Shang Zhitao placed the drink on another table by the window. In the bright moonlight, the heart in the glass sparkled. Luke, having eaten enough meat, ran out and sat beside her, keeping her company as she gazed at the moon.

Her drink was different from the others. A girl at the neighboring table glanced at it several times and said to her companion, “I want to try that cocktail too. I’ve never seen it before—it looks delicious.”

She asked Shang Zhitao what the drink was called.

“It’s called Brave Heart,” Shang Zhitao answered, unfamiliar with cocktails. She assumed it was a common sweet drink for girls, tasting sweet and gentle with a slight kick. Luan Nian had made a drink that matched Shang Zhitao’s personality.

“Is it the owner’s special?” the girl asked again.

“Huh?” Shang Zhitao clearly didn’t understand what an owner’s special meant.

The girl raised her hand and said to Luan Nian, “I’d like to have that drink too.”

“Sorry, there’s no more,” Luan Nian said, sitting down next to Shang Zhitao with a glass of water, smiling at the girl.

“Is that drink the owner’s special?” she asked.

Luan Nian glanced at the exquisite, transparent heart in the glass and nodded, “Yes.”

“I knew it,” the girl turned to her companion, “I’ve never seen it in other bars.”

“What’s an owner’s special?” Shang Zhitao whispered to Luan Nian.

“Just something the owner makes up,” Luan Nian replied, leaning back on the sofa to look at the moon. The entire bar was dimly lit with only a small square candle on the next table. The manager had put on gentle music. Everyone quieted down, sprawled on their sofas, enjoying the moon.

In the darkness, Shang Zhitao grabbed Luan Nian’s hand and rested her head on his shoulder. Luan Nian spread his arm across the sofa, making her more comfortable.

Luke copied Shang Zhitao, jumping next to Luan Nian, pawing at his arm: I want that too.

“No,” Luan Nian quietly scolded it.

Luke persisted undeterred, continuing to paw at him. Luan Nian grunted and moved his arm. Luke lay down on the sofa, resting his head on his leg.

Shang Zhitao felt she never asked for much. Occasionally, having a night like this was enough to heal all her pain. Though she hadn’t experienced profound suffering, just an ordinary girl who had grown up healthy.

She took Luan Nian’s hand and gently kissed the back of it, one kiss after another. The words “I love you” lingered on her lips several times but were never spoken aloud.

It was already early morning when they came down from the mountain. Shang Zhitao took out her phone and saw comforting messages from her colleagues, which she replied to one by one. One was from Lu Mi, saying, “The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Some people don’t deserve your protection. When presenting evidence, we should have included the video of her entering his room at midnight!”

Shang Zhitao quickly replied, “Let it go, it’s not worth it. Give her a way out.”

“Too late. I sent an anonymous email,” Lu Mi replied. Lu Mi had been thinking about it for nearly a night. Kitty was vindictive. If they didn’t completely defeat her today, she would resurface tomorrow. Over the years, hadn’t she set up many obstacles, both openly and secretly? Including that disgusting remark earlier today—how could a human say such things?

“…That was quick.”

“Hahahahaha, I feel great. Are you okay? I called Sun Yu, and she said you went out with a friend.”

Shang Zhitao glanced at Luan Nian, who was checking his phone, and replied, “I’m fine.”

“My stubborn donkey’s move today was so satisfying. He’s so damn handsome, isn’t he? After you left today, he left too. The stock price plummeted.”

“Huh? Because of the scandal?”

“The scandal is nothing. It’s because the helmsman said he’s quitting, abandoning ship, dropping everything. Luke won this round beautifully.”

“What do you mean?”

“It means Luke resigned.”

Luan Nian resigned? But he hadn’t mentioned a word about it all night. Shang Zhitao secretly glanced at him. He was frowning, seeming unhappy.

Shang Zhitao signaled to Luke, extending one finger, pointing at Luan Nian, and slightly waving it: “Go!”

Luke moved quickly, darting to Luan Nian’s side, nuzzling against his chest. Luan Nian put down his phone and pinched his face: “Go away!”

No!

The man and dog started wrestling. Shang Zhitao watched, giggling. Luan Nian jumped off the bed, picked her up, and threw her onto the bed, forcing her to join the fray. They played for a long time until they were tired. Luke lay on the floor while the two of them lay on the bed, catching their breath.

Shang Zhitao turned on her side to look at Luan Nian and couldn’t help laughing again.

She wasn’t one to dwell on worries. The earth-shattering sadness and vulnerability from earlier in the day had completely vanished. She even started comforting herself: How lucky I am to have such a gentle bed partner, such good colleagues like Lu Mi, and such good friends like Sun Yuanzhu and Sun Yu.

Someone asked her how she had obtained information about the female protagonist in Dony’s previous scandal. Shang Zhitao refused to say. It was Sun Yuanzhu who had used hacking techniques to thoroughly investigate Dony for her.

Shang Zhitao knew not everyone was as fortunate as she was, and she was especially grateful.

People at Phoenix only knew that Dony had broken the law but didn’t know why those six people suddenly filed police reports together, nor how Dony’s life in China had been exposed. Only Luan Nian and Tracy knew that Luan Nian had paid a large sum to convince the only girl who had refused to speak but had solid evidence to step forward.

Luan Nian had done all this lightly, leaving when it was done, without leaving any trace.

His palm covered Shang Zhitao’s face, pushing her back onto the bed. “Be serious.”

“Oh.” Shang Zhitao took the opportunity to kiss his palm. Luan Nian withdrew his hand and looked at her in the clear moonlight. His fingertip rested on her neck—that neck which had been squeezed by Dony’s dirty hands.

Luan Nian’s lips fell on her neck, kissing gently, slowly dissolving Shang Zhitao’s 1,520 kilometers of fear.

Shang Zhitao enjoyed his rare tenderness. She wouldn’t say anything to spoil the mood, like asking why he resigned. She felt she didn’t need to ask. This time, she was certain that Luan Nian’s fighting and resigning weren’t due to power struggles among the executives, but purely because he cared for her.

Luan Nian cared for her—this realization moved her deeply.

It was only after they finished that Shang Zhitao said, “How will I go to work tomorrow morning?”

Luan Nian checked the time—it was 3 AM. “Take the day off.”

“I can’t.” Shang Zhitao was so tired she could barely keep her eyes open. “I can’t take time off. Tracy wants to meet with me.”

“Go to sleep. I’ll take you.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Shang Zhitao fell asleep. Luan Nian picked up his phone and continued replying to Tracy’s messages: “When I say I’m resigning, I mean it. The stock price fluctuations have nothing to do with me. I’ve already cashed out early. The remaining few hundred thousand shares, I might as well have thrown them away.”

“I know you don’t need the money,” Tracy replied, surprisingly still awake. The day’s events had left her frazzled—someone who usually had a regular sleep schedule was now completely sleepless. “But I do. I just got divorced, you know? I need to buy a new house. With the stock price dropping like this, how am I supposed to afford it?”

“I’ll lend you some.”

“You can lend to me, but can you lend to everyone?”

“Then everyone will have to fend for themselves!”

“…People from headquarters are already on the plane. They want to meet with you the day after tomorrow.”

“Not meeting.”

“You have a non-compete clause, and according to company policy, you need to give at least six months’ notice before resigning.”

“According to company policy, I decide who to hire in my domain. So why are those old fellows still sending people over? Policies are bullshit.”

“Fine, fine. Will you come to the company for a meeting tomorrow?”

“No.”

Luan Nian turned off his phone and went to sleep.

In the morning, hearing movement beside him, he opened his eyes to see Shang Zhitao tiptoeing around getting dressed. “What are you, a thief?”

“You’re awake! I’m heading to work.”

“Didn’t I say I’d take you?” Luan Nian got up to dress. Shang Zhitao said, “No need. I’ll take a taxi. Luke can stay here.”

“Are you crazy? Where are you going to find a taxi at this hour?”

“Oh.”

Luan Nian quickly showered, dressed, and went downstairs to make breakfast. Shang Zhitao liked bread slices and milk. Luan Nian also fried two eggs and sprinkled osmanthus in her milk. “Come eat before you go.”

Shang Zhitao, already accustomed to Luan Nian’s breakfasts, thanked him, took a sip of milk, and stole a glance at him.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

“Did you resign?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I have money. I resign when I want to.” Luan Nian saw Shang Zhitao finish her milk in one gulp and poured her another glass. After drinking it, she said, “Must be nice being rich. Unlike me, I don’t have the confidence to resign.”

“If you don’t want to work, you can resign too. Come work as a server at my bar,” Luan Nian teased her.

Shang Zhitao seriously considered this possibility and asked Luan Nian, “If the bar always hires such good-looking managers and servers, I wouldn’t mind taking less money.” She was swayed by looks.

Luan Nian snorted—this breakfast might as well have been fed to the dog. He drove Shang Zhitao and Luke out, stopping near her company. He casually told Shang Zhitao, “I’ll pick you up tonight.”

“Sure.” Shang Zhitao jumped out of the car and ran toward the company.

At the company entrance, she stopped. She wasn’t ready to face her colleagues’ sympathetic gazes. Some colleagues passed by and kindly called out, “Flora, good morning. Aren’t you going in?”

“Yes.” Shang Zhitao took the elevator with them and walked to her workstation, surprised to see Lu Mi already there.

“Why are you here so early?” Shang Zhitao asked her.

“I’m here to manage those gossiping mouths.” Lu Mi leaned on the desk, casual and swagger-like, looking like a big sister ready to fight for Shang Zhitao again today.

Shang Zhitao’s eyes reddened. She said to Lu Mi, “I love you, you know that?”

Lu Mi whistled, “How about showing it physically~”

After chatting for a while, Shang Zhitao turned on her computer and checked her email, finding numerous messages of support from colleagues. They had replied to her email:

“Flora, hang in there.”

“Flora, I’m sitting on the fourth floor. Tomorrow you’ll see someone wearing a ‘Girls Cheer’ baseball jersey—that’s me.”

“Flora, thank you. I’ve encountered this kind of thing too, but always kept quiet. Thank you for showing me that girls can be this brave.”

There were so many emails. Shang Zhitao read them one by one, suddenly feeling that being understood was wonderful. At the time, she had only felt she should speak up, without thinking about how it might affect others. At that moment, she finally felt it was all worth it.

When she encountered her colleagues’ gazes again, she no longer felt strange but saw friendliness. In the workplace, only a small number of people were truly bad. Most people were just ordinary and kind, like her.

Including Tracy.

Managing human resources for such a large company, she was still just an ordinary person who felt pained by what happened to Shang Zhitao. She had a coffee machine in her office and personally made Shang Zhitao a mocha, saying, “Have something sweet today to beat the sadness.”

“Thank you.”

“Did you sleep well last night?” Tracy asked her.

Remembering Luan Nian’s gentle kisses and warm embrace, Shang Zhitao nodded, “Very well.”

“I’m glad you didn’t have nightmares.” Tracy patted the back of her hand and then said, “This conversation isn’t at the company level now, as the case has been transferred to the judicial authorities. The police hope you’ll participate in providing evidence. Do you agree?”

“I agree.”

“Dony has some background connections. How far this case can be prosecuted, none of us knows for sure. But I want to make my position clear: Luke and I are determined to put him away.” Tracy was explaining the background to inform her of the reality. In case of future retaliation, the girl should be mentally prepared.

Shang Zhitao nodded, “I understand. I’m not afraid. I’ll cooperate with the investigation.” Shang Zhitao thought that, since they had come this far, they shouldn’t forget their original intention. She intended to make bad people receive punishment. She couldn’t give up at this point.

Tracy looked at her and smiled, “Flora, the first time I met you, I felt you might be an extraordinary girl. No basis for it, just intuition.”

“Thank you. Thank you for showing me so much favoritism.” Shang Zhitao wasn’t truly naive. As her work progressed, she saw Phoenix’s strictness in hiring, and how, at the beginning, Luan Nian often asked about her relationship with Tracy. She gradually understood that she had met a good person, someone willing to give her opportunities. This was fate’s favor toward her.

Not everyone would have such opportunities.

“So my decision to hire you despite opposition was excellent.” What opposition? It was just Luan Nian’s opposition. “Next, the new head of the marketing department will take office soon. As for the planning department, if the board can persuade Luke…” Tracy smiled wryly, “Luke resigned—did you know?”

“Yes, I knew.”

“If the board can persuade him, he’ll also oversee the planning department. The planning department will open 30% of positions for internal competition. You can try.”

“Can I?”

“I think so. But the final hiring decisions will be up to the planning department.”

“Thank you.”

“Good luck.”

After leaving Tracy’s office, Shang Zhitao pondered the statement that Luke would oversee the planning department. She liked working with Luan Nian. He was strict, but working with him, she could learn a lot.

She sent Luan Nian a message: “I want to apply for the internal competition for the planning department.”

Luan Nian was sunbathing with Luke in a suburban park. Seeing her message, he replied, “Good luck.”

“Will you approve me?”

“First of all, I’ve resigned. Secondly, the competition will have a three-person review panel—one person can’t decide.” Luan Nian implied there would be no green light—she needed to work hard on her own. If she had the ability, she would advance; if not, she would stay in the marketing department.

Shang Zhitao understood his meaning.

She didn’t expect him to help her; she just wanted to work with him.

“Will you come back to be my boss?”

“?”