Shang Zhitao felt somewhat touched, and her eyes reddened slightly. She wanted to thank him, but Luan Nian had already gone inside. The private room door closed, shutting in those vulgar conversations as well. Shang Zhitao took Luan Nian’s phone and went outside to catch some air. On this Guangzhou evening, humid and stuffy, she felt stuck to her sweat.

She suddenly remembered that Xin Zhaozhou was in Shenzhen, very close to where she was. Shang Zhitao thought humans were strange and complex creatures; even though they had broken up, she still wanted to know if he was doing well.

Luan Nian’s phone rang several times. Shang Zhitao turned the phone over, not daring to look, as if looking would be intruding on his privacy. She wasn’t comfortable with that.

Even when she was dating Xin Zhaozhou, she never looked at his phone.

She stood outside waiting quietly. After nearly an hour, she saw them walking out, all appearing somewhat drunk except for Luan Nian, who still looked relatively sober. Seeing Luan Nian’s eyes fall on her hand, she hurriedly put his phone back to her ear, pretending to be in a meeting.

Not so silly after all.

Luan Nian found her pretense genuinely amusing, the corner of his mouth twitching up slightly.

Shang Zhitao pretended to say a few words, then put down the phone and approached them: “Sorry, President Zhou, this meeting was urgent, and I had to step out for a while. Please understand.”

Zhou Yuchi was happily drunk, his eyes bleary as he said to her: “It’s fine. I’ll see you next time, Miss Shang.” He raised his hand to place it on Shang Zhitao’s shoulder. Luan Nian pushed Apollo, who cleverly intercepted Zhou Yuchi’s hand, casually linking arms with him.

“I don’t think we’re done having fun yet. Shall we find another place to sit for a while?” Apollo suggested. Zhou Yuchi was something of a fun-lover and was used to being catered to by vendors, so he nodded: “Yes, yes.”

“I won’t be joining. I have another meeting tonight. Enjoy yourself, President Zhou.” Luan Nian politely bid farewell to Zhou Yuchi.

Apollo waved to everyone: “I’ll escort President Zhou. See you all at headquarters.” They left for a second venue.

The gathering thus dispersed. Shang Zhitao watched their car drive away and returned Luan Nian’s phone to him: “Thank you.”

Luan Nian didn’t say “you’re welcome.” It was still the same reason—he didn’t want to help; no matter what you did, he wouldn’t help. If he did help, he didn’t care whether you were grateful or not.

“Did anyone call me?” Luan Nian asked her.

“I didn’t look,” Shang Zhitao said seriously. “It would be impolite.”

Luan Nian probably knew she wasn’t lying. He lowered his gaze to look at her: “If you can’t drink, never drink. That’s my advice to you.”

“Why?” Shang Zhitao asked when she didn’t understand.

“Figure out the reason yourself.”

Luan Nian had drunk a lot today and wanted to walk along the Pearl River. He said to Shang Zhitao: “I’m going for a walk.”

“I want to walk too,” Shang Zhitao quickly said. “I’ve never been to Guangzhou before and want to take this opportunity to see the Pearl River at night.” After saying this, she ran into a nearby cold drink shop, bought two beverages, and ran out to hand one to Luan Nian: “My treat this time.”

Luan Nian reached out to take it, took a big sip, and turned to walk away.

Shang Zhitao walked behind Luan Nian, strolling. The Pearl River breeze was truly gentle, blowing her hair into disarray, like her beloved nights by the Qinhuai River. They walked for a long time, found two adjacent benches to sit on, and slowly finished their cold drinks.

Beautiful long-legged women were everywhere along the Pearl River. Shang Zhitao wondered if Luan Nian would like to look and secretly glanced at him. He, however, was used to seeing beautiful women and remained unmoved.

Her phone suddenly rang, and she hurriedly answered. Lu Mi asked in slang: “Where are you, sister?”

“I’m with Luke by the Pearl River,” she answered truthfully.

“What’s up? Staying out tonight? Found a shortcut to workplace success?” Lu Mi teased her.

Shang Zhitao instinctively glanced at Luan Nian and lowered her voice: “No, we’re about to go back.”

Lu Mi giggled: “What’s the rush? Chat more with Luke. I heard Luke is getting promoted soon. Pave your way.”

Shang Zhitao didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t care whether Luan Nian would be promoted, only whether he would fire her. But then again, if Luan Nian got promoted, wouldn’t it be easier for him to dismiss her?

Thinking of this, Shang Zhitao suddenly felt terrified—she had gotten angry with him just this morning!

Shang Zhitao was overthinking.

Her anger, in Luan Nian’s view, was like a little kitten hissing at him. He could subdue her with one finger.

Those furtive glances she cast at him out of guilt fell into his peripheral vision. It made him vaguely feel that Shang Zhitao wanted to do something with him. But Luan Nian wasn’t interested in Shang Zhitao. In his view, Shang Zhitao was too ordinary. That momentary distraction earlier was just basic male nature.

Being ordinary wasn’t a sin; it was just that he worked in creative fields and liked visually striking women.

“Let’s go.” He stood up and walked forward. It wasn’t easy to hail a taxi by the Pearl River, so they had to walk a distance. Shang Zhitao got up and followed him. At this point, he moved like a wound-up toy, his long legs stepping quickly one after another, as if all that alcohol had been fed to the dogs. Shang Zhitao jogged to catch up: “Luke, I can’t keep up.” She was slightly out of breath: “Can you… Slow down a bit?”

“If you can’t keep up, get your taxi.”

…

How strange this person was! He was fine just now, and now he’s turning cold? Shang Zhitao cursed him as a weirdo in her heart and simply stopped, thinking that if she had to get her taxi, she would. What was the big deal?

She was naive.

How easy was it to hail a taxi by the Pearl River at night? The two of them were separated, each trying to get a taxi. After more than ten minutes, the fortunate Luan Nian finally got one. Shang Zhitao’s temper instantly vanished. She ran over in a few steps, opened the car door, got in, and smiled at Luan Nian: “Thank you for letting me join you.” She could bend and stretch, not finding it shameful to lower her head.

Luan Nian ignored her but didn’t make her get out of the car either, lowering his head to reply to private messages.

Shang Zhitao endured until they reached their destination, jumped out of the car, and respectfully said: “Thank you, Luke, for teaching me so much today, and thank you for letting me share the ride.” Then she turned and fled.

Running into the elevator, she swiped her card for the floor, quickly pressed the close door button, and then took a deep breath.

When she entered the room, Lu Mi was applying a face mask, wearing a spaghetti-strap nightgown with a slit up to her thigh, her long legs propped on the table. When Shang Zhitao came in, she whistled: “Not bad, girl, touring the Pearl River with Luke. Can you get a full-time offer directly tomorrow?”

Shang Zhitao raised her hands in surrender: “Master Lu Mi, I have a request.”

“Speak freely.”

“Please don’t mention Luke. I bow to you.”

“Then shall I mention Luan Nian?” Lu Mi continued to tease her.

“Don’t…”

Lu Mi peeled off her face mask and burst out laughing: “Are you that afraid of him? Pitiful. Let me teach you a trick.”

“What is it?”

“For any man you fear, find a way to sleep with him. After sleeping with him, you’ll realize all men are the same.”

Shang Zhitao laughed at her joke: “But you’re also afraid of Luke. Why don’t you sleep with him?”

“I’m afraid my boyfriend will chop me up.”

She conceded.

Shang Zhitao took out her nightgown from her suitcase and put it on. Her nightgown was a mid-sleeve dress with a pink butterfly collar, very cute. She felt a bit embarrassed changing in front of Lu Mi and wanted to go to the bathroom. Lu Mi stopped her: “Hey hey hey! We’re both women who haven’t seen it all before!”

That made sense.

Shang Zhitao steeled herself and took off her dress. Her chest bounced slightly, causing Lu Mi to exclaim: “Wow! Wow! You’ve been hiding such treasures!” She pointed at Shang Zhitao: “Your whole body is a treasure!”

Shang Zhitao hurriedly put on her nightgown, hands protectively over her chest, looking somewhat helplessly at Lu Mi. Lu Mi went to wash her face, and as she passed by, she clicked her tongue: “Remember this, Shang Zhitao, you’re a woman with nuclear weapons. Don’t surrender easily.”

Shang Zhitao didn’t understand what “nuclear weapons” meant. This day had been like a battle, and she just wanted to take a shower and get a good night’s sleep to continue working tomorrow. Tomorrow was something to look forward to because finally, she wouldn’t have to be with Luan Nian.

Luan Nian was so unpredictable. He was neither warm nor cold to people, and his attitude toward her couldn’t be described as either good or bad. Sometimes Shang Zhitao wanted to ask him something, but she always worried that her questions would seem too stupid.

Yes, in front of Luan Nian, she felt like a fool. Even as a fool, she had developed inappropriate thoughts about him several times today.

When she and Lu Mi turned off the lights and each lay in their beds, Shang Zhitao’s questions still hadn’t dissipated. She couldn’t help asking Lu Mi: “Lu Mi, have you ever felt stupid?”

“Why would I feel stupid?”

“I’ve been feeling stupid these past few days.”

Darkness gave her courage, and Shang Zhitao opened up to Lu Mi for the first time. She said that in her brief time since entering society, she often had confusion: “Do you know why I’m afraid of Luke?”

“Why?”

“The boss interview I wrote was true. During the interview, Luke advised me to change jobs; he said it again later. He thinks I’m not capable.” Shang Zhitao was a bit sad. She knew that among all her peers who joined at the same time, her resume was the least impressive. But was she so bad that Luan Nian thought she had no redeeming qualities? She was confused.

“Luke told you to quit twice?” Lu Mi asked her in the darkness.

“Yes. So should I change jobs?”

“You shouldn’t change jobs. Do you know what you should do? You should go to sleep now, wake up happy tomorrow morning, and treat Luke’s words like farts.” Lu Mi felt some sympathy for Shang Zhitao. Just after joining the company, she was already targeted by Luke. Being targeted by other bosses would be one thing, but Luke? Who was Luke? In a little while, once the appointment came through, he would be managing the entire China branch. But she couldn’t tell Shang Zhitao these things now; Shang Zhitao was already trembling with fear.

Lu Mi, Shang Zhitao’s first workplace mentor, was a good person.

She didn’t have extraordinary talent, but she had good luck. She was already asleep in bed, but Lu Mi still lay with her eyes open, figuring out how to help this young girl stay. This girl was so good—hardworking, uncomplaining, with a top-notch temperament and personality. Why would they want to let her go?

From before dawn until deep into the night, Shang Zhitao slept very deeply. At just twenty-some years old, when she opened her eyes the next day, she was refreshed and full of youthful vigor. Lu Mi had messaged her before sleeping that she wouldn’t go to breakfast. Shang Zhitao tiptoed as she washed up, wearing a large T-shirt with a bare face as she went to the dining room for breakfast. She hadn’t eaten much the night before and was hungry in the morning, so she took quite a bit of food.

Carrying her tray, looking for a seat, she saw Luan Nian sitting by the window. He had drunk heavily yesterday, but there was no trace of it this morning. A ray of morning light fell on the table in front of him, giving him a touch of humanity.

No matter how humane he seemed, he was still someone Shang Zhitao neither wanted nor dared to provoke. Shang Zhitao moved quickly, darting behind a pillar, then looking around to find a corner. Her evasive movement fell right into Luan Nian’s line of sight—sneaky and strange.

Shang Zhitao truly couldn’t pull herself together.

Luan Nian had seen too many people who knew what they wanted. In such situations, they would walk straight up to him and ask: “Luke, are you alone?” Then they’d casually chat about their thoughts on current work, plans for their career. When he first started working at the American headquarters, during a team-building event, he saw a peer pay to upgrade their seat to sit next to the boss. The workplace is just like that—there’s only one boss, and if you hide in the back, don’t expect to be seen.

Such a good opportunity, and she ran away like a stray dog.

The hopeless Shang Zhitao sat in the corner of the dining room, leisurely enjoying her breakfast, also feeling a bit of joy at successfully avoiding Luan Nian. As long as she successfully avoided Luan Nian, it was another day without being fired. She joked with herself like this.

But good times didn’t last long. Just as she popped a blueberry into her mouth, someone sat down across from her. She looked up to see Luan Nian, froze for a second before greeting him: “Good morning, Luke. Have you eaten?”

“Where are the meeting minutes?”

…”I sent them to you last night.”

“Where did you send them?”

“To your email.”

Luan Nian took out his phone, opened his email app, and tossed it in front of Shang Zhitao: “Which one is it?”

Shang Zhitao had seen the “sent successfully” notification, but there was nothing in Luan Nian’s inbox. She didn’t know what happened for a moment: “Can I go up and get my laptop?”

“If you forgot to send the meeting minutes, you might consider submitting your resignation today.”

Hearing him speak like this again, Shang Zhitao’s good morning mood vanished: “If I didn’t send it, I’ll resign today.” She stood up: “I’ll go get my laptop. Please wait a moment.”

On her way to get the laptop, she repeatedly recalled her actions, sending the email last night and the “sent successfully” notification. She was certain there was no problem. Bringing her laptop downstairs, she returned to the dining room, sat across from Luan Nian, opened her computer, found her sent folder, and saw an email she had sent late last night. The recipient was “lukelu,” not “lukeluan.” There was another person at Lingmei with the English name Luke, surname Lu.

She pressed her lips tightly together without saying a word. Luan Nian wasn’t wrong; he truly hadn’t received the email. She was the wrong one—she had sent it, but to the wrong person.

“I’m sorry, Luke. I sent it to the wrong person.”

“So,” Luan Nian looked at Shang Zhitao, his gaze sharp, “you sent yesterday’s confidential meeting information to someone else? You might as well not have sent it at all.” Luan Nian stood up: “Don’t send your resignation letter to the wrong inbox, Flora.”

Shang Zhitao didn’t answer him. She didn’t dare speak, knowing that once she opened her mouth, she would cry. She didn’t want to cry in front of Luan Nian. In his eyes, she was already the worst, always had been. If she cried, he would look down on her even more.

She just clenched her teeth, neither speaking nor crying.

In the years that followed, no matter what storms or doubts she faced, what difficulties she encountered, what collapses she experienced in her heart, she never shed a tear in front of Luan Nian. She could sob loudly in front of friends and family, but never in front of Luan Nian.

She sat in the dining room for a while, then returned to her room. Lu Mi was already up. Shang Zhitao greeted her, and then they attended the Marketing Department’s conference call together. This lengthy meeting lasted the entire morning. Alex assigned her many learning tasks and supporting work. Besides continuing to coordinate with the Planning Department and Creative Center, she would also learn PR and market activities. After the meeting, she saw a message from Luan Nian on her phone: “Still not sending it to me?”

She thought Luan Nian was asking for her resignation letter, so she replied: “Sorry, I’ve been in meetings all morning and haven’t had time to write my resignation letter.” As if she would write it if not for the meeting. Girls like Shang Zhitao, content to applaud others, could also play the rogue quite well. Without the ability to muddle through, she wouldn’t have developed such a good attitude. The morning’s setback had already vanished like smoke.

“The meeting minutes,” Luan Nian replied.

“Oh oh oh, I thought you were asking me for my resignation letter!”

“?” Luan Nian sent back a question mark. This girl’s brain might have some issues.

Are you okay?