hm, maybe just Daniel. It is only 'plus one' anyway, so I don't think I can invite her sister."
Li Na nodded before she said, "When I saw her yesterday, I was so amazed at how pretty she is. I thought I recognized her face somewhere, and then I finally remembered."
She unlocked her phone, and started to swipe her screen; after a while, Li Na handed over her phone to Shao Yan, "Here, take a look at this article."
Shao Yan received the phone and started to read.
'Husband and wife duo rule the antique market in the West; spreading the beauty of Chinese culture'
The article was telling a story about how Professor Chen met his wife when he was studying overseas, and then after they got married, the husband and wife decided to start a small business of trading antiques.
It then went on to introduce Axel Chen as their successor, and his spouse, Mandy Li. The two of them were dubbed as the new husband and wife duo in dealing with China antiques in Europe and Asia.
Pictures of the humble little store in the past that was set up at the living room of Professor Chen's house, to their current trading base in Frankfurt; also pictures of Axel while working in Shanghai port alongside some trusted men by his side, and Mandy in Beijing while inspecting the goods, were decorating the entire article.
As she read the whole article, she felt that Mandy and Axel were more and more admirable. Although the team started small, to now over two hundred staff; the two of them still handled some of the work themselves.
"I remembered this picture so well," Li Na used her index finger to point at an image of Mandy who was crouching down to dust off a blue and white ceramic vase. One side of the hair was tucked behind her ear as she looked down with the vase in her hand.
When Shao Yan scrolled more, she saw a picture of Mandy in close up right beneath the previous image.
"Don't you think she was exceptionally pretty here? I can see the pride in her face working side by side with her husband," and then Li Na heaved a soft sigh, "this is the true meaning of being a partner in life, I suppose."
.....
Shao Yan hummed in agreement before she returned the phone back to Li Na.
As she was about to say something, the sky that was already turned dusk and as the sun was getting ready to set; the clouds started to turn grey. Then came the rumble sound.
Flash of lightning was seen, and then a few seconds later, rain started to pour heavily.
All the people in the room turned their head at the same time to look at the window.
The raindrops were hitting the window mercilessly; and everyone went silent.
Suddenly, a voice decided to speak up and break the silence, "Well, I guess we have to call in for dinner now?"
People started to mumble and murmur amongst themselves, before uncle Huo clapped his hand, "Alright everyone, let's order something now before the sky gets darker."
.....
After receiving so many rejections from a couple of restaurants due to the bad weather, they finally found a pizza shop who was willing to deliver.
Uncle Huo decided to take charge in organizing the dinner order. He quickly placed in their request so all of them could get their meal soon.
Shao Yan was trying to bring her mind to concentrate onto her emails again, when suddenly her phone rang.
She peeked and saw that Li Xiqing was calling.
Just as she picked up and said hello, he started to say, "Yan Yan, if you are done with work, try to stay around until the rain calms down. I don't want you to drive home in this kind of weather."
Shao Yan nodded while pursing her lips. Slowly, she started to say, "En, we just ordered food actually, and my work is only 80% done, I think, so I still have a good two or three hours to go before I can go home."
She paused to give Li Xiqing a chance to say something back to her, but he also stayed quiet on the other line; seemingly also waiting for her to finish her sentence.
After a while, Shao Yan started to say, "Hm.. Don't wait up for me. The event is tomorrow, so after today, I should be able to take a rest. Alright?"
Li Xiqing was still silent, as he was thinking of what to reply.
"Hm.. Alright, I know. I was just calling to tell you don't drive home in this heavy rain. I'll call again later to check on you, alright?"
They chatted on other topics for another minutes, before they hung up the call.
Shao Yan glanced at the wide window. The rain was still pouring heavily, she could not even see the other buildings around them.
She took a deep breath from her nose and closed her eyes. Shao Yan slowly released the air through her mouth. She repeated the breathing process a few more times. Her mind was running in 100 mph right now, she was panicking over the items that she had to go through.
After a moment, Shao Yan opened her eyes, and after feeling she was much calmer, she forced a smile before bringing her head back down onto the computer on her lap, and started to work again.
The preparation for the year-end party was almost done. Shao Yan had to stay back with her team to finalize all the checkpoints that they had on the list.Shao Yan and her team were sitting inside a conference room; each was holding their own checklist and started to cross the item one by one.Each department sat with their own team members as they went through the list. Overlapping voices filled the room as they work hard on this last day of preparation before the big day tomorrow."Audio speaker and extra cables?""Done.""Attendance confirmation from the Master of Ceremony?""Done.""Breakfast, coffee and tea for the morning committee?""Done, I also added juice and water just in case.""What about the exit path, anyone checked the staircase?""I did. I ran up and down twice, they are clear."Words were thrown among each other with one person asked the item and the other would answer, but surprisingly everyone who was sitting in circles, able to maintain the order as they had discussion with each other......"Xiao Yan, are you inviting Daniel and his family to come tomorrow?"Shao Yan, who was concentrating on reading her email, raised her head from the computer screen to look at Li Na who was sitting next to her.She put one hand on top of the laptop on her lap, "Hm, maybe just Daniel. It is only 'plus one' anyway, so I don't think I can invite her sister."Li Na nodded before she said, "When I saw her yesterday, I was so amazed at how pretty she is. I thought I recognized her face somewhere, and then I finally remembered."She unlocked her phone, and started to swipe her screen; after a while, Li Na handed over her phone to Shao Yan, "Here, take a look at this article."Shao Yan received the phone and started to read.'Husband and wife duo rule the antique market in the West; spreading the beauty of Chinese culture'The article was telling a story about how Professor Chen met his wife when he was studying overseas, and then after they got married, the husband and wife decided to start a small business of trading antiques.It then went on to introduce Axel Chen as their successor, and his spouse, Mandy Li. The two of them were dubbed as the new husband and wife duo in dealing with China antiques in Europe and Asia.Pictures of the humble little store in the past that was set up at the living room of Professor Chen's house, to their current trading base in Frankfurt; also pictures of Axel while working in Shanghai port alongside some trusted men by his side, and Mandy in Beijing while inspecting the goods, were decorating the entire article.As she read the whole article, she felt that Mandy and Axel were more and more admirable. Although the team started small, to now over two hundred staff; the two of them still handled some of the work themselves."I remembered this picture so well," Li Na used her index finger to point at an image of Mandy who was crouching down to dust off a blue and white ceramic vase. One side of the hair was tucked behind her ear as she looked down with the vase in her hand.When Shao Yan scrolled more, she saw a picture of Mandy in close up right beneath the previous image."Don't you think she was exceptionally pretty here? I can see the pride in her face working side by side with her husband," and then Li Na heaved a soft sigh, "this is the true meaning of being a partner in life, I suppose.".....Shao Yan hummed in agreement before she returned the phone back to Li Na.As she was about to say something, the sky that was already turned dusk and as the sun was getting ready to set; the clouds started to turn grey. Then came the rumble sound.Flash of lightning was seen, and then a few seconds later, rain started to pour heavily.All the people in the room turned their head at the same time to look at the window.The raindrops were hitting the window mercilessly; and everyone went silent.Suddenly, a voice decided to speak up and break the silence, "Well, I guess we have to call in for dinner now?"People started to mumble and murmur amongst themselves, before uncle Huo clapped his hand, "Alright everyone, let's order something now before the sky gets darker.".....After receiving so many rejections from a couple of restaurants due to the bad weather, they finally found a pizza shop who was willing to deliver.Uncle Huo decided to take charge in organizing the dinner order. He quickly placed in their request so all of them could get their meal soon.Shao Yan was trying to bring her mind to concentrate onto her emails again, when suddenly her phone rang.She peeked and saw that Li Xiqing was calling.Just as she picked up and said hello, he started to say, "Yan Yan, if you are done with work, try to stay around until the rain calms down. I don't want you to drive home in this kind of weather."Shao Yan nodded while pursing her lips. Slowly, she started to say, "En, we just ordered food actually, and my work is only 80% done, I think, so I still have a good two or three hours to go before I can go home."She paused to give Li Xiqing a chance to say something back to her, but he also stayed quiet on the other line; seemingly also waiting for her to finish her sentence.After a while, Shao Yan started to say, "Hm.. Don't wait up for me. The event is tomorrow, so after today, I should be able to take a rest. Alright?"Li Xiqing was still silent, as he was thinking of what to reply."Hm.. Alright, I know. I was just calling to tell you don't drive home in this heavy rain. I'll call again later to check on you, alright?"They chatted on other topics for another minutes, before they hung up the call.Shao Yan glanced at the wide window. The rain was still pouring heavily, she could not even see the other buildings around them.She took a deep breath from her nose and closed her eyes. Shao Yan slowly released the air through her mouth. She repeated the breathing process a few more times. Her mind was running in 100 mph right now, she was panicking over the items that she had to go through.After a moment, Shao Yan opened her eyes, and after feeling she was much calmer, she forced a smile before bringing her head back down onto the computer on her lap, and started to work again.
