Before leaving work on Friday, Tracy arranged one-on-one meetings between Luan Nian and the marketing department employees.

Those outside didn’t know what was being discussed inside, leading to much speculation. When it was Lumi’s turn to go in, she patted Shang Zhitao’s shoulder and said, “Don’t be afraid, big sister will pave the way for you. Whether it’s a mountain of knives or a sea of fire, your master will step in first.”

Shang Zhitao giggled at Lumi’s joke, watched her go in, then lowered her head to look at her flowchart. She was researching how to improve efficiency by 25%! After all the arguments and conflicts, improving efficiency by 25% was quite challenging, and Shang Zhitao felt somewhat inclined to try. After all, this was the only core project in her hands recently.

After entering, Lumi smiled at Luan Nian and Tracy, unusually sitting properly across from them.

“Nothing special, just a casual chat. No need to be nervous, okay?”

“I’m not nervous.”

Luan Nian saw Tracy about to start with her HR routines and couldn’t help but interrupt. He roughly understood Lumi; she didn’t like beating around the bush. So he asked, “Are you satisfied with this year’s salary adjustment?”

“A bit too little. Hope next year will be more.”

“Do you have any plans to resign recently?”

“No.”

“That’s it.” Luan Nian spread his hands, ignoring Tracy’s glare.

“That’s all?” Lumi had thought they would discuss some life-or-death matter and had seriously prepared before coming in. But it ended after just two sentences—did others sit in here for half an hour?

“That’s all. Do you have any questions?” Tracy sighed and asked Lumi.

“Can I take a few days off?” Lumi wanted to travel abroad; it had been too busy lately.

“What are you going to do?” Luan Nian asked.

“Buy a house in London.”

…

That year, overseas property investment had just begun to become popular on a small scale. The wealthy went to Europe, the less wealthy to Southeast Asia—having such a property wasn’t a bad thing anyway. Lumi was joking; she had no intention of buying overseas property; she simply wanted to travel.

“Is it okay?” she asked again.

“No,” Luan Nian refused.

“Why not?”

“Some people in your department will be resigning soon, and the work can’t be shared. Wait until new staff arrive.” Luan Nian deliberately used the phrase “some people resigning” and watched Lumi’s reaction.

“How much impact can one person leaving have?” Lumi disagreed. “Anyway, Shang Zhitao does all the work.”

“What if Shang Zhitao leaves too?” Tracy finally interjected.

“Impossible. She’s researching how to improve efficiency by 25%!”

Luan Nian looked up from his phone at Lumi, then lowered his head to reply to a message. During their phone argument, Shang Zhitao had declared her decision to leave with such determination, yet now she was studying how to improve efficiency by 25%. No one was more fickle than her.

Lumi left Luan Nian’s office and patted Shang Zhitao’s head. “Your turn.”

“Huh? Why were you so quick?”

“How would I know?” Lumi was also confused. Wasn’t it strange? They called people in, asked a couple of questions, then let them out—it seemed like they were just playing around.

“What did they say?”

“Asked if I was satisfied with my salary increase.”

“What did you say?”

“Of course, I said I wasn’t satisfied. Am I stupid?”

Shang Zhitao thought about it and agreed. What if she said she was satisfied? The boss might think this salary increase was enough for her and definitely wouldn’t give her a bigger one next year.

Shang Zhitao entered Luan Nian’s office and saw him looking at his phone while Tracy smiled at her warmly.

She sat upright in the chair, her usual posture. After working for more than a year, her standing and sitting postures had never changed. Tracy waited for Luan Nian to speak, especially after he had suddenly cut in during Lumi’s conversation. But Luan Nian put down his phone and asked Tracy, “Aren’t you going to start?”

?

Tracy felt a bit helpless and said to Shang Zhitao, “Don’t be nervous. There’s nothing special. It’s just that Luke will personally lead the marketing department for some time, so we arranged this meeting to understand everyone better.”

“Oh, okay,” Shang Zhitao replied.

“Is work still as hard as before?” Tracy asked.

“It’s fine.” Shang Zhitao was telling the truth. The work intensity was much less than before; at least she could get home before 10:30 PM now.

“Do you still work weekends a lot?” Tracy asked again. She was very concerned about Shang Zhitao’s workload. In the system’s clock-in records, Shang Zhitao had the longest working hours. Tracy had studied whether she was inefficient or genuinely had a lot of work, and had arranged evaluations of her work—it was substantial. Besides her main duties, she also handled various miscellaneous tasks in the marketing department.

“Not much anymore. Sometimes I need to communicate by phone, but it doesn’t affect my weekends.”

“So what do you usually do on weekends?”

Though it wasn’t a big deal, Shang Zhitao felt her face warming up. What did she do on weekends? Luan Nian kept looking at her but didn’t speak.

“My weekends… are quite rich…” Shang Zhitao thought carefully. Learning languages, helping with Sun Yu’s offline activities, having meals with Sun Yuanzhu and others, shopping with Yao Bei, sleeping with the boss. She was also preparing to study for a part-time graduate program next year.

“Like what?” Tracy was genuinely curious.

“Like eating with friends, shopping, watching movies, that sort of thing…”

“Still not dating anyone?”

“Soon, soon.”

Shang Zhitao didn’t know why Tracy was asking these questions and could only say “soon, soon.” This was another HR tactic. Asking if you’re single, how long you’ve been married, if you have children—all techniques to probe your stability. Girls about to start dating aren’t focused on changing jobs; women about to get married might be thinking of changing jobs because they might face having children after marriage, making future job changes difficult; women who have just had children have their minds full of their children, affecting their work contribution. Tracy wasn’t a bad person, but she needed to understand employee stability.

Hearing Shang Zhitao say “soon, soon,” Tracy smiled and said, “I have a junior from my school who just returned from abroad. He’s three years older than you, from a good family, good-looking too. Would you like me to introduce you?”

…

Shang Zhitao was stunned for a moment before finally asking, “Why aren’t you asking if I’m satisfied with my salary increase?”

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard Luan Nian laugh briefly. He tilted his head slightly, and she saw that the corner of his mouth hadn’t yet retracted. Luan Nian found these master and disciple quite amusing, probably the type who couldn’t handle too many things in their heads at once—you had to speak directly, otherwise they’d get confused.

Tracy also laughed. She had always liked Shang Zhitao because she had never disappointed her. She nodded, “So, are you satisfied with this year’s salary increase?”

“It would be better if it could be a little bit more.” Shang Zhitao gave the answer she had prepared earlier, then heard Tracy burst into laughter.

She didn’t know why they were laughing—she hadn’t said anything funny—and felt a bit confused. Luan Nian gave her a quiet look, then lowered his head again. Shang Zhitao was light-hearted and didn’t hold grudges. She was essentially a simple, happy girl who rarely fussed over things with others.

Luan Nian knew all these strengths.

Shang Zhitao was so pure that her thoughts were written all over her face, which Luan Nian could see.

“How’s the research on the 25% efficiency improvement going?” Luan Nian finally spoke, asking her.

“The project system can still be optimized, review and acceptance will be fully digitized, that should be about right.”

“When can you complete the modifications?”

“It will take two to three months.” There was no need to discuss whether she would do it; they went straight to discussing solutions.

“Go ahead and do it. By the way, ask your master if she can help you manage the budget. We’re short-handed.” Luan Nian raised this issue again, his eyes fixed intently on Shang Zhitao, waiting for her answer.

“Oh.” Shang Zhitao responded, “Are we done?”

“Yes, we’re done.” Tracy nodded, though she thought to herself, How is this a meeting? This is just casual chat. Too unchallenging.

“Then can I go back to work?”

“Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”

Shang Zhitao stood up and walked toward the door. As her hand touched the doorknob, she heard Luan Nian call her: “Flora.”

“Yes?” She turned back, looking at Luan Nian.

“If Alex has spoken with you about hoping you’ll join him at another company, I sincerely hope you’ll refuse.” Luan Nian glanced at Tracy. “Your career has just begun. There are many paths worth exploring, many experiences worth learning. At the same time, the company recognizes your efforts and growth, and hopes you’ll stay to fight together. Tracy once told me that your work performance has been recognized in the 360-degree evaluation, and I agree with this result.”

Shang Zhitao stood there, stunned.

This was the first time Luan Nian had formally praised her, in front of the HR Director. Was this also a boss’s personnel strategy? She couldn’t understand but was deeply moved.

“Thank you,” was all she replied.

It wasn’t until she sat at her desk and Lumi called her that she came to her senses. “What happened? What did you talk about?”

Shang Zhitao shook her head. “Nothing much.”

After Shang Zhitao left, Luan Nian mocked Tracy: “Have you taken some new training course recently? Is this the new conversation technique now?”

“Isn’t this good?”

“I finally understand why your department couldn’t detect executive movements.”

“Why?”

“You’re all so idle that you’re introducing boyfriends to employees—how can you focus on work?” Luan Nian found it amusing; it was the first time he had seen an HR Director introducing potential partners to employees during a meeting.

“Just chatting about a few things along the way, don’t be so serious.” Tracy advised him, “Relax.”

“I am relaxed. I’m afraid you’re too relaxed.”

“Alright, alright. I’ll reflect again.” Tracy raised her hands. “I can’t argue with you. I surrender, you win.” She left with her laptop.

Luan Nian didn’t care about winning or losing, but he felt he should say something to Shang Zhitao. For instance, the praise he had just given her was sincere, impartial, and heartfelt. The reason he told Shang Zhitao that Alex wanted to take her because she was cheap and obedient wasn’t because he thought she was cheap and obedient, but because he was genuinely analyzing the mindset of a workplace manager looking to poach employees. When taking people with him, such a manager needs people of various levels, not all strong performers. Sunny was a strong performer, so the next level would be the executors.

He worked in his office, occasionally standing up to look into the distance to relieve his dry eye syndrome. When sitting down, he glanced at Shang Zhitao. She was frowning at her computer, probably researching the 25% efficiency improvement. Luan Nian didn’t know when Shang Zhitao had changed her mind, but since Wednesday night, he knew one thing: women are not to be trifled with. Arguing with women hurts the enemy a thousand while damaging oneself eight hundred. There’s nothing to gain.

Shang Zhitao’s mind was filled with thoughts of efficiency improvement. Even while waiting for the bus, she was still frowning in thought, so much so that she didn’t notice Luan Nian standing beside her for a long time. Luan Nian had been standing there for a while, not expecting Shang Zhitao to notice him on her own, and finally took a step in front of her. Shang Zhitao instinctively stepped back, then focused her eyes and saw Luan Nian.

“What are you doing?” Luan Nian asked with his hands in his pockets, his posture relaxed.

“I’m researching efficiency improvement,” Shang Zhitao said seriously. She had suddenly decided to stay while having dinner with Sun Yu. She listened to advice and remembered what she had wanted when she first came to Beijing, knowing she wasn’t yet strong enough to stand alone. Although after arguing with Luan Nian like that, it seemed like she couldn’t hold her head up if she didn’t leave, but in Sun Yu’s words: “Those who can stay after such a fierce argument, those are the ones with a truly strong mentality.”

“Want to go for a walk?” Luan Nian asked Shang Zhitao.

“But I haven’t eaten yet.”

“What would you like to eat?”

“I want to eat Korean barbecue and doenjang soup.”

“Let’s go.”

The two walked side by side in the deep night, with a distance of one person between them. Shang Zhitao had walked a few steps before remembering that Luan Nian hadn’t driven today. She looked around and asked, “Hey, where’s your car?”

“Been sitting all day, don’t feel like driving.” Luan Nian hadn’t been sleeping well for the past few days, his dry eye syndrome had worsened somewhat, and he wasn’t fit to drive. He also didn’t want to have Liu Wu drive. Liu Wu’s family member was sick, and Luan Nian had that much compassion.

“Oh.” Shang Zhitao quieted down, recalling her outburst that day, and suddenly felt a bit embarrassed. She chuckled twice, “What I said on the phone that day was just out of anger. Don’t be mad.”

Shang Zhitao was just that kind of generous person, brave in admitting mistakes, not at all pretentious. She hadn’t been calm that day and had become like Luan Nian, not speaking properly. Thinking about it made her quite ashamed. Luan Nian stopped walking, turned his head to look at her—what an adorable girl, with a pleasing face and smiling eyes—and couldn’t help reaching out to pinch her cheek before saying, “Shang Zhitao, I know sometimes I don’t speak nicely, but I hope you understand that most of the time, I don’t have ill intentions. If you feel any of my words make you uncomfortable, just tell me directly. There’s no need to react in that way.”

“It’s quite draining when we fight.”

If Tan Mian and the others heard what Luan Nian had just said, they would say, “Luan Nian must be possessed by some strange entity, right?” When had they ever seen Luan Nian speak such soft words? But Luan Nian was speaking the truth. He had never been troubled by these things before. He was too lazy to date, too lazy to break up after dating, too lazy to look back after breaking up. His heart had never experienced any serious trauma. In his mind, maintaining a sexual relationship was much harder than dating.

This argument with Shang Zhitao had angered him to the point of insomnia and stomach pain. The next day, seeing the dark circles under her eyes in the meeting room, he had been tempted to strangle her.

“Then can you praise me occasionally? Like you did today.” Shang Zhitao tugged at the edge of his clothes. “I need you to praise me occasionally, to let me know I’m not as bad as you say. Luan Nian, I need your encouragement.”

“Is my encouragement that important?”

“Very important. Really.”

Shang Zhitao wanted to say that someone like her, who had been content to sit and applaud for twenty-two years, only had her fighting spirit awakened after meeting him. When she felt repeatedly defeated, she needed his approval—it was the food and ammunition for her to go to battle, a small joy that others couldn’t give.

“So can you handle the 25% efficiency improvement?” Luan Nian asked her.

“I can.”

“Then you can eat a bit more meat later.”

“Okay. I can also drink a little bit of alcohol.” Shang Zhitao pinched her fingers together. “Just this much.”

“No.” Luan Nian gave her a look. “You bite people after you drink.”

Stingy.