Shang Zhitao received the notice to return to work the day after Luan Nian’s phone call. Tracy personally called her.

Shang Zhitao felt a bit nervous when answering the phone, because Luan Nian’s words had been vague and unclear, leaving her sleepless all night. She wanted to message him to ask about it, but figured he definitely wouldn’t tell her. He was that kind of person, unwilling to say even one extra word.

“Hi, Tracy.”

“Flora, you’ll be back at work next week!” Tracy’s voice was light and cheerful, sounding very happy.

“Oh? Has the internal audit result come out?”

“Yes. It came out this morning.”

But Luan Nian had called her last night. Shang Zhitao couldn’t understand what information gap existed between these events.

“So what was the result?”

“The result is that the supplier admitted to falsely accusing you.”

“Huh?”

Tracy could imagine Shang Zhitao’s dumbfounded expression and laughed out loud. “Wondering why the supplier changed their story, right?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t know either. Anyway, the supplier retracted their statement, and the internal audit found no irregularities in your activities. You’re cleared. Come back to work.”

“Thank you.”

Shang Zhitao hung up the phone, still feeling confused. Why had the supplier withdrawn their complaint? What was going on? She couldn’t figure it out. Unable to understand, she called Luan Nian, but he rejected the call: “In a meeting. Text me.”

“Tracy said they only received the supplier’s decision to withdraw the report this morning, but you told me last night the result was out. I want to ask what’s going on.”

Luan Nian sent back a smiley face, a cold smile that suited him well. Then he said to Grace: “Don’t worry about being short-staffed. We learned this morning that Flora will be back at her post next week. You go to your prenatal checkups and don’t worry about anything else.”

“Really?” Grace was genuinely happy. Without Shang Zhitao, she felt like she’d lost both her right and left hands. She had to handle many things personally and felt the baby moving more frequently than before.

“Yes.”

Luan Nian’s phone lit up again. It was still Shang Zhitao, sending a question mark.

Luan Nian turned off the screen, unwilling to offer any explanation. The meeting ran long, and at noon the secretary ordered meals. They ate while continuing to work in the conference room. After a while, the secretary brought in coffee.

“Flora is treating everyone,” the secretary announced, then distributed the coffee according to a list.

Shang Zhitao was thoughtful—she remembered everyone’s preferred flavors. Grace liked mocha, Luan Nian took iced Americano, two colleagues preferred lattes, and another colleague only drank black tea.

Watching the secretary distribute the coffee, Luan Nian suddenly remembered Shang Zhitao when she first entered the workplace—always rushing ahead with her head down, not understanding workplace politics at all. Now she remembered colleagues’ preferences, actively treated everyone to coffee, and handled workplace niceties with ease.

So time really could change people.

Experiences could change people, too.

Luan Nian took a sip of his iced Americano, found it a bit sweet, and frowned as he put the coffee down. Shang Zhitao had taken the liberty of asking the barista to add a spoonful of syrup to his iced Americano. His phone rang again—it was her: “Added an extra spoonful of syrup to thank Luke for his help.”

Shang Zhitao wasn’t stupid. Luan Nian had specifically called to remind her because he was afraid things might turn against her again. His silence for those few days probably meant he was helping resolve her problem. Shang Zhitao felt he was the type who never wanted to talk about what he did. That was just his attitude—if he wanted to help you, he would help, and you didn’t need to say too many thanks. Those would seem false and perfunctory. His help was purely his charity to you.

He was quite eager to help others.

And quite generous too.

Although they no longer had a special relationship, Shang Zhitao was very grateful that Luan Nian had extended a helping hand.

She dragged her luggage back to Beijing and ran into Wan Jun at the boarding gate. Both thought it was quite a coincidence. Wan Jun asked her, “Didn’t you say you were going to stay a few more days?”

“I have urgent work that requires me to return early.”

“That’s great. So can I buy you a coffee?” During those days in Dali, they had coincidentally met several times, and they hung out at the same bar every night, so they had become somewhat familiar. Wan Jun wanted to invite Shang Zhitao to dinner, but she had politely declined. Meeting again today, they both found it amazing.

“Yunnan small-bean coffee?” Shang Zhitao smiled. “I want to eat one last bowl of rice noodles at the airport for my final Yunnan meal.”

“Let’s go.”

Dali Airport was small, but there was a shop where they could eat rice noodles, though they weren’t good. The two frowned as they ate, and after finishing, Wan Jun asked her, “Now that I ask for your contact information, you won’t think I’m a bad person, right?”

Shang Zhitao narrowed her eyes and smiled, “Go ahead.”

They exchanged contact information, took the same flight leaving Dali, and completely ended this trip.

When Shang Zhitao pushed open her front door, her two good roommates had hung a banner in the apartment that read: “Warmly Celebrating Ms. Shang’s Completion of Her First Solo Travel Adventure.” It was a bit too ceremonial.

Shang Zhitao’s face turned red with laughter as she took out her phone and photographed the banner for a long time. The three of them sat under the banner for a group photo, and Sun Yu had even ordered a bouquet for her to hold while they took commemorative photos.

After taking the pictures, they all felt it was ridiculous and laughed together for a long time.

“Was it fun?” Sun Yu asked her.

“It was fun!” Shang Zhitao nodded.

“Will you go again?”

“I will!” Shang Zhitao said earnestly, “I want to travel all over the world!”

“Well, we need to fill our stomachs first,” Sun Yuanzhu finally interjected, inviting the excited women to eat.

Going out alone to experience the world and having true friends to listen when you return, drinking and eating together—nothing could be more satisfying. The genuine happiness inside her hadn’t dissipated even by the day she returned to work.

When Lu Mi saw Shang Zhitao, she was a bit shocked. The dejected Shang Zhitao from a few days ago was gone. She secretly asked, “Did you have a romantic encounter?”

“What?”

“Did you have a romantic encounter in Dali or Lijiang?”

“Huh?” Shang Zhitao stood there like a blank goose for a second or two before she realized what Lu Mi was talking about. She quickly shook her head, “No, no.”

“Didn’t make any friends either?”

“I did make friends.”

“So there you have it!” Lu Mi threw her bag onto her workstation and sat on Shang Zhitao’s desk. “Let me tell you, that bastard Kitty was fired from Jiang Lan’s company. The reason given was that her probation performance didn’t meet expectations.”

“What happened?”

Lu Mi shrugged, “Most likely this lady offended someone. Everyone in the company has been gossiping these past few days, saying Kitty probably went to develop her career in Shenzhen. This circle is so small; she can’t work in Beijing anymore.”

Shang Zhitao vaguely felt there was more to the story, but before she could process it, Lu Mi continued, “Then, that surnamed Wang bastard’s company accounts were frozen.”

“What happened?”

“Someone reported them for tax evasion and provided evidence.” Lu Mi shook her head, “So you know, people shouldn’t do bad things. You never know when karma will come back.”

“My goodness.”

Shang Zhitao remembered Luan Nian’s silence about this matter and suddenly felt it was somehow related to him. She wanted to ask him but didn’t know how to bring it up.

In the afternoon, the planning department had a meeting. When everyone entered, Luan Nian was already in the conference room taking a phone call.

Everyone held their breath and heard him say, “Okay, we will cooperate with the investigation.” Then he hung up. Seeing Shang Zhitao, he asked, “Flora is back from vacation?” as if they weren’t familiar at all.

Shang Zhitao nodded, “Yes, Luke, I’m back to work.”

“Then get to it.”

Grace slowly sat down and said to Shang Zhitao, “Everyone missed you while you were gone. Especially during overtime.”

Everyone laughed—of course, they missed Shang Zhitao during overtime. Shang Zhitao laughed too.

Luan Nian glanced at Shang Zhitao. She was happy, as if she had never experienced being reported for bribery. Grace privately messaged her: “Kitty left Director Jiang’s company. Luke and I discussed it, and from now on, you’ll work with me on Director Jiang’s company projects. So pay attention when we get to that part later.”

Shang Zhitao thought about workplace boundaries, considering how to respond.

Grace’s next message arrived before she finished thinking: “I suggested it myself. I hope you can get up to speed quickly so I can take leave earlier.”

“Isn’t your due date in October?”

“Three months will pass in the blink of an eye.”

“Okay.”

“Then there are several S-level client workshops coming up. I can’t go, so please go in my place, Flora.”

“By myself?”

“With Luke.”

“Oh.”

Worried that she might feel pressured traveling with Luan Nian, Grace reassured her: “Don’t be afraid. Luke is quite easygoing in private. Given the situation, he’ll be leading us for a long time, so getting more familiar with him might help your future work.”

“Okay, thank you, Grace.”

While messaging with Grace, Shang Zhitao also took meeting notes. Everyone was discussing, and she listened attentively. She positioned herself as a newcomer to the planning department with still much to learn. Combined with her naturally humble personality, she didn’t speak much during meetings.

All the planning department’s projects were the company’s S-level projects, each very complex, especially Grace’s. But she handled them with ease. Grace was somewhat like Luan Nian; during meetings, she was a bit aggressive and always sought a result, otherwise the meeting would be considered wasted.

So the planning department’s meetings had very low atmospheric pressure.

When Luan Nian spoke, Shang Zhitao, like others, looked at him attentively. She didn’t know where others were looking, but she fixed her gaze on his shoulders, unwilling to move it upward, not wanting eye contact with him—just trying to get through unnoticed.

Luan Nian wouldn’t let her slip by. While going through a progress report, he suddenly asked her, “So what does Flora think?”

“What?”

“About the client changing strategies, what do you think?”

Like a teacher catching a daydreaming student, throwing half a piece of chalk at your head, seeing where you’ll run. Shang Zhitao thought for a moment, then answered, “I’ve consulted with Grace about this issue. First, if the client wants to change advertising strategies due to adjustments in corporate strategic direction, that’s normal, and we should cooperate. If the client is just acting on impulse, we need to dig deeper into their needs. I researched this client today and found no news about strategic direction changes, so it’s probably an impulse decision. Therefore, we should dig deeper into client needs and confirm why they want to make this adjustment.”

Grace sent her a thumbs-up.

“Then you go dig,” Luan Nian said.

“But I…”

“Grace will teach you. Get up to speed quickly so planning department colleagues can work less overtime.”

“Okay.”

The teacher’s questioning ended, and Shang Zhitao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. When would Luan Nian ever change? Become a little more pleasant and less aggressive? Thinking this, she felt she was overthinking. He would never change.

When she finished work, Wan Jun was already waiting at her company’s entrance. How coincidental is this world? The place where he taught ice hockey was near her company.

Lu Mi saw Wan Jun from a distance and clicked her tongue, “Is this Mr. Wan from Dali?”

Shang Zhitao pinched her, “Don’t say that. We’re just ordinary friends. You’ll make me feel awkward talking like that.”

“Okay, okay.” Lu Mi looked at Wan Jun again and whispered to Shang Zhitao, “He’s in great shape. If I weren’t afraid of feeling guilty, I’d try to hook up with him today.”

Of course—Wan Jun taught ice hockey, had been athletic since childhood, a sunny sports boy. He stood out. Lu Mi pushed her, “Go get him,” and then turned to leave.

Luan Nian’s car circled to the front. Due to pedestrian traffic, it slowed down. He saw Lu Mi push Shang Zhitao, who turned back to hit her, then smiled as she walked toward a man. In the rearview mirror, the man had his hands in his sweatpants pockets and smiled at Shang Zhitao. Luan Nian couldn’t see the smile clearly, but it seemed they were very familiar.

Shang Zhitao sat with Wan Jun in a Hunan restaurant near her company. Smelling the spicy aroma around them, she was hungry enough to eat two bowls of rice. When ordering, Wan Jun ordered too much, and Shang Zhitao stopped him, “Don’t order too much; it will be wasteful.”

Wan Jun smiled at her, “I exercise a lot, so my appetite is big.”

“Oh, okay then. I feel bad about waste.”

Wan Jun looked at Shang Zhitao, finding her very different. She worked at a top company but seemed humble and pure, especially her eyes, which looked like they had never been stained by money, clean and clear.

This girl was quite nice.

While they were still waiting for food, Shang Zhitao received a message from Lu Mi: “The guy looks pretty good. More reliable than my flashy childhood friend.”

“… just ordinary friends.”

“Develop it and it won’t be ordinary anymore. You should be dating.”

“Oh.”

Shang Zhitao put away her phone and watched the waiter bring their food. Wan Jun really hadn’t ordered lightly—he’d ordered all the restaurant’s signature dishes. Two people, six dishes. Although she was a bit hungry and wanted carbs, she still felt they couldn’t finish it all.

Wan Jun took care of her first, not as rough as many athletic people, and only picked up his chopsticks after Shang Zhitao had taken her first bite of rice. He didn’t eat as voraciously as she had imagined, but his appetite was truly large.

They chatted while eating. Wan Jun voluntarily introduced his situation: he had a 100+ square meter apartment in East Third Ring, owned a car, and had been single for over two years.

Then he asked Shang Zhitao, “What about you?”

“Me…” Shang Zhitao took a bite of chicken giblets with rice—it was so delicious that fine sweat appeared on the tip of her nose. “I’ve been single for about twenty days.”

Wan Jun smiled, “Still in contact?”

Shang Zhitao thought for a moment, “Yes. But not as a couple—we just have some unfinished projects together.”

“Planning to get back together?”

“No.”

Shang Zhitao had no plans to continue her relationship with Luan Nian; she wanted to look forward. As Sun Yu said, enjoy being single, but don’t exclude meeting men.

Seeing her determination, Wan Jun grinned. When he smiled, two dimples appeared on his cheeks, which was rare—a sunny, radiant person. Completely different from Luan Nian, and different from Sun Yuanzhu too.

While they were chatting, Shang Zhitao was surprised to discover that Wan Jun had finished all the dishes, including the rice. She had never seen anyone with such a big appetite. In school, Xin Zhaozhou had a large appetite due to his exercise routine, but not this much.

“Scared you?” Wan Jun asked. Seeing Shang Zhitao frantically shake her head, he added, “I’ve been too busy today. Taught basketball in the morning, three ice hockey classes in the afternoon, and then gave a nutrition lecture to a company in the evening. Haven’t eaten all day.”

“You know all these things?”

“I’ve had athletic talent since childhood and am interested in everything related to sports. So my family sent me to learn various sports—football, basketball, ice hockey, fencing—I learned them all.”

“My goodness. That must have cost a lot of money, right?”

“It was okay.” Wan Jun’s parents both worked in government, and his family was quite well-off. “What about you? What interest classes did you take?”

“Calligraphy… does that count?”

Wan Jun nodded, “Of course it counts. I saw the postcard you wrote at the foot of Cangshan Mountain—not intentionally, just thought the handwriting was beautiful, so I glanced at the name. Later, when I learned your name, I made the connection. Your handwriting is the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. My writing is bad, like cockroach crawling.”

Shang Zhitao blushed slightly at his compliment, feeling a bit embarrassed.

Wan Jun seemed like he hadn’t seen a girl who blushed so easily in a long time, making him think even more highly of her. When paying the bill, Shang Zhitao took out her wallet, “Can we split it?”

Wan Jun pushed her wallet back, “Don’t do that. I know you foreign company employees have this habit, but it’s not mine.” His attitude was very firm.

Shang Zhitao had no choice but to put her wallet away and said to him, “Then I’ll treat next time?”

“That works too.”

After dinner, Wan Jun offered to take Shang Zhitao home, but she refused, “It’s far.”

“Farther than from Dali to Beijing?”

“Not that far.”

“Let’s go then.”

They took the subway. It was late, so the subway wasn’t crowded. They sat side by side, their shadows reflecting in the window. Shang Zhitao wasn’t used to talking on the subway, so she took out a book from her bag—a French textbook she was studying.

Wan Jun didn’t disturb her, just plugged in his earphones and listened to music by himself.

The journey was long, but Shang Zhitao didn’t feel awkward. She agreed with Sun Yu’s words now: “You’ve just met too few men, that’s why you got stuck on that one.” Sun Yu only made sense when talking about her. All of Sun Yu’s principles didn’t apply when it came to Sun Yuanzhu. She wasn’t proactive with Sun Yuanzhu, yet she quit drinking and stopped dating.

After exiting the subway, they walked leisurely on the street. Wan Jun slowed his pace to chat with Shang Zhitao. He told her about breaking his wrist while training as a child and showed it to her. In the dim night, she couldn’t see clearly, so she touched it with her fingertip, feeling a protruding bone—he hadn’t been lying.

“Did it hurt?”

“Of course it hurt. I cried from the pain.”

“Then you should be more careful in the future.”

The two walked to the entrance of Shang Zhitao’s residential complex. Wan Jun checked the time, “It’s getting late. You should go up now. I’ll wait for that meal you promised—hopefully not too far away.”

“Sure!”

Shang Zhitao nodded. Standing in front of Wan Jun, she looked like a small bird seeking shelter, tilting her head back to talk to him. The scene looked beautiful, like going back to campus days when two innocent people were dating.

Shang Zhitao waved goodbye to Wan Jun, “See you later!”

Then she turned and ran.

Luan Nian stood under that tree, finished the cigarette in his hand, got into his car, and drove away.