Fox Spirit 9: Poodle Presents Perfectly
“Not bad” Trueheart acknowledged when Sara showed him her work. “This does indeed tell our story in Western style. Maybe you should be the marketing manager, not the accounting manager!” “Who is your marketing manager? I did not meet him, I think.”
“We don’t have that title. Until recent times we Chinese just bought what we could find. Now Sales Manager Cheng does everything: arranges for game brochures, manuals, pictures on packaging… he is very busy!
Sara made a mental note to explore further. Was this a vacuum needing to be filled? Something she understood, that would make her more than a decoration? She set herself to review the documents created for potential Western investors. The figures matched those in the accounting records Trueheart Zhang had shared with her, but the documents were littered with awkward translations from the Chinese. She felt a thrill of excitement. Any native-English- speaking poodle can improve this!
At first Trueheart objected when Sara offered to update the collateral: this was not part of her official duties. Sara thought she understood his hesitancy. “Excuse me,Manager Zhang. Who has done these translations before? Would my suggestions cause someone to lose face?”
Trueheart nodded reluctantly. “Manager Li has done the translation. She has studied English at Nanda, Nanjing University. Let me respectfully approach her.”
Sara would not let Trueheart negotiate for her. “No, I must ask her myself, Manager Zhang. You must not risk offending Manager Li on my account.”
The next day Sara approached Scarlet Li at the coffee machine. “Li Jingli, may I trouble you? Trueheart Zhang has told me that Boss Wang is eager to have an American Face to present to investors – is this your understanding? You know more of the company strategy than I…”
“Yes,” Scarlet responded. “I believe that is true. You are part of this strategy, isn’t that so?
“I suppose that is true,” Sara said. “Surely, though, there’s more to having an American Face than simply the format of the accounting records. What about the brochures and flyers which have been translated into English – how has this been done?”
“I have myself supervised the translations”, replied Scarlet Li. Her voice and posture were stiff, as though preparing for a challenge.
“I have seen several,” Sara said. “I think the translator was British or Hong Kong-trained, yes?”
“That is so,” said Scarlet, still on her guard. “It was Manager Cheng and I who wrote the text, and we both learned English from Hong Kong professors.”
“I’m wondering…” Sara felt her way with care. “Should these documents also have an American accent? Would this be part of the American face that Boss Wang wants to show investors? Perhaps I could be useful to you.”
Scarlet’s stiffness relaxed a little. Sara could imagine the thoughts contending in her mind – on one side, the reluctance to concede any shortcoming in the work she had done, on the other, the chance to exceed her boss’s expectations by using Sara’s help.
“Maybe we would want to keep the British-style brochures as they are for the Hong Kong customers,” Sara suggested. If Scarlet accepted the we, then Sara would be on her team. They would be allies.
“Yes, we could do that,” Scarlet agreed. “Maybe… I am not sure… the American style is very fashionable in China now. And it’s easier if they are all the same. You’d do this for Rainbow Software?”
“Very willingly,” returned Sara.
She headed for her cubicle with a light step – something more to do! And perhaps an ally to work with! Once begun, it was surprising how many English-language papers, brochures, form letters, and press releases had been generated for investors and customers and needed to be edited. Deep in concentration, Sara lost herself in the task.
The dress rehearsal for the presentation was a disaster. Sara sent Trueheart Zhang and Scarlet Li into fits of laughter with her carefully prepared Chinese welcome. How could she have known that the words for “asking for advice – qing jiao” and “having sex – xing jiao” were so close in pronunciation? And she had meant to say that investment involved an element of risk and luck, not that investors risked death by hanging – only a difference in tone changed the meaning.
For safety, Trueheart and Scarlet decided that Sara would do the financial presentation in English, with handouts in Chinese, and Trueheart would be available for translation. Sara did just enough of an introduction in Chinese to convince the investors that she was probably much more fluent than she let on. Her knees shook as she stood at the podium, and her mouth was dry. I’m a talking poodle! They are paying attention to a talking poodle! The ridiculous idea steadied her. The numbers on the screen were like old friends giving her confidence. She took a sip of water and plunged into her spiel.
“Feichang hao! Terrific!”Jerry Wang beamed after the investors had been bowed out the door. His wide grin pushed his round cheeks upward so that his eyes were almost squeezed shut, while his stocky body almost seemed to bounce in his chair. “That was great! They didn’t know what to make of you! They were dazzled! The money is certain!”
“Why ‘didn’t know what to make of me’?” Sara asked.
Jerry Wang spread his arms wide, as if taking in the world. “Your hair, your height, your voice… all so exotic! A Chinese woman speaks with a soft, high sweet voice, so you must lean close to hear. You speak in a middle tone, your voice fills the room – and you speak Chinese! All good! Now we’ll take them to their hotel, and next week I’ll go to Hong Kong to seal the deal. All very good!”
He pressed his hands together and bowed to Sara. She smiled and bowed back. Why not? So far Boss Wang thought his strategy was working perfectly, and she had found a path to becoming really useful. Maybe she could belong here.
Sara checked her email one last time before leaving with Trueheart. There was a chatty and cheerful note from Mark, mostly about Richie’s beginning to sleep through the night, and ending with “Richie and Rennie send their love, too.”
Sara closed the note with a click, leaned back in her chair, and closed her eyes. She thought of Rennie the last time they had been face to face. Rennie’s face was contorted in rage, her voice was the voice of a nightmare. Sara opened her eyes and pushed the memory back down. It was thoughtful of Mark to say Rennie sent love, even if it was a fib. She would answer that one tomorrow.
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