Shang Zhitao knew that her relationship with Luan Nian had changed. She would still greet him with a smile when they met, but she knew they were impossible now.

It was on a spring rainy day that she sent Luan Nian a message, saying: “Luke, I’ve been thinking, and I feel we should end our relationship.”

Luan Nian’s reply came quickly. He said: “Alright.”

She found herself quite strange. She thought she would sob uncontrollably, be devastated, drown her sorrows in alcohol, and endlessly obsess over it, but she didn’t. She had asked Sun Yu: “Am I strange? Am I an emotionless creature? Why don’t I feel ashamed after being rejected by him? Why don’t I hate him at all? What kind of person am I?”

She asked many questions, all common questions about love and relationships. Her experience was the same as countless girls’. They hadn’t done anything wrong; they had simply loved someone they shouldn’t have. That person didn’t seem to be at fault either; he was just following his heart. If every confession were reciprocated, then why would there be so many heartbroken people in the world?

But Sun Yu didn’t know how to comfort Shang Zhitao, so she could only give her a gentle hug and say: “Perhaps you didn’t love him that deeply, or perhaps true sorrow has no sound.”

What Shang Zhitao found most incomprehensible about herself was that she would still occasionally think of him, but he wasn’t as important anymore. Shang Zhitao felt that her body had activated some kind of stress response mechanism that made her reorder the people and things around her, placing Luan Nian at the bottom.

She liked this transformation in herself.

Everything was orderly, so orderly that she almost forgot she was deep in a bribery scandal.

Shang Zhitao had just finished a meeting when she received a notice for an interview.

The internal audit person called her and said, “Flora, please come to meeting room 502.”

“Okay.” She carried her laptop to the meeting room and saw Tracy, Luan Nian, and colleagues from the internal audit department, seven or eight people sitting in a row. She had never experienced such a setup before. She was nervous inside but also composed, sitting upright in the chair.

Although she knew what was going to be discussed, she didn’t understand why the situation was so formal.

Tracy exchanged a glance with Luan Nian and began to explain: “Since Luke is temporarily in charge of the planning department, according to company regulations, the department head must participate in internal audit interviews, so…”

“Let’s talk,” Luan Nian said without looking up from his phone, saying to Tracy: “Get straight to the point, I have two more meetings afterward.”

“Alright.”

“Begin the internal audit.”

They asked about Shang Zhitao’s basic income information, whether she had any side income, if she liked luxury goods—all sorts of strange questions that ultimately pointed to one thing: whether she had large unexplained income.

Shang Zhitao answered each question. When the internal audit colleague asked if she had a habit of buying luxury goods, she shook her head: “No, I don’t like luxury goods.” Indeed, she didn’t like them. Although Luan Nian had casually given her many, she had never opened them. If you don’t like something, you just don’t like it. When she said she didn’t like luxury goods, Luan Nian’s eyes moved away from his phone, giving her a faint glance.

The internal audit also asked about Shang Zhitao’s relationship with suppliers, how she handled bidding and payment processes, and Shang Zhitao answered all of these questions.

Luan Nian finally put down his phone, speaking in his customary business-like tone: “No need to be so polite, just be direct. Flora, you’ve been reported by a supplier you added to the database for accepting cash bribes, totaling over 400,000 yuan. The company will continue to investigate, and before there’s a result, please hand over your current projects and stop working.” He didn’t want to be roundabout; whether he said a hundred gentle words or not, the final result would be the same. Rather than being polite here, it was better to think of solutions.

Tracy felt Luan Nian was too harsh, so she said to Shang Zhitao: “We will definitely investigate thoroughly and won’t wrongly accuse good people.”

“And we won’t let bad people get away,” Luan Nian added.

Shang Zhitao listened to them speak, feeling that their voices were somewhat noisy. Four hundred thousand in cash was a large sum for her at that time. The problem was that she had never taken it, not even four yuan.

“Okay. Thank you.”

Shang Zhitao left the meeting room and returned to her workstation to pick up her bag.

“Where are you going? Not working?” Lu Mi asked her.

Being wrongly accused felt terrible, especially with Luan Nian’s emotionless words, which Shang Zhitao couldn’t accept. She didn’t answer Lu Mi; at that moment, she couldn’t speak. She knew that if she opened her mouth, she would cry. So she took out her phone and sent Lu Mi a message: “I’ve been reported by Wang Yang for taking 400,000 yuan in bribes. The company has told me to go home and wait for the investigation results.”

“Fuck that.” Lu Mi was angry. She stood up and walked downstairs with Shang Zhitao. While waiting for the elevator, they ran into Luan Nian heading to a meeting at the downstairs café. Shang Zhitao stepped back, standing behind Lu Mi. No one spoke in the elevator. Through the elevator mirror, Luan Nian saw Shang Zhitao pressing her lips together stubbornly, her usual expression when she felt wronged.

Entering the café, he looked through the window and saw Shang Zhitao talking to Lu Mi. Lu Mi was very angry, and Shang Zhitao held her hand to calm her. After a while, Shang Zhitao left. When she returned home, Sun Yuanzhu was also there. He was making a small robot and used a voice changer to say to her: “Hello.”

“Why aren’t you happy?”

Shang Zhitao told him about her situation. Sun Yuanzhu nodded: “You know, some methods never fail.”

“What?”

“Never mind. Anyway, you need to save yourself.”

Self-rescue—wasn’t the best method to find Luan Nian? He would surely have effective ways to help, but Shang Zhitao didn’t seek him out. She wouldn’t have approached him before, and now she had even less reason to do so.

Luan Nian hadn’t received any messages or calls from Shang Zhitao by the time he left work that evening, which didn’t surprise him. After getting in his car, he made a phone call: “Help me investigate something.”

“Yes, I just want to know what dealings they have had with each other.”

“Also, I want to indirectly check this company’s accounts.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t use it for illegal purposes.”

Luan Nian hung up the phone, thought for a moment, sent the company information to the other party, and said: “Just check the information I mentioned.” Luan Nian had never been a particularly upright person. If the other party was a bad person, then fighting fire with fire was the best approach.

“Be quick.”

He started the car. On the road, he saw a car carrying a golden retriever, its head sticking out of the window, looking silly. It suddenly reminded him of Luke.

Now that his relationship with Shang Zhitao had ended, did that mean he would never see Luke again? But he still had snacks for Luke in his trunk. He parked the car by the roadside, thought for a long time, and still decided to return home.

At home, there were still a few of Shang Zhitao’s clothes, makeup, slippers, and many other things. As Luan Nian tidied up, he realized that extended time spent together really does leave traces. He gathered all those items and packed them into a box, along with Luke’s water bowl, food bowl, toys, and snacks—a full two large boxes. His house was big, and usually these things were scattered around, hardly noticeable. Now, gathered together, they took up about two square meters.

For the first time since rejecting Shang Zhitao, he took the initiative to call her. The phone rang for a long time before she answered, mumbling a “Hello.” Her mouth seemed unable to open fully; Sun Yu had given her some face masks to wear, saying that women’s luck improves when they become more beautiful. She was under investigation anyway, and might as well use the time at home to improve herself.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I’m wearing a face mask.” Shang Zhitao removed the mask, and her voice became clearer: “What’s up, Luke?”

“Using a face mask at one in the morning?”

“Just… suddenly felt like it. What is it, Luke? Are the investigation results out?” Shang Zhitao called him Luke; in her heart, he was Luke, not Luan Nian.

“You have some things at my place. Are you coming to get them?”

“I’d rather not. It’s too late today. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be going out to play, which isn’t convenient. If you find them taking up space, just throw them away.” Shang Zhitao knew what she was doing. She wanted to completely sever this relationship, pretending that nothing had happened. She was also preparing to change jobs. Alex had approached her; he had firmly established himself at that company and needed someone trustworthy to help him. Shang Zhitao thought the timing was good. But Grace was about to go on maternity leave, and from a moral standpoint, Shang Zhitao should at least wait until her maternity leave was over, helping to look after her clients. That would be a way to repay her. Give and take—that’s also part of workplace relationships.

“Not staying home to wait for the result?”

“The result is the same no matter where I wait.”

“I’ll bring them to you.”

“Oh.”

Shang Zhitao didn’t take it seriously, but Luan Nian came. She was washing her face when his call came in: “Come downstairs.”

Shang Zhitao put on a thin shirt and went downstairs. Time had passed quickly; it was already early summer. The early summer nights were intoxicating, with comfortable breezes and the sound of insects. Luan Nian was standing by his car smoking, with two large boxes at his feet.

Shang Zhitao walked over, looking at the two boxes, feeling as if they were labeled “Time Flies” or perhaps “A Dream of Nanke,” or maybe “A Moment of Folly.” She felt that Sun Yu was right—such a beginning was destined not to have a good ending. She was far from meeting his standards; sooner or later, they would have parted ways.

“So many things,” she said faintly.

Luan Nian didn’t speak, just kept his head lowered slightly while smoking. Shang Zhitao crouched down to open the box. Luan Nian saw her bun hairstyle with fine strands of hair scattered on her snow-white neck. She was a strange woman. When she called him, she spoke as if she couldn’t live without him, yet now she acted as if nothing had happened. She seemed to always be able to let go easily.

Shang Zhitao saw the items in the box—some of her miscellaneous things from his home: cups, toiletries, cosmetics, clothes, slippers. She looked around and saw a trash can about ten steps away. She carried the box over and threw those things into the trash can. What was the use of keeping them? Although everything in her rented house was simple, she didn’t lack anything.

Luan Nian watched her discard things so resolutely, his eyes narrowing to slits, with a coldness he didn’t realize. Shang Zhitao acted as if she didn’t see it, walked back to him, and opened the other box. She saw it was full of Luke’s things. Luan Nian was truly generous, buying dog treats for Luke that were more expensive than the food she ate.

“I thank you on behalf of Luke.” She picked up the box, stepped back, and asked him: “Do you want back the bags you gave me? I’ve seen people online asking for expensive gifts back when relationships end.”

Luan Nian gave her a look without saying anything, got in his car, and left. In the rearview mirror, he saw Shang Zhitao already carrying the box into the building entrance, not looking back even once.

He called Tan Mian: “Want to drink?”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

Shang Zhitao went upstairs, closed the door, and only then realized she was crying. How strange—her tears were so torrential, yet she felt nothing. She took out the snacks and fed them to Luke: “These were bought by a former friend of yours. Eat up.”

Luke seemed to recognize the food and let out a bark in the deep night that nearly broke Shang Zhitao’s heart.