The Early Spring - Chapter 10

Chapter 10 - Are You Eavesdropping?

At the end of a dreary, tedious night, right downstairs from Jiang Lan's apartment building.

"Come up for a cup of tea?" Jiang Lan invited him. A woman who had seen the storms of life understood the world very thoroughly. If she liked something, she would go after it, regardless of who stood in the way.

"We're both adults, I understand your meaning." Luan Nian lit a cigarette. "But there's no need. Limelight isn't mine; even if we sign this contract, it will simply mean my team has to endure a lot more exhausting overtime."

Jiang Lan looked at Luan Nian. He truly possessed a callous face that looked entirely unapproachable, yet Jiang Lan liked it.

"The contract will be signed as planned, and the advance payment will be wired right away." Jiang Lan suddenly smiled. "If you really did come upstairs with me, I might actually have been worried." This sort of thing required finesse as well. Jiang Lan had roughly figured him out—Luan Nian was completely immune to both hard and soft tactics. There was still a long way to go, so there was no need to rush.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Jiang Lan turned around and walked forward. Reaching the stairwell, she turned back to look at Luan Nian with a mischievous smirk at the corner of her lips: "Really not coming up?"

Luan Nian shrugged and got into his car.

It was already approaching twelve o'clock, and half of his weekend had gone to waste. He went home, took a quick shower, cracked open a cold bottle of sparkling water, and prepared to handle the pending email approvals. Yet Shang Zhitao truly possessed an astonishing tenacity, sending over another urging message: "Hello Luke, are you asleep?..."

What was the rush with the payment! Did she really think he could wire the funds in the middle of the night just by approving it? Was something wrong with Shang Zhitao's brain? He called Zhang Ling, who was clearly out wining and dining as well, judging by the heavy background noise: "Alex."

"Hey Luke, mission accomplished with flying colors?"

"Change people."

"What?"

"Our department's liaison from the marketing department, I'm requesting a replacement."

"Why?" Zhang Ling sounded a bit drunk. "Why swap her?"

"Because she's stupid. You know I can't stand stupid people."

"But there's no one else left in the marketing department... they've all been dispatched out of town for on-site execution. Just bear with it a few more days, and once the team gets called back, I'll swap her for you." Zhang Ling tried to brush Luan Nian off. He knew Luan Nian way too well; anyone the man didn't approve of would be replaced by any means necessary. But Shang Zhitao was such a grounded, hardworking girl—if she got replaced now, how was she supposed to carry on with her work in the future?

Not wanting to waste any more breath on him, Luan Nian hung up, opened his laptop, and approved the request email. Before he even closed his laptop, Shang Zhitao's message popped in: "Received, thank you for your hard work." Clearly, she had been waiting right there the whole time. Luan Nian realized that while Shang Zhitao lacked other traits, her greatest strengths were patience and a good temper. Since he was completely impervious to both soft and hard approaches, running into someone so utterly oblivious to social cues gave him a genuine headache.

"Is there any other work that requires my intervention?" Luan Nian asked her.

"There is, but it's not urgent. It's very late today, I shouldn't disturb your rest anymore..."

"You'd rather save it to disturb me tomorrow?" Luan Nian wasn't deliberately making things difficult; if it wasn't handled today, it would just be tomorrow. He didn't want Shang Zhitao ruining his Sunday. He called her directly, hearing her greet him with a hint of panicked haste.

"What else needs my attention?" Luan Nian skipped the pleasantries and asked straight to the point.

"There's still the company's annual meeting venue that needs your final confirmation..."

"I'll hash that out with Alex next Monday."

"And we need confirmation on the Q3 collateral and budget utilization progress applied for by the planning department."

"Find Kitty."

"Then there's no other work for now... Sorry to bother you..."

Luan Nian paused for two seconds, suppressing the rising irritation in his chest: "It's fine."

"Then goodnight." Shang Zhitao said her goodnight with a slightly guilty conscience. She was well aware that sending multiple messages in a row today was a bit impolite, but she had no choice; both her boss and finance were breathing down her neck. Having said her goodnight, she simply waited for Luan Nian to hang up. Basic etiquette dictated letting the other party disconnect first.

Luan Nian tossed his phone aside and took a sip of his iced sparkling water. The bubbles burst inside his mouth, clearing his mind. Looking back, he noticed his phone screen was still lit—had Shang Zhitao not hung up?

"You're not hanging up? Are you eavesdropping?" Luan Nian suddenly blurted out. Shang Zhitao hurriedly explained, "Workplace etiquette..."

Workplace etiquette? Damn it! Luan Nian cursed inwardly. Had this employee's brain been eaten by a dog? Yet what she said wasn't wrong. But couldn't she be flexible? Suppressing his anger, he said, "Yeah, I hung up late." He tapped the disconnect button, turned around, and was so exasperated he couldn't help but laugh.

What kind of brain was that.

Shang Zhitao finally managed to fall asleep. Opening her eyes the next morning to the sound of soft chatter outside, she suddenly fell in love with this little apartment. Her roommates were all wonderful people—sunshine-filled, joyful, and idealistic. Returning here after work to such a safe little nest made her truly fortunate. All those depressing stories about renting apartments online hadn't happened to her at all, aside from the room not quite matching what the agent had described.

She got up, dressed, grabbed her washbasin, and pushed the door open to see Sun Yu and Sun Yuanzhu tinkering with a computer together. Sharing the same surname, they looked almost like relatives.

"You're up?" Sun Yu greeted her. Shang Zhitao nodded, her wire-rimmed glasses sliding down a fraction.

"Are your frames loose? I can tighten them for you in a minute," Sun Yuanzhu told Shang Zhitao as she pushed her glasses back up.

"Sure, thank you so much!" Shang Zhitao went off to brush her teeth and wash her face. Blessed with great skin, she only needed basic skincare to look radiant. Holding a slice of bread and a glass of milk with a fresh, clean face, she sat down across from them. Her favorite breakfast combination was bread and milk, a pairing she would never tire of for the rest of her life.

"All set." Sun Yuanzhu hit the restart button and slid the computer toward Sun Yu: "Take a look."

"That's amazing, it's fixed! Thank you so much," Sun Yu thanked him.

"You're welcome." Sun Yuanzhu turned back to his room, retrieved a small tool kit, and said to Shang Zhitao, "Let me see your glasses." Shang Zhitao took off her glasses and handed them over, watching as Sun Yuanzhu pulled a tiny screwdriver out of his magic box and fixed her glasses in a matter of seconds.

"Try them on?"

Shang Zhitao put them back on, and sure enough, the glasses stopped sliding down. She smiled at Sun Yuanzhu: "Do most guys carry a tool kit like that?"

"Maybe."

Sun Yuanzhu's gaze lingered on Shang Zhitao with a slightly different, softer expression. He remembered the night they first met, when she had been scared out of her wits by his suitcase. The sight of her fleeing in a panic still made Sun Yuanzhu feel a twinge of guilt.

"Some of my college classmates are getting together for board games later today. Want to come along?" Sun Yuanzhu invited them.

"Sanguosha [Legends of the Three Kingdoms]?" Shang Zhitao's eyes lit up; she used to play it with her classmates all the time back in school.

"Yeah, you in?"

"You going?" Shang Zhitao asked Sun Yu.

"Let's go!"

Being single young adults with nothing much to do on the weekend, gathering together for a bit of relaxation always felt fun. They took the subway to the meeting spot and met up with a few diverse young men and women.

Shang Zhitao had guessed that Sun Yuanzhu's alma mater was prestigious, but she hadn't expected it to be that prestigious—the absolute top-ranked university in the country. His classmates were equally warm and approachable. One of the female classmates ran over to buy coffee for Shang Zhitao and Sun Yu, and the group kicked off their gathering in high spirits.

Turns out top students played board games too, and they were exceptionally good at it.

Shang Zhitao drew the loyalist faction card, choosing Sun Shangxiang as her character. Sun Yuanzhu was the monarch, playing as Liu Bei. Right as the game started, he handed all his weapon cards over to Shang Zhitao through his character skill, prompting the others to hoot: "Lord Yuanzhu is letting beauty cloud his judgment!"

Shang Zhitao's face flushed as she clutched her cards tightly. In the very first round, someone targeted her with offensive fire, dropping her down to just one hit point left. When someone else played a "Barbarians" card, leaving Shang Zhitao defenseless, Sun Yuanzhu tossed her a peach to restore her health, leading to more catcalls: "Look at our Lord!"

When it was finally her turn to play cards, she had great luck—her hand was full of weapon cards. Sun Yuanzhu handed her two more, and she equipped a weapon to start swapping gear, eventually finishing with the Zhuge Crossbow and Red Hare horse equipped. She unleashed four consecutive "Slash" attacks on a player across the table, swiftly eliminating a rebel, and then discarded two cards to recover health alongside Liu Bei.

Youthful energy was undeniable; no matter how gentle and docile she usually was, she had her moments of decisive ruthlessness, and the radiance on her face couldn't be concealed. The others at the table glanced between Sun Yuanzhu and Shang Zhitao, sensing something unusual between the two of them.

Shang Zhitao wasn't one to read social cues; her entire mind was fixed on winning this round. People who played Sanguosha always provided sound effects for their moves. Every time she restored health for Sun Yuanzhu, she would chirp, "My Lord, come here~," looking utterly adorable and coy. Sun Yu was different; being bold and fiery, she had drawn the traitor role and played as Lü Meng, holding onto all her cards without playing a single one. That didn't stop her from joining the teasing: "Hey, hey, hey, Sun Shangxiang, you should sleep with me too!"

Roars of laughter erupted around the table.

If luck could be categorized into tiers, Shang Zhitao felt she belonged to the top tier. Meeting so many fascinating people in such a short span of time made her feel like most of her loneliness had melted away. No matter how arduous work might get, this weekend alone was enough to fully recharge her health bar.