Shаng Zhi Тао rесеived the соmраnу's notice tо rеturn to work thе day аftеr Luаn Niаn's рhоne cаll, with Tracy persоnаlly сalling hеr.
Whеn Shаng Zhi Тaо аnswеrеd thе phоne, she was still а bit nеrvous. Luаn Nian’s words had bеen vaguе and unclеаr, lеаving hеr unаblе to sleер all night. Shе wаntеd to mеssagе him tо ask, but felt hе dеfinitelу wouldn’t say аnything. He wаs thаt kind оf pеrson, unwilling to saу еvеn onе ехtrа wоrd.
"Нi, Trасy."
"Flоra, сome bаck tо wоrk nеxt wееk!" Тrаcy’s voiсe was light and cheеrful, sounding very hаppу.
"Huh? Did thе intеrnal аudit results come out?"
"Yes. They came out this morning."
But Luan Nian had called her last night. What kind of information gap was there? Shang Zhi Tao didn’t understand.
"So what was the result?"
"The result is that the supplier admitted to framing you."
"Huh?"
Tracy could imagine Shang Zhi Tao’s dumbfounded expression and laughed. "Wondering why the supplier changed their story, right?"
"Yes."
"I don’t know either. Anyway, the supplier changed their story, and the internal audit found no irregularities in your situation. You’re cleared. Come back to work."
"Thank you."
After hanging up, Shang Zhi Tao was still in a daze. Why did the supplier withdraw the complaint? What was going on? She couldn’t figure it out. Unable to make sense of it, she called Luan Nian, but he declined the call: "In a meeting. Message me."
"Tracy said they only received the supplier’s decision to withdraw the complaint this morning, but you said the results were out last night. I wanted to ask what happened."
Luan Nian sent a smiling emoji, one that looked insincere, very much like him. Then he said to Grace, "Don’t worry about being short-staffed. We learned this morning that Flora can return to work next week. Go for your prenatal check-ups and don’t worry about anything else."
"Really?" Grace was genuinely happy. Without Shang Zhi Tao, she felt like she had lost her right-hand woman. She had to handle many things personally and felt her baby’s movements were more frequent than before.
"Mhm."
Luan Nian’s phone lit up again. It was still Shang Zhi Tao, sending a question mark.
Luan Nian turned off his phone, not planning to give her any explanations. The meeting was long. At noon, the secretary ordered meals, and they ate while discussing in the meeting room. A while later, the secretary brought in coffee.
"Flora is treating everyone to coffee," the secretary said, then distributed the coffee while checking a list.
Shang Zhi Tao was thoughtful. She remembered everyone’s preferences: Grace liked mocha, Luan Nian preferred iced Americano, two colleagues liked lattes, and one colleague only drank black tea.
Watching the secretary hand out the coffee, Luan Nian suddenly remembered Shang Zhi Tao when she first joined the workforce—head down, charging forward, completely unaware of workplace etiquette. Now, she remembered her colleagues’ tastes, took the initiative to treat everyone to coffee, and handled workplace trivialities with ease.
So time could still change people.
Experience could change people too.
Luan Nian took a sip of his iced Americano. It was a bit sweet. Frowning, he put the coffee down. Shang Zhi Tao had taken it upon herself to ask the shop owner to add a spoonful of syrup to his iced Americano. His phone rang again—still her: "Added an extra spoonful of syrup, thanking Luke for stepping in to help."Shang Zhi Tao wasn't foolish. Luan Nian had specifically called to remind her because he was afraid the situation might reverse again. Those days when he had been silent, he must have been helping her resolve the problem. Shang Zhi Tao felt he was the kind of person who never liked to talk about what he did. That was just his way—if he wanted to help you, he would help you, and you didn’t need to say too many words of thanks. It would seem insincere and overly polite. That kind of help was purely him bestowing a favor upon you.
Quite fond of helping others.
Also quite charitable.
Even though there was no longer any special relationship between them, she was deeply grateful that Luan Nian had extended a helping hand.
She dragged her luggage back to Beijing and ran into Wan Jun at the boarding gate. Both of them thought it was quite a coincidence. Wan Jun asked her, "Didn’t you say you were going to stay a few more days?"
"I have urgent work and need to return early."
"That’s great. So, can I buy you a coffee?" During their days in Dali, they had coincidentally run into each other a few times, and every night they had both hung out at that same bar, so they had become somewhat familiar. Wan Jun had wanted to treat Shang Zhi Tao to a meal, but she had politely declined. Today, meeting again by chance, both of them found it amazing.
"Yunnan small-grain coffee?" Shang Zhi Tao smiled. "I want to eat one last bowl of rice noodles from my Yunnan trip at the airport."
"Let’s go."
Dali Airport was small, but there really was a shop where you could eat rice noodles—they just weren’t very good. The two of them frowned as they ate the noodles. After finishing, Wan Jun asked her, "Now if I ask to exchange contact information, you won’t think I’m a bad guy anymore, right?"
Shang Zhi Tao narrowed her eyes and smiled. "Go ahead."
The two exchanged contact information, boarded the same flight out of Dali, and completely ended their trip.
When Shang Zhi Tao pushed open the door to her home, her two good roommates had hung a banner in the room that read: "Warmly Celebrating Ms. Shang’s Completion of Her First Solo Travel Adventure." This was a bit overly grand.
Shang Zhi Tao’s face flushed with laughter. She took out her phone and spent a long time taking pictures of the banner. The three of them then took a group photo under the banner. Sun Yu even ordered a bouquet of flowers for her to hold while they took commemorative photos.
Afterward, they all felt it was absurd and laughed together for a long time.
"Was it fun?" Sun Yu asked her.
"Fun!" Shang Zhi Tao nodded.
"Will you go again?"
"Yes!" Shang Zhi Tao said seriously. "I want to travel all over the world!"
"Then we need to fill our stomachs first." Sun Yuanzhu finally chimed in, urging the high-spirited ladies to eat.
Going out alone to experience the world and returning to have true friends listen to you, drink, and eat meat—it was incredibly satisfying. The genuine happiness inside her hadn’t faded even by the day she returned to work.
Lumi was a bit shocked when she saw Shang Zhi Tao. The despondent Shang Zhi Tao from a few days ago was gone, so she quietly asked her, "Did you have a romantic encounter?"
"What?"
"A romantic encounter in Dali or Lijiang?"
"Huh?" Shang Zhi Tao was like a silly goose, taking a second or two to understand what Lumi was talking about. She quickly shook her head. "No, no."
"Didn’t you make any friends either?"
"I did make friends."
"Well, there you go." Lumi tossed her bag onto her workstation and plopped down on Shang Zhi Tao’s desk. "Let me tell you, that bastard Kitty was fired from the company by Jiang Lan. On the grounds that her performance during the probation period didn’t meet expectations."
"What happened?"Lumi shrugged. "Most likely, this big sister offended someone. Everyone in the company has been talking these past few days, saying Kitty probably went to develop in Shenzhen. This circle is so small; she can't stay in Beijing anymore."
Shang Zhi Tao vaguely felt things weren't simple. Before she could fully process it, she heard Lumi add, "And then, that bastard surnamed Wang—his company accounts got frozen."
"Huh? What happened?"
"They say someone reported them for tax evasion and provided evidence." Lumi shook her head. "So you know, people shouldn't do bad things. You never know when karma will come back around."
"Oh my god."
Shang Zhi Tao thought of Luan Nian's silence on the matter and suddenly felt this incident had something to do with him, more or less. She wanted to ask him but didn't know how to bring it up.
In the afternoon, the planning department had a meeting. When everyone entered, Luan Nian was already in the conference room, on a phone call.
Everyone held their breath, hearing him say, "Okay, we'll cooperate with the investigation." Then he hung up. Seeing Shang Zhi Tao, he said, "Flora's back from vacation?" as if they weren't familiar at all.
Shang Zhi Tao nodded. "Yes, Luke, I'm back to work."
"Then get to it."
Grace slowly sat down and said to Shang Zhi Tao, "Everyone missed you while you were gone. Especially during overtime."
Everyone laughed—of course! They all thought of Shang Zhi Tao during overtime. Shang Zhi Tao smiled too.
Luan Nian glanced at Shang Zhi Tao. She looked happy, as if she hadn't experienced being reported for bribery. Grace sent her a private message: "Kitty left Manager Jiang's company. Luke and I discussed it, and from now on, you'll handle Manager Jiang's company's work with me. So when we get to that part later, pay extra attention."
Shang Zhi Tao thought about workplace boundaries, pondering how to reply.
Grace's next message arrived before she finished thinking: "I suggested it. I hope you can get up to speed quickly so I can take my leave sooner."
"Isn't your due date in October?"
"Three months will pass in the blink of an eye."
"Okay."
"Also, there are a few S-level clients that need workshops. I can't go, so please go in my place, Flora."
"By myself?"
"With Luke."
"Oh."
Grace, worried she might feel pressured traveling with Luan Nian, comforted her: "Don't be afraid. Luke is actually quite easygoing in private. Given the situation, he'll be overseeing us for a while. Getting more familiar with him might help with future work."
"Okay, thank you, Grace."
While exchanging private messages with Grace, Shang Zhi Tao took meeting minutes. Everyone was discussing, and she listened attentively. She positioned herself as a newcomer in the planning department, with a lot to learn. Plus, she was naturally humble, so she didn't speak much during meetings.
The planning department's projects were all company S-level projects, each very complex, especially Grace's. But she handled them effortlessly. Grace was a bit like Luan Nian—she had a somewhat aggressive demeanor during meetings and always sought a concrete outcome; otherwise, the meeting was considered pointless.
So the atmosphere in planning department meetings was quite tense.While Luan Nian was speaking, Shang Zhi Tao also watched him attentively like everyone else. She didn’t know where others were looking, but her gaze was fixed on his shoulders, unwilling to move upward or meet his eyes. In short, she just wanted to muddle through like this.
Luan Nian wouldn’t let her muddle through. While going over a progress update, he suddenly asked her, “So, what does Flora think?”
“What?”
“About the client changing strategies. What’s your take?”
It was like a teacher catching a daydreaming student in class, tossing a piece of chalk at your head and watching where you’d run. Shang Zhi Tao thought for a moment and replied, “I’ve discussed this with Grace. First, if the client is changing their advertising strategy due to adjustments in their corporate strategic direction, that’s normal, and we should cooperate. If the client is just acting on a whim, then we need to dig deeper into their needs. I looked up this client today, and there’s no news about any strategic adjustments, so it’s likely just a whim. Therefore, we should explore the client’s needs further and confirm why they want to make this change.”
Grace sent her a thumbs-up.
“Then you go dig,” Luan Nian said.
“But I…”
“Grace will teach you. The sooner you get the hang of it, the less overtime the planning department will have to work.”
“Okay.”
The teacher’s questioning was over, and Shang Zhi Tao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. When would Luan Nian ever change? Become a bit friendlier, less aggressive. She thought this, then felt she was overthinking it. He would never change.
When she finished work, Wan Jun was already waiting at the entrance of her company. How coincidental was the world? The place where he taught ice hockey was near her office.
Lumi spotted Wan Jun from afar and clicked her tongue. “So this is Mr. Wan from Dali?”
Shang Zhi Tao pinched her. “Don’t talk nonsense. We’re just ordinary friends, and if you say things like that, it’ll make me awkward.”
“Alright, alright.” Lumi glanced at Wan Jun again and whispered to Shang Zhi Tao, “He’s really well-built. If it weren’t for my conscience, I’d be tempted to flirt with him today.”
Wasn’t it true? Wan Jun taught ice hockey and had been active since childhood—a sunny, athletic boy. He stood out quite noticeably. Lumi gave her a push. “Go for it.” Then she turned and left.
Luan Nian’s car circled to the front. With the flow of people, the car slowed down, and he saw Lumi push Shang Zhi Tao. Shang Zhi Tao turned around to hit her back, then walked toward a boy with a smile. In the rearview mirror, the boy had his hands in the pockets of his sweatpants and smiled at Shang Zhi Tao. Luan Nian couldn’t see the smile clearly, but it felt like they were quite familiar with each other.
Shang Zhi Tao and Wan Jun sat in a Hunan restaurant near the company. The spicy aroma around them made her so hungry she could eat two bowls of rice. When ordering, Wan Jun ordered a bit too much, and Shang Zhi Tao stopped him. “Don’t order too much; it’ll go to waste.”
Wan Jun smiled at her. “I exercise a lot, so I eat a lot too.”
“Oh, okay then. I’d feel bad if we wasted food.”
Wan Jun looked at Shang Zhi Tao and thought she was quite different. She worked at a top-tier company but seemed humble and simple, especially her eyes—they looked untouched by money, clear and pure.
This girl was nice.
While they were still waiting for the food, Shang Zhi Tao received a message from Lumi: “The guy looks good. More reliable than my flashy childhood friend.”
“…We really are just ordinary friends.”
“Develop it, and it won’t be ordinary anymore. It’s time for you to start dating.”"Oh."
Shang Zhi Tao put away her phone and watched the server bring out the dishes. Wan Jun had really ordered a lot—he'd gotten all the restaurant's signature dishes. Two people, six dishes. Although she was a little hungry and really craving carbs, she still felt they wouldn't be able to finish it all.
Wan Jun took care of her first, not as rough as many sports enthusiasts. He only picked up his chopsticks after Shang Zhi Tao took her first bite. He didn't eat as ravenously as she had imagined, but his appetite was truly impressive.
As they ate, they chatted. Wan Jun proactively introduced his situation: he owned a 100+ square meter apartment in East Third Ring, had a car, and had been single for over two years.
Then he asked Shang Zhi Tao, "What about you?"
"Me..." Shang Zhi Tao took a bite of chicken gizzards with rice—so delicious that fine beads of sweat appeared on the tip of her nose. "I've been single for over twenty days."
Wan Jun laughed. "Still in contact?"
Shang Zhi Tao thought for a moment. "Yes. But not in a romantic way—we still have joint projects to finish."
"Planning to get back together?"
"No."
Shang Zhi Tao didn't intend to continue her relationship with Luan Nian; she wanted to move forward. Like Sun Yu said: enjoy being single, but don't close yourself off to meeting new people.
Seeing her firmness, Wan Jun grinned. When he smiled, two dimples appeared on his cheeks—a rare sight, a truly sunny person. Nothing like Luan Nian, and nothing like Sun Yuanzhu either.
As they chatted, Shang Zhi Tao was surprised to discover that Wan Jun had finished all the dishes, along with the rice. She had never seen anyone with such a big appetite. Back in school, Xin Zhaozhou had a high activity level and ate a lot too, but never this much.
"Scared?" Wan Jun asked her. Seeing Shang Zhi Tao shake her head in a fluster, he added, "I was really busy today. Taught basketball in the morning, three hockey classes in the afternoon, and gave a nutrition lecture at a company in the evening. Barely ate anything all day."
"You know all that?"
"I've had good athletic ability since I was young, and I'm interested in anything related to sports. So my family sent me to learn all kinds of sports—soccer, basketball, hockey, fencing, you name it."
"Oh my. That must have cost a lot, right?"
"It was manageable." Both of Wan Jun's parents worked in government, so his family background was quite good. "What about you? What extracurriculars did you take?"
"Calligraphy... does that count?"
Wan Jun nodded. "Of course it counts. I saw the postcard you wrote at the foot of Cangshan—not on purpose, but I thought the handwriting was beautiful, so I glanced at the name. Later, when I found out your name, it clicked. Your handwriting is the most beautiful I've ever seen. Mine is terrible, like cockroaches crawling."
Shang Zhi Tao felt a little embarrassed by his praise, her cheeks slightly flushed.
Wan Jun felt like he hadn't seen a girl who blushed so easily in a long time, which made him think even more highly of her. When it was time to pay, Shang Zhi Tao took out her wallet. "Shall we split the bill?"
Wan Jun pushed her wallet back. "Don't do that. I know people who work in foreign companies have this habit, but it's not mine." His attitude was firm.
Shang Zhi Tao had no choice but to put her wallet away and said to him, "Then I'll treat you next time?"
"That works."
After the meal, Wan Jun offered to take Shang Zhi Tao home. She declined. "It's really far."
"Farther than Dali to Beijing?"
"Not that far."
"Let's go."They took the subway, and by then it was already late. The train was sparsely populated, and the two sat side by side, their reflections mirrored in the window. Shang Zhi Tao wasn’t used to talking on the subway, so she took out a book from her bag—a French textbook she was studying.
Wan Jun didn’t disturb her either. He plugged in his earphones and listened to music alone.
The journey was long, but Shang Zhi Tao didn’t feel awkward. She agreed with Sun Yu’s words: “You’ve just met too few men, which is why you’re stuck on someone like that.” Sun Yu was only logical when criticizing others—all her principles went out the window when it came to Sun Yuanzhu. She never took the initiative with Sun Yuanzhu, yet she quit drinking and stopped dating.
After exiting the subway, the two strolled leisurely along the street. Wan Jun slowed his pace to chat with Shang Zhi Tao. He talked about how he broke his wrist while practicing sports as a child and even showed it to her. In the dim light of the night, she couldn’t see clearly, so she touched it with her fingertips—a protruding bone, proving he hadn’t lied.
“Did it hurt?”
“Yes, it hurt so much I cried.”
“You’ll have to be more careful from now on.”
They walked to the entrance of Shang Zhi Tao’s residential complex. Wan Jun checked the time. “It’s getting late. Hurry up and go inside. I’ll wait for you to treat me to a meal another day—hopefully not too far off.”
“Okay!”
Shang Zhi Tao nodded. Standing before Wan Jun, she looked petite and delicate, tilting her head up to speak to him. The scene was beautiful, as if they had returned to their school days—two innocent people in love.
Shang Zhi Tao waved goodbye to Wan Jun. “See you later!”
Then she turned and ran off.
Luan Nian stood under the tree, finishing his cigarette, before getting into his car and driving away.
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