While Luan Nian was giving his interview, Shang Zhitao waited outside.
Lingmei paid well, so she made sure to take good care of the account. This job finished, then the new year could begin, and she wanted to enjoy her holiday without complications. She couldn't afford a single slip, so she stayed on her toes.
A reporter from the provincial station asked her, "How much longer before we can go in?" She glanced through the glass. Inside, Luan Nian leaned forward slightly as he talked, a sign, to anyone who knew him, that he was losing patience.
"Less than five minutes and this round will wrap up," she told them.
"You didn't even go check?" The reporter from the provincial station knew her well enough to notice she hadn't gone in to ask as she usually did, and raised an eyebrow.
"I took a look. It's about done."
She had arranged more interviews for Luan Nian than she could count, and she knew his moods better than anyone. Sure enough, three or four minutes later, Luan Nian clapped the man on the shoulder and walked him out along with Will and the others.
Shang Zhitao said to the reporters, "Go ahead."
Luan Nian's eyes swept over her, then he turned and went back inside. He stood facing the glass wall, where he could see her. She was on the phone the whole time, probably coordinating the next part of the schedule. Lumi walked over and stood in front of her. Shang Zhitao hung up and smiled at Lumi, handing her a coffee she'd bought ahead of time.
Luan Nian looked away and focused on the interview. By the time it ended he looked a little tired, and Fu Dong took him to the lounge to rest.
Luan Nian watched Fu Dong running back and forth, always busy, and asked him, "How long have you been at this company?"
"Mr. Luan, I've been here a little over three years."
"Not worried about it going under?"
"That won't happen. If our boss's company went under, nobody else's would be doing well either."
Your boss isn't a god, Luan Nian thought, and made to stand up. Fu Dong said quickly, "Sit, sit. Would you like coffee? Sister Lumi told us, Americano. We've already got it ready." He ran out and came back with the coffee, setting it in front of Luan Nian, then added, "Sister Lumi said you like iced coffee best, but it's too cold here in winter, drinking it iced could really do you in. Hot's better."
Luan Nian frowned. "Who trained you people on hospitality?"
"Our boss trained us. She said as long as we're not sleeping with the clients, anything else goes."
"Sleeping with clients is the line?" Luan Nian asked him.
"Heh heh." Fu Dong had a loose mouth, and it was just something he'd tossed out without thinking. Shang Zhitao had never trained them on anything like that. All she asked was that they learn to read the room.
Fu Dong laughed again. "You rest a while, I won't bother you." And he was gone, quick as the wind.
"I want iced Americano," Luan Nian said suddenly.
"That's..." Fu Dong looked troubled. There was no iced Americano anywhere near the venue, not unless they dug ice out of the ground for him. He didn't dare say that, though. "Mr. Luan, hold on, we'll go check."
He went out to find Shang Zhitao. "Mr. Luan wants iced Americano."
Lumi, standing beside her, went wide-eyed. "A man his age, drinking iced coffee? Isn't that bad for his prostate?"
Shang Zhitao burst out laughing. "Impossible to please. There's no iced Americano anywhere around here."
"So what do we do? He was dead serious when he asked. I didn't dare tell him no. I'm afraid he won't settle the bill with us." Fu Dong had been around Shang Zhitao long enough that money was all he thought about. No business could survive without getting paid.
"You go!" Lumi shoved Shang Zhitao. "We're doing this for his sake."
"I'm not going." Shang Zhitao took a bite of the reception dessert. "He can pay or not pay, and if he doesn't, I'll sue the lot of you."
She turned and walked off.
She didn't want to deal with him. She and Luan Nian had been together six years, and after leaving him she'd had time to think things through, slowly working out which of his moods were bluster and which were him playing hard to get. That was just how he was. He liked to control people. When someone bowed their head, he was satisfied.
Too bad Shang Zhitao no longer bowed her head to anyone.
Luan Nian sat in the lounge for a long time. No iced Americano came, and neither did Shang Zhitao. She had left him hanging.
Luan Nian more or less understood what she meant by it: I'll take the money you're paying me, but I won't wait on you. She'd spent years scraping her way up on her own, and in the process she'd worn herself a temper and a backbone.
By the time of the evening banquet, Jiang Lan arrived late. She passed by Shang Zhitao, who was overseeing the food service, slowed her steps, then turned back. She pointed at her, tapped her own head, trying hard to place the name.
"Mr. Jiang, long time no see. I'm Flora Shang."
"Oh, oh, oh!" Jiang Lan said "oh" three times in a row. "You're back with Lingmei?"
"No. I've opened an event company in Ice City." Shang Zhitao took a business card from her pocket and offered it with both hands. Jiang Lan took it, read it carefully, tucked it into her bag, and murmured, "Not bad." She gave Shang Zhitao a long look, then walked away.
Jiang Lan sat down beside Luan Nian and asked him, "Guess who I just saw?" As she spoke she slid Shang Zhitao's card across to him, watching him with obvious interest, and leaned in to say, "I think I understand now why you suddenly came back."
Before Luan Nian could respond, she turned to Song Qiuhan. "Mr. Song, you turned down my dinner invitation last time. Let's have a couple of drinks tonight and make up for it."
"All right."
The guests at the banquet were all Lingmei's top clients. Once the meal was under way, Shang Zhitao gave Fu Dong a few last instructions and left the venue. She had a blind date that night.
The date was at a Sichuan restaurant. When she arrived, the young man was already seated.
The matchmaker had said he looked sharp, and it was no exaggeration. Thick brows, big eyes, a decent-looking man.
He was talkative, so much so that Shang Zhitao barely needed to say a word. He could keep himself going on his own, which she found rather entertaining.
Eventually the conversation turned to work, and he grew curious about hers. "So you're always running between different hotels?"
"Venues," she corrected him.
"Same thing. Doesn't that mean you're on good terms with a lot of hotels? Can you get discounted rooms?"
"...I can. Or no charge at all, sometimes."
"That's great."
Shang Zhitao had gone on enough blind dates to feel numb to them. She chatted with him a while longer, then made an excuse about having to work overtime and left, having barely touched her food.
Lumi called her. "How'd the date go?"
"Same as always. Going through the motions."
"That good?" Lumi acted as if she hadn't heard right. "That good means it's a match?" As she talked she watched Luan Nian in the rearview mirror. He sat expressionless, not moving at all. Lumi felt like maybe she was overstepping. Maybe she really was. But she couldn't let it go, and kept wanting to try.
The next morning she called Shang Zhitao early. "Have you set off yet?"
"Not yet. Fu Dong and the others went ahead."
"Perfect. Are you driving?"
"Yes."
"I forgot to put Luke on the roster. Can you take him with you?"
"I'll find another car."
Shang Zhitao hung up and went looking for a car. In this season, finding a car for a long drive in Ice City was next to impossible. She made a dozen calls and got nowhere. Lumi pushed her again. "Hurry up, the stubborn mule already asked. If he finds out I didn't arrange it, my year-end bonus is toast."
"Fine."
Shang Zhitao drove to Luan Nian's hotel and called him. "I'll come pick you up and take you to the venue."
"Nobody else at your company?"
"Would you rather join remotely?" Shang Zhitao had little patience left for Luan Nian. If he wasn't going to talk properly, she wasn't going to bother either. She'd come to detest people who couldn't just speak like normal human beings.
She heard his breathing on the phone and knew he was annoyed again. She said nothing and waited for him to make a move. After a long pause, Luan Nian said, "Wait for me at the hotel entrance."
Shang Zhitao had stayed up most of the night before and now wore thick framed glasses, dark circles under her eyes. Her hair was loose around her neck, giving her a lazy, unkempt look. She didn't get out to open the car door for him. It was too cold, and it was snowing. If they didn't leave soon the highway would close, and there was no telling what time they'd reach the venue.
Shang Zhitao had picked up a new car just the week before. Business had been good, and sometimes meeting clients called for putting up a good front. She couldn't afford anything too expensive, so she'd made the down payment on this one, worth under seven hundred thousand yuan. Luan Nian got in, buckled his seatbelt, and said flatly, "Bought with money from selling handbags?"
Shang Zhitao glanced at him and smiled. "Bought with money from selling myself."
They both knew exactly what the other meant by it. Shang Zhitao felt nothing. Luan Nian felt like something had struck him hard in the chest.
Cold, that was cold.
With no one else around, there was no need to keep up appearances. Shang Zhitao said nothing more and started driving.
Luan Nian meant to nap in the car, but Shang Zhitao put on loud music, something about the east being dark and the west being bright, and a wailing suona line about fate. The noise gave him a headache. He frowned at her, and an hour into the drive he finally spoke. "This is your taste in music?"
"Folk music is world music," she said loudly, and kept her eyes on the road.
She'd worked a long night shift the day before, and if she didn't listen to something like this she'd start dozing off. Even so, she was still a little drowsy, and her foot drifted off the gas pedal for a second. She heard Luan Nian ask, "How are you driving?"
Shang Zhitao pulled into the emergency lane. Outside, the snow was coming down harder, and a traffic jam was inevitable. She said to Luan Nian, "Can you drive for a bit? I worked too late yesterday, I can't keep going."
"Get out."
They both got out, crossing paths in the wind and snow to switch seats. Shang Zhitao sat down in the passenger seat and couldn't keep her eyes open, leaning back and falling asleep. Luan Nian was finally able to turn off the blaring music and drive in peace.
Three hours passed, and progress was slow. Traffic gradually came to a stop. Someone tried to cut in, and Luan Nian wasn't willing to let them. The car managed to wedge half its front end in anyway, so Luan Nian tapped the gas, just enough force to knock against it, just right, so that both cars stalled without denting. Shang Zhitao woke with a start, saw the two cars had collided, wrapped her down jacket tighter, and got out.
Luan Nian got out too. The other driver, a big man, asked him, "How are you driving?"
"So cutting in gives you the right of way?" Luan Nian had a hard edge to him. If you weren't going to speak properly, fine, he'd never been one for pleasantries either. He said to Shang Zhitao, "Get back in the car."
Shang Zhitao, freezing, glared at him, swallowed her anger, and got in. It was the car she'd just picked up, and right then she could have killed Luan Nian.
Outside, Luan Nian said something to the man that she couldn't hear. His eyes narrowed and he pulled out his phone to take photos, threatening to call the police, and the man stopped him, looking suddenly uneasy. The two exchanged WeChat on the spot, the man transferred money, and it was settled privately. Shang Zhitao guessed Luan Nian had caught the man doing something he shouldn't have, otherwise things would never have gone that smoothly.
Luan Nian got back in and shut the door, only to hear Shang Zhitao say angrily, "How were you driving! Why'd you let him cut in!"
"I just picked up this car last week!"
"You're paying me for this! Why did that man transfer money to you when he hit my car?"
She was furious, going on and on, firing off complaints like a machine gun. Luan Nian let her go on for a while, and when she paused to drink water, he asked, "You've never hit my car before, have you?"
Shang Zhitao fell silent, guilty, and leaned back against her seat without a word. Luan Nian glanced at her. "How am I supposed to pay you?"
"Forget it, never mind. Or just transfer it to my bank card." Shang Zhitao took out her phone, typed her account number into a text message, and sent it to him.
She looked out the window, pretending not to understand what he meant. She wasn't a twenty-two-year-old girl anymore, someone who'd exchange contact information for money and then walk step by step into his trap. Back then he'd moved with such calculation, and she'd understood nothing, so that it had looked like she was always the one taking the initiative, when really she'd simply walked straight into his scheme. A crafty old fox.
Neither of them spoke. When they stopped at a rest area, Luan Nian made a report call. "Yes, a car with fake plates." He went on to give a detailed description of the vehicle's direction and location, then logged onto a platform and uploaded the photos. Shang Zhitao wasn't surprised in the least. That was just who he was, the type who never let a slight go unanswered. She shot him a sidelong look and quietly drank her warm water.
When the water was gone, Fu Dong called. "Boss, we're here. The hotel's giving us trouble, says they want to raise the price?"
"We've worked with them plenty of times and now they want a last-minute price hike?"
"Yeah. Said it's peak season."
"Bullshit."
"Should we have your brother-in-law say a word?" Fu Dong asked.
At the words brother-in-law, Luan Nian's hand paused over his phone.
Shang Zhitao called Xing Yi. "The hotel's giving us trouble. Are you going to handle it?"
Xing Yi's laugh came through the car speakers. "No need to get worked up over something this small. I'll make a call."
"Fine. What if they go back on their word again?"
"They won't dare. I've got it. Don't worry."
"Okay." Shang Zhitao said.
"Where are you now?" Xing Yi asked her.
"About fifty kilometers out."
"Drive safe. Let me know when you get there."
"Will do. Bye."
Shang Zhitao hung up, and the car went strangely quiet.
Luan Nian had thought before that with a personality like hers, Shang Zhitao could probably make friends anywhere she went, men and women both, and that there would be men who liked her, that she might date someone once or twice. He'd thought about all of it. But it left him uneasy all the same.
They didn't speak again for the rest of the drive.
When they arrived, Luan Nian got out, took his room key, and checked in without a word, his face dark.
Lumi was there going over the next day's meeting schedule with Fu Dong. Seeing Luan Nian's expression, she asked Shang Zhitao, "What's wrong? Did you upset Luke?"
Shang Zhitao shrugged. "No idea. I didn't do anything to him."
Whenever friends and family tried to set Shang Zhitao up with someone, they'd first ask her, "What kind of man do you like?"
After serious thought, Shang Zhitao would tell almost every well-meaning matchmaker, "I want someone with a good temper, who knows how to talk, who'll spoil me."
"Anything else? No requirements on height, looks, income?"
"Nothing else."
Her friends and family took her requirements to heart, and every man they introduced her to turned out to be smooth-talking. Whatever else they were like, they always knew exactly what to say.
Her aunt Da Zhai couldn't make sense of it, and once asked her, "That's not much of a specific requirement. Some men talk a good game but don't follow through. Why do you have this strange rule about wanting a man who can talk?"
"Mom, you don't understand. Sometimes words are a knife. Stuck in the heart, they really hurt."
"Well, I wouldn't know about that. Your father's always spoken to me properly."
Lumi, checking the schedule in front of her, said to Shang Zhitao, "Friend, am I seeing this right? You're the trilingual host?"
"What's wrong with that? Hiring one on the market costs a fortune. I'll do it myself and save us some money."
In the years since starting her company, Shang Zhitao had saved everywhere she could, taking things on herself whenever possible. There had been times the company fronted large sums, and other times she'd take on a small event for just ten or twenty thousand yuan. She kept careful track of every cent.
Now past thirty, she seemed to have gained a certain clarity about things. She was still kind to everyone, and people always said, "Ms. Shang carries herself well."
Fu Dong, used to seeing Shang Zhitao's good temper, muttered to a colleague, "I don't know why, but the boss is so harsh with Mr. Luan."
"The boss is never harsh with anyone."
"I'm not lying to you."