Chapter 39

Does falling in love with a man plunge a woman into endless fantasies? At least that's how it is for Shang Zhitao. In her imagination, Luan Nian harbors a bit of affection for her. Even if there is no trace of it, she prefers to believe so.

Her work ended relatively early on Friday, yet she lingered at her desk, unwilling to leave. Perhaps, like before, if she stayed late, Luan Nian might pass by and kindly offer her a ride. In her mind, she rehearsed countless times what she should say once she got into his car—or perhaps say nothing at all, relying on their unspoken understanding that Luan Nian would take her home.

But Luan Nian left. He walked out of his office without even glancing her way. A feeling like a cat's claws scratching at her heart took hold of Shang Zhitao—a faint ache, a subtle itch, bearable yet undeniably unpleasant.

She sat a while longer before finally shouldering her bag and heading out, catching the last bus. At one point, her bus stopped beside Luan Nian's car at a crossroad. She saw him laughing while on the phone, though she couldn't tell with whom. Shang Zhitao put on her headphones and turned away, thinking how painful it was to love a man she couldn't grasp. Back then, she lacked foresight, seeing only the present—herself tormented by someone's elusive presence.

That agonizing night stripped away her ability to think independently. As the night bus wound through the city, that sense of rootlessness overwhelmed the twenty-two-year-old Shang Zhitao, stirring a rebellious spark within her.

She announced she would treat her roommates to a meal over the weekend. Arriving home to find everyone there, she took out a small notebook to take orders: "What would everyone like to eat?"

"Beef, beef!" Sun Yu said.

"Pork belly!" Zhang Lei chimed in.

"Chicken wings!" Zhang Lei added.

"Live shrimp!" Sun Yu followed up quickly.

Everyone called out their choices, one meat dish after another. Sun Yuanzhu, sitting to the side, felt a pang of sympathy for Shang Zhitao's wallet. He tactfully suggested onions and lettuce leaves, then offered: "I'll go with you tomorrow."

"Huh?"

"Afraid you won't be able to carry everything."

Sun Yu watched and chuckled: "Let's all go. It'll be lively."

Shang Zhitao had always been quick to let things go. No matter what happened, she moved on swiftly. The night before, she had been upset over her anxieties about Luan Nian, but by the next morning, she was her usual self again. The four of them chatted and laughed their way to the farmers' market. Several times, Sun Yuanzhu tried to pay, but Shang Zhitao swatted his hand away: "Don't! I'll get angry."

"Then I'll treat you next time," Sun Yuanzhu said sincerely. He felt that a girl like Shang Zhitao had it tough—coming to this city alone with so little to start with, treading carefully as if on thin ice.

"Sure," Shang Zhitao smiled at him. "How about I treat you and Long Zhentian to roast duck later? Every time after class, Long Zhentian buys me meals. My tuition isn't even enough to cover his food expenses."

"He just enjoys making friends. You don't need to feel indebted. He can be ruthless when taking advantage of others."

"That's quite the enthusiasm for friendship," Shang Zhitao giggled.

"How's your learning coming along?" Sun Yuanzhu walked beside her, taking the things from her hands and leaving only a small bag for her to carry symbolically. Shang Zhitao gave him a grateful look. "Long Zhentian says I'm making great progress. He says at this rate, I'll be ready to graduate in another year."

"You're really amazing," Sun Yuanzhu praised her, as if he had never seen an outstanding girl before. The people around him were never lacking in those who excelled at learning; everyone around him had graduated from top-tier institutions both domestically and abroad. When they gathered, their conversations were filled with grand visions of the stars and seas.

Shang Zhitao felt a bit ashamed.

The two walked and chatted, with Sun Yuanzhu staying on the outer side of the sidewalk, letting Shang Zhitao walk on the inner side. When they passed a crossroad, he gently pulled her wrist back to prevent her from being hit by a car.

Zhang Lei, who was walking behind them, saw this and asked Sun Yu, "Does Shang Zhitao have a boyfriend?"

Sun Yu wanted to say yes, but then she thought about it—her boss was probably a scumbag who would deny everything after getting what he wanted. Sun Yuanzhu was far better than that kind of man, so she shook her head. "No."

"That's great. They could make a perfect pair. They look so well-matched."

"They really do," Sun Yu nodded.

Young people easily found joy when together. The group washed vegetables, chatted, and enjoyed the lively atmosphere. Zhang Lei and Sun Yu were the kind of people who couldn't stay idle for even a moment, so much so that Shang Zhitao didn’t hear her phone ringing for a long time. It was Sun Yuanzhu who noticed the phone flashing while getting drinks and called out to her, "Your phone is ringing."

"Could you answer it for me?" Shang Zhitao was busy washing vegetables and couldn’t free her hands.

"Sure."

Sun Yuanzhu picked up the phone and softly said, "Hello?" He was the type of person whose voice remained gentle even when uttering just a single word.

Luan Nian paused for a moment, moving the phone away to check if he had dialed the wrong number. "I’m looking for Shang Zhitao."

"Alright. Please hold on a moment," Sun Yuanzhu replied softly. Just then, Zhang Lei cracked a joke, and everyone burst into laughter. Sun Yuanzhu walked over to Shang Zhitao. "It seems like something important. Do you want to take it?"

"Could you help me hold it?" Shang Zhitao tilted her head. "My hands are wet."

"Okay." Sun Yuanzhu held the phone to Shang Zhitao’s ear. Her voice still carried a hint of laughter. "Who is this?"

"It’s me," Luan Nian said, not giving her time to react. "Today, the supplier reported the progress of all projects. Take a look at the brief you submitted."

"Alright."

Luan Nian hung up first. Shang Zhitao wiped her hands, took the phone, and saw a message from Luan Nian: "If you can’t even handle a basic brief, what’s the point of having you here?"

Shang Zhitao hurriedly ran back to the bedroom, opened her computer, and checked the email she had sent. She had made a mistake—both the data channel and the data model were wrong. The supplier had already started collecting data.

She had never made such a major error before and suddenly didn’t know what to do.

Luan Nian, still furious, sent her another message: "This counts as a Level 1 incident. I’ve already informed Tracy and Alex. No promotions or salary raises for a year, and this quarter’s bonus will be halved. Figure out a solution now."

Sitting in front of her computer, Shang Zhitao suddenly burst into tears.

She felt deeply upset. That day, she had been distracted because of Luan Nian, leading to a fatal mistake. She felt particularly wronged and even began to regret ever starting something with him. If they had never done anything, she would still be the diligent and hardworking Shang Zhitao, and she wouldn’t have messed up her work like this.

Sun Yu knocked on the door and came in. Seeing her crying, she asked, "What’s wrong?"

"It's fine." Shang Zhitao wiped away her tears. "I'll make a call." The issue needed to be resolved; she couldn't stay stuck. Her first call was to Alex, where she explained her mistake. Alex was understanding and comforted her: "To err is human. Don’t take what Luke said to heart. He was just talking; he won’t actually hold back your raise."

"It’s not about the raise." What upset Shang Zhitao was his strictly professional attitude. His harsh tone hadn’t softened at all because of the two intimate nights they’d spent together—if anything, it was worse.

"Then isn’t that settled? It’s fine. I’ve already spoken with the supplier. We won’t pay separately this time, and we’ll exclude them from future projects. Just send them the correct brief."

"Thank you, Alex."

"Don’t mention it. Just don’t make this mistake again." Alex wasn’t necessarily tolerant of subordinates’ mistakes, but Shang Zhitao was a first-time offender, and the error wasn’t serious—Luke had exaggerated. Alex couldn’t understand why Luan Nian was so angry. Maybe it was true, as people in the company said, that Luan Nian couldn’t stand Shang Zhitao.

Shang Zhitao quickly adjusted and sent the correct brief to the supplier.

Then she held her phone for a long time, wondering whether to reply to Luan Nian’s message. In the end, she put the phone down. She didn’t reply.

Shang Zhitao didn’t want to reply.

If she couldn’t get promoted, so be it. If she couldn’t get a raise, so be it. If they deducted her bonus, so be it. After all, when it came to work, she didn’t have much to lose in the first place.

She never had much to begin with.

She couldn’t tell if she was fighting with her boss or with her sexual partner. She just felt she didn’t want to say a single word to Luan Nian. So she left her phone in the bedroom and went out to eat. She didn’t want to ruin her entire weekend.

Good food and friends could save any unhappiness.

Shang Zhitao ate with them, and Sun Yu talked about the matchmaking project she was working on, sharing stories of men and women meeting online. She mentioned a male user who used a photo of a bald head as his profile picture and sent the same first message to every girl: "Hi, I own two apartments in Mudan Garden. Want to grab a meal?" She told this story with a playful tone and then asked Shang Zhitao, "Would you reply if he messaged you?"

"I... my mom said I should find someone tall and not bald." Shang Zhitao answered seriously, making everyone laugh again.

"Should I log in with a female account to chat with him?" Zhang Lei joked. "I’m just curious about what his apartments look like..."

They all burst into laughter. Then Sun Yu sighed. "The problem is we don’t have enough high-quality users. Could you guys register to help improve our user quality?"

"Sure, sure." Shang Zhitao agreed and immediately grabbed her laptop. They huddled together and registered on the website. The registration required uploading photos, which was a bit tricky. Shang Zhitao asked Sun Yu, "Do we need real photos?"

"Sure."

"Doesn’t your system create virtual users?" Zhang Lei suddenly asked Sun Yu. Working in commercialization, he was familiar with all sorts of business strategies.

"We’ve made some... but..."

"Let Yuan Zhu and me take a look later."

"Deal!" Sun Yu was thrilled. "My career depends on the three of you. Of course, your marriage prospects can also be left to me."

"Let me take a look at your female members first." Zhang Lei's commercial instincts kicked in, now seriously studying the business model of Sun Yu's project, and even asked Sun Yu: "Will it extend to offline events?"

"Of course. But there's no time this year—probably just one event around Christmas, and we'll start doing it on a larger scale next year."

"That's great. When you hold offline events, let me go. I want to meet some women."

"I'll go too. I'll help you as a plant. Do you think I'm suitable?" Shang Zhitao raised her hand.

"You're absolutely perfect. You're exactly the kind of girl successful men like—in your early twenties, with a decent job and good looks!" Sun Yu teased her: "I'm going to feature you and a few others prominently!"

"Isn't this just a dating scam?" Sun Yuanzhu suddenly remarked.

"Not really... after all, you're all single..."

The meal went on lively for a long time, and Shang Zhitao pushed Luan Nian and his criticism to the back of her mind.