Luan Nian felt he couldn’t understand women anymore, perhaps because he’d had too little contact with them these past few years. When Shang Zhitao made that phone call, she sounded so sincere, but now he felt that sincerity had been an illusion.

Damn it.

Shang Zhitao was truly infuriating, angering him to the point of insomnia.

The next day at work, his face still looked terrible. When he ran into Shang Zhitao in the elevator lobby, she greeted him as before, but Luan Nian pretended not to hear. They entered the elevator together, neither speaking. Shang Zhitao wasn’t fighting any battle, but that invisible thorn buried in her heart occasionally caused itching pain, which she ignored.

Luan Nian was wearing men’s cologne—Shang Zhitao guessed he was meeting clients today. He adhered strictly to etiquette, hating to appear anything less than proper when meeting people. As they exited the elevator, the cleaning lady had just mopped the floor by the elevator. Shang Zhitao’s foot slipped, her body tilting backward. Luan Nian’s palm pressed against her back, steadying her: “Throwing yourself at me?”

“The floor is slippery.”

“The floor is slippery, yet why didn’t I fall?”

“…”

Shang Zhitao was stung by his retort and had no way to respond, silently taking the loss. On the surface, there were no waves between them, but in their hearts, each harbored a fighting cock—neither yielding to the other, both feeling that sooner or later they’d have to fight it out.

Shang Zhitao walked to her workstation and saw that Lu Mi had, miraculously, already arrived and was sleeping in her chair, looking extremely exhausted. She quietly sat down, turned on her computer, and began working. Only when colleagues gradually arrived did Lu Mi open her eyes.

Shang Zhitao asked her, “What’s wrong?”

“Don’t ask. Last night my dad was taken away by an ambulance.”

“What happened?”

“Stroke.” Lu Mi spoke calmly, but you could see she was troubled. “I need to take some time off.”

“Is your uncle okay?”

“No major issues now. I don’t know if that bastard Will will give me time off.” Lu Mi frowned, clearly not in a good mood. Will was the new head of the marketing department, his Chinese name was Tu Ming. He was a high-priced marketing expert hired by Luan Nian, a young and accomplished gentleman. But he didn’t get along with Lu Mi. He looked down on Lu Mi’s carefree attitude and had criticized her several times in meetings.

“Why wouldn’t he give it to you?”

“Just yesterday he said I clock in and out exactly on time every day, not taking responsibility for my work.” Lu Mi stood up. “I’ll go now.”

Shang Zhitao watched her go into the office next to Luan Nian’s.

Lu Mi didn’t like Tu Ming. She thought he was already annoying enough; she was content just getting by with her days, not holding up any work, so what business was it of his? Who was he to care when she left work? Looking at Tu Ming sitting there, he seemed like a middle-aged man, all pedantic and stuffy. In Lu Mi’s heart, men in their thirties should be like Luan Nian, they should have a bestial quality about them. Tu Ming had no bestial quality—he just looked like a sinister little man.

“Will, I’d like to take a few days of annual leave.” Lu Mi stood in front of his desk. Her figure standing there compared to Tu Ming’s stuffiness was quite amusing.

“May I ask the reason? After all, you still have several stops left to oversee on this year’s tour.”

“My father is in the hospital.”

“Oh. Then take your leave, just hand over your work. I hope your uncle recovers soon.”

“Thank you.”

Lu Mi thought to herself, “At least you have some moral baseline,” and turned to leave his office. After packing up her things and preparing to leave, Shang Zhitao accompanied her downstairs and asked, “Which hospital is your uncle in?”

“I’m not telling you.” Lu Mi glanced at her with her bag on her shoulder. “No need to visit my dad. He just likes walking his bird, not seeing people.”

“Are you okay, Lu Mi?”

“I’m fine.”

“What about Zhang Qing?”

“Broke up this morning.”

“Why?”

“I went home after midnight from the hospital to change clothes and saw that idiot kissing a girl near my home! Just coming out of a nightclub, drunk like a dog. Damn it, I beat up Zhang Qing.”

Shang Zhitao hadn’t expected Lu Mi to encounter such a thing and finally understood why she looked so exhausted earlier, like a soul had left her body.

“Want me to go beat up Zhang Qing too?” Shang Zhitao said very seriously.

Lu Mi burst out laughing: “Get out of here! You? Show me you can squish even one ant on the ground!”

Seeing her laugh, Shang Zhitao felt a bit relieved: “Is Auntie okay?”

“My mom is at the hospital watching over him. I’m going to switch with her and find a caretaker.”

“Okay. Which hospital is Uncle in?”

“Jishuitan.”

“Got it.”

After seeing Lu Mi off, Shang Zhitao felt a bit heavy-hearted, wondering how upset Lu Mi must be. Men were such bastards, cheating as casually as eating. Shang Zhitao, following Lu Mi’s example, cursed in her heart.

She was preparing documents for a workshop with a major client, examining problem identification and strategy analysis, with all kinds of materials filling her screen.

Grace walked over and asked her, “Have you encountered any difficulties?”

Shang Zhitao nodded: “A few questions.” Opening her notes, she continued, “First, this client’s overall strategy this year is to target young users and penetrate lower-tier markets, but in our online and offline advertising plan for the client, there are no third-tier or lower cities. So there’s no way to penetrate those markets. Second, when executing the client’s offline advertising distribution ratio compared to online, it’s 7:3, which is inconsistent with the strategy we proposed at the beginning of the year. Third, the client now wants data from all platforms, but we haven’t collected the television advertising data yet. So…”

Grace listened attentively, and after Shang Zhitao finished, she gave her a thumbs-up: “Flora, you’re amazing! The three problems you’ve identified are exactly the core issues with this client, and they’re the primary problems we need to solve in this workshop.”

“Really? Are there other issues?” Shang Zhitao asked.

“No.” Grace smiled, “Solving these three would be impressive enough. The core of the first problem is that the client refuses to allocate budget for counter pricing in third-tier and below cities, believing that the segment has no purchasing power. This is related to the product itself and its unit price, and I think the client doesn’t understand this logic. The second issue is that the client’s mindset hasn’t changed; they don’t see the business opportunities brought by online advertising, so we need to list peer case studies. As for the third problem…” Grace thought for a moment and said quietly, “Let Luke solve that. He’s familiar with the TV stations, and they’ll listen to him more than us.”

“Okay.” Shang Zhitao nodded, “Then I’ll work on the plan first and send it to you when it’s done, Sister Grace.”

“Good, I’ll review it for you, and then you can check with Luke. Don’t let him find any issues.”

Shang Zhitao nodded and continued to work diligently on the plan. By noon, she went straight to Jishuitan Hospital. She found a shop near the hospital to buy flowers and fruit, then called Lu Mi: “I’m at the hospital. Which ward and bed is Uncle in?”

“Why are you troubling yourself? Aren’t you tired?” Lu Mi scolded her while hanging up the phone to come meet her. She saw her standing at the entrance of the inpatient department, sweating in the extreme heat.

Lu Mi, though generally careless, felt a bit touched: “It’s so hot, and you still came all this way!”

“But I still want to see him.” Shang Zhitao went up with her. Lu Mi’s father was in a double room, but the other bed was empty. Shang Zhitao put the flowers on the windowsill and the fruit by the bed, then took out money she had prepared in advance from her wallet and handed it to Lu Mi: “I know you’re not short on money, but this is our custom. Uncle is sick, this is my sincere gesture, don’t refuse.”

Lu Mi looked at the money—it was quite thick. Shang Zhitao was being very generous. She wasn’t usually extravagant, but she took out two thousand yuan now because she valued Lu Mi in her heart.

Lu Mi didn’t stand on ceremony with her and took the money. Shang Zhitao asked, “Have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet.”

“Then can I treat you to a meal? I haven’t had lunch either, and I’m a bit hungry.”

“Let’s go. Though I don’t have much appetite.”

Shang Zhitao took the elevator down with Lu Mi. As the elevator doors opened and closed, Lu Mi suddenly cried, “What the hell is all this?!”

Shang Zhitao quickly patted her shoulder. In the hospital, countless people broke down; when she cried, others just turned to look once, not finding it strange. Shang Zhitao pulled Lu Mi’s head to her shoulder, blocking others’ view. Lu Mi had already been very strong—her father falling ill and her boyfriend cheating, all happening on the same day. Others certainly couldn’t understand her inner torment.

The two walked out of the hospital, with Lu Mi’s tears still not dry. Shang Zhitao knew she was hurting inside and just stood there with her. She didn’t know what to say. Previously, the Lu Mi in her mind was an invincible female warrior who could fight anything, but today’s Lu Mi was as fragile as a child, breaking down unexpectedly.

After crying enough and wiping her tears, Lu Mi asked Shang Zhitao, “Do I look ugly after crying?”

“Tears like pearls on a pear blossom, still beautiful.”

Lu Mi burst out laughing, “How did you become such a smooth talker?”

“Learned it from you.”

After checking on Lu Mi, Shang Zhitao felt somewhat relieved. They hurriedly ate some noodles together before she rushed back to the company. Back at the office, she buried herself in work, finishing the plan and sending it to Grace before six. Grace reviewed it very quickly, suggested a few modifications, and told Shang Zhitao to send it directly to Luan Nian after revising.

By the time Shang Zhitao finished revising the plan, it was already past eight in the evening, and Luan Nian had not yet left. She sent the plan to him and said, “Luke, this is the plan we’ll present at the Orange Workshop. Please take a look.”

Luan Nian opened it and looked at it. Shang Zhitao’s PowerPoint was well-designed, of superior quality. After reviewing it, he said to her, “Come here for a moment.”

“Okay.”

Shang Zhitao entered his office, and Luan Nian pointed to the chair opposite his desk: “Sit.”

Shang Zhitao sat upright, slightly lowering her head while waiting for Luan Nian to look up from his computer. They hadn’t been alone together for some time, and Shang Zhitao still felt uncomfortable. Luan Nian carefully annotated her plan, then took the computer and went to sit on the sofa: “Come over.”

Shang Zhitao walked over and sat beside him. The leather sofa made a friction sound as she sat down, causing goosebumps to rise on her skin.

From the corner of his eye, Luan Nian noticed the goosebumps on her snow-white legs. He got up, took his sleeping blanket, and tossed it to her. Shang Zhitao caught it and covered her legs.

“The workshop process usually begins with the client’s statement, meaning their ideas and requirements; then we present our solutions. Finally, there’s an open discussion. I’ve arranged a dinner in Shenzhen with the marketing department.” Luan Nian looked at the computer while the gardenia scent from Shang Zhitao disturbed his thoughts, inadvertently causing him to frown.

“Start presenting from the first page.”

“I’m presenting?”

“Who else would present?”

“…”

Shang Zhitao had just finished the PowerPoint and remembered the general content of each page, but she couldn’t see the detailed numbers. So she leaned slightly forward, moving a bit closer to Luan Nian. Her hair tips brushed his shoulder, bringing a small cool breeze. He moved left, creating a person’s distance between them.

Shang Zhitao noticed his distancing and was quiet for two seconds: “On the first page, I created a composite page showing strategy, links, materials, and data overview all on one page, distilling the content and pointing out the client’s three core problems.”

Midway through Shang Zhitao’s presentation, she heard Luan Nian drinking water. The sight of his Adam’s apple moving suddenly appeared in her mind, making her forget what she was going to say next.

She stared at the PowerPoint, unable to recall what she wanted to say.

Luan Nian reached out and closed the laptop. Shang Zhitao looked at him, surprised.

“Is this how you’re going to pause during the workshop?” Luan Nian asked her.

Shang Zhitao didn’t speak. She didn’t explain. There was nothing to explain—she had just been lost in random thoughts.

Prepare the presentation part again. Come back when you’re ready.”

“Okay.”

Shang Zhitao took a deep breath. The strange thoughts that had just filled her mind made it impossible for her to face herself. She took off the blanket, folded it neatly, and placed it aside, still warm with her body heat. Then she picked up the computer and walked out.

She sat outside for a while. All her colleagues had left, and she didn’t want to go into Luan Nian’s office anymore, so she said to him, “Luke, I have something to do. Can I practice with you tomorrow?”

“Fine.”

Luan Nian replied with a single word, then got up to pack his things. Inside him lurked violent thoughts of tearing Shang Zhitao apart and swallowing her whole. He feared he couldn’t control himself.

Luan Nian knew his ridiculous pride and also knew he had never been a very good person. He had no empathy and hated trouble. He was thoroughly, utterly a sophisticated, selfish egoist.

So he had to make a clean break.