Chapter 84

Shang Zhitao knew that the relationship between her and Luan Nian had changed. She would still greet him and smile when they met, but she knew it was impossible between them.

It was on a spring rainy day that she sent Luan Nian a message, saying: "Luke, I've thought about it and feel we should end our relationship."

Luan Nian replied quickly: "Okay."

She found herself truly strange. She thought she would cry bitterly, be heartbroken, drown her sorrows in alcohol, or cling endlessly, but she didn't. She asked Sun Yu: "Is this weird of me? Am I some emotionless creature? Why don't I feel ashamed after being rejected by him? Why don't I hate him at all? What kind of person am I?"

She asked many questions, all common dilemmas of ordinary men and women, and her experience was that of countless girls. They hadn't done anything wrong; they had simply loved someone they shouldn't have. That person didn't seem to be at fault either—he was just following his heart. If every confession received a response, why would there be so many heartbroken people in the world?

But Sun Yu didn't know how to comfort Shang Zhitao, so she simply gave her a light hug and said: "Perhaps you didn't love that deeply, or maybe true sorrow makes no sound."

What puzzled Shang Zhitao most about herself was that she still thought of him occasionally, but he just wasn't that important anymore. Shang Zhitao felt her body had activated a coping mechanism, one that made her reorder the people and things around her, placing Luan Nian at the very end.

She liked this change in herself.

Everything was in perfect order, so much so that she almost forgot she was deeply embroiled in a bribery scandal.

Shang Zhitao received the meeting notice just after finishing a conference.

An internal audit colleague called her mobile and said: "Flora, please come to meeting room 502."

"Okay." She went to the meeting room with her laptop and saw Tracy, Luan Nian, and colleagues from the internal audit department, all seated in a row. She had never faced such a setup before and felt nervous, yet also composed, sitting upright in her chair.

Although she knew what the discussion would be about, she didn't understand why the situation was so formal.

Tracy exchanged a glance with Luan Nian and explained: "Since Luke is temporarily overseeing the planning department, according to company regulations, the department head must attend internal audit discussions, so..."

"Let's proceed," Luan Nian said without looking up from his phone, addressing Tracy: "Get straight to the point. I have two more meetings after this."

"Okay."

"Let the internal audit begin."

They asked about Shang Zhitao's basic income information, whether she had side income, if she usually liked luxury goods—all sorts of odd questions that ultimately pointed to one thing: whether she had any large unexplained income.

Shang Zhitao answered each question one by one. When the internal audit colleague asked if she had a habit of buying luxury goods, she shook her head: "No, I don't like luxury goods." Yes, she didn't like them. Although Luan Nian had casually given her many, she had never opened any of them. Disliking something meant just that. When she said she didn't like luxury goods, Luan Nian glanced up from his phone and looked at her faintly.

The internal audit then asked about Shang Zhitao's relationship with suppliers and how she handled bidding and payment processes, to which she answered in detail.

Luan Nian finally put down his phone, his tone as businesslike as ever: "No need to pretend to be so polite, just get straight to the point. Flora, you’ve been reported by a supplier you onboarded back then for accepting cash bribes, totaling over 400,000 yuan. The company will continue investigating. Until there’s a result, please hand over the projects you’re handling and stop working." He didn’t want to beat around the bush. No matter how gently he phrased it hundreds of times, the outcome would be the same. Instead of being polite here, it was better to think of a solution.

Tracy felt Luan Nian was too harsh, so she said to Shang Zhitao, "We will definitely investigate thoroughly and not wrong an innocent person."

"Nor let the guilty go," Luan Nian added.

Listening to them speak, Shang Zhitao felt their voices were somewhat grating. Four hundred thousand in cash was a huge sum for her back then. The problem was she had never taken it—not even four yuan.

"Okay. Thank you."

Shang Zhitao left the meeting room and returned to her desk to pick up her bag.

"What are you doing? Aren’t you working?" Lumi asked her.

The feeling of being wronged was terrible, especially Luan Nian’s completely emotionless words, which Shang Zhitao couldn’t accept. She didn’t answer Lumi. At that moment, she couldn’t speak—she knew if she opened her mouth, she would cry. So she took out her phone and sent Lumi a message: "Wang Yang reported me for taking 400,000 in bribes. The company told me to go home and wait for the investigation results."

"Fuck him," Lumi said angrily. She stood up and walked downstairs with Shang Zhitao. While waiting for the elevator, they ran into Luan Nian heading to the café downstairs for a meeting. Shang Zhitao took a step back, standing behind Lumi. No one spoke in the elevator. Through the elevator mirror, Luan Nian saw Shang Zhitao stubbornly pursing her lips—her usual expression when she felt wronged.

Entering the café, he looked out the window and saw Shang Zhitao talking to Lumi. Lumi seemed furious, and Shang Zhitao held her hand to calm her down. After a while, Shang Zhitao left. When she returned home, Sun Yuanzhu was there too. He was working on a small robot and greeted her with a voice changer: "Hello."

"Why are you unhappy?"

Shang Zhitao told him what had happened. Sun Yuanzhu nodded and said, "You know what? Some methods never fail."

"What?"

"Don’t worry about it. In any case, you have to save yourself."

Saving herself—wasn’t the best way to do that to go to Luan Nian? He must have some powerful methods, but Shang Zhitao didn’t seek him out. She wouldn’t have gone to him before, and even less so now—she had no grounds to.

Luan Nian didn’t receive any messages or calls from Shang Zhitao until he left work in the evening, which didn’t surprise him. After getting into his car, he made a call: "Help me look into something."

"Yes, I just want to know what dealings they’ve had."

"Also, I want to check this company’s accounts indirectly."

"Don’t worry, I won’t use it for illegal purposes."

Luan Nian hung up the phone, thought for a moment, then sent the company information to the other person and added, "Only check the information I mentioned." Luan Nian had never been a particularly upright person. If the other party was a bad person, then fighting fire with fire was the best approach.

"Make it quick."

Starting the car, he saw another vehicle on the road with a golden retriever sticking its head out the window, looking silly. Suddenly, he thought of Luke.

After ending things with Shang Zhitao, would he never see Luke again? But there were still snacks for Luke in his trunk. He pulled the car over to the side of the road, thought for a long time, and still drove back home.

At home, there were still a few changes of clothes, cosmetics, slippers, and many other things belonging to Shang Zhitao. As Luan Nian tidied up, he thought to himself, it turns out that long-term companionship really leaves traces. He packed all those things into a box, along with Luke's water bowl, food bowl, toys, and snacks—two large boxes in total. His house was spacious, and usually, these items were scattered around, almost as if they didn't exist. But now, gathered together, they took up about two square meters.

That day, for the first time since rejecting Shang Zhitao, he took the initiative to call her. The phone rang for a long time before she answered, mumbling a vague "Hello." It sounded as if her mouth couldn't open properly. Sun Yu had brought her a few sheet masks, saying that a woman's luck improves only when she becomes more beautiful. She was under investigation anyway, so she might as well use the time at home to work on herself.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm putting on a sheet mask." Shang Zhitao removed the mask, her voice becoming a bit clearer. "Is something wrong?"

"Putting on a mask at one in the morning?"

"Well... I just suddenly felt like it. What's up, Luke? Did the investigation results come out?" Shang Zhitao called him Luke. In her heart, he was Luke, not Luan Nian.

"You have some things here. Do you want to come pick them up?"

"Probably not. It's too late today. Starting tomorrow, I'm going out to have fun, so it's not convenient. If they're taking up space, just throw them away." Shang Zhitao knew what she was doing. She wanted to completely sever this relationship, as if nothing had ever happened. She was also preparing to change jobs. Alex had reached out to her—he had firmly established himself at that company and needed someone he trusted to help him. Shang Zhitao thought the timing was perfect. But Grace was about to go on maternity leave, and out of principle, Shang Zhitao felt she should at least wait until Grace returned, helping her keep an eye on her clients. It was a way to repay her. Give and take—that was just how the workplace worked.

"Aren't you staying home to wait for the results?"

"The results will be the same no matter where I wait."

"I'll bring them to you."

"Oh."

Shang Zhitao didn't take him seriously, but Luan Nian actually came. She was washing her face when his call came through: "Come downstairs."

Shang Zhitao threw on a thin jacket and went downstairs. Time had passed quickly—it was already early summer. The early summer nights were intoxicating, with comfortable breezes and the chirping of insects. Luan Nian was standing by his car smoking, two large boxes at his feet.

Shang Zhitao walked over and looked at the boxes. They seemed to bear the words "Time Flies," or perhaps "A Fleeting Dream," or even "A Ridiculous Affair." She thought Sun Yu was right—a beginning like theirs was destined to have no good outcome. She fell far short of his standards, and sooner or later, they were bound to part ways.

"There's so much," she said lightly.

Luan Nian didn't speak, just kept his head slightly lowered as he smoked. Shang Zhitao crouched down to open the boxes. Luan Nian noticed fine strands of hair escaping from her bun, falling against her snow-white neck. She was a strange woman—when she called him, her words made it seem as if she couldn't live without him, but in the blink of an eye, she acted as if nothing had happened. It seemed she had always been able to pick things up and let them go just as easily.

Shang Zhitao looked at the contents of the box—some of her scattered belongings from home: a water cup, toiletries, cosmetics, clothes, slippers. She glanced around and spotted a trash bin about ten steps away. Carrying the box over, she dumped everything inside. What was the point of keeping them? In this rented apartment of hers, though everything was simple, she lacked nothing.

Luan Nian watched her discard the items with such resolve, his eyes narrowing into slits, a cold glint in them that even he was unaware of. Shang Zhitao acted as if she didn’t notice and walked back to him, opening another box. Inside were Luke’s things, packed full. Luan Nian had truly spared no expense—the dog snacks he bought for Luke were more expensive than the meals she ate.

“I’ll thank you on Luke’s behalf,” she said, picking up the box and taking two steps back. “Do you want the bags you gave me back? I’ve seen online that some people ask for expensive gifts back when a relationship ends.”

Luan Nian glanced at her but said nothing. He got into his car and drove off. In the rearview mirror, he saw Shang Zhitao had already carried the box into the building entrance without looking back once.

He called Tan Mian. “Want to grab a drink?”

“Now?”

“Yeah.”

Shang Zhitao went upstairs and closed the door, only then realizing she was crying. How strange—the tears flowed so fiercely, yet she felt almost nothing. She took out the snacks and fed them to Luke. “These were bought by a former friend of yours. Go ahead.”

Luke seemed to recognize the treats, letting out a bark in the deep of the night that nearly shattered Shang Zhitao’s heart.