The Early Spring - Chapter 22

Chapter 22 - At This Moment, Wind and Moonlight Are Boundless

"Can you drive?" Luan Nian reached for the alcohol. Shang Zhitao didn't drink, which meant she could conveniently drive them down the mountain. To his surprise, Shang Zhitao shook her head. "I can't."

Luan Nian felt a slight flutter in his heart. The plain and unremarkable Shang Zhitao sitting across from him unexpectedly added a touch of flavor to the drinks, and if he lingered on the thought, he could even sense a lingering, boundless hint of romance.

That bizarre and fleeting wave of desire he had experienced in Guangzhou once again seeped faintly back into his body.

...

Luan Nian put the alcohol aside, asked the owner for a bottle of cola, poured a glass for Shang Zhitao, and then picked out a piece of fish with the most succulent meat for her. The latter was somewhat flattered, hurriedly thanking him, only to hear Luan Nian say, "Thank you for treating me to dinner."

Oh. Struggling on the poverty line, Shang Zhitao was actually a bit stingy. Given the choice, she certainly wouldn't have chosen to eat with Luan Nian, and if she had to eat out, she would have picked an affordable and delicious roadside stall. Besides, everyone had to make a living; it wouldn't be strange for Luan Nian to experience a bit of human suffering for once.

"You're welcome, it's only right." Despite thinking that, she still offered a polite courtesy. After taking a bite of the fish, she figured her treat shouldn't go to waste. "Since you're eating with me, does that mean you think I'm doing okay and can stay at the company for observation?"

"I finished dinner with a colleague once, and it didn't stop the company from firing him the next day."

"Please don't scare me."

Luan Nian glanced at her. "Haven't you considered learning to drive? You're probably the only person at Lingmei who doesn't know how."

"I already signed up at a driving school. I'm memorizing the test questions."

"Study hard. I'm worried you won't be able to pass."

"That won't happen."

Shang Zhitao grinned, her face flushed red from the heat of the fish pot. "Do you often bring your girlfriends to eat here?"

"Do you always ask this many questions?"

"Hehe."

Luan Nian ignored her and went back to eating. He had drunk heavily the day old, and without a proper meal today, he finally felt that his stomach wasn't completely empty anymore. Now that he wasn't hungry, his mood naturally improved a bit, turning rather amiable. He followed the path of Shang Zhitao's train of thought and asked her, "What about you? What do you usually do with your boyfriend on your days off?"

"I don't have a boyfriend."

"The one from the bar?"

"That's my roommate."

"Your roommate seems decent. You should try dating him."

"My roommate is truly amazing." Shang Zhitao sincerely praised Sun Yuanju. "He can do everything, has a great temper, and is always helping me out."

"How does he help you? Help you with what?"

"Just... everyday little things, looking after every detail... even accompanied me to sign up for driving school..."

"So for you girls, this is the standard for being 'good'?"

"As a friend... isn't that good enough?"

"Good enough for a friend, but being a boyfriend requires more effort," Luan Nian teased her.

Hearing Luan Nian say this, Shang Zhitao actually gave it some serious thought. "So you're very good to your girlfriends?" She had a sharp tongue of her own; with a few mouthfuls of fish in her stomach, she had forgotten herself and dared to talk back to Luan Nian. That plural word "girlfriends" was completely intentional.

Watching her stick her neck out as if spoiling for a fierce debate with him, Luan Nian finally laughed. When Shang Zhitao wasn't feeling timid, she was actually quite fun.

Not only was she fun, but her appetite was also quite large.

"Not afraid of getting fat?"

"I'm hungry... I only had this one meal today." She sounded a bit pitiful.

Luan Nian also thought she was rather pitiful, so he picked up another piece of fish and placed it on her plate. "Eat."

Their meal was fairly pleasant. Near the end, Shang Zhitao said to Luan Nian, "I'm going to the restroom." She planned to sneakily pay the bill. She understood that piece of etiquette.

"How much is that table?" Shang Zhitao asked the owner.

"Five hundred and thirty."

Not bad, Shang Zhitao thought. Luan Nian still had some human decency and hadn't gouged her wallet. "I'll pay."

"No need to pay. President Luan keeps a card here with a lot of money deposited on it. When he scooped the fish earlier, didn't he say to deduct it from the card?"

"Ah?"

Shang Zhitao was a bit shocked, recalling how Luan Nian had expressionlessly said, You're treating. He had just said it casually, and she had actually taken it seriously. Shang Zhitao felt a bit foolish for failing to tell when Luan Nian was being serious or joking. She could never figure out when Luan Nian was being truthful.

She returned to the table, sat down opposite Luan Nian, and cleared her throat. "Luke."

"What?"

"Next time, you definitely have to let me treat you."

"There's a next time?" Luan Nian wore an expression that asked, Are you serious? You actually want to have another meal with me?

"Anyway, I'm serious." Knowing she couldn't see through Luan Nian, Shang Zhitao decided to state her stance first. "I'm serious."

"Then what are you planning to treat me to?"

"Can I go back and research it properly?"

"Don't bother researching. I have too many 'girlfriends' to date; today was an exception." Luan Nian stood up after speaking. "Going back?"

"Okay. Just drop me off at the foot of the mountain where it's easy to hail a cab."

"So sensible?"

Shang Zhitao's sensibility made her seem very distant, as if she were terrified of troubling others in social interactions. Luan Nian didn't like women acting this way; he preferred directness. They should know how to be strong, yet also know how to show vulnerability. In a situation like this, she should have told him, "I'll have to trouble you to drive me home."

But Shang Zhitao didn't understand these nuances; she hadn't yet learned how to leverage her gender as an advantage.

Luan Nian didn't argue with her about where to drop her off; he simply started the car and drove slowly. Once they cleared the restaurant, they were on the downhill road. Shang Zhitao looked out the window and vaguely spotted a sky full of stars. She let out a soft "wow." Luan Nian glanced at her and pulled the car over at a scenic viewpoint, rolling down the windows into the pitch-black surroundings.

Shang Zhitao leaned her head out the window and looked up at the stars in the sky. Such beautiful stars felt like a little reward during a period when she was up to her neck in work.

Luan Nian got out of the car, leaned against it, and looked up for a while. Shang Zhitao didn't follow him out; her sense of boundaries was on full display at that moment. She couldn't stand next to Luan Nian to look at the stars—that was something couples did, and he was her boss.

She knew the difference.

The two of them enjoyed the view separately for a little while before continuing their drive down the mountain. Luan Nian drove straight toward the direction of Shang Zhitao's apartment. It was only when they were almost there that Shang Zhitao belatedly realized Luan Nian's goodwill. "Thank you, Luke."

"Don't mention it. Remember to apply for your overtime pay with HR the day after tomorrow. Submit it online and note me as the approver."

"Got it, thank you."

Luan Nian parked the car and watched Shang Zhitao's figure disappear before turning back.

It was just an ordinary bit of overtime work together, yet Shang Zhitao felt her perception of Luan Nian had shifted. She firmly concluded that Luan Nian was a good person—he just had a really foul mouth. A caustic, good person.

Thinking of Luan Nian, she decided he really was a strange man.

Sun Yu knocked and pushed the door open, her eyes red and swollen.

"What's wrong?" Shang Zhitao asked her.

Sun Yu shook her head and sat down on the edge of Shang Zhitao's bed. "Can I talk to you for a bit? I'm feeling a bit upset."

"What happened to you?" Shang Zhitao pulled her onto the bed, and the two sat facing each other. The girl from Guizhou barely looked at Shang Zhitao before tears fell. "I broke up."

"Didn't you say just yesterday that you were going over to his place today?"

"He told me not to go anymore." Sun Yu burst into tears. "Do you know, Shang Zhitao, I lost my job, and I haven't found a new one yet. He has a great career, and I always felt there was an inequality between us. He told me he felt we had fewer and fewer topics in common... which basically means he thinks I'm inadequate."

"But you're not inadequate..." Shang Zhitao didn't know how to comfort Sun Yu. How could Sun Yu be inadequate when she was such a gorgeous girl from Guizhou and so smart besides?

"You don't understand yet. Beijing is a very realistic and cruel city." Sun Yu was in too much pain. She had invested her genuine feelings, only for someone else to place her emotions on a scale to be weighed, giving them a clear price tag.

Hearing her say this, Shang Zhitao felt a ache in her heart as well.

The romance she had experienced back in her school days hadn't been tainted by worldly considerations. Back then, she and Xin Zhaozhou would eat the snacks near the school, take the bus to the park, or she would sit by the basketball court waiting for him. At the time, all they cared about was whether they loved each other, not how much the love was worth.

Even when they eventually broke up, they parted with goodwill and mutual blessings.

"Maybe you guys will make up..." Shang Zhitao wasn't good at comforting people, so she could only grasp at a hopeful possibility. "What if in a couple of days he suddenly realizes you're the best one for him..."

"And then leave me again after meeting someone even better?" Sun Yu cried harder. "I'll never give him that chance again."

Sun Yu's heart ached as if it were being torn apart, and all the past sweetness suddenly felt fake. She had thought his business trips and team-building events were just work requirements, but today she finally understood—those weren't work requirements; they were his own needs. He needed to use methods like that to let things grow cold between them until they finally broke up.

Adults could be so truly ugly.

Shang Zhitao lent her shoulder for Sun Yu to lean on, feeling somewhat dazed. Yao Bei had told her that if she wanted to romance someone, she should look for someone with good financial standing so she'd suffer less. Shang Zhitao didn't have any grand desires for material wealth, so she had never really understood what "good standing" actually meant.

She stayed with Sun Yu for a long time until she heard her begin to wipe away her tears, straighten her posture, and say, "You know what, Shang Zhitao? I suddenly realized—to hell with men, I have to rely on myself. Only when you are strong enough will men chase after you. Otherwise, they'll never learn to cherish you."

Shang Zhitao hurriedly nodded. "Right! We need to become strong!"

It sounded like they had accidentally wandered into a pyramid scheme—very impassioned. Sun Yu burst into laughter through her tears, reaching out to tap Shang Zhitao's forehead. "What are you getting so excited for?"

"I want to be strong, too!"

Shang Zhitao thought: once she became strong, she wouldn't have to fear Luan Nian threatening to fire her every day. Once she became strong, she'd slam her resignation letter onto Luan Nian's desk and tell him, "This lady is quitting!"

Just thinking about that scenario felt exhilarating—no, immensely satisfying.

Shang Zhitao completely failed to realize that Luan Nian had already occupied a small corner of her heart, silently pushing her forward.

"So, was working overtime with that annoying boss of yours today pleasant at all?" Sun Yu had been too busy crying and forgot to ask.

"It was alright. Aside from being a bit serious, he's not actually a bad person. He even treated me to fish up on the mountain." Shang Zhitao recounted what happened today to Sun Yu, whose expression changed as she listened. "Shang Zhitao, your boss isn't trying to hit on you with hidden motives, is he?"

"What? No way, he has tons of girlfriends..."

"Men, especially wealthy ones, are never afraid of having too many girlfriends. They just want to conquer the next one."

"No, impossible." Shang Zhitao waved her hands. "I saw his girlfriend in Guangzhou; she looked like Miss World."

"So what? It doesn't rule out him wanting something novel. Besides, your figure is so nice."

Shang Zhitao blushed. "Stop talking nonsense. He's not lacking women, and I'm not interested in him either."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." As soon as she said it, Shang Zhitao paused to think about it for a moment. Wait, no—I'm way too interested in Luan Nian; I want to do something with Luan Nian.

And what about Luan Nian toward her? Shang Zhitao wasn't sure. She suffered from insomnia again that night, meticulously replaying every single interaction she had with Luan Nian today. The more she thought about it, the more she felt Sun Yu was right: he was totally trying to make a move on her!

Shang Zhitao bolted upright in bed!