Shang Zhitao pushed the door open, and even to herself, the motion felt a little forced. But once inside, she saw Luan Nian's expression light up as he spoke to someone on the phone. When he noticed her holding a folder, he pointed at the desk, signaling for her to set it down.
Her resolve wavered instantly, though her heart still hammered like a war drum. She had steeled herself for a fight that never came. Every stray thought showed plainly on her face, and Luan Nian thought there was no cure for someone that easy to read.
He gave her a brief smile, one that reached nowhere near sincerity, then raised a finger to his lips and made a shushing gesture.
Shang Zhitao, a little confused, walked over and set the folder down. She heard him murmur into the phone, "Let's have dinner together this weekend, then. You mentioned wanting to see a concert last time, so I found someone to get two tickets."
He held the phone in one hand and flipped open the folder with the other, starting from the first page.
A woman's clear, pretty laugh came through the line. "Am I getting special treatment from you?"
"It's my honor." Luan Nian kept talking to her while reading through the documents, paying no attention to Shang Zhitao standing there at all.
Shang Zhitao felt a flush of embarrassment. Last time it had been a breakup call, this time a date. It really was true that when it rained, it poured. She had only just said she wanted him replaced, and here she was walking straight into the line of fire. It seemed she had stumbled onto far too many of Luan Nian's secrets by accident, and if this kept up, he would never put up with her. So she reached out, waved her hand in front of him, and pointed toward the door, asking without words whether she could go.
Luan Nian glanced at her, indifferent, and said neither yes nor no. Shang Zhitao had no choice but to stand there and wait through his phone call. His fingers moved so slowly through the documents that the wait felt endless. She looked out the window. Across the way, half the lights in the office building had already gone dark. She checked her watch discreetly. The last bus had already left. Tonight, apparently, she would be making use of the company's taxi allowance.
"Then I'll pick you up tomorrow evening. I've already booked a restaurant, so we'll eat first." Luan Nian finally hung up and began reading through the project documents in earnest. He read without saying a word, which made Shang Zhitao's skin crawl.
But that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part was watching him take his time signing, as though he were seeing the document for the first time. Just as Shang Zhitao spotted the signature line on the last page and felt a flicker of relief, Luan Nian asked, "What's the total expenditure on this project?"
"Seven hundred forty thousand."
"To two decimal places."
Shang Zhitao froze. She had no idea about decimal places. She had only helped Lumi bring the folder over for Luan Nian's signature. Before walking in, she had glanced at the documents and the total, but hadn't bothered memorizing it down to the cents.
"Seven hundred forty-one thousand three hundred." Luan Nian settled back into his chair. "Next time you come to discuss work with someone, especially me, make sure you've gone over every detail first. Otherwise I'll have you replaced."
Next time? So he wasn't replacing her this time?
Shang Zhitao found herself thinking this man's temperament was genuinely bizarre. Hadn't he just typed the word "replace" on the office chat not long ago? Was someone else controlling his computer?
Every thought crossed her face plainly, and Luan Nian read them without effort. Hopeless. Had Zhang Ling and Tracy lost their minds, worried the team was moving too fast, that they'd saddled him with this kind of burden?
He signed his name with a flick of the pen and handed the folder back to her.
She took it and said, with great seriousness, "Please, then."
"Please what?"
"Please guide me through the finer points of these projects going forward."
...
It didn't surprise Luan Nian to hear her say something like that. This was, after all, the woman who had written in her interview notes that Luke had personally talked her into changing jobs. What wouldn't she do?
"I've saved your number under internal contacts. It's not in my phone yet, so I'm calling you now, please save it. I'll call if anything urgent comes up." Shang Zhitao got the whole thing out in one breath, pulled out her phone, and dialed Luan Nian. She'd worked it out. There was no reason to be afraid of him. Things were already this bad; the worst that could happen was that he'd fire her. What was there left to fear? Might as well start fresh.
She dialed and braced herself for him to mock her, but strangely enough, he picked up and asked, "How do you write your name?"
"Shang, as in noble. Zhitao, as in a young peach."
"English name?"
"Flora."
Luan Nian saved the number, then set the phone down on the desk. "florashang. Anything else?"
"Nothing. Have a good weekend."
Shang Zhitao took the folder and walked briskly out of Luan Nian's office. Back at her desk, she let out a breath. The first week of work was finally over. It had felt hard, and yet somehow not hard at all. She couldn't quite put a name to the feeling. She sat quietly at her desk for a while, sorting through the tangle in her head, then stood up and left the office.
She badly needed sleep. She had been running on nerves all week, and only now did the exhaustion catch up with her. She stood outside the company entrance trying to flag down a taxi, but after a long wait, none appeared. A drunk man across the street whistled at her, and it suddenly brought to mind a joke a coworker had told her on her first day, about how streetwalkers and their clients used whistles to signal each other. It left her a little unsettled.
Luan Nian happened to be driving by when he spotted the drunk man across the street and Shang Zhitao standing there shivering by the roadside, looking like some pitiful stray nobody wanted. He sighed, hit the brakes, backed up in front of her, rolled down the window, and asked, "Where are you headed?"
Shang Zhitao looked at him like he was her salvation. She would rather put up with Luan Nian's mockery than a drunk's harassment, so she pulled the door open and climbed in. "I can't get a taxi. Can you drop me somewhere busier?"
"Can you even manage that on your own?" Luan Nian shot back.
Shang Zhitao had no idea how hard it was to catch a cab on the streets of Beijing at midnight. She flushed. "Actually, I live a bit far, so sorry to trouble you."
"Sorry for getting in my car?" Luan Nian hated that kind of hollow politeness. What was there to apologize for?
Shang Zhitao genuinely wanted to hit him.
In her twenty two years, she had never met anyone this eccentric, and now, sitting in his car, she felt strangely small. Still, she smiled to herself despite it all. Ha. What a strange man.
"Where are you headed?" Luan Nian didn't bother with more small talk and asked her directly.
"North Fifth Ring Road. Thank you." A week of living with Lumi had already taught Shang Zhitao the finer points of Beijing slang.
Luan Nian stopped making conversation and started the car. A pleasant men's cologne filled the interior, crisp and clean, and it did wonders for Shang Zhitao's mood. She didn't know what to say to him, afraid that the wrong word might set him off. So she kept quiet and looked out the window. The noise of the city faded away, and even the night food stalls had gone still. After a while, Luan Nian spoke. "Do you know the way?"
"Huh?"
Luan Nian glanced at her, then simply pulled the car over. "Can you give directions or not?"
Shang Zhitao had only moved here a few days ago and had no sense of direction to begin with. His question left her at a loss. She looked out the window at the unfamiliar, half familiar street and shook her head blankly. "Sorry, I just moved here."
Luan Nian didn't seem surprised. He tapped the navigation screen. "Which complex?"
Shang Zhitao gave the name, and Luan Nian recognized it right away, known as it was as Beijing's bedroom community. Not too bright, either. If she hadn't factored in the cost of her commute, her salary should have been enough to afford somewhere closer to the office.
Fool.
He filed away another judgment of Shang Zhitao, started the car, and drove her to the entrance of her complex. Without another unnecessary word, he restarted the engine and drove off.
Shang Zhitao didn't even have time to thank him.
She went inside, washed up, and finally lay down in bed, but sleep wouldn't come. She held her phone for a long while, then decided a bit more courtesy was in order and sent Luan Nian a message: "Thank you, Luke."
Luan Nian didn't reply. Of course he wouldn't.
Luan Nian was the laziest person when it came to this sort of thing. He had no patience for tedious social gatherings or pointless exchanges. He handed out favors without expecting gratitude in return.
That was simply the kind of person he was.