The Early Spring

Тhе first соntrаct for Shаng Zhi Тао's nеw compаnу camе from Sun Yu's cоmраnу.

Тhеy held а bidding session in Ice City tо sеleсt supрliеrs, аnd Shаng Zhi Tао brоught Fu Dоng аlong.

Вefore gоing, Fu Dоng askеd, "Boss, we hаve nothing—just а 200-square-mеtеr оffiсе аnd а PowеrРoint рrеsеntatiоn. Cаn wе reallу рull this off?"

"Yеs."

"And we havе to providе uрfrоnt funding!"

"I still havе some savings." Whеn саlculаting соsts, shе sреcifiсаlly inсluded thе upfront funding. Initiаlly, thеу сouldn’t tаkе оn lаrge contrаcts, as a single evеnt could requirе over а million in uрfrоnt funding, which Shаng Zhi Tao couldn’t afford. If the cash flow broke, the company would be finished.

She still had some money left from selling stocks, enough to cover the upfront costs for four small events for Sun Yu’s company. After those four events, the funds would start flowing back.

Shang Zhi Tao had another sum of money, but she would never touch it. She thought, Perhaps I should choose a good time to donate this money.

The two of them went to the bidding site. The other competing companies looked quite wealthy. Fu Dong felt inexplicably nervous, sweating on his forehead, and asked her, "Boss, can we do it?"

"Yes."

Shang Zhi Tao worked with Fu Dong to refine the proposal and negotiate at the venue. Fu Dong thought his boss was amazing, understanding everything. This is how he described Shang Zhi Tao to his classmates:

"You really haven’t seen what a female boss from a world-class company is like—she’s incredibly cool!"

"She literally knows everything! Nothing can stump her!"

"Working with her, you learn so much. She loves teaching me, explaining everything clearly from start to finish."

"Let me put it this way: Are you sure your companies can teach you all this? In a place like Ice City, can you find anyone more professional than my boss, Peach?"

And so, the two of them took on the challenge. Shang Zhi Tao’s PowerPoint presentation was essentially her personal resume, showcasing the projects she had worked on over the years. Fu Dong kept thinking to himself, Damn, this is too impressive.

On the day they learned they had won the bid, Shang Zhi Tao treated Fu Dong to a nice meal, calling it a company team-building event. Their company now had only the two of them, but they needed to hire more people. At the same time, they also needed a reliable execution company. That’s when she thought of Xing Yi, who worked at the Cultural and Tourism Bureau and likely knew many trustworthy execution companies.

Xing Yi proved reliable indeed. Within half an hour, he brought the owner of an execution company, and the group had a meal together. Just like that, Shang Zhi Tao’s company officially took off.

After the meal, Xing Yi walked Shang Zhi Tao home.

They walked back together. In truth, the two of them were already quite familiar. Xing Yi was enthusiastic and had often helped out at "The Old Couple’s Tavern." When Shang Zhi Tao first returned to Ice City and knew no one, Xing Yi had helped her solve many problems.

"Does someone with your personality feel out of place working in the government?" Shang Zhi Tao was referring to Xing Yi’s hobbies—he loved playing basketball, and back in high school, countless girls had watched him play.

"Actually, it’s not too bad. The only thing I dislike is occasionally having to drink heavily. Honestly, if I’m going to drink, I’d rather do it with friends. Drinking with colleagues just isn’t the same."

"That’s true."

"What about you? Is running a company exhausting? Just looking at you makes me feel tired—managing both the company and promoting the restaurant. Your promotions are so effective they’ve even reached my colleagues. Yesterday, one of them held up their phone and asked me, 'Have you tried this place?' I thought to myself, Isn’t that my house?"

Shang Zhi Tao burst into laughter at his remark.

Seeing her laugh so happily, Xing Yi grinned too.She began to understand the hardships Sun Yu endured during the early years of starting her business—having to handle everything from social engagements and proposal drafting to execution and finances, all requiring her personal involvement. Fortunately, Fu Dong learned quickly and, after following a few projects, became capable of independently managing proposals and execution. At the end of the year, Shang Zhi Tao gave Fu Dong a raise to ten thousand yuan per month, along with an annual bonus, and entrusted him with training the newly hired staff. In managing people, Shang Zhi Tao had always been learning from Tracy, absorbing her decisiveness and professionalism.

The business at "Old Couple's Tavern" was also thriving, with more and more customers coming to dine. By evening, queues would form, and some even took food to go. Everything was moving in a positive direction—except for marriage.

Gradually, neighbors began gossiping about the only daughter of the Shang family, saying she had returned from Beijing with a large sum of money to start a company, buy a house, and purchase a car, speculating that she might have been a mistress in Beijing. Old Shang accidentally overheard this and got into a fierce argument with the neighbor, cutting off all ties afterward. Other neighbors whispered that the Shang family’s daughter was already thirty, still unsettled, and had grown slightly more attractive over the past two years, but her standards were too high, making it unlikely she would ever marry. Some well-meaning neighbors tried to set Shang Zhi Tao up on blind dates, and to avoid causing trouble for her parents, she would go along. The frequency of these dates increased from once every six months to once every two weeks. She felt she had developed a certain knack for sizing up men. Among them, one or two decent men, upon hearing that Shang Zhi Tao had previously worked in marketing in Beijing and now frequently engaged in social engagements, politely indicated that they weren’t a good match.

Shang Zhi Tao didn’t mind. By the third year of running her company, the business had become relatively stable. However, she felt a sense of crisis, always worrying that the company’s business model was too singular and lacked resilience against risks. As Luan Nian had once said: "Those who go all-in on a single project are fools. Smart people know to spread their eggs across different baskets."

She explored many business opportunities until one day, while scrolling through her social media feed, she saw Zhang Lei’s photo of him speaking at an agent conference. Suddenly, it struck her that becoming an advertising agent might be a good choice. So, she began seriously considering entering the advertising agency business.

However, becoming an advertising agent required a large deposit, assembling a team, and securing substantial startup capital. She consulted Zhang Lei on how to proceed, and he told her, "I can vouch for you. You can pay a smaller deposit, but assembling a team and renting space will require a significant amount of money. You’ll need at least 1.5 million yuan in startup funds."

Looking at the eager young men under her wing, Shang Zhi Tao felt torn. Three years had passed, and although they were living comfortably under her leadership, they all still wanted to strive for more.

But Zhang Lei advised her not to rush: "Policies are always changing. The deposit isn’t the most urgent issue—the other funds are. If you can’t manage it yet, start as a secondary agent first."

"No, if we’re going to do it, we should aim big. But we can start by managing a few accounts to test the waters."

While Shang Zhi Tao was researching the advertising agency market, Lu Mi called her: "My dear friend, I need your help."

"What’s wrong? My company is hosting an industry summit next month, and it’s scheduled to be held in your city, Bingcheng. But our previous supplier changed their team and can’t get things done in Bingcheng. Their proposals have been rejected three times already. If this continues, we won’t make it in time."

"What do you need me to do? Draft a proposal? Sure."

"No, I want you to take over the project."

"What about the procedures?""The process will be expedited with special approval, don't worry."

"Okay." After hanging up, Shang Zhi Tao sent her a message: "What's the attendance level?"

"Ling Mei is the department head, the other participants are client CEOs. All major clients."

Hearing the attendance level, Shang Zhi Tao confirmed Luan Nian wouldn't be coming and readily accepted the project.

It wasn't that she was afraid to see Luan Nian, she just felt Luan Nian wasn't Xin Zhaozhou. After breaking up with Xin Zhaozhou, they could still chat and get along fine. If she saw Luan Nian again, who knew how many harsh words she'd have to endure.

With her current temper, Shang Zhi Tao definitely wouldn't let him hurt her. Back and forth, things would get ugly.

She quickly led her team to draft a creative proposal, overturning the previous plan of meeting first and then leisure activities. Instead, they'd do leisure activities first, then return to Bingcheng for the meeting. Shang Zhi Tao understood Ling Mei's sales tactics—it was all about building influence and signing annual contracts. Given that, going out to play first, letting sales fully engage with clients and actively build rapport, then holding the meeting afterward might yield better results.

Coming here this season was all about seeing the snow. She confirmed the real needs with Lumi several times, made slight adjustments to the proposal, and submitted it. Will presented this version at the executive meeting, waiting for Luan Nian's final approval.

"The same company as last time?"

"No, Lumi urgently switched to another one, otherwise it wouldn't have been in time."

"Hmm. This version is much better, clearly more aligned with our goals."

"Shall we proceed with this then?"

"Okay." Luan Nian agreed, then turned to his secretary: "Help me coordinate my schedule after New Year's Day, I'll be participating in this event from start to finish."

Everyone exchanged glances, suddenly feeling tense.

After the meeting, Will stopped Lumi, who was about to sneak off early: "Where are you going?"

"To buy coffee. Want some? I'll get you a cup?" Lumi looked utterly respectful.

"Luke decided last minute to attend this summit. Skip the coffee, go work on the proposal with the supplier!" Will said sternly, still looking like an old stickler.

Lumi raised her eyebrows, as if she'd pulled off some mischief: "I've already handed off the proposal. Haven't I told you who the specially approved supplier is yet? My memory's failing me. Flora Shang."

Even though Shang Zhi Tao had left the company, Lumi still referred to her as Flora in front of Will. Will also remembered the projects he'd worked on with Shang Zhi Tao and trusted her work, so he let Lumi go buy coffee.

On the day Lumi arrived in Bingcheng, Shang Zhi Tao naturally treated her to a meal. When asked what she wanted to eat, Lumi said she wanted Da Zhai's cooking. So they decided to meet at "Old Couple Tavern."

"Can I bring my old sweetheart?" Old sweetheart was the latest nickname Lumi had given Will. She told Shang Zhi Tao, my old sweetheart is getting on in years but still in good health. I take good care of him with food and drink, afraid his health might fail. She had no filter.

"Of course!"

"Then it's settled."

A while later, Lumi sent another message: "Old sweetheart wants to bring two people, is that okay?"

"Sure. You guys go ahead, I still have some things to wrap up here. Need to double-check everything for the day after tomorrow's departure."

"No problem, I'm familiar with our mom anyway, whether you come or not basically doesn't matter. See you later!"Luan Nian saw the location Will sent him and frowned.

His friend Song Qiu Han beside him asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

Song Qiu Han was the investor Luan Nian had introduced to Sun Yu earlier. Since last year, he had returned to China to take charge of the investment bank's domestic branch—young and accomplished.

Both men were men of few words. After dropping their luggage at the hotel, they headed straight to the restaurant. Only upon arriving at the entrance did they realize it was a small, modest eatery.

Song Qiu Han remarked, "Your company's hospitality standards could use some improvement."

Luan Nian glanced at him. "When you were eating at those hole-in-the-wall joints with Lin Chun'er, I didn't see you complaining about how shabby they were."

At the mention of Lin Chun'er's name, Song Qiu Han's lips curled into a smile. Lin Chun'er was his priceless treasure, and just hearing her name was enough to make him happy.

The two walked in and saw that Lumi and Will had already arrived. Luan Nian made brief introductions, and then the table fell quiet. Lumi had ordered six dishes. The portions here were generous, and every dish was delicious. She explained to Luan Nian, "Luke, it's not that the supplier is stingy—this place is genuinely amazing. It's family-run, and the flavors are incredible."

The four of them sitting at the table were quite a sight. The men were both refined, and the only woman at the table had a touch of wildness about her—altogether a pleasing scene.

Lumi got up to help Da Zhai with the work and took the opportunity to say to her, "See the one in the fancy shirt? That's mine and Tao Tao's former big boss. He has a terrible temper."

Da Zhai nodded. "He does look like someone with a bad temper. But he's really handsome—definitely looks like a boss."

Lumi chuckled and returned to the table.

When Da Zhai brought out the dishes, Luan Nian stood up to take them and said to her, "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Come back often."

"Sure."

As soon as the meal began, drinks were poured. Lumi kept making small talk, giving Luan Nian a headache. The bell at the entrance of the tavern jingled, and the door creaked open, letting in a gust of cold air. Lumi shouted, "Shang Zhi Tao!" and rushed forward.

Luan Nian turned around and saw Shang Zhi Tao, whom he hadn't seen in years. She was like a lone red plum tree blooming proudly on a vast, snowy plain.

Shang Zhi Tao's gaze met his, then calmly shifted away.

Wiping the past clean.