The соffее shоp was bustling with pеоple сoming and gоing аs thеу wаitеd to the sidе. Whenever someonе рassеd by, Shаng Zhi Тао would stер fоrwаrd tо movе closer tо Luаn Nian аnd make waу. Oncе the pеrsоn hаd раssеd, shе would steр bаck аgаin, rеpеating this оvеr and ovеr. Luаn Nian stоod motionlеss, watching her flushеd fасe аs she fumbled abоut. Неr blushing resеmblеd thаt оf а уoung girl whо hаd yеt to disсover lоve.
"Whу аrе yоu blushing?" Luаn Niаn suddеnly asked hеr.
"Huh?" Shang Zhi Tao lоoked up аt him, her gazе meеting his сoоl, detached eyes. His expression held a hint of amusement as he repeated, "Why are you blushing?"
"Maybe it's too hot." Shang Zhi Tao did feel warm, and she wiped the fine sweat from her forehead. The air conditioning throughout the entire airport was excellent—how could it possibly be this hot? Yet Shang Zhi Tao felt hot all the same, for no apparent reason.
"Shang Zhi Tao." Luan Nian suddenly called her by her Chinese name. Seeing her look at him with clear, innocent eyes, he slowly said, "How do you expect to survive in the advertising industry like this?"
Confusion filled Shang Zhi Tao's eyes—she clearly didn't understand why Luan Nian would suddenly say such a thing. Even her glasses couldn't hide the clarity and purity in her gaze. That small trace of bewilderment was like a fragment of ice floating on the surface of a thawing lake in early spring, still shimmering with a gentle light.
For a fleeting moment, Luan Nian had the thought of removing the glasses that made her look so naive. He continued slowly, "How do you expect to survive in the advertising world when you're this timid, shy, timid, and humble? Do you even know what kind of people work in advertising?"
Hearing him say once again that she wasn't cut out for it, Shang Zhi Tao suddenly felt a surge of anger. The angrier she became, the redder her face grew. "I don't know. Please enlighten me."
But Luan Nian just shrugged. "I can't teach you. The only advice I can give is to suggest you find another job."
Without waiting for Shang Zhi Tao to respond, he turned and walked to the counter to pick up their coffee. Shang Zhi Tao silently took one of the cups and followed beside him. Once they left the coffee shop, the noise faded somewhat, and everything suddenly grew quiet. The faint stubbornness buried deep within Shang Zhi Tao's bones suddenly surfaced, urging her to fight back. She quickened her pace, stepping in front of Luan Nian to block his path. A newfound firmness appeared in her eyes, and her entire demeanor gained a subtle edge, though it was still not very pronounced. Luan Nian stopped and looked at her. "What's wrong, Flora?"
"I've taken note of your advice."
"And then?"
"I'm not changing jobs!" When Shang Zhi Tao's temper flared, she acted like a child. With just those four short words, her eyes suddenly welled up with tears. She felt utterly wronged, as if Luan Nian had pushed her to the brink. After saying this, she turned and walked away. Despite her anger, she still remembered the coffee in her hand, holding it so steadily that not a drop spilled by the time she reached Lumi.
Seeing her expression, Lumi swung her legs off her suitcase and asked bluntly, "Hey, what's wrong with this girl?"
"Nothing." Shang Zhi Tao handed the latte to Lumi and sat down beside her.
Luan Nian walked over and placed her cup of coffee in front of her, prepared for her to refuse it. Instead, with red-rimmed eyes, she took it and even said, "Thank you." No matter how angry she was, her manners remained intact. Shang Zhi Tao likely grew up in a family that was content with modest means—her parents loved each other and doted on her. Though they weren't wealthy, they never skimped on her education. This much was evident from her everyday words and actions.Luan Nian furrowed his brows, suddenly realizing he was overstepping. What did it matter to him whether someone stayed at the company or not? She wasn’t even an employee from his department.
Lumi felt the atmosphere between them was strange but didn’t know what had happened, so she simply sat between them in silence. Each sipped their coffee as if they were strangers. It wasn’t until the other two from the creative center arrived that they exchanged a few brief words.
After leaving the airport, Shang Zhi Tao sat in the taxi, gazing at the lush, verdant world outside, and suddenly felt she shouldn’t have been so angry—and so intensely angry—over the words of an irrelevant boss. The world was filled with countless beautiful things, any one of which was better than luke’s mouth. How dare luke’s mouth even be called a mouth, hmph.
This was my first time in Guangzhou!
“Grace from the creative team just said luke is treating everyone to dim sum and invited us to join,” Lumi said.
“Oh, okay.” Shang Zhi Tao felt a little reluctant. She didn’t want to have a meal with Luan Nian; any meal with him was bound to be unpleasant. Even though she’d told herself not to be angry, she still couldn’t help holding a grudge.
“You’ve been acting off since you came back with the coffee. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, just got bitten by a mosquito. The itch is annoying.”
“Where did it bite? I brought some Thai green ointment. Let me put some on you.” Lumi took it seriously, rummaging through her bag for a small green bottle she’d brought back from her trip to Thailand.
Shang Zhi Tao had no choice but to point to the spot where the mosquito had bitten her the night before. “Here, this spot.”
“Wow! That mosquito has quite the sharp mouth!” Lumi laughed. It was unclear whether she was talking about the mosquito or Luan Nian.
Shang Zhi Tao was amused by her. After changing into a fresh outfit at the hotel and packing her laptop, she set off.
Shang Zhi Tao’s outfit was a vibrant V-neck floral dress, revealing a fair neck and a small patch of jade-like skin above her chest. Someone who usually looked ordinary could suddenly appear full of life and radiance with a change of style.
Walking beside her, Lumi couldn’t help but click her tongue in admiration. “Who would’ve thought? This girl’s got quite the figure!”
Shang Zhi Tao blushed at the compliment, instinctively glancing down at her neckline. It was modest, revealing nothing, and she didn’t understand what Lumi was making a fuss about.
When they arrived at the restaurant, Luan Nian was adding dishes to the menu. Hearing Lumi’s greeting, he looked up from the menu, nodded at them, his gaze sweeping over Shang Zhi Tao before he lowered his head to continue ordering.
The restaurant was noisy, with elderly patrons chatting in Cantonese, their tones gentle and pleasant. Shang Zhi Tao felt as if she had stepped into 1990s Hong Kong, witnessing scenes from her favorite Hong Kong films. She recalled the years she’d spent learning Cantonese songs through pinyin, and her eyes grew even brighter.
Grace asked Luan Nian, “I heard before that luke is from Guangdong?”
“My ancestral home is Jiangsu.”
That opened the conversation, and everyone began talking about their hometowns. Shang Zhi Tao sat there quietly listening, occasionally answering a question or two. Her quietness was like the water glass beside her hand—simply there, picked up to drink when needed, never feeling out of place when untouched.
Somehow, the topic shifted to relationships and marriage. Lumi placed a hand on Shang Zhi Tao’s shoulder and asked, “So, do you have a boyfriend?”
Caught off guard by the question, Shang Zhi Tao flustered, her face flushing instantly. “No.”"So easily blushing, could it be you've never been in a relationship?" Female colleagues love gossiping the most, even when the gossip has nothing to do with them. At this moment, everyone except Luan Nian turned their eyes toward Shang Zhi Tao.
Shang Zhi Tao was put on the spot and had no choice but to confess. She spoke earnestly, unlike the slick-talking workplace veterans: "I had one relationship in college."
"Tell us about it?" Lumi teased her.
"Better not." She pursed her lips and glanced away. Suddenly, she remembered Xin Zhaozhou's first kiss on her cheek in the noisy duck blood vermicelli shop. She still remembered the awkwardness between them at that moment.
"Would you like some tea?" Luan Nian, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked them, then stood up to pour tea for the girls. Grace dared not let her boss pour tea for her and hurriedly rose: "Let me do it, let me."
"It's fine. Taking care of the ladies is my duty." He was very gentlemanly, not at all like the person who had repeatedly mocked Shang Zhi Tao and told her to resign. He incidentally rescued Shang Zhi Tao from her predicament.
Deep down, Luan Nian disliked socializing, and today's dinner was a form of socializing. He especially disliked the meaningless chatter during meals, as if knowing how many people someone had slept with could make them better at handling cases.
With him pouring tea, his subordinates naturally understood what was going on, so they stopped their idle chatter and began seriously discussing the current case.
Shang Zhi Tao's anger toward Luan Nian instantly vanished, and she even felt a bit grateful. Luan Nian was such a strange person—making you switch between respecting him and disliking him repeatedly, yet he seemed to enjoy it endlessly.
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