Shang Zhitao thought heaven had truly favored Luan Nian. Even time could do nothing to him.
He seemed to have not changed at all. Still the same cold, aloof man, with eyes so deep and dark they were almost frightening to meet.
She walked to the table and took off her down jacket, revealing a black sweater underneath. It was as if she and Luan Nian had planned beforehand to wear matching outfits.
Luan Nian remembered her saying that what existed between them was filthy, ugly, disgusting. He remembered her selling off every gift he had given her at a discount. He remembered how she had left without a word. His expression was not pleasant.
Shang Zhitao sat down and rinsed her cup with hot water.
Will spoke up at the right moment. "Zhitao used to work at Lingmei. She's close with our Lumi."
"Mr. Luan probably doesn't remember me. I worked at Lingmei for six years," Shang Zhitao said, burying everything that had happened between them without a trace.
"No, I don't recall," Luan Nian said. His eyes swept over her, and he said nothing more.
Lumi couldn't hold back a laugh. Everyone at the table looked at her, unsure what had amused her. She was laughing at Luan Nian for putting on airs. She cleared her throat and said to Shang Zhitao, "Now that you're registered as a Lingmei supplier, you'll be dealing with Mr. Luan often. Oh, at Lingmei we go by English names. You remember Mr. Luan's English name, don't you? Luke."
"I remember."
"Then let's toast Luke!"
Shang Zhitao poured herself a glass of baijiu and raised it respectfully. "Thank you, Lumi and Luke, for taking care of our small company. I hope for your continued support going forward. I'll finish this glass. Please, everyone, drink as you like."
She drained the glass. Across the table, Song Qiuhan kept his phone in hand, a smile on his lips, looking pleased with himself.
Song Qiuhan was giving a live broadcast in the brothers' group chat. "Luan Nian ran into a disconnected number. So this is the type of girl he likes." He sent along a photo of Shang Zhitao. For years the group had wondered about Luan Nian. A man like him, without a single woman by his side, living like a monk waiting to grow old. They also remembered the year he had stood everyone up to go to Tibet with a woman, promising to bring her around to meet them once he got back. After that, there had been no news at all.
"Pretty hot," Chen Kuannian and Tan Mian said.
"I don't quite agree with that," Song Qiuhan said, setting the record straight for Shang Zhitao. "I'm sitting right across from her. She sits properly, speaks gently and politely, clearly well brought up. Mr. Luan has good taste. 'Hot' doesn't quite describe her. She's actually very clear and unclouded."
Luan Nian had no idea what Song Qiuhan and the others were saying. He watched Shang Zhitao drink down that glass without hesitation, and something in his chest tightened, ached. Life wears people down. It changes them. He still remembered telling her once, "If you can't drink, don't take even one sip. Don't start that habit."
She had said, "Okay."
"Zhitao, is everything arranged for tomorrow's negotiation?" Lumi asked her.
"It's all arranged. I've also invited some local media, as a complimentary service from our company. The day after tomorrow's schedule is set too. We'll go over everything again tomorrow night," Shang Zhitao answered.
"Good, that's settled then. No more work talk, let's chat about something else!" Lumi brought up old memories with Shang Zhitao, recalling the time her car had broken down in the middle of nowhere during her first shoot.
"Do you remember calling me with your voice shaking? You were scared to death," Lumi said, laughing.
What the story left out was that Luan Nian had called her afterward and told her she had been brave.
"I remember! I was way too timid back then!" Shang Zhitao and Lumi drank together cheerfully. She took a bite of a dish and found it had gone cold, so she called out, "Boss! This dish needs reheating!"
Da Zhai heard the call and came over to take the dish away, swatting Zhitao on the head. "You little brat! Drink less!"
Shang Zhitao ducked her head and whined, "Mom! There are so many bosses and friends here!"
"Good hit!" Lumi said, nodding in approval of Da Zhai. Then she said to Luan Nian, "This place belongs to Flora. The woman who just came by is Flora's mother. It's one of the hottest restaurants in Bingcheng. Don't let the small storefront fool you, it's got quite a reputation. Flora is this," and Lumi held up her thumb.
Luan Nian's expression stayed flat. He touched neither his chopsticks nor his drink. But when Da Zhai came by with a dish and smiled at him, he managed to pull together a smile of his own.
Lumi raised an eyebrow where no one could see, thinking, go on, be even more stubborn. Don't go smiling at someone's mother.
As Luan Nian listened to Shang Zhitao tell Lumi about the hardships of starting her business these past few years, and heard her mention the time she had drunk too much and ended up on an IV drip, he finished the glass in his hand and stood to put on his coat. He asked Song Qiuhan beside him, "Are we going for round two?"
"What round two?" Song Qiuhan undercut him. He hadn't had enough of the show yet. The two of them sat at the same table without once looking at each other. When they had to, it was only a quick glance, as if the other were some kind of monster, or as if there were some deep grudge between them.
There was something in it that gave away more than it concealed.
"A strip show. Aren't you coming?"
"I'm coming," Song Qiuhan said, standing up. He smiled at the other three. "See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
As Luan Nian and Song Qiuhan headed out, Shang Zhitao glanced their way, thinking the doorway of her bar really was built too low. Then she turned back to talk and drink with Lumi.
Outside, Song Qiuhan caught up with Luan Nian and asked, "So where are we going to see this strip show?"
Luan Nian glanced at him and said nothing.
"Not going to see it, then?" Song Qiuhan asked again.
"Did you clear it with Lin Chun'er?"
"She wouldn't care. She'd probably enjoy it more than I would," Song Qiuhan said, teasing him on purpose. "I suppose that's what trust between people in love looks like."
"Let's go. Back to the hotel. I have a headache."
Luan Nian looked back once more at Shang Zhitao's little bar. She had decorated it with real warmth and life. Red lanterns hung at the door, set off by the white snow. Beyond the latticed floor to ceiling windows lay the cold of winter, and inside, a world full of steam and warmth. Real care had gone into it.
Back then, at his place, she had used every trick she could think of to get him to cook for her. She used to say she wanted everything handed to her, clothes and food alike, without lifting a finger. Whatever she did, she took seriously, except cooking. If he ever let her boil noodles, she could turn the kitchen into a battlefield. And yet this same woman had opened a small bar, with her mother personally overseeing the kitchen. From now on she would never need a man who could cook. The best food was right beside her, right under her nose.
"She said something about drinking too much at a business dinner and ending up on an IV, and you got up and walked off. Did that get to you?" Song Qiuhan asked.
Luan Nian pressed his lips together and said nothing. It was not just that it had gotten to him. He was also angry. He had told her more times than he could count, don't drink if you can't handle it, you could do business without drinking. She just never listened.
"What does that have to do with me?" Luan Nian asked.
Song Qiuhan thought Luan Nian was truly a fool. When something got to him, he simply got up and walked away, and to anyone watching it looked like he had no interest in the topic, or maybe even that he was looking down on someone. After so many years of friendship, Song Qiuhan understood him, but not everyone could. To most people, he was just a man with a sharp tongue and a cold heart.
Song Qiuhan thought Luan Nian simply didn't understand. Truthfully, he hadn't understood either, not until he and Lin Chun'er found each other again and he slowly learned that love had to be spoken plainly. It was something everyone had to learn.
"Is Shang Zhitao married?" Song Qiuhan suddenly asked. He had changed a little since falling in love, probably picked up bad habits from Lin Chun'er, always liking to twist the knife.
Luan Nian shot him a look. "None of your damn business."
After a moment he added, "And none of mine, either."
Song Qiuhan gave a dry laugh, and the two of them went back to their own rooms.
Luan Nian went to the gym for weights and cardio. By the time he got back to his room it was already deep into the night. He had several missed calls on his phone, all from Bingcheng numbers. He picked one to call back. A man's voice answered. "Hello, is this Mr. Luan?"
"Yes."
"Hello, Mr. Luan. I'm Fu Dong from the company handling event execution. I'd like to arrange a time for tomorrow's meeting. What time works for you?"
"Ten."
"Understood. We'll pick you up at ten then. Good night."
"Thank you."
The people Shang Zhitao trained were polite, clear in how they spoke. She had run her project team in the northwest the same way, and everyone under her had taken after her, modest, courteous, capable. Luan Nian had thought then that she had a gift for leading a team, and had even considered giving her a small department to run. The timing had simply never been right.
Luan Nian hung up and called back the other missed number. It rang a few times before a somewhat groggy voice picked up. "Hello." It sounded as though the person was standing out in the wind and snow, and the voice cut straight through him. It had been more than three years since they had last spoken.
Luan Nian pulled the phone back and glanced at the number. Then he said one word. "Talk."
"Mr. Luan."
"We don't use titles like that at Lingmei," Luan Nian said.
"Luke," Shang Zhitao said, cursing him silently. Smart mouth!
"And you don't work at Lingmei either," Luan Nian added.
Shang Zhitao, half sober now, thought that if his company hadn't still owed her money, she wouldn't bother dealing with him at all.
"Then what should I call you?" Shang Zhitao asked him.
"My name is Luan Nian."
"But I don't think we know each other well enough for me to call you by your given name."
This was the first time Shang Zhitao had ever gone toe to toe with Luan Nian, and she suddenly realized how satisfying it felt to argue with him. No wonder he picked fights with people all the time for no reason.
"If you have something to say, say it."
"Fu Dong from our company couldn't reach you earlier. He wanted to arrange a time to pick you up tomorrow."
"Already taken care of."
"Alright. I won't take up more of your time." Before Shang Zhitao hung up, she heard Luan Nian say, "Next time, call me when you're sober."
She ignored him and hung up without another word.
Luke sat beside her watching, and gave a bark. Shang Zhitao tightened the drawstring of her hat and said to him, "Aren't you going to go pee?"
To Shang Zhitao, drinking came in two kinds. One was with people she liked, Lumi, Sun Yu, He Yun. The other was for business. Running an events company was exhausting work. Every day was a scramble, and sometimes she had to move things herself. Once, when a booth wasn't built right, she had climbed up the scaffolding herself, and only once she was back down did she realize her legs were shaking. She told herself never to do that again. She only hired young men, because young women couldn't take that kind of hardship, and she couldn't bear to put them through it. Beyond the physical exhaustion, the most draining part of all was the business dinners.
Shang Zhitao hated them. She would rather curl up in bed doing nothing. But since coming back to Bingcheng to start her company, she had needed to build every connection from scratch, and the dinner table had become the best place to do it.
Tonight's drinking had made her happy, because Lumi, whom she loved dearly, was there. After Luan Nian left, the two of them talked about old times for a long while, while Will sat nearby frowning, looking like he might snatch Lumi's glass away at any moment.
While Will was in the bathroom, Lumi whispered to her, "My old sweetheart doesn't like me drinking. I don't care what he thinks."
"But you're clearly scared of him."
"Nonsense! I've never been scared of anyone!"
Shang Zhitao was happy for Lumi. She and Will were clearly in love. Even with Luan Nian there, Will hadn't kept his distance at all.
Luke finished peeing and ran back, tilting his head up to look at her.
"What are you looking at?"
Luke barked once. "Who was that on the phone just now!"
"Someone you don't know."
Woof! "Liar!"
Shang Zhitao kept bickering with Luke as she went inside. She changed and lay down on the bed. The moment she lay down, the alcohol caught up with her, and she drifted into a heavy, hazy sleep. Luke jumped onto the bed and barked at her, unusually restless.
Shang Zhitao sat up, annoyed, and glared at him. "Luke! Stop barking!"
Luke jumped off the bed and lay there, looking pitiful.
Shang Zhitao said to him, "Listen to me. I'm not letting you see him again. Don't think that throwing a fit will make me give in. You finally managed to let go of it, so don't pick it back up. Dogs don't get to backtrack."
When Luke had first come back to Bingcheng, he had acted as though he were sick, sitting by the window every day staring out at nothing. Sometimes Shang Zhitao would call his name several times before he even reacted.
Old Shang had said, "Is Luke sick or something?"
Shang Zhitao never answered.
She knew dogs were like people. At first it was hard to get used to leaving someone behind, but it got better in time.
Wasn't he better now?