Shang Zhitao dragged her suitcase out of the airport.
Suzhou's June was deep in the plum rain season, drizzling and damp, and even so she was already filmed with a thin layer of sweat. She got into a taxi and called Alex. "Boss, I've landed. I'm heading to the hotel to check in, then straight to the venue."
"You've been working hard, Flora. Luke and the planning department are on your next flight. The main group arrives tomorrow morning."
"The pickup cars for the executives are all arranged, don't worry about that. I'll report anything else once I've seen the site." Shang Zhitao was still prone to sweating easily, and she pulled out a tissue to wipe the fine beads from her forehead.
"How does it feel, your first solo business trip?" Alex asked her suddenly.
Shang Zhitao thought about it seriously. "Honestly, I'm pretty nervous."
"Nothing to be nervous about. Tell me right away if you run into trouble."
"Okay, thank you, boss."
Shang Zhitao hung up and opened her laptop in the taxi. Suzhou had its own charm this time of year, but she had no attention to spare for it. The day after tomorrow was the company's East China regional roadshow, and this year they had given up Shanghai, which they used every year, in favor of Suzhou. She looked over the entire venue plan, then called the event company. "Hello, how's it looking at the site?"
"We start setup this afternoon. Right now we're doing inventory on the materials."
"Okay, I'll drop my bags at the hotel first, then come find you."
The driver watched her in the rearview mirror and finally couldn't hold back. "Such a young girl, already working?"
"I'm twenty-three!"
"You look about seventeen or eighteen."
Shang Zhitao flushed a little at that, sneaking a look at her faint reflection in the car window and thinking she really should start wearing makeup, or people would keep assuming she was younger than she was. She needed to look more mature.
Lumei had chosen a site by Lake Tai this time, because this year they were launching a China style initiative, localizing international brands and building traditional cultural identity for domestic ones, which was a fairly new topic at the time. Luan Nian had said that since they were doing this, the four regions should each be matched to the theme: East China in Suzhou, North China in Xi'an, South China in Fuzhou, Central China in Luoyang. The other regions were large in scale, but East China alone was inviting S-tier clients, small in scale but high in budget. Alex had thought it over for a long time and decided to put Shang Zhitao in charge of East China.
Small scale, but the first stop, and all S-tier clients. That made Shang Zhitao a little nervous. She had quietly asked Alex why he was handing over such an important task to her.
Alex said, "Who else would I give it to?"
Shang Zhitao couldn't quite work out what that meant, but Lumi could, and asked her, "Aren't you due for a promotion review? You can't get promoted without a project behind you. Just being diligent isn't enough. Lumei is very practical about this. When leadership hands you an opportunity, you take it, that's how you play the game. Treat Alex to a meal sometime."
Shang Zhitao treasured this chance.
After checking into the hotel she took a taxi to the venue, checking all the pickup vehicle and guest information on the way. At the front desk, gathering with the event company staff, she saw Luan Nian checking in. Of everyone at Lumei, only Luan Nian was staying at the conference hotel, because after the event he still had interviews and one on one meetings with several S-tier clients, so they had simply booked him a room here.
Luan Nian put away his ID and turned to see Shang Zhitao, and the fine sweat on her forehead, thinking, why do you sweat so easily?
"Hello, Luke." Shang Zhitao greeted him, then introduced him to the event company staff. "This is Director Wang from the event company, and this is our boss, Luke."
"Please rest first. We've booked a private room here tonight, we'd like to treat you and Flora to a simple dinner." The company that had won this project was a new supplier this year, not a large firm, but conscientious in execution. The owner had come in person to oversee things, sincere in manner.
"Thank you, but the company has an internal meeting a bit later, so I'll have to pass. I appreciate the thought." Luan Nian smiled at Director Wang, then asked Shang Zhitao, "How's progress?"
"Materials are all accounted for, setup starts shortly, and we can rehearse after three tomorrow afternoon. Client reception is arranged as well." Shang Zhitao gave the key information concisely. She understood Luan Nian well by now and knew what he cared about.
"When does Alex arrive?" Luan Nian asked next.
"Tomorrow, with the main group."
Seeing Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao discussing work, the supplier said, "Flora, I'll wait for you over there. Once the two of you finish, just come find us at the venue." The supplier's courtesy had been cultivated through years of serving clients, and even Shang Zhitao became a "you" of the polite form in his mouth.
"It's fine, go ahead and get started. Once you're done, Flora will go over the overall process with you again, and we'll loop Alex in online."
"Understood."
There was nothing left to go over in the overall process, they'd been through it eight hundred times already. Shang Zhitao found it a bit puzzling, but she turned and headed for the venue. The moment she stepped through the door, she got a message from Luan Nian: "11188, my room number."
Shang Zhitao's face went red at once. She wrote back: "I'm not coming."
"?"
"What if someone sees, it wouldn't look good."
"? What are you thinking? It's a meeting." Luan Nian snorted coldly, able to see straight through whatever was running through Shang Zhitao's head.
"Oh."
Shang Zhitao felt she'd been played by Luan Nian again. They hadn't seen each other in over a month, and she had assumed he meant something else entirely. Any adult, seeing a room number sent their way, would think the same thing.
She stayed at the venue for nearly three hours, sorting out every detail with the event company, before she finally took her laptop to Luan Nian's room. Standing outside his door, she suddenly remembered standing outside his room in Guangzhou that time, and all the chaotic thoughts that had filled her head then, and her face went red again. It was strange. By rights they should be plenty familiar with each other by now, at least in bed, but standing outside his door today, she still blushed.
Blushing, and nervous. The small drum in her chest was pounding. She let out a long breath before reaching out to press the doorbell. Luan Nian, still on the phone, came to open the door, saw it was her, stepped aside to let her in, and said into the phone, "Alex, Flora's here with me now. We'll join the other call together in a bit."
Shang Zhitao thought Luan Nian was remarkably unbothered about it, and felt a swell of admiration for him. She looked up at him, only to see him raise an eyebrow at her, a little wicked. Her face went red again, and she sat down in the chair across from his hotel desk. Luan Nian noticed the fine sweat on her forehead, opened the mini fridge, took out a small can of cola, popped the tab with one hand, and set it in front of her. Then his fingers pinched her earlobe. Luan Nian liked Shang Zhitao's earlobes, soft and full, always the first to turn red when she was shy.
Shang Zhitao didn't dare move, afraid of disrupting his call.
Luan Nian was a little distracted. He had been too busy this past month, only stopping by the office for half a day. On a few nights he hadn't been able to sleep, lying in the dark thinking about Shang Zhitao's lovely body.
Shang Zhitao didn't dare breathe too loudly, and finally couldn't help swatting his hand, glaring at him to make him behave.
Luan Nian was in a good mood. He pinched her cheek with one hand, pursing her lips into an O shape, then sat back down across from her. This meeting dragged on. Luan Nian tossed her the menu and had her handle dinner. Shang Zhitao stepped out to call the front desk and ordered dinner for two. When she came back in, Luan Nian had already hung up and was standing by the window, watching her.
Her legs suddenly went a little weak, a tingling sensation curling up from her knees. The room was dim, she couldn't make out his expression clearly, but she could see the straight, green bamboo scenery through the window behind him.
She pressed her lips together, and that same nervous, flustered feeling from the first time at his place wrapped around her again.
"Flora." Luan Nian called to her.
"Hm?"
"Meeting time."
It really was just a meeting. But the charge between them from a moment ago hadn't dissipated, and Shang Zhitao, sitting across from him, felt utterly foolish for having fallen so hard under his spell.
She sat in on the meeting across from him, not daring to look at him. His gaze seemed like it might swallow her whole. When it was Alex's turn to report on progress for the day after tomorrow's event, Luan Nian sat across from her, watching her speak intently.
Shang Zhitao had changed. She no longer reported in a few careless sentences like before. She understood well what the leadership cared about, hitting every key point, concise and to the point. Except for her still-red face.
The doorbell rang, dinner had arrived, and Alex was the one to call for a break. "It's past seven, everyone must be a little hungry. Forty minutes to eat first?"
"Sure."
Shang Zhitao got up to clear the table. Luan Nian watched her. Between grown adults, there was no need to pretend too much, and they both knew exactly what they wanted most right now. The bed was soft, and in the heat of the moment Shang Zhitao called out his name in urgency. "Luan Nian!"
He rarely heard her use his full name like that. He stopped and looked at her, brushing the loose strands of hair from her face. "What is it, Flora?"
"The event company might come looking for me..."
"Mm..." Luan Nian pressed his lips behind her ear, then asked her, "Did you miss me?"
"What?"
"This past month, did you miss me?"
Shang Zhitao didn't answer, only pulled his hand to show him, though her eyes still held that child-like, innocent clarity. Luan Nian covered her eyes with his hand, and the two of them sank deep into the bed together.
Shang Zhitao didn't dare make a sound, and when she couldn't help herself any longer she bit down on Luan Nian's finger. He winced at the pain and pinched her cheek. "Born in the year of the dog?"
His lips pressed down, sealing her voice inside his own.
Like a fight.
They still ended up logging on ten minutes late.
"Sorry, I had a personal call to take. Let's begin now." Luan Nian glanced at Shang Zhitao, who was pulling up the zipper of her dress, the zipper rising slowly, covering her lovely back inch by inch. Luan Nian took her hand away to help her, but his movement stalled halfway, and he pressed his lips silently against her back.
Shang Zhitao sprang away and glared at him. He only shrugged, then opened his mouth to ask a question in the online meeting, looking every bit the proper gentleman.
Shang Zhitao was starving. She listened to the meeting while quietly eating. Luan Nian had no such luck, participating earnestly in the discussion the whole time, only occasionally accepting a bite Shang Zhitao fed him, swallowing it down without much chewing. Watching her eat with such relish, he kept glancing at her.
The meeting ran until eleven. Shang Zhitao sent out the meeting minutes as a matter of course, then started packing up her laptop.
"I'm heading out."
"Not staying here?"
"No." Shang Zhitao slung her large bag over her shoulder. "I still need to swing by the venue, they're building through the night today."
"Mm." Luan Nian opened the door for her, then asked casually, "You applied for a promotion?"
"Yes. I asked Alex about it. Since my rank is low, this promotion only needs internal departmental review, and Alex told me to go ahead and submit it without worry." Shang Zhitao told him honestly, "But I haven't had time to prepare my promotion materials yet."
"When's the review?"
"Next Monday."
"Are you prepared to fail?" Luan Nian teased, trying to rattle her.