Love Affairs in Melbourne-Chapter 218 - 215: Running Out of Tricks

Half a day ago, Yan Yan was feeling sad because she had suddenly arrived in a strange country.

Now, she was beginning to miss her rare moments of solitude.

Not just because Zhifei was here, but Bao Bao was also coming soon.

And arriving in Italy on the same day as Bao Bao was her cousin, Yan Ling.

Yan Ling was coming to Milan for work and had phoned Yan Yan to meet her there on Monday.

Had it been anyone else calling, Yan Yan would have tossed back a sentence without hesitation: "Miss me is busy."

But the people coming to Italy now were all big deals to Yan Yan.

Zhifei meant that he could go back to London on Monday.

However, it seemed unjust to send her younger brother back while he still had holidays left.

Even if Zhifei did go back, the arrival of Yan Ling and Bao Bao was fundamentally "incompatible."

Yan Yan, having been lonely for just half a day, suddenly found herself overwhelmed.

.........

Yan Yan seldom knew what to do, so she decided to send a message to Qi Yi.

Yan Yan: Xiao Qizi, what should I do? (Yan Yan didn’t know if Qi Yi was busy.)

Qi Yi: What’s wrong, master? (Qi Yi replied instantly.)

Yan Yan: Everyone is coming to Italy at once; my brother to Milan, Bao Bao to Florence, and the younger brother already here. I fear for my physical safety if I don’t entertain any of them.

Qi Yi: When are they coming? How long will they each stay?

Yan Yan: Cousin and Bao Bao are both coming on Monday. My brother will stay for three days, with meetings on the last two days. Bao Bao hasn’t decided how long she will stay. My younger brother might leave once Bao Bao arrives or stay another two days.

About fifty seconds after sending this text, Qi Yi replied to Yan Yan with a long message:

1. Get Bao Bao to change her ticket to fly from Melbourne to Milan directly so she can avoid an extra transfer and not be too tired from flying continuously.

2. Take your younger brother around Florence for two days, then after you register at school on Monday, go to Milan with him.

3. If your brother and Bao Bao are both transferring in Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific has only one flight a day to Milan. This way, even if you arrive half a day after them, they can look out for each other.

4. If that doesn’t work, your brother will probably have someone to pick him up from his meetings, so you could arrange for someone from your family’s machinery factory’s Italian branch to pick up Bao Bao.

5. Once your younger brother goes back to London and your brother returns home, you could then take Bao Bao back to Florence.

Yan Yan: Wow, did you really have to list solutions 12345 like that? I was fretting for ages and you took half a minute to come up with this plan. Hmph! My dear Xiao Qizi... You’re the best ~mmuhh~

Qi Yi: Thanks for the compliment, anything else bothering my darling Waiwai?

Yan Yan: That’s it. How’s your resignation going?

Qi Yi: In process.

Yan Yan: Then, go get busy ~Muah~

Yan Yan often felt her intelligence could crush many people, but against Qi Yi, she was the one getting crushed.

Why weren’t these things problems for Qi Yi when they were for her?

Thinking about comparisons, Yan Yan sighed, ah, better not make them.

.........

Yan Yan had always been eagerly anticipating her trip to Milan.

Besides the fact that Milan hosts a fashion week, it was also because the ARMANI Hotel Milano had opened there last year, in 2011.

Many luxury brands run hotels, including ARMANI, BVLGARI, VERSACE, LV, CHANEL...

However, the pioneer in luxury brand hotels that Yan Yan had come to Italy to pay homage to was Salvatore Ferragamo.

Fans of Salvatore Ferragamo from all over the world would fly to Florence just to try on shoes.

Trying on shoes wouldn’t take long, but after it was over, one would not rush back immediately; they usually stayed a few more days to enjoy the city.

The business-savvy Ferragamo family decided to open a hotel on the second floor of their store.

This exceedingly thoughtful "small gesture" instantly garnered a huge fan base for the hotels under the Ferragamo umbrella.

However, the Ferragamo hotels did not use their brand name; they opted for a more low-key approach and named it Lungarno Collection, and they were only available in Italy.

Another such "low-profile" brand running hotels was the LV-owned White Horse Hotel.

Regardless of the name, hotels owned by luxury brands were always favorites among stars and VIPs.

Unlike many major brands that entered the hotel business to promote their brands, Yan Yan was particularly excited about ARMANI, whose motive for starting hotels was much more practical — ARMANI had introduced a home furnishing line, ARMANI Casa.

ARMANI became well-known after opening its first hotel in the lavish surroundings of Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

The ARMANI hotels used all their home furnishing products; staying in a Ferragamo hotel, you might take home several pairs of shoes, but staying in an ARMANI hotel, you might take home an entire "home."

...

Following Yi’s instructions, Yan Yan first called Bao Bao to see if he could change his flight. While Bao Bao was taking care of the tickets, she called Yan Ling to find out where she was transferring flights.

Everything was progressing on the tracks laid out by Yi.

Yan Yan sent Yan Ling the contact information for Bao Bao, and the two would arrive in Milan first thing Monday morning, where Ye Mo would pick them up and take them out to eat.

That was not all; on Saturday, Pili had called Yan Yan, saying he was going to the consulate in Milan on Monday to transfer some documents and asking if Yan Yan needed any help or was feeling unwell over the weekend while he was still in Florence.

Milan in February was exceptionally lively.

And within that liveliness was the presence of Yi.

Typically, resigning from a job involves various handovers, but for a Quants like Yi, all he had to hand over was data.

For the sake of data security, once Yi had filed his resignation, all his data permissions were revoked.

It was simple, decisive, and direct.

Which was not quite what Yi had in mind.

Although some internal audits still required time, and Yi couldn’t resign immediately, he literally had nothing else to do.

Without a "mine," a miner was just a person with no digging to do.

Yi had intended to delay the start of his new job after resigning; now, it was as if he had a period of paid leave.

For Yi, if he was planning to visit Yan Yan in Italy soon, there was no better time than now.

On Monday morning at seven, Bao Bao and Yan Ling arrived in Milan together.

Around noon on Monday, Yi’s flight also landed at Milan Malpensa Airport.

Because Yan Yan had gone to school on Monday morning, she, already in Italy, and Zhifei arrived in Milan last.

And so, a grand "troop" assembled in Milan.