Zhu Yi stole a few glances at him after they left the office and then led the way. Just like Duan Zhi Hao had thought, he was indeed a person that was easy to talk to and also somebody who didn’t have a hard time speaking with strangers. So after walking down the flight of stairs, he immediately turned to Li Ming with a smile.
“I hope you’re not being too nervous about this. I know it was really short notice and I guess I’m in a better position here because I was able to ask Mister Duan about you while you were on the way.
“Please believe me when I say that there’s absolutely no pressure though. You know, originally, I intended to give these courses together with my girlfriend. But shortly after the two of us got started, she had an accident. She’s doing better by now, but there is no way she’ll be able to regularly do these courses again in the near future or, well, maybe never. We don’t know yet.
“I tried to wing it on my own, especially right after her accident because I naturally hoped she would get back to her previous state. But it’s been a long time now, it doesn’t look like it’s going to change in a timely manner, and, honestly, it’s too difficult for me to do all of it on my own.
“The number of courses we advertised at the beginning was calculated with two people in mind that would have the option to switch if either of us got sick for a short time. I guess we can count ourselves lucky that there weren’t as many applicants as we had originally hoped for. If not for that, I probably wouldn’t have been able to hold on until now.
“Anyway, I’m telling you this so that you know what you’re getting into. As I said, I’m especially looking for a second person for the self-defense courses because that fits much better with the original concept my girlfriend and I came up with.
“That partner is what I absolutely need right now. The other courses … I dialed back on those a bit as soon as the first few were done but I would naturally like to open them back up whenever it’s convenient. So … I do hope you’d be open to that in the future but there’s no pressure if you say that that’s not your thing.
“I understand you’re a security guard so naturally, it wouldn’t be strange to have a preference there. For now, I only need to see whether you can actually perform the moves that would be necessary and whether we can get along. If that’s both the case, then we’re golden.”
He fell silent for a moment and tilted his head at Li Ming. “I’m kind of stressing the second part because, as you can see, this isn’t some company looking to employ somebody. I’m just a guy who is trying to do the best job he can with nothing but himself, the brains of his girlfriend, and maybe an additional partner.
“That is why I am especially looking for a person I can get along with. That part isn’t negotiable. On the other hand, my other requirements aren’t all that harsh. As long as I think that the two of us are able to get along pleasantly and won’t get into trouble while working together in close quarters, you’re definitely the guy for the job.”
Li Ming had no idea whether he really was the guy for the job but he did have to say that the longer they interacted, the better his impression of Zhu Yi was. He had seemed nice on the phone call and with how he currently behaved, he felt that they would indeed be able to get along. “I will admit that I am a bit nervous about this. The last time I applied for a job, I took a lot of time to prepare for it. And now, this is something that has happened so suddenly, I wouldn’t even have known where to begin with it. But I’m still happy that you’re giving me a chance. I’m willing to learn.”
Zhu Yi nodded eagerly while the two of them walked down the street. “I know! Mister Duan told me how the two of you met. That already shows me that you are a guy who isn’t averse to self-improvement. I like that! It’s exactly what I need.”
He cleared his throat after saying that, feeling that he might be coming on too strong. He was indeed really excited about the prospect of working with Li Ming. While he had been casually looking around for a new partner to team up with, he hadn’t known where to start looking. A lot of the trainers out there were already otherwise engaged or not flexible enough because they had their own thoughts on how things should be done.
Maybe he was being too strict but this idea had been created between his girlfriend and him. While they had always thought that it could be improved, they wanted to do that based on what they themselves observed and the feedback they got from their participants.
He didn’t like it if somebody who hadn’t worked with him for any length of time wanted to make suggestions right after hearing about it. It just didn’t sit right with him. Looking at it that way, Li Ming had something else going for him: Since he originally came from a different career path, he shouldn’t have too many opinions. At most, he’d give some feedback when asked for. But otherwise, he would probably follow his lead.
Ah, the longer he thought about it, the more Zhu Yi felt that he had struck gold when Duan Zhi Hao mentioned that he might know somebody. Thankfully, he had been smart enough to say that he’d like to have a look at least instead of just shooting the idea down!
