The Early Spring - Chapter 121

Chapter 121 - Days Gone By

When you truly need to reacquaint yourself with a line of business, you have to process an overwhelming amount of information. At this stage, Shang Zhitao's only requirement for her team was to learn. During a meeting, she stated: "Aside from Fang Ke and the girls in operations, no one else understands this business. What do we do when we don't understand? We need to learn. That's why I asked Fang Ke to help put together a learning plan. For the next two weeks, we'll be doing closed-door study sessions here at the company. Starting next Monday, everyone should take a good weekend rest first."

"Then I'll screen-share the learning plan," Fang Ke said.

"Sounds good. I have one more requirement," Shang Zhitao added. "Since no one understands anything right now, we'll let the person who actually gets it make the decisions. Which means, during this period, everyone listens to Fang Ke."

Shang Zhitao was bold when it came to delegating and granting authority. She would always remember Lumière's baseline rule: whoever is capable gets the job.

During her meeting, Luke lay right beside her. Once the meeting ended, he turned into her shadow, following her wherever she went, panting with his tongue out, looking thoroughly delighted.

"Are you that happy?" Shang Zhitao asked him.

"Woof!"

"Alright, I get it. You old traitor, you like him that much? Oh right, you two are the same—both old 'men.'" Shang Zhitao tapped Luke's forehead with her finger. Luke seemed to catch that this wasn't a compliment and gently nipped at her fingertips to play with her.

"I'll swing by to see Luke once more tomorrow before I leave," Luan Nian texted her.

"Okay."

Shang Zhitao scrolled through their text history. Luan Nian's messages were always brief; he had never liked rambling. Over nearly six months, they had fewer than fifty exchanges in total, mostly along the lines of: "Sent. Make sure to check for it."

He never specified what he sent, either.

Shang Zhitao replied to him: "Okay."

"How is your health?"

"Pretty good."

Communicating at this frequency and with this kind of content always felt like a scumbag checking in on someone in his backup option pool.

Shang Zhitao had never asked about Luan Nian's relationship status. How could a man like Luan Nian ever lack women around him? It was as if Luke had become the sole tie remaining between them. The only reason they could still talk and meet so calmly was that Luan Nian loved Luke too much.

Yet, it wasn't just that.

Shang Zhitao couldn't put it into words, but she felt an invisible string pulled taut between her and Luan Nian again. Usually unseen, she nevertheless knew that the string was right there. Only, that string was different from before. In the past, she knew the string was bound to snap, whereas this time it had much more elasticity. Neither of them dared to pull too hard, terrified that the recoil would hurt them.

When Luan Nian came over to walk Luke the next day, Shang Zhitao had just gotten out of bed.

Opening the door, she let Luan Nian take Luke downstairs while she turned back inside to scramble for something to eat. She still didn't know how to cook, so her home was always stocked with plain bread slices and milk.

Tearing off a piece of bread and stuffing it into her mouth, she suddenly recalled the delicious breakfasts she used to eat at Luan Nian's place, and the food instantly tasted bland. She put down the slice of bread and began rummaging through the cabinets for food, only to find nothing at all.

When Luan Nian returned, he saw her sitting there staring off into space, so he unclipped Luke's leash. "What's wrong?"

"I'm hungry." Shang Zhitao looked at him. "Have you eaten?"

"No."

"Want to go out for breakfast? My treat."

"No need, I don't care for it."

Luan Nian was still as picky as ever. There were too few things he liked to eat, so he preferred making food himself.

Rolling up his shirt sleeves, he walked into the kitchen, only to discover there wasn't even a single egg in her house.

"Is this how you live your life?" he asked her. He was actually a little annoyed. Her home looked spotless, yet there wasn't even food to be found. If this continued, she could starve to death in this apartment alone and no one would even notice. She'd probably make the news: Over-aged Single Woman Doesn't Know How to Cook, Starves to Death at Home.

"I can go eat at my mom's place."

"You could also learn to cook for yourself."

"I can't. I genuinely tried to learn, but I failed."

Luan Nian glanced at her. "So you can't tell oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar apart?"

"Or you don't know how to put water in the pot to boil an egg?"

"Or maybe you don't even know how to shop at a supermarket?"

"To be honest, I really don't see what's so hard about it." Luan Nian couldn't figure it out. Were data formulas hard? She entered them all manually. Were project proposals hard to write? She wrote dozens or hundreds of pages at a time. Was cooking a simple meal really that difficult?

"Why do I have to learn how to cook? I can order takeaway, I can go eat at my mom's place, or I can find a boyfriend who knows how to cook."

"A boyfriend who knows how to cook" was just something Shang Zhitao blurted out off the top of her head, but when Luan Nian's gaze darted over, she sensed a chill in the air.

Luan Nian didn't like that line. All the lecturing from Tan Mian and the others had gone completely to waste; he couldn't possibly give her a pleasant face when she spewed such bullshit. His lips twitched slightly, and he walked out of the kitchen. Raising his forearm, he used his thumb and index finger on his other hand to fasten his cufflink. Even after all these years, he always dressed immaculately, down to every single cufflink needing to be to his personal liking.

A man who was never willing to settle must be exhausted, right?

Shang Zhitao sat there watching him fix his shirt, then asked, "Are you leaving?"

Luan Nian didn't say a word, walking toward the door instead. Luke followed behind him, wanting to head out together, so Luan Nian stopped and squatted down. "I have to go back to work. Go play with your mom."

"Sister," Shang Zhitao corrected him.

"Go play with your thirty-something sister." Finishing his sentence, Luan Nian stood up and walked out.

Having taken just two steps, he heard Shang Zhitao say to Luke, "Say goodbye to your forty-something brother."

Luan Nian turned back to look at her. She kept her neck stubbornly held high, her expression full of defiance, unwilling to lose this petty battle of words. Luan Nian's lips twitched as he managed a faint smile—or perhaps it carried a hint of mockery. "I wish you success on your second venture."

"Thank you."

Shang Zhitao and Luke watched from the window as Luan Nian disappeared from view, after which she grabbed the bread slices and milk to eat mindlessly.

Come Monday, the courier called her: "There's a cold-chain delivery for you."

"Huh?" Shang Zhitao was a bit puzzled. Taking a cab home from the company, she picked up a styrofoam box. Opening it up, she saw it really was a cold-chain package, with the ice not yet fully melted. Inside was fresh milk alongside a small box of osmanthus flowers.

Luan Nian's osmanthus milk tasted good because dried osmanthus flowers were drizzled with syrup, baked dry, and then sprinkled onto the milk. When drinking it, there was the sweetness of the syrup combined with an almost imperceptible fragrance of osmanthus, an addictive, crisp-sweet texture.

Shang Zhitao had experimented with it herself, but she couldn't pull it off. Unable to wait, she boiled some milk, poured it out, and sprinkled the osmanthus over it. Downing a mouthful, it felt as though she had returned to those mornings years ago when she woke up in his home, where he would make breakfast and casually push a glass of osmanthus milk over to her.

Her heart suddenly softened just a touch.

Taking out her phone, she sent him a friend request.

Luan Nian was currently in the middle of a boring, drawn-out board meeting. Seeing a notification for a new friend request with the note identifying her as Shang Zhitao, he felt as if a spot inside his heart had been illuminated by light. A good mood he couldn't conceal spread from his heart straight to the corners of his lips.

He smiled.

Accepting her friend request, he tapped on her profile picture to take a look. It was probably from a trip she took—a close-up shot of her face in a snowy landscape, her cheeks flushed red and laughing happily. Looking at her Moments, it was completely spotless, holding nothing at all.

Back around 2017, a chat app launched a memory recap feature, and Luan Nian had casually clicked to join out of boredom. The very first item of the recap asked who your first added friend was, and whether you were still in touch. Luan Nian had seen Shang Zhitao's tiny avatar from back then. He remembered that on the day they added each other, she seemed to be on a business trip and sent him an invite.

He had asked her: "What's this?"

"Just download it."

Luan Nian had added her.

That memory recap that day nearly killed Luan Nian. He thought to himself: The first person I ever added has vanished.

I looked for her. I knew where she was. I sought the right moment to appear, but the right moment was endlessly delayed.

Now, sitting in the meeting room, he sent Shang Zhitao a single question mark: ?

"Thanks for the osmanthus milk."

"You're welcome. Hope you find a boyfriend who knows how to cook real soon." He was typing out of pique.

Shang Zhitao burst out laughing when she saw the message in the cab.

The driver asked her, "Did something good happen to you, miss?"

"No. Just ran into someone pretty funny."

Shang Zhitao threw herself into her studies, losing track of time.

The logic behind online advertising was extremely complex; the core lay in thoroughly mastering the data metrics, after which the methodology would naturally follow. She required everyone in the company to know how to do the math and demanded that they memorize all the industry terminology.

CPM, CPC, CPA, CTR... Over a hundred abbreviations were displayed. Pointing to any one at random, everyone had to explain clearly what it meant; when data was presented, everyone had to know how to calculate it. The girls naturally had no problem—they used to spend their days submerged in systems and backends tweaking creative assets and analyzing data. The guys, on the other hand, complained incessantly; a bunch of rough men used to running venue setups suddenly having to deal with data metrics found their brains completely fried.

Seeing their miserable expressions, Shang Zhitao couldn't help laughing for a long time, thinking to herself: You little dummies.

Suddenly, she was reminded of how Luan Nian used to always tell her:

"Did you bring a brain with you today?"

"Can you try using your brain for once?"

"What are you keeping that brain for if you're not going to use it?"

She wouldn't talk to her employees like that; Luan Nian was far too harsh with people.

At noon, when she went up to the company rooftop for lunch, Lumi sent her a video clip: Luan Nian was chewing people out during a meeting while everyone present didn't dare utter a word. Shang Zhitao was instantly transported back to the terror of attending meetings where Luan Nian was present.

"See that? A stubborn donkey can only get even more stubborn, turning into the most stubborn straight-guy old donkey around. But a donkey will always be a donkey."

"Aren't you afraid he'll find out if you talk about him like that?"

"I'm not afraid of him." Lumi sent a meme that read Who has this lady ever been afraid of?: "I dare say I'm the second person in the company who dares to mess with him. The first one is Tracy."

"Outside the company, I think there's only one person named Shang Zhitao who dares to mess with him."

"Don't. I wouldn't dare," Shang Zhitao immediately backed down.

The breeze on the rooftop felt very pleasant, blowing until Shang Zhitao felt drowsy. Having been boosted by a glass of osmanthus milk, she felt today was turning out to be quite nice. Continuing her intense study routine, by the time the weekend rolled around, she suddenly felt like going out for a walk.

So she rented a car and drove toward the suburbs, taking Luke along.

Finding a random agritourism farmhouse to check in, she took Luke out for a run. Luke loved outings, and the human and dog pair had an absolute blast playing together. It wasn't until Luan Nian's third phone call that she finally heard it, answering to ask, "What's up?"

"Where are you?"

"I came out to play."

"I came to see Luke."

"Luke is with me."

Luan Nian hadn't expected that taking a flight first thing in the morning would result in a wasted trip, so he asked her, "Can you give me a heads-up in advance next time you go out to play?"

"Did you give a heads-up in advance that you were coming to see Luke?"

The next time, Luan Nian did give a heads-up, so Shang Zhitao left Luke with him while she went off to play by herself. The two of them didn't even cross paths.

"If you feel like commuting back and forth between the hotel and my apartment is inconvenient, you can stay in the guest bedroom. That way you can spend more time with him," she told Luan Nian.

"Aren't you afraid of the neighbors gossiping?"

"What do I have to be afraid of?"

Was there ever a lack of gossip? A single, over-aged female entrepreneur had been slapped with so many labels. The rumors were even fully fleshed out, going as far as describing her sugar daddy's appearance: in his fifties, balding, with a beer belly, wearing a gold watch, looking filthy rich, leaving her home in the early morning.

If the neighbors saw Luan Nian, maybe the rumors would actually sound better. In his early thirties, handsome and dashing, with an arrogant posture and an extraordinary air—she must have used her old lover's money to keep a younger man.

So Luan Nian really did stay in the guest bedroom.

He had everything in his suitcase, treating Shang Zhitao's place like a hotel. Everything about her home was great, except there was little to eat. Luan Nian couldn't fathom how a woman could live her life like this. He went out to the supermarket to buy heaps of fruit, vegetables, meat, eggs, and seafood, stuffing the refrigerator full.

In the evening, he blended meat into paste and steamed meat dumplings for Luke, just like before.

Luke had never imagined he would get to eat this again in his lifetime. Sitting to the side with his tongue out waiting, his drool went drip-drop onto the floor. Hearing the sound, Luan Nian turned back to look at him: "Aren't you embarrassed?"

"Have you never eaten meat before?"

"Look at how pathetic you are!"

While scolding Luke, Luan Nian pulled him over to brush his fur. "The bathing membership card from years ago still hasn't been used up; it's been extended four times now. Will I ever get the chance to carry you to a bath in this lifetime?"

Luke rubbed his head against him, as if saying: I think you will.

When Luan Nian left, Shang Zhitao was still stuck in traffic near the edge of the city. Seeing his message: "I'm leaving."

"Safe travels."

Returning home, she opened the fridge to look for food, finding it packed with items—fruits and vegetables fully stocked. Opening the freezer compartment, she saw the seafood, fish, and meat inside.

There was also a note: "Luke's meat dumplings are on the top shelf. Heat up three for him each time."

She called him, and hearing the boarding announcement on his end, she asked, "Are you coming to see Luke next week too?"

"If time permits."

"Did you run into my neighbors while walking the dog?"

"I did."

"Did they say anything?"

"Asked if I was your boyfriend."

"Oh."

Shang Zhitao uttered an "oh," and after a short moment, heard Luan Nian say: "I said I was."

"Whatever works. My reputation is terrible anyway," Shang Zhitao said, hanging up the phone.

The next day while walking the dog, she saw the neighbor, who nodded at her: "Is your boyfriend not walking the dog today?"

"Which boyfriend?" Shang Zhitao teased the gossipy neighbor.

"How many do you have? Who else could it be? That young man who looks like a celebrity!"

"Oh, oh, oh!" Shang Zhitao nodded. "I'm off, going back to work."

She just giggled it off, not taking it to heart.

During the holidays, she had chatted with Shang Zhishu, and both agreed that when it came to rumors about a single woman, this was nothing. There were even people who would slap a label of "unprofessional conduct" on you, making it impossible to clear your name.

"How much better could my balding, big-bellied, gold-watch-wearing uncle really be?" Shang Zhitao joked.

By July, when Shang Zhitao had everything ready, the channel manager from Zhang Lei's company came over to conduct an inspection, and Zhang Lei came along as well.

Hearing that Zhang Lei was going to Harbin to inspect Shang Zhitao's company, Sun Yu also found time to fly over.

Sun Yu's company was now a Key Account (KA) client of Zhang Lei's firm, placing 150 million yuan worth of advertising investments with them every year.

The few of them sat in Shang Zhitao's company office, looking at one another, before suddenly bursting into laughter.

Zhang Lei said to the channel manager, "You probably don't know what we're laughing about, right?"

"Once upon a time, the few of us lived together in a rented apartment."

Speaking of which, that was already many, many years ago. Back then, they were all very young, pushed along every day by fate. Looking back now, their pure, simple selves were what was most worth missing.

Zhang Lei said to Shang Zhitao, "I feel like I haven't seen you in five or six years. But why haven't you changed at all? I'm jealous of you."

"Things have changed too. My mindset." She smiled faintly. "How about we let the vendor bosses inspect the business first? Then I'll treat everyone to dinner. Today, I'll take everyone to my family's restaurant to eat a home-cooked meal."

"Will we get to see Big Zhai and Old Shang?" Zhang Lei asked.

"You will."

"Alright then."

Shang Zhitao led the vendor leadership through the inspection. She had prepared diligently because she knew they would write an inspection report detailing the company's office space, staff quality, the boss's financial strength, and network resources. This inspection report would determine Shang Zhitao's initial track.

Leading the channel manager to the workspace, she clapped her hands: "Partners, let me introduce everyone to the vendor's channel manager."

The young ladies and guys stood up, their smiles sincere, each embodying the traits of their company.

"You are free to ask any questions regarding professional knowledge," Shang Zhitao said to the channel manager.

"Any question?"

"Yes, feel free to ask anything."

Shang Zhitao had known since long ago that learning was useful; she just hadn't expected that in her early thirties, she would be forced onto a completely new track once more. When we know nothing, we simply learn. Learning will show you the direction.

She was confident and composed.

The channel manager randomly asked a few questions, covering LBS targeting, audience segments, feed ads, and data algorithms. Pointing to random colleagues in the company to answer, the young people responded sharply and directly, adding their own insights as well—not falling short of the vendor's own operations managers at all.

Sun Yu and Zhang Lei sat in Shang Zhitao's office listening to the activity outside, smiling as Sun Yu said, "I knew it. She's always serious."

"She wouldn't be Shang Zhitao if she weren't serious."

"And admitting defeat wouldn't be Shang Zhitao either."

Shang Zhitao took the channel manager to tour the company's pantry, which was small but fully equipped. Brewing a cup of coffee for the channel manager, the two sat inside and chatted for a bit.

Shang Zhitao said to him, "I feel it's necessary to give a proper introduction of myself."

"I know you used to work at Lumière."

"Yes. I was a Special Contribution Employee at Lumière, and my specialty is exploring new business and mapping out methodologies."

"I can tell. Some of the data insights your employees mentioned earlier are rarely even brought up in our internal training."

"That's why I want a core track," Shang Zhitao said. "Trust me, I know this place can't compare to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Shenzhen; the internet environment here isn't great. But I can guarantee doing two things well: first is growth rate, surpassing Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen; second is industry methodology—that is, benchmark strategies. I know your internal promotions also rely on these exact numbers."

The channel manager had met many agency bosses—most were middle-aged, filthy rich, and would walk up saying: "I'll invest money, I'll invest people, I guarantee we'll do a great job." But if you asked how they planned to do a great job, the boss would pull someone forward and say: You explain to them how we'll do a great job.

Shang Zhitao was different. She had analyzed the business with absolute clarity, even understanding their internal promotion mechanisms.

Even so, he said, "You and Director Zhang are old acquaintances. You'll be able to get a core track."

"No." Shang Zhitao shook her head. "I also guarantee I will never privately communicate with Director Zhang regarding any work matters. My primary partner and reporting line will be you."

Shang Zhitao thought to herself: This is the workplace too; social etiquette and unspoken rules—I understand them.

"Alright." The channel manager stood up. "Then let me wrap up today's inspection here. I'll make sure to write a thorough report. You should also audit the resources you have on hand, and then tell me which track you want to enter."

"Great. I'll have it finalized next week."

That evening, while eating at the old tavern, the channel manager praised her: "I've never met such a professional agency boss before."

"Then you haven't seen the proposals she used to make," Zhang Lei said. "Back then, I wanted to poach her to lead our planning team, but she decided to return to Harbin."

"Stop complimenting me," Shang Zhitao said, covering her face. "I can't handle praise!"

The group hadn't drunk together in years. Having this drink session today, they felt as though they had caught up on years' worth of drinking in one thorough go. Yet as the gathering came to an end, no one felt entirely satisfied. Shang Zhitao invited them: "Why don't you come over to my place and sit for a while?"

So the group went to her apartment.

Sun Yu saw Luke again, while Zhang Lei saw the wall full of books. Standing before it, he pulled one out at random and saw the reading notes inside. All of a sudden, his eyes turned red, and a curse escaped his mouth: "Fuck!"

"I'll give this book to you," Shang Zhitao said to him. "A book belongs with someone who appreciates it."

Zhang Lei wiped his eyes. "I fucking envy him quite a bit. We're all going to grow older and older, eventually turning into old geezers. Only he stays forever young."

"Isn't that the truth?" Shang Zhitao murmured. Walking over to the side of the book wall, she took out a book with a photograph tucked inside. Surrounded by swirling clouds and mist, the four of them were grinning foolishly at the camera.

It was from that best year, when the best versions of themselves stood atop Mount Tai, looking down at the majestic, towering mountains, their shouts piercing through heaven and earth, connecting the past with the present.

Shang Zhitao quietly asked Sun Yu, "Have you let it go?"

"I have, but then it feels like I haven't. What about you?"

She had let it go.