Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 186 - 183: Banquet (3)

"Lei Mi’s job tonight is to greet the guests?" Yan Yan said with a smile as she approached Lei Pili.

"I’m only responsible for confirming attendance information, playing doorman isn’t part of my job," replied Lei Pili without revealing anything amiss in his tone.

"Is that so? I was going to say you would have been the most handsome doorman today, but it looks like I can save that remark. Who should I hand the invitation to?" Yan Yan decided to do her best to forget the morning’s embarrassment and spoke in her most normal tone.

"You can give it to me. I’m here specifically to wait for the designers I’ve invited at the last minute, just to explain the situation and avoid any unnecessary trouble due to my work," Lei Pili also adjusted his state of mind.

"Ah? So you still used your position to your advantage, huh? Now that I’m here, do you need me to make a 180-degree turn and head back?" Yan Yan didn’t understand the trouble Lei Pili mentioned, but her mention of leaving was clearly in jest.

However, since acting requires a full set, Yan Yan proceeded to turn around as if to leave.

Naturally, Yan Yan’s action was stopped by Lei Pili.

"You’re still holding onto the invitation. Thinking of leaving now would mean you’re taking my ’tool of crime’ with you," Lei Pili joked with a serious face.

"Haha, you’re much more fun now than before when you were so stiff," said Yan Yan, whose main content when speaking normally was "punching down."

"Really? Well, that’s good then; it means I have lots of hair," Lei Pili took Yan Yan’s jab in stride, without any hint of retaliation.

"Um, you indeed haven’t reached the pinnacle of wisdom. What situation does the diplomat wish to clarify with me?" Yan Yan asked, putting aside her joking mood to talk business.

"You were supposed to visit the director at Ferragamo in a few days, right?

Now, because of this banquet, it’s been brought forward.

I checked for you, and the head of the shoemaking department is quite easy to talk to.

But the brand director who’s here today is said to be quite temperamental.

If you haven’t already learned about his quirks within the brand,

You might rub him the wrong way and leave a bad first impression when you suddenly meet," Lei Pili explained his reason for being there.

"Is that so? Are you in public relations or something? Needing to suss out everyone’s preferences, are you also tasked with arranging seating based on how well you know each person?" Yan Yan couldn’t get two serious sentences out before she started throwing punches again.

"Diplomacy has a lot in common with public relations.

Ultimately, the goal is the same, hoping for the best arrangement that satisfies everyone.

What companies do externally is called public relations, what countries do is called diplomacy," Lei Pili didn’t find anything odd about Yan Yan suggesting he was in public relations.

"Doesn’t your explanation of diplomacy make other diplomats want to spit blood?" Yan Yan was purely joking when she said it, not expecting Lei Pili to earnestly offer a full explanation.

"Not at all, in this era of national public relations, it’s quite normal for a country to hire a PR firm to handle its public image.

The international image of a country as seen by foreigners can’t just be based on its own imagination.

How to conduct national communication, what media to use for more effective outreach, all this falls within the normal scope of diplomacy," Lei Pili continued his earnest discussion.

"Haha, is Diplomat Lei planning to keep me from the banquet hall to give me a basic education in diplomacy?" Yan Yan could understand the behavior of being compelled to explain one’s profession thoroughly because she acted the same when talking about fashion.

Right now, Lei Pili probably hadn’t realized in his foolishness that, for the sake of looking good, Yan Yan had wholly dismissed the idea of dressing warmly in the bitter cold.

Once Lei Pili became aware of this, he immediately, with utmost gentlemanliness, escorted Yan Yan inside.

Lei Pili didn’t know what came over him; even when receiving other people, he had never made such a "low-level" mistake.

"I’m not in charge of the seating arrangements this time; there’s someone specifically tasked with that. I specially inquired about the preferences of the Ferragamo director for you, since I was the one who sent out the invitations, I couldn’t afford to mess up and cause more trouble instead of helping," Lei Pili cared deeply about matters concerning Yan Yan.

"Ugh, how weird can a brand director be? Designers are always a bit odd anyway, just look at me and you’ll know," Yan Yan couldn’t help but poke fun at herself if she wasn’t doing so at least once a day.

"Do you know how to greet someone in Italian?" Lei Pili asked Yan Yan.

"Uh, yeah, I do. Even if I didn’t, I could learn it on the spot. What’s with the sudden need to greet in Italian?" Yan Yan found Lei Pili’s out-of-the-blue question odd.

"The brand director is a native Italian, and he can’t stand it when people speak to him in English while in Italy," Lei Pili explained.

"Is the director’s English very Italian?" After teasing herself, Yan Yan began to make light of the Italian’s mastery of English.

"No, his English is pretty good, he got his degree in London, and he speaks English everywhere outside of Italy. I’ve heard he just can’t accept the idea of having to communicate in English in his own country," Lei Pili continued.

"Ah? I see, well, I’ll just keep my distance then. Learning how to greet in Italian is easy, but speaking in Italian spontaneously is absolutely impossible," Yan Yan quickly came to her decision.

"The Ferragamo family has a huge influence in Florence and the entire fashion scene, especially after its stock skyrocketed since going public last June. If you want to break into this circle, you need someone to introduce you, and the brand director is the best candidate," Lei Pili continued to analyze for Yan Yan. (note 1)

"You’re researching fashion with the scrutiny of a political analyst," Yan Yan thought, realizing this way of thinking was completely alien to her.

.............

note 1:

[Xiao Mo’s class]: Succession Plan—Successor planning.

Ferragamo is a family business.

The saying ’wealth doesn’t last more than three generations’ often doesn’t apply in old capitalist countries, especially in Italy, a land known for its century-old family dynasties.

The Ferragamo family is a very typical example.

Since its establishment in 1927, this family brand has been passed down to the third generation.

The founder, Salvatore Ferragamo, married at the age of 42.

By the time he died at 62, his eldest daughter was only 17, and his wife had no experience in business.

However, Mr. Salvatore had a solid Succession Plan in place.

This is something many domestic entrepreneurs are hesitant to articulate.

The plan addresses how to better operate the company should the founder or key figure suddenly pass away.

Rejecting the idea of a succession plan is like a person in their prime refusing to write a will because it feels taboo.

Although Salvatore married late, he had a prolific wife who bore him six children, and from these six came twenty-three members of the third generation of the family.

Logically, this should have led to a family filled with intense rivalry and infighting.

Yet the Ferragamo family still lives and works harmoniously in the Palazzo Spini Feroni, where the brand’s museum is located.

The second generation of the family, whether chairman of the board or ’idle’, all own the same proportion of shares. For the third generation, the twenty-three members have to compete for positions, and in the end, only three can work at the Ferragamo company.

The Ferragamo family is indeed a legendary clan in Florence.

Only a small portion of the company’s equity was made available for public trading; they didn’t go public out of financial necessity like other brands might, but rather to embrace legal and regulatory frameworks post-IPO, enhancing the professionalism and ensuring better succession of their family business.

However, this overabundance of Ferragamo family genes means that even though the family still holds the controlling shares, the ownership structure has become too fragmented.

Now is a pivotal moment for the Ferragamo family, as it transitions to the third generation. It remains to be seen whether the legend will continue or if there will be dramatic twists and turns with this generation.