Luan Nian didn’t want to waste words with Shang Zhitao and said briefly: “Let’s get straight to the point.” He was that kind of person—concise, swift, efficient, unwilling to waste time, and never dragging things out.

Shang Zhitao nodded, then said: “I’m learning about the planning department’s projects, and there are some parts I don’t understand, so I wanted to ask you. And by the way… I’d like to request you to be the subject of my employee interview.” She sat up straight, like a student listening attentively in class. Her sitting posture was rare, also showing humility.

“What don’t you understand?”

Lu Mi was right; Luan Nian wouldn’t give people a hard time about work—he was very serious. There were many things Shang Zhitao didn’t understand, so she simply opened her notebook: “May I ask you about the projects one by one?”

“Sure.”

Luan Nian leaned forward to listen to her, discovering that this girl was quite amusing. She didn’t hide her limitations at all; that bit of dullness was written all over her face. She didn’t look particularly smart. So what connection did she have with Tracy?

“It’s like this, for this project, the expenses needed for demo production, I wanted to ask what that includes…” Shang Zhitao turned the notebook screen toward Luan Nian, pointing to a specific spot. The light from the screen passed through her translucent fingertips, giving them a pinkish tint. She looked up at Luan Nian, noticing his handsome features.

“The demo list will be provided tomorrow.” Luan Nian’s gaze remained on the screen, looking at the other marks Shang Zhitao had made. She wasn’t entirely useless; at least her notes were on point.

“Oh, thank you.”

“And for this project, why is an advance payment needed?” Shang Zhitao turned the document to the next page.

“The supplier won’t advance funds.”

“But the company’s payment process doesn’t work that way…”

Luan Nian took her computer, flipped to a page, and his clean finger tapped on the screen. Shang Zhitao saw that the page stated: “In special circumstances, a special payment process can be applied for.”

Shang Zhitao blushed: “I’m sorry, I didn’t see that just now.”

“It’s fine, just look more carefully next time.”

Lu Mi said Luan Nian was very serious when discussing work, and indeed she hadn’t lied. At least everything was going smoothly so far.

Luan Nian’s phone rang, and he answered it. The voice wasn’t small, and Shang Zhitao heard a woman crying on the other end, then seemingly saying something about not wanting to break up. Wow, crying like that, this breakup wasn’t graceful. Shang Zhitao’s thoughts were all on her face, but then she reconsidered—no, this was her boss’s private life. She immediately felt embarrassed.

Luan Nian saw her face go through quite a rich series of expressions and frowned, saying: “Don’t call me again from different numbers.” He hung up the phone and looked at Shang Zhitao, who was sitting there, not knowing where to direct her eyes.

She hadn’t meant to pry into his private life, but some things just happened coincidentally.

“Do you have any other questions?” Luan Nian ignored her awkwardness; it had nothing to do with him. He had no obligation to help ease her discomfort, even if he was the cause of it.

“I’d like to see the specific introductions of these projects, not because I need to verify them, but purely because I don’t understand anything.”

“I’ll have my secretary send them to you later.”

“Then I’d also like to do the employee interview.” Shang Zhitao was clumsy, but she also had good qualities, one of which was perseverance. For her, many things frightened her before she started, but once she began, she didn’t want to give up.

“Go ahead.” Luan Nian maintained his sitting posture—leaning forward, legs apart, elbows on his knees, hands clasped together, as if very interested in the conversation with Shang Zhitao. At that time, Shang Zhitao didn’t understand that this was just a workplace posture, a common posture among bosses, appearing friendly and approachable, when in fact Luan Nian was already cursing her boringness in his mind.

“Why did you come to this company?”

“My father pulled strings to get me in.” Luan Nian was a serious person; everything he said sounded true, including this statement.

This answer was unexpected to Shang Zhitao. She carefully examined Luan Nian’s expression, trying to discern if he was joking or serious, but she couldn’t tell.

“What qualities of Ling Mei do you find great?”

“They pay well.”

“That’s true. Ling Mei is more generous than other companies.” Shang Zhitao nodded, highly agreeing with Luan Nian’s answer; otherwise, with her qualifications, she wouldn’t have received such compensation.

“Do you like this job?”

“No.”

Shang Zhitao got stuck here. Once again, she wanted to know if Luan Nian was teasing her or being serious. But Luan Nian was Luan Nian—when he was serious, he had a deadpan face. Trying to read truth or falsehood from a deadpan face? Dream on. By this point, Shang Zhitao didn’t know how to continue the interview.

Luan Nian didn’t rush her but glanced at his watch.

He was trying to hurry her along; now Shang Zhitao could see that. She hurriedly asked: “If you don’t like it, why do you work at this company?”

“To make money to spend.”

“Can you give me some advice?”

“Are you sure you want my advice?” Luan Nian raised his eyebrows and asked her.

“I’m sure.” Shang Zhitao nodded.

“Find another job as soon as possible. Ling Mei is not suitable for you.” Luan Nian paused, and very seriously said: “This is my advice to you.”

Shang Zhitao didn’t know what kind of answers others got in their veteran interviews, but the answer she received made her uncomfortable. She couldn’t say “I can do well” either, because in fact, she didn’t know herself if she could or not. Just at this moment, it was somewhat embarrassing. She pressed her lips tightly together, her eyes slightly reddening. Her lips remained tightly pressed, afraid that she might cry.

It was only on a day several years later that Shang Zhitao realized that she and Luan Nian were destined from the very beginning—he was high above, indifferent to everything. She followed him step by step, constantly learning from him. Giving and receiving, teaching and learning, have always been unequal.

Luan Nian wasn’t surprised by her reaction. During her remote interview, he had decided to reject her after she had only said “hello,” not because he was arbitrary, but because the advertising industry needed people who were worldly and daring.

“Any more questions?” Luan Nian asked her again.

“Yes.”

“Ask.”

“Why do you think I’m not suitable for this place?”

“Probably because you’re still asking for reasons at this point?” Luan Nian stood up: “The demo list mentioned earlier will be sent to you tomorrow.”

Shang Zhitao gathered her materials and computer, sensing Luan Nian’s gaze on her. She stood up straight, with a somewhat stubborn posture. But she was still very polite: “Okay, thank you.”

Shang Zhitao didn’t dare look at him. She felt that Luan Nian’s eyes were filled with: “You’re not capable.” If he blinked, these words would jump out of his eyes and hang conspicuously above her head. She feigned composure as she walked out of his office and returned to her workstation. Lu Mi had already left, leaving a note on her desk: “Go home early, there will be plenty of overtime later!”

Shang Zhitao wouldn’t go home. She opened her computer and wrote her interview feedback. She was honest, without a single lie. Especially that sentence: “Luke advised me to find another job soon, saying I’m not suitable here.” After writing, she clicked confirm.

She wasn’t challenging authority, and didn’t even know that besides HR and her mentor, the interview records would also go to her direct supervisor and the interviewee. She just wanted to be honest. This was her first day at Ling Mei, and she couldn’t fabricate a logically coherent, verbally harmonious fake interview record.

Luan Nian was about to pack up and leave when he saw the system notification pop up. He opened it and saw what Shang Zhitao had written.

She had no brains.

Tracy’s call came in quickly: “You told the new employee that you work to make money to spend?”

“What else?”

“You advised the new employee to resign?”

“Mmhmm.”

“…” Tracy knew what Luan Nian was like. She sighed: “Do you know your appointment is about to be announced?”

“Does whether my appointment comes down or not have anything to do with me accepting an interview?”

“There’s no direct relationship, but you should respect the diversity of hiring.”

“Does my respect for hiring diversity have anything to do with me thinking she’s not capable?”

The conversation was going nowhere. Tracy was so choked by Luan Nian that she couldn’t speak. After two seconds of silence: “If you weren’t my junior from school, I would report you to the board of directors and have you fired.”

“Please do.”

Luan Nian hung up the phone and looked again at the feedback Shang Zhitao had written, amused by her.