Shang Zhitao thought being Luan Nian’s secretary must be quite thrilling. He had appeared perfectly amiable when meeting the first client, but with the second client, everything changed completely.
Shang Zhitao didn’t know how to describe her feelings. She had never seen a vendor stand up to a client before. Though she also thought it might be because her work experience was too short, and she hadn’t yet encountered all the strange characters in the workplace.
It started when the second client said the creative needed “minor adjustments.”
Shang Zhitao understood minor adjustments to mean changing colors or sizes and things of that nature. Everyone assumed minor adjustments meant something like this. But not this client. What the client meant by minor adjustments was scrapping everything and starting over. He said in slow Hong Kong-accented Mandarin: “For this commercial, we feel it needs to be completely redone.” The colleagues from the Guangzhou branch were immediately dumbfounded. They glanced at Luan Nian.
Luan Nian ignored the client’s words, his knuckles tapping on the table as he turned to ask Shang Zhitao: “In that project you did during school, when the client asked you for minor adjustments, what did they adjust?” Huh? The project during school? Shang Zhitao suddenly remembered that during that round of interviews with Luan Nian, she had mentioned a project they had done. He hadn’t said a word during that interview, and she thought he hadn’t been listening to her at all.
“The client asked us to adjust the venue layout.”
“Did they ask you to add anything?”
“No.”
“Did they ask you to choose a new venue?”
“No.”
Luan Nian nodded, then asked the Guangzhou colleagues: “Do you have email records of all the previous rounds of confirmations?”
“Yes.”
“Show them to President Qin.”
Business requires honesty. If you say you want to scrap everything and start over after the sample video has already been produced, it’s like buying one set of creative work but paying for two—that’s not fair. At that time, the advertising market wasn’t as transparent and fair as it is now, and even Lingmei would encounter such bullying situations.
The Guangzhou colleague was experienced and showed the past emails to the client with neither arrogance nor servility: “Look here, every step was confirmed.”
“But what can we do? In our meeting last night, everyone suddenly felt there was a problem.” The client was being unreasonable.
“I understand your company’s changes regarding creative direction and aesthetics. Scrapping everything and starting over is impossible. I’ll have Finance contact you to calculate the sample video costs, and you can try another agency.”
What? Shang Zhitao thought she had misheard, looking at Luan Nian. Could he do this? But Luan Nian was serious—he began packing up: “We’ll delete the sample video. I’ll have Finance calculate the minimum cost, return the remaining advance payment, and consider it making a friend.” Then he extended his hand to President Qin: “Thank you, President Qin.”
President Qin was used to being the client, had never encountered such a tough opponent, and was surprised they were leaving after barely exchanging a few words. But he was a businessman after all, and Luan Nian had left him a way to save face. So he said: “Let’s have another meeting today to discuss this, and then we’ll contact you all.”
“Alright.” Luan Nian glanced at the Guangzhou colleague, then turned and left the room. His resolute attitude left everyone astounded.
Shang Zhitao followed behind him, feeling her blood pressure rising. The expenses for that commercial had gone through the Marketing Department—she had just seen them last week. Such a large sum of money, and Luan Nian was just giving it up?
Luan Nian walked away without looking back. Shang Zhitao jogged to catch up with him, and the two stood on the humid streets of Guangzhou after leaving the company. Shang Zhitao’s eyes were filled with confusion.
“If you don’t understand, just ask.” Luan Nian couldn’t stand people holding back their words.
“So… we’re not cooperating anymore?”
“Correct.”
“So… we’re taking a loss?”
“Yes.”
…
Luan Nian pointed to the bustling traffic on the road: “Don’t you like hailing taxis? Go ahead.” Then he retreated into the shadows between the buildings, leaving Shang Zhitao with time for questions and reflection. This girl had no guile; her thoughts were all written on her face, transparently naive.
Dealing with clients required coordination. Luan Nian wasn’t familiar with the client to begin with. In such situations, he made his attitude clear—leave when necessary and let the local colleagues smooth things over and maintain the relationship. With one playing tough and one playing soft, coordinating inside and out, problems became easier to solve. Otherwise, they’d be led around by the client. Shang Zhitao would know the answer sooner or later, but Luan Nian deliberately didn’t tell her, finding it amusing to tease her.
Shang Zhitao stood stiffly as she hailed a taxi, looking constrained and formal, unlike a modern person. A young woman just in her early twenties, with a youthful face, yet her every movement—walking, sitting, standing—had such a demeanor that in this era, she appeared somewhat out of place.
Luan Nian recalled how she had stood in the crowded airport, red-eyed and stomping her foot: “I won’t leave!” Even at her angriest, that was as far as she went—incredibly easy to bully.
They got into the taxi Shang Zhitao had hailed and headed to an evening banquet. Shang Zhitao still couldn’t understand—such a big deal, and he just gave it up? She glanced at Luan Nian several times, finally unable to resist asking: “Are we giving up?”
“If you’re heartbroken about it, go chase after it yourself.” Luan Nian tossed this line at her, then leaned back in his seat to rest his eyes. Shang Zhitao curiously glanced at him, her gaze falling on his slightly upturned jaw, and she suddenly blushed.
She thought of sex.
For no reason.
Perhaps Guangzhou was too hot, her body’s living environment had changed, and so she suddenly had improper thoughts about the boss who tried to get her to quit every day. This was normal—everyone has improper thoughts. Shang Zhitao mentally prepared an exculpatory testimony for herself. If one day she were put on trial for having improper thoughts about her boss, her testimony would surely be rejected during the statement phase.
The evening banquet was by the Pearl River, and through the window, they could see the Canton Tower outside.
“What’s this beautiful lady’s name?” Zhou Yuchi noticed Shang Zhitao sitting there quietly, very different from other Lingmei employees, and specifically asked her.
“Shang Zhitao, but you can call me Flora.” Shang Zhitao politely answered.
“Miss Shang is pure and gentle, with a wonderful temperament.” Zhou Yuchi sincerely complimented her.
Shang Zhitao’s face reddened again. At such a drinking party, her blush was like a solitary red plum blossom on a snowy plain—very eye-catching.
The men couldn’t help but take another look, and Luan Nian also turned his head following their gaze, seeing her pink earlobes.
“Would Miss Shang like some red wine?” Zhou Yuchi asked her again.
“I’m sorry, I don’t drink.”
“Not even a small sip?” Zhou Yuchi continued to urge her to drink. At drinking parties, when girls say they don’t drink, it’s often just an excuse. Once they start with the first sip, most women who claim they don’t drink have decent alcohol tolerance.
Shang Zhitao had never experienced such a situation and didn’t know how to refuse.
“She really can’t drink today. She needs to help me write a report later,” Luan Nian suddenly said, then turned to Shang Zhitao: “Please stay sober, Flora. Help me send out the report today.”
Apollo, the head of sales, Cheng Yihang, exchanged a glance with Luan Nian, essentially asking if he was being chivalrous.
Luan Nian calmly took out his phone and sent him a message: “If the lady gets drunk and makes a scene, don’t blame me if you lose the deal.”
Apollo had been working with this client for a long time and naturally understood Luan Nian’s meaning, so he raised his glass to Zhou Yuchi: “Flora indeed has important work to do. Let’s have a toast between us men first!”
Everyone happily drank, while Shang Zhitao sat quietly beside Luan Nian, watching him take small sips. His alcohol tolerance was impressive—after more than half a jin, his expression remained unchanged. But when he drank, he rarely ate, just focused on drinking as if savoring it, only occasionally taking a sip of hot soup.
Shang Zhitao was captivated by his profile but didn’t dare look too much. She didn’t need to look much, though—she had completely memorized it.
The topics they discussed at the table were diverse: military, politics, history, philosophy—whatever came to mind. Luan Nian didn’t talk much, but he knew everything, and when he occasionally expressed his views, they were incisive. Sometimes he would place his hand on the table—those long fingers, clean and even nails, and that blue vein on the back of his hand. A mature twenty-eight-year-old man: clean, elegant, sharp, handsome. Shang Zhitao couldn’t shake off her improper thoughts about him.
As they drank more, they began to talk about women. No matter how successful men are, when they drink too much, they always like to discuss women, as if, without this element, their imposing image wouldn’t stand.
When they talked about women, Luan Nian rarely spoke.
He found it vulgar.
Luan Nian was the kind of person who could make very light jokes with good friends, but only very light ones. Anything deeper, like the subtle dirty talk at today’s table, he was unwilling to speak or hear.
Apollo had drunk a bit too much and was chatting with Zhou Yuchi about women’s “special talents,” both being experienced players, summing up with phrases like “each has its merits.” Shang Zhitao didn’t understand, but from their expressions, she knew they weren’t saying anything decent.
Luan Nian listened for a while, then stood up and went out. Three minutes later, he opened the door with his phone still at his ear, smiled apologetically at everyone, then waved to Shang Zhitao: “Flora, come listen to this conference call.”
Shang Zhitao felt relieved and followed him out. Luan Nian tossed the phone to her, dropping a line: “Don’t answer if there are any incoming calls, don’t reply to any messages.”
Shang Zhitao was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood—Luan Nian was rescuing her. She felt somewhat grateful, suddenly feeling that while Luan Nian appeared very cold, his heart wasn’t bad at all. He was quite harsh to people, especially to her, but he also kept acting as her teacher.