Chen Jiaoyun's home is not on Changle Road, but it is also near the school.
When Sylvia Chang saw that Yang Ya-jing had brought new friends back, she warmly greeted them. With delicious food and plenty to talk about, Chen Jiao-yun quickly became friends with them.
Yang Yajing vaguely remembered that in her previous life, her good friend Yu Yue was a big fan of Chen Jiaoyun.
At the age of 28, Chen Jiaoyun became the youngest member of the Huaguo Painting Academy. Her dashing demeanor earned her the nickname "Iron-Tongued Lady".
Yu Yue is a big fan of Chen Jiaoyun, not because she understands painting, but because she likes Chen Jiaoyun's "personal charm".
Yu Yue, who calls himself the "strongest mouth double," has a fondness for Chen Jiaoyun, who is equally sharp-tongued, and they share a similar taste.
Yang Yajing once asked Yu Yue: What do you need to do with being so capable?
The response she received was one of helplessness from Yu Yue. She told her: "In civilized society, violence is not allowed." As a vulnerable woman from a disadvantaged group, if she wanted to avoid being bullied in this vulgar, dog-eat-dog world, she had to hone her verbal skills; otherwise, she would have no weapon to defend herself.
Yang Yajing knew she couldn't reach Yu Yue's level of verbal sparring, but she could learn. At least in this life, she needed to be thoroughly familiar with the Thirty-Six Stratagems and Sun Tzu's Art of War to be able to see through and respond to their schemes.
Now that she doesn't have Yu Yue as her mouth double, befriending Chen Jiaoyun is the best way for her to build connections.
In the past, everything went wrong, and no one answered my prayers. Wasn't it because I lacked connections, funds, and the skills to win people's hearts?
If you want to have powerful backers, building connections is essential. Anyway, this isn't the first time you've studied, so it's not difficult at all. You can use this time to start building connections from a young age and plan for the future.
Chen Jiaoyun is the granddaughter of Chen Baiyun, a shrewd old man, and she's quite clever herself. When Yang Yajing asked her to keep Chen Baiyun's recommendation a secret, she immediately understood.
Not only did she understand instantly, but she also had a slightly mischievous expression, which made Yang Yajing break out in a cold sweat for Jiang Xuanxuan.
Sure enough, Jiang Xuanxuan came to find them the next day.
"Brother Pengfei, Uncle Jia said you need to think about it. You haven't signed a contract yet?" Jiang Xuanxuan quickly brought up the topic.
"Hmm!" Zhou Pengfei nodded, repeating the answer Yang Yajing had taught him, "The contract says it's for a year, and I also have to take on orders. I'm just a primary school student; studying is already hard enough..."
“Exactly! And it’s only 250 yuan. What if he asks Zhou Pengfei to paint a lot of pictures? That would be a huge waste!” Yang Yajing added.
“I’d rather not draw it, but what if I can’t finish it or it doesn’t meet the requirements? I’d have to pay compensation for breach of contract. How am I supposed to pay that?” Zhou Pengfei shook his head.
"I asked Uncle Jia about this, and he said it's just a formality, he won't really give Pengfei a lot of tasks!" Jiang Xuanxuan continued to persuade him, "This recommendation opportunity is very rare!"
"I'm just a kid and I don't really understand contracts. At least my dad should take a look, right?" Zhou Pengfei continued to decline.
"Is the pay too low? Should I talk to Uncle Jia and ask for a raise?" Jiang Xuanxuan thought that was it.
"Let me think of another way. I'm not really keen on signing a contract." Zhou Pengfei shook his head.
"But... Pengfei is such a good painter, it would be a shame if he didn't participate!" Jiang Xuanxuan persisted. "How about I ask my dad to talk to Uncle Jia and see if we can make a small sacrifice and give up a few tens of thousands of yuan in business to get Uncle Jia to change the terms?"
"Hey! Zhou Pengfei!" Yang Yajing deliberately added insult to injury, "Look at you, what makes you think you're so great? You need to get Jiang Xuanxuan's dad to give up tens of thousands of yuan worth of business just to participate in a competition? Xuanxuan really is your fan!"
"It's just a competition. I don't want to owe people too much. My dad wouldn't agree to that anyway," Zhou Pengfei said matter-of-factly. "How can my family possibly repay tens of thousands of yuan in favors?"
“Brother Pengfei!” Jiang Xuanxuan shook her head. “Tens of thousands of yuan might be the income of ten or more years for other families, but for our family it’s just a business deal. Don’t feel burdened!”
Before Zhou Pengfei could say anything more, Chen Jiaoyun's voice rang in their ears: "Hi! Zhou Pengfei, Yang Yajing, what are you talking about?"
"Oh? Chen Jiaoyun? What brings you here?" Yang Yajing greeted Chen Jiaoyun with a smile.
"Come to your house for more meals! There's still so much food I haven't had!" Chen Jiaoyun plopped down between Jiang Xuanxuan and Zhou Pengfei, draping her elbow over Zhou Pengfei's shoulder, and said casually, "Zhou Pengfei! You only told me yesterday that I could mooch meals at Yang Yajing's house?"
"Free meals? Five cents a meal! Don't even think about eating for free every day!" Zhou Pengfei glanced at her and said with a smile.
"Brother Pengfei, who is this sister? Why are you so friendly with her? I've never seen her before!" Jiang Xuanxuan leaned over Chen Jiaoyun and asked Zhou Pengfei.
“Oh! My classmate can also draw,” Zhou Pengfei replied simply.
"Classmate? Just because you can draw doesn't mean you're that good? And you even tried to touch me? How unladylike!" Jiang Xuanxuan looked at Chen Jiaoyun's arm draped over Zhou Pengfei's shoulder.
"Who is she?" Chen Jiaoyun deliberately ignored Jiang Xuanxuan and asked Yang Yajing instead.
In fact, she had known who Jiang Xuanxuan was all along, but she just pretended not to know.
"Oh! Jiang Xuanxuan, a friend." Yang Yajing stopped there.
"Jiang Xuanxuan? Oh! The one from the nouveau riche family?" Chen Jiaoyun pretended to suddenly realize.
Jiang Xuanxuan disliked being called a nouveau riche; she always referred to herself as a "scion of a prominent family." Although she didn't really understand that to become a "prominent family," one had to be born into wealth for generations.
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