Hanguangjun- The Waiting

Lan School of Exotic Music

Ian ended up joining Soochow on a Monday. He received his list of classes and lectures by Thursday. He had cleared it up with HR that he could freelance outside his work hours as long as it did not involve his core subject at the University.

He emailed his schedule to Lan Zhan. As promised it was a woman who called him back. She introduced herself as Jian Feifei and invited Wei Ying for a contract signing that evening after work.

The Lan School of Exotic Music was situated closer to Soochow University, compared to the Lan Institute. It was only because of his leg that he had to hail a cab. When he arrived at the building his breath was blown away. The building was at least thirty stories high and all glass. The first three floors were reserved for the school. The fourth floor was a museum of ancient musical instruments. He had an appointment for the fifth floor, which housed the administrative offices.

"Welcome to LSEM" A voice greeted him as he passed through the fifth floor entrance. Wei Ying looked around in confusion. A woman dressed in light blue came over and grabbed him by the arm.

"You must be Ian Wei. Please come this way, " She urged him along the corridor!

"Are you Jian Feifei? " Ian asked.

"No, no. I am Liu Xin Mei. I am the head of HR here. Jian Feifei is the Chairman's personal assistant. You will get to meet her soon. Our Chairman has other things to deal with and rarely visits. It's mostly Jian Feifei that we answer to," Xin Mei replied.

"Yes, owning half of Suzhou must keep you mighty busy, " Ian commented.

"Well, you can't say that. We aren't allowed to speak about someone behind their back other than giving facts. As you sign the contract you will be made aware of some of the Lan rules. Though because of the nature of the contract all rules aren't binding to you? " Xin Mei explained.

"How many rules do you have? " Wei Ying asked!

"For the residents, students and researchers, there's a little over four thousand rules. Our Chairman believes that the teachers should abuse by rules set up for students in order to foster a good learning environment, " She explained.

"Four thousand rules" Ian gulped.

"When you sign with us we will give you a copy of the Lan Rule Book. You can flip through in the leisure time. I'll also give you an abridged version with the most important ones, " Xin Mei promised.

"Your Chairman lives in this very building, right?" Ian asked.

Xin Mei kept quiet.

"I am not talking behind his back. I am just talking facts. " Xin Mei replied.

Ian shook his head, took out his phone and made a call.

"You can't call here. It's against the rules, " Xin Mei responded.

Wei Ying ignored her. The call was answered on the second ring. "I'm here to sign the contract. Where are you? " He asked.

After receiving a curt response he cut the phone. "Why is it against the rule to call someone already inside the building? " Ian asked Xin Mei.

"Calling someone in the corridor is forbidden. You are required to go inside a room to call someone, " Xin Mei explained. Then she added in a small voice, "Did you call Jian Feifei? "

Ian shook his head and grinned. "I just called my boyfriend", he joked.

Xin Mei looked at him from the corner of her eyes but didn't comment.

They arrived at a glass door which revealed a large room. Inside, Xin Mei led Wei Ying to a pluclsh couch. On a centre table before it lay a tall stack of paper. "You expect me to read all this before signing? Have you done this before? " Wei Ying asked.