The Early Spring - Chapter 71

Chapter 71 - Peace of Mind 

Shang Zhitao thought to herself: hiking Dunhuang 108 once in a lifetime is more than enough. It's just too exhausting, truly.

When she woke up the next morning, she felt as though her legs didn't belong to her anymore. Yet that was nothing compared to the biggest challenge awaiting her tonight: sleeping in a tent. Camping out was supposed to be a wonderful thing—at the very least, the stars over the desert were bound to be gorgeous—but right now, Shang Zhitao was completely dreading it.

Since she had gotten up early to oversee the breakfast buffet, she bumped into Luan Nian at the restaurant entrance, who had risen even earlier. His gaze landed on her sluggishly moving legs. "You need to exercise more."

"It's not like I go trekking every single day," Shang Zhitao muttered in small protest, clearly displeased by Luan Nian's mockery.

"Your stamina isn't all that great on normal days either," Luan Nian implied with a double meaning, referring to how Shang Zhitao would always act spoiled and try to wriggle out of things. Truth be told, he actually quite liked it when she acted that way.

…

Her face instantly flushed beet red. She lowered her head and began counting the meal vouchers.

Luan Nian stood there watching her count, watching the flush on her face slowly recede until her tone returned to normal. Then he called out to her, "Flora."

"Hmm?"

"Wanna get dinner together when we're back in Beijing?" Luan Nian mimicked Dony's tone as if teasing her, yet his expression carried a thread of seriousness.

"Sorry, but I'm very busy."

"Then make sure you stay busy all the way through." Luan Nian harbored a faint worry that Shang Zhitao might yield to Dony's authority and actually go out for dinner with him. He didn't even want to entertain the thought of that outcome, because he wouldn't allow it to happen in the first place.

Clients began arriving at the restaurant one after another. Luan Nian stepped forward to greet them. Seeing how earnestly he engaged in networking, Shang Zhitao threw herself into her work with equal seriousness. A moment later, she noticed Luan Nian had sat down to chat with two clients.

Shang Zhitao had no idea how this strange tacit understanding between them had been forged. Perhaps sleeping together enough times made them familiar enough. For instance, right now, Shang Zhitao understood exactly what Luan Nian was driving at. His underlying message was simple: stay away from Dony.

She texted him back: "I'm not going to dinner with Dony. I only eat with Luke, and sleep with him too." Shang Zhitao suddenly felt a playful urge to tease him; she wanted to see how Luan Nian would react to a message like that.

Luan Nian pulled out his phone to check it. Shang Zhitao caught the corner of his mouth twitching into a faint smile before he typed a reply: "Fine. We'll sleep together when we get back to Beijing." With that, he slid the phone into his pocket.

What a dog of a man.

The phrase popped into her mind out of nowhere. That dog of a man, Luan Nian—he was looking out for her, yet he refused to just say it directly.

When it came time to inspect the equipment, the male colleagues from the marketing department—having been whipped into shape by Luan Nian—helped inspect everything with impressive professionalism, bringing order to the whole process. That was probably where his true brilliance lay: no matter how chaotic the situation, he could rapidly make the right call and turn things around.

On the third day, the pace was slightly slower than the day before, but the scenery was even more magnificent. Everyone began taking all sorts of photos, playing in the desert, and their spirits rose again. Lumi and Shang Zhitao deliberately trailed behind. Draping an arm over Shang Zhitao's shoulder, Lumi cast a glance toward Dony, who was currently talking to a girl from the planning department. That girl usually didn't get along with Kitty. And Kitty? She merely shot them a disdainful look.

"Can I take a look at today's room assignment list?"

"Don't bother. I've already set it up," Lumi hummed with a snort. "Interesting." The master and apprentice were already in sync enough that Shang Zhitao didn't even need to speak for Lumi to figure out what she was thinking.

It happened that night. Shang Zhitao and Lumi sat by the window. The curtains were drawn, the room lights were switched off, and a video camera was set up on a tripod. Across the way, a light flickered on, two silhouettes overlapped for a moment, and then the light went out. Shang Zhitao whispered to Lumi, "This is way too intense."

Lumi patted her on the head. "Intense? It's better than a blockbuster movie. Tsk tsk."

Shang Zhitao felt immensely lucky to have met someone like Lumi. The two of them took turns guarding that window, searching for a lifeline that might save Shang Zhitao from falling into a trap.

The day they returned to Beijing was a Sunday.

Though they had only been gone for a few days, Beijing's summer had already come to an end. As Shang Zhitao walked through the door, Sun Yuanzhu was brushing Luke's fur. She set her luggage by the door, greeted by Luke's earth-shattering welcome. Sun Yuanzhu sat on the sofa, watching the lively scene unfold with a smile.

Shang Zhitao gently pushed Luke aside and walked into the living room, sitting cross-legged across from Sun Yuanzhu. "Are you completely better?"

"All recovered." Sun Yuanzhu was back to being that bright, sunny, youth-like man. He leaned forward and offered his thanks: "Thank you, Ms. Shang Zhitao, for taking care of me that day."

Seeing the gentle gaze in Sun Yuanzhu's eyes, a soothing sense of peace washed over Shang Zhitao, sweeping away the panic caused by Dony's harassment. "Then should we celebrate?"

"Sure. I'd like to go out for a walk."

"Let's go."

Shang Zhitao sprang up, and Luke bounded up as well. Leashing the dog, Sun Yuanzhu said, "Let's bring him along."

They stepped outside, strolling through streets scattered with autumn leaves. Sun Yuanzhu rarely spoke, and Shang Zhitao walked quietly by his side. She wanted to ask him about that time he called her "Taotao," but in the end, she kept her mouth shut. She merely looked up at him with a slight tilt of her head. He was quiet, carrying a gentle air of detachment. His secrets were hidden behind the lenses of his glasses—if he lowered his head, you would never be able to see through them.

They passed by a newspaper kiosk. Over those years, newsstands had grown increasingly scarce, and the people handing out free newspapers in the subway stations had vanished overnight. Many people began counting on their fingers, wondering how much longer it would take for a brand-new era to arrive—who would manage to board that train, and who would be left behind by time.

Shang Zhitao didn't understand Sun Yuanzhu's work. In her imagination, his job probably involved writing a program and embedding it into a system—a program that could direct an driverless car to speed freely across the highways of the Northwest.

That had to be so romantic.

Human imagination was inherently romantic, after all.

They walked along the streets near the North Fifth Ring Road, lost in time. Unable to suppress her anxiety any longer, Shang Zhitao finally brought up Dony to Sun Yuanzhu. She said, "You know what? I'm actually really scared. I'm going to turn him down, but I don't know if he'll fly into a rage because of it."

"I see..." Sun Yuanzhu paused to think for a moment. "Let me think about it. Do you think he's a repeat offender?"

"I think he is." Shang Zhitao was certain Dony was a serial offender; he handled these matters far too smoothly, leaving behind no evidence for anyone to catch.

Sun Yuanzhu nodded. "If he's a repeat offender, he's bound to slip up sooner or later. Let me figure out if there's a way."

Shang Zhitao smiled at him. "I don't know why, but I just feel like you'll have a solution. And it'll be the best solution in the world."

"That might not necessarily be true. It might end up being a solution that isn't entirely above board."

A crisp autumn breeze suddenly blew—a beautiful time of year in the mortal world. Across the street, Luan Nian's car was parked. He watched as Sun Yuanzhu walked Luke, with Shang Zhitao strolling beside him. They looked as ordinary as a family of three, wrapped in a simple, unpretentious happiness.

He finally understood why Shang Zhitao was always in such a hurry to leave on Saturdays. She was eager to escape from his house because she wanted to run back to an ordinary, authentic kind of happiness. The affection in her eyes when she looked at Sun Yuanzhu was something even she herself hadn't realized.

Luan Nian started the engine.

On a sudden whim, he had wanted to go to his bar to mix drinks. The bartending set had arrived, but he had never touched it. He had never actively sought her out before, and today was the first time—simply because he had spontaneously mentioned that day that he wanted to mix his very first cocktail for her to drink. Driving all the way up the mountain, he found that employees were already at the bar preparing for the official opening. Seeing Luan Nian, they greeted him, and he nodded in response.

He was simply too idle today.

An aimless Sunday cleanly severed his working days from his personal life, leaving him free yet utterly bored.

Standing in front of the bar counter, with a complete array of bartending tools behind him, he thought for a moment before starting to mix a White Lady. He brushed the rim of the glass with syrup and rolled it in crushed rose petals, resembling the body of a woman dressed in formal attire. Luan Nian had studied mixology for a time; changing the base liquor was the core of creating different cocktails.

He mixed drinks purely as his mood dictated, paying no mind to rules or techniques—as long as it tasted good, it was enough.

The very first drink he had promised to Shang Zhitao ended up being consumed by himself. Tan Mian's phone call came at just the right time, asking where he was. He replied that he was up on the mountain.

"Can you drink today?"

"Yeah."

Luan Nian felt that he had chosen a truly great location for this place. Sitting in front of the bar's large floor-to-ceiling window, one could take in the early autumn scenery of the mountain valley. There were always a few scattered people willing to drive dozens of kilometers just to chase this autumn beauty.

By the time Tan Mian arrived, Luan Nian was taking photos. Green tea leaves were expanding inside a glass cup placed on the table by the window. Beside it lay a casually tossed book—an exquisite display of aesthetic taste.

He crouched on the ground to find the right angle, aiming for depth and layers in the lens. Click. A photo was taken, and he was satisfied with the shot.

"You're pretty free today, aren't you?"

Luan Nian looked at him. "Aren't you free too?"

Tan Mian leaned back against the sofa. "If I wasn't free, who would drive all the way to this remote place of yours? It's so hard to find." Looking around, he took in Luan Nian's remarkable taste. "Nice decor."

"You flatter me."

Luan Nian popped out his replies one by one like dry beans. It was quite a rare sight; when he was with friends, he wasn't particularly taciturn.

Noticing that Luan Nian was completely focused on taking photos, Tan Mian asked, "In a bad mood?"

"I asked you, are you in a bad mood?"

"No."

"Then do you want to go out for a few drinks?"

"I run a bar. You're asking me to go out for drinks?"

"Then let's drink here."

"I'm not buying."

"I'll buy, alright?" Seeing that Luan Nian was genuinely in a bad mood, Tan Mian gave in to him at every turn. What else could he do if he didn't indulge him right now? The man had a razor-sharp tongue!

"I'll call a few people over for drinks to support President Luan's new business." As he spoke, he snuck a glance at Luan Nian, who didn't even raise an eyebrow.

Tan Mian called them one by one: "Come over for drinks." In less than two hours, a group of seven or eight men and women had gathered. There were two girls whom Luan Nian had never met before. Tan Mian pointed at one of them and whispered to Luan Nian: She teaches Western literature at a university, her parents are abroad, and she comes from a good family background. Most importantly, look at her features—eyes full of warmth, slender delicate hands. In her free time, she tends flowers and admires the moon, and when she's busy, she reads and writes. Doesn't she match well with an artistic guy like you?

Luan Nian didn't even lift his head, uttering a faint, "Sounds great."

"Since it sounds great, why don't you go over and have a drink with them?"

"Then will you mix the drinks?"

"I don't know how. Come over after you finish mixing."

The group sat by the window drinking, casting glances at Luan Nian from time to time. Toward the end, Luan Nian grew rather casual with his bartending—after all, Tan Mian was footing the bill. Finally, he mixed a Black Russian for himself. It went down easily, but damn, the vodka was harsh.

Holding his glass, he sat down among them. As everyone chatted about this and that, the sky turned completely dark.

Before leaving, Tan Mian called out to the girl and Luan Nian: "Exchange contact info. Gong Yue organizes student activities all the time over at her place, and I think this venue would be really suitable."

The matchmaking intent was as clear as day.

"Thank you for the support."

Luan Nian pulled out his phone to exchange contact info with Gong Yue, only to realize that his phone had blown up with notifications and all sorts of messages. After seeing them off, he scrolled through the messages one by one. Two of them were from Shang Zhitao. She said: Luke, I've sent the budget plan to your email.

And in another message, she asked: If you're not going on a business trip next week, could you help me take care of Luke?

Luan Nian replied to her: No.