The Early Spring - Chapter 17

Chapter 17 - Imagining a Scandalous Story

I want to sleep with you. The little persona jumping up and down inside Shang Zhitao's heart was truly audacious, casting a subtle smile at Luan Nian before her gaze instantly darted away. That scandalous, sultry story spread through every limb and fiber of her body, refusing to dissipate.

The awakening of desire. Not just a male prerogative, but a female one as well. The words rushed right to the edge of her throat, only for her to hear Luan Nian say:

"I advise you not to entertain such inappropriate thoughts."

Did she think everyone else was blind? Standing there with a flushed face, eyes darting about restlessly while her mind ran wild with illicit, scandalous fantasies—were modern girls all like this nowadays? Thinking that climbing into the boss's bed would pave a smooth path to success in the company? What on earth was she thinking?

The little persona inside Shang Zhitao's heart was summarily executed by firing squad. She shook her head frantically: "I really didn't!" The denial only made it more obvious, a classic case of protesting too much. Before finishing the sentence, she bolted toward the elevator, not forgetting to toss out a parting: "Good night to you."

Watching her scurry into the elevator in a panic, Luan Nian twisted his mouth, let out a hum from his nose, and actually broke into a faint, fleeting grin.

When she reached the lobby, she began debating whether to grab a bite to eat. Having tossed and turned since early morning, she still hadn't eaten anything, and her stomach was rumbling. She pulled out her phone to check what food options were nearby. After spending a moment with her head bowed studying the screen, she looked up just in time to see a woman stepping out of a taxi. The woman was breathtakingly stunning—her hair tied up in a neat knot at the nape, her posture slender and ramrod straight, her chin tilted upward just a fraction, blending gentle elegance with an untamed wild streak. How much did Shang Zhitao love looking at beauties? Naturally, she stole an extra glance, and then couldn't resist turning her head for a second look. That very glance, however, caught Luan Nian walking out to greet the woman, speaking to her in a rare, gentle, spring-breeze tone: "Why are you here?"

"I don't have my key. Can I stay with you for a bit?"

Damn it.

Shang Zhitao never swore, but sometimes she cursed silently in her head. What kind of absurd situation was this? When it rains, it pours? Witnessing her boss's less-than-presentable private life time and time again—and this coming from the boss who wanted to fire every single person he looked at.

Catching Luan Nian's gaze, she hurriedly flashed him a smile, pressing her thumb and index finger together to trace a zip across her lips: I'll keep my mouth shut, I won't say a word, please rest assured.

Luan Nian suddenly understood what was running through her head, but he couldn't be bothered to explain himself. Casting her an icy look, he walked inside with Zang Yao.

Shang Zhitao felt as though she had exhausted all her luck ever since she started working. Whatever she was supposed to see or not see, whatever she was supposed to hear or not hear, it all forced its way into her eyes and ears. Now, she had to worry about Luan Nian taking a knife to her just to ensure she kept her mouth shut.

She stood outside the hotel for a while, losing all appetite to go anywhere. She bought a cup of instant noodles and some sausages, headed back to her room, ate her meal, and pulled the covers over her head to fall fast asleep. The next morning before dawn, she got up and headed straight for Shunde, finally escaping Guangzhou.

It was her first business trip ever—running herself ragged, meeting countless people, listening to an endless stream of demands. Five days blinked by in an instant, and when she dragged her luggage to say goodbye to Lumi at the airport, she even felt a fleeting illusion that she was some kind of powerful corporate career woman.

Yet real career women don't get this exhausted.

As soon as she got home, she went out with Sun Yu to grab some cheap street-stall spicy hot pot. The rising steam left both of them drenched in sweat from head to toe.

Shang Zhitao recounted her business trip experiences, mentioning how Luan Nian kept urging her to resign, and told Sun Yu: "It's entirely possible that I'll be packing up my bags and rolling out of there in a few days. Before I get booted, I'm going to write a giant big-character poster and paste it in the company elevator, declaring that his girlfriends are blooming everywhere!" Shang Zhitao sounded rather vicious, though she immediately cracked up at her own joke.

She was actually an exceptionally lively and cheerful girl, but work had ground her down so much that she hadn't looked like her usual self for a long time. Now that she was relaxed, that carefree, goofy vibrancy bubbled right back to the surface.

"Why is a manager picking a bone with you anyway? Don't stress out too much," Sun Yu comforted her.

"Could it be that we were mortal enemies in a past life, and now we're destined to fight to the death in this one?" Shang Zhitao took a sip of cola, the bubbles bursting on her tongue. Carbonated drinks were truly a source of pure joy.

"You're overthinking it. Did you even get a chance to fight the guy in this life? You walked right up just to get crushed under his boots!" Sun Yu teased to scare Shang Zhitao. Having worked for three years, she had witnessed a bit more of the corporate jungle than Shang Zhitao.

In truth, why would it ever come down to a fight to the death?

If a boss hates you and makes your life miserable, there will inevitably come a day when you can no longer tolerate it. By that time, you won't even have the energy to fight; you'll just want to dust off your pants and vanish like a puff of smoke, never to cross paths in this world again.

Shang Zhitao thought about it—Luan Nian was so terrifying he really might crush her flat. At that moment, she never could have imagined that not long after, Luan Nian would genuinely come within a hair's breadth of crushing her. She let out a sigh: "I don't know what's wrong with me. The more he hates me, the more I keep stumbling into his secrets." Shang Zhitao listed everything out to Sun Yu—Luan Nian breaking up with his girlfriend, taking women out to dinner, and bringing a woman back to the hotel in Guangzhou. "Look, I'm just that unlucky. Every single time. You have no idea, the look that guy gave me outside the hotel in Guangzhou that day—he honestly looked like he wanted to murder me."

"His private life is that chaotic?" Sun Yu's eyes widened. "What does he look like? He sure pulls a lot of women."

"Well... he looks... exceptionally good-looking, the kind who immediately strikes you as totally untamable." In Shang Zhitao's mind, Luan Nian was already the definition of an untamable wild card. She even wondered if, given how frequently he swapped girlfriends, he must harbor some sort of hidden medical condition.

After finishing their spicy hot pot, the two walked back home. Shang Zhitao felt utterly hollowed out. Once home, she took a shower, changed into her pajamas, collapsed onto her bed, and fell into a deep sleep under the covers. She slept soundly, having not felt this exhausted in ages. Doing part-time jobs back in school was tiring too, but that kind of fatigue vanished after a simple stroll around the sports track. This time, however, she felt so wiped out that she couldn't even be bothered to lift a finger.

When she finally opened her eyes, it was already Sunday afternoon. A gentle breeze stirred the curtains, and the electric fan was still humming away. The aroma of stir-frying drifted in from the kitchen—Sun Yu was definitely making dinner.

She pulled out her phone and saw numerous missed calls from her parents. Only then did she remember she had put her phone on silent before falling asleep and had forgotten to check in with them. She hastily called back. The line was answered on the very first ring, and she heard Old Shang sounding as though he were crying.

"What's wrong with Dad?" Shang Zhitao asked her mother.

"How can you still ask what's wrong? You almost scared your father to death." Her mother was wiping away tears as well. "We called you countless times and you wouldn't answer. Your father didn't sleep a wink all night, thinking something happened to you."

Old Shang's crying sounded truly tragic, and hearing it brought tears to Shang Zhitao's eyes as well: "Oh dear, it's my fault! Please stop crying, both of you—can't you see I'm totally fine?"

After the family of three exchanged a few tearful moments, her mom and dad carefully questioned her about how she was holding up lately. Hearing that Shang Zhitao frequently worked late into the night, Old Shang immediately felt a pang of heartache: "Dad is going to wire you some money this afternoon. Eat something good to build your strength back up."

"No, no, no! I always sponge off my roommate's cooking."

"How can you do that? You shouldn't take advantage of people. If you eat a meal at someone else's place, you have to return the favor." Old Shang instructed her strictly: "Don't hold back on buying good food just because it's expensive—your dad has plenty of money!"

When did Old Shang ever have plenty of money? With just that fixed, meager salary, it was simply his way of refusing to let his daughter suffer. Shang Zhitao understood completely, which was why she never compared herself to others. She believed that life was fine as long as there was modest, steady contentment. As long as she put in honest effort every day, things would get better bit by bit.

She was an optimist through and through.

A born optimist, there were very few things in life that genuinely gave her a headache. Right now, there was only one: Luan Nian.

She lay back down on her bed, opened her laptop, and searched: What should you do when your boss hates you? The search results were a chaotic mess—some suggested treating your boss to dinner, others recommended helping your boss solve problems, and a few advocated sucking up to him.

What kind of nonsense was this? Sucking up to Luan Nian? Wouldn't Luan Nian just grab her by the collar and toss her off the city wall for public display? Treat him to dinner? She hadn't even collected her first paycheck yet! Lumi said one of Luan Nian's outfits cost as much as her monthly salary; wouldn't a single meal with him cost half a month's pay?

None of those options worked.

It was an insoluble puzzle.

Wait. She couldn't afford a meal, but buying coffee was doable, right? He drank coffee every day—creative types ran on coffee to stay alive! That settled it!

Having made up her mind to get on Luan Nian's good side, Shang Zhitao arrived early the next morning and slipped into the twenty-four-hour cafe downstairs from the office. Since she was early, the cafe was still mostly empty. The guy working behind the counter greeted her: "What can I get you?"

Shang Zhitao walked up and asked him, "There's a tall, good-looking guy who comes in to buy coffee every morning—what does he drink?"

The guy gave her a knowing look: "Luke, you mean?"

"Yes, yes." Shang Zhitao nodded.

"Luke drinks an iced Americano every day."

"Then please trouble yourself to give me an iced Americano." Shang Zhitao paused—buying one just for him might look a bit too deliberate, so she added, "And make that two, one for me as well."

With the coffees ready, she walked out of the cafe holding one in each hand, and right outside, she bumped straight into Luan Nian.

"Morning, Luke!" Shang Zhitao greeted him with a smile. "Are you here to get coffee?" Seeing Luan Nian give a nod as he prepared to walk past, she blurted out in a rush, "I accidentally bought two cups just now. Would you want to buy one off me?"

Shang Zhitao almost bit her tongue off. Buy one off you? She meant to offer it to him for free, but a single wrong word made a world of difference.

She had learned to call her mom by ten months old and spent her early toddler years bickering with the little boy next door, considering herself a rather sharp-tongued person. Yet today, when she wanted to treat her boss to coffee, what slipped out of her mouth was would you want to buy one off me?

Did she really look that desperate for the cash from a single cup of coffee?

Once Luan Nian swept her out of the company like street trash, she'd be reduced to drinking northwest wind anyway—what coffee would she even care about then?

Watching the expression of profound regret washing over her face, Luan Nian couldn't guess what tortuous mental gymnastics she had just been through, and merely muttered inwardly: Shang Zhitao's got a screw loose.

"Or... how about I treat you?"

"If you can't finish it, you can pour it down the drain." Luan Nian cracked a grin at her, took a few steps forward, and through the reflection of the glass facade, caught sight of the blockhead Shang Zhitao opening her mouth soundlessly. He turned back, walked over to her, and plucked the coffee right out of her hand. "I'll pay you back tomorrow."

Feeling like she had finally caught a glimmer of hope, Shang Zhitao hurried along behind him: "No need, no need, I'll treat you again tomorrow."

Luan Nian finally understood.

Shang Zhitao was trying to butter him up.

"Even if you treat me to coffee every single day, it won't change the fact that you're incompetent. Instead of wasting time on these crooked schemes, you'd be better off properly enriching yourself." He walked ahead with his head held high, delivering the words with complete, unruffled ease. Shang Zhitao trailed behind him like a stray dog running for its life.

Following him into the elevator, she heard him add: "Ask yourself—half a month has passed, what have you actually gained? Running around like a headless fly every day, do you ever take the time to review your work? If you don't use your brain, how do you expect to grow?"

Fine, he drank her coffee, so he gave her a few words of advice.

"Understood, Luke, I'll keep it in mind. I'll do a work review today and send you the results for your guidance."

"Why would you send it to me? Am I your babysitter? Am I obligated to teach you every single day?" After giving her a thorough dressing-down, Luan Nian was in an exceptionally good mood. Seeing her tilt her head as if deep in thought, he added one more line: "If you feel like you can't digest what I'm telling you, you might as well write a resignation letter sooner rather than later. Resignation letters are easy to write—just four words: I quit will do."

"Oh." Having inexplicably copped a lecture, Shang Zhitao drooped her head and stepped out of the elevator. Luan Nian was right; instead of playing petty, crooked games, she really ought to focus on her work.