Shang Zhitao hadn’t expected to be on a business trip in the same city as Dony. After finishing her work, colleagues from the branch office said they wanted to treat her to hot pot skewers, casually adding: “Dony is here too.” The colleague’s expression was a bit complicated.

Shang Zhitao was momentarily stunned and asked: “What’s he doing here?”

“Says he’s here for a planning project.”

“Oh.”

Shang Zhitao knew Dony hadn’t followed her to Chengdu on purpose; her itinerary had been set just the day before her trip, so it was a coincidence. But it was a coincidence that made her uncomfortable.

“I’ll go back to the hotel to write my report first, then come find you all after I finish,” Shang Zhitao found a good excuse to escape, but her colleague took her arm: “Write it after we eat! Work is never-ending!” And so Shang Zhitao was brought to that hot pot skewer restaurant. Other colleagues had already arrived, and everyone was seated around two small tables. Dony saw her and waved: “Flora, sit here.” He moved to make a place for her. After a moment’s hesitation, Shang Zhitao finally went over and sat down.

Dony joked with everyone: “I always feel like Flora is afraid of me. Am I some kind of terrifying beast?” he asked Shang Zhitao.

“How could that be?” colleagues laughed, making excuses for Shang Zhitao: “Flora is just shy.”

Shang Zhitao forced a brief smile and got up to prepare her dipping sauce. Dony followed behind her, asking in a seemingly casual tone: “Which hotel is Flora staying at? The company’s contracted hotel?”

Shang Zhitao nodded: “Yes.”

“Then we can go back together later.”

“Okay.”

Shang Zhitao gave this reply and returned to the table. They wanted to drink, but Shang Zhitao turned her glass over on the table: “You all know I can’t drink. I’m still not drinking today!”

She asked the server for a bottle of mineral water and kept it by her side.

All this was thanks to having a good teacher.

Luan Nian had said: “If you can’t drink, don’t take even a single sip.”

Luan Nian had also said: “Girls in public places should drink their water.”

Shang Zhitao felt as if Luan Nian was sitting beside her, supervising her. Dony didn’t force her, but praised her instead: “Flora is a good girl.”

As he praised her, his hand landed seemingly naturally on her knee. Shang Zhitao subtly shifted her leg to avoid it, saying to the colleague opposite: “I want something spicy, let’s switch places, shall we?”

To the hunter, her evasion was merely playing hard to get—young women pretending to be coy in front of well-off men to increase their value, but who would ultimately submit.

But what the young woman was thinking was: “A maggot like you doesn’t deserve to sit beside me.” No matter what you have, vulgar is still vulgar.

Shang Zhitao ate this meal calmly and soberly, watching her colleagues gradually lose their composure as they drank too much. Dony had a good alcohol tolerance; all that liquor just passed through him without his face changing color. He coldly observed the female colleagues becoming less dignified, and when he looked at Shang Zhitao, his gaze held an ambiguous meaning. He took out his phone and messaged her: “Want to come sit in my room later?” His intentions are now completely clear.

“No thanks, Dony,” Shang Zhitao replied.

“Just for a cup of tea.” When a man is interested in a woman, tea and coffee are the best excuses. Nothing but an invisible performance.

“I have tea in my room.”

Needing to end this boring conversation, Shang Zhitao lifted her eyes from her phone and said to a colleague beside her: “You’ve had too much to drink. Shall I take you back?”

Shang Zhitao supported her as they walked out, leaving the remaining colleagues behind. Once outside, the female colleague leaned against Shang Zhitao for a few steps, turning out of the alley where the hot pot restaurant was located, then suddenly stood up straight.

Shang Zhitao looked at her with some surprise.

She seemed a bit helpless: “Didn’t want to drink.”

“Why? I remember you enjoy alcohol.”

“Because… there’s a wolf at the table.” The female colleague didn’t speak very clearly, but Shang Zhitao vaguely felt they were facing the same wolf.

After parting with her colleague, she returned to the hotel, locked the door, placed her luggage on a chair, and pushed it against the door. Only after doing all this did she take a shower, then lie down on the bed. Work wasn’t that tiring, but eating with Dony was exhausting. Shang Zhitao had barely eaten anything. It was only in these recent years of being in society that she truly understood some people are rotten to the core.

“Has your fever gone down? Are your other symptoms better?” she texted Luan Nian, not expecting a reply.

Yet Luan Nian, breaking with tradition, called her directly. Shang Zhitao was even a bit flustered when she answered: “Why are you calling?”

“Didn’t you complain that I don’t reply to your messages or call you?”

“…” He had heard what she said—this feeling was wonderful. Shang Zhitao felt her small vanity satisfied, giggling a couple of times, a bit embarrassed yet like a child acting coquettishly: “So are you better?”

“No.”

“Haven’t you taken medicine?”

“I have.”

“Then what’s going on?” Shang Zhitao became a bit anxious: “Should you go to the hospital? If not, get an IV? I was sick once before, had a fever for several days that wouldn’t go away. Sun Yu took me to the small clinic downstairs for a shot in the buttock, and I was better that same evening!” When she was anxious, she talked a bit too much. Luan Nian listened to her chatter, wondering how a woman could talk so much.

A woman who talked a lot, yet wasn’t annoying.

Sometimes Luan Nian disliked talkative people; it made him feel bothered. He preferred the world to be quiet and orderly.

“Is Sun Yu your roommate who’s starting a business?” Luan Nian asked her. Shang Zhitao would sometimes mention her roommates, just a few sentences, like Sun Yu injured her foot, Zhang Ling got promoted, and Sun Yuanzhu needed to stay in the Northwest frequently. She also had a senior called Yao Bei who often took her out to eat. When she talked about these people, Luan Nian didn’t interrupt, but over time, these people gradually took on clear images in his mind. Like Sun Yuanzhu, the knowledgeable, kind, noble young man whom countless girls adored. Including Shang Zhitao.

“Yes!” Shang Zhitao remembered what she had promised Sun Yu and was considering how to bring it up.

Luan Nian heard the meaning behind her pause and said: “If you have something to say, just say it.”

“Well, Sun Yu… she’s been looking for investment, right? I remember one day you were talking on the phone with a friend who seemed to have gone into investment banking… I…” Shang Zhitao was still embarrassed to bring it up, feeling it would trouble Luan Nian.

“You eavesdropped on my phone call?” Luan Nian teased her; he hadn’t avoided her, taking all kinds of calls in her presence.

“I wasn’t eavesdropping…” Shang Zhitao hurriedly explained: “You were right next to me taking the call, and I’m not deaf…”

Low laughter came through the phone. Shang Zhitao stopped talking, realizing Luan Nian was teasing her, and her face suddenly felt a bit hot.

“Shang Zhitao.”

“Hmm?”

“Does Sun Yu’s company have an introduction? Or a project proposal? Anything, send it to me.”

“Really?”

“What else?”

“Nothing else! I’ll send it to you right now!” Shang Zhitao hadn’t expected Luan Nian to agree so quickly. Afraid he might change his mind, she immediately opened her computer, found the materials, and sent them to him: “I’ve sent it.”

“Mm, let me take a look.” Luan Nian leaned against the headboard, took his computer, opened it to look, and raised his eyebrows: “Sun Yu is in the matchmaking business?”

“…Ah… what’s wrong with matchmaking… isn’t it a good market… I think… I’ve mentioned it to you before…”

“Wait a moment.” Luan Nian looked through the materials. They were well-prepared, showed thought, and finding some investment shouldn’t be difficult. Looking further at past case studies, there was a photo, presumably of a matchmaking event. Shang Zhitao was shaking hands with a young man who was holding a rose, and Shang Zhitao was smiling like a flower. Luan Nian’s brows furrowed without him realizing it.

“Is Sun Yu running a matchmaking service or a marriage scam?” There was a hint of mockery in his tone.

“Huh?”

“What kind of people attend their offline events?”

“Single people, they’re all single.”

Luan Nian’s eyes fell on Shang Zhitao’s hand clasped with that young man’s: “A rose, a handshake, and that means it’s a match?”

“Mm… yes… after a match, the organizers provide contact information, and then you can chat, date…”

Fuck.

Luan Nian was probably running a high fever; a surge of anger shot to his head, giving him the urge to kill Shang Zhitao. Still fucking chatting, dating… how come you’re so busy?

Seeing he wasn’t speaking, Shang Zhitao thought he was considering and asked: “Do you think these materials are good? Sun Yu is very reliable, and her partners and team are very solid too. If the materials are good, can you ask your friend to help?”

“Help with what? Aid the tyrant to do evil?” Luan Nian’s tone was extremely unfriendly now.

“…How is this aiding a tyrant? This is providing a social channel for many single men and women, helping everyone find their destined other half…” Shang Zhitao pulled out all the brainwashing lines Sun Yu usually gave her: “This is benefiting humanity.” After saying this, she praised herself internally—all that listening to Sun Yu’s preaching hadn’t been in vain; it came in handy at the crucial moment.

Luan Nian finally understood completely what Shang Zhitao did during those disappeared weekends—hanging out with roommates, going to matchmaking events to meet people of the opposite sex, dating. He had thought she was a thoroughly good girl, but it turned out this girl transformed on weekends. Moving among strange men, probably also making plans for her own marriage prospects.

He had been deceived by her obedient appearance.

“Why aren’t you saying anything? Are you tired? Do you want to rest early?”

“Not sleepy.” Shang Zhitao had energized him with anger.

“Oh. So will you help?”

“Mm.”

Luan Nian looked at the materials and thought it was a decent project. He promptly sent it to a friend called Song Qiuhan. He had gone into investment banking and would look at some projects.

“Thank you.”

“Mm.”

“Now take your temperature again and see if your fever has gone down?”

“Why are you like my mother?”

“Just caring about you…”

“Save it!” Luan Nian said this, but still went to get a thermometer and tucked it under his arm. Sure enough, his fever had risen again.

Shang Zhitao was hungry and got up to find a complimentary fruit to eat. The apple made a crisp sound when she bit into it, particularly clear in the late-night phone call.

“Didn’t eat dinner?” Luan Nian asked her.

“I did, but didn’t have much appetite.” Shang Zhitao omitted the Dony incident. But Luan Nian wasn’t stupid; he knew Dony had gone to Chengdu on business, so he asked her: “With Dony?”

Shang Zhitao thought for a moment: “Many people.”

Regarding the Dony matter, Luan Nian was well aware of Shang Zhitao’s deliberate avoidance. He kept asking, and she kept evading.

“Dony is not a good person. If any female colleague thinks Dony is getting close to them for a relationship, advise that colleague to save her energy. Dony is looking down from on high; none of the women in the company meet his standards. He’s just constantly changing partners for novelty.” Luan Nian’s words weren’t pleasant, but they were meant for Shang Zhitao to hear. He knew Shang Zhitao wasn’t that kind of person, yet still harbored doubts after her repeated concealment.

To Shang Zhitao’s ears, it seemed like he was talking about them. He and she—one a fleeting shadow in the clouds, one a wild grass on the plain, together for novelty. Strange, in the third year of being together, Luan Nian’s sense of novelty still hadn’t faded?

She took another bite of the apple and said to Luan Nian: “I don’t know which female colleague Dony is interested in, since I’m not familiar; I also don’t know which female colleague has thoughts about Dony. After all, it has nothing to do with me. Whether Dony wants to have a relationship with someone or just sleep with them, probably only the people involved know clearly. In other words, I don’t meddle in others’ business.”

…

What kind of talk was this? Luan Nian felt his temperature rising again. He took out the thermometer—sure enough, 38.4°C. If he continued this phone call, he’d be close to death. Who said spending hours on the phone was good? Are they sick? Who spends hours on the phone for no reason?

He hung up abruptly, no longer responding to Shang Zhitao.

Again, he was very angry.

Shang Zhitao, still oblivious, sent him a message: “What if Dony is looking for true love?”