I want to sleep with you. The little voice in Shang Zhitao’s mind was truly audacious. She smiled faintly at Luan Nian, her eyes quickly looking elsewhere. That sensual story spread through her limbs, refusing to dissipate.

The awakening of desire. Not only a man’s right, but a woman’s too. The words were about to burst from her throat when she heard Luan Nian say:

“I suggest you avoid such inappropriate thoughts.”

Did he think others were blind? She stood there blushing, her gaze unfocused, her mind full of illicit thoughts. Were all girls like this nowadays? Thinking they could climb the corporate ladder by getting into the boss’s bed? What was she thinking?

The little person in Shang Zhitao’s mind was beaten to death. She hurriedly shook her head: “I wasn’t.” Her denial only made things more obvious, like protesting there’s no silver when no one mentioned it. She ran toward the elevator, not forgetting to say: “Good night, sir.”

Luan Nian watched her run frantically into the elevator, pursed his lips, snorted through his nose, and, surprisingly, smiled just a bit.

She ran to the lobby and began thinking about getting something to eat. She’d been busy since morning and hadn’t eaten dinner yet, her stomach growling. She took out her phone to see what food was available nearby. After studying it for a while, she looked up and saw a woman getting out of a taxi. The woman was truly beautiful, with her hair tied back, a slender and straight figure, chin slightly raised, gentleness mixed with wildness. How Shang Zhitao loved looking at beautiful women! Naturally, she took an extra glance, and couldn’t help turning back for another look. But this time she saw Luan Nian walking out to meet the woman, unusually gentle in his greeting: “Why did you come?”

“I don’t have a key. Can I stay at your place for a while?”

Fuck.

Shang Zhitao never cursed, but sometimes she swore in her mind. What was going on? When it rains, it pours? Consequently, she witnessed her boss’s private life that shouldn’t be seen, and everyone seemed to want her boss.

She met Luan Nian’s gaze and hurriedly smiled at him, pinching her thumb and index finger together and sliding them across her lips—I’ll keep my mouth shut, I won’t say anything, please rest assured.

Luan Nian suddenly understood what she was thinking, but he couldn’t be bothered to explain, gave her a cold look, and walked in with Zang Yao.

Shang Zhitao felt that since starting work, she’d exhausted all her luck. Things she should and shouldn’t see, should and shouldn’t hear all found their way to her eyes and ears. Now she had to worry about Luan Nian targeting her to ensure her silence.

She stood outside the hotel for a while, no longer wanting to go anywhere. She bought instant noodles and sausages and returned to her room, ate, and then fell asleep. The next day she woke up before dawn and headed straight to Shunde, finally leaving Guangzhou.

Her first business trip was non-stop—seeing countless people, hearing countless requirements. The five days passed in the blink of an eye. When she said goodbye to Lumi at the airport with her luggage, she even had the illusion of being a career woman.

But a real career woman wouldn’t be this tired.

She returned home and went out with Sun Yu to eat street food malatang. The hot steam made both their faces sweat.

Shang Zhitao told Sun Yu about her business trip experiences and mentioned how Luan Nian repeatedly wanted her to resign: “Very likely, in a few days I’ll have to pack up and leave. Before I go, I’ll write a big-character poster and stick it in the company elevator, saying his girlfriends are blooming everywhere!” Shang Zhitao was somewhat fierce, but he immediately laughed at her joke.

She was a very lively girl, but work had worn her down for so long that she’d lost that quality. Now that she was relaxed, that carefree, somewhat silly liveliness revealed itself.

“Why would a leader hold a grudge against you? Don’t be too nervous,” Sun Yu comforted her.

“Could it be that some people were enemies in their past lives, and in this life still fight to the death?” Shang Zhitao took a sip of cola, the bubbles bursting in her mouth. Carbonated drinks truly made one happy.

“You’re overthinking. Has this life given you a chance to fight with him? He’s ready to crush you from the start!” Sun Yu scared Shang Zhitao. She had been working for three years and had seen more workplace situations than Shang Zhitao.

But was it a fight to the death?

When a boss dislikes you and makes things difficult, there will eventually come a day when you can’t tolerate him anymore. By that time, you won’t even think about fighting—you’ll just want to disappear like smoke, never to be seen again.

Shang Zhitao thought about it—Luan Nian was so intimidating, he probably would crush her. She couldn’t imagine that not long after, Luan Nian really would almost crush her. She sighed: “I don’t know what’s happening. The more he dislikes me, the more I stumble upon his secrets.” Shang Zhitao told Sun Yu about Luan Nian’s breakup, dining with women, and bringing a woman back to the hotel in Guangzhou: “See how unlucky I am. It’s always like this. You don’t know, that day in the hotel lobby in Guangzhou, the way that gentleman looked at me, he wanted to kill me.”

“His private life is that chaotic?” Sun Yu widened her eyes: “What does he look like? He seems to be quite popular with women.”

“He’s… he looks… particularly handsome, the kind that looks restless.” In Shang Zhitao’s mind, Luan Nian was already that kind of restless person. She even thought, he changes women so frequently, he must have some hidden disease, right?

After eating malatang, the two walked back. Shang Zhitao felt completely drained. At home, she showered, changed into pajamas, lay down on the bed, and fell into a deep sleep. This sleep was very sound; she hadn’t been this tired for a long time. Working part-time during school had also been tiring, but that kind of fatigue could be dispersed by walking around the track once. This time, however, she felt too tired to even lift a finger.

When she opened her eyes, it was already Sunday afternoon. A breeze moved the curtains, and the electric fan was still humming. The smell of cooking came from the kitchen—it must be Sun Yu making dinner.

She took out her phone and saw many calls from her parents. Only then did she remember she had silenced her phone before sleeping and forgotten to report to them. She hurriedly called back. The phone was answered after one ring, and she heard Old Shang seemingly crying.

“What’s wrong with my dad?” Shang Zhitao asked her mother.

“How dare you ask what’s wrong? You nearly scared your father to death.” Her mother also wiped away tears: “We called you so many times and you didn’t answer. Your father didn’t sleep all night yesterday, thinking something had happened to you.”

Old Shang was crying so tragically that Shang Zhitao also shed tears: “Oh, I’m sorry, please stop crying. I’m perfectly fine!”

The family of three wiped their tears for a while, then her parents carefully asked about Shang Zhitao’s recent situation. When Old Shang heard that Shang Zhitao often worked overtime until late at night, he immediately felt heartbroken: “Dad will send you money this afternoon. Buy some good food to nourish yourself.”

“No need, no need! I often eat my roommate’s food.”

“That won’t do! You can’t take advantage of others. If you eat one meal from someone, you should return one meal.” Old Shang instructed Shang Zhitao: “Don’t think things are too expensive to eat. Your dad has plenty of money!”

How could Old Shang have plenty of money? Just that meager salary—he simply didn’t want his daughter to suffer. Shang Zhitao understood, of course, which is why she never compared herself with others. She felt that in life, modest prosperity was enough. As long as she worked hard every day, things would get better day by day.

She was an optimist.

A born optimist, she rarely encountered anything that truly gave her a headache. Currently, there was only one thing—Luan Nian.

She lay back on the bed and opened her computer to search “what to do if your boss hates you?” The results were a mess—some suggested treating the boss to meals, some said helping the boss solve problems, and others recommended flattering the boss.

What was all this? Flatter Luan Nian? Wouldn’t he grab you by the collar and throw you against the city wall as a public example? Treat him to a meal? She hadn’t even received her salary yet! Lumi said one of Luan Nian’s shirts cost her a month’s salary, so a meal for him would probably cost half a month’s.

Nothing seemed to work.

No solution.

Wait! If a meal was too expensive, coffee should be affordable, right? He drank coffee every day. Creative people survived on coffee! That’s it!

Shang Zhitao was determined to improve her relationship with Luan Nian. The next day, she arrived early and went to the 24-hour coffee shop downstairs. She arrived early, and there weren’t many people in the coffee shop yet. The barista greeted her: “What would you like to drink?”

Shang Zhitao went forward and asked him: “Every morning there’s a tall, handsome man who comes to buy coffee. What does he drink?”

The young man gave her a meaningful look: “Luke, right?”

“Yes, yes.” Shang Zhitao nodded.

“Luke drinks iced Americano every day.”

“Then please give me an iced Americano.” Shang Zhitao paused, not buying one for herself seemed too deliberate, so she said: “Give me one too.”

When the coffee was ready, she left the coffee shop with one cup in each hand, immediately running into Luan Nian.

“Good morning, Luke!” Shang Zhitao smiled and greeted him: “Are you here to buy coffee?” Seeing Luan Nian nod and about to go in, she quickly said: “I accidentally bought two cups just now. Would you like to buy one from me?”

Shang Zhitao nearly bit her tongue off in embarrassment. “Let me give you one” versus “Would you like to buy one”—one word difference, miles apart in meaning.

She could call “mama” at ten months, argued with the neighbor’s older brother after turning one, and considered herself quick-witted. But today, wanting to treat her boss to coffee, she instead asked if he wanted to buy one from her?

She needed the money from that cup of coffee.

Once Luan Nian swept her out of the company, she’d be drinking the northwest wind, let alone coffee!

Luan Nian saw her regretful expression but couldn’t guess what her convoluted thoughts were about. He only thought to himself: Shang Zhitao is sick.

“Or let me treat you?” she offered.

“If you can’t finish it, you can throw it away.” Luan Nian gave her a smile, walked a few steps forward, then saw in the glass reflection that the foolish Shang Zhitao had opened her mouth but made no sound. He turned back, took the coffee from her hand: “I’ll pay you back tomorrow.”

Shang Zhitao finally saw a glimmer of hope and hurriedly followed behind him: “No need, no need. Let me treat you again tomorrow.”

Luan Nian finally understood.

Shang Zhitao was trying to please him.

“Even if you buy me coffee every day, it won’t change the fact that you’re incompetent. Instead of wasting time on these devious thoughts, you should focus on improving yourself.” He strode ahead, speaking calmly and confidently, while Shang Zhitao followed behind like a panicked, homeless dog.

Following him into the elevator, she heard him say: “Ask yourself what you’ve gained in the past half-month. Busy like a headless fly every day, do you have time to review? How can you grow without using your brain?”

Well, he drank her coffee and gave her some advice.

“Yes, Luke, I’ll remember. I’ll review today and send you the results for your guidance.”

“Why send it to me? Am I your direct boss? Am I obligated to teach you every day?” Luan Nian scolded her, feeling quite pleased. Seeing her tilting her head, lost in thought, he added: “If you feel you can’t digest what I’m saying, then you might as well write your resignation letter now. A resignation letter is easy to write, just four words: ‘I quit’ will do.”

“Oh.” Shang Zhitao was inexplicably scolded, hanging her head as she left the elevator. Luan Nian was right—rather than having devious thoughts, she should focus on working well.