Luan Nian had no patience for small talk with Shang Zhitao, so he kept it short. "Let's get to the point." That was who he was: simple, quick, efficient, unwilling to waste a minute on anything unnecessary.
Shang Zhitao nodded. "I've been going over the planning department's project files and there are a few things I don't understand. I wanted to ask for your input. And, while I'm here, I'd like you to be the subject of my new employee interview." She sat up straight, the way a student might sit while listening closely to a lecture, a posture of unusual humility for her.
"What don't you understand?"
Lumi had been right about him. Luan Nian never made things difficult for people over work; he took it seriously. There was a lot Shang Zhitao didn't understand, so she simply opened her notebook. "Can I ask you about each project one at a time?"
"Go ahead."
Luan Nian leaned forward to listen. He found the girl in front of him a little amusing. She wasn't shy in the least, and her cluelessness showed plainly on her face, so much that she didn't come across as particularly sharp. Who would have guessed?
"So, this project here, the demo production budget. What exactly does it cover?" Shang Zhitao turned her laptop screen toward him, tapping a spot on it with her fingertip. The glow from the screen lit her fingertips a pale pink. She glanced up and noticed how good his skin looked.
"You'll get the demo list tomorrow." Luan Nian kept his eyes on the screen, scanning the other notes she'd made. Shang Zhitao wasn't without her strengths; at least her notes were organized into clear points.
"Oh, thank you."
"Then why does this project need advance spending?" She turned the document to the next page.
"The supplier doesn't accept payment in advance."
"But that's not how the company's payment request process works..."
Luan Nian took her laptop, flipped to another page, and tapped a spot on the screen with a clean finger. Shang Zhitao saw that it explained a special approval process for exactly this kind of circumstance.
Her face went red. "Sorry, I must have missed that."
"It's fine. Read more carefully next time."
Lumi had said Luan Nian took work seriously, and so far that had held up.
His phone rang and he picked up. His voice came out sharp. Shang Zhitao could hear a woman crying on the other end, saying something about not wanting to break up. A breakup with this much crying involved couldn't be a clean one. She kept her expression as neutral as she could, reminding herself that this was his personal business and none of hers. Still, the awkwardness crept in.
Luan Nian caught the parade of expressions crossing her face and frowned. "Don't call me from a new number again," he said, then hung up and looked at her. She sat there, eyes drifting, unsure where to land.
She hadn't meant to pry into his personal life. It had simply happened in front of her.
"Any more questions?" Luan Nian didn't acknowledge the awkwardness at all. It had nothing to do with him, and he felt no obligation to smooth it over for her, even though he'd caused it.
"I'd like a detailed breakdown of these projects. Not for the sake of sign-off, just because I don't understand any of it."
"I'll have my secretary send it to you later."
"And I'd also like to do the employee interview." Shang Zhitao could be clumsy, but she had one good quality: stubbornness. There were plenty of things that scared her before she started them, but once she began, she never wanted to quit halfway.
"Go ahead." Luan Nian kept the same posture, leaning forward with his legs apart, elbows on his knees, hands loosely clasped, as if he were genuinely interested in talking with her. She didn't realize at the time that it was simply a pose bosses used in the workplace, one meant to look approachable and kind. In truth, Luan Nian was already cursing her for being tedious.
"Why did you come to work at this company?"
"My father pulled some strings to get me in." Luan Nian was not a man who joked. Everything he said sounded true, this included.
The answer caught Shang Zhitao off guard. She studied his face, trying to tell whether he was serious or teasing, but couldn't.
"What do you think is great about Lingmei?"
"It pays well."
"That's true. Lingmei pays more than most companies." She nodded, in full agreement, since her own salary was already more than her qualifications warranted.
"Do you like this job?"
"No."
That stopped her cold. Again she tried to figure out whether he was mocking her or being sincere, but Luan Nian, when serious, wore a face like a dead man's. Trying to read the truth off a dead man's face? Not likely. She had no idea how to keep the interview going.
Luan Nian didn't rush her, though he did glance at his watch.
She caught the hint that he wanted her gone and asked quickly, "If you don't like it, why do you work here?"
"To make money and spend it."
"So could you give me some advice?"
"Are you sure you want it?" He raised an eyebrow at her.
"I'm sure." She nodded.
"Find your next job as fast as you can. Lingmei isn't the place for you." He paused, then said, seriously, "That's my advice."
Shang Zhitao didn't know what other people's senior colleagues usually said in these interviews, but the answer she'd gotten left her mortified. She couldn't claim she would definitely manage; she wasn't even sure she could. For now, all she felt was the sting of it. She pressed her lips together, her eyes turning slightly red, holding them shut tight so she wouldn't cry.
It would be years before Shang Zhitao understood that she and Luan Nian had been bound together from that very first meeting. He stood far above her and cared for nothing, while she followed his every step, always learning from him. What passed between them, the giving and the taking, the teaching and the learning, was never equal.
Her reaction didn't surprise Luan Nian at all. He had interviewed her remotely, and he'd decided to reject her application the moment she said hello. It wasn't that he acted on a whim; the advertising industry needed people who had seen something of the world and were willing to put themselves out there.
"Any other questions?" he asked again.
"Yes."
"Go on."
"Why do you think I'm not suited for this place?"
"Maybe because you're still asking why, even now." Luan Nian stood. "I'll have that demo list sent to you tomorrow."
Shang Zhitao gathered her things and her laptop. Feeling his eyes on her, she straightened her back with a touch of defiance, but her tone stayed polite. "All right. Thank you."
She didn't dare look at him directly. She could feel the words hanging in his gaze: you can't do it. It felt as though the moment he blinked, those three words would leap out and hover over her head for everyone to see. She forced herself to walk out of his office at a steady pace and returned to her desk. Lumi had already left, leaving a sticky note behind: "Go home early, there'll be plenty of overtime soon enough!"
Shang Zhitao wasn't going anywhere yet. She turned her computer back on to write up her interview feedback. She was honest, without a single lie in it, especially the line: "Luan Nian urged me to find another job as soon as possible, saying I wasn't cut out for this place." Once she'd written it, she was satisfied.
She wasn't speaking to power, and she had no idea that the interview record would be read not only by HR but by her direct supervisor, her mentor, and the interviewee himself. She only wanted to be honest. It was her first day at Lingmei, and she wasn't capable yet of writing something polished and diplomatic that didn't actually say anything.
Luan Nian was about to pack up and leave when a notification popped up on his system. He opened it to see what she had written.
She really had no sense at all.
Tracy's call came in almost immediately. "Did you really tell the new hire you work here just to make money and spend it?"
"What else would I tell her?"
"You're trying to talk a first day employee into quitting?"
"Mm-hm."
Tracy knew exactly what kind of person Luan Nian was, and she let out a sigh. "Do you know your promotion is about to come through?"
"Does it have anything to do with the fact that I can't stand her in an interview?"
"Not directly, but you need to respect diversity among your employees."
"Does respecting diversity in hiring have anything to do with the fact that I think she's no good?"
There was nothing left to say to that. Tracy went quiet, choked into silence by him, and after a beat of stillness she said, "If you weren't junior to me, I'd genuinely go to the board and have them push you out."
"Be my guest."
Luan Nian hung up and read back over the feedback Shang Zhitao had written. It left him thoroughly irritated with her.