BIAC CH 4

Chapter 4: I Will Give You the Happiness You Want

The meeting officially began. The main presenter was none other than Du Jianyou. He was feeling just a little bit hurt by Tang He’s cold reaction. After all, for the past two months, he had often stared at that secretly snapped photo on his phone, grinning foolishly while regretting that he had forgotten to ask for the man’s name.

Who would’ve thought that upon meeting again, he’d find out the man was none other than the high-and-mighty President Tang—Tang He himself? And judging by Tang He’s expression, he clearly didn’t remember Du Jianyou at all. How could he not feel aggrieved? But no matter—now that he knew who he was, and since they were about to begin a working relationship, there would be plenty of chances to interact in the future. With that self-reassurance, Du Jianyou quickly pulled himself together and stood in front of the screen to begin his presentation.

As Du Jianyou prepared to present, everyone quickly took their seats. There weren’t many participants in this meeting. From First Dream Advertising Agency, besides Director Du Jianyou, there was Zhao Tiancheng and a junior assistant responsible for note-taking. Zhao Tiancheng was Du Jianyou’s business partner and the other person in charge at First Dream Advertising. He handled business development, finance, legal affairs, and everything else outside the actual filming, which was Du Jianyou’s domain. Originally, this meeting didn’t concern him, but when he heard that they were collaborating with a major corporation like Guangsheng Group, he got so excited and curious that he insisted on tagging along.

From Guangsheng Group, aside from Tang He and Su An, there were only two or three other relevant department heads present. After all, this meeting was requested by Du Jianyou and was only described as a preliminary business report, so they hadn’t planned to waste too many people’s time.

Inside the small conference room, a large oval-shaped table sat in the center. As usual, Tang He took the innermost seat reserved for the host. When everyone turned their attention to the projection screen, Tang He was seated furthest in the back, viewing Du Jianyou from nearly a full room away, separated by the backs of everyone’s heads. His gaze was filled with amused interest.

“President Tang, Director Gao, Director Wang, and everyone else here, good day. I’m the person in charge of First Dream Advertising and the director who will be overseeing your project…” Du Jianyou’s clear and composed voice opened from the front of the room.

Seated at the back, Tang He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his high-backed chair. He pushed down the chair’s reclining mechanism to a more comfortable angle and listened leisurely to Du Jianyou’s steady and confident presentation.

“…Among all advertising genres, the most difficult to capture is real estate. It’s not as simple as selling a product. The angle of presentation must be highly rational, but it also can’t stop at just logic—it must elevate into the emotional realm. And what do I mean by emotional realm?”
Du Jianyou shifted his tone and suddenly looked straight at the end of the table.

“President Tang, are you trying to flip land and sell houses—or are you trying to build a ‘home’?”

With a grand gesture, Du Jianyou directed everyone’s attention to the presentation on the screen.

Tang He narrowed his eyes, watching the presentation unfold. The slideshow cycled through several images: from an overgrown, weed-covered construction site, to land leveling, foundation digging, steel-reinforced concrete, bricks and tiles—all the way until the house was built. The final image stopped on a family of five: a grandfather watering flowers in the courtyard, a grandmother tending to vegetables nearby, and a mother holding her daughter on the grass…

On the ground, his father could be seen throwing a bright red frisbee to a beautiful golden retriever with a shiny golden coat, running so fast it looked like it might take off. Sunlight spilled over the front yard, making the scene feel especially warm and heartwarming.

“Of course, everyone has a different definition of what ‘home’ means. Just like your products are diverse, I previously studied a few of your properties—their geographic locations, transportation accessibility, floor areas, interior layouts, and surrounding amenities. We can design several ad campaigns that cater to different demographics.”

“For most people, buying a home is a once-in-a-lifetime decision, something that must be made carefully. So it’s unlikely that advertising alone can push a customer into an impulsive purchase. And I don’t want my ads to merely trigger a blind impulse either. I want the imagery to convey the true value of a ‘home,’ to make people reflect again and again on what kind of home they truly want.”

“In the ad copy as a whole, whether it’s about showing humanistic care, spiritual fulfillment, or lifestyle—these elements all need to be embodied.”

Du Jianyou paced in front of the room, presentation pointer in hand, eyes full of confidence. “My team has been discussing the technical aspects of your properties with your company for some time now. That includes the materials used in the construction—how well you’ve considered ventilation and lighting for your clients, how human-centric your space layouts are… things like that. All these strengths need to be showcased. But before I begin filming, I need to define the core message. These commercials may target different customer groups and thus require different filming techniques, but they will all belong to the same series. They will all be tightly interlinked, revolving around one central theme. I want everyone who sees them to be able to find the part that speaks to them, the part that suits them.”

“Now, tell me—what are you trying to sell?” Du Jianyou placed both hands on the conference table, leaning forward slightly as he posed the question to the group. But his eyes fixed solely on Tang He.

Du Jianyou in work mode was captivating—completely different from the flamboyant man who twisted his waist and spun around on stage, singing “Come on, act out!” Right now, his focus was sharp, his voice powerful and firm, as though he wanted to hammer his creative ideas, his vision, into the minds of every listener present.

Tang He was mesmerized. He looked at the completely different Du Jianyōu before him. Originally, he had only come with the mindset of watching him put on a show, but now, he was deeply drawn in by his meticulous professionalism. Tang He was a seasoned player in the business world, and a smart one at that. Naturally, he approached every investment and partnership with a purely business-oriented mindset. If he had been treating this ad campaign as a fun diversion before, then now, he had finally put away the playful attitude and entered work mode alongside Du Jianyou.

Du Jianyou stared intently at Tang He, waiting for his response. Tang He unconsciously cleared his throat and paused for a few seconds before giving his answer.

“Happiness,” Tang He said softly. “I think… we’re selling ‘happiness.’”

Everyone in the room was stunned—except for Du Jianyou, who curled the corners of his lips in satisfaction.

A dog’s mouth can’t spit out ivory, right? And yet—happiness came out of a crocodile’s mouth?^[1]

Such an abstract, unrealistic word coming from the ever-practical, money-minded Tang He?

Su An was about to express a more specific opinion, but then she saw Du Jianyou nod.

“Alright, President Tang. I understand. I will give you the ‘happiness you want.’”

Su An widened her eyes in shock. Why did that sound so strange? Could it be that Director Du actually understood President Tang’s nonsense?

During the rest of the meeting, President Tang raised a few questions and offered some suggestions, which both sides carefully recorded.

In stunned silence, Du Jianyou’s team heard their director calmly reply, “I’ll organize your suggestions properly, revise the plan, and send it back to you for approval.”

Approval for what? Director Du had never cared about suggestions from corporate clients. He usually insisted on his own proposals, and behind their backs, he would always raise an orchid finger, push his glasses up, curl his lip, and mutter, “So superficial.”

Yet just now, he had agreed—face-to-face, no less—to revise the plan? And even to send it back for confirmation? Was this really the same Du Jianyou? Or had someone drugged the tea he drank earlier?

Likewise, Tang He’s staff was stunned when their president actually said to Director Du, “Alright, get in touch with me again after the revisions are done.”

Get in touch for what? President Tang had never cared for using any form of advertising to promote the company. In his view, the Guangsheng Group’s name alone was enough of a quality guarantee—why would it need advertising? He usually handed everything off to Su An, then went off to rub his temples and loosen his tie, muttering, “Pointless.”

But now, he had personally agreed to follow up with Director Du? Even to give final confirmation? Was this really President Tang? Or had someone slipped something into his coffee?

While both sides remained dumbfounded, it was Su An who quickly recovered. She watched Du Jianyou gather his presentation materials, and also noticed Tang He stealing glances at him. Her gut told her something was definitely going on between these two. So she used the excuse that the elevator would be crowded during rush hour and ushered the rest of the team to go down first—leaving Tang He and Du Jianyou a few minutes alone.

Tang He silently gave Su An a mental thumbs-up. This right-hand woman of his was truly exceptional at reading the room. Still, he didn’t intend to start talking to Du Jianyou directly. Instead, he waited for Du Jianyou to finally look his way, then pretended he had just finished packing up and was about to leave through another exit. As expected, Du Jianyou called out in a hurry.

“Wait—President Tang, please wait a moment.” His high-pitched voice rang out.

Tang He smirked inwardly—his plan had worked. He turned around to face Du Jianyou, once again wearing that cold, emotionless face of a stoic CEO.

“Um… are we…?” Du Jianyou wrung his hands and avoided eye contact, unsure how to start. He stammered.

“Director Du, you look a bit familiar to me. Have we met somewhere before?” Tang He kindly helped him out with the opening line.

“Yes, yes! A few months ago at Moonlight Bar—you saved me and even took me to… cough… I never properly thanked you for that.”

He awkwardly skipped over the motel part.

“Oh, so that was you? No wonder you looked familiar. How have you been since then? Did that drunk creep cause you any more trouble?” Tang He acted like he had just remembered, adding in a touch of fake concern.

“All good, all good. I haven’t been to Moonlight Bar since that night. I just took on your company’s project, so I’ve been spending a lot of time researching it. No time to go out. The last time I went was just to celebrate—we’d just wrapped up a big case. Usually, I… I don’t really go out like that.” Du Jianyou was too embarrassed to mention that he and his company had won an award—it felt too much like bragging. He figured a high-level businessman like Tang He wouldn’t care about such small-time achievements anyway. So he gave a half-hearted, guilty explanation, his voice getting softer and softer.

He wasn’t even sure why he lied about not going to Moonlight Bar often. It was just instinct—he didn’t want Tang He to think he was the type who lived a wild life, club-hopping and hooking up with random guys.

And truthfully, ever since that night, he had avoided going back to Moonlight Bar. He was genuinely scared of running into another creep like that drunk.

Tang He listened to him spin his tale—saying he didn’t go to bars much—when he had been a regular performer there? Judging by how well-known he was that night, it seemed like the entire place knew him. Captain, wasn’t it?

Still, Tang He didn’t call him out.  Actually, he had gone back to Moonlight a few more times since then, but hadn’t seen Du Jianyou again. Now he understood—it was because Du had purposely stayed away.

Tang He gave a small nod, accepting his explanation.

Seeing he wasn’t getting a response, Du Jianyou braced himself and spoke again:
“Um… President Tang… I really wanted to thank you properly for helping me that day. It all happened so fast, I forgot to leave you my contact info. But now that we’ve met again, I think it’s fate. May I treat you to a meal? Just to express my gratitude. Would that be alright?”

He deliberately glossed over the fact that he had dramatically said “Let’s never meet again” that night. Now, here he was, thick-skinned and acting coy.

Tang He narrowed his eyes at Du Jianyou’s bashful tone—what, was he trying to scare someone with this cutesy act? He subtly took a step back and replied coldly,  “I’m very busy. If you’ve finished your revisions, contact me to arrange a meeting.”

He had switched back to the serious, by-the-book executive who kept people at a distance.

“Then… how do I contact you? I don’t have your number…” Du Jianyou played dumb, but he had a special skill he’d honed back when his company had just launched—an unmatched ability to ignore rejection and maintain a shamelessly thick skin.

Of course he knew he could contact Su An. How else did he get this meeting with Tang He today?

But Tang He, who had his own little schemes, wasn’t about to set it up that way. Instead, he pulled out a personal business card and handed it to Du Jianyou.

“You can call me directly on this number.”

Du Jianyou excitedly pulled out his own card to exchange with Tang He. As they handed over their cards, their fingers brushed lightly against each other’s.

Tang He didn’t pull away. But he also didn’t show any expression.

(To be continued…)