Тhе lаst timе Shаng Zhitao сriеd in frоnt оf Luаn Nian was alrеаdy sevеral yеаrs аgо.
Тhаt day, shе had broken down, leading Lukе аwaу from his hоmе, wаlking fоr a lоng, lоng timе in thе snоw. Luan Niаn rememberеd thаt daу, following behind hеr, yet nеver steррing fоrwаrd.
Lаtеr, hе regrettеd сountlеss timеs—whу hadn’t hе steррed forwаrd tо embrаce her whеn she was weерing bittеrly?
Luаn Nian walked uр tо hеr, sighed, аnd рullеd hеr intо his аrms. Shang Zhitао restеd her fоreheаd agаinst his сhеst, a distаnсе still bеtween them, аnd cried like that for а while. Teаrs seeрed intо Luаn Nian’s сlothes, dampening the area over his heart. He wanted to hold her tightly but sensed her resistance. So he loosened his grip, letting her head rest there.
After she finished wiping her tears, feeling a bit awkward, she thanked him, gently pushed him away, and took a step back.
“Did you come to see Luke?”
“Yes. I wanted to come right after the restrictions were lifted, but I was delayed by a lot of things.”
“Alright, I’ll bring him down. Wait a moment.”
Shang Zhitao went upstairs to bring Luke down. They hadn’t seen each other for several months, and Luke went crazy again. He picked up his leash and handed it to Luan Nian, letting him walk him in circles. During this time, Shang Zhitao said twice that it was time to go home, but Luke either sat down or pulled back, refusing to go home no matter what.
“It’s fine, I’ll walk him a little longer.”
“No need, come upstairs and play with him.”
“Is it convenient?” Luan Nian asked her.
When had Luan Nian ever asked her if it was convenient before? He did whatever he wanted, always willful. Shang Zhitao thought seriously for a moment: “It’s convenient, come on up.”
Hearing this, Luke tugged Luan Nian forward: “Hurry, let’s go home.”
As soon as he entered, he drank half a bowl of water—he was parched after walking outside for so long. After drinking, he let out a huff and lay on the floor, watching Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao.
Shang Zhitao fetched a pair of slippers for Luan Nian and pointed to the sofa: “Have a seat.”
“Alright.”
This was Luan Nian’s first time visiting Shang Zhitao’s home. Her house was decorated very warmly, especially the wall of books in the living room—it was incredibly cozy.
“Mind if I take a look around?” he asked Shang Zhitao.
“Sure.”
Shang Zhitao showed Luan Nian around her home. She had converted one of the bedrooms into a gym, while the other two bedrooms—one master and one guest—were decorated simply.
“Have a seat for a bit, I’ll boil some water,” Shang Zhitao said to him before going to heat the water.
Luan Nian stood in front of the book wall, randomly pulled out a book, and found a reading note tucked inside the first page. The handwriting was strong and powerful, but it wasn’t Shang Zhitao’s.
Shang Zhitao’s handwriting wasn’t like this. Luan Nian gently placed the book back.
“Is warm water okay? There’s no cold drinks at home, I haven’t had time to buy any yet. Besides, we’re all getting older, so it’s better not to drink anything too cold.”
…
Luan Nian instinctively wanted to say something to her but remembered Tan Mian and the others repeatedly warning him before he came: “Don’t mess things up.” So he swallowed his words and took the water from Shang Zhitao.
“What happened to you earlier?”
“Nothing much. It’s just that I just got the money from mortgaging the property, and I feel a bit uneasy.”
“Why did you mortgage the property?”
“Because our company is barely hanging on. This year, fewer companies are holding events, but employee expenses and rent still need to be paid. Plus, there are hundreds of thousands in outstanding payments that haven’t been collected yet.”
“Hmm.” Luan Nian made a sound of acknowledgment and lowered his head to drink water.
“What do you want to say? Go ahead.”"I want to say, what's going on with you? You start a company without a backup plan? Just charging down a single path? Oh, you want to be an agent, so why didn’t you start earlier?" Luan Nian couldn’t hold back. When he was serious, he could be quite intimidating.
"I didn’t have startup capital."
"I do."
Those two words from Luan Nian—"I do"—silenced Shang Zhi Tao. She looked at him. In the past, she had relied heavily on him. No matter what happened, she would think, "I need to ask Luke for advice; Luke will guide me." But now she had moved beyond that dependence, building her own mental framework. She even disliked that kind of reliance.
She took out her bank card and placed it on the table. "I mortgaged my property, sold my car, and I still have some savings. I can start over."
"Luan Nian, I don’t need your help. Even though I know you mean well, thank you. This time, I want to rely on myself. In the future, I want to rely on myself too."
Shang Zhi Tao didn’t like depending on others.
Since she had burned her bridges, she was prepared to lose everything, yet she was determined to see things through. After all, there were still over a dozen people waiting for her decisions.
"Then why were you crying just now?"
"...I don’t know. I cry when I feel like it. Do I need a reason to cry?"
Luke sensed the tension between them and suddenly stood up, running to sit between them facing Luan Nian, sticking out his tongue.
"You don’t need a reason to cry, but now you need to think about what I’ll do without clothes to wear."
"What do you mean? Aren’t you wearing clothes right now?"
"I don’t like going out in dirty clothes."
"I’ll buy you some now."
Shang Zhi Tao stood up and walked out, with Luan Nian following behind.
"Aren’t you the one who doesn’t like going out in dirty clothes?"
"Don’t you need to try on clothes when buying them? Do you know my size?"
"Can’t you just buy something random?"
"I never do things randomly."
Shang Zhi Tao no longer had a car, and Luan Nian hadn’t driven either. The two of them stood by the roadside after leaving. Luan Nian, hands in his pockets, watched Shang Zhi Tao hail a taxi, beads of sweat still clinging to the tip of her nose. Suddenly, he remembered the first time he went on a business trip to Guangzhou, that fleeting moment of distraction when his eyes swept over her face during a meal.
"How does it feel to have nothing?" Luan Nian asked her.
Shang Zhi Tao looked up at him. "Pretty terrible, but also pretty exhilarating. In the end, I’m a gambler too." She laughed to herself, still the lively girl she had always been.
Well, I wish you success then!
It seemed they had never gone shopping together before.
Entering the mall, Shang Zhi Tao wanted to head straight to the men’s clothing store, but Luan Nian turned into a coffee shop. He ordered an iced Americano, a bottle of soda water, and a piece of cake, then found a seat by the window.
He pushed the soda water toward Shang Zhi Tao, and the two sat facing each other.
The weather in Harbin as summer approached was pleasant. For once, they weren’t arguing, and they set aside their past grievances, sitting together like this for a while.
Luan Nian told Shang Zhi Tao a few things.
He mentioned his parents returning to the country and how he would go into the city every week to have meals with them. He also talked about Song Qiu Han and Chen Kuan Nian, whom Shang Zhi Tao had met, and about Song Qiu Han and Lin Chun’er, Chen Kuan Nian and Xiao Mei.
He spoke in bits and pieces, but she listened attentively.
When he mentioned Chen Kuan Nian, Shang Zhi Tao said, "Thank him. The final payment for his collection exhibition came in just in time, right before payday."
Luan Nian’s lips twitched slightly. Chen Kuan Nian wouldn’t dare delay the payment—he had made sure of it by overseeing the transfer himself."So, how do you plan to handle advertising agency work?" Luan Nian asked her seriously.
"I have a roommate who currently handles commercialization at an internet company. I've learned about the current industry situation from him and am also preparing to start studying."
"Studying what?"
"Various advertising practitioner certifications." Shang Zhi Tao thought for a moment: "Internet advertising is different from the advertising forms at Lingmei before. Although the underlying logic is similar, many approaches are different. So, I plan for our entire company to get certified first. Don't rush to start working; get certified before taking on roles."
Luan Nian nodded: "What about clients? This kind of agency system has been well implemented in lower-tier markets, and clients are almost all divided up."
"Some supermarket and real estate clients we previously worked with have agreed to provide funds for us to conduct tests. So I want to apply for these two tracks first."
"Pretty good."
"You don't have any other suggestions?"
"Didn't you want to rely on yourself?"
"But I can listen to your suggestions."
"My suggestion is, just do it, believe in yourself." Luan Nian stood up: "Let's go, buy clothes."
"Okay."
Shang Zhi Tao took him to the men's clothing floor: "You pick a store, I don't know what brands you like."
Luan Nian casually walked into a store and pointed at a piece of clothing: "This one."
The salesperson, seeing his excellent demeanor, persuaded him: "It's on sale now, you could buy a few more pieces."
Luan Nian turned and asked Shang Zhi Tao: "Two pieces?"
To outsiders, it sounded like he was being kept.
Shang Zhi Tao was taken aback for a moment and said: "One piece."
"Then you pay."
"?"
"Otherwise? Me pay? Why?"
Seeing the salesperson's strange expression, Shang Zhi Tao didn't want to argue with him. She paid and walked out of the mall: "Why don't you change into it?"
"It hasn't been washed yet."
She knew before that Luan Nian had a bit of a cleanliness obsession, but she didn't expect it to still be there after all this time. But now she could truly respect people's diversity more, so she nodded: "Then wash it when you get back before wearing it."
"Okay."
It was dusk. Luan Nian looked at her standing in the twilight, a clean and pure person. His heart stirred slightly.
"Shang Zhi Tao, I'll come see Luke again tomorrow, then go to the airport. If there's a chance in the future, I'll come again."
"You can come see Luke anytime."
"Okay."
Luan Nian took a step closer to her, looking directly into her eyes: "There's one thing I feel I need to tell you in person. Back when you were competing for the expert position, there were two abnormal questionnaires. I didn't rate them. If you can still remember, the one with the highest comprehensive score was from me. You always asked me to be fair—I was fair. Now I ask you, do you believe me?"
Shang Zhi Tao's eyes grew slightly warm. She actually knew. Less than half a year after she left, Grace left Lingmei due to bribery and unfair competition. Given Luan Nian's temperament, he should have sent her to prison, but her child was still young, so Luan Nian showed mercy. The other low-scoring questionnaire came from another expert reviewer. The company sent a company-wide email. After she reconnected with Lumi, Lumi immediately sent her a screenshot and said to her: "You deserve it.""So, my rating represents my attitude toward you. If you felt you were not good enough when you first joined Lingmei, lacking confidence, or even thought I looked down on you when you left, then I need to clarify: you were indeed not good enough when you joined, but when you left, you were the best employee I had ever trained."
Shang Zhi Tao suddenly recalled those six years—the six years of weathering storms, never daring to pause for a moment, the six years she gritted her teeth and endured.
With tears in her eyes, she said to Luan Nian, "Thank you."
"You can cry. No need to hold back. It's not like you haven't cried today."
Luan Nian really knew how to ruin the moment. He always knew how to pour cold water on you at any time. Shang Zhi Tao was both annoyed and amused, wiping away her tears with her fingertips. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Luan Nian turned and walked away.
Tan Mian and the others had told him, "Between people, you must exchange sincerity for sincerity." He was just beginning to learn that love is a long-term cultivation. But he learned too late—he had already missed the time when Shang Zhi Tao loved him.
Shang Zhi Tao watched Luan Nian leave. After returning home, she started an online meeting, and her new partners all logged in. Fu Dong led a few people to switch to sales, while the others were assigned to Fu Dong's classmate Fang Ke to work with other girls as pitchers and operators.
At the meeting, Shang Zhi Tao said, "I know we started late, and I know this might not be the best timing, but I've mortgaged my property and sold my car. I'm not planning to turn back."
"So, comrades, are you ready to begin the battle?"
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