Shang Zhitao pushed open the door, believing her action carried a certain forceful presence. But once inside, she saw Luan Nian with a cheerful expression, talking on the phone. Seeing Shang Zhitao with the folder, he pointed to his desk, indicating for her to put it down.
Her momentum instantly deflated, though she still kept her inner drum beating, ready to sound the battle cry if he attacked. Her thoughts were written all over her face, which to Luan Nian made her look like an idiot.
But he smiled at Shang Zhitao, a casual, noncommittal smile, with one finger raised to his lips in a “shh” gesture.
Shang Zhitao felt confused, walked over to put down the folder, and heard him speaking softly: “Then do me the honor of having dinner together this weekend. About that concert you said you wanted to see last time, I got two tickets through someone.”
He held the phone with one hand and opened the folder with the other, starting to read from the first page.
A crisp, pleasant female laugh came from the other end of the phone: “Am I getting special treatment from you?”
“It would be my honor.” Luan Nian looked through the document while talking on the phone, completely ignoring Shang Zhitao standing there.
Shang Zhitao felt awkward. Last time it was a breakup, this time a date. Well, when it rains, it pours—he had just said to replace her, and now she was caught in his crosshairs. She felt that she had accidentally overheard too many of Luan Nian’s secrets, and if this continued, he would not tolerate her. So she waved her hand in front of him and pointed to the door, meaning: Should I leave?
Luan Nian gave her a profound look, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, so Shang Zhitao had no choice but to stand there listening to his phone conversation. His damn fingers turned the pages so slowly that Shang Zhitao felt time dragging on forever. She looked out the window; half the lights in the office building opposite had gone out. She secretly checked her watch—the last bus had gone, so today she would enjoy the company’s taxi benefit.
“Then I’ll pick you up tomorrow evening. I’ve booked a restaurant, let’s have dinner first.” Luan Nian finally hung up and began to seriously examine the project files. He read without speaking, making Shang Zhitao feel uncomfortable.
But the most uncomfortable part wasn’t this; it was Luan Nian in front of her, who was taking forever to sign, as if seeing the document for the first time. Finally, when he reached the signature line on the last page, Shang Zhitao felt a flutter of excitement, only to hear Luan Nian ask: “What’s the total expenditure for this project?”
“Seven hundred and forty thousand.”
“Be precise to two decimal places.”
Shang Zhitao hesitated. She didn’t know the figures to two decimal places. She was just helping Lumi get Luan Nian’s signature and had looked at the document and amount before entering, but hadn’t carefully noted the decimal places.
“741,300 yuan.” Luan Nian sat down in his chair: “Next time, before you communicate with someone about work, especially me, make sure you’ve seen all the details clearly, otherwise be replaced.”
Next time? So he wasn’t replacing her this time?
Shang Zhitao suddenly felt this person’s personality was truly strange. Wasn’t he the one who had typed “Replace person” in the communication software? Had someone been controlling his computer?
Shang Zhitao’s thoughts were all written on her face, and Luan Nian could read them at a glance. Stupid beyond salvation. Were Zhang Ling and Tracy crazy? Were they afraid the team was moving too fast, so they recruited such a burden?
He signed his name and handed the folder to Shang Zhitao.
She took it and said earnestly: “Then I’ll be troubling you.”
“Troubling me for what?”
“For your guidance on the final work of these projects.”
…
Luan Nian wasn’t surprised to hear her say this. She was someone who could write “Luke advised me to change jobs” in an interview record; was there anything she wouldn’t do?
“I’ve saved your number in the internal directory. My number isn’t in the system yet, so I’ll call you now. Please save it. In case of emergency, I’ll call you.” Shang Zhitao said this all at once and took out her phone to call Luan Nian. She had made up her mind—she wouldn’t be afraid of him. Things had already started so badly; the worst outcome would be getting fired. What was there to fear? She could always start over!
She dialed, then waited for Luan Nian to mock her, but strangely, he picked up the phone and asked: “How do you write your name?”
“The ‘Shang’ from noble, the ‘Zhi’ from ‘zhi hu zhe ye,’ the ‘Tao’ from ‘tao yao.'”
“English name?”
“Flora.”
Luan Nian saved Shang Zhitao’s number, then put the phone on the desk: “FlorShang, anything else?”
“No. Have a nice weekend.”
Shang Zhitao picked up the folder and quickly walked out of Luan Nian’s office, returning to her desk with a sigh of relief. The first week of work was finally over. It seemed difficult, yet not so difficult. Shang Zhitao couldn’t quite describe her feelings. She sat quietly at her desk for a while, organizing her complicated emotions, before standing up and leaving the office.
She desperately needed sleep. This chaotic, tumultuous week had finally left her feeling exhausted. Standing at the company entrance trying to hail a taxi, she waited for a long time with no empty cars in sight. Across the street, drunk men whistled at her, reminding her of the joke about prostitutes, clients, and advertisers that a colleague had told on her first day. It felt a bit terrifying.
Luan Nian drove past and saw the drunk men across the street and Shang Zhitao trembling by the roadside, looking like an abandoned puppy. He sighed, stepped on the brake, backed up to Shang Zhitao, lowered the window, and asked: “Where are you going?”
Shang Zhitao saw Luan Nian as if he were her savior. Compared to being harassed by drunk men, she would rather be ridiculed by Luan Nian. She opened the door and got in: “I can’t get a taxi. Could you drop me off somewhere busier?”
“You think you could get one in a busier area?” Luan Nian asked.
Shang Zhitao didn’t know just how difficult it was to get a taxi in Beijing at midnight. She blushed: “But I live quite far away. I don’t want to trouble you.”
“If you didn’t want to trouble me, why did you get in my car?” Luan Nian hated this kind of strange courtesy. What was there to be polite about?
Shang Zhitao wanted to hit him.
In her brief twenty-two years of life, she had never encountered such a strange person, but now, sitting in his car, she felt a bit breathless.
She grinned at Luan Nian, just like that.
Hee hee.
How weird.
“Where are you going?” Luan Nian didn’t want to talk more with her and asked directly.
“North Fifth Ring. Thank you very much.” After mingling with Lumi for a week, Shang Zhitao had already mastered the essence of Beijing dialect.
Luan Nian didn’t waste any more words with her and started the car. His car had a pleasant men’s cologne, refreshing and invigorating, which perked Shang Zhitao up. She didn’t know what small talk to make with Luan Nian, afraid of saying the wrong thing and being scared by him again. So she kept her mouth shut and looked out the window. The city had shed its noise, and even the night market goers were quiet. After some time, she heard Luan Nian speak: “Do you know the way?”
“Huh?”
Luan Nian looked at her and simply stopped the car by the roadside: “Can you give directions?”
Shang Zhitao had only moved a few days ago and was also directionally challenged. Luan Nian’s question confused her. She looked out the window; the place was both strange and familiar. She shook her head blankly: “I’m sorry, I just moved here…”
Luan Nian wasn’t surprised. He pointed to the car’s navigation system and asked: “Which residential complex?”
Shang Zhitao told him the name. Luan Nian had heard of the place, known as Beijing’s “sleep city.” She wasn’t using her brain, not calculating time costs. Wasn’t her salary enough for her to choose a place closer to the company?
Stupid person.
Once again categorizing Shang Zhitao in his mind, he started the car and drove her to the entrance of the complex without a single extra word, revving the engine and driving away.
Shang Zhitao didn’t even have time to thank him.
She went home, finished washing up, and finally lay in bed, but had no sleepiness. She held her phone for a long time, feeling that she should still show some politeness, so she found Luan Nian and sent him a message: “Thank you, Luke.”
Luan Nian didn’t reply; of course, he wouldn’t reply.
Luan Nian was the laziest, disliking pointless social niceties and ineffective social interactions. He had done a favor and didn’t expect gratitude in return.
That’s just the kind of person he was.