Shang Zhitao had eaten a bit too much and felt her blood sugar rising, creating a dizzy sensation of happiness and satisfaction. She hurriedly showered, went to bed, set her phone to silent mode, and fell into a deep sleep.

Luan Nian was at a bar with Tan Mian and others. He glanced at his phone as he put down his glass.

“Meeting someone tonight? Why do you keep checking your phone?” Tan Mian asked him.

“It’s nothing.”

Luan Nian felt bored. Watching the person singing on stage, he turned to Tan Mian and asked, “What do you think about me opening a bar?”

“A bar? Beijing has no shortage of bars.”

“I’ll open it in the mountains, like a private club. Only open to a select few.”

“How would you make a profit?”

“If I want to open it, I definitely won’t lose money.”

“You’d need at least three million to start.”

“Money isn’t an issue.”

“Right, I forgot that Young Master Luan was born into wealth.” Tan Mian teased him: “I’ll help you scout locations later. Have you decided where to open it?”

“Haven’t thought about it. It’s just an idea for now.” Luan Nian sometimes found life quite dull and wanted to find something extra to make his days more interesting. The song on stage had reached its southern melody when he checked his phone again, which happened to light up. It was Zang Yao.

Sharp-eyed Tan Mian saw Zang Yao’s name and raised his eyebrows, moving to sit elsewhere.

“Where are you?” Zang Yao asked him, her voice sounding a bit sad.

“I’m at a bar.”

“Can I come to Beijing to see you?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I want to move to Beijing.” Zang Yao said: “I’ve had enough of Guangzhou. I’m sick of Guangzhou.” She suddenly cried: “I’m sick of Guangzhou. I want to come find you all.”

“Alright. Come then.”

Luan Nian couldn’t remember how many times Zang Yao had moved. Since he’d known her, she had been constantly wandering, never willing to stay in one place for long.

“Thank you,” Zang Yao said, gently hanging up.

Tan Mian sat back down, smiling: “So you were waiting for Zang Yao’s call.”

“No.”

“Then why do you keep checking your phone?” Tan Mian asked him.

“There might be work calls,” Luan Nian said, but the work call he was expecting never came.

“So what does Zang Yao want from you?”

“She wants to stay in Beijing for a while.”

“That’s good, your place is big. If you ask me, you two should stop being stubborn. Now that she’s coming, take care of what needs to be done, and just get together.” Tan Mian started talking nonsense. Zang Yao had hung out with them for so many years, and her relationship with Luan Nian seemed ambiguous. Their friends had more than once bet on when they would end up together.

Luan Nian didn’t speak.

His relationship with Zang Yao wasn’t as Tan Mian described. Zang Yao was his good friend, so good that he had no desire for her.

“She can stay in your place. I’ll help her pay the rent,” Luan Nian didn’t want to live with Zang Yao. Once they lived together, many things would become even more complicated to explain.

“Does Miss Zang need you to cover her rent? What Miss Zang needs is for you to take advantage of her.” Tan Mian teased him.

Luan Nian didn’t want to discuss his relationship with Zang Yao further. Even with his best friends, he was unwilling to expose his private life. Moreover, he currently had no private life to speak of.

The night was too boring; nothing could spark his interest. Yet when two women passed by, he suddenly thought of Shang Zhitao in her cheerleading uniform.

He returned home after drinking. The good sleep he expected on the weekend didn’t come as promised. He casually picked up a book beside him to read, wondering if Shang Zhitao had resolved her problem. She hadn’t asked him for help this time, so where was she stuck?

The supplier called him, and he answered, hearing the supplier say: “The problem has been resolved, we’ll rerun the data immediately. Just wanted to inform you as well.”

“How was it resolved?” The problem was solved, but Shang Zhitao hadn’t said a word to him.

“Alex called me and explained the situation. We’ve been working together for so long, occasional small mistakes are fine. Suffering a small loss can be a blessing.” The supplier was smart and naturally wouldn’t tell Luan Nian that Alex had promised to compensate him in future projects. Just because he didn’t say it didn’t mean Luan Nian didn’t know.

Shang Zhitao was clever, having resolved the issue through her direct supervisor. She knew who could save her; she had learned to be smart.

“Did Flora send you the new brief?”

“Yes, she sent it this afternoon.”

“Good.”

Shang Zhitao had sent the new brief to the supplier. She had made such a big mistake, but did not explain. He called her directly, but she didn’t answer. All of Luan Nian’s harsh words were stuck in his throat; she didn’t answer, so his anger had nowhere to go.

Luan Nian was sulking.

He never sulked. He had been formidable since childhood, and everyone around him accommodated him. Even in the workplace, he was more domineering than others. In his two or three previous relationships, he wasn’t a gentleman, but he didn’t need to argue with ex-girlfriends. His coming and going remarks were so irritating that after a few words, the other person would calm down. His ex-girlfriends all knew that crying and making a scene were completely useless with Luan Nian.

He was angry because Shang Zhitao didn’t explain to him after making such a big mistake. She didn’t miss out on eating, drinking, or having fun, just made a call to her direct supervisor and considered the matter settled. She hadn’t thought about how much loss this error would have caused the company if he hadn’t discovered the problem, or how she could establish herself in the company afterward.

That anger was stuck in his chest, unable to be expressed or dispersed, just bottled up. Until the next evening, after finishing his workout at home and going to the kitchen to make something to eat, he saw his phone light up. Shang Zhitao had messaged him: “Hello Luke, Alex asked me to confirm with you, will you be attending the Marketing Department’s weekly meeting next week?” Not a word about her mistake.

Shang Zhitao didn’t want to mention that incident at all. What was there to mention? She had been scolded harshly, her bonus was deducted, she couldn’t be promoted, and she couldn’t get a raise. Previously, when Kitty’s creative work had issues and the client almost terminated the contract, Luan Nian had stepped in to smooth things over, but that time he hadn’t said anything. People in the company said he protected his favorites. His harshness toward Shang Zhitao was simply because she wasn’t one of his “favorites,” even though they had shared such intimate moments twice.

“Why doesn’t Alex ask me himself? Is the Marketing Department so short-staffed that they need to send you to ask?” Even when angry, Luan Nian would still be reasonable, but he never reasoned with Shang Zhitao.

Seeing him being unreasonable again, Shang Zhitao replied: “Then I’ll let Alex ask you himself. He was tied up with other work just now, so he casually asked me to help inquire. Sorry to bother you.”

After saying this, Shang Zhitao called Alex: “Luke says you should ask him yourself.”

“Oh? Is he in a bad mood?”

“I don’t know.” How would I know if he’s in a good mood? It’s not like we’re close.

Shang Zhitao hung up and went to do laundry, completely dismissing Luan Nian. You’re fierce with me, and I don’t like you anymore! At this moment, she was that immature person with little worldly experience. She thought she was arguing with her boss, but she wasn’t—she was arguing with the person she liked. It was just that her subconscious refused to admit it.

When Shang Zhitao saw the stern-faced Luan Nian early the following Monday, she still smiled and greeted him, then stood in the corner of the elevator. Luan Nian didn’t even look at her; when the elevator doors opened, he walked straight out. The anger in Luan Nian’s heart remained lodged in his chest, making him disregard Shang Zhitao. He also wondered why, with twenty-four hours in a day, sixty minutes in an hour, sixty seconds in a minute, and six elevators operating 24 hours, he always managed to run into Shang Zhitao.

Shang Zhitao sat at her workstation and began working seriously. Having made one mistake that almost ruined her first project, she was especially careful, unwilling to make errors again. When Lu Mi arrived and saw her working diligently, she greeted her: “Model worker, little ‘sister,’ our company’s outstanding employee, working hard?”

Shang Zhitao laughed at her joke, then pulled her aside to tell her about the brief mistake: “I can’t make mistakes again. I need to work well.”

“Luke is deducting your bonus? Not allowing promotion or raises for a year?” Lu Mi was a bit surprised. As strict as Luan Nian was, he had never completely blocked someone’s future. He might have a sharp tongue, but if he went on a rampage, you didn’t need to ask—those on the receiving end had issues. But this time, the recipient was the harmless Shang Zhitao! Lu Mi thought seriously for a long time before finally asking Shang Zhitao: “Taotao, think carefully, are you sure you haven’t offended Luke?”

“I haven’t.” How could Shang Zhitao dare to offend him? She then asked, “Why do you say that?”

“Because Luke is giving you a hard time. Otherwise, how do you explain this?”

“Luke isn’t giving me a hard time for the first time; I’ve been urged to quit by him several times.” Shang Zhitao smiled, turned her head to work, and stopped discussing the matter.

Shang Zhitao might not dwell on things, but she was still a proud person, with a small bit of self-esteem in her bones that had been thoroughly trampled by Luan Nian. This made her not want to face him.

Twice, Lu Mi and Alex asked Shang Zhitao to help find Luan Nian regarding project progress, but she politely declined both times. Also, to avoid Luan Nian, she calculated her time to catch the last bus. If her work wasn’t finished, she would take her computer home.

Project data began to be transmitted back.

Shang Zhitao had thought the data wouldn’t be too simple, but she found it was quite complex. Analysis wasn’t her job, but she needed to understand it. She became immersed in industry data, spending half a day looking at it. A colleague doing business analysis told her that data requires a beauty of logic; you need to discover patterns and breakthroughs in complex data. Understanding is one thing, analysis is another.

Shang Zhitao tried to discover what her colleague called the beauty of logic, without success. This made her somewhat dejected. What is logic? Why don’t I have it? She talked about this with Sun Yuanzhu, who suggested she do some logic training.

“Like what?”

“Like…” Sun Yuanzhu said halfway through the phone, then laughed: “How about I hold a class this weekend?”

“That would be great.”

“Don’t worry too much about work. Don’t think you have to be omnipotent. One person can’t do everything. You need to know yourself and learn to show vulnerability. Appropriately lowering your boss’s expectations of you is also a way of managing upward.”

I can’t lower them.

My boss thinks I’m nothing.

Shang Zhitao said to herself. She hung up and walked toward the office area, encountering Luan Nian at the automatic door. She hadn’t seen him for several days and symbolically asked: “Hello, Luke.”

“How’s the data collection going?” Luan Nian suddenly asked, surprising Shang Zhitao.

Luan Nian seemed to be in a good mood, standing there with his hands in his pockets, waiting for her answer.

“We’ve already collected data from three industries. Next, a professional business analysis team will join in for analysis.”

“Good, keep up the good work.”

“Thank you.”

People were passing by, and Shang Zhitao didn’t want to talk to him in public, as it would make others think he was a magnanimous boss while she was a hopeless subordinate. She smiled at Luan Nian: “Sorry, Luke, I have work to handle. Can I organize the project progress you’re concerned about later and send it to Alex and you?”

“Sure.” Luan Nian was smiling, looking like a gentle spring breeze.

Shang Zhitao couldn’t understand him, so she simply chose not to look at him. She nodded to him and left. Her departing figure was full of stubbornness, this time her stubbornness was very obvious, and Luan Nian saw it.