Nghệ Thuật Viết Quảng Cáo

08/11/2024

2024.11.08

https://nghethuatvietquangcao2015.wordpress.com/2024/11/08/coulter-alga-fungi-part-2/

“Margherita” (Chapter 4)

“It is possible that Harvey comes from a crowded family in a countryside,”

anticipated Myrsina as she was watching the handsome baker knead the dough in the next evening.

They resumed their conversation in the same gazebo covered in vines. It was slightly raining outside.

“You are not the only child are you? How many siblings do you have?” asked the lady manager.

“Why do you ask such a personal question?” responded the handsome baker.

“Well,” said Myrsina, “It is among important information a girl would like to know about a boy in order to decide whether they should stay friends... or they can develop a deeper relationship.”

“Okay,” Harvey replied. “I have eight siblings, and I am the seventh child. We are a large family sharing one restroom in a humble apartment.”

“I see,” she said.

Myrsina paused to contemplate something for a couple of seconds before she continued their conversation.

“I am not asking for your exact income,” said the lady manager. “As a dough-kneading baker in 'Merista Holdings Ltd.”, do you earn enough to support your life?”

“No,” Harvey responded. “Not at all. It is enough to meet my daily basic needs, but far from being enough to help me rent the cheapest apartment here and live on my own. I can barely survive up to these days thanks to being supported by family.”

“So that means someone in your family earns enough to support you as well as the rest of the family?” asked Myrsina.

“My father works in a shoe-making factory here in Systellantha,” replied the handsome baker. “He earns enough to support his entire crowded family, as long as all of us live together in peace in our rented apartment – a humble home which has only one bedroom, a very little cooking corner, and only one restroom.”

“Life in our apartment is getting more and more stressful as some of my siblings get married and have children, increasing the number of members,” he continued. “You know it right, Myrsina? That all the best in the home has to be saved for the children, and an uncle without a future like me is a nobody there.”

“Therefore, everyday I prefer confining myself in the bakery kitchen to going home. The dough is my only friend. The dough-kneading shows are my only happy hours in my entire life so far, especially when they are attended by you, Myrsina.”

The lady manager paused for a long moment to feel the story she had just been told, and expressed her sympathy with the one who told it to her.

“Just curious,” she asked him, “have you ever been in a relationship?”

“Not even once,” responded Harvey. “Your favourite handsome baker has never earned enough to support even himself. He spends most of his time taking shelter in the bakery kitchen as he cannot afford just a decent living corner of his own. A relationship is unimaginable, a luxury to him, Myrsina.”

That was their conversation of the day after the full-moon night. Harvey ran back to the bakery uncovered from the rain. The lady manager walked home holding her signature umbrella of a dark Egyptian blue shade that she always carried with her whenever she walked outside.

“If Harvey had a girlfriend and introduced himself to her parents with such a story, they would all disapprove him without regrets,” thought Myrsina before her bedtime.

“Yet for some reasons, I cannot get myself to leave him like that.”

“Have you had a university degree, Mr. Soldanella?”

Their next conversation was started with that sensitive question.

It seemed that the question saddened the handsome baker. He was silent for a few dozens of seconds before answering it.

“No,” said Harvey. “It is among things I regret the most. I could have been a more reliable man had I focused on studying and doing my homework more seriously... when our family was still one of the most influential clans of our kingdom when I was young.”

“Oh,” responded Myrsina. “So your family has seen better days.”

“Yes,” replied the handsome baker. “I was once a privileged kid. We used to have the best of privileges life could provide before consecutive financial crises struck our national economy, causing our clan to fall from grace.”

Then he, in an honest manner, told her how he had gone from being a pampered child who neglected his studying duties to being part of the international workforce who was driven to the country of Systellantha by “The Systellanthian Dream.”

“Your English accent and pronunciation,” responded the lady manager, “worry me. To be honest, they reflect that you have had very little schooling... so little that finding a decent job is totally impossible for you.”

Harvey, after a deep sigh, stayed silent for many seconds before resuming their conversation.

“Our family business went bankrupt owing to financial crises when I turned thirteen,” he told her. “They could no more afford the children's schooling. My schooling ceased one and a half year after my thirteenth birthday. Our life, which was once so happy and well-furnished, remained nothing but a grueling struggle for survival. And that struggle is still going on at the moment you and I are conversing with each other. And it is not likely to end in a long time.”

“Having been a neglectful kid, I had lost my studying reflexes even before my schooling ceased. After our family business was shut down, money worries filled up every corner of our life. Along with the adults, all the children in the family threw away their school bags to rush to the streets to look for jobs – any manual labour that could help them earn some pennies to support the family. Your favourite baker was among these children. Driven by such a persistent struggle for survival, he has forgotten most of what he had learned at school during his happy days... forgetting even how to speak and write properly.”

[ He may be a lord today. He may be no more the next day.

That is life.

“Will you still love me, when I no longer have a penny to my name?”

-- Masamune asked his wife, Megohime, in a gloomy rainy day in a busy city of the twenty-first century. ]

“How should I respond to you, Harvey Soldanella,”

thought Myrsina as she walked home, “when I myself am struggling, too... struggling to find a scheme that works, to support myself before anything further can be considered, when you would surely be disapproved by my family with an “Okay, no, thanks” comment?”

,

*Tác giả: John M. Coulter, A. M., Ph.D., 1900. (tiếp theo phần 1) 41. Peronospora. Chi nấm này thuộc nhóm “Nấm mốc sương” (“downy mildews”), những loài nấm ký sinh thường gặp trên thực vật sinh trư…

07/11/2024

[ Preview 2024.11.08 ]

He is your favourite daimyo in “Sengoku Basara.” He achieved influence and affluence of a lifetime during his most glorious days.

How is his life in the twenty-first century?

Is his glorious past in the history of great advantage to his current life... or not at all?

Detailed answers to the questions above are revealed for the first time in the upcoming story chapter.

07/11/2024

2024.11.07

https://nghethuatvietquangcao2015.wordpress.com/2024/11/07/kostof-sacred-heights-part-4/

“Margherita” (Chapter 3)

The lady manager was fascinated by the baker's handsome and manly appearance, he noticed her and was familiar with her presence, yet they did not converse with each other until that full-moon night.

Myrsina had just finished and submitted a grand assignment, hence she would like to take a short break by spending more time strolling and enjoying the charming full moon after having dinner in the food court adjacent to the apartment where she resided during the post-graduate course. She visited a grocery store to buy a can of soda, intending to drink it during her leisure stroll.

It was suddenly no more leisure when the lock of the can got stuck, the opener part detached itself from the can as she tried to open it. The can could not be opened by hand in this wretched state.

As Myrsina was thinking what to do with the can of soda, she found herself walking towards “Merista Holdings Ltd.”.

“Perhaps I can try asking for the baker's help. What a nice chance to talk to him and get to know him, I think!” she schemed inside her mind.

Fortunately, the dough-kneading show had just ended, the baker was taking a break when Myrsina came inside the charming bakery.

“Excuse me, can you help me open this can?” she asked him.

The baker was surprised at first, yet he then quickly responded to Myrsina:

“Okay.”

He tried opening the can with his fingers, but this did not work.

He then took a knife on the table behind him, and used it to cut a hole on the top surface of the can in a precise manner. It worked.

“Thank you very very much,” responded Myrsina.

“Okay,” he said, with his face slightly blushing.

“What is your name, may I know?” she asked.

“Harvey Soldanella,” the baker replied. “Call me Harvey.”

“Thank you again, Harvey,” she said. “My name is Myrsina.”

“Okay, Myrsina,” replied Harvey.

Myrsina would like to converse more with him. Yet before she could think of a subject to lengthen the conversation, “I have to get back to work now,” Harvey told her.

“Okay,” Myrsina responded. “See you later, Harvey.”

“Okay,” he said.

After the stroll, Myrsina came back to her room to finish the rest of her homework of that day. Before going to sleep, she kept thinking about Harvey and their interactions.

“Harvey's English accent and fluency... he does not look like a native to me. Could he be among the international work force who was driven to this country by 'The Systellanthian Dream' that I was told before taking this post-graduate course?” she thought.

“Oh no, it is sad if he is not a native with a more decent background,” her thought continued.

“I would love to date him, that handsome man, who reminds me of that one-eyed feudal lord I watched on TV many years ago. Back then when this TV series was being broadcast, I was fascinated by this feudal lord, wondering what it would have looked like to be the wife of this very manly man.”

“The only way to know is to ask him,” Myrsina concluded her thought, trying to keep herself from being heart-broken.

Thanks to that full-moon night and the wretched can of soda, Myrsina learned that Harvey the baker took a half-an-hour break after his dough-kneading show every night. “That is my chance for a meaningful conversation,” she realized.

“Good evening, Harvey,” she approached him on the following day just after he finished kneading the last dough of the show. “Can you go outside during this break? I have something to ask you.”

“Okay,” the baker went with her without thinking twice.

“I have noticed your accent. You are not a native here, are you?” asked Myrsina as they were sitting in a charming gazebo covered in vines nearby.

“Okay,” Harvey replied. “We come from an adjacent country to Systellantha. We were told that one could make a fortune in Systellantha if he worked hard enough. Hence the entire of my family has moved here, trying to escape our poor and hopeless life in our home country.”

“I see,” she responded. “Just curious. How long have you been working in that bakery, “Merista Holdings Ltd.”?”

“Ten years,” replied Harvey, counting and presenting all his ten fingers to illustrate his answer.

“Really?” surprised Myrsina, a twenty-five-year-old lady. “That means you are older than what I previously estimated. You look so boyish, and too handsome to be older than that. I thought you could have been just a few years older than me. How old are you?”

“I am thirty-nine,” he said.

Then Harvey told her he had taken numerous different jobs before working in the bakery, from running errands to mowing the lawn (“cắt cỏ”). “Job-seeking is grueling,” he told her. “I cannot recall how many times I have been turned down. Hence as long as I land a job successfully, I keep it at all cost, whether it is a decent job or not. I applied for this baker job when “Merista Holdings Ltd.” was preparing to open this shop, and was the first to be employed in the bread-making team. I still think I was lucky, and cherish this job more than what I can say.”

“They are all manual labour jobs he has taken,” thought Myrsina. “I doubt Harvey has a college degree.”

“Can you make any other kinds of confectionery, those that are presented in the bakery, aside from bread?” she changed to less sensitive topics.

“No,” replied Harvey. “We are organized in different teams, each team specializes in a certain line of products, and does not know the tasks of other teams.”

“Oh,” said Myrsina, “Do you know the whole process of making a loaf of bread? Or do you only handle the step of kneading the dough as I have been watching?”

“I only knead the dough, and do not know other steps,” responded the handsome baker. “This is applied to all employees of 'Merista Holdings Ltd.'; each of us is assigned with a small step or task in the making process of our products, and knows no steps or tasks other than what we are assigned.”

“This means there is no career advancement, no promotion in your workplace,” she asked.

“No,” said Harvey. “We are limited in, and bound by, our assigned tasks till the end of our career.”

The baker's break time was over. He had to run back to the bakery to resume his duties.

“Thank you for your time, Harvey,” said Myrsina. “I can come back for more chats tomorrow, can't I?”

“Okay,” responded the handsome baker. He seemed happy.

She did not seem so as she walked back to her apartment.

“I am quite sure he does not have a degree,” thought the lady manager before she went to sleep. “And he knows little other than kneading the dough.”

“Social statuses matter no matter how much one dislikes this idea. Developing this relationship will not do me any good,” Myrsina opined.

She looked so sad.

“Believing in 'The Systellanthian Dream” or not, one has to work hard and smart to be self-accomplished, and there is no shortcut to success wherever he goes and resides,” she continued her contemplation. “And good degrees, and many other qualities, are required to attain decent positions. Without a degree, he is limited in manual and underpaid labour, and is unlikely to develop his career to support his life.”

“I am going to ask Harvey more details about his income tomorrow,” Myrsina concluded her contemplation.

,

*Tác giả: Spiro Kostof, 1991. (tiếp theo phần 3) Động cơ thứ hai liên quan đến những nguy cơ đến từ cuộc Cách mạng công nghiệp – những nhà máy và xưởng sản xuất bề thế cùng lực lượng lao động công …

07/11/2024

[ Preview 2024.11.07 ]

The audience of “Sengoku Basara” laughs out loud whenever Masamune speaks the word “Okay,” in a series of historical movies and video games that are not supposed to have any “Engrish” terms. This humorous detail is reconstructed in today's story chapter.

06/11/2024

2024.11.06

https://nghethuatvietquangcao2015.wordpress.com/2024/11/06/coulter-alga-fungi-part-1/

“Margherita” (Chapter 2)

The publishing market in Myrsina's country, a far east nation, was growing tough and competitive as more and more enterprises as well as individuals, celebrities included, took part in this lucrative playground. Ms. Primulaceae's position was still fine, and her translated books were doing well thanks to their unexploited and unique contents, yet “These favourable conditions may not last,” she realized.

“It is high time to find fresh new ideas for my business, to update myself with the latest business trends of the world, to learn how businessmen all over the world are managing their enterprises, and keep their businesses last long,” said Myrsina to herself.

After personnel issues inside her enterprise had been settled for the time being, Myrsina searched for a post-graduate course that might provide her with the answers she was looking for. Thanks to her distinct degree and her fluency in English, an international language that was preferred in business negotiations and contracts all over the world, the lady manager received three offer letters from prestigious universities providing quality programs for international students like her. One of these three provided a course that met her needs in a precise manner, and Myrsina decided to go for it.

It was a one-year course on international business in which she would be given opportunities to study some of the most charismatic and long-running enterprises and brands all over the world, the business models and working methods that they were employing. Also, the university providing this course was situated in the country of Systellantha, a small yet developed country of the region.

First, Systellantha was known for a highly acclaimed chain of bookstores, which was a prestigious source of quality books, including books of various languages, exotic and rare titles that could hardly be found anywhere else. In this particular aspect, Systellantha was a heaven to a reader and a publishing enterprise owner like Myrsina, who was always in need of new, rare, creative or breakthrough titles that could sell well in her home market. After being provided with the detailed school program and time-tables, she planned to spend weekends and holidays on exploring all the bookstores that were within her reach in this country.

Second, Systellantha was long believed to be a heaven to workers and labourers from other countries in the region who wished to earn a fortune, support their families at home and improve their life. This belief, dubbed “The Systellanthian Dream,” was an important factor that shaped the economy and demography of Systellantha, in which foreigners, international workers and labourers could be more commonly seen than the natives. This was a fascinating social occurrence that Myrsina would like to explore and observe by herself, to expand her knowledge and horizon – a useful hobby that was also a requirement to be self-accomplished in business.

Myrsina arrived in Systellantha three days before the course started. She quickly got used to studying and living in this small and peaceful country, which was warm and friendly to international students like her. Myrsina resided in a humble and quiet apartment on the fifteenth floor of an apartment building that was built in a social housing program of Systellantha – an economic choice for a student like her. Such a place to live was not well-liked by her peers, who preferred costlier estates and locations that reflected a higher social status, yet was perfect for a businesswoman like her, who managed both her corporate budget and her personal savings, and who would like to focus on studying and accomplish her business goals.

Myrsina visited several bakeries in this area for breakfast almost every morning, had lunch at school, and had or bought dinner at the food court next to the apartment building where she lived. She loved to have bread for breakfast because it was both quick and delicious.

Among the bakeries she visited or passed by every morning, one of them made her visit it more often with its outstanding appearance.

“Merista Holdings Ltd.” was written on the sign of this bakery, which featured colonial architecture. This little street-frontage two-story building was both a bakery and a restaurant, where customers could order drinks and enjoy the bread and cakes they bought right away. The entire front elevation of the building was covered in glass – pedestrians could see through it for the attractive space inside, whose vintage interior design reminded one of the renowned colonial villas that were sought after during the Industrial Reformation. The ground floor was the bakery area, where a variety of bread and cakes were displayed in a charming manner to attract customers. The second floor housed the cafeteria space, where customers could order meals, drinks, sit and relax, and enjoy the bread and cakes they had just bought, and go to the balcony to enjoy a beautiful view of the streets outside and the other side of the canal.

The bakery area, accompanied by the smell of freshly baked bread, was irresistible to Myrsina. Many products were so beautifully designed and packaged that she wished she could have purchased them all: bread of numerous recipes, cakes of various colors and designs, freshly baked buns of different flavours, various desserts – mousse, tiramisu, cheesecake, and so on – of cute designs and different flavours. In order not to be late for school, Myrsina made quick decisions on a few familiar and favourite choices of her taste: omelette bread, ham and cheese bread, chicken floss bread, a Mexican bun, or a piece of margherita pizza – pizza that featured no topping other than a layer of mozzarella of rich texture, an easy, quick, economic and delicious choice for a student with a humble budget like her.

A special segment of the ground floor, situated between the shop area and the kitchen, was designed for displaying the making of bread – another special feature to attract customers. Myrsina often re-visited the bakery in the evening, when she did not have to rush to school, to watch the baker – who was wearing the white staff uniform of the bakery – knead the dough, move from this dough to the other in a skillful manner. She could watch it for hours without getting bored had she not had to go back to the apartment to do homework. She loved watching the making of things, from quality artworks, sculptures, machines, to good dishes, cakes and bread.

She became a regular of this little dough-kneading show. The baker began to notice her and was happy with her presence, doing his best and showing off little fascinating kneading tricks whenever she stood there watching him. From focusing her attention on the dough and the kneading, Myrsina, too, began to observe the baker and his look.

“He reminds me of the one-eyed feudal lord in a TV series about a notable historical period I watched very long ago,” she thought, “There were so many lords featured in the series and I did not remember his name. Yet I could recognize this particular lord thanks to his eyepatch, his signature helmet attached with a crescent moon, and that he was extremely manly.”

“Too handsome to be a baker,” Myrsina commented upon her eagle-eyed observation on this baker's appearance.

,

*Tác giả: John M. Coulter, A. M., Ph.D., 1900. Nấm tảo 39. Saprolegnia. Đây là một nhóm “mốc nước” (“water-moulds”) sinh trưởng trong môi trường nước giống như tảo. Chúng sống nhờ vào xác động vật …

06/11/2024

[ Preview 2024.11.06 ]

“Ngày đó, nam nhi như bọn anh được sinh ra để làm lãnh chúa.

Nếu không làm lãnh chúa, anh chẳng biết làm gì khác để sống nữa,”

Masamune told his wife, Megohime.

“Will you still love me, when I no longer have a penny to my name?”

05/11/2024

2024.11.05

https://nghethuatvietquangcao2015.wordpress.com/2024/11/05/warming-movements-of-the-air-part-3/

Today's featured academic article is the last part of the book chapter that discusses the impact of wind onto plants.

Let's discover today's story.

1.
The new story that starts today is inspired by a real-life encounter between “Megohime” and “Masamune” in another country, which took place more than a decade ago.

She did not recognize him, who was not better than a shadow of his former self during the Sengoku period. He recognized his wife instantly, yet had to suppress all his feelings and tears owing to numerous barriers between them regarding their languages, nationalities, and social statuses, and more.

“Đêm đêm luôn có tôi ngồi đây với trời
Đang trông theo gót xưa mòn lối
Đôi chim bay có nhau nhìn tôi rất buồn
Thương thân tôi lẻ loi rã rời.”

(“Tự khúc mùa đông,” phiên bản cover của ca sĩ Cao Thái Sơn, album “Con đường mưa”)

In the reality, they met each other a few times, interacted with each other once, and did not meet each other again after that. There was nothing they could do to get closer to each other.

This story is an imagined scenario in which some of the barriers are taken down so that the married couple can extend their interactions. Can they be reunited in the end?

2.
The title of the story is inspired by admin's most favourite kind of cheese, mozzarella, and she believes it is also the favourite of many others. It is associated with the pizza, a universally favourite dish that is familiar with many of us. A pizza is, in many cases, not considered complete without a tasty layer of this cheese. The admin used this cheese to make toppings for seafood dishes, notably fresh tubby scallops and shrimps, and the flavour made her feel like being on top of the world.

Whenever the admin enters a bakery, she is fascinated firstly by the smell of freshly baked bread and cake, then the smell of different kinds of cheese present in the shop. The smell of mozzarella stands out in case pizzas are available. This is the second reason why this cheese is related to the title of the story: “Megohime” meets her husband “Masamune” in a bakery featuring lovely architecture!

The story title refers to a type of pizza from Naples, featuring no topping other than a layer of mozzarella. Therefore, it is an economic choice for students, and a tasty choice for a mozzarella lover like the admin.

3.
“Margherita” (Chapter 1)

Harvey Soldanella was born into an affluent family. His life was well-furnished, he could do whatever he liked, and did not have to worry about anything.

“Why care when every tiny detail of my life as well as my future has been settled by adults?” he opined.

A pampered child who harboured a reckless and rebellious nature, Harvey preferred playing to studying. He usually skipped classes, sneaked out of school to play battle with other kids in his group of close friends. They played roles of feudal lords who fought one another with toy weapons. This was Harvey's most favourite recreational activity; he never got bored of it. His school results were growing more and more worrisome.

Those good conditions did not last.

When Harvey turned thirteen years old, the economy fluctuated, his family went bankrupt. All their valuable properties were sold to pay debts. From being one of the most affluent clans of the entire kingdom, they fell from grace, lived in poverty in the countryside. All the children in their house, Harvey included, could no more go to school.

His family struggled to survive each day that passed and, at the same time, were bound to pay the remaining sum of debts, which was still as large as a fortune. Along with his siblings, Harvey struggled to find jobs to support his family owing to being underage, lack of knowledge and skills. Memories of his days at school and what he had learned there were gradually left behind. The struggles for survival of the entire family could be considered hopeless, there was absolutely no chance they could go back to the way it was.

A decent future for Harvey, could there be?

Myrsina Primulaceae was born into a decent family. She was well-educated and had a bright future ahead. Self-taught in drawing and painting at a young age, the ambitious lady graduated from the city's university of architecture with distinct results. She worked in a renowned architecture firm for one and a half years before establishing her own business, a publishing enterprise, and became a self-made businesswoman.

Managing a business was a challenging business itself. Securing the corporate income was stressful. Employees came and went; many fought their superior rather than worked. Business partners were business partners, employees were employees, they were not your families. The manager could not stop her employees from leaving for more promising places when their mind or their heart changed. She longed to find a partner that was understanding, and was as devoted to their enterprise, also their main workplace and source of income, as she was.

An employee that understood his superior's position and could be helpful to her during hard times, “Are you kidding me?” thought Myrsina.

,

*Tác giả: Eugenius Warming, Ph.D., 1909 (tiếp theo phần 2) Một số loài thực vật thân thảo (Draba; nhài đá, Androsace helvetica; và nhiều loài khác) phát triển với hình thái dạng gối (“cushion-like”…

04/11/2024

2024.11.04

https://nghethuatvietquangcao2015.wordpress.com/2024/11/04/kostof-sacred-heights-part-3/

“The Typewriters” (Chapter 4)

10.
Ourisia Veronicaceae was Kashmiria's first love, the one who owned his first kiss and took his virginity, and made him a skilled playmate. They did not meet again.

She was his only love prior to meeting Abies Pinaceae.

It took Kashmiria more than fifteen years to heal from this heartbreak. During this time, he worked hard, studied hard and focused on polishing his expertise in the law office. Kashmiria became the president of the supreme court of Hyalis at a competitive age compared to his colleagues.

This high position brought him privileges that most others could only dream of: affluence, influence, honor and reputation, and numerous ultimate opportunities that could only be accessed by few. He arrested the attention of ladies, yet was not moved by any of them until he met Abies in a special event in which she delivered captivating speeches and launched her first translated work.

“Ms. Veronicaceae was my first romance, the one who taught me the tastes of love, both sweet and bitter tastes, both the pleasure and pain of being in love. Abies was the one whom I desired to marry and build a little family with. At a youthful age, she exuded a calm and mature demeanor, and a motherly nature that was rarely seen among her peers. Regarding Abies, I wished we could have met each other earlier. The memory of her is guaranteed to stay beautiful and well-protected in my heart and my mind,” wrote Kashmiria, recalling his memorable romances, with his old typewriter in his humble apartment in the city of Lagotis.

11.
Kashmiria Gentianaceae resigned from his position in the supreme court of Hyalis a short time after his relationship with Abies Pinaceae. In the kingdom of Hyalis, the president of the supreme court was not a permanent title owing to the high sensitivity and vulnerability of the position: Too much power posed a high risk of corruption. Therefore, each president could only hold his position up to nine years before he had to step down and another judge would take the position.

The experience Kashmiria had had with Abies led him to reconsider his life goals. After his resignation, he was offered a position in a state governmental office. Nevertheless, he turned down this offer and decided to build a new career of his own in Lagotis. “I have had a great time working as a law official, have experienced all the highs and lows of this industry,” Kashmiria said to himself, “I have done my best and have nothing to regret. It is time to move on, for a new stage of my career, to restart a humble life of my own.”

As a student, Kashmiria was skilled at writing and was a self-taught stenographer. Practicing the art of stenography, or shorthand writing, he was able to earn income by writing business letters and advertisements for individual clients and businesses after hours. He would have chosen to become a professional stenographer had it not been for his parents' plan to make him an accomplished judge.

The national commerce was reaching its prosperous time. Industries flourished, numerous businesses were established, and there was a high demand for productive stenographers. After three years of experience working as a stenographer for several companies, Kashmiria established his own business, which provided writing and publishing services. As this business was still young, he preferred to keep it humble, being in charge of both the management and technical tasks for the time being.

12.
“Excuse me, I am looking for a job,” asked a young and lovely lady who had just stepped in Kashmiria's office.

His business had been running for almost a year by the time this lady came.

“We are sorry. We are not recruiting personnel at the moment,” responded Kashmiria, who was trying to focus on writing a difficult advertisement for a client of his.

“I know,” said the young lady. “Yet I am quite sure you are needing help.”

She had just won his total attention successfully.

“It will be great if paperwork, book-keeping and many other 'petty' tasks are handled by a reliable lady so that you can focus on the difficult and technical tasks, like that advertisement for instance, to secure income for our business, will it not?” the young lady continued.

Kashmiria was both confused... and amazed. He was listening attentively to her.

“And no need to worry about payments for me,” she told him. “You just need to pay for my lunch during my apprenticeship. You have a devoted assistant whereas I gain experience and skills by working with you, Mr. Competent Stenographer. After the apprenticeship, you can decide how much I am worth according to the values I bring to you.”

Mr. Competent Stenographer fell head over heels completely.

“What is your name, young and lovely lady?”

“Linaria Antirrhinaceae,” she replied. “Self-taught in writing advertisements. One year of experience writing for businessmen, looking for a lifelong position to dedicate her skills as well as herself to. I am here to help.”

[ the end (of the story, yet the beginning of a hopeful romance) ]

,

*Tác giả: Spiro Kostof, 1991. (tiếp theo phần 2) Các tháp chuông nhà thờ được thu gọn trong vòng vài tầng, hôn phối với những tỷ lệ công trình mạnh bạo của Gothic và chi tiết Cổ điển. Nhiều tháp tr…