Li Sheng’s older generation were all soldiers, and the whole family lived a disciplined and uniform life. He also had an older brother three years his senior. The older generation naturally expected both sons to become qualified and outstanding soldiers, and the older brother, Li Fan, did not disappoint, rising to the position of an officer at a young age. Yet, it was precisely Li Sheng who was not material for being a soldier; his gentle and introverted temperament was extremely like his mother’s, completely lacking the fierce look of going to the battlefield, and standing there, he did not possess the aura of a soldier in the slightest.
Father Li Hongwei said that Li Sheng was like mud that could not be plastered onto a wall, and he himself did not have such lofty ideals, instead engaging in graphic design and making a splash in the advertising industry. When he had free time, he would pick up a pen to write and draw. In Li Fan’s words, “My life lacks a little sister; Xiao Sheng ought to be a girl.”
Regarding this, Li Sheng was very helpless, with a great ambition to develop a far-and-wide renowned advertising company.
Although Li Hongwei was somewhat dissatisfied with his younger son’s ambitions, it was not the primary problem at present. The older son was about to hold his wedding, and the younger son was already thirty years old without even a partner, which gave him a big headache.
However, whenever the matter of marriage was brought up, Li Sheng would retreat three thousand feet, using various matters as excuses, but in reality, he had an unspeakable reason—a fact that such an orthodox family could not accept.
“Li Sheng, your client Mr. Yuan has arrived, in Conversation Room A.”
“Okay.” Li Sheng gathered the drawings and materials prepared on the desk and walked into the conversation room.
Yuan Ye was a magnate in the city’s building materials industry, with dozens of chain stores under his personal name distributed across many domestic cities, and countless investments in other industries as well. He was as busy as a top, rarely seen idle, and when encountering matters, he was neither hasty nor impetuous, steady in a way that didn’t look like a twenty-nine-year-old young man. People often discussed that his smooth path must be deeply hidden, or else he had benefactors helping him, or else his family had financial support, but none of these were true.
Yuan Ye’s parents were ordinary factory employees, and Yuan Ye was not a high-achieving elite graduated from a prestigious school, but an ordinary student of the Business Management Department at an ordinary university in this city. After graduation, he engaged in the building materials industry, moving forward steadily and solidly, and taking only six years to become a leader in the industry.
Whether by honor, or by heaven-sent, or by diligence and conscientiousness, in short, the extraordinary demeanor with which Yuan Ye sat there made Li Sheng feel a few parts of awe.
“Hello, President Yuan. I am the designer for this advertising campaign, my name is Li Sheng.”
Yuan Ye stood up and reached out his hand to politely greet Li Sheng. “Hello, just call me Yuan Ye.”
Li Sheng put down the documents, got up to pour two cups of water, and handed one to Yuan Ye. “Please have some water.”
Yuan Ye nodded in thanks, took the cup and placed it in front of him without touching it, clasped his hands together, and sat back on the sofa. “I’d like to listen to your design concept and sample drafts.”
Li Sheng opened the document bag, pulled out a few sheets of paper, and unfolded them one by one facing Yuan Ye, introducing them starting from the first sheet: “This is the largest billboard on the main commercial street. I’ve placed the new combination furniture of this campaign on it, matched on the right with concise text introductions and the brand LOGO. The overall feel is different from the past complex feeling; the whole series is in a concise style, making people see it clearly and understand it at a glance. I also chose brighter and more vivid colors for the background. Several colors are made here, all of the same color family; you can choose one of the colors as the main color, or use all of them, each different, but because the form is the same style, it looks like a series, giving people a fresh feeling, easy to remember, novel and unique.”
Yuan Ye stared at the advertising slogan on the first sheet of paper in contemplation for a while, holding it in his hand and deliberating: “Only home is the ultimate destination of everything. Is this advertising slogan your idea?”
Li Sheng nodded. “The launch of these new products is based on home furnishing, which is not very suitable for office supplies. A series of products gives people a warm and comfortable feeling, and the several color families are also biased towards warm colors, so the advertising slogan is also a bit warm. I think it is very suitable for this product.”
Yuan Ye raised his head and looked at Li Sheng for a long time, saying, “You continue.”
Li Sheng put down the rendering of the main street, picked up another sheet and handed it to Yuan Ye, licking his somewhat dry lips: “This page is the sample draft of the subway passage, mainly for…”
Yuan Ye caught Li Sheng’s small action and put down the sample drafts in his hand. Thinking that he had some dissatisfaction, Li Sheng stopped his movement and looked at Yuan Ye with a question: “What’s wrong, President Yuan?”
Yuan Ye resumed his relaxed expression, pointing to the cup in front of Li Sheng: “You should drink some water. Look at how busy you’ve been, constantly receiving clients.”
Li Sheng didn’t expect Yuan Ye to suddenly observe these things, and smiled faintly. “It’s nothing, let’s continue.”