Rebirth: The Ascent of a Socialite-Chapter 600 - 240: Forced Seizure (Part 2)
Seeing her about to write again, Jim became anxious and blurted out several "NO"s, urging Sister Mu to translate quickly, "I have no objections to dropping the shoe line, but these several subsidiary brands are all profitable. Moreover, Espr has always been fully diversified in its operations, and by cutting them now, you’ve switched to a single line of business."
"Jim, honestly, would you shop at a cheap clothing store?" Su Ziceng looked at Jim, who was dressed exquisitely, being gay and a director of a clothing brand, his clothes were all custom-made and outrageously priced.
"No, I would only choose mid-to-high-end brands," Jim didn’t want to explain further, not everyone is like him, that’s why he had developed various subsidiary brands catering to different market levels.
"That’s why I only suggest keeping the mid-tier brands. High-end brands require a lot of design input, and we currently only have Sister Mu as a designer, I don’t want her to overwork," Su Ziceng’s considerate words touched Sister Mu deeply.
"As for the low-end brands, they will drag down the brand influence of the mid-tier brands," Sister Mu gave a reasonable explanation, a high-end consumer might buy a mid-tier brand, but would never go for a low-end brand.
"I’ll leave it to you guys to decide," Jim couldn’t find any reason to argue, "But there is something I need to mention, for the last Shibuya Show, I paid Melin a salary of one hundred thousand."
"What?" Su Ziceng jumped up, and Sister Mu would have jumped too if not for her limited mobility.
"Why didn’t you discuss this with us," the funds in Espr’s hands were jointly managed by Sister Mu, Su Ziceng, and the funds listed on Espr’s accounts.
"I had no choice, yesterday as per the arrangement, I tried to get Melin to take some promotional photos for Espr’s new store, but she threatened me, saying if I don’t pay her, she won’t cooperate with our photo shoot." Despite being effeminate, Jim wasn’t nit-picky like some women, and to make things smoother, he paid her the amount for three days’ work.
"This Melin really knows how to cause trouble," Sister Mu, wary that Melin is Su Ziceng’s cousin, didn’t want to say anything too direct, so she subtly complained.
"I need to talk to her, it’s only our first collaboration and she’s already charging top model fees, it will only be harder to manage her later." Su Ziceng knew that she needed to personally handle the issue since she was the one who introduced Melin.
Su Ziceng hurried off to the small apartment where Qiao Zhizhi and Melin were staying, but Qiao Zhizhi told her that since Melin returned from Japan, she hadn’t been staying there much.
"That child said the house was too dark, it didn’t get any sunlight, so she moved out," Qiao Zhizhi greeted Su Ziceng, inevitably making some polite conversation.
Qiao Zhizhi apparently wasn’t aware of the significant amount Melin had received, and Su Ziceng didn’t want to spell it out directly to avoid causing any unpleasantness between mother and daughter.
"Aunt," Su Ziceng tentatively asked, "Melin hasn’t been back recently, haven’t you asked where she’s gone?" Melin had not been in Mo City long, having only stayed at Kelly Women’s College for a couple of months, and presumably didn’t have many close friends yet.
"Daughters grow up, and as a mother, I can’t control too much," Qiao Zhizhi, who had lived in the United States, adopted a more liberal parenting style and Melin disliked talking with her, resulting in a growing estrangement between them.
While they were talking, Melin walked through the door, saw Su Ziceng, and without much greeting, turned to head to her room.
"Melin," Su Ziceng looked at the trendy clothes Melin was wearing and the brand-name shopping bags in her hand, even if she had received a significant salary, she shouldn’t be spending so recklessly, "I want to talk."
"Talk about what?" Melin’s face was covered in exaggerated makeup, looking both agitated and impatient, "If it’s about runway work, contact my agency."
Melin’s response left both Su Ziceng and Qiao Zhizhi puzzled.
"Agency?" Qiao Zhizhi felt something was wrong; she remembered Ziceng mentioning that they needed Melin for a few days to help model, but now after everything was done, Melin had signed with some agency.
"Melin, why did you sign with an agency out of the blue," Su Ziceng noticed Melin wasn’t joking. Young girls like Melin are easily influenced by bad company outside; it would be troublesome if she fell for some scam.
"Don’t worry, I signed with a Japanese modeling agency. They not only arranged a series of interviews for me but also spent a lot of money to promote me," Melin waved her hand, she had been taking photos for several days and was just tired, wanting to find a bed to rest properly.
"The clothes you are wearing are..." Su Ziceng moved to check the label on Melin’s clothes, which looked somewhat familiar.
"They are from ZARA," Melin pushed her away, sooner or later Su Ziceng would find out, she didn’t want to hide it anymore, "I told you, my agency is top-notch, right after signing they arranged a big contract for me, endorsing ZARA’s advertisements."
Despite not knowing what had gone wrong, Su Ziceng’s face turned completely pale upon hearing the name, "You clearly know, our competitor is ZARA."
"So what? They offered me a better price and their CEO is a fan of mine," Melin said to Su Ziceng’s face then shut the door of her room.
Pello? Su Ziceng felt like her heart was being clawed—first itching, then numb, and at last, only a numbing pain remained after the sting.(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast a recommendation ticket, monthly ticket, your support is my greatest motivation.)
