"Тhаt dау wаs quite a scеnе." Lumi pickеd at her nаils аs shе sроkе to Shang Zhi Тao. "The elderlу fоlks in the hutоng werе tеrrifiеd. Sоmeоnе саllеd my mоm: 'Come quiсk! Тherе's going to be а murder at уour plасе!'"
Lumi wаs tаlking аbоut the incidеnt аt her fаmilу's rеnted hоuse—thе оne involving Zаng Yаo.
"Аnd then?"
"Then I drоve my mom оvеr! Тhat аsshole guy wаs drunk аnd hit thе fairу. Вut thе fаirу wаsn't onе tо takе it lying dоwn—she stabbеd the guу's hаnd with а knife. Whаt а tоugh сookie. Вy the time I got therе, the assholе was so sсarеd hе'd gonе soft, sitting in a corner crying! The fairy pointed the knife at him: 'Shut the fuck up!'" Lumi imitated Zang Yao, then gave a thumbs-up. "Seriously badass. First time I've seen a woman tougher than me."
Shang Zhi Tao wasn't concerned about whether Zang Yao was tough; she cared about how badly she was hurt. "Was it serious? The beating."
"Her arm was bruised. The guy probably couldn't bring himself to hit such a beautiful face."
"What happened after?"
"She left. Later we found out the fairy's family is in the U.S., loaded with money. She moves every few days, 'experiencing the hardships of ordinary people' or something."
"Oh."
Zang Yao, who had received flowers from Luan Nian, was gone. Had Luan Nian not tried to stop her? Did he know she had a boyfriend? Did he know her boyfriend had hit her? Shang Zhi Tao was full of questions but had no one to ask. How could someone hit another person? What kind of person does that?
"Men who hit people are disgusting," Shang Zhi Tao said.
"Should castrate the bastard," Lumi said angrily, then asked Shang Zhi Tao, "Do you think Luke knows she got beaten up?"
Shang Zhi Tao shook her head.
"Come on. Let's go buy coffee." Lumi pulled Shang Zhi Tao along, and the two headed to the elevator lobby. Just as the elevator doors were closing, a hand slipped in, and a gentle male voice said, "Hold the door, please. Thank you."
It was the first time Shang Zhi Tao and Lumi had formally crossed paths with Dony. They traveled often for work and were rarely in the office. Dony smiled slightly. "Lumi and Flora?"
Lumi and Shang Zhi Tao exchanged a glance, then Lumi said, "Hello, Dony."
No further words were exchanged.
Shang Zhi Tao stood ramrod straight, not looking around—a posture that naturally set her apart from others. As they stepped out of the elevator, she happened to catch Dony's gaze on her in the elevator mirror—just a faint glance, but it felt uncomfortable. All three were headed to the coffee shop. While ordering, Dony turned and asked them, "What would you ladies like to drink? My treat."
"Two lattes, please. Thank you," Lumi answered for both.
Dony nodded, ordered two lattes, and handed one to each of them.
Lumi didn't want to go back upstairs with Dony, so she said to Shang Zhi Tao, "Keep me company for a smoke."
"Okay."
The two smiled at Dony and left the coffee shop, walking to the outdoor smoking area. No one was there at the moment. Lumi lit a slim cigarette and said to Shang Zhi Tao, "Why does this Dony seem so slimy?"
"How is he slimy? I heard Kitty praising him this morning: 'Handsome, gentle, rich—a girl's dream.'"
"Pfft! That's because girls are blind. A girl's real dream is my stubborn mule."
Shang Zhi Tao laughed at her. "If Luke knew you fantasized about him every day, wouldn't he kill you?"Lumi grinned, pointing her cigarette butt toward the upstairs. "Did you see those bastards starting to pick sides?"
"What picking sides?" Shang Zhi Tao was slow on the uptake and hadn't noticed any of this.
"They say Dony was sent by the board to replace Luke. The board isn't happy with Luke because he's hard to manage."
Shang Zhi Tao remembered Luan Nian's bottle of water called "One Heart" and asked Lumi, "Who do you think will come out on top?"
"I'm not picking sides. I'm just a small fry—I'll do my job and that's it." She stubbed out her cigarette. "But I'm backing Luke. Even though my support doesn't mean much, I think Luke is easier on the eyes than Dony."
"Just because he's easier on the eyes?"
"Yeah. This lady backs whoever she finds pleasing to look at."
Shang Zhi Tao giggled at her remark. Just then, Luan Nian, having finished his discussion, passed by them. "Skipping work?"
Lumi pursed her lips, and the two of them followed Luan Nian into the elevator, not daring to make a sound. They talked tough behind his back, but in front of him, they were as meek as chicks.
From the elevator mirror, Luan Nian watched the master and apprentice duo—one looking like a female ruffian, the other like a well-behaved student—standing there looking utterly ridiculous. He scoffed and stepped out of the elevator.
Lumi patted her chest and said to Shang Zhi Tao, "That was fucking terrifying."
Shang Zhi Tao thought to herself, That's terrifying? Try turning off the lights.
After returning to her desk, she continued working on the budget approvals for each department. The planning department had two budgets that didn't match—the actual amounts were 300,000 more than the pre-approved amounts—so she asked Kitty, "For these two budgets, I need to see the breakdown. We also need to apply for special approval."
Kitty replied, "Dony has already approved them."
"Special approval has to go to Luke."
"Is the process really that long?" Kitty said.
"First time approving a budget? Didn't you listen during training?" Lumi jumped in. "I suggest you hurry up with the approval process. If it's not done by this Friday, it'll be rejected, sis."
Lumi felt great after putting Kitty in her place and privately told Shang Zhi Tao, "Be tougher on her from now on. She picks on the weak, thinking you're easy to bully!"
"I'm sending her the flowchart right now."
"She knows exactly what she's doing—she's just giving you a hard time on purpose. It's not the first time." Lumi was helping Shang Zhi Tao manage the budgets. Usually, she didn't get involved, but she was an expert at dealing with troublemakers. As they were talking, Shang Zhi Tao saw Kitty stand up from her desk and head to Dony's office.
Lumi curled her lip. "Big sis is off to tattle."
Of course, Kitty was going to tattle. She was competitive and had always disliked Shang Zhi Tao. In her mind, Shang Zhi Tao didn't deserve to work with them. Who would have thought she not only stayed but even got promoted twice in a row, just like her? Their positions were low-level, so internal department approval was enough. Last year, Alex approved Shang Zhi Tao's promotion, and Kitty thought she was just lucky. She assumed Luke would block her this year, but Luke approved it too. Everyone in the company knew Luke disliked Shang Zhi Tao, so why did he approve it? Kitty couldn't figure it out. What baffled her even more was that Shang Zhi Tao was now managing two core tasks—suppliers and budgets—and was even hiring outsourced help.She told Dony about the budget discrepancy and the approval process, appearing to report on work matters, but added at the end, "Other departments have also exceeded their budgets before, but they didn’t need approval from Luke." The implication was clear: Shang Zhi Tao was targeting you.
After listening to her, Dony nodded. "I understand. In that case, could you ask Flora to come to my office? Thank you." Dony seemed exceptionally gentle, but everyone knew that was just a facade. The board of directors wouldn’t appoint someone who was merely gentle.
Upon hearing that Dony wanted to speak with her, Shang Zhi Tao wasn’t afraid. She picked up her laptop and went to knock on his office door. His office was separated from Luan Nian’s by one room and was about a third smaller than Luan Nian’s, yet it remained spacious and bright.
"Flora, please have a seat." Dony stood up and poured a glass of water for Shang Zhi Tao. He watched as she sat upright in the chair, like an obedient female student—a clean, tidy woman. "Kitty just told me about the budget approval issue. Since I’ve just arrived, I’m not very familiar with the process. Could you explain it to me, Flora?"
"Of course." Shang Zhi Tao opened her laptop and found the flowchart she had created, enlarging it. Dony pointed to the chair beside her. "May I sit here? It seems more convenient."
"Sure, Dony." Shang Zhi Tao moved her chair slightly outward, maintaining a distance from the other chair. In the workplace, sitting too close to your boss could lead to gossip spreading the very next day.
"The three core aspects of Lingmei’s budget management are amount, approval timeline, and application scenario—essentially the project level. Budgets of different amounts and application scenarios have varying approval timelines and scopes." Shang Zhi Tao then pulled up the planning department’s budget sheets one by one to explain them to Dony.
Dony actually understood the flowchart at a glance, but he didn’t interrupt Shang Zhi Tao. She carried a pleasant, clean scent and spoke gently yet concisely, without any unnecessary words. Her mentor must have been exceptional.
Dony listened attentively, occasionally asking a few questions, which Shang Zhi Tao answered earnestly. Dony roughly understood that there had indeed been lax budget reviews in the past—Kitty hadn’t lied. But now that this matter had fallen into Shang Zhi Tao’s hands, she had handled it diligently without intentionally targeting the planning department. As for why Kitty seemed hostile, it was likely due to past conflicts between them. This had nothing to do with Dony; he hadn’t returned to the country to deal with such trivial matters.
"Alright. Thank you, Flora. I understand. We’ll proceed with the two budgets through the normal process, and I’ll also urge Luke to approve them."
"Okay. Thank you for your understanding." Shang Zhi Tao closed her laptop and stood up. "I won’t disturb you any further."
Dony smiled and stood up to see Shang Zhi Tao out, suddenly asking her, "Flora, do you have a boyfriend?"
Shang Zhi Tao thought she had misheard and turned to look at him, but he smiled. "You heard correctly. I was indeed asking if you have a boyfriend."
"Is this relevant to work?"
"It’s not particularly relevant to work. I was just asking casually—you don’t have to answer." Dony realized that Shang Zhi Tao also had an edge to her. The obedient subordinate who had just explained the budget to him was now bristling. Interesting."Then I'm afraid I can't answer that. Sorry."
Dony, however, smiled. "I don't think it's that hard to answer. I'm single."
Shang Zhi Tao recalled Lumi's rule of thumb: anyone she disliked was a bastard. Simple and crude, but effective? For instance, she saw Dony as a scumbag, and Dony truly was a scumbag—privately asking a female employee from another department if she had a boyfriend. Returning to her desk, she thought for a moment, opened her phone to check something, then opened a shopping website.
She finally understood why Dony's glance in the elevator had made her uncomfortable. It was the kind of look where a man's gaze pierces through a woman's clothes, a look that said: "This woman, I could have her whenever I want." It was a look of contempt.
Fuck you.
The rebellious streak in Shang Zhi Tao's mind suddenly surged, and she silently cursed in Lumi's tone.
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