The Early Spring - Chapter 81

Chapter 81 - Shaken

Luan Nian drove up the mountain.

Gong Yue was organizing a poetry reading for her students on the mountain, and Luan Nian had originally intended to drop by just to check on things—there had never been any blind date to begin with.

His words earlier had been spoken purely out of anger.

By the time he stepped inside, the poetry reading was already underway, with Gong Yue herself reciting a poem at that very moment. Catching sight of Luan Nian as he walked through the door, she offered him a warm smile. The students broke into hushed, conspiratorial giggles, but Luan Nian feigned ignorance. He made his way behind the bar counter, pulled out his phone, placed it on the table, slipped off his coat, and proceeded to make himself an orange soda.

Luan Nian was in a foul mood.

Shang Zhitao actually attending a blind dating event had struck a raw nerve. It had been a very long time since he had felt this furious. Having finished reading her poem, Gong Yue walked up to the bar and said to him, "Could I trouble the owner to mix me a drink?"

"What would you like?"

"Anything works. Something strong."

Luan Nian mixed a stiff drink for Gong Yue. She took a sip and immediately cupped her mouth, tears nearly welling up from the burn. "That is spicy."

"You asked for something strong."

"And that right there is the cognitive gap between men and women." Gong Yue looked at the glass with a hint of hesitation before hardening her heart, tilting her head back, and tossing it straight down. She could be quite a daredevil when she wanted to be.

Luan Nian raised an eyebrow and asked, "Another?"

She shook her head. "No, thanks."

"Hosting events here every week must not come cheap."

"I have plenty of wealthy, like-minded students," Gong Yue replied. In truth, though, she put a lot of thought into it. It wasn't that she was trying to force anything with Luan Nian; she simply found him intriguing and wanted to hang around him more. She liked making friends.

Luan Nian didn't particularly care—she was welcome to come whenever she liked. Sometimes their paths crossed, and sometimes they didn't. The bartender returned from outside and took over behind the counter, relieving Luan Nian. As Luan Nian prepared to step out for a walk, Gong Yue fell into step behind him. "Where is your dog?"

Luan Nian gave no answer. He had never been much of a gentleman to begin with, and whenever he was in a bad mood, he couldn't care less about pleasantries. He had no desire to pay attention to Gong Yue, but seeing that she had an attitude of the less you pay attention to me, the more determined I am to follow you, he stopped and looked back at her. "Is there something you need, Teacher Gong?"

Noticing the displeasure written across his face, Gong Yue took a step back. "Nothing at all. See you around." She returned to the bar and looked out the window at Luan Nian, thinking to herself what an utterly inscrutable man he was. Originally, her interest in him had been mild at best; now, however, she felt an overwhelming urge to pull him down from his pedestal.

As Luan Nian walked along the narrow path, a phone call came in from Jiang Lan. "Your company's Kitty came to interview with me today. I think she's quite good and am inclined to hire her, but I wanted to check with you first to see what kind of person she is."

This really had nothing to do with Luan Nian. Kitty had left LinkMe because an anonymous email exposed her workplace misconduct; if Jiang Lan wanted to find out about that, it wouldn't be difficult at all. The fact that she still chose to make this phone call proved she truly had her eye on Kitty. Thus, he said, "President Jiang, you should trust your own judgment. Whatever anyone else says is merely a partial truth."

"During the interview, she brought up some corrupt practices at LinkMe—for instance, in the Marketing Department, where even junior staff are heavily entangled with suppliers. She claimed she saw a supplier giving gifts to Marketing Department employees with her own eyes during the Lunar New Year."

"And so?"

"No 'and so' about it—from now on, I will require my company's projects to steer clear of this person."

"Who?"

"An employee named Shang Zhitao."

Luan Nian found it almost amusing. With Shang Zhitao's tiny backbone, if she ever dared to take a bribe, she would wake up terrified in the middle of the night. He had known Shang Zhitao for four years now and had gifted her over a dozen designer bags, yet he had never seen her carry a single one. To claim now that Shang Zhitao was taking bribes was truly laughable. Thus, he said to Jiang Lan, "I'll say it again: anything said or judged by others is merely one side of the story. LinkMe is a very open company. We encourage our employees to act with integrity, and we have an internal reporting mechanism in place. If Kitty had seen it back then and possessed ironclad evidence, given her personality, she would have reported it directly right then and there—rather than waiting until today."

Jiang Lan suddenly burst out laughing. "You see? If I hadn't brought this up with you, I never would have heard your true opinion of Kitty."

"What opinion?"

"You know full well in your own heart."

"Flora joined the Planning Department through the internal competition, so she will inevitably have dealings with you down the road. Your prejudice will only bring unnecessary trouble to her career."

"Oh?" Jiang Lan's interest was piqued. "That girl went to your Planning Department? Impressive. It seems she's quite capable. Bring her along when we hold our strategic partnership meeting next week."

"Fine. Grace will be taking her maternity leave in a few months, and she is currently Flora's mentor. I'll have them both come meet you next week."

"Sounds good." Before hanging up, Jiang Lan added to Luan Nian, "It just so happens that Kitty starts next week too, so you can all meet at the same time. No need to feel awkward."

"Hardly."

Luan Nian hung up the phone, thinking to himself that Shang Zhitao must have been born under an unlucky star, as trouble seemed to follow her in relentless waves. And yet, this person with the unlucky star had no idea she had been dragged into a financial scandal and was currently sitting in a movie theater, unwilling to let her effort in dressing up for the day go to waste.

Every now and then, she would check her phone to see if Luan Nian had sent any updates regarding his date, but there was total radio silence from his end. The quieter he remained, the less she wanted to bow her head first. Even so, she still asked Sun Yu to delete her account from the matchmaking platform.

Unwilling to waste the effort she had put into dressing up so meticulously, she sat alone through a movie. The theater was filled entirely with couples, leaving her sandwiched in the middle, looking terribly solitary.

Why can't I have a romance where we watch movies together and hold hands as we gaze at the sunset? She suddenly became aware of an aching discontent deep within her heart. She had felt similar regrets in the past, but back then, those regrets had been light and fleeting. Today, however, the yearning felt excruciatingly intense.

As the movie neared its end, Sun Yuanzhu called her. "Do you want to come home for dinner? I hauled some Tan sheep mutton back all the way from Ningxia and plan to roast it for everyone tonight."

"Wow!" Shang Zhitao felt instantly healed, even before taking a single bite of the mutton. Hunched over, she slipped out of the screening hall and headed straight home.

The apartment was filled with the rich, fragrant aroma of barbecue seasonings. Wearing disposable transparent gloves, Sun Yuanzhu was busy marinating the mutton. He had woken up early in the morning to buy the butchered sheep and had checked it in on his flight all the way back.

Shang Zhitao wanted to help, but Sun Yuanzhu refused her. "You lack the cooking gene entirely..." With a silly laugh, Shang Zhitao pulled her hands back and stood beside him with her arms behind her back, spouting random orders like an old official.

"Are you leaving again anytime soon?"

"I won't be traveling for the next few months."

"Really?" Shang Zhitao was thrilled. "Then let's pick a weekend to go find Long Zhentian, okay? He's about to leave! We should give him a proper send-off, and my treat for a great meal! Long Zhentian introduced me to a really reliable French tutor last year, you know!"

"How is your French coming along?" Sun Yuanzhu asked her.

Shang Zhitao nodded eagerly. "Really well! You know what? Back when I was in school, I never even realized I had a bit of a knack for languages. My French tutor said I have a great ear for the language. She even complimented me, saying that when I wear a long trench coat, I look just like a French woman."

Shang Zhitao did, in fact, possess a subtle hint of French elegance. She was quite tall with a wonderful figure, yet she was far from delicate or petite; when she wore a form-fitting sweater, her sleek, straight shoulders were on full display.

Sun Yuanzhu watched Shang Zhitao gesticulate with wild excitement, her joy bursting forth without any fixed shape or boundary. Joy, after all, was never meant to be restrained, nor should it ever be bound by shape. It was truly wonderful to see.

A patch of barbecue seasoning had smudged onto his cheek, stinging slightly with a mild spice, so he tried to wipe it away with the back of his hand, only to smear it across a larger area. Shang Zhitao dashed over with a tissue to help him wipe it clean. Standing slightly closer to him than before, she caught sight of the clear, gentle look in Sun Yuanzhu's eyes. Realizing suddenly that this wasn't appropriate, she pulled her hand back and said to him, "Go wash up in the bathroom."

"Alright."

As Shang Zhitao stood there lost in thought, Sun Yu walked through the front door.

She looked somewhat exhausted, but the moment she saw Sun Yuanzhu emerging from the bathroom, her eyes visibly brightened. "You're back?"

"Yeah. We're roasting mutton ourselves tonight."

"Then I'll go prepare some cold side dishes."

Sun Yu was an exceptional cook, but over the past few years, she had refused to cook for anyone else. She only ever cooked inside this very apartment. Shang Zhitao followed her into the kitchen and whispered softly, "Are you happy?" She pointed a finger toward the living room outside.

Sun Yu smiled gently. "It feels like it's been a very long time since I felt this happy."

"Then you..."

Sun Yu patted Shang Zhitao on the head without saying a word.

"Is everything okay between you and Luan Nian?" Sun Yu asked her instead.

Shang Zhitao curled her lip in a slight pout.

"You two are truly bizarre. If he's just a friend with benefits, why did he get so furious? But if he's not, why hasn't he made a single real move? I looked at that matchmaking account—the women who reached out were without exception all graduates from top overseas universities. Whatever the case, that represents a clear attitude." Sun Yu glanced at Shang Zhitao and fell silent, afraid of making her sad. This was the fourth year of Shang Zhitao's entanglement with Luan Nian—four whole years, without so much as a proper label to her name. Was she supposed to wait out a second four-year period? There really should be no need for that.

Shang Zhitao peeled garlic off to the side without saying a word. Most of the time, she was clear-headed and understood that nothing would ever come of her relationship with Luan Nian; yet occasionally, wild fantasies would still creep in. They usually happened whenever Luan Nian lost his composure and stood up for her. In those moments, she would delude herself into believing that perhaps there was something slightly special between them after all.

Sun Yu let out a quiet sigh. She ran a matchmaking business, a line of work that quantified every single one of a person's attributes so that everyone could see them clearly online at a glance. This was also the true essence of most marriages: whether your conditions and my conditions matched up properly.

Halfway through the meal, Sun Yu was called away by a work phone call from a colleague, leaving only Shang Zhitao and Sun Yuanzhu. She looked at Sun Yuanzhu and asked, "Are you still not going to date anyone?"

Sun Yuanzhu shook his head. "I'd only be bringing harm to some poor girl."

"How could dating ever be 'bringing harm' to a girl? Any girl who dates you would be so incredibly lucky!"

Sun Yuanzhu looked at Shang Zhitao, whose face was brimming with pure sincerity, and let out a gentle laugh. He reached out his hand, intending to pinch her cheek, but paused just inches away before simply patting her on the head instead.

"Dating isn't important. Being together is what matters," Sun Yuanzhu said quietly.

Shang Zhitao felt as though those words were referring to her relationship with Luan Nian, wondering if Sun Yuanzhu had somehow seen right through her. In truth, he hadn't—Sun Yuanzhu was speaking of himself and Shang Zhitao. Ever since that night he returned from his business trip and saw that panicked girl sprinting through the late-night darkness right into his home, he had felt that his constantly aching heart had finally found a place to anchor itself.

The girl was so genuinely sincere, always foolishly offering up her whole heart to others. She was so wonderfully simple, too—you never had to waste energy trying to guess her thoughts, as they were all written plainly across her face. And she worked so very hard, pressing forward each and every day without ever stopping her stride.

Sun Yuanzhu liked this girl.

Yet he would never say it out loud.

"Is my roasted meat any good?" Sun Yuanzhu asked her.

"It's delicious!" Shang Zhitao nodded vigorously.

"So, has your bad mood eased up a bit?"

"It has."

"That's good then."

"I dressed up today," Shang Zhitao said, standing up to show Sun Yuanzhu her outfit.

Sun Yuanzhu smiled warmly. "Dressing up so beautifully, you really should have gone out on a date."

Shang Zhitao gave a Luan Nian-esque shrug, completely unaware that she had picked up his habit. She didn't want to continue the topic. She was reluctant to tell Sun Yuanzhu that her feelings had never once stood in the open light of day, serving as nothing more than a passing whim for Luan Nian. In front of Sun Yuanzhu, Shang Zhitao wanted to hide everything about herself that wasn't bright and glorious, though she didn't even know why herself.

Shang Zhitao felt that she was exceptionally down in the dumps today. Why on earth was she feeling so terribly down? She got up to pour herself a glass of alcohol. "I want to have a drink."

"Go ahead and drink. Don't worry about Luke; I'll take him out for his walk."

"Thank you."