Observing the nearby Fitch and Greg chatting happily made Lin Jie nod in satisfaction.
Being able to communicate harmoniously was the beginning of breaking the ice. Lin Jie believed that as long as Greg got to interact more with others, he would gradually overcome those psychological problems and resolve his social phobia that made him nervous and unable to communicate properly.
As the gift presentation segment was scheduled for noon, the time now was meant for guests to mingle.
However, Lin Jie didn’t know anyone at the banquet and so wasn’t able to integrate with the crowd. Moreover, there were three ready-made customers before him, thus he naturally had to take care of them first.
Value customer quality over quantity.
Lin Jie had fully understood this from his experience running the bookstore over the past few years. A customer of quality could solve most problems, and the complementarity between fellow customers could aid in them having a better impression of the bookstore.
And especially since Greg and Charlotte were close to Joseph and Old Wil, consolidating his relationship with them would definitely bring Lin Jie quicker benefits.
Of course, there were quite a lot of other guests stealing glances at Lin Jie as if they were itching to approach and talk with him. However, it seemed that they were rather hesitant due to witnessing the previous night’s interaction with Ji Zhixiu. These customers appeared like they were struggling internally for a bit before choosing to give up in the end. Lin Jie couldn't solicit these new potential customers even if he wanted to.
Haa… Looks like I was overly optimistic. It’s really too unrealistic to gain a large bunch of customers right away. But that’s fine. At least, the interests of these people are piqued and would act as a base for when the cooperative announcement is made later, thought Lin Jie to himself before he turned to the submissive Charlotte in front of him.
This new assistant of Old Wil’s could also, in a sense, be considered a partial student of his. From her appearance alone, she was indeed a cold beauty befitting the demeanor of a noble.
Compared to Ji Zhixiu's intense beauty akin to a rose, Charlotte was more like a delicate and slender water lotus. She had slightly long light golden hair with tinges of white and eyes that were the faint blue of a lake with a layer of frost covering them.
As if she was made to be a noble, the luxurious and exquisite white dress suited her perfectly as she sat regally in a velvet high-backed chair and had a reserved smile that was somewhat distant.
Now that Lin Jie looked at it, while the way Ji Zhixiu behaved was in line with the etiquette of nobility, she really didn’t look like a member of the upper class at all.
Greg had said the Ji Family were descendents of wanderers from the Northern Lands, while Rolle Resource was merely a tool for excavation. The iconic black hair and unique name structure of the Jis also seemed out of place and it appeared to be one of the reasons why they couldn’t completely integrate.
—Lin Jie's pure black hair and pupils were also very rare in Norzin, so he was made a ‘Northlander’ when Cherry had helped him forge an identity back then.
Although the Ji Family was already standing at the top of the social pyramid of wealth and power, it was only because of their status that they were sought after. Moreover, such status might actually not be that useful.
There were probably many others who were like John from last night…
Lin Jie rubbed his chin and thought to himself that even though Rolle Resource was a mountain that stood tall, the Ji Family that were helming it had their own fair share of problems.
Since Lin Jie was now a cooperative partner, he felt that he needed to provide a little help, even if it was insignificant.
Greg’s family seemed to be influential, but he didn’t seem too interested in the Ji Family and perhaps even felt a little disgusted. However, judging from those people that were surrounding Charlotte earlier in the morning, the young lady’s family appeared to have some status or was relatively reputable among nobles.
Since those others were only hesitating and stuck to observing, Lin Jie felt that he could perhaps rope Charlotte in to provide them a reference.
"Ahem…" Lin Jie covered his mouth and cleared his throat to get the young lady’s attention. "By the way, Charlotte, what sort of books do you normally read?"
When Charlotte heard this, she immediately replied in all earnesty, “I read your work three times daily, both in the day and at night without skipping a single word and memorizing it all in my heart. I hope that I will one day take another step toward reaching your level of unfathomable wisdom.”
Hey now, why does it feel like you are bragging even harder than Old Wil? At the very least, Old Wil is just exaggerating. Why does it sound like you intend to treat my book as a holy scripture?
Lin Jie gave a dry laugh. “Hahaha, no need to make it up to be some sort of religious rite. There’s no need to read it everyday.
"In fact, for things like knowledge and wisdom, it is something that needs to be learned. Purely just reading it multiple times won’t grant you a deeper understanding. Studying blindly is not very useful, and you have got to understand and put it into practice yourself.
"I think, instead of reading it three times a day, why don't you try to study some of the topics? There are certain things that you can only gain a deeper understanding of if you try it yourself.”
Charlotte's eyes widened. "Topic?"
Lin Jie gazed at her eyes that were brimming with curiosity, and the sensation of being a teacher returned to him. He reached out and patted her head and said with a kind smile, "Yes, decide on a direction in which you want to study, formulate a research idea and method, and find the materials you need, whether written or physical. It's best to ask the relevant people on the ground and get first-hand information from their mouths. This way, all-round verification is the most reliable."
Charlotte mused, “Their mouths…”
"Mm." Lin Jie nodded. "This is what humanities is all about. It's closely related to people's thoughts, culture, and even their souls, so we have to start with people. To put it in a more graphic way, we have to dig out the things in other people's brains and make them our own. We can't just take these things but learn how to digest them.”
Charlotte completely understood. "Dig it out… and digest it!"
Boss Lin loved students who were serious when it came to studying, and his smile got wider. Patiently guiding her on, he said, “Besides… How can you improve just by reading a book all the time? We have to set our sights a little further.”
Charlotte drew an inference from the analogy. “That’s why I have to read even more books.”
It had been quite some time since Lin Jie had met a student with such awareness. With a beaming smile, he fished out a book from behind him and said, “However, you don’t have to blindly pursue more. Reading my book at this stage of your learning journey is more than enough. Also, you should learn to balance work and rest. Only then would you develop in more aspects.
"Here, this book is very suitable for a young lady like you.” He reached out and handed over Pride and Prejudice, one of the trial books he had brought over this time.
This is… a divine bestowment! Charlotte couldn't help but hold her breath, using her utmost restraint to stop herself from prostrating on the floor like the most devoted of fanatics. She lowered her head and took the book with trembling hands, the fanaticism in her eyes nearly turned into material light, making that layer of frost turn into tears.