The Early Spring - Chapter 49

Chapter 49 - My Boss Is Not for Sale

Shang Zhitao stood at the bottom of the stage watching Luan Nian give his speech. This wasn't the first time, but Luan Nian still made her feel dizzy. Standing on such a massive stage, he didn't look thin or slight in the least; his presence was extraordinary. He spoke about L'Embellir's new domestic strategies for the year: deeply studying local culture, carrying forward the spirit of craftsmanship, linking the domestic market with the international, and allowing brands to take deep root while also expanding outward.

The research and promotional video jointly produced by the Creative Center and the Marketing Department were also premiered during his speech—exquisite beyond compare and rich with cultural depth.

Luan Nian was precisely that kind of person. Operating in an industry like this, he remained unswayed by material desires and popular aesthetics, steadfastly holding true to his authentic self. This was both his boldness and his charm.

During the rehearsal, Luan Nian had simply walked the stage to find his blocking without speaking a word. Today was the first time he presented the full content, and Shang Zhitao listened from beginning to end.

She had spent the past few days practically without sleep, all for the sake of this final presentation. This conference had exhausted every ounce of energy she had left; now, she was running on sheer fumes, and as the guest speeches drew to a close, the event was nearing a successful completion.

"When are the PR drafts going out?" Lumi asked Shang Zhitao.

"Twenty minutes after the official conclusion, we'll send out the first wave of PR uniformly. The second wave will go out after the exclusive interviews, and the third batch of drafts will drop tomorrow afternoon."

"Thorough." Lumi gave Shang Zhitao a thumbs-up.

"I had a great teacher." Shang Zhitao smiled at her, affectionately leaning her head against Lumi's shoulder for a brief second.

"Are you tired? If you're exhausted, you can head to Xi'an a bit later next week; I'll handle things on my own." Lumi felt a twinge of heartache for Shang Zhitao, who worked herself to the bone; Lumi was genuinely worried she might drop dead from overwork.

"No way. Xi'an has two sub-venues as well, and it'll be way too tiring for you alone. I'll be your assistant; it won't be that tiring."

"If you say so. When the time comes, I'll treat you to steamed mutton bread soup."

"Deal."

Luan Nian stepped off the stage. Speaking into her walkie-talkie, Shang Zhitao announced, "The emcee is on stage. The next guest is Ms. Jiang Lan. Ushers, please be ready." She had run through the conference schedule countless times; it was entirely etched into her mind, with timings accurate to the second, stage positioning accurate to the centimeter, and division of labor crystal clear. When Luan Nian learned she had taken on the first stop, he had told her: Only by doing thorough homework can you handle the variables of a live event.

Jiang Lan was striking—a career woman forged through years of trials in the business world, completely at ease in an environment like this. Taking the floor, her very first sentence was in the Suzhou dialect: It feels so good to be home.

Lumi clicked her tongue and nudged Shang Zhitao with her elbow. "Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"This association president—our Luke reeled her in."

"How did he reel her in?"

"What do you think?"

The subtext was clear: how else could it have happened? A woman like Jiang Lan had seen every kind of scene and witnessed every luxury; what could she possibly want? Nothing more than a bit of amusement.

Shang Zhitao nodded; she understood.

"Do you think he actually...?" she asked Lumi.

"Rumors are just rumors, but I still think this guy Luke has some backbone. I doubt he'd actually get tangled up with her like that; he probably just slipped her some kind of love potion." Lumi chuckled twice after speaking. "In fact, some people have even been saying he's gay these days."

"Huh?"

"Lately there's been gossip that nine out of ten guys in creative fields are gay. They say that since our Luke grew up abroad, works in this kind of industry, has such sharp energy, he looks like he swings both ways."

Shang Zhitao burst out laughing. Picturing Luan Nian as a gay man for a brief second, she cleared her throat and said, "We need to be serious. You keep teasing me and I'm going to forget the rest of the schedule."

"Prejudice, pure prejudice—all industry bias," Lumi continued.

The two of them chatted and giggled. Once Jiang Lan finished her speech, Shang Zhitao watched Luan Nian stand up, applaud, and guide Jiang Lan to her seat. His service was impeccable—it was rare for him to go out of his way to ingratiate himself. Pulling her focus back, she moved on to manage the subsequent segments of the agenda, and when the speech segment finally drew to a close, she let out a long breath of relief.

"Ushers and guides, please orderly escort the guests to disperse. There are fifteen consultation booths nearby that sales colleagues can utilize. Please guide the VIPs to the first-floor VIP lounge to wait for the banquet. Luke needs to give an exclusive interview; I'll go fetch him."

Finishing her instructions, Shang Zhitao muted her walkie-talkie, walked over to Luan Nian, and said, "Luke, your thirty-minute exclusive interview is up next. You'll be answering questions from two TV stations, five online media outlets, and ten print publications. It should take about fifty minutes."

"Alright, thank you." Luan Nian then turned his head and asked Jiang Lan, "Shall we go together?"

"I didn't prepare any talking points."

"Aren't you a fountain of eloquence?" Luan Nian smiled. "After you."

Listening to their polite banter, Shang Zhitao thought to herself that being a boss must be terribly difficult if even someone as proud and haughty as Luan Nian had to fake enthusiasm.

Shang Zhitao led them to the interview room. Since the guest lineup had undergone a few adjustments, she radioed Lumi with a heads-up before hurrying off to handle other matters. A little while later, she received a message from Lumi: "I can't take this anymore!"

"What's wrong!"

"Why is Jiang Lan so disgusting? Why does she always stand so close to my stubborn donkey?" Lumi referred to Luan Nian as her stubborn donkey; over the past half-year, her greatest source of amusement had been watching Luan Nian act infuriating and unbothered.

"..."

"Once this interview is over, I'm going to edit out every trace of that woman!" Lumi joked.

"Please, please, spare me. If you trigger a level-one operational disaster over this, Luke will fire me on the spot," Shang Zhitao begged for mercy.

With Lumi's message buffering her expectations, Shang Zhitao was mentally prepared for the interactions between Luan Nian and Jiang Lan. When escorting them to the VIP lounge later, seeing Jiang Lan flash a gentle smile at Luan Nian didn't make Shang Zhitao feel uneasy at all. Instead, she calmly led them to the lounge, handed them over to the waitstaff for seating, and left whatever happened inside behind—her final task for the day was to properly serve the bosses in the VIP lounge.

L'Embellir was rigorous; the menu for a banquet like this was predetermined. Sales had already surveyed everyone's dietary restrictions, allergy histories, and personal preferences beforehand, and the dishes ordered blended multiple flavor profiles while prioritizing exquisite presentation. Since the main East China battleground was in Suzhou, squirrel-shaped mandarin fish, cherry pork, and braised river eel in brown sauce were absolute musts. The banquet service at this hotel was also famously good, and since Shang Zhitao had pre-tasted the dishes earlier, she felt completely at ease.

Standing at the entrance of the VIP lounge, she checked the dishes one by one. A short while later, she received a message from Luan Nian: "Which room is Jiang Lan staying in?"

"Alex said she's booked right next door to you," Shang Zhitao replied, omitting any mention of the rumors she'd heard about them today.

"Booked right next door to me?" Luan Nian confirmed with her.

"Mhm, they said it's for convenience."

"What's so convenient about that?"

"That, I wouldn't know."

Shang Zhitao put away her phone, having no intention of replying to Luan Nian any further. You're asking me what's convenient—don't you know in your own heart? She let out a long breath, telling herself not to care; whoever cared was a big fool. Then she turned her focus back to monitoring the banquet.

Half an hour later, the atmosphere inside the venue lively warmed up, and Shang Zhitao heard the sound of a piano playing. When the waitstaff went in to serve dishes, she peeked through the ajar door: Jiang Lan was playing the piano, while everyone else listened intently. Shang Zhitao was reminded of her own childhood experiences; if she were forced to perform something at an occasion like this, she'd probably have to haul out her writing brush, inkstone, and paper all over again.

Luan Nian was watching too.

Luan Nian loved dazzling things, and Jiang Lan at this moment was undeniably dazzling. He appreciated any woman who dared to display her charm, as it made him feel the society was open and the times were progressing.

Shang Zhitao didn't finish watching that single glance before the door clicked shut, leaving her able to catch only the loudest snatches of conversation from within. In any case, it was a bustling scene.

She couldn't help wondering what kind of contracts would be signed and what kinds of consensus would be reached inside today.

Another hour passed, and Shang Zhitao's legs began to ache from standing. Finding a chair to sit down, she received a message from Alex: "Luke's a bit drunk."

"Luke is drunk? How drunk?"

"Like a lump of mud." Shang Zhitao found it hard to believe Luan Nian could ever get truly drunk. The very first time she had seen him drink, he had consumed a massive amount yet still remembered to have the security guard flag down a cab for her. If someone told her that kind of man had turned into a drunken puddle of mud just an hour into a banquet, she wouldn't believe it if it killed her.

She contacted the hotel's sales manager: "Can you lend me two strong male colleagues?"

The hotel moved quickly and dispatched personnel immediately. Knocking on the door and stepping inside, she saw that everyone was scattered across various corners of the room; they had all consumed quite a bit, and very few looked fresh and clear-headed. Spotting Shang Zhitao enter, Alex wobbled to his feet, patted her shoulder, and said, "I'm counting on you, Flora."

"It's my duty. Shall I send you back first?"

"Send Luke back." Alex winked at her. Shang Zhitao felt a bit dizzy, completely unsure what that wink was supposed to mean. The waitstaff propped Luan Nian up and escorted him out of the VIP lounge, running right into Lumi in the hallway, who looked rather surprised. "Luke?"

"Yeah!" Shang Zhitao nodded.

"Luke drank this much?"

Shang Zhitao nodded again.

"Holy crap!"

Together with the waitstaff, the two women escorted Luan Nian back to his room. The staff politely withdrew, and Shang Zhitao filled a cup of water and placed it on his bedside table. The moment she stood back up, she saw Luan Nian open his eyes, prop himself up against the headboard, and give her a deliberate wink. ?

Luan Nian let out a soft chuckle.

Lumi's eyes widened as she whispered, "Luke isn't drunk?"

Luan Nian sat up fully. "Too boring, didn't feel like drinking. Apollo can handle the rest. Is there any noodles?"

"Yes, wait a moment and I'll order some for you." Lumi called the hotel to have a bowl of noodles sent up. Hanging up, she said, "I'll go check outside, and I'll pick up the noodles on the way. They said our event caused a full house today, so room service is running a bit slow. I'll fetch it myself; Flora, you stay here and keep him company."

"Then I'll head back to the VIP lounge." Shang Zhitao made to leave, but Lumi blocked her path. "Don't. If he's passed out drunk and we don't leave anyone behind to look after him, it doesn't look right. Leave the door cracked, you stay here, and nobody can talk behind your back." Then Lumi winked at Shang Zhitao again, implying: Are you a fool? Luke hates your guts normally, why aren't you seizing this chance to score points?

Caught between a rock and a hard place, Shang Zhitao simply followed Lumi's advice, left the door cracked open, and stood right there.

"Is my being here inconvenient?" she messaged Luan Nian.

"?"

"In case President Jiang comes looking for you later."

Luan Nian tossed his phone aside and gazed at Shang Zhitao with deep, brooding eyes. Only after a long pause did he ask, "The hotel only had one condom left, and we used it the other day. Are you going to stock me up with a few more right now?"

"Sure thing."

Luan Nian was laughed into exasperation by Shang Zhitao, then nodded. "Ultra-thin sensitivity ones, if you please."

"Oh."

Shang Zhitao stood frozen in place, staring down at her phone to reply to messages from the event company, stubbornly refusing to bring up the subject of buying condoms. Luan Nian laced his hands behind his head, leaned back against the headboard to watch her, and asked after a moment, "Aren't you leaving?"

"Not leaving."

"Why?"

"My boss isn't a gigolo." Shang Zhitao lowered her phone, smiled at him, and purposely provoked him: "My boss is not for sale."

"Your boss indeed isn't a gigolo, otherwise why didn't you pay up when you slept with your boss?"

...

Unable to out-argue him, Shang Zhitao flushed a bright angry red.

A moment later, footsteps and voices began echoing down the hallway again. Luan Nian hooked a finger at her. "Come here."

"Hm?"

"Is that how you take care of people?"

"Oh."

Shang Zhitao wrung out a hand towel, brought it over to his bedside, and squatted down to help wipe his face, putting on the posture of dutifully tending to her boss. Luan Nian rolled sideways, hooking his fingers through hers. Unable to pull away, Shang Zhitao whispered, "Careful someone sees us."

Luan Nian didn't let go. Using an extremely soft voice, he called out to her, "Shang Zhitao."

"You're exposed."

Luan Nian's gaze dropped to Shang Zhitao's chest, where the scenery within was faintly discernible. His Adam's apple bobbed as he asked, "Did you do this on purpose?"

Shang Zhitao wanted to retort, but hearing a knock at the door, she hurriedly yanked her hand back, sprang to her feet, and hurried over to open it. "President Jiang."

"How drunk is he?"

"He threw up once just now, he's sleeping right now."

Jiang Lan took a few steps forward, saw Luan Nian sleeping soundly against the headboard, and smiled at Shang Zhitao. "Luke's alcohol tolerance still needs some work."

"This is the first time I've seen Luke get drunk, too."

Nodding, Jiang Lan turned to leave, then suddenly paused and asked Shang Zhitao, "What's your name?"