Release that Man

Fang Mo was there only to deliver the document; he was needed back at work in the afternoon, so he left after lunch. Mother Ye and Father Ye were both elders, and they weren’t close to Fang Mo, so naturally, the task of sending him off landed on Ye Shuang’s shoulders.

On the way to Fang Mo’s car, it would have been too awkward for the two of them to not chat. However, even though Ye Shuang had worked under Fang Mo for quite a long period of time, her former posting at work hadn’t brought her into close contact to the big boss, so their own shared topic was the male Ye Shuang.

Fang Mo felt it was weird for a man and woman to have their conservation solely around the woman’s boyfriend. If there was nothing wrong with this man, there could only be two possibilities; one, the man was interested in the woman; two, the man was interested in the woman’s boyfriend. Neither of the possibilities was the impression Fang Mo was trying to make.

Fang Mo wasn’t a resident, so he had parked his car quite a distance away. A whole journey of silence was indeed awkward, so after some thought, Fang Mo finally landed on a topic that was rather safe. “Thank you for inviting me today, I’m impressed by Miss Ye’s culinary talents. I hear from Xiao Ye that you plan to become a full-time homemaker after marriage and plan to stop working?”

“It’s not that, but I fear I simply won’t have that much time to work anymore,” Ye Shuang answered tactfully. She hadn’t figured the form of occupation that befit her current condition, but she might still cross paths with Fang Mo in the future, so it was best to not pigeonhole herself.

Fang Mo smiled and said, “With Miss Ye’s cooking skill, have you considered opening a small eatery? Since you’ve saved on the housing loan, ever think about renting a shop?”

Fang Mo had heard from the Ye family that the male Ye Shuang was still a research student. If both partners of the relationship had no source of income, then how were they going to survive? Of course, he wasn’t that passionate to make the introduction, he was merely finding a topic to fill up the silence and was showing some concern for his friend.

From Fang Mo’s perspective, not working was definitely not a brilliant idea. The issue of money aside, not working would often mean that one was detached from the general public. Without an occupation to anchor oneself to the society, it might cause social isolation… making the individual lose their liveliness, their social ability, and skill as well as gain a lack of concern for the situation of the general public.

This was how good-for-nothings were cultivated.

From the very beginning, Fang Mo, as a good citizen, had disapproved of his friend’s after-marriage life arrangement, he felt it was such a waste for his brilliant friend to be bound to a life of pedestrian concern and the old ball and chain. However, since they weren’t that close at the time, Fang Mo had kept his opinion to himself. Today though, he realized his ex-worker wasn’t as mediocre as he had thought; she had many hidden talents that he didn’t notice when she worked for him. Based on various factors, Fang Mo’s habit as the upper echelon of the society accidentally surfaced, and he couldn’t help himself from giving some advice to Ye Shuang.

To be fair, Ye Shuang was having similar concern. Could she survive without money‽ Of course, she could not.

Even though she had saved a huge sum with the procurement of a house, it didn’t mean that she could live an expense-free life. Furthermore, Fang Mo had a point; staying at home all day not working was not a life she envisioned for herself; she would be bored out of her mind.

Ye Shuang asked cautiously, “Actually, we’ve considered working, but neither of us can stay in the city for long, so we would prefer a job that has flexible hours. Brother Fang, do you have any suggestions?”

Why can’t the both of you stay in the city for long? Fang Mo was curious, but he didn’t ask. Instead he said, “You mean something like a SOHO?”

SOHO represents Small Office/Home Office. The SOHO Tribe works from home or a small office. They aren’t secluded from society like good-for-nothings, but their social circle wouldn’t be as big as a normal working individual either.

They soon reached Fang Mo’s car. After unlocking it, Fang Mo opened the door but didn’t rush to get in. Holding the car door open, he suggested, “Xiao Ye is not bad; you two won’t starve if he takes on the occasional photo-shoot. You, on the other hand… honestly, I don’t think an extended period of part-timing is a good and stable solution, but since both you and Xiao Ye have impressive talents, may I suggest something like freelancing or personal employment, like TaskRabbit but more focused and specific in scope? If you need help, feel free to come to me.”

Of course, Fang Mo wasn’t a saint; he doubted they would ask him directly for money, so the ‘help’ he offered was to introduce her to some potential clients. Based on the male Ye Shuang’s talents, it wouldn’t be hard for him to find a spot for him to shine, and when that happened, he only stood to gain. Even if it didn’t end well, for Fang Mo, two words of introduction wouldn’t make him lose any skin off his back.

Ye Shuang didn’t consider the minute details of his offer, but even if she did, she wouldn’t have minded. Sometimes, an introduction or word of recommendation from the right person could go a long way, so she accepted the offer gracefully.

“Then, I shall thank Brother Ye first. When the situation arises, we will definitely come to Brother Fang for help. I’ll… go back to discuss this with Xiao Ye and my parents.”

Fang Mo nodded wordlessly. He waved goodbye and drove away.