Whеn уоu trulу nеed to rеасquаint уourself with a businеss, уou havе to prосеss еndlеss аmounts of infоrmation. At this stage, Shang Zhi Таo оnly dеmаndеd lеarning frоm thе tеаm. Shе said in thе meeting, "Aраrt from Fаng Ke and thе girls from oрeratiоns, nо оnе еlsе undеrstands this business. Sо whаt do wе dо whеn we dоn’t understаnd? Wе need tо lеarn. Тhat’s why I’ve аsked Fang Kе tо hеlp drаft a learning рlаn. Fоr the nехt twо wееks, wе’ll be соnducting intеnsive trаining at the сomраnу. Starting nехt Моnday, evеryone should enjоy their weеkend first."
"Let mе sharе thе leаrning plan on screen," Fang Ke said.
"Great. I have one more request. Since everyone is currently unfamiliar with the business, we’ll let those who understand make the decisions. In other words, during this period, everyone should listen to Fang Ke."
Shang Zhi Tao was bold in delegating and authorizing. She always remembered Ling Mei’s principle: whoever is capable steps up.
While she was in the meeting, Luke lay beside her. Once the meeting ended, he became her shadow, following her everywhere, happily panting with his tongue out.
"Are you happy?" Shang Zhi Tao asked him.
"Woof!"
"Alright, I get it. You old traitor, do you really like him that much? Oh right, you two are the same—both old 'men.'" Shang Zhi Tao tapped Luke’s forehead with her finger. Luke seemed to sense this wasn’t a compliment and gently nibbled her fingertip, playing with her.
"I’ll go see Luke one more time before I leave tomorrow," Luan Nian texted her.
"Okay."
Shang Zhi Tao scrolled through their text history. Luan Nian had always been brief with his words; he never liked being verbose. Over nearly half a year, they had exchanged fewer than fifty messages, most of which were: "Sent, check for delivery."
He never specified what he had sent.
Shang Zhi Tao replied, "Okay."
"How’s your health?"
"Fine."
With this frequency and content of communication, it felt like a player keeping someone in his backup list.
Shang Zhi Tao had never asked about Luan Nian’s relationship status. Someone like him—how could there be a shortage of women around him? It seemed Luke had become the only connection between them. The reason they could still speak and meet so calmly was because Luan Nian loved Luke so much.
But it wasn’t just that.
Shang Zhi Tao couldn’t quite explain it. She felt an invisible string had tightened between her and Luan Nian again. Usually unseen, she knew it was there. Yet this string was different from before. In the past, she knew it would eventually snap, but this time it had more elasticity. Neither of them dared to pull too hard, afraid the recoil would hurt them.
When Luan Nian came to walk Luke the next day, Shang Zhi Tao had just woken up.
She opened the door, let Luan Nian take Luke downstairs, and turned back to scrounge up something to eat. She still couldn’t cook, so her home was always stocked with bread and milk.
Tearing off a piece of bread and stuffing it into her mouth, she suddenly remembered the delicious breakfasts she’d had at Luan Nian’s place and instantly lost her appetite. She put the bread down and rummaged through the cabinets for something to eat, only to find nothing.
When Luan Nian returned, he saw her sitting there in a daze. He unhooked Luke’s leash and asked, "What’s wrong?"
"I’m hungry," Shang Zhi Tao looked at him. "Have you eaten?"
"Not yet."
"Want to go out for breakfast? My treat."
"No need, I don’t like eating out."
Luan Nian was still as picky as ever. There were very few things he enjoyed eating, so he preferred to cook himself.
Rolling up his shirt sleeves, he headed to the kitchen, only to find that she didn’t even have an egg at home.“Is this how you live?” he asked her. He was actually a little angry. Her home looked clean and tidy, yet there wasn’t even any food. If things went on like this, she could starve to death alone in this house and no one might even notice. It might even make the news—the headline would read: Single woman in her thirties unable to cook, starves to death at home.
“I can eat at my mom’s.”
“You could also learn to cook for yourself.”
“I can’t. I tried seriously, but I failed.”
Luan Nian glanced at her. “So you can’t tell the difference between oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar?”
“You don’t know to add water when boiling eggs?”
“Or maybe you don’t even know how to go grocery shopping?”
“Honestly, I really don’t understand what’s so difficult about it.” Luan Nian couldn’t wrap his head around it. Were data formulas hard? She entered them manually. Were project proposals hard to write? She wrote dozens, even hundreds of pages. But cooking—was that really so hard?
“Why should I learn to cook? I can order takeout, I can eat at my mom’s, or I can find a boyfriend who knows how to cook.”
The part about a boyfriend who could cook slipped out casually from Shang Zhi Tao. When Luan Nian’s gaze swept over her, she sensed a chill.
Luan Nian didn’t like that remark. All the lecturing from Tan Mian and the others had been in vain. He couldn’t bring himself to give her a pleasant expression when she spouted such nonsense. The corner of his mouth twitched, and he walked out of the kitchen. He raised his forearm, using his thumb and index finger to fasten his cufflink. All these years, he had always dressed impeccably—down to every cufflink, which had to be to his own liking.
A man who never settled must be exhausting, right?
Shang Zhi Tao sat there watching him straighten his shirt, then asked, “Leaving?”
Luan Nian didn’t reply, heading toward the door. Luke followed behind him, wanting to go out together. He stopped and crouched down. “I have to go back to work. You stay and play with your mom.”
“Sister,” Shang Zhi Tao corrected him.
“You stay and play with your thirty-something-year-old sister.” After saying this, Luan Nian stood up and walked out.
He had only taken two steps when he heard Shang Zhi Tao say to Luke, “Say goodbye to your forty-something-year-old brother.”
Luan Nian turned to look at her. She stubbornly lifted her chin, her expression still defiant, unwilling to lose this verbal spar. The corner of his mouth twitched, forming what could be considered a smile, yet it seemed tinged with a hint of mockery. “Wishing you success in your second venture.”
“Thank you.”
Shang Zhi Tao and Luke watched from the window as Luan Nian disappeared from sight, then grabbed some bread and milk for a quick meal.
By Monday, a courier called her. “You have a cold-chain delivery.”
“Huh?” Shang Zhi Tao was a bit puzzled. She took a taxi home from the company and received a foam box. Opening it, she saw it was indeed a cold-chain delivery—the ice hadn’t fully melted yet. Inside were fresh milk and a small box of osmanthus flowers.
The reason Luan Nian’s osmanthus milk tasted so good was because he drizzled dried osmanthus with syrup, then dried it again before sprinkling it over the milk. When drinking it, you could taste the sweetness of the syrup and the almost imperceptible fragrance of osmanthus. The crispy, sweet texture was addictive.
Shang Zhi Tao had tried to figure it out herself, but she could never get it right. Eagerly, she boiled the milk, poured it out, and sprinkled the osmanthus on top. With the first sip, it felt as if she had returned to those mornings years ago when she woke up in his home. He would make breakfast and casually push a cup of osmanthus milk in front of her.
Her heart suddenly softened just a little.
She took out her phone and added him as a friend.Luan Nian was sitting through a tedious and lengthy board meeting when he saw a new friend request notification. The request note read "Shang Zhi Tao," and he felt as if a beam of light had pierced through a corner of his heart. An irrepressible sense of joy spread from his chest to the corners of his lips.
He smiled.
He accepted her friend request and clicked on her profile picture. It seemed to be a close-up of her face taken while she was out having fun—her cheeks flushed red in the icy, snowy landscape, smiling happily. He then checked her social feed, but it was clean, with nothing posted.
Around 2017, a chat app introduced a "look back" feature, and Luan Nian idly clicked to participate. The first item in the recap was: "Who was your first friend? Are you still in touch?" Luan Nian saw the tiny profile picture of Shang Zhi Tao from back then. He remembered the day they added each other—she seemed to be on a business trip and had sent him the invitation.
He asked her, "What is this?"
"Just download it."
Luan Nian added her.
That "look back" feature nearly broke Luan Nian's heart. He thought, the first person I added has disappeared.
I looked for her. I know where she is. I was waiting for the right moment to appear, but the right moment never came.
Now, sitting in the conference room, he sent Shang Zhi Tao a "?"
"Thank you for the osmanthus milk."
"You're welcome. I hope you find a boyfriend who can cook soon." She said it out of spite.
Shang Zhi Tao laughed when she saw the message in the taxi.
The driver asked her, "Something good happen, miss?"
"No. Just met someone quite amusing."
Shang Zhi Tao plunged headfirst into her studies.
The logic of online advertising was incredibly complex, with the core being to thoroughly understand data metrics—the methodology would naturally follow. She required everyone in the company to be proficient with numbers and to memorize all industry terminology.
CPM, CPC, CPA, CTR... Over a hundred abbreviations were listed, and everyone had to be able to explain any one of them on the spot. When data was presented, they had to know how to calculate it. The women, of course, had no problem—they had always been immersed in systems and backends, tinkering with materials and studying data. The men, however, groaned in agony. A bunch of rough-and-tumble event-goers suddenly having to deal with data metrics—their brains seemed to short-circuit.
Seeing their troubled expressions, Shang Zhi Tao couldn't help but laugh for a long time, thinking to herself: You silly little fools.
Suddenly, she remembered how Luan Nian always used to say to her:
"Did you bring your brain?"
"Could you use your brain?"
"What are you saving your brain for?"
She would never say such things to her employees. Luan Nian was too harsh on people.
At noon, she went to the company rooftop to eat. Lumi sent her a video: Luan Nian berating someone in a meeting, with everyone present too afraid to speak. Shang Zhi Tao was instantly transported back to the terror of attending meetings with Luan Nian.
"See? A stubborn mule can only become more stubborn, turning into the most stubborn, orientationally male old mule. But a mule is always a mule."
"Aren't you afraid he'll find out you said that?"
"I'm not afraid of him." Lumi sent a picture that read, "Who has this lady ever been afraid of?" and added, "I dare say, I'm the second person in the company who dares to provoke him. The first is Tracy."
"Outside the company, I think there's only one person named Shang Zhi Tao who dares to provoke him."
"No, no, I don't dare." Shang Zhi Tao immediately backed down.The breeze on the rooftop was pleasant, lulling Shang Zhi Tao into drowsiness. With the support of a cup of osmanthus milk, she felt today had been quite good. After days of intense studying, by the weekend, she suddenly felt like going out for a walk.
So she rented a car and drove to the outskirts of the city, taking Luke with her.
She randomly found a farmhouse inn to check into, then took Luke out for a run. Luke loved outings, and the two of them—one human, one dog—had a wonderful time. It wasn’t until Luan Nian called for the third time that she finally heard it and answered, asking him, “What’s up?”
“Where are you?”
“I’m out having fun.”
“I came to see Luke.”
“Luke is with me.”
Luan Nian hadn’t expected to fly over early in the morning only to find no one there, so he asked, “Could you let me know in advance next time you go out?”
“Did you tell me in advance that you were coming to see Luke?”
The next time, Luan Nian gave notice, and Shang Zhi Tao left Luke with him while she went off to have fun. The two of them didn’t even cross paths.
“If you find it inconvenient to travel back and forth between the hotel and my place, you can stay in the guest room. That way, you can spend more time with him,” she said to Luan Nian.
“Aren’t you afraid of what the neighbors might say?”
“What do I have to be afraid of?”
Was there any shortage of gossip? A single woman in her thirties starting a business—how many labels had been slapped on her? The stories were told in full detail, even describing the man who was supposedly keeping her: in his fifties, bald, with a potbelly, wearing a gold watch, looking very wealthy, leaving her house early in the morning.
If the neighbors saw Luan Nian, the rumors might actually sound better. In his early thirties, handsome and dashing, with an arrogant demeanor and an exceptional air—it would probably be said that she was using her old lover’s money to keep a younger man.
So Luan Nian really did stay in the guest room.
His suitcase had everything, and he treated Shang Zhi Tao’s home like a hotel. Her place was fine in every way, except there was hardly any food. Luan Nian couldn’t understand why a woman lived like this, so he went out to the supermarket and bought plenty of fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, eggs, and seafood, filling the refrigerator to the brim.
In the evening, he minced meat and steamed meatballs for Luke, just like he used to.
Luke never imagined he’d get to eat this again in his lifetime. He sat to the side, tongue hanging out, waiting eagerly, drool dripping onto the floor. Luan Nian heard the sound and turned to look at him. “Aren’t you embarrassed?”
“Haven’t you ever eaten meat before?”
“Look at you, so easily pleased!”
While scolding Luke, Luan Nian pulled him over to brush his fur. “The bath card I bought a few years ago still hasn’t been used up. It’s been extended four times already. Will I ever get the chance to take you for a bath in this lifetime?”
Luke rubbed his head against him, as if to say: I think so.
By the time Luan Nian left, Shang Zhi Tao was still stuck in traffic on the outskirts of the city. She saw his message: “I’m leaving.”
“Safe travels.”
When she returned home, she opened the refrigerator to look for something to eat and found it fully stocked with fruits, vegetables, and everything else. Opening the freezer, she saw seafood, fish, and meat inside.
There was also a note: “Luke’s meatballs are on the first shelf. Heat three for him each time.”
She called him and, hearing the boarding announcement in the background, asked, “Will you come to see Luke next week?”
“If time allows.”
“Did you run into any of my neighbors while walking the dog?”
“I did.”
“What did they say?”
“They asked if I was your boyfriend.”
“Oh.”
Shang Zhi Tao let out an “oh,” and after a moment, heard Luan Nian say, “I said yes.”
“Whatever. My reputation isn’t great anyway.” With that, Shang Zhi Tao hung up the phone.The next day while walking the dog, she saw her neighbor and nodded toward her: "No boyfriend walking the dog today?"
"Which boyfriend?" Shang Zhi Tao teased the gossipy neighbor.
"How many do you have? Which one else? That young man who looks like a celebrity!"
"Oh oh oh!" Shang Zhi Tao nodded: "He's gone, back to work."
Just laughing it off without taking it seriously.
During the holidays, she had talked with Shang Zhi Shu, and both felt that criticism of single women was nothing. Some even label you as an improper professional, leaving you unable to clear your name.
"How much better is my bald, big-bellied, gold-watch-wearing uncle?" Shang Zhi Tao joked.
====
By July, when Shang Zhi Tao had everything prepared, the channel manager from Zhang Lei's company came for an inspection, and Zhang Lei came along too.
Upon hearing that Zhang Lei was going to Ice City to inspect Shang Zhi Tao's company, Sun Yu also found time to fly over.
Sun Yu's company was now a KA client of Zhang Lei's company, with an annual advertising investment of 150 million placed with them.
The few of them sat in Shang Zhi Tao's company office, glanced at each other, and suddenly all laughed.
Zhang Lei said to the channel manager: "You don't know what we're laughing about, right?"
"Back then, we all lived together in a rented apartment."
That was many, many years ago, when they were all young, pushed along by fate every day. Looking back now, their innocent selves are the most worth missing.
Zhang Lei said to Shang Zhi Tao: "I haven't seen you in five or six years, I think. But why haven't you changed? I envy you."
"I've changed too. In mindset." She smiled: "First, let the manufacturer's boss inspect the business, okay? Then I'll treat everyone to a meal. Today, let's invite dajia to eat a simple home-cooked meal at my family's restaurant."
"Will we get to see Da Zhai and Old Shang?" Zhang Lei asked.
"Yes."
"Alright then."
Shang Zhi Tao led the manufacturer's executives on the inspection. She had prepared carefully because she knew they would write an inspection report covering the company's office space, employee quality, the boss's financial strength, and network resources. This report would determine Shang Zhi Tao's initial track.
She brought the channel manager to the office area and clapped her hands: "Team, let me introduce the manufacturer's channel manager."
The young men and women stood up, their smiles sincere, all bearing the characteristics of their company.
"You can ask any professional questions at random," Shang Zhi Tao said to the channel manager.
"At random?"
"Yes, ask anything."
Shang Zhi Tao had always known that learning was useful, but she didn't expect to be pushed onto a completely new track in her early thirties. When we know nothing, just learn. Learning will show you the way.
She was confident and steadfast.
The channel manager randomly asked a few questions, including LBS positioning, audience packages, feed ads, and data algorithms. He randomly pointed to a colleague in the company to answer, and the young people answered crisply and clearly, adding their insights, not inferior to the manufacturer's operations manager.
Sun Yu and Zhang Lei sat in Shang Zhi Tao's office listening to the commotion outside and said with a smile: "I knew it, she's always serious."
"Not being serious wouldn't be Shang Zhi Tao."
"Giving up wouldn't be Shang Zhi Tao either."Shang Zhi Tao took the channel manager to visit the company's pantry—small but fully equipped. She ground a cup of coffee for the channel manager, and the two sat inside chatting for a while.
Shang Zhi Tao said to him, "I think it's necessary for me to properly introduce myself."
"I know you used to work at Lingmei."
"Yes, I was a special contribution employee at Lingmei. My strengths are exploring new business and developing methodologies."
"I can see that. Some of the data insights the employees mentioned earlier are rarely covered even in our internal training."
"So I want a core track," Shang Zhi Tao said. "Believe me, I know we can't compare to cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Shenzhen here—the internet environment isn't as developed. But I can guarantee two things: first, growth rate—surpassing those major cities; second, industry methodology, which is the benchmark approach. I know your internal promotions are also based on these metrics."
The channel manager had met many agency owners, most of them middle-aged, wealthy, and brash, who would immediately say, "I'll invest money and people, and I guarantee results." But if you asked how they would achieve it, the owner would just point to someone and say, "You explain how to do it."
Shang Zhi Tao was different. She analyzed the business clearly and even understood their internal promotion mechanisms.
But he said, "You and Director Zhang are old acquaintances. You can secure a core track."
"No," Shang Zhi Tao shook her head. "I also promise I will never discuss any work matters privately with Director Zhang. My primary partner and reporting person is you."
Shang Zhi Tao thought to herself, this is also part of the workplace—navigating relationships and social dynamics. She understood it well.
"Alright," the channel manager stood up. "Let's wrap up today's inspection for now. I'll write a thorough report. You should also review the resources you have on hand and let me know which track you want to enter."
"Okay. I'll confirm by next week."
During dinner at the old tavern that evening, the channel manager praised her, "I've never met such a professional agency owner."
"Then you haven't seen the cases she worked on before," Zhang Lei said. "Back then, I wanted to recruit her to lead the planning team, but she decided to return to Bingcheng."
"Stop praising me," Shang Zhi Tao covered her face. "I can't handle compliments!"
The group hadn't drunk together in years, and tonight's gathering felt like they were making up for all the missed drinks. By the end, though, they still felt unsatisfied. Shang Zhi Tao invited them, "Why not come to my place for a bit?"
So the group went to her home.
Sun Yu saw Luke again, and Zhang Lei saw the wall full of books. He stood in front of it, randomly pulled out a book, and saw the reading notes inside. Suddenly, his eyes reddened, and he muttered, "Damn!"
"You can have this one," Shang Zhi Tao said to him. "A book for a kindred spirit."
Zhang Lei wiped his eyes. "I'm actually kind of envious of him. We'll all grow older and eventually become old folks. Only he remains forever young."
"Who says otherwise?" Shang Zhi Tao replied. She walked to the book wall, took out a book, and inside was a photo—behind them, misty clouds swirled, and the four of them grinned foolishly at the camera.
It was the best year, the best version of them atop Mount Tai, overlooking the majestic mountains, their shouts piercing the heavens and earth, connecting the past with the present.
Shang Zhi Tao quietly asked Sun Yu, "Have you let go?"
"I have, and yet I haven't. What about you?"
I have.
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