Tracy looked at Shang Zhitao, somewhat moved. So many years had passed, she had met so many people, hired many, and fired many. She had been tempered in the workplace into an undefeated female general. But at this moment, her heart was incredibly soft.

“Flora, Shang Zhitao, I also want you to know that you are the most excellent among all the people I’ve hired. Every day working with you was pleasant. Never think of yourself as ordinary, understand? I’ve seen countless people, and those I value have never been truly ordinary.”

Shang Zhitao’s eyes reddened slightly. Tracy had been so good to her. Back then, she was confused and fearful, feeling utterly inadequate. Whenever she encountered Tracy in the office, Tracy would tell her: “Flora, I heard your recent project was quite good. Keep it up.” She always encouraged her, and when she faced difficulties, Tracy was the first to stand up for her.

Tracy was so good to Shang Zhitao that initially Luan Nian thought they were relatives.

How could they be relatives? It was simply a kind person willing to give an ordinary girl a chance.

Tracy taught her so much.

“If there’s an opportunity, let’s have a meal together, as friends,” Tracy invited her.

“Certainly. Next time I come to Beijing, I’ll call you first thing. I’ll treat you to dinner.”

“Good. It’s settled then.”

Luan Nian knocked on their door: “Never going to see each other again, right?” His meaning was: why are you two talking endlessly?

Tracy pointed at Luan Nian and asked Shang Zhitao: “Can you tolerate his temperament?”

“Sometimes I can’t.”

Luan Nian snorted, took Shang Zhitao’s hand, and walked out of Tracy’s office. Seeing colleagues looking at them, he stopped, faced everyone, and said sternly: “I’m not gay, and in all these years I’ve only had this one girlfriend.” He turned to leave, then seemed to remember something and turned back: “Also, I’m quite healthy.”

One day in the tea room, he had overheard female colleagues whispering: “Luke is so handsome, but it’s a pity he’s a bit older. They say men aren’t as capable when they get older.” Another objected: “I’ve slept with one. It depends on the person.”

Hearing Luan Nian say this, Shang Zhitao’s face turned red, but he acted as if nothing had happened, pulling her into the elevator. Behind them, Lu Mi whistled and called out: “Shang Zhitao, go for it!”

Everyone laughed, standing up to pack their things and head home, wishing each other: “Happy New Year.” That marked the end of this year’s workplace journey.

“Happy to see your old colleagues?” Luan Nian asked her.

“Quite happy.”

“Happy enough to blush?” Luan Nian glanced at her.

Shang Zhitao held his hand: “I feel a bit emotional.”

“Why?”

“I’m reminded of those years working at Ling Mei, which were truly brilliant years. Many things I couldn’t understand then have now been resolved, and that feeling is really good.” Additionally, Shang Zhitao held Luan Nian’s hand: “You letting me come upstairs means you’re taking the lead in violating company policy by having an office romance. People will gossip, thinking my quick promotion back then was because you favored me. Or they might think you’re toying with my feelings. In short, there will be more negative rumors.”

Luan Nian opened the car door to comfort the long-waiting Luke. While rubbing its ears, he asked her: “So?”

“So it’s not good for you.”

Luan Nian patted Luke’s head: “Mind your own business.” He meant people should stop meddling in others’ affairs. He rarely cared about others’ gossip, and when he did, it was for specific needs.

Shang Zhitao took Luan Nian to buy gifts for Dr. Liang and Luan’s father. They lacked nothing, so in the end, she followed Lu Mi’s suggestion and bought pastry gift boxes from an old store. While shopping, she told Luan Nian: “As Lu Mi said, there will be plenty of time in the future.”

Luan Nian hated eating these pastries and stood to the side with a sour face. The day before New Year, the century-old store was especially crowded. The line for cooked food stretched to the entrance, and another line was for pastries. As they queued, people kept bumping into Shang Zhitao. Luan Nian gradually became unhappy. Being so tall, dressed meticulously, and with a stiff face, he somewhat resembled an old-fashioned English gentleman. Shang Zhitao looked back at him several times, and he stiffly asked: “What are you looking at?”

“I think you look especially handsome.”

Luan Nian symbolically lifted the corners of his mouth, representing his smile. When it was finally their turn, Shang Zhitao was truly generous—two full boxes of pastries. Enough for the two elderly people to eat until next year.

Luan Nian carried the two boxes of pastries to the car and called Dr. Liang: “We’re coming over now. Come downstairs in fifteen minutes.”

“Absolutely!” Dr. Liang sounded very excited, and Shang Zhitao covered her mouth and laughed.

She had heard Dr. Liang’s calls with Luan Nian countless times and was familiar with Dr. Liang’s tone—a very kind and gentle person.

“Flora, Shang Zhitao, Tao Tao.” Dr. Liang called her by three names: “See you soon!”

Shang Zhitao hurriedly sat up straight: “Yes, Dr. Liang.”

She had formed a habit—sitting straight while speaking showed respect for others. Luan Nian had grown used to seeing this.

In the past, when he saw her sitting and standing posture, he always felt she wasn’t like a modern person. But it was precisely this demeanor that made her distinctly different from others.

Luan Nian started the car. Shang Zhitao opened her phone and saw a message from Lu Mi: “Tao Tao, do you know what everyone said after you left? My gossipy heart just can’t hold back; I must tell you now.”

“What did they say?”

“They said: ‘Now I suddenly understand why Luke wanted to strangle that guy.'”

…

Shang Zhitao remembered that scene—his eyes blood-red, like a demon ready to devour someone. She put down her phone and looked at Luan Nian, her gaze incredibly gentle.

“What are you looking at?”

“I want to ask you, why did you hit Dony that year? Because he bullied female employees and disrupted company order? Because he was assigned by headquarters?”

“Because the person he bullied was you.”

He had inappropriate behavior, and Luan Nian could have resorted to legal means. But the sound of Shang Zhitao’s body hitting the wall made Luan Nian lose control. He told Shang Zhitao: “I even wanted to kill him.”

“If I did nothing, I would never forgive myself.”

This was Luan Nian. His gentleness was all hidden within his shell, deep inside him. He protected her in his way, and she had almost lost him.

She smiled and looked out the car window. This year’s Beijing was already different from the Beijing of ten years ago. In those ten years, the city had quietly undergone significant changes. For instance, the North Fifth Ring Road where she once rented, ten years ago, still had remnants of cornfields five kilometers away. Later, as urbanization accelerated, building after building was erected, and the city became home to more and more people. Some worked, fell in love, married, and had children here, putting down roots; others quietly left at some dawn or dusk, on what was just an ordinary day.

“The New Year seems more lively than every year,” Shang Zhitao said. In previous years, when she left for the holiday, the city almost became a ghost town. One year, she returned on the third day of the New Year because of a project deadline, and the bus was empty that day.

“I didn’t know before, but it’s at least more lively than last year,” Luan Nian said.

“Why did Dr. Liang return to China?”

“A medical research project invited her back. She felt it was meaningful, so she returned. It’s a charity project.”

“Wow.”

As they talked, they arrived at the entrance of the old community.

Shang Zhitao saw two elderly people standing there—the woman intellectual and elegant, the man decent and handsome. So Luan Nian had inherited his parents’ good looks. He stopped the car, and just as Shang Zhitao pushed open the door, Dr. Liang came forward: “Flora.” She was teasing her; back then, Dr. Liang had asked her name on the phone, and she said her name was Flora.

Shang Zhitao blushed at being called this and hurriedly said: “Dr. Liang, please just call me Tao Tao.”

“Is that how you address Dr. Liang?” Luan Nian stood to the side, undermining her composure. He pointed to Luan Mingrui: “What do you call my father?”

…”Uncle.”

“I call my father Old Luan. Why don’t you learn from me?” Luan Nian teased her again. He just loved seeing Shang Zhitao flustered and unable to recognize the joke.

Dr. Liang slapped him on the back: “Are you sick?”

Her tone was exactly like Luan Nian’s.

Shang Zhitao couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing. With her flushed face, when she laughed, her face was radiant, her eyes clear and gentle. Her son had such good taste.

Dr. Liang praised Luan Nian in her heart, liking Shang Zhitao tremendously. She said to Luan Nian: “Come, take a photo of me and Tao Tao.”

“What for?”

“Hurry up. I’ll send it to the family group chat after.”

“…” Luan Nian was visibly unwilling but still took out his phone and took a picture. Dr. Liang looked at it and immediately posted it to the group. As she sent it, she said: “I feel so vindicated. My bachelor son finally knows how to bring a girl home.”

Hearing this, Shang Zhitao laughed again.

Luan Nian glanced at her and scolded Dr. Liang: “If we don’t go now, we’ll be late!”

The four of them went to the supermarket to purchase many items.

Dr. Liang held Shang Zhitao’s hand as they walked behind, letting Luan Nian and his father push the cart in front. Dr. Liang taught Shang Zhitao her principle of preservation, which was to avoid heavy work.

“As for things, let the men carry them. Don’t reach out.”

Shang Zhitao nodded. Luan Nian didn’t let her do chores anyway. He even cooked the meals.

Shang Zhitao particularly liked Dr. Liang.

Dr. Liang was somewhat careless yet very gentle. She cared about patients and the environment but paid no attention to small matters. Luan’s father, on the other hand, rarely spoke. But when he did, he meant every word, without any waste.

Luan Nian’s personality seemed somewhat like his father’s.

Shang Zhitao thought, perhaps it was because of having a mother like Dr. Liang that there was such inadvertent gentleness in the depths of Luan Nian’s heart.

After they returned home, Dr. Liang pulled Shang Zhitao into the bedroom. Inside were several bags. She told Shang Zhitao: “They’re not for you, don’t be nervous. I don’t like them either.” She took out a jade bracelet from the bottom of her jewelry box and said to Shang Zhitao: “A family heirloom.”

“Has Luan Nian told you? In the past, the Luan family was considered prestigious locally, but almost no old items remain. The elders all liked bracelets, and this one was barely preserved. It has been passed down for five generations.”

“I can’t accept it. What if…”

“Don’t talk nonsense.” Dr. Liang wouldn’t let her say “what if.” “Having come this far, what ‘what if’? You two live well together. I’m entrusting my son to you. Luan Nian has had a bad temper since childhood; you don’t need to tolerate him. If he’s fierce with you, be fierce back; he’s demanding of others, so be understanding, he has no ill intentions; his face looks restless, but I know my son—he’s quite settled.”

Dr. Liang was a bit emotional and wiped the corner of her eye.

“If you suffer any grievance, feel free to tell me. I’ll deal with him for you. But I just hope you won’t leave him easily. Because he truly loves you.”

“Tao Tao, he’s almost forty, and this is the first time he’s brought a girl home.”

Hearing Dr. Liang say this, Shang Zhitao could only nod with reddened eyes: “Alright, I won’t leave him.”

The next day was New Year’s Eve.

Another year had passed.

This was the first New Year Shang Zhitao spent with Luan Nian. Having Luan Nian by her side made her feel secure; she finally didn’t have to watch the fireworks and miss him.

After calling Da Zhai and Old Shang, Shang Zhitao returned to the living room to chat with them. Dr. Liang was feeding Luke meat, saying as she fed him: “Little thing, quite the eater.”

When the New Year’s bell rang, Dr. Liang took out a big red envelope and stuffed it into Shang Zhitao’s hand. Shang Zhitao thanked her three times but was stopped by Luan Nian: “When will you stop thanking her?”

Shang Zhitao went to the window to see if there were any fireworks outside. There were, in the distance. She pressed her head against the window to look. Luan Nian stood behind her, embracing her, and said in her ear: “Shang Zhitao, Happy New Year.”

“Wishing us all the best.”