Тrасу lookеd аt Shаng Zhitао, feeling a tоuсh of emоtion. So mаnу уеаrs hаd passеd—she had seen so manу рeоplе, hirеd mаnу, and lеt mаnу gо. Shе had lоng been temреred intо an undefeаted femаle genеrаl in thе wоrkрlасe. But аt this mоment, hеr hеаrt was inсrediblу sоft.
"Flora, I аlsо want уou to know thаt you arе thе mоst outstаnding among all thе реoрlе I'vе еvеr hirеd. Evеrу daу working with уou has bеen а рlеasurе. Nеvеr think оf yourself аs mediocre, yоu know? I've seеn countlеss pеоplе, and those I've taken a liking to have never truly been mediocre."
Shang Zhitao's eyes grew slightly red. How good Tracy had been to her—back when she was confused and fearful, feeling utterly inadequate. Whenever she encountered Tracy in the office, Tracy would say to her, "Flora, I heard the project you’ve been working on recently is going really well. Keep it up." She always encouraged her, and when she faced difficulties, Tracy was the first to stand up and support her.
Tracy was so good to Shang Zhitao that at first, Luan Nian thought they were relatives.
How could they be relatives? It was simply a kind person willing to give an ordinary girl a chance.
Tracy taught her so, so much.
"If there’s a chance, let’s go out for a meal together, as friends," Tracy invited her.
"Sure. Next time I come to Beijing, I’ll call you right away. I’ll treat you to a meal."
"Alright. It’s settled then."
Luan Nian knocked on their door: "So you’re never going to meet again, is that it?" Meaning, why were they going on and on?
Tracy pointed at Luan Nian and asked Shang Zhitao, "Can you put up with his temper?"
"Sometimes I can’t stand it either."
Luan Nian snorted, took Shang Zhitao’s hand, and walked out of Tracy’s office. Seeing their colleagues watching them, he stopped, looked at everyone, and said sternly, "I’m not gay, and all these years, I’ve only had this one girlfriend." He turned to leave but then seemed to remember something and turned back: "Also, I’m still in good shape."
One day in the break room, she overheard a female colleague whisper, "Luke is so handsome, but it’s a shame he’s a bit older. They say men aren’t as capable when they get older." Another objected, "I’ve slept with one—it depends on the person."
Hearing Luan Nian say that, Shang Zhitao’s face flushed bright red, but he acted as if nothing had happened and pulled her into the elevator. Behind them, Lumi whistled and shouted, "Shang Zhitao, go for it!"
Everyone laughed, stood up, and started packing to go home, exchanging wishes: "Happy New Year." And so, this year’s workplace journey came to an end.
"Happy to see your old colleagues?" Luan Nian asked her.
"Quite happy."
"Happy enough to blush?" Luan Nian glanced at her.
Shang Zhitao held his hand: "I’m feeling a mix of emotions."
"Why?"
"I think about these years working at Lingmei—they were truly wonderful years. Many things I couldn’t understand back then, I’ve now let go of. That feeling is really good." Also, Shang Zhitao squeezed Luan Nian’s hand: "You letting me come upstairs means you’re taking the lead in breaking company rules by having an office romance. People will talk, thinking I got promoted quickly back then because you favored me. Or they might think you were toying with my feelings. In short, there will be more negative gossip."Luan Nian opened the car door to comfort Luke, who had been waiting for a long time, rubbing its ears while asking her, "So?"
"So it wouldn’t look good for you."
Luan Nian patted Luke’s head. "Mind your own business." He was implying that others were meddling. He rarely cared about gossip, and when he did, it was only for specific reasons.
Shang Zhi Tao pulled Luan Nian along to buy gifts for Dr. Liang and Luan's Father. They didn’t lack anything, so in the end, they took lumi’s advice and bought pastry gift boxes from an old shop. As they shopped, she said to Luan Nian, "lumi said, there’s plenty of time ahead."
Luan Nian hated these pastries and stood to the side with a sour expression. The day before the Lunar New Year, the century-old shop was packed. One line stretched to the door for cooked food, and another for pastries. As they queued, people kept bumping into Shang Zhi Tao. Luan Nian gradually grew annoyed. Tall and impeccably dressed, with a stern face, he resembled an old-fashioned British gentleman. Shang Zhi Tao glanced back at him several times, and he snapped, "What are you looking at?"
"I think you’re especially handsome."
Luan Nian gave a symbolic lift of the corner of his mouth, indicating he’d smiled. When it was finally their turn, Shang Zhi Tao didn’t hold back, filling two boxes with pastries—enough for the two elders to eat until next year.
Luan Nian carried the two boxes to the car and called Dr. Liang. "We’re on our way now. Come downstairs in fifteen minutes."
"Got it!" Dr. Liang sounded cheerful, and Shang Zhi Tao covered her mouth, laughing.
She had heard Dr. Liang’s conversations with Luan Nian countless times and was familiar with her warm, gentle tone.
"flora, Shang Zhi Tao, Tao Tao." Dr. Liang called her by three names in a row. "See you soon!"
Shang Zhi Tao quickly straightened her posture. "Yes, Dr. Liang."
It had become a habit for her—sitting up straight when speaking showed respect. Luan Nian had grown accustomed to it too.
In the past, he had always thought her posture, whether sitting or standing, seemed out of place in the modern world. Yet it was precisely this demeanor that set her apart from others.
As Luan Nian started the car, Shang Zhi Tao opened her phone and saw a message from lumi: "Tao Tao, do you know what everyone said after you left? My gossipy heart just can’t hold back—I have to tell you now."
"What did they say?"
"They said: Suddenly, I understand why luke wanted to strangle that bastard."
…
Shang Zhi Tao recalled that scene—his eyes bloodshot, like a demon ready to devour someone. She put down her phone and looked at Luan Nian, her gaze filled with tenderness.
"What are you looking at?"
"I want to ask you, why did you beat up dony that year? Because he bullied female employees and disrupted company order? Because he was someone sent by headquarters?"
"Because the person he bullied was you."
If dony had behaved inappropriately, Luan Nian could have pursued legal action. But the sound of Shang Zhi Tao’s body hitting the wall had made him lose control. He told her, "I even wanted to kill him."
"If I had done nothing, I would never have forgiven myself."
That was Luan Nian. His tenderness was hidden deep within his shell, buried in the innermost part of him. He protected her in his own way, and she had almost lost him.She smiled as she gazed out the car window. This year’s Beijing was no longer the Beijing of ten years ago. Over the past decade, the city had quietly undergone significant changes. For instance, the area near the North Fifth Ring Road where she once rented an apartment still had remnants of cornfields within a five-kilometer radius ten years ago. Later, as urbanization accelerated, building after building rose, and the city became home to more and more people. Some worked, fell in love, married, and raised children here, putting down roots; others, on some ordinary morning or evening, quietly left.
“This year’s New Year seems livelier than usual,” Shang Zhi Tao remarked. In previous years when she left for the holiday, the city would nearly turn into a ghost town. One year, she returned on the third day of the Lunar New Year due to a project deadline, and the bus that day was almost empty.
“I didn’t notice before, but it’s definitely livelier than last year,” Luan Nian said.
“Why did Dr. Liang return to China?”
“She was invited back for a medical research project. She thought it was meaningful, so she came. It’s a public welfare project.”
“Wow.”
As they chatted, they arrived at the entrance of the old residential complex.
Shang Zhi Tao saw two elderly people standing there—a woman who was intellectual and elegant, and a man who was dignified and handsome. So Luan Nian had inherited his parents’ good looks. He parked the car, and as soon as Shang Zhi Tao opened the door, Dr. Liang came forward: “Flora.” She was teasing her. Back when Dr. Liang asked for her name over the phone, she had said she was called Flora.
Shang Zhi Tao blushed at being addressed this way and quickly said, “Dr. Liang, you can just call me Tao Tao.”
“Is ‘Dr. Liang’ what you should call her?” Luan Nian stood to the side, undermining her. He pointed at Luan Mingrui. “What do you call my dad?”
“…Uncle.”
“I call my dad Old Luan. Why don’t you learn?” Luan Nian teased her again. He loved seeing Shang Zhi Tao flustered and unable to take a joke.
Dr. Liang slapped him on the back. “Are you crazy?”
Her tone was exactly like Luan Nian’s.
Shang Zhi Tao couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing. Her face flushed, glowing brightly when she smiled, her eyes clear and gentle. Her son really had good taste.
Dr. Liang praised Luan Nian silently in her heart and adored Shang Zhi Tao. She turned to Luan Nian and said, “Come, take a photo of Tao Tao and me.”
“What for?”
“Hurry up and take it. Afterward, send it to the family group chat.”
“…” Luan Nian looked reluctant but still took out his phone and snapped a picture. Dr. Liang glanced at it and promptly sent it to the group. As she did, she said, “I feel a sense of triumph. My bachelor son finally knows how to bring a girl home.”
Hearing this, Shang Zhi Tao laughed again.
Luan Nian shot her a glance and grumbled at Dr. Liang, “If we don’t go soon, we’ll be late!”
The four of them went to the supermarket and bought a lot of things.
Dr. Liang held Shang Zhi Tao’s hand and walked behind, letting Luan Nian and Luan’s Father push the cart ahead. Dr. Liang shared her maintenance philosophy with Shang Zhi Tao: avoid heavy labor.
“Let the men carry things. Don’t lift a finger.”
Shang Zhi Tao nodded. Luan Nian never let her do chores anyway. He even cooked the meals.
Shang Zhi Tao really liked Dr. Liang.
Dr. Liang was a bit scatterbrained yet very gentle. She cared deeply about her patients and the environment but paid little attention to trivial matters. Luan’s Father, on the other hand, spoke very little. But when he did, every word counted, with no nonsense.
Luan Nian’s personality seemed to take after his father a little.Shang Zhi Tao thought that perhaps it was because of a mother like Dr. Liang that Luan Nian possessed that subtle, unintentional tenderness deep in his heart.
When they returned home, Dr. Liang took Shang Zhi Tao into the bedroom. Inside, several bags were laid out. Dr. Liang said to her, "Don't worry, these aren't for you. I don't like them either." From the very bottom of her jewelry box, she took out a jade bracelet and said to Shang Zhi Tao, "This is a family heirloom."
"Has Luan Nian ever told you? In the past, the Luan family was considered a prominent local family, but hardly any of the old heirlooms remain. The elders all loved bracelets, and this one was barely preserved. It has been passed down for five generations."
"Then I can't accept it. What if..."
"Don't talk nonsense," Dr. Liang stopped her from saying "what if." "What 'what if' at this point? Live well together. I'm entrusting my son to you. Luan Nian has had a bad temper since he was young. You don't have to tolerate him. If he's harsh with you, be harsh back. If he's demanding of others, be more understanding—he means no harm. His face may look restless, but I know my own son. He's actually quite steady."
Dr. Liang was a little moved and wiped the corner of her eye.
"If you ever feel wronged, you can always tell me. I'll help you deal with him. But I only hope you won't leave him easily. Because he truly loves you."
"Tao Tao, he's almost forty, and this is the first time he's brought a girl home."
Hearing this, Shang Zhi Tao could only nod with reddened eyes. "Alright, I won't leave him."
The next day was New Year's Eve.
Another year had passed.
This was the first New Year Shang Zhi Tao spent with Luan Nian. Having him by her side made her feel secure. She no longer had to watch the fireworks and miss him.
After calling Da Zhai and Old Shang, Shang Zhi Tao returned to the living room to chat with them. Dr. Liang was feeding Luke meat, saying as she did, "Little thing, you sure can eat."
When the New Year's bell rang, Dr. Liang took out a large red envelope and pressed it into Shang Zhi Tao's hand. Shang Zhi Tao thanked her three times, but Luan Nian stopped her. "Why keep thanking her?"
Shang Zhi Tao walked to the window to see if there were any fireworks outside. There were, but far in the distance. She pressed her head against the glass to look, and Luan Nian stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her. He whispered in her ear, "Shang Zhi Tao, Happy New Year."
"May everything go well for us."
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