The Early Spring - Chapter 19
Chapter 19 - Go the Fuck Home
The moment the idea of learning how to drive crossed Shang Zhitao's mind, she immediately decided to go through with it. Using the money Old Shang had given her, she enrolled in a driving school, and Sun Yuanzhu accompanied her to sign up.
Sun Yuanzhu was truly a wonderful young man—neat, gentle, with an attentive and friendly gaze whenever he looked at someone. Shang Zhitao felt that under Sun Yuanzhu's gaze, she could practically expand into a fluffy cloud.
"I can accompany you to driving practice on weekends from now on anyway, since I don't have anything else going on." Sun Yuanzhu harbored a fair bit of concern for Shang Zhitao and offered to keep her company while she practiced.
"You can go hang out with your classmates instead, your adorable classmates."
"It doesn't interfere; we usually meet up in the afternoons anyway."
"Oh, oh, oh." Shang Zhitao felt a wave of gratitude toward Sun Yuanzhu. He was constantly helping her out, yet he remained entirely oblivious to it himself.
"Driving instructors never have very nice things to say. Whenever you go, buy a bottle of water for the instructor or bring a pack of cigarettes. Don't take their harsh words to heart," Sun Yuanzhu instructed her. Back when he was learning to drive, his instructor had hurled countless unpleasant remarks at him—those instructors must have all graduated from the exact same training camp, using the exact same scolding lines. "When I was learning to drive, there were girls who got scolded to tears by the instructor."
"That's terrifying..."
Shang Zhitao treated Sun Yuanzhu to soybean paste soup at a spot right near his alma mater. Looking at the diverse crowd of people seated around them, she suddenly remembered her desire to improve her English and asked Sun Yuanzhu, "Does your school have an English corner?"
"Why do you ask?"
Shang Zhitao shared her self-improvement plan with him, feeling no shred of embarrassment. Instead of mocking her, Sun Yuanzhu found her earnest and driven attitude rather endearing.
"Should I introduce you to a foreign tutor? Don't go to language agencies; they're way too expensive. This foreign tutor charges thirty yuan for forty minutes, paid on a per-session basis. You can chat with him and ask all sorts of questions. A few of my classmates who were prepping for the TOEFL were coached by him." Sun Yuanzhu pointed out a cost-effective and highly efficient shortcut for Shang Zhitao, whose head bobbed up and down like a pecking pigeon, cracking Sun Yuanzhu up. "Looking forward to seeing your improvement plan succeed."
"It will!"
The foreign tutor recommended by Sun Yuanzhu lived in the student dormitories of his alma mater. He was an American exchange student, tall and burly with standard American facial features, yet he spoke fluent Beijing slang. He had given himself a Chinese name: Long Zhentian. Shang Zhitao pondered over it for a long time—Long Zhentian, yep, what a magnificent name. Foreign exchange students always gave themselves those ultra-down-to-earth Chinese names, and sometimes if you suggested they change it, they would just reply, "Isn't this a great name?"
Long Zhentian asked Shang Zhitao, "What kind of fluency level are you aiming for?"
"I want to reach a level where I can understand all-English meetings without any barriers."
"Well, you are going to have to put in quite a bit of effort for that."
"I'll have to trouble you then."
Shang Zhitao got completely derailed by Long Zhentian and naturally slipped into speaking Beijing dialect as well, causing all three of them to burst into laughter. Long Zhentian loved making friends, and finding Shang Zhitao adorable, he suggested heading over to a bar near the campus for a drink that evening.
The area around their campus was packed with Koreans, and the bar was buzzing with life—people speaking English, Korean, a sprinkling of French, and the vast majority speaking Chinese; it had a bit of everyone. It was Shang Zhitao's first time visiting a bar, so she found everything wonderfully novel, looking left and right. Just as she glanced to the right, her eyes locked onto a pair of cold, detached eyes.
It really is a small world.
Wasn't that Luke? He was sitting with a group of friends—three men and two women. The men were strikingly handsome, and the women were drop-dead gorgeous. Remembering his girlfriend in Guangzhou and then looking at the woman right in front of him, Shang Zhitao flashed him an ingratiating, fawning smile.
Luan Nian withdrew his gaze and continued talking to Tan Mian: "We're setting off on Christmas, right?"
"Yeah. Doesn't your company give you guys Christmas leave?"
"Of course. Where are we heading this year?"
"How about soaking in hot springs in Hokkaido? Everyone's way too exhausted lately, so let's pick somewhere not too far. We won't bother flying to the US to see family since we have to head back for the Lunar New Year anyway, how does that sound?"
"Fine by me."
"So does that mean we're joining you guys too?" asked the girl sitting beside them.
"Every year when we travel, we never bring girls along." Tan Mian smiled apologetically at her. It wasn't that they never brought girls along—they did bring Zang Yao, after all. Standing up, Luan Nian said, "I'm going to the restroom."
The bar's restroom was dim and gloomy. As Shang Zhitao stepped out of it, she misstepped and nearly took a header onto the floor, only to be hauled back up by a hand gripping her arm. She hastily muttered her thanks: "Thank you, thank you." Raising her head, she found herself staring right at Luan Nian.
"Come with me."
Dropping those words, Luan Nian turned and walked away. Shang Zhitao trailed right behind him as the two of them marched out of the bar one after the other.
The surrounding area was noisy and chaotic. Luan Nian asked her with a freezing expression, "Is the report finished?"
Luan Nian had assigned her homework on Friday: Alex had asked her to write a joint project execution report for the planning and marketing departments, to be sent out on Sunday. Shang Zhitao was pretty much done; only a concluding section remained, which would pose no problem if she finished it tomorrow morning.
"Just missing the conclusion."
"You haven't even finished writing, yet you're out hanging out at bars?"
"...I..."
"Did you do your homework before wandering into a bar?"
"What?"
Luan Nian was about to be driven insane by her. What kind of place was a bar, and was it somewhere a brainless person like her had any business hanging out in? Accompanied by two men? And one of them was a foreigner? She didn't even bring her own brain with her? Had she just gone with the flow of the crowd the moment she arrived in Beijing?
Yet none of this was really his business; he only cared about his report: "Have the report sent to me before twelve o'clock tonight."
"Didn't you say tomorrow?"
"I tell you tomorrow, so you assume tomorrow? Don't you want to give me time to revise it?"
"I'll go right back and revise it now."
Isn't this just because I caught you red-handed with your dirty secrets? So you're making my life miserable again. Shang Zhitao thought resentfully. Lacking any political scheming nature, she assumed the thoughts hidden deep in her heart were well-concealed, only to have Luan Nian see right through them: "Are you cursing me in your head?"
"No, no, no." Shang Zhitao shook her head repeatedly, looking all the more guilty.
"There cannot be a single typo in that report."
"Mm-hmm, okay." With sparkling eyes, Shang Zhitao looked up at Luan Nian amidst the summer night breeze and blurted out a foolish remark before she could stop herself: "Luke, don't you worry, I won't say a word to anyone. I'll definitely keep your secret."
"Keep what secret?" Hearing her say that, Luan Nian shoved both hands into his pockets, leaned against the exterior brick wall of the bar, and looked at her with leisurely amusement.
"You know... your... girlfriends..." She deliberately emphasized the plural suffix and cast a guilty glance at Luan Nian. She found her own behavior bizarre—he was the one playing the field, not her, so why was she feeling guilty? Most likely, holding leverage over her boss's little secrets was making her jittery.
Luan Nian suddenly chuckled, the corners of his mouth twitching: "Fine, keep my secret. I don't have any other hobbies, I just happen to be a skirt-chaser. If other people find out, I'll just find an excuse and fire you."
"You can count on me!" Shang Zhitao quickly raised her hand to swear an oath: "I swear on my personal integrity, I will never let it slip." Her posture was dead serious.
Blockhead. Luan Nian cursed her internally and turned back into the bar.
"Took you long enough."
"The line was long." Luan Nian threw out a casual fabrication.
"Dude, I just went, and there wasn't a single soul in the restroom." Tan Mian exposed his lie.
He didn't bother to explain himself either, simply sitting there drinking and listening to music. Every now and then he glanced over at Shang Zhitao; she, on the other hand, was sitting there all smiles chatting away with people, showing no intention of leaving.
As Shang Zhitao chatted with Long Zhentian, she sensed someone glaring at her—stare after stare, how annoying. She had no choice but to drag Sun Yuanzhu along to say goodbye to Long Zhentian and exit the bar.
Once home, she took a quick shower and immediately started working on the report, managing to email it to both Alex and Luan Nian at 11:55 PM, followed by a separate message to each of them.
Alex was utterly astonished: "Sent it this early?"
"To leave the bosses enough time for revisions."
"I just wanted to take a look at project progress; it doesn't need any revisions."
...
Damn it. Luan Nian, that old turtle bastard. Lying in bed, Shang Zhitao fumed: That bar was so much fun, and the live singing was great too, only to have that bastard Luke scare and threaten her all the way back home.
After a long while, Luan Nian replied to her email with three points for improvement. Yes, exactly three:
- Add the recovery estimation for each item in the project budget list—which had been done previously.
- Include the specific sub-projects, project owners, and performance evaluation metrics.
- Add emergency scenarios and contingency plans.
Send it to me tomorrow.
Shang Zhitao opened up her report to take a look—she hadn't written down any of those points. Luan Nian's suggestions hit the nail right on the head. Annoying as he was, every single piece of advice he gave pierced straight to the core, much like a stern teacher who always managed to produce top-scoring students.
She crawled out of bed and revised the report according to Luan Nian's feedback. She didn't even realize that she had gradually transformed into a workaholic. Whenever she had pending to-do items, she simply couldn't fall asleep, turning them over and over in her mind.
By the time she finished revising, it was three in the morning. Resending the email, she suddenly felt a weight lifted off her shoulders. Just as she was about to close her eyes, she received a message from Luan Nian: "Much better this time."
Much better this time.
Shang Zhitao felt a flutter of happiness; the feeling of receiving praise was simply wonderful. She replied: I'll keep working hard, thank you, Luke.
And she added an extra line: "Why are you still awake?"
Luan Nian replied: Nightlife.
Nightlife my foot. After leaving the bar, he had taken a designated driving service straight home. Drinking a bit of light alcohol in the evening had left him wired instead of sleepy, feeling somewhat restless and bored. He had watched some American TV shows for a bit, then read some books, but sleep simply refused to come.
His sole source of amusement had been grading Shang Zhitao's homework, knowing full well she would drag herself out of bed to finish revising it. His formidable desire for control was fully indulged through Shang Zhitao, and he suddenly felt that an obedient woman lacking any particular sharp edges like Shang Zhitao wasn't so bad after all.
Clueless as Shang Zhitao might be, her execution capability was strong. In Tracy's words: she possessed a strong sense of responsibility.
The proposal she had revised was still absolute garbage, falling far short of Luan Nian's standards, yet he had still replied with: Much better this time. Why? Probably to prevent an employee from dying of an overworked sudden death. He had shown a rare shred of mercy.
"Wow, nightlife. Then I won't disturb you any further, good night, Luke."
The word "wow" here was delicately chosen and rich in connotation; Luan Nian could vividly picture Shang Zhitao's gossipy expression, coupled with a face incapable of hiding any emotions, which must have clearly spelled out: Tsk tsk, clothes must be completely off by now, right?
Breaking all precedent, Luan Nian replied with a single phrase: "Good night." Then he tossed his phone aside and went to sleep.
Shang Zhitao slept straight until noon. Recalling how Luan Nian had coached her through writing the report yesterday, she realized she still didn't truly understand how a proper report should be structured, so she grabbed her laptop and headed to the living room. Her roommates were chatting quietly in low voices, and upon seeing Shang Zhitao emerge, one of them asked, "You're finally up."
Shang Zhitao offered an embarrassed smile, placed her laptop on the table, and turned to wash up. Only after tidying herself up did she take a seat at the edge: "I'd like to ask a few seniors for some guidance."
"About what?" Zhang Lei asked her.
"I don't know how to write a work report..." Shang Zhitao felt a bit shy. "Everyone has more experience than me; could you guys teach me how a work report is supposed to be written?" Shang Zhitao was quite startled by her own diligence and drive—if she had possessed even a fraction of this vigor back in her school days, she could have easily tested into a tier-one university! Failing to study hard then and getting beaten black and blue in the workplace now, wasn't she just asking for it?
Zhang Lei hurriedly raised both hands in a gesture of surrender: "Count me out for this, your big brother Yuanzhu is your guy."
"Everyone's great, everyone's great." Being humble and eager to learn, Shang Zhitao looked at everyone with a pair of sincere eyes: "There's so much I want to learn, my leveling-up journey is still a long way off!"
Having a sales background, Sun Yuanzhu stood up and wrapped an arm around Shang Zhitao's shoulder: "How about big sis teaches you how to drink instead?"
The entire room burst into laughter.
The laughter echoing in that tiny room was something they would cherish for many, many years. Ten years later, a thirty-two-year-old Shang Zhitao came to Beijing on business and specifically invited Sun Yuanzhu out for drinks nearby. By that time, Sun Yuanzhu was already a prominent bigwig in the matchmaking and romance industry, sporting exquisite makeup and casually tossing around figures of tens of millions in investments. Drunk, she pointed up at the lights of the building and told Shang Zhitao: "How about I just buy this place out?"
Don't be ridiculous.
Shang Zhitao hugged her tight, and the two of them wept openly right there on the streets of the North Fifth Ring Road.