Luan Nian received Shang Zhitao's message late at night. She sent a screenshot of Sun Yu's account deactivation page, along with a few simple words: "I deactivated it."
Nothing more.
In her relationship with Luan Nian, Shang Zhitao had grown used to giving in again and again. She wouldn't do anything he disliked, even though his dislike often had no real justification.
Luan Nian stared at his phone for a long moment before finally replying: "Good. Marriage scams are contemptible. Even as a mere shill, it's still nothing to be proud of."
"Mm." Shang Zhitao had guessed he would say something like that, as cutting as ever. She murmured in acknowledgment and turned off her phone. She had had a little to drink, yet she still couldn't sleep. Getting up for water in the night, she saw Sun Yuanzhu sitting on the sofa, half a moon's light spilling over him, wrapping him in a layer of cold. She had never seen Sun Yuanzhu like this before.
Her hand trembled slightly around the cup as she walked over and asked him, "Why aren't you asleep?"
"Can't sleep." Sun Yuanzhu gave her a faint smile, one that seemed adrift, as if seeking comfort, or perhaps crying out for help.
"Then would you mind if I sat with you for a while?"
"Sure."
They sat side by side on the sofa, a person and a half apart. At first neither spoke. When the moon slipped behind a cloud, the living room suddenly darkened, and Shang Zhitao felt a flicker of fear. She said, "Sun Yuanzhu, do you know? I'm not really in a relationship at all. I just have something that isn't quite normal."
"I always thought I didn't care about the outcome, or maybe I hoped that if I waited long enough, the clouds would part and the moon would show. But I don't actually have that kind of strength. I know I haven't been swallowing my pride for nothing, because I've had moments of real happiness too. But every time I have to back down in a conflict, I start to waver."
"Am I too pathetic?"
"You're not." Sun Yuanzhu cut her off. "You're still young. Being young means you can afford to make mistakes. I believe you have the courage to break out of your shell too. Maybe not now, but you will eventually. Not like me..." Sun Yuanzhu fell silent and leaned back, as if a part of his soul had drifted away. Shang Zhitao thought he seemed unbearably lonely, as if he had many stories he wanted to tell. But he said nothing more.
Shang Zhitao stayed sitting beside him, and eventually they both fell asleep leaning against the back of the sofa. The next morning when she opened her eyes, Sun Yuanzhu was gone. She got up to look for him and found a note left on the table. Sun Yuanzhu had written: "Going to buy fried dough sticks and tofu pudding. We both need the massive joy that carbs bring."
Shang Zhitao held the note and smiled faintly, thinking that Sun Yuanzhu understood her far too well.
So she got dressed and went downstairs to walk the dog. Luke didn't like the garden in her apartment complex. People always say dogs never judge by wealth, but that didn't apply to Luke. Luke loved Luan Nian's big house and the sprawling lawn in his complex. Every time he went there, he acted like a king, strutting around with his head held high as if patrolling his own territory, refusing to go home. Back at Shang Zhitao's place, he'd walk one loop and head straight home on his own.
Back upstairs, Shang Zhitao remembered her phone was still off. When she turned it on, she found a work message from Grace, who had a prenatal checkup on Monday and hoped Shang Zhitao could attend a meeting in her place. There were also some strange photos Lumi had sent while drunk. Luan Nian hadn't messaged her at all.
"What meeting?"
"Luke said we're visiting Jiang Lan on Monday, but I just had a checkup added and can't make it. Could you go for me?"
"Sure."
When Monday came, Shang Zhitao got into Luan Nian's car.
As he started the car, she asked him, "How did the date with Teacher Gong go?"
"Pretty good." Luan Nian found Shang Zhitao rather amusing. She couldn't tell at all that he was speaking out of spite. Yet you couldn't say she lacked emotional intelligence either. She was quite sharp at reading other people's expressions.
"Then..."
"Let's put my dating aside for now. First tell me why you brought in a new supplier for the Suzhou leg of the touring exhibition two years ago."
"Huh?" Shang Zhitao didn't know why he was asking, but answered honestly. "The suppliers back then wouldn't accept upfront payment, and they weren't impressive in the pitch either. Alex said that since that was the case, we might as well go with a new one with a better attitude."
"Did you ever have any contact with Mr. Wang alone afterward?"
"Alone, meaning?"
"In private."
"No. He visited us twice, but Lumi was there both times."
"Did you accept any gifts from him?"
"No."
"Mm."
"So why are you asking me all this?"
"Because someone reported you for taking bribes."
Luan Nian glanced at Shang Zhitao. She was looking out the window, lost in some thought he couldn't read. If this had happened before, she probably would have said, "How can you accuse me like that!"
But today there was no reaction at all.
"Not going to say anything?" Luan Nian asked.
"About what?"
"Like, that you're innocent?"
"If you believe I'm innocent, you'll believe it whether I say so or not. If you don't, what good would it do for me to say it?" Shang Zhitao felt that Luan Nian didn't trust her, and his questions hurt her more than anyone else's accusations could.
It was like how Luan Nian had called marriage fraud low and shills beneath contempt. He'd never once wondered why she might have done such a thing, simply lumping her in with the low and the contemptible. He was used to looking down on her, defining her, because to him she was someone who didn't deserve his respect in the first place.
It had always been like this, and before, she'd been able to shrug off these feelings. But now she couldn't. All at once, she simply couldn't.
"Right now it's just a suspicion. If someone files a formal report, the company will look into it."
"Let them investigate, then."
After saying that, Shang Zhitao pressed her lips together and said nothing more, all the way to the conference room at Jiang Lan's company. There she saw Kitty sitting beside Jiang Lan. Talented people never had trouble finding work, it seemed, no matter how questionable their conduct.
Jiang Lan stood up to greet them. "Luke, long time no see."
"We just saw each other last week."
Jiang Lan laughed out loud. "A day apart feels like forever, doesn't it?" She turned to Shang Zhitao. "And this is Flora?"
"Hello, Ms. Jiang. I'm Flora."
"Kitty, you two have met."
"Yes."
"Then let's get started."
Jiang Lan sat back down in her chair, watching as Shang Zhitao opened her laptop to set up the screen. She remembered this girl, the one who'd stayed behind in Luan Nian's room to take care of him during the touring exhibition in Suzhou. She had a clean, harmless face, with an uncommon touch of seriousness to her. Rather interesting.
She glanced at Luan Nian, who sat there looking utterly composed.
Shang Zhitao presented this year's strategic partnership plan on Grace's behalf. Grace's original materials had been well prepared, and Shang Zhitao had taken part in putting them together, so the presentation went smoothly. During it, Jiang Lan asked a few questions, and Shang Zhitao answered each one. The pitch wrapped up unexpectedly smoothly.
"Lunch?" Jiang Lan checked the time.
"Sure, my treat."
"Whatever works." Jiang Lan and Luan Nian knew each other well, and the two of them walked ahead while Kitty and Shang Zhitao trailed behind. Kitty looked Shang Zhitao over, then suddenly asked, "Did you send that anonymous email?"
"You give me too much credit. I don't have that kind of time to waste."
"Then it must have been that sleazy mentor of yours."
"I think the truly sleazy one is whoever sneaks into a man's room in the middle of the night and then slanders the person who stands up to her." It was rare for Shang Zhitao to be this hard-edged. "Kitty, I know you don't like me. We came into Lingmei through the same campus recruitment class, and if you think I lowered the bar for that group, I understand. I really am ordinary. But people should take the long view. I don't mind if you're still around in five years to see that I might not end up worse off than you."
In saying this to Kitty, Shang Zhitao was, in a way, also telling herself the same thing.
Kitty just laughed. "Is that how you always comfort yourself? And if you're still like this in five years, do you push the timeline to ten years, or a whole lifetime? Shang Zhitao, a person only gets a few good years in this life. If you can't cut it, you can't cut it."
"There's no point discussing this."
"Or is bribery more interesting to talk about? Does taking bribes help you succeed?"
"I'd suggest you back up what you say with evidence."
"Of course." Kitty leaned in close to her ear and said provocatively, "Shang Zhitao, are you ready for what's coming?"
Luan Nian turned back to look at them. "Catching up on old times?"
"That's right." It had been a long time. Kitty smiled.
Shang Zhitao could never manage Kitty's trick of acting one way in front of others and another way behind their backs. She stepped aside, pulling her arm free.
"Let's go." Luan Nian looked at Shang Zhitao. The restaurant was about five kilometers away, so they'd need to drive, and the group split into two cars.
"Was it Kitty who reported me?" Shang Zhitao asked Luan Nian.
"Yes."
"So you believe her over me?" Shang Zhitao asked again.
"What do you mean? I'm staying neutral."
Years of sleeping together, and all she got back was "staying neutral." Shang Zhitao stared out the car window and said nothing. All through lunch she barely spoke, though she kept every rule of social etiquette in mind: smiling when she should smile, playing along when she should play along, looking after others when it was called for. She just had nothing extra to say.
"Flora doesn't talk much?" Jiang Lan asked her.
"It's not that, Ms. Jiang. It's just that I find everyone's conversation interesting, so I wanted to listen more."
"In other words, secretly enjoying yourself." Jiang Lan winked at her.
Shang Zhitao laughed. "That's right!"
Jiang Lan laughed too and said to Luan Nian, "Flora's fun. You should consider having her take over this project down the line."
Every workplace has its territory. Jiang Lan's project belonged to Grace's turf, and Shang Zhitao had no interest in encroaching on it. So she politely declined. "I just started in the planning department and I'm still learning the ropes from my mentor Grace. I really don't know much yet. Ms. Jiang's project is very important, and Grace has been running it all along. She's the one who understands it best."
Reasonable, measured, principled. Not bad at all. Jiang Lan glanced at Luan Nian, then at Shang Zhitao, and raised her eyebrows.
Nobody took what was said at the dinner table seriously, unless someone with an agenda twisted it when passing it along. Reaching Grace's ears, it became a story about Shang Zhitao wanting to take over Jiang Lan's project. Even though Grace trusted Shang Zhitao, she grew a little wary. The next time she was training her, she slowed the pace down.
Shang Zhitao noticed.
She wasn't some workplace rookie fresh out of school. She'd learned all these office maneuvers only after years of reading people's moods and swallowing more than her share of grievances. She knew someone had driven a wedge between her and Grace. So when Grace went downstairs for some air, Shang Zhitao went down with her.
Downstairs, Shang Zhitao spoke to her openly and honestly. "Grace, when I went to meet the client for you that day, I saw Kitty there. During the meal, Ms. Jiang joked about having me take over her project. What I actually said was that I'd just started in the planning department and was still learning from you. I said only you could handle Ms. Jiang's project, and that I'd only mess it up." Shang Zhitao paused. "Luke can back me up."
Grace smiled and said, "Flora, what are you talking about? I trust you."
"I know, I know. I just wanted to clear up any misunderstanding. You know how it is, Kitty doesn't like me, and I was surprised to see her at Ms. Jiang's place too."
Some things were better left unsaid too clearly; spelling them out would only ruin them. Grace let it pass with a vague answer, and went back to treating Shang Zhitao the way she used to.
In the planning department, Shang Zhitao kept her profile low. She was no longer as anxious and full of doubt as she used to be, but she still handled the balance between coworker relationships and work with careful caution.
Sometimes when she saw Luan Nian, she wanted to search his eyes for some trace of comfort, but in the end she always gave up on the idea. She refused to let him see her vulnerable.