The Early Spring - Chapter 99

Chapter 99 - Collision

Lingmei showcased the true caliber of a professional team to their government clients. Whether in their attire or their demeanor, the attendees left a deep impression.

As the project lead, Shang Zhitao had previously visited the government personnel individually and communicated with them online on numerous occasions. Her thoroughness and sense of responsibility had left a stellar impression on them. Consequently, they did not feel Lingmei was assigning underqualified staff; rather, they felt Lingmei had dispatched its finest talent.

Luan Nian knew that every bit of recognition Shang Zhitao earned came on the heels of her immense effort. In his opening remarks, he stated: "Today's three-party meeting is of great significance, as it is our first formal meeting following the finalization of the contract. Ms. Shang Zhitao has been sent here on long-term assignment as requested by the company, a decision made after careful consideration. I would like to formally introduce Shang Zhitao. She is already well-known within the industry and served as the project manager for several of Lingmei's major operational transformations. We also provided a detailed overview in the brief previously submitted to the government leadership. We thank the leaders for their recognition of both Shang Zhitao and Lingmei. Furthermore, the main purpose of today's meeting is to deepen our creative concepts. We want to listen to your suggestions and share our perspective to determine our subsequent action plan."

"Thank you, Mr. Luan Nian," the meeting host said. "Then let us proceed to today's agenda."

On an occasion like today, Luan Nian's personal presence and attentive attitude put the other two parties at ease.

What was meant to be a stern negotiation grew a bit more relaxed, proceeding step by step until the government leaders mentioned wanting to redefine the baseline tone of the project, putting forward new requirements.

Shang Zhitao wanted to speak up about her thoughts—her ideas regarding the cultural heritage of the Dragon Ridge people's resilience, backed by extensive historical facts and theoretical support. She had done a great deal of homework.

Luan Nian spoke up first, however: "After receiving the requirements, we also conducted a second round of brainstorming. I'd like Song Ying to present on behalf of our company." He then nodded toward Song Ying: "Go ahead."

Shang Zhitao remained silent as she listened to Song Ying talk about the Dragon Ridge, cultural heritage, and the spirit of the Northwest. Song Ying was not plagiarizing her, as they had never exchanged ideas. The greatest difference between her and Song Ying was that Luan Nian trusted Song Ying, knowing she would have fantastic insights, whereas he did not believe Shang Zhitao possessed such capability.

Perhaps Luan Nian had never believed she was capable of it, not even when it came to spontaneous flashes of inspiration.

The government leaders were surprised that Lingmei had prepared a second strategy so quickly and with such excellence. They praised them warmly: "Truly a professional team." After the meeting concluded, they returned to the office for a brief review. Luan Nian swiftly delegated the work: "Upon returning, Yilia will align the new ideas with the team and select two people to spend a week here with you deepening the creative concepts. Flora will coordinate the collection of reference materials. However, all work must adhere to one principle—obeying the project manager's work arrangements. Finalized creative concepts must also be confirmed by Flora before moving on to the next phase. Flora is the primary person responsible for this project, and everyone must comply with her management."

"Understood," everyone nodded in agreement.

"Flora did very well today, perfectly controlling the entire room. I feel at ease leaving the project in your hands. Thank you for your hard work."

"Thank you. And thank you to Yilia for the creative support as well. Thanks." Not knowing what else to say, Shang Zhitao made a point of thanking Yilia. Still, she felt a slight wave of weariness.

"I need to discuss the upcoming work with Flora privately." The colleagues nodded and walked out, leaving only the two of them in the office.

Luan Nian looked at her for a long time. There was a touch of loneliness in her eyes, and he saw it.

"Shang Zhitao." Luan Nian pulled up a chair and sat next to her, turning her chair around so they were sitting face to face. When Shang Zhitao dodged his gaze, Luan Nian pinched her cheek to turn her back toward him.

"A project manager's duty is to be responsible for the project as a whole, not to produce creative concepts. Leave professional matters to professional people—do you agree with my perspective?"

"I do."

"I saw that you seemed to have a lot to say when the government mentioned creative concepts. You can present your ideas to me now."

Shang Zhitao pondered whether now was an appropriate moment to speak.

Luan Nian pinched her cheek again: "Are you going to talk or not?"

"I actually did give it some thought," Shang Zhitao finally opened her mouth to say. "But I hope you won't misunderstand—I have no desire to steal the spotlight from our creative colleagues. I'm purely coming at this from the perspective of being responsible for the project."

"Mm, I won't misunderstand."

Shang Zhitao stood up and fetched a thick stack of materials from her desk—the in-depth interview data she had gathered with her team. She sat back down to explain it to Luan Nian: "I have to admit Yilia is amazing. In less than two days here, she grasped the core essence. Our conclusions were identical. First, let me start with the local topography."

Shang Zhitao presented their preparations to Luan Nian. On the final page was a printed copy of the new cultural creative concept, as government leaders preferred printed materials.

Luan Nian listened quietly, a smile gradually forming in the depths of his eyes.

After Shang Zhitao finished speaking, he asked her: "Why didn't you add to it during the meeting?"

"First, there was no need to jump to conclusions so hastily; presenting the core concept was already good enough. Second, the company has more professional people for creative and cultural work, so gathering the materials later won't be a problem. Lastly, I felt Yilia needed that recognition too."

"Then why were you upset?"

"Did you think I assumed you had no ideas?"

Shang Zhitao nodded, looking like a student being lectured by a teacher.

Luan Nian hadn't slept all night yesterday; his thoughts had never been so tangled. He had taken in everything Shang Zhitao said yesterday about her breakthroughs and struggles. Once again, he realized that he was actually quite awful to her. Shang Zhitao was just like that, slowly turning him into another person he wasn't familiar with.

"Shang Zhitao, I hope you understand that among the decisions I make, eighty percent are right and twenty percent are wrong. Directing Yilia to present the creative concept at the meeting today was likely a wrong decision, because I didn't align information with you beforehand. But you have issues too—during our meeting yesterday afternoon, you didn't sync this information with me. Were you trying to give me a surprise?"

Shang Zhitao flushed red. She suddenly felt that she still wasn't standing high enough.

"Alright, I received the surprise. It was indeed quite a surprise." Luan Nian brushed his fingers against her lips.

"Our flight is this afternoon. Please arrange a car to take us to the airport," Luan Nian said.

"I'll have Shelly drop you guys off."

"Thanks for the trouble."

Luan Nian didn't make a point of bidding Shang Zhitao goodbye, merely giving her a faint glance before leaving.

Shang Zhitao had no real experience fighting with Luan Nian. She didn't even know if what happened between them counted as a fight, nor did she know whether this counted as making up. She didn't go to the airport to see him off, but when she received Shelly's call saying Luan Nian's flight had taken off, she suddenly felt a wave of regret.

It hadn't been easy to meet, yet he had left just like that. What was there to fight about when they hadn't seen each other in so long?

She turned on her phone to check on Lu-ke. Lu-ke seemed a bit lonely. After taking him for a walk, the auntie had prepared his dog food, but he hadn't even stood up like he used to, remaining sprawled out there the entire time. Feeling her heart ache for him, Shang Zhitao called out: "Lu-ke."

Lu-ke let out a whimper, remaining still. Shang Zhitao suddenly felt that perhaps she could bring Lu-ke over to the Northwest. Though her life in the Northwest was tough, at least Lu-ke would have her. She pulled out her phone to check driving routes, calculating the logistics of renting a car to drive from Beijing to this place with Lu-ke, letting him be a travel dog.

Late into the night, Shang Zhitao saw him suddenly stand up and run to the front door, tilting his head to listen carefully to the commotion outside, before flinging himself into Luan Nian's arms as he opened the door and entered.

Luan Nian coaxed him for a long time before he finally calmed down. Pointing at the dog bowl, he asked him: "On a hunger strike?"

Lu-ke let out a bark and trotted over to the dog bowl, burying his head inside. Upon seeing Luan Nian, his appetite had returned. Shang Zhitao could even hear the smacking sound of his mouth against the dog bowl and the sound of drool dripping onto the floor, finally unable to stop herself from admonishing him: "Eat slower!"

"Why do you care so much?" Luan Nian sat on the sofa, giving Shang Zhitao the back of his head, but Shang Zhitao knew he was addressing her. She grumbled under her breath: "He's my dog."

Luan Nian turned his head around and looked at the camera: "Say that again?"

"Our... dog."

Luan Nian turned back around, continuing to give her the back of his head. Shang Zhitao called out to him: "Luan Nian."

"Hmm?"

"Is it okay if I come back at the end of September?"

"To see which of your friends?"

"My boyfriend," Shang Zhitao said. "To see you once before you go to the Netherlands, okay?"

Luan Nian went out to play with his friends once or twice every year without fail, and this year's destination was the Netherlands.

Luan Nian still didn't speak. Shang Zhitao waited for a long time; she hated it when he was like this.

"Luan Nian, after I return to the company next month to resume my duties, I want to rent a car and bring Lu-ke to the Northwest. That way I won't have to trouble you to take care of him. It's getting late, I'm going to sleep."

Shang Zhitao turned off the security camera and tossed her phone aside, betting that Luan Nian would call her. Sure enough, Luan Nian's call came through. He asked her: "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean I want to bring Lu-ke to my side so your time will be free in the future. You won't have to keep thinking about taking care of him, and you can relax a bit."

"I'll throw him out right now, and you can come back and post missing dog flyers yourself!"

"Fine."

Shang Zhitao hung up the phone. Luan Nian called back, but she rejected it, going back and forth many times.

She had learned to be bad. She wanted Luan Nian to taste that feeling too—that feeling of refusing to communicate. She quietly opened the security monitor to watch Luan Nian making a call, yet her phone didn't ring. He was calling someone else. He turned on the speakerphone, aiming for maximum psychological damage.

Shang Zhitao heard him say: "Want to go out and sit for a bit?"

"Go where to sit?"

"Wherever, does it matter?"

"It matters. What I wear depends on where we go to sit."

It was outright flirting.

"Let's go sit at your place. Send me the address." Luan Nian hung up the phone and said to the empty air: "Shang Zhitao, I'm going to a friend's place to sit now. We're ordinary friends, and I won't do anything tonight. Also, don't call me. You know I won't answer."

"Luan Nian!" Shang Zhitao yelled at him.

"What's wrong, Flora? Is something the matter? Picking up the dog? Right now?"

"You're not allowed to go out!"

"By what right do you control me?"

"I'm your girlfriend!" When Shang Zhitao was angry, her voice would tremble, and this declaration of "girlfriend" quivered with particular intensity. Luan Nian's anger suddenly evaporated. He raised an eyebrow at Lu-ke. Lu-ke tilted his head and suddenly stuck out his tongue, as if saying: "Dad is so awesome."

"Fly back tomorrow morning to report for duty," Luan Nian said with a stern face toward the camera. "Buy your ticket right now."

"Oh."

Only after Shang Zhitao arrived home did she realize what he meant by "reporting for duty"—it meant the two of them nestling at home on a workday. Luan Nian told his secretary he had important matters to attend to and to call him in three hours if anything came up.

His important matter was Shang Zhitao.

Neither of them had ever been this willful, as they had always respected work more than each other. But because that fight had been too soul-draining, they couldn't work properly without completely resolving it.

Luan Nian resolved Shang Zhitao with single-minded focus. Stars shone in her eyes, making his heart flutter so wildly that he abruptly turned her body around, avoiding her gaze. Using one hand to tease her, he whispered in her ear: "Satisfied with my service that day?"

"If you hadn't said that last sentence."

"Double compensation today, and an apology for that sentence too. I'm sorry, Shang Zhitao." Luan Nian's sweat dripped onto her back as he brushed her hair aside, placing a kiss on her cheek.

Shang Zhitao sank into the bedding, feeling that everything around her was full, seamless, and on the verge of exploding. She bit down on Luan Nian's finger to keep herself from crying out too loudly, yet her body trembled violently, as though she had never experienced such intensity before.

"Shang Zhitao."

"Hmm?"

"Next time you don't answer my phone calls, I'll kill you," Luan Nian pinched her face. "Also, if you hug another man next time, I'll kill you too."

Shang Zhitao cupped his face: "If you eat dinner with another woman again, I'll fulfill your wish."

When counseling friends after reaching adulthood, Shang Zhitao had always said that couples fight at the head of the bed and reconcile at the foot of the bed, though she hadn't truly understood the meaning. Reconciling at the foot of the bed with Luan Nian just once, she deeply praised the wisdom of the ancients.

Neither of them brought up the fight they had had. Shang Zhitao conscientiously executed her project, while Luan Nian earnestly managed his company. During this time, he flew to the Northwest twice to spend two weekends with Shang Zhitao. They snuggled in the small apartment Shang Zhitao rented—eating, sleeping, chatting, and making love. Luan Nian arrived late at night and left on the early flight, completely silent and subtle.

Lumi would still send Shang Zhitao all kinds of news about Luan Nian. She felt her stubborn donkey seemed to be in love because he seemed to be in a good mood, yet she also felt her stubborn donkey had had his heart broken again because he kept a stern face all day. Shang Zhitao wasn't by his side, but she roughly knew what caused his joys and sorrows. On the two occasions Lumi mentioned he was unhappy, Shang Zhitao had had a fight with him. Having tried asking once, Luan Nian said: "What? Your mentor Lumi is spying on me for you?"

Shang Zhitao immediately backed down, terrified of dragging Lumi into it.

Though she didn't go to the office, news about Luan Nian and Song Ying constantly reached her ears. The most outrageous thing she heard was that Luan Nian's parents had returned to the country and shared a meal with Song Ying's parents.

Shang Zhitao thought to herself that this was simply too absurd. Yet she was the only one who found it absurd; other colleagues didn't think so. When Song Ying came over again, the members of the project team suddenly treated her with newfound respect.

Shang Zhitao asked Shelly in private: "Why do I feel like you're afraid of her?"

Shelly thought about it: "Probably because she represents Luke."

Shang Zhitao wanted to advise Shelly that rumors stop at the wise, but she understood that being far from Beijing, they had no idea about the situation there and didn't understand Luan Nian, making their fearful state of mind entirely normal.

The day Shang Zhitao truly realized Song Ying was playing for keeps was when she drove her back from a location shoot. In the car, Song Ying suddenly said to her: "Sister Flora."

Her tone sounded just like when Shang Zhitao called Grace "Sister Grace"—intimate and natural. The word "Sister" brought their age gap vividly to light, crystal clear.

Shang Zhitao turned her head to look at Song Ying's twenty-two-year-old face, her inner feelings beyond description. She asked her softly: "What's wrong, Yilia?"

Song Ying's face flushed slightly red, as if she had words that were difficult to bring up. Shang Zhitao waited silently for her to speak. It felt as though a long time passed, their car crossing over a mountain ridge, before Song Ying continued: "You've worked with Luke for a very long time. I wanted to ask you, does Luke have a girlfriend?"

Shang Zhitao didn't know how to answer her, able only to drive in silence across yet another mountain ridge: "Luke shouldn't be lacking girlfriends, right? Or rather, someone like him shouldn't be lacking women. Why do you ask?"

Song Ying's face grew even redder: "Because I realized I've fallen in love with him."

Shang Zhitao felt herself put on a moral high ground. She couldn't say nothing after a girl opened her heart to reveal her feelings for Luan Nian. Yet she didn't know what she should say or could say. She uttered a sentence even she hadn't anticipated, saying: "You're still young. If you like someone, go give it a shot."

"Really?" Song Ying was clearly overjoyed.

"Really."

"Then I'm going to pursue him! Do you know what Luke likes?"

"I'm sorry Yilia, I don't really know him well."

"It's okay, I'll figure it out myself." Song Ying looked very happy, adjusting her posture in the seat to look out the car window. After a while, she said: "I know the company doesn't allow employees to date. If I manage to win him over, I'll definitely tell you in secret. I've liked Sister Flora since my very first day on the job. You seem so gentle and bright, and... your skin is so good."

Shang Zhitao smiled and said to her: "Thank you. But please don't tell me about your progress with Luke—I'm afraid I have a big mouth and won't be able to keep the secret for you."

Song Ying giggled.

When Luan Nian called her that night, she felt the urge to bring up the matter regarding Song Ying several times, but held her tongue in the end. She felt that doing so would be a bit despicable—a girl had opened up to her about her feelings for someone, only for her to turn around and use it to interrogate the person being liked. It would look extremely strange because nothing had happened yet.

Luan Nian finally noticed her distraction and asked her: "Is something wrong?"

"No."

"Yet you seem to be hesitating."

"I forgot what I was going to ask you just now, but I remember now. I wanted to ask you, I want to travel during National Day—how about Southeast Asia? There's no time left for visas elsewhere."

"Sounds good. Still going with your friends?" Luan Nian asked her.

"Yes."

Shang Zhitao felt this was quite nice, as neither of their life rhythms was disrupted. Both of them seemed to deliberately maintain their independence and private space.

At the end of September, she returned to Beijing at company expense as required by her assignment.

It was summer when she left and autumn when she returned. Along the road from the airport to Luan Nian's home, a few scattered leaves had begun to fall, causing Shang Zhitao to stare out in a daze.

The security guard at Luan Nian's residential community drove her to the doorstep in a golf cart. She entered the passcode on the lock and stepped into his house. Lu-ke was overjoyed, leaping high more than ten times in front of her. She patted his head repeatedly to comfort him, pulling him into her arms: "Alright, alright, I know you missed me. I missed you very much too. I love you the most."

Luan Nian let out a cough from the side. Seeing his gaze sweeping over fiercely, Shang Zhitao corrected herself: "I love you second most. I love Lu-ke the most."

Lu-ke couldn't understand anyway, but Luke was very satisfied.

His large and small suitcases were placed in the living room, already packed.

"What time is your flight tomorrow?" Shang Zhitao asked him.

"Two in the afternoon."

"Then you'll have to leave around ten in the morning."

"Pretty much."

While eating, Luan Nian mentioned that a steamed bun shop had opened in a residential area five kilometers away, and the Halal steamed buns inside were truly delicious.

"How delicious?"

"I can eat five." Luan Nian didn't have a large appetite, so steamed buns that could make him eat five had to be exceptionally delicious.

The two spent a peaceful night together. When Shang Zhitao was leaving the next morning, Luan Nian felt a slight sense of loss, unable to explain why. Standing at the door watching Shang Zhitao leave with Lu-ke, his heart tugged gently.

Just as he loaded his luggage into the car and drove out of the residential community, he received a phone call from Shang Zhitao: "Is the steamed bun shop you mentioned the one with a back door opened on the first floor and a green sign?"

"Yes."

"I see it. How about I bring some back for your breakfast? You won't be able to eat them once you go abroad."

A wave of warmth washed over Luan Nian's heart, as if a tiny, warm stream was trickling in: "Okay. I'll wait for you at the entrance of the residential community."

"Will there be enough time? Won't it delay you catching your flight?"

"There's enough time," Luan Nian said. In truth, it might not be, but he wanted to eat those steamed buns.

Shang Zhitao got out of the car with Lu-ke and her luggage. Luan Nian took Lu-ke's leash and her luggage, placing them by the car, and slowly finished all five steamed buns.

Shang Zhitao held a tissue to help wipe the corners of his mouth, then handed him a bottle of water. Having finished the buns, Luan Nian suddenly asked her:

"Shang Zhitao, do you want to go on a trip together?"