The Early Spring - Chapter 12

Chapter 12 - I Have Been in Love

People streamed through the cafe as they waited off to the side. Whenever someone passed by, Shang Zhitao would take a step forward, drawing closer to Luan Nian to make room for them. Once the person passed, she would step back again, repeating this over and over. Luan Nian stood motionless, watching her fluster herself with a blush on her face. Her blushing made her look like a young girl who had not yet experienced the awakening of love.

"Why are you blushing?" Luan Nian suddenly asked her.

"Huh?" Shang Zhitao raised her head to look at him, her gaze falling into his cool, detached eyes. A trace of playful amusement danced in his eyes as he asked the question again, "Why are you blushing?"

"It's probably just too hot." Shang Zhitao genuinely felt warm, and she reached up to wipe a thin layer of sweat from her forehead. The entire airport had excellent air conditioning, so there was no way it was hot to that degree. Yet Shang Zhitao just felt hot, for no reason at all.

"Shang Zhitao." Luan Nian suddenly called her by her full Chinese name, and seeing her look at him with a pair of clear eyes, he said slowly, "How on earth do you expect to survive in the advertising industry like this?"

Confusion was written all over Shang Zhitao's eyes; she clearly didn't understand why Luan Nian would suddenly say something like that. Even her thick-rimmed frames couldn't conceal the clean, limpid pool within her eyes. That tiny speck of confusion resembled a fragment of melting ice floating on a lake in early spring, shimmering with a gentle, warm light.

Luan Nian harbored a fleeting impulse to rip off the glasses that made her look so dazed and foolish. Continuing at a measured pace, he said, "How can someone who is as timid, shy, cowardly, and overly humble as you survive in the advertising circle? Do you even know what kind of people make up this industry?"

Hearing him claim once again that she wasn't up to the task, Shang Zhitao suddenly felt a flicker of anger. As anger flared, her face turned even redder. "I don't know, so please enlighten me."

Instead, Luan Nian shrugged. "I can't teach you. The only advice I can give you is to quit and find another job."

Without waiting for Shang Zhitao to respond, he turned and walked to the counter to pick up the coffees. Without a word, Shang Zhitao took a cup of coffee and followed right beside him. Once they stepped outside the cafe, the bustling noise receded somewhat, and everything suddenly grew quiet. The faint, stubborn streak deep inside Shang Zhitao's bones suddenly burst forth, screaming at her to rebel. She took a couple of quick strides to stand right in front of Luan Nian, blocking his path. A sudden touch of resilience appeared in her gaze, and her whole person took on a subtle edge, even if that edge wasn't entirely sharp. Luan Nian stopped in his tracks and looked down at her. "What is it, Flora?"

"I'll remember the advice you gave me."

"And?"

"I'm just not going to quit!" When Shang Zhitao's temper flared, she acted just like a child. With just those four short words uttered, her eyes suddenly turned hot and red. She felt aggrieved to the core, as though Luan Nian was driving her to a dead end. After throwing out that line, she turned and marched away. Furious as she was, she didn't forget the cup of coffee; her hand remained perfectly steady, and not a single drop spilled by the time she reached Lumi.

Seeing that her complexion didn't look good, Lumi pulled her legs down from the top of her luggage suitcase and asked with a breezy casualness, "Oho, what's wrong with this girl?"

"Nothing." Shang Zhitao handed the latte to Lumi and sat down beside her.

Luan Nian walked over, carrying her cup of coffee and delivering it right in front of her, fully prepared for Shang Zhitao to reject it. But instead, she accepted it with reddened eyes and even managed to say, "Thank you." No matter how angry she was, her manners remained intact. Shang Zhitao must have grown up in a comfortably modest family where her parents loved each other and cherished her dearly. Though they weren't wealthy beyond measure, she hadn't been deprived of a single bit of proper upbringing. That was something you could tell from her everyday words and actions.

Luan Nian frowned slightly, suddenly realizing he was sticking his nose into business that wasn't his. What did it matter to him whether someone stayed at the company or not? She wasn't even an employee in his department.

Lumi sensed the bizarre atmosphere between them, but having no idea what had just transpired, she simply sat between them in silence. Each sipped their coffee, acting as if they were total strangers. It wasn't until the other two members of the creative center arrived that they began to chat casually.

Exiting the airport, Shang Zhitao sat in the back of a taxi, looking out at the lush, verdant world outside. She suddenly felt that she shouldn't have gotten angry over the remarks of an irrelevant boss—let alone gotten this angry. The world was full of boundless wonders, and any one of them was vastly superior to Luke's mouth. As if Luke's mouth deserved to be called a mouth at all, hmph.

Besides, this was her very first time coming to Guangzhou!

"Grace from creative just said that Luke is treating everyone to morning tea, and invited us to go along," Lumi announced.

"Oh, okay." Shang Zhitao felt a tiny wave of reluctance; she didn't want to eat with Luan Nian. Any meal eaten in his company definitely wouldn't taste good. Clearly, she had just lectured herself not to be mad, but her heart still held onto the grudge.

"You've been acting weird ever since you came back with the coffees. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Got bitten by a mosquito, and the itch is driving me crazy."

"Where'd it bite you? I brought some Thai green balm, I'll put some on for you." Taking it seriously, Lumi fished a small jar of green balm out of her bag—something she had brought back from a trip to Thailand.

Shang Zhitao had no choice but to point to the spot where a mosquito had bitten her the night before. "Right here."

"Whoa! That mosquito must have had a pitch-black heart!" Lumi laughed, though it was unclear whether she meant the mosquito or Luan Nian.

Shang Zhitao couldn't help being amused by her. Once they reached the hotel, she changed into a new outfit, strapped on her backpack, and headed out.

Shang Zhitao's outfit was a vibrant V-neck floral dress, its neckline revealing a patch of porcelain-white neck and a small expanse of jade-like skin across her chest. When someone who usually looked ordinary occasionally switched up their style, they suddenly bloomed with a rich, striking vibrancy.

Walking right beside her, Lumi couldn't help letting out an appreciative whistle. "Who would've thought? This chick has got a really sleek figure!"

The compliment made Shang Zhitao blush slightly, and she instinctively glanced down at her own neckline. It was very modest, revealing nothing at all, leaving her clueless as to what Lumi was hyping up.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Luan Nian was busy filling out the menu. Hearing Lumi's greeting, he lifted his eyes from the menu, nodded toward them, swept a glance over Shang Zhitao, and then lowered his head to add a few more dishes.

The restaurant was quite noisy. Elderly patrons chatted away in Cantonese, their tones gentle and melodic, making Shang Zhitao feel as though she had been transported straight to 1990s Hong Kong, stepping right into her favorite classic films. Remembering the years she had spent learning Cantonese songs using Pinyin, a brighter spark ignited in her eyes.

Grace asked Luan Nian, "I heard before that Luke is from Guangdong?"

"My ancestral home is in Jiangsu."

That served as an icebreaker, and everyone began chatting about their hometowns. Shang Zhitao sat there quietly listening, occasionally answering a question or two. Her quiet presence was like the cup of water beside her hand—just sitting there, ready to be picked up for a sip when needed, and never feeling superfluous when left untouched.

For some reason, the conversation drifted toward romance and marriage. Lumi draped an arm over Shang Zhitao's shoulder and asked, "So, do you have a boyfriend?"

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Shang Zhitao panicked slightly, her face flushing crimson. "No."

"You blush so easily, you couldn't possibly have never been in love, right?" Female colleagues loved gossiping, even when the gossip had nothing to do with them. At that moment, everyone except Luan Nian turned their undivided attention toward Shang Zhitao.

With Shang Zhitao placed over a metaphorical fire to be roasted, she had no choice but to confess. Her answer was dead serious, completely devoid of the slick, evasive prevarication typical of weathered corporate veterans: "I had a relationship once in college."

"Do tell?" Lumi teased her.

"No way." She pressed her lips together and averted her gaze to the side. Suddenly, she was reminded of the very first kiss Xin Zhaozhou had pressed against her cheek inside the noisy duck blood vermicelli soup shop. To this day, she still remembered the awkwardness that had existed between them back then.

"Would you like some tea?" Luan Nian, who had remained silent the entire time, suddenly asked them before standing up to pour tea for the young women. Grace didn't dare let the boss pour her tea and scrambled to stand up in a panic. "I'll do it, I'll do it."

"It's fine. Looking after the ladies is my responsibility." He was impeccably mannered, looking not even a tiny bit like the man who had repeatedly taunted Shang Zhitao and demanded she quit her job. In passing, he successfully rescued Shang Zhitao from her predicament.

Deep down, Luan Nian detested socializing, and today's group meal was just another form of it. He especially despised the vapid, brainless chatter that cropped up during such gatherings—as if knowing who had slept with whom could somehow help anyone execute a project better.

With him stepping in to pour the tea, his subordinates naturally caught the hint. They swiftly reigned in their aimless, cross-country rambling and earnestly began discussing the project at hand.

Shang Zhitao's lingering resentment toward Luan Nian instantly melted away, replaced by a trace of gratitude. Why was a man like Luan Nian so bizarre? He made you cycle endlessly between respecting him and loathing him, yet he seemed to thoroughly relish the process.