"I want you to be my boss."
"Why?"
"Because I like working with you. I feel like I can learn a lot working alongside you, and you push me to keep growing. Most of all, I get to see you often. All of that just feels really good." Shang Zhitao typed this with her face slightly warm, stopping just short of saying: I want to be with you every day, forever.
"What did Tracy talk to you about?"
"...Nothing. She doesn't even know about our relationship."
"What relationship?" Luan Nian asked her. "The kind where something happens and you keep it hidden to the end?" Luan Nian really was petty and held grudges, and now Shang Zhitao knew it firsthand.
"..."
Shang Zhitao ignored him and threw herself into studying the internal transfer process. She wanted to change positions, because she wanted to try something more specialized. Lumi had dug up a copy of the application Grace had submitted years ago and tossed it to her to use as a reference. Shang Zhitao looked it over and found plenty worth borrowing, so she followed the template and drafted a rough version of her own.
Luan Nian wasn't having nearly as easy a time. His phone kept ringing, and eventually he just set it aside and ignored it. But he did have to pick up when Dr. Liang called. She seemed to be in an unusually good mood and said to him, "Are you hiding something from your mother?"
"Like what?"
"Like being in a relationship?"
Luan Nian thought about it, then asked her, "Are you really that eager for me to date? That desperate to see me married with kids? That impatient to meet a granddaughter?"
"Why not a grandson?"
"I like girls," Luan Nian said, deliberately teasing her.
"A girl would be even better. So, are you seeing someone?"
"I am." That single answer, half true and half not, sent Dr. Liang's mind spinning. She figured there had to be something to it, otherwise why would her son be acting so strange today? So she pressed further. "What does she do? What does she look like? Is she good-natured?"
Hearing her ask, Luan Nian actually gave it some real thought. "An ordinary office worker. Easy on the eyes. Good temperament."
"What does 'easy on the eyes' mean?" Dr. Liang wasn't quite sure whether that meant pretty or not.
"It means I like looking at her."
For some reason, Dr. Liang suddenly felt a wave of relief. She'd always assumed that with Luan Nian's foul temper and odd personality, he'd probably end up alone for the rest of his life. Maybe some woman would be drawn in by his looks and his family's money, but she doubted anyone could put up with him for long. Besides, he never struck her as someone capable of being in love. "That's wonderful. I really thought you'd grow old alone."
"Sorry to disappoint you."
Dr. Liang laughed out loud. "How long have you two been together? Any chance I could meet her?"
"Once you and Dad are back. So stop trying to set me up with girls. I don't have the energy to keep dealing with that."
"Fine, fine, fine." That morning, Professor Gong had mentioned to Luan Nian's father, seemingly in passing, that Luan Nian appeared to be seeing someone, and it had put Dr. Liang in a wonderful mood. She was open-minded about it. As long as her son was happy, it didn't matter who he chose to be with. Falling in love was supposed to be a happy thing, so what was wrong with her son getting to experience that happiness? She'd even thought, if Luan Nian ever told her he liked men instead, she'd be able to accept that too.
"All right, then. Can you send me a photo of her so I can see what she looks like?"
"Sure."
"Good, I'll be waiting for the photo. Bye."
Since Dr. Liang wanted a photo, and Luan Nian had no photo to give her, he just grabbed a random one off the internet and sent it over. Dr. Liang actually examined it carefully with a magnifying glass, and when she spotted the website's logo watermarked in the corner, she slammed her phone down on the table in fury. "This kid!"
Luan Nian's father looked up from his newspaper and needled her. "Worrying yourself sick over someone else's business."
"I was just curious."
"Always curious, and always getting brushed off by him."
"Can you not talk about me like that? Why are you so annoying?" Dr. Liang, thoroughly irritated now, turned and walked off.
Once Luan Nian was done dealing with Dr. Liang, he noticed Luke sitting nearby with his tongue out, watching him as if he'd seen right through something. Luan Nian pinched the dog's face. "What are you looking at?"
Luke put on his most innocent expression: Was I looking at you? I wasn't, was I?
Luan Nian decided there was no point trying to reason with the foolish dog, so he took him home.
The day the board members arrived, Luan Nian was nowhere to be found.
Tracy called his cell phone. It was off.
She called his home line. It was busy.
His stance was unmistakable: he'd walked off the job, and whatever happened next was none of his concern. The board members sat in Lingmei's conference room, every face grimmer than the last. The whole company felt tense, and no one dared make a sound. Lumi whispered to Shang Zhitao, "Why start something you can't finish? Everyone knows what a stubborn mule he is. They brought this on themselves, going after him like that. Serves them right. Give the stubborn mule two more days and the stock price will hit rock bottom, and then nobody's going to be having any fun."
"Where did he go?" one of the board members asked Tracy.
Tracy shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know."
"Send someone to find him."
"No one's home, his phone's off, we can't reach him." Tracy's tone wasn't great either, and she drummed her fingers on the table without saying anything more. She had a temper of her own, and she understood better than most of the people in that room exactly how this whole mess had come about. Now that it had blown up, where had all their urgency been before?
Shang Zhitao knew exactly where Luan Nian was. He had to be at the bar.
Using the excuse of getting coffee, she went downstairs, found a quiet spot, and called the bar. Someone picked up, just as she'd expected.
"Is Luan Nian there?"
"Defecting to the enemy?" Luan Nian's teasing voice came through the line.
Shang Zhitao's face went red instantly, and she quickly explained, "No, I was just wondering if you were at the bar. They're all here, sitting in the conference room. The mood at the office is terrible." She didn't even notice that resigning and then calling to check on him made her look exactly like a little informant.
"I know."
"Hm?"
"I have my sources." Luan Nian sounded like he was in a good mood. "There's an event at the bar today. Luke and I are sleeping up on the mountain. Tonight you can go back to my place or your own, whichever you like."
"Oh. Then I want to hear Luke bark."
"What, did I kidnap him?" Luan Nian, put out by her apparent distrust, said to Luke beside him, "Your owner's calling for you. Bark for her."
Shang Zhitao heard him say that, and then actually heard Luke bark once. She laughed. "All right, bye then."
"Mm." Before hanging up, Luan Nian added, "Don't worry. I'm just making the eagles sweat it out."
Those eagles definitely needed a good scare, or who knew what trouble they'd stir up next time. Break them properly once, make it hurt, and they'd think twice before pulling something like this again.
"Is the timing right? Don't push it too far, or the board will just find someone to replace you."
"That would be great. Then I'll start my own company and steal business from Lingmei." Luan Nian truly wouldn't budge for anyone, soft approach or hard. Once you'd crossed him, if you didn't let him vent his anger completely, the matter was never going to be settled.
Tracy knew this well enough. She thought it over and asked him, "You've got someone on the board, right? If so, pick your own moment. I won't call you about it again."
Luan Nian and Tracy had once simply been alumni and colleagues, nothing more. But after working together to bring down a scumbag, they'd come to see each other as people worth trusting.
"Good. See you."
Luan Nian stayed busy at the bar. Today there was another university event.
Gong Yue was an interesting person. After Luan Nian deleted her contact, she hadn't gotten anxious about it at all. She'd simply gone on booking the venue through the bar manager, without ever reaching out to him directly again. She really did seem to be someone with some pride.
Luan Nian took Luke out to enjoy the autumn scenery outside the bar. Gong Yue got out of her car, waved a greeting to him from a distance, and went inside. Her students glanced at him on the sly, apparently convinced he was Professor Gong's boyfriend.
Luan Nian nodded at them and headed up the mountain with Luke. The autumn scenery up there was beautiful. He found a rock, sat down, and just stayed there, so absorbed that he didn't notice someone had come to stand beside him until Luke barked. Only then did he turn and see Gong Yue.
"Not at the event?"
"It's already underway. I don't need to hover over it. I came out for a walk." Gong Yue noticed Luan Nian's brow furrow and took a step in the opposite direction, putting some distance between them before she spoke again. "I know why you deleted me, but that wasn't what I meant by it. We'd only met once. What could I possibly have had in mind? Tan Mian knows, even though I teach at a university, I've actually got a bit of a rough-and-tumble streak. Don't be fooled by how I look. I'm not some delicate little girl. I just like making friends."
Before Luan Nian could respond, Luke made his displeasure known, sitting up and barking at Gong Yue, apparently telling her to keep quiet and stop talking. Or maybe telling her to keep her distance from Luke.
Gong Yue froze for a second at the barking, glancing between Luke and Luan Nian. Luan Nian patted Luke's head and said to Gong Yue, "Luke doesn't let me talk to women."
"So the notoriously cold Young Master Luan is kept in line by a dog?"
"That's not a fair way to put it." Luan Nian sounded irritated now. "He's not just some ordinary dog. He's my friend." After a pause, he added, "My dog son."
"The autumn scenery is nice. Take your time looking at it." Luan Nian then gave Luke an order. "Let's go." And they left. As he walked, Luan Nian glanced down at Luke: And you? You think you're worthy of being my friend? My dog son? You don't even have a brain in your head, all you ever do is bark at random. It really was strange. Luke never barked when Luan Nian talked to men, but got upset whenever he talked to women. What was there to be upset about? Was he not even allowed to talk to women now?
On the walk back to the bar, they passed the students holding a book club, each with a book open in front of them while the moderator guided the discussion. Book clubs had suddenly become popular in recent years, as if reading a book without discussing it in a group somehow didn't count. Luan Nian scoffed, took Luke back to the break room, and fell asleep.
By the time he opened his eyes, the event had long since ended, and thick fog had rolled in over the mountain. Luan Nian sat by the window watching the scene outside, as still and quiet as something out of Silent Hill, until he saw several cars slowly pull up and stop in front of the bar. The corner of his mouth twitched. The eagles couldn't hold out any longer. They'd come flying in on their own. Probably afraid the stock would hit two more limit-down days.
He stayed where he was, watching his old acquaintances walk in. They were all seasoned enough not to say anything out of place the moment they came through the door. They ordered drinks from the staff first, then sat down across from Luan Nian. Nobody thought it strange that he didn't get up to greet them. They were used to it by now.
Of the three board members who'd come, two were American and one was Chinese. The Americans liked to get straight to the point, while the Chinese one preferred to start by appealing to sentiment. So the conversation split down two paths right away. The American path was one of them asking Luan Nian, "When are you coming back to work?"
The Chinese path was the other one asking, "Running this bar must take a fair amount of money."
Luan Nian found the two questions amusing. He answered the Chinese board member first. "I've still got some money saved up. I can afford it." Then to the American, "I'm not coming back."
The American laughed. "From now on, the China division will do whatever you say." Bend when you have to, that was the idea.
Luan Nian didn't take the bait. Instead he said, "Drinks are on me tonight. You all must be tired after flying in from the States. Drink up, and get a good night's sleep when you get back."
"Name your terms," the American said.
"Get my resignation processed as fast as possible."
Luan Nian really didn't know how to take a hint when it was offered to him. But then, if he did, he wouldn't be Luan Nian. Everyone at that table finally understood his temperament in full. The negotiation had hit a wall, and they all just exchanged looks and drank the wine Luan Nian had paid for.
Once he'd finished a glass, Luan Nian finally spoke. "What Dony did caused serious harm to that employee, and the company hasn't even offered so much as an apology. How is anyone supposed to feel safe working here after that?"
"What's your suggestion?"
"Two things. First, immediately vest stock options as a show of the company's sincerity. Second, have that scumbag record a video apology."
No one had expected Luan Nian's demands to be so straightforward. They exchanged glances. It wasn't hard to manage. One of the Americans spoke up. "Stock equivalent to a hundred thousand RMB?"
Luan Nian nodded. "That's fine for the other employees who came forward as witnesses. But the first person to report him, she was choked, her life was actually at risk. If she goes to the media with those details, the stock could drop another five limit-downs."
"So what's your suggestion?"
"My suggestion is two hundred thousand RMB equivalent in stock for the first whistleblower, and a hundred thousand each for the other four employees." After he finished, he added, "As a special bonus. Not to be disclosed." If it were made public, people would inevitably start saying things like, this can't be as simple as it looks, there must be something going on behind the scenes. Luan Nian didn't want the women dragged back into public speculation.
"Fine."
The group reached an agreement, and then the American asked again, "When are you coming back to work?"
"Tomorrow I'll handle the apology from that employee. Once that's settled, I'll be back." He paused for a moment, worried the American shareholders might not fully grasp what he meant, and added, "What I mean is, I need to see the signed stock grant agreements from the employees, and the apology video from that scumbag."
That was Luan Nian's position.
He stood up to see them out.
He'd already done the math. The stock would drop for one more day, which meant the women would receive their shares at the lowest possible point. Once they vested, the price would likely climb back to its previous high within half a year. He hoped they'd be able to sleep soundly.
Luan Nian had never realized before that he could occasionally have such a kind streak in him. He'd always thought of himself as a cold-blooded person.
The next day, Shang Zhitao sat in Tracy's office and watched her pull out a thick stack of documents, feeling momentarily lost. "Is the company firing me?"
Tracy was amused by how silly she looked. "Take a look."
Shang Zhitao looked. A stock grant agreement? What was this?
Tracy could see her confusion and explained, "You know the company gives a small number of employees stock bonuses every year, right?"
Shang Zhitao nodded. She knew. But that was usually reserved for expert-level employees.
"This is a special stock bonus the company is awarding you, for your courage in standing alone to secure a safe working environment for your female colleagues."
"Huh?" Shang Zhitao's first instinct was that she couldn't accept it. People would say she'd only done it for the money.
But Tracy slid the pen across to her. "This bonus is granted in confidence. You don't need to worry about anyone else finding out. Only you and I know about this. Oh, and Luke too. This was one of the conditions for him coming back to work."
Luan Nian?
Luan Nian had never said a word about this to her. Shang Zhitao stared at the grant agreement. It wasn't a small sum, two hundred thousand RMB. This was 2012, and two hundred thousand RMB was a massive amount of money for most ordinary working people.
"Take it," Tracy said. "Think of it as a benefit for everyone at the company too. If you don't accept it, Luke won't come back, the stock keeps falling, and everyone's year-end bonus goes up in smoke."
Shang Zhitao's hand trembled slightly as she held the pen. Tracy pressed down on her hand, teasing her. "Shaking already? Wait a few years until you make expert level and get a million in equity. You'll probably faint."
Shang Zhitao laughed despite herself and signed her name neatly.
She also signed a confidentiality agreement, then asked Tracy, "Is that everything?"
Tracy nodded. "Someone will contact you to open a stock account. The vesting period on these shares is three days. Yes, three days, not three years. In three days, it'll all be yours. And one more thing, be careful with your assets."
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it," Tracy said. "Well done, Flora."
When Shang Zhitao left Tracy's office, she saw every screen in the company had switched to the same broadcast. Dony was on camera saying, "I apologize to the women I harassed. I'm sorry."
He even stood and bowed.
The office went silent. People exchanged glances, and then someone started clapping, and others joined in. It was probably the closest thing to the perfect company everyone had been hoping for.
Tracy switched off the speakerphone and said to Luan Nian, "Did you hear that?"
"I heard it."
"Feeling better?"
"Good enough."
"Coming back to work?"
"Monday."
Luan Nian hung up, in a slightly better mood, and whistled at Luke. Luke's ears perked up: Food? Playtime? That was about the extent of his thoughts.
Luan Nian patted his head. "Look at that brain of yours. Just like your owner's."
He'd barely finished saying it when that very brainless owner called him. Her voice sounded a little muffled. "Tracy said..."
"Moved to tears?"
"...No. Well, yes. I wanted to say thank you."
"Don't mention it."
Luan Nian didn't like being thanked by Shang Zhitao. It wasn't something that deserved thanks in the first place, just a small effort on his part. Though that small effort had come by way of a very high-stakes gamble, Luan Nian felt it had been worth it.
He'd never been short on money anyway. It was just a job. If he lost it, so be it.
If he came out on top, all the better.
He liked a fight anyway.
"Was Luke good today?"
Luan Nian looked at Luke, who was busy gobbling down meat, and said, "Good enough."
"Then can I treat you to dinner tonight?"
"I don't like eating out."
"I'll cook!"
Luan Nian said nothing. Shang Zhitao's cooking really was inedible. "Let's just eat out."
"I've learned a few good dishes..." Shang Zhitao said.
"You said the same thing last time," Luan Nian reminded her.
They couldn't come to an agreement, so they hung up.
A while later, Luan Nian sent a message: "How's the application for the transfer coming along?"
"Still working on it. It never feels good enough."
Luan Nian thought to himself, you really are hopeless. At a time like this, still fussing over paperwork. The reviewers were all colleagues from within the company, and this was exactly the moment to be building relationships, and she was still stuck on documents? So he told her directly: "Who are the leads in the planning department? What are they like? How's your relationship with them? The core of an internal transfer is people, relationships. If you don't reach out to them now, when will you? After you've already failed?"
Shang Zhitao thought it over carefully and realized Luan Nian was completely right. Each of the department heads in planning had their own style and preferences, their own areas of expertise. No matter how well-prepared her documents were, if she couldn't answer a question they asked, it would all be for nothing. This, apparently, was just how office politics worked.
Shang Zhitao took Luan Nian's criticism to heart and asked him, "So who should I talk to? Who has the final say on this? Any suggestions?"
It was a long while before Luan Nian answered.
"Me."