BIRTHDAY: December 21, 1992
GENDER/PRONOUNS: Genderqueer — she/they
OCCUPATION: Executive Vice President of the Zhao Group, Owner of Zhao Towers / Oracle
PLACE OF BIRTH: Astoria, Nova Pangaea
HAS LIVED IN ASTORIA FOR: 29 years
What makes Astoria still appealing to you? Is it related to personal or work relationships?
Pushing up her favourite red sunglasses on the bridge of her nose, Jinyi surveyed the interview room excruciatingly slowly even though there wasn’t much to see. And although her vision was tinted, there was no la vie en rose bullshit here. It was almost offensively bland and sterile, and yet, impressive. A chair, table, and courtesy paper cup of water. Efficiency within bureaucracy was a rare sight.
“Hmmm…” She paused before taking a seat to lock eyes with the interviewer and smiled. “Nice to know that preferential treatment isn’t given here. I see our government hasn’t completely succumbed to corruption. Good, good.” She gave a nod of approval before finally taking a seat.
Jinyi then took another pause just because. There was no thinking needed to answer the question, but what was the rush? At least a minute of silence passed before she spoke. She didn’t actually know how long it was; she wasn’t counting. “Both, I guess. My family’s here, and we help keep the city running. It’d be irresponsible for me to leave now, don’t you think?” She still hadn’t broken eye contact with the interviewer even as she took an arbitrary sip of water. “There’s still plenty of work ahead of us yet. That’s appealing, right? One might even say exciting.” The insignificant thud of Jinyi placing her paper cup back down emphasized the last word rather fittingly as she didn’t seem the least bit enthused at the idea of more work.
What’s something about your personality that you’re proud of? And what would you like to change?
The situation suddenly became funny to her the moment she heard the next questions. A small chuckle escaped her lips before she quickly tried to put on a straight face. She swore these exact questions were asked to her last week for a magazine feature. Too bad this official didn’t have a copy of that magazine because she was about to recite the same answer verbatim: “I see the potential in others even when they can’t see it in themselves. Hell, I even help draw it out of them as a bonus. I guess that’s what I’m really proud of — my charity.” She topped off the answer with a photogenic smile that rivaled the one that was the magazine’s front cover.
This charity she spoke of was just another side to the coin of manipulation. Yes, she helped people become their best selves, but only if it benefited her. The best case was if you were simply a tax break to her. The worst case? Well… She didn’t like to dwell on the specifics. Results were all that mattered.
“And a thing I’d like to change is how goal-oriented I am. Surprising, I know. But I’ve been told that I need to slow down, take breaks, smell the roses, and all that. I mean, I’m the EVP of my family’s company, the Oracle of my coven, and I just became the owner of the hottest real estate in the city all before I turned thirty. Sometimes I wonder if I’m even living life properly and not just speed-running it.”
Please elaborate on any violent circumstances you may have been involved with in the past.
Damn, reporters wished they could ask this question of her so blasé like this interviewer just did. “At the risk of sounding like a total pick-me girl, I’m not like other maladjusted nepotism kids that are prone to flying off the handle. Truly.” Playing the long game was more Jinyi’s style. It’s how she got this far in the first place. Being rash would lead to careless mistakes. And mistakes would almost certainly mean death.
“Remember that heiress from the one airline who threw a hissy fit over some bagged nuts she got in first class because they weren’t served on a plate? Honestly, could never be me.” She shook her head and sighed. Getting that mad took too much energy and time.
“But back to the question — was I ever personally violent? Heavens, no.” It wasn’t that she wasn’t capable of such things. It just wasn’t her pay-grade. After all, there were people more than willing to get their hands dirty for her to stay in her family’s good graces and on the company’s payroll.
“Google my name if you want. All you’ll see are bad estimates of my net worth, a link to the executives page on the Zhao group’s website, and last season’s rumours about which unfortunate person is thought to be my latest lover. I’m clean as can be.” The last line was, of course, a blatant lie. No one got this powerful and not have a few stains on their resume. A favourite line of hers whenever someone tried to pry further was: ‘Well, it isn’t illegal to die earlier than planned.’ But as long as this official didn’t push, what didn’t need to be said wouldn’t be.
Your thoughts about supernatural beings.
Jinyi, ever the utilitarian, gestured to the table between them and the interviewer. “Everyone brings something to the table — mundane, supernatural, whatever. Like I said before, I see value in all of them.” It was a nicer way of saying they were all tools to her. It was also just another stock answer she had in her mental bank.
Silence again passed as she chose not to elaborate further. A familiar pang in her stomach then reminded her that she had yet again been in a meeting longer than intended and ran into her lunch break. What was the use of blocking it off on her calendar if she wasn’t going to follow it? With a burger from Nine-Ten on her mind, it was Jinyi who said, “Well, thank you for your time today. This certainly was a lovely chat. Reach out to my people if you need anything else for the paperwork. My legal team and I will be more than happy to comply.”
FACECLAIM: Poppy Liu
PLAYED BY: Jun
