Shang Zhitao remembered the coffee incident, and early the next morning, after getting off the bus, she went straight to the coffee shop. She never had the habit of drinking coffee before. During her student days, she only drank a few packets of instant coffee to stay awake when cramming for exams. Her thinking was simple—she wanted her mentor to drink coffee she bought, allowing her to hold her head high in front of everyone.

She had just paid and was standing there waiting, standing ramrod straight, adding a touch of formality to the relaxed atmosphere around her.

The barista called to her: “Your coffee is ready.”

“Thank you.” She turned to get the coffee and saw Luan Nian standing at the cashier. She became a bit flustered and hurriedly said, “Good morning, Luke.” She couldn’t even think of offering to buy her boss a cup of coffee.

“Morning.” Luan Nian replied but said nothing more. Shang Zhitao felt a little awkward and somewhat afraid, dropping a quick “Goodbye, Luke.”

Then she ran off.

Not even having the social intelligence to offer Luan Nian a cup of coffee.

She was truly hopeless.

Today was training day for recruits.

Shang Zhitao sat in the training room watching the orientation video. She had expected to see an inspirational company history but forgot that she worked at Lingmei. Lingmei never stooped to inspirational tactics; they preferred to present the stark reality.

In the final segment of Lingmei’s orientation video, they listed the elimination rates of new recruits over the past decade, which was shocking to viewers. At the end, there was a line: “If you feel you’re not up to it, there’s no shame in that. Stand up, walk out of the training room, and you’ll still receive two months’ salary as compensation.”

Shang Zhitao recalled Luan Nian encouraging her to resign and now even felt that he had her best interests at heart.

When the video ended, the training room fell completely silent.

Tracy smiled at everyone: “There’s no need to be so somber. For today’s second session, we’re fortunate to have the company’s creative consultant and head of the Planning Department, Luke. Although Luke is only twenty-eight, he won an international advertising award at twenty-two and is regarded as a creative genius in the industry. Now, let’s welcome Luke with a round of applause.”

What a bullshit introduction? Luan Nian’s furrowed brow expressed his dissatisfaction with Tracy’s clichéd introduction.

He truly wasn’t a person with a good temper.

Shang Zhitao sat in the last row watching him, thinking that Lumi was right—it would be better to keep her distance from him in the future. But the content of his presentation was genuinely excellent. He explained Lingmei’s creative principles: simplicity, sophistication, warmth, and aesthetics. His PowerPoint slides also deeply embodied Lingmei’s principles; each page was exquisite.

Listening to him was an absolute pleasure.

He was also straightforward and efficient. In his forty-minute presentation, there wasn’t a single wasted word. After he finished, Tracy kept him at the front to answer questions. Kitty’s hand shot up first: “Is Luke single?”

Everyone laughed, but Luan Nian acted as if he hadn’t heard, expressionlessly saying: “Next question.” He hated inappropriate jokes in such settings the most, as they wasted everyone’s time, equivalent to robbery and murder.

“Then may I ask if the company allows colleagues to pursue romantic relationships?” another colleague asked.

“The company doesn’t prohibit employee relationships, but there are two principles: not between superiors and subordinates, and not between departments with interconnected interests,” Tracy answered, then prompted everyone: “Don’t you have any professional questions for Luke? This is a rare opportunity.”

Everyone quieted down.

Shang Zhitao had many questions, but she didn’t dare ask Luan Nian. She feared he would publicly advise her to resign, which would be too embarrassing. So she lowered her head and marked them in her notebook, planning to ask Lumi later.

Luan Nian looked at the people seated below, suddenly feeling a bit disappointed with this batch of recruits—not a single one showed any spark, and the most timid one had nearly buried her head in her knees. He shrugged at Tracy and walked out of the training room.

At that time, Shang Zhitao didn’t realize that this was typically how work went—if you missed the best opportunity to ask questions, it would be difficult to get another chance. By the time she finished training and returned to her workstation, Lumi had already gone to the event venue. She sat at her desk and continued to tackle the industry fundamentals she hadn’t finished in the morning, with densely written notes on the paper beside her.

Shang Zhitao did have one strength.

She had beautiful handwriting.

When she was in elementary school, her city was swept by a trend of learning calligraphy. After school, children would line up with their backpacks to learn calligraphy—brush calligraphy, hard-pen calligraphy. The only extracurricular class Shang Zhitao ever took was calligraphy. She had more persistence in learning calligraphy than others. By the time she reached middle school, when the calligraphy trend had died down and everyone else had stopped learning, she would still go to her teacher’s home after school to practice calligraphy.

So her handwriting was truly outstanding.

Every stroke had flair. Even casual scribbles on paper carried an aesthetic quality. She used her beautiful handwriting to take notes on industry fundamentals, doing so meticulously, even forgetting to eat. When she had gone through the material once and finally looked up, she saw the moon high in the western sky. She glanced at her wrist to check the time—ten-thirty at night. If she hurried, she could still catch the last bus.

She sprang to her feet, shouldered her backpack, and ran out, disappearing from the office like a gust of wind. Even on the bus, her mind was still filled with those obscure, difficult-to-understand terms. ATL, BTL, AE, brief, PR… Many words she had seen in books and heard from teachers, but applying them to actual work was a different matter entirely. Shang Zhitao thought of Kitty—she seemed to understand everything, shining like the sun.

In her first week of work, Shang Zhitao’s mind was crammed with knowledge. This high-frequency learning was far more efficient than studying at school. She felt everything was fine, except for Luan Nian. Lumi dumped the task of liaising with Luan Nian onto her. Shang Zhitao tried to decline, saying she wasn’t up to it, but Lumi interrupted her: “You absolutely cannot say you’re not capable, especially in front of Luke. Be careful—if he hears that, he might have HR process your resignation that very day.”

“Besides, think of it this way: if you can handle a boss like Luke, what other monsters won’t you be able to handle in the future? Right?” Lumi was brainwashing Shang Zhitao. As a second-generation demolition family member who roamed freely in Beijing, work for her was merely something to keep her busy. If she could avoid seeing Luan Nian’s sour face, that would be perfect.

“So how did you handle Luke?” Shang Zhitao sincerely asked for guidance.

Lumi burst out laughing: “I didn’t handle him, so it’s your turn now! Wait a moment, let me have the department head speak to him first, then you can approach him.”

…

Nervously, Shang Zhitao sent Luan Nian a message on the internal chat software: “Hello Luke, my mentor Lumi is currently working on the project connecting Guangzhou and Shenzhen cities, so she asked me to take over the final stages of those nearly completed projects in the Planning Department. Please guide me.”

She raised her head and secretly glanced at Luan Nian’s office. He was sitting in front of his computer. Shang Zhitao’s palms were sweating. After a long while, Luan Nian’s avatar lit up, and he only said two words: “Replace person.”

It was not unexpected.

Shang Zhitao faced a difficult problem on Friday evening of her first work week. How could she continue after he had asked for a replacement? She called Lumi, but Lumi was already at a nightclub, shouting over the phone: “Hey, sister! I’m enjoying my weekend! Even if the sky falls, let’s talk on Monday!”

“But that signature…” Before Shang Zhitao could finish, Lumi had already hung up. The document still needed to be signed, and Finance was pressing for it. Shang Zhitao finished the sentence to herself and let out a wail as she slumped over her desk. After a long while, she finally mustered the courage to stand up, took the folder, and went to find Luan Nian. His secretary had already left, so Shang Zhitao couldn’t relay a message through her and had to face him directly.

If he refuses to sign, I’ll just put the folder on his desk and say I don’t care anymore!

If he tells me to resign again, I’ll say you’re not my boss!

The naive Shang Zhitao had mentally prepared all her scripts for confronting Luan Nian, and with the determination of one facing death, she knocked on his office door. She heard his low voice: “Come in.”