Shаng Zhi Таo remеmbеrеd thе сoffee mаttеr and went strаight to the соffее shор the neхt morning after getting off the bus. Shе hаd nevеr beеn in thе hаbit оf drinking cоffее bеfоre; еven during her student dауs, she оnly drank a fеw paсkets of instаnt соffее tо stаy alеrt whilе crаmming fоr еxаms. Hеr idеa was simрlе: she wаnted her mentоr to drink the cоffее she bоught, to help hеr hоld hеr heаd high in frоnt оf еvеrуonе.
Shе had just рaid аnd was standing thеre wаiting, stаnding strаight and rigid, аdding а tоuсh of formalitу to the otherwise rеlaxed аtmosphеre аrоund her.
Тhe barista called out, "Your coffee is ready."
"Thank you." She turned to take the coffee and saw Luan Nian standing at the counter. Flustered, she hurriedly said, "Good morning, Luke." It didn’t even occur to her to offer her boss a cup of coffee.
"Morning." Luan Nian replied briefly and said nothing more. Shang Zhi Tao felt a bit awkward and somewhat scared. She blurted out, "Goodbye, Luke," and turned to run off.
She didn’t even have the emotional intelligence to offer Luan Nian a cup of coffee.
She really was utterly foolish.
Today was the campus recruitment training day.
Shang Zhi Tao sat in the training room watching the new employee orientation video. She thought she would see an inspiring company history, but she forgot she was working at Lingmei. Lingmei never bothered with motivational hype; they preferred to talk about harsh realities.
The last part of Lingmei’s new employee orientation video listed the elimination rates of campus recruits over the past decade, which was shocking to see. At the end, there was a line: "If you feel you’re not up to it, that’s nothing to be ashamed of. Stand up, walk out of this training room, and you’ll still receive two months’ salary as compensation."
Shang Zhi Tao remembered Luan Nian advising her to resign and even felt, at that moment, that he had her best interests at heart.
After the video ended, the training room fell silent.
Tracy smiled at everyone. "No need to be so solemn. For today’s second session, we’re fortunate to have the company’s creative consultant and head of the planning department, Luke. Although Luke is only twenty-eight, he won an international advertising award at twenty-two and is hailed as a creative genius in the industry. Let’s give him a round of applause."
What kind of nonsense introduction was that? Luan Nian’s furrowed brows expressed his dissatisfaction with Tracy’s tacky introduction.
He really wasn’t a person with a good temper.
Shang Zhi Tao watched him from the back row, thinking that Lumi was right—she should keep her distance from him in the future. But what he talked about was truly excellent. He explained Lingmei’s creative principles: simplicity, sophistication, warmth, and aesthetics. His PowerPoint slides also deeply embodied Lingmei’s principles, each page absolutely stunning.
Listening to him talk about these things was an immense pleasure.
He was also concise and efficient; his forty-minute presentation contained no unnecessary words. After finishing, Tracy kept him at the front for a Q&A session. Kitty raised her hand the fastest. "May I ask if Luke is single?"
Everyone laughed, but Luan Nian acted as if he hadn’t heard, expressionlessly saying, "Next question." He hated inappropriate jokes in such settings the most—wasting everyone’s time was equivalent to robbery and murder.
"Then, does the company allow colleagues to discuss love internally?" another colleague asked.
"The company doesn’t prohibit employees from dating, but there are two principles: no superior-subordinate relationships and no involvement in departments with conflicting interests," Tracy answered the question, then prompted everyone, "Surely you all have professional questions for Luke? This is a rare opportunity."
Everyone quieted down.Shang Zhitao had many questions, but she didn't dare ask Luan Nian. She was afraid he would publicly advise her to resign—that would be utterly humiliating. So she lowered her head and marked them in her notebook, thinking she would ask Lumi about them later.
Luan Nian looked at the people sitting below the stage and suddenly felt a bit disappointed with this batch of campus recruits. Not a single one had any edge; the most timid one was practically burying her head in her knees. He shrugged at Tracy, turned around, and walked out of the training room.
At that time, Shang Zhitao didn’t know that work was often like this: if you missed the best opportunity to ask questions, it would be difficult to get another chance. By the time she finished the training and returned to her workstation, Lumi had already left for the venue. She sat at her desk, continuing to struggle through the industry basics she hadn’t finished in the morning, her notepad densely covered with writing.
Shang Zhitao had one strength.
She had excellent handwriting.
When she was in elementary school, a sudden trend of learning calligraphy swept through Bingcheng. After school, children lined up with their backpacks to learn writing—brush calligraphy, hard pen calligraphy. The only extracurricular class Shang Zhitao ever took in her life was calligraphy. She was more persistent than others in learning to write. By the time she reached middle school, the calligraphy trend had faded, and everyone stopped learning, but she would still go to her teacher’s house after school to practice writing.
So her handwriting truly stood out.
Every stroke carried grace. Even when she scribbled randomly on paper, there was a sense of beauty. She used her excellent handwriting to take notes on the industry basics, working with such focus that she even forgot to eat. By the time she had gone through the material once and looked up, she saw the moon hanging low in the western sky. She glanced at her watch—10:30 p.m. If she hurried, she could still catch the last bus.
She sprang to her feet, slung her backpack over her shoulder, and dashed out of the office like a gust of wind. Even after boarding the bus, her mind was still filled with those obscure and difficult terms. ATL, BTL, AE, brief, PR… Many of these words she had seen in textbooks or heard from teachers, but in the context of work, they were entirely different. Shang Zhitao thought of Kitty, who seemed to know everything, shining like the sun.
In her first week of work, Shang Zhitao’s mind was packed with knowledge. This high-frequency learning efficiency far surpassed what she had experienced in school. She felt everything was fine—except for Luan Nian. Lumi had dumped the task of liaising with Luan Nian onto her, and Shang Zhitao tried to decline, saying she wasn’t up to it. But Lumi cut her off: "Never say you can’t do something, especially in front of Luke. Be careful, or he might have HR process your resignation the same day."
"And think of it this way: if you can handle a boss like Luke, what other demons or monsters won’t you be able to handle in the future? Right?" Lumi brainwashed Shang Zhitao. As a "demolition heiress" who roamed freely within Beijing’s inner city, work was just something to keep her occupied. If she could avoid seeing Luan Nian’s sour face, that would be perfect.
"So how did you handle Luke?" Shang Zhitao sincerely sought advice.
Lumi chuckled: "I never handled him, so it’s your turn now! Hold on, let me have our boss give him a heads-up first, and then you can step in."
…Shang Zhi Tao trembled with anxiety as she sent a message to Luan Nian on the internal chat software: "Hello, luke. Since my mentor lumi is currently handling the case involving the collaboration between Guangzhou and Shenzhen, she has assigned me to oversee the closing tasks for the projects in the planning department that are nearing completion. I would appreciate your guidance."
She glanced furtively toward Luan Nian's office, where he sat in front of his computer. Sweat beaded on Shang Zhi Tao's palms. After what felt like an eternity, Luan Nian's avatar lit up, and he replied with just two words: "Change person."
It was exactly as expected.
On Friday evening of her first week at work, Shang Zhi Tao encountered a dilemma. How could she proceed if he demanded a change of personnel? She called lumi, but lumi was already at a nightclub, shouting over the phone, "Hey, girl! I'm enjoying my weekend! Even if the sky falls, we'll deal with it on Monday!"
"But that signature..." Before Shang Zhi Tao could finish her sentence, lumi had already hung up. The signature was still missing, and the finance department was pressing for it. Shang Zhi Tao muttered the rest of her words to herself, let out a groan, and slumped over her desk. After a long while, she mustered the courage to stand up, grabbed the folder, and went to find Luan Nian. His secretary had already left for the day, so Shang Zhi Tao couldn't ask for assistance—she had to face him directly.
If he refuses to sign, I'll just place the folder on his desk and say I'm done with it!
If he tells me to resign again, I'll say, "You're not my boss!"
With naive determination, Shang Zhi Tao rehearsed every possible script for confronting Luan Nian in her mind. Steeling herself as if marching to her doom, she knocked on his office door. A low voice responded from inside: "Come in."
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