People inevitably take some detours when they’re young.
Shang Zhitao’s first detour was buying that cup of coffee for Luan Nian. Later, she felt she had been too foolish. She should have put in effort without reservation instead of trying to take shortcuts.
In this world, very few people successfully take shortcuts. Those who have shortcuts available are heaven’s beloved favorites. Most people must work hard step by step, though the outcome remains forever unknown.
Moreover, Luan Nian clearly wouldn’t approve of people taking shortcuts—to him, that would be opportunistic.
She left the elevator, sat at her workstation, and seriously considered Luan Nian’s words, feeling he was right. Work truly tempered people—in such a short time, it had stimulated her potential for learning and summarizing.
She genuinely and carefully summarized her work. Previously, she had been too busy rushing around and hadn’t done such a systematic review. As she typed out her work on the computer, wow, she realized she had done so many miscellaneous tasks and learned so many things.
Later, she would often review her work. This rational way of thinking would accompany her throughout her career.
So Luan Nian was a very, very good mentor.
That day, after work ended, the genius colleagues gradually left, but Shang Zhitao didn’t. She carefully drew up an improvement plan for herself.
Everyone has made improvement plans before, or perhaps wish lists.
Shang Zhitao carefully thought about the gap between herself and her colleagues, wrote down her improvement plan, and even wrote a wish list for before turning thirty. She didn’t want to show it to anyone, so she wrote it and locked it in her drawer.
Suddenly, her goals became clearer, and this feeling was truly wonderful.
Sometimes, communication between adults can be surprising.
The next day, she arrived at the company early and started working. Even when someone walked up to her, she remained oblivious. Today was her first time hosting the marketing department’s supplier meeting, and she needed to familiarize herself with the process again.
An iced Americano was placed on her desk. She looked up in surprise to see Luan Nian standing beside her table, saying lightly: “Returning a cup to you.”
“You’re too kind…” Shang Zhitao was a bit at a loss, remembering the embarrassment that yesterday’s cup of coffee had brought her.
Luan Nian didn’t speak, picking up her notebook to look at it. Shang Zhitao had beautiful handwriting, the most beautiful of anyone he knew. If one day LUMI fired her, she could make a living selling calligraphy copybooks. This beautiful handwriting was truly pleasing.
“Supplier meeting this afternoon?” Luan Nian asked her.
“Yes, I’m preparing for it.”
“Among these suppliers, which one has the highest execution efficiency? Which one has the highest level of cooperation? Which company has the longest period for advance payment? What’s the maximum amount of advance payment they can accept? What areas do they each specialize in?” Luan Nian asked her: “Have these materials been organized?”
“I…”
“There hasn’t been this information before, right?” Luan Nian asked again.
“Yes.” Shang Zhitao nodded. When the marketing department used suppliers, they just randomly found several companies to bid when work came in, and whoever won would get the job. Most companies operated this way.
Luan Nian raised his eyebrows and turned to leave.
Shang Zhitao was stunned for a long time, suddenly realizing that the marketing department didn’t have a unified supplier parameter database. She stared at the coffee for a long time, then called Yao Bei: “Senior, I’d like to ask for your help.”
“What is it, Taotao?”
“I remember you mentioned that state-owned enterprises have strict supplier management. I’d like to see your supplier database parameters.”
“I can only show you the headers; other sensitive information isn’t possible.”
“The headers are enough. Thank you, senior.”
“No need for thanks, three minutes.”
Shang Zhitao suddenly experienced the joy of work.
Before, she had been too rigid. When work was placed in front of her, she executed it precisely, but her vision was narrow. She had never stood in a higher position to consider these issues. She felt somewhat grateful to Luan Nian, picked up the iced coffee, and took a sip—not bitter at all, with syrup added.
“Thank you, Luke. I’m preparing to urgently organize the supplier information.” She sent Luan Nian a message, sincerely thanking him. Luan Nian didn’t reply to her, of course, he wouldn’t. But he raised his eyebrows, feeling that this student he was personally training, perhaps wasn’t so bad after all—after some guidance, she could barely present herself professionally.
Luan Nian had already considered Shang Zhitao his student, though he hadn’t noticed this change in his consciousness.
The marketing department’s afternoon meeting also invited Luan Nian. His appointment was about to be announced, and all the bosses knew it. Some accepted it, some didn’t. But whether they accepted it or not, they had to maintain appearances.
Alex didn’t care; he had worked on some projects with Luan Nian and was more familiar with him. Inviting Luan Nian to such an external meeting also indicated his attitude.
As the meeting host, Shang Zhitao had done a lot of homework in advance. Before the meeting began, Alex somewhat proudly said to Luan Nian: “This morning, we prepared something special to set a precedent for the professionalization and systematization of the company’s external management work.”
“Looking forward to it.” Luan Nian didn’t say anything else.
At the beginning, Shang Zhitao was a bit nervous, with a few strands of hair stuck to her face with sweat. Both Alex and Lumi were anxious, and Luan Nian heard Alex ask Lumi: “Are you sure there’s no problem?”
“No problem,” Lumi said, but she still sat up straight, feeling nervous for Shang Zhitao.
Shang Zhitao saw Luan Nian’s seemingly expected expression as he sat in the center, and suddenly felt motivated. She wasn’t entirely useless. After Alex spoke, she gradually relaxed.
The meeting had several agendas: introducing past project progress; introducing the main projects and bidding plans for the second half of the year; Q&A; and finally, the LUMI marketing department’s agency scoring system.
Yes, in the morning when Shang Zhitao received Yao Bei’s materials, she suddenly felt that LUMI’s agent inclusion and termination should have a system, like an exam—how many points to pass, how many points to retake, and at what poor score level to advise withdrawal. She told Lumi her idea, and Lumi widened her eyes and patted her shoulder: “Well done, Shang Zhitao! This kind of system is rare in the market!”
Alex also praised Shang Zhitao: “Flora is truly excellent.”
The entire marketing department spent the morning brainstorming this system in the meeting room, not even eating lunch.
The market needs fairness; big-name suppliers need supervision, and small companies need opportunities. When everything has a systematic framework, management will get on the right track. It will also prevent many economic problems.
Luan Nian was smart and also adventurous.
He was about to take over LUMI China and hoped the company would change. But not all changes should happen after he took over. At Monday’s weekly meeting, Alex synchronized the marketing department’s supplier conference, and on Tuesday morning, an iced Americano with syrup was placed on Shang Zhitao’s desk. Luan Nian casually picked up Shang Zhitao’s notebook and specifically asked her a few questions.
If Shang Zhitao didn’t understand, Luan Nian wouldn’t be surprised.
But Shang Zhitao did understand, and she acted quickly. Her efforts and determination to change the status quo helped her survive a desperate situation. When Luan Nian saw her message in the morning, he felt that her understanding of his meaning was enough to achieve his goal, but she had submitted a beautiful test paper, which was somewhat surprising.
However surprising, he still maintained an expressionless face, lowered his head to type on the computer, pretending it had nothing to do with him. The company environment was like a deep pool, lonely at the top. He couldn’t appear eager for quick success, nor could he seem effortless. Everything required the right timing and also rewarded hard work.
The last part was truly brilliant. Luan Nian heard the suppliers’ bosses whispering, but everyone generally held a positive attitude toward the LUMI marketing department’s new policy.
Work gave Shang Zhitao a sense of achievement for the first time.
When the meeting ended, as she was organizing the meeting minutes, she also reviewed what she had gained. She hoped that for any work she encountered, she could stand higher and think about problems from a different perspective. With this ability, she could go further. Shang Zhitao, who had been mudding through for twenty-two years, suddenly had a work ideal.
Her meeting minutes weren’t completed until after midnight. She had been looking down for so long that her entire shoulder and neck were sore. Standing up to stretch, she saw that Luan Nian’s office was still lit—he was sitting there working with intense concentration.
Why was he staying so late today?
Shang Zhitao had a strange feeling about Luan Nian. She was very afraid of him, but also felt that he sometimes seemed to be teaching her things.
She wanted to thank Luan Nian again, but felt she would be too much—he didn’t like to be disturbed.
Thinking this, Shang Zhitao packed up and left the company.
Today, she was sustained by a sense of achievement, her mood floating as if about to fly, not feeling tired at all. Everything was perfect except that it was difficult to get a car at night. She stood by the roadside trying to get a taxi, but many people were leaving after overtime and few cars, so she couldn’t get one.
After more than half an hour, she was thinking of walking a bit to try her luck when she saw a car stop in front of her. It was Luan Nian.
Shang Zhitao was too embarrassed to trouble him again and waved at him: “It’s too late, you should go home quickly.”
“It’s on my way.” Luan Nian opened the car door.
Shang Zhitao looked at the time—it was too late, and she didn’t dare be willful, so she got into Luan Nian’s car.
“Is it really on your way?”
“It’s not. Get out.” Luan Nian said this while starting the engine. Working for less than twenty days, Shang Zhitao had already grown accustomed to Luan Nian’s way of speaking. She chuckled and asked him: “Where do you live?”
“Near your place.” Luan Nian wasn’t lying about it being on his way. There was a villa area in Shahe, a fifteen-minute drive from Shang Zhitao’s home.
“Then why do you live so far? It would be so convenient to live near the company.”
“Why do you live so far?”
“I don’t have that much money to rent a place.” Shang Zhitao didn’t feel embarrassed saying this. She had just graduated and hadn’t received her first month’s salary yet. It would be strange if she had money.
Luan Nian didn’t say much more but turned his head to look at Shang Zhitao. She sat properly in the car, her legs tightly together, as if facing a great enemy.
“Are you afraid of me?”
“What?”
“Are you afraid of me?”
“I’m not. If I were afraid of you, I wouldn’t have gotten into your car.”
Shang Zhitao spoke lightly but didn’t dare look at Luan Nian. She turned her head to look out the window. The night was colorful, and she suddenly had a thought: perhaps she should learn to drive? Yes, she should learn to drive. What era was this, to still not know how to drive!
Luan Nian turned on some music, which relieved Shang Zhitao’s tension. She finally turned her head to look forward and even initiated conversation: “Thank you for today.”
“For what?”
“Thank you for your guidance this morning.” Shang Zhitao said: “I know that I don’t have much talent, and am even quite ordinary. So I accept all your criticism and advice. I just want to beg you to give me some time to grow.”
Luan Nian looked at her seriously and, for once, gave an “Mm” sound.
“In the future, if there’s something I don’t understand or can’t do, may I ask you for guidance?”
“Don’t you have a mentor? Don’t you have a boss?”
“It’s different.”
How was it different? Alex and Lumi made Shang Zhitao feel relaxed; they made her feel that even if she was ordinary, she could still be accepted. But Luan Nian was different. Luan Nian gave her the crisis of being eliminated at any time. She had learned a lot from Luan Nian. In less than twenty brief days, Luan Nian had, in his way, helped Shang Zhitao’s thinking take a small step upward.
“Don’t ask me stupid questions. Think carefully before asking.” Luan Nian tacitly agreed to Shang Zhitao’s request and made his only demand.