Shang Zhitao's new company landed its first contract with Sun Yu's firm.
The client was holding a bidding event in Ice City to select a supplier, and Zhitao brought Fu Dong along with her.
Before they went in, Fu Dong asked, "Boss, we don't have anything. Just a two hundred square meter office and a PowerPoint deck. Can we really pull this off?"
"We can."
"We'll still have to cover the upfront costs ourselves."
"I have some savings." When she'd worked out the budget, she'd deliberately set aside money for exactly that. In the beginning they couldn't take on large contracts. A single big event could mean fronting over a million yuan, and she couldn't afford that kind of risk. If the cash flow ever broke, the company would be finished.
What was left from selling her stocks was enough to cover four small events for Sun Yu's company. After those four, the money would start flowing back in.
Zhitao had another sum of money too, but she would never touch it. She thought that someday, when the timing felt right, she should give it away.
The two of them arrived at the bidding venue. The other companies competing looked like they had money to burn. Fu Dong grew nervous for no reason, sweat beading on his forehead. "Boss, are we really going to be okay?"
"We'll be fine."
Zhitao walked Fu Dong through refining the proposal and negotiating the venue. He thought she was incredible, like she knew everything. This was how he described her to his classmates afterward.
"You guys have no idea what it's like working under someone who used to run things at a top global company. She's insanely good."
"There's nothing she doesn't know. Nothing throws her."
"You learn so much just being around her. She loves teaching me, walks me through everything from start to finish."
"Honestly, you think your companies could teach you any of this? Is there anyone more professional than my boss anywhere in Ice City?"
They won the bid. Zhitao's PowerPoint deck was practically her own resume, filled with the projects she'd led over the years. Fu Dong kept thinking to himself, this woman is something else.
The day they got word they'd won, Zhitao treated Fu Dong to a good meal, calling it a company bonding event. Right now their company was just the two of them, but they'd need to hire soon. They also needed a dependable execution company to handle the actual event logistics. That was when she thought of Xing Yi, who worked at the tourism bureau and would know plenty of reliable vendors.
Sure enough, Xing Yi came through. Within half an hour he'd brought the head of an execution company along, and the three of them shared a meal together. That was how Zhitao's company officially got off the ground.
After dinner, Xing Yi walked Zhitao home.
They walked side by side. By now they knew each other well. Xing Yi was the helpful type, and he'd pitched in plenty at the Old Couple Tavern. When Zhitao first came back to Ice City not knowing anyone, he'd helped her sort out no end of problems.
"Does your personality clash with working for the government?" Zhitao meant his love of basketball. Back in high school, no shortage of girls had watched him play.
"It's not too bad, actually. Except for having to drink at the occasional big banquet, which I don't love. Honestly, if I'm drinking, it's better with friends. Drinking with coworkers just isn't the same."
"Fair enough."
"What about you? Running a company must be exhausting. I can tell just looking at you, between the company and promoting the restaurant. Your marketing's been so good it's reached my coworkers. One of them held up his phone yesterday and asked if I'd eaten there. I thought, that's literally my own house."
Zhitao laughed at that, genuinely amused.
Seeing her laugh, Xing Yi grinned too.
She was starting to understand the hardship Sun Yu had gone through in her early years of running a business. There was so much to handle at once, client relations, proposals, pitches, execution, finances. She had to do it all herself. Fortunately Fu Dong picked things up fast, and after a few projects he could handle proposals and execution on his own. At year's end, Zhitao gave him a raise, a million yuan a month plus a year end bonus, and put him in charge of the new hires. When it came to managing people, Zhitao kept modeling herself after Tracy, studying her decisiveness and professionalism.
Business at the Old Couple Tavern kept getting better too. More and more people came to eat, lines formed in the evenings, and some customers started ordering takeout. Everything seemed to be heading in a good direction. Except her marriage prospects.
Neighbors gradually started gossiping about the Shang family's only daughter, saying she'd come back from Beijing with a large sum of money to start a company and buy a house and a car, and that she might have been some rich man's mistress there. Old Shang happened to overhear and got into a serious fight with that neighbor, and never spoke to them again afterward. Other neighbors whispered privately that the Shang family's daughter was already thirty and still unmarried, that she'd gotten a bit prettier these past couple of years, but her standards were probably too high, and she'd likely never marry at all. Some, meaning well, tried to set Zhitao up. Worried about putting her parents in an awkward position, she agreed to go on the blind dates. What started as once every six months turned into twice a month. She figured she'd developed something of an eye for men by now. A couple of decent ones came along, but once they heard she used to work in marketing in Beijing, and that she now socialized often for work, they'd tactfully suggest they weren't a good match.
Zhitao didn't mind either way. By the company's third year, the business had grown fairly stable. But she felt uneasy, sensing the business model was too narrow and too exposed to risk. As Luan Nian used to say, anyone who goes all in on a single project is a fool. Smart people know to spread their eggs across different baskets.
She looked into several other lines of business. One day she saw Zhang Lei post a photo in his social feed of himself speaking at an advertising agent conference, and it struck her that becoming an ad agency representative might not be a bad move. So she started seriously looking into it.
But becoming an ad rep required putting down a large security deposit, building a team, and raising substantial startup capital. She asked Zhang Lei for advice, and he told her, "I can act as your guarantor. That'll lower your deposit some, but building a team and renting office space still takes real money. You'd need at least one and a half million just to start."
Zhitao thought of the young employees under her who depended on her for their livelihoods, and felt torn. Three years in, they'd built a decent life working under her, but they all still wanted to push further.
Zhang Lei told her not to rush. "Policy is always shifting. The deposit isn't the real issue, the other funding is. If you can't manage it yet, start as a second tier agent."
"No. If I'm doing this, I'm doing it properly. But I can register a few accounts first and see how things look."
While Zhitao was still researching the ad agency market, Lu Mi called her. "My dear friend, I need a favor."
"What's going on?"
"My company's industry summit is next month, and it's set in your city. Our old supplier switched up their team, and the new one doesn't have any pull in Ice City. The proposal's been rejected three times already. At this rate we're going to run out of time."
"What do you need from me? A new proposal? Sure, I can do that."
"No, I need you to take the whole thing over."
"What about the process?"
"It'll go through special approval. Don't worry about that."
"Alright." After hanging up, Zhitao sent her a message. "What's the guest tier for this one?"
"Ling Mei is the department head, and the other attendees are client executives. All major accounts."
Hearing the attendee level, Zhitao was confident Luan Nian wouldn't be there, and took the job without hesitation.
It wasn't that she was afraid to see him. It was just that Luan Nian wasn't like Xin Zhaozhou. She and Xin Zhaozhou could still talk and get along fine after their breakup. If she ran into Luan Nian again, there was no telling how much venom she'd have to weather from him.
Her temper these days wouldn't let him hurt her without consequence, and if it came to that, things would get ugly fast.
She led her team through a new round of creative direction, scrapping the old plan of holding the meeting first and doing the excursion afterward, flipping it so the trip came first and the meeting in Ice City came second. She understood Ling Mei's sales strategy well enough. It all came down to building influence and locking in annual contracts. If that was the goal, it made more sense to let the clients enjoy themselves first, giving sales time to build real rapport and work their way in naturally, then hold the meeting afterward. The results would likely be far better that way.
This time of year, people came here for one thing: to see the snow. She checked in with Lu Mi a few more times to confirm what they actually needed, made small adjustments to the creative direction, and submitted it. Will presented the new version at the executive meeting, waiting for Luan Nian to make the final call.
"Same company as last time?"
"No, Lumi swapped in someone new at the last minute, there wasn't time to do otherwise."
"This version's much better. It clearly fits our goals more closely."
"So we go with this?"
"Yes." Luan Nian gave his approval, then turned to his secretary. "Help me clear my schedule for after New Year's. I'll be attending this event in full."
The room exchanged glances, the atmosphere suddenly tense.
Will stepped out of the meeting and stopped Lumi, who was trying to slip downstairs and duck out early. "Where are you headed?"
"To get coffee. Do you want one? I'll grab you a cup."
Lumi looked the picture of deference.
"Luke's decided last minute to attend the summit in person. Forget the coffee. Go hash out the proposal with the supplier." Will kept his usual stiff, serious expression.
Lumi's eyebrows shot up, looking like someone who'd just gotten away with something. "I've already put the proposal in someone else's hands. I don't think I've told you who got the special approval this time, have I? What a memory I have. Flora Shang."
Even after Zhitao had left the company, Lumi still talked about Flora constantly in front of Will, and Will still remembered the projects he'd worked with Zhitao on. He trusted her work, so he let Lumi go get her coffee after all.
The day Lumi arrived in Ice City, Zhitao naturally took her out to eat. When asked what she wanted, Lumi said she wanted Da Zhai's cooking. So they set the meal at the Old Couple Tavern.
"Can I bring my old sweetheart along?" Old Sweetheart was Lumi's latest nickname for Will. She told Zhitao her old sweetheart was getting on in years but still in decent health, and that she fed him well and doted on him, terrified his body might give out. She said whatever came to mind.
"Of course you can."
"Then it's settled."
A little while later, another message came from Lumi. "My old sweetheart wants to bring two more people along, that okay?"
"Sure, go on ahead without me. I still have some things to take care of here. Need to go over everything for the trip the day after tomorrow."
"No problem. I'm tight with our mom anyway, whether you show up or not doesn't really change much. See you later!"
Luan Nian looked at the location Will had sent him and frowned slightly.
His friend Song Qiuhan, beside him, asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Song Qiuhan was the investor Luan Nian had introduced to Sun Yu before. He'd come back to the country the year before to head up the domestic branch of an investment bank, young and already accomplished.
Neither man said much. They dropped their bags at the hotel and headed straight for the restaurant. Only once they reached the door did they realize it was a small local eatery.
Song Qiuhan said, "Your company's standard of hospitality could use some work."
Luan Nian glanced at him. "Funny, you never complained about the dive restaurants when you were eating with Lin Chun'er."
At the mention of Lin Chun'er's name, the corner of Song Qiuhan's mouth lifted. She was the one thing in the world he wouldn't trade for anything, and just hearing her name was enough to lift his mood.
They walked in and saw Lumi and Will already seated. Luan Nian made brief introductions, then fell quiet. Lumi had ordered six dishes, generous portions, every one of them delicious. She explained to Luan Nian, "Luke, it's not that the supplier's being cheap. This place is genuinely excellent. Family run, and the food's really good."
The four of them sitting together drew plenty of looks. The men were both put together and presentable, and the one woman at the table had a bit of a wild edge to her. All in all, an easy group to look at.
Lumi got up to help Da Zhai and, on her way, murmured to him, "See the one in the nice shirt? He used to be our big boss. Terrible temper."
Da Zhai nodded. "Looks like it, honestly. Sharp looking too. You can tell he's used to being in charge."
Lumi laughed and went back to the table.
When Da Zhai came out with the food, Luan Nian got up to take the dishes from her. "Thank you."
"No need to thank me. Come by more often."
"I will."
Once the drinking started, Lumi kept chattering on about nothing in particular, giving Luan Nian a headache. Then the bell over the tavern door rang, the door creaked open, and a rush of cold air swept in. Lumi shouted, "Shang Zhitao!" and rushed over to her.
Luan Nian turned and saw Zhitao for the first time in years. She looked like a single red plum tree standing alone across a thousand miles of snow, blooming entirely on her own terms.
Her eyes met his, then drifted away, unhurried and unbothered.
The past, wiped clean.