I Deduce the Female Lead Likes Me [Transmigration into a book] - Chapter 8

The so-called internship was simply standing in the gallery exhibition hall and giving explanations. If you encountered a customer with purchasing intentions, you’d approach them, which wasn’t much different from sales.

Kou Shuang needed to prepare in advance, so she wouldn’t be caught empty-handed and unable to persuade customers. Fortunately, the gallery had prepared the explanations, and she only needed to memorize them.

The reason they were hiring so urgently was that Chunshen Gallery had rented the exhibition hall to a local stop of a touring charity exhibition, and the organizer of this touring exhibition wasn’t particularly reliable, providing the materials very late. The gallery had to resort to desperate measures, and when they met Kou Shuang, who had good qualifications and temperament, they hired her without hesitation.

Kou Shuang received the materials at 2 PM the day before. To memorize them without staying up late, Kou Shuang didn’t touch her phone from afternoon to evening.

When she arrived at the exhibition hall on Monday, Lux looked at Kou Shuang’s attire and smiled, saying, “Good, I don’t need to find clothes for you.”

Lux was the handsome HR guy who seemed to manage and do everything.

Kou Shuang asked, “Is there anything else I need to know?”

Lux then took her to the backstage, where she met the legendary boss.

The boss was a bit plump, with artistic long hair, and was eating noodles. Seeing Kou Shuang come in, he quickly stood up and extended his hand, saying, “You must be the art student from National University? Welcome, welcome. I’m the boss of Chunshen, just call me Old Chun.”

Old Chun looked like a Maitreya Buddha when he smiled, and he spoke very affably. Despite his age, he gave off a relaxed vibe.

Kou Shuang shook Old Chun’s hand and said, “Hello, my name is Kou Shuang.”

Old Chun said, “Don’t be too restrained. We’re just acting as agents for the touring exhibition. Whether the exhibits sell depends on their own products. You’re an intern, lunch is provided, no commission, is that okay?”

“Yes.”

“Some customers are difficult, asking tricky questions. If our prepared explanations don’t cover it, just improvise. You’re from National University’s art department, you can easily fool ordinary people,” Old Chun said. “That’s about all you need to know.”

“Oh, by the way, what do you want for lunch? I’ll have Lux buy it. But don’t order anything too complicated, lunch break is only twenty minutes.”

Kou Shuang smiled and said, “Braised chicken and rice, please.”

And with that, she officially started working, which Kou Shuang found a bit unbelievable.

After 9 AM, people gradually entered the exhibition hall. Most of the people who came to the art exhibition were quiet and self-disciplined, and if they had purchasing intentions, they would directly approach Kou Shuang, so she didn’t have to put in much effort.

Kou Shuang breathed a sigh of relief. She thought she’d have to keep her eyes and ears open and rush to anyone who looked like they wanted to buy something. But she only had to stand there and play the role of a fairy waiting for a rabbit.

For this kind of niche art exhibition, most of the people who came were knowledgeable, and Kou Shuang didn’t have to explain much.

Kou Shuang felt another weight lifted from her shoulders. She had memorized the explanations perfectly, but she was afraid of tricky questions, as she couldn’t effectively pretend to be knowledgeable.

The peace was destined not to last. As lunchtime approached, a middle-aged man wearing sunglasses ran in.

He really ran in… The man was burly and looked a bit menacing. After entering, he took off his sunglasses, looked around, and then headed straight for Kou Shuang.

Kou Shuang felt a little uneasy, thinking, “Is he here to cause trouble?”

The next second, she heard the man lower his voice and ask, “Which is the most expensive painting here?”

He also asked, “After buying it, will the money really be donated to the Hope Primary School?”

His cautiousness was a stark contrast to his appearance, giving him a strange sense of cuteness.

So, was this a sunglasses-wearing man who wanted to support the country’s education?

“After deducting operating costs, all funds will be donated to Hope Primary School. After the touring exhibition ends, the flow of funds will be displayed on the official website, you’re welcome to check it then,” Kou Shuang said with a smile.

The middle-aged man scratched his head and said, “Alright! Show me your most expensive painting!”

Kou Shuang led him to the most valuable painting in the exhibition and said, “This is it, priced at 420,000, it’s the posthumous work of the late Taiwanese writer Jiu Shi. The painting’s expression technique is very novel, and there are many imitators today…”

Kou Shuang was halfway through reciting the explanation when the man waved his hand to interrupt her.

The man turned to Kou Shuang and said, “I don’t understand any of that. I’ll just ask one question: Are these paintings real? I’m spending money, but I don’t want to buy a fake painting to hang at home, it’s embarrassing!”

Kou Shuang was stunned and said, “This… it should be real.”

“Should?” The man immediately glared at her, looking very intimidating. “You work here, how can you say ‘should’?”

Kou Shuang was a bit afraid of this kind of gruff man, so she explained, “All the paintings here can be found on the official website, and they’re sold with authorization from the original artist or their relatives. Their legitimacy is guaranteed.”

“So they’re real?”

“…” Kou Shuang didn’t say anything.

The man glanced at Kou Shuang’s name tag and said, “Kou Shuang, National University’s art department… oh, you can find National University students to be interns, it must be real! You cultured people are much better than me!”

The man laughed and said, “Please wrap it up for me, I’ll take it now.”

Kou Shuang’s heart skipped a beat, but she still smiled and said, “I’ll go to the backstage to wrap it up for you.”

She felt like she was being tricked into signing a problematic document like when she was a newbie in the workforce.

She went to the backstage to explain the situation to Old Chun, who was very happy and said, “You sold the hardest-to-sell painting on your first day, you’re great!”

Kou Shuang quickly explained, “It’s not my credit, the customer wanted to donate. It’s the original intention of the touring exhibition that’s good.”

Old Chun went out to bring the painting in, and Kou Shuang watched as it was being wrapped, suddenly remembering something and asking Old Chun, “By the way, are these paintings all real? That customer asked me just now.”

“What did you say?” Old Chun glanced at Kou Shuang.

Kou Shuang said, “I said they could check on the official website, and then the customer looked at my name tag and didn’t pursue it. Is National University’s reputation that useful?”

Old Chun smiled and said, “They can check on the official website, let him check. As for National University… I was in a hurry to hire, but I did look at qualifications, which represents professional competence. If you weren’t from National University, I might not have hired you.”

Old Chun’s words made Kou Shuang feel a bit guilty, because she herself didn’t have any professional competence… If she hadn’t been unable to get into the magazine company, she wouldn’t have come here.

Kou Shuang felt guilty and didn’t dare to continue the topic. She took the painting out, and the man with the black sunglasses swiped his card and left with the painting, very decisively.

Later, she did encounter some very tricky people who asked niche questions that Kou Shuang couldn’t answer even after cramming painting history all night. She realized that these people were probably pretentious literary youths.

She tried her best to be polite and make up some “isms” and “movements,” and she actually managed to fool them. One by one, they looked at Kou Shuang with admiration. When Kou Shuang asked them if they wanted to buy a painting, they immediately disappeared.

Kou Shuang shook her head.

Lux occasionally appeared in the exhibition hall, heard this, smiled at Kou Shuang, and said, “It’s tiring, isn’t it? You often meet people like that who don’t understand anything. But you’re good at making things up, and you have good composure, you don’t panic at all, you’re suitable for this.”

Kou Shuang smiled and didn’t say anything.

But in her heart, she was thinking, “When the company does its year-end summary, you have to talk eloquently and smile while shifting blame when questioned by the boss. That’s where I learned my general’s demeanor.”

Lux patted her shoulder and said, “Look, isn’t that your friend? She’s been staring at you for a long time.”

Kou Shuang looked in the direction Lux pointed and saw… Song Muxue.

“Song Muxue!” Kou Shuang was happy and ran to Song Muxue, saying”Why are you here?”

Song Muxue tucked her hair behind her ear and said, “I said I’d come see your internship.”

Song Muxue spoke concisely, wearing a business suit that made her look like a lawyer. Her hair hadn’t been damaged by hairdressers; it was naturally smooth. The upper part was straight, but the ends had a subtle curve, resting perfectly on her chest.

Kou Shuang’s gaze involuntarily fell on the tips of Song Muxue’s hair, thinking inappropriately: “Is it because her chest is too big that her hair was forced into that shape?”

Song Muxue asked, “If you’re not busy, can you give me an explanation?”

Kou Shuang was taken aback and said, “Sure.”

There weren’t many people around anyway.

She took Song Muxue to the first painting in the exhibition hall and carefully recited the script. In fact, this was the first proper explanation she had given today.

Fortunately, the explanations were well-written, clearly explaining the era, connotation, and historical significance of the exhibits in a few words. Kou Shuang recited them, and it actually sounded quite impressive, earning Song Muxue’s praise of “well-versed in ancient and modern knowledge.”

Song Muxue’s praise was hard-earned, and Kou Shuang felt undeserving of it, but she was too embarrassed to say that she hadn’t written it herself.

Song Muxue was a good listener, mostly nodding in appreciation and not saying much. Kou Shuang took her from painting to painting, finally reaching the empty space in the center, where the painting the man with sunglasses had bought was displayed.

Song Muxue asked, “Why is this space empty?”

Kou Shuang explained, “The painting was just sold, and we haven’t had time to replace it with a painting of the same value.”

“How much was it?”

“420,000.”

“That’s not a high price.”

Kou Shuang smiled and said, “It might not be high for a tycoon, but it’s enough for Hope Primary School. You can’t expect to sell Qi Baishi paintings at a charity exhibition, right? But that man was really rich. He came in and went straight for the most expensive one, asked ‘is it real?’ and left.”

Hearing this, Song Muxue turned to look at Kou Shuang and asked, “Did you verify the painting?”

Kou Shuang was stunned and said, “It should… be real, I didn’t look closely, but the organizers are reliable.”

Song Muxue nodded and said, “Alright, just be aware of it.”

After touring the exhibition hall, it was already past 1 PM. Song Muxue checked her watch and said, “I have to go, you continue your internship.”

“You’re leaving already?” Kou Shuang was a bit surprised.

Song Muxue said, “I came out during my lunch break. I’m relieved to see that you’re fine and not being tricked.”

For some reason, Song Muxue was particularly concerned about the names Sun Jiawen and Lu Renjia, and her inner alarm bells kept ringing, as if something was about to happen. She had always had a good intuition, especially about impending bad things. This time, the feeling was especially strong and couldn’t be ignored, so she had to come and check it out herself.

But Kou Shuang looked happy and didn’t seem to be acting strangely. After repeatedly confirming with Kou Shuang that everything was reliable and getting an affirmative answer, Song Muxue didn’t want to say anything more. She could only add, “Be careful when dealing with people, don’t always decide who to trust based on their looks.”

Kou Shuang smiled and said, “Then I definitely trust you the most!”

Not just because of her looks, Song Muxue was the most trustworthy person in this world. If there was anyone in this world who would never do anything bad, it would be Song Muxue.

Out of blind trust in the female lead, Kou Shuang said this.

Looking at her smiling face, Song Muxue’s heart stirred slightly.

At that moment, she didn’t think of anyone else, simply feeling that Kou Shuang looked much more pleasing when she was like this than when she was arguing with her.