Chapter 58: The Joy Others Can’t Give

Before getting off work on Friday, Tracy arranged one-on-one meetings between Luan Nian and the Marketing Department employees.

Those outside didn’t know what was being discussed inside, and they speculated for a long time. When it was Lumi’s turn to go in, she patted Shang Zhitao’s shoulder. “Don’t be afraid, your big sister will pave the way for you. Whether it’s a mountain of knives or a sea of fire, your teacher will take the first step.”

Shang Zhitao was amused by Lumi and giggled, watching her go in before lowering her head to look at her flowchart. She was researching how to improve efficiency by 25%! They had argued and made a fuss, but the 25% efficiency improvement was quite challenging, and Shang Zhitao felt a little eager to try. Anyway, this was the only core major task she had on hand recently.

After Lumi went in, she smiled at Luan Nian and Tracy, sitting opposite them with rare seriousness.

“Nothing special, just a casual chat, no need to be nervous,” Tracy said.

“I’m not nervous.”

Luan Nian saw that Tracy was about to start with the HR routine again and couldn’t help but interrupt her. He roughly understood Lumi; she didn’t like beating around the bush. So he asked her, “Are you satisfied with this year’s salary adjustment?”

“A little less than I hoped. I hope next year can be more.”

“Do you have any plans to resign recently?”

“No.”

“That’s the end of the discussion.” Luan Nian spread his hands, ignoring the glare Tracy shot him.

“That’s it?” Lumi thought they were going to discuss something crucial. She had really prepared seriously before coming in, but the discussion ended in two sentences. Did the others sit inside for half an hour doing nothing?

“That’s it. Do you have anything you want to ask?” Tracy sighed and asked Lumi.

“Can I take a few days off?” Lumi had been too busy recently and wanted to travel abroad.

“Where are you going?” Luan Nian asked her.

“To London to buy a house.”

...

That year, overseas property investment was just starting to become popular on a small scale. The rich went to Europe, and those with less money went to Southeast Asia. Anyway, there was no harm in acquiring such a property. Lumi was joking; she wasn’t going to buy property overseas. She simply wanted to go out and have fun.

“Is it okay?” she asked again.

“No,” Luan Nian refused her.

“Why?”

“Some people in your department will be resigning next, and the workload can’t be shared. We’ll talk about it after the new hires are in place.” Luan Nian deliberately used the phrase “some people resigning” and then observed Lumi’s reaction.

“What impact can one person leaving have?” Lumi was unconvinced. “Anyway, Shang Zhitao does all the work.”

“What if Shang Zhitao leaves too?” Tracy finally interjected.

“Impossible. She’s researching how to improve efficiency by 25%!”

Luan Nian looked up from his phone at Lumi, then lowered his head to reply to a message. Shang Zhitao had argued with him on the phone, saying she had decided to leave, her tone so resolute, but in the blink of an eye, she had started researching how to improve efficiency by 25%. No one was more fickle than her.

Lumi came out of Luan Nian’s office and patted Shang Zhitao’s head. “Your turn.”

“Huh? Why were you so fast?”

“How would I know?” Lumi was also confused. Wasn’t this strange? Bringing people in, asking two questions, and then letting them out, it was like a joke.

“So what did you talk about?”

“Asked me if I was satisfied with the salary increase.”

“And what did you say?”

“Of course, I said I wasn’t satisfied. Am I stupid?”

Shang Zhitao thought about it and agreed. If you said you were satisfied, the boss would think you were happy with the current salary increase, and you definitely wouldn’t get a bigger raise next year.

Shang Zhitao entered Luan Nian’s office and saw Luan Nian looking at his phone. Tracy gave her a friendly smile.

She sat upright in the chair, her usual posture. More than a year had passed since she started working, but her standing and sitting postures hadn’t changed. Tracy waited for Luan Nian to speak. After all, he had suddenly interrupted her when talking to Lumi. But Luan Nian put down his phone and asked Tracy, “Aren’t we starting yet?”

?

Tracy was a bit helpless and asked Shang Zhitao, “Don’t be nervous. Actually, there’s nothing special. It’s just that Luke will be personally leading the Marketing Department for a while, so we’re having these one-on-one meetings to get to know everyone.”

“Oh, okay,” Shang Zhitao replied.

“Has work been very hard lately?” Tracy asked her.

“Actually, it’s been okay,” Shang Zhitao said truthfully. The workload was much lighter than before. At least she could get home before 10:30 PM.

“Do you still often work overtime on weekends?” Tracy asked her again. She was very concerned about Shang Zhitao’s workload. In the system’s clock-in records, Shang Zhitao’s working hours were the longest. Tracy had investigated whether it was due to her low efficiency or if the workload was genuinely heavy. She had also arranged for an evaluation of her work, and it was indeed a lot. In addition to her main responsibilities, she also handled the messy and trivial tasks of the Marketing Department.

“Not much anymore. Sometimes there’s a need for phone communication, but it doesn’t affect my weekends.”

“So what do you usually do on weekends?”

It wasn’t a big deal, but Shang Zhitao felt her face flush slightly. What did she do on weekends? Luan Nian kept looking at her but didn’t say anything.

“My weekends... are quite full...” Shang Zhitao thought carefully. She studied languages, filled in for Sun Yu’s offline events, ate with Sun Yuanzhu and the others, went shopping with Yao Bei, and slept with her boss. She was also planning to study and take the on-the-job postgraduate entrance exam next year.

“For example?” Tracy was genuinely curious.

“For example, having dinner with friends, shopping, watching movies, that kind of thing...”

“Still haven’t found a boyfriend?”

“Soon, soon.”

Shang Zhitao didn’t know why Tracy was asking these things, so she could only say “soon, soon.” Actually, it was also an HR tactic. Asking if you’re single, how long you’ve been married, if you have children—all these are routines to test your stability. A girl about to fall in love won’t be focused on changing jobs. A girl about to get married might consider changing jobs because she might face having children after marriage, making it difficult to change jobs again. A woman who has just given birth has her mind full of her child, which affects her contribution to work. Tracy wasn’t a bad person, but she needed to understand the stability of her employees.

Hearing Shang Zhitao say “soon, soon,” she smiled and said to her, “I have a junior from university who just returned to the country. He’s three years older than you, has a good family background, and looks good. Want me to introduce you?”

...

Shang Zhitao was stunned for a moment, finally unable to help saying, “Why didn’t you ask me if I’m satisfied with the salary increase?”

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard Luan Nian let out a very short laugh, tilting his head slightly. She saw that the smile hadn’t completely left his lips. Luan Nian found these two, the mentor and the student, quite amusing. They probably both belonged to the kind of people who couldn’t hold too many things in their heads and needed direct communication, otherwise, they would get confused.

Tracy also laughed. She had always liked Shang Zhitao because Shang Zhitao had never disappointed her. She nodded. “So, are you satisfied with this year’s salary increase?”

“It would be great if it could be just a little bit more,” Shang Zhitao said the answer she had prepared beforehand, and then she heard Tracy laugh heartily.

She didn’t know why they were laughing. She hadn’t said anything funny and was a bit confused. Luan Nian glanced at her quietly and then lowered his head again. Shang Zhitao was lighthearted and not vengeful. Essentially, she was a simple and happy girl who didn’t often hold grudges.

Luan Nian knew all these advantages.

Shang Zhitao was such a simple person, her thoughts were written all over her face, and Luan Nian could see them.

“How’s the 25% efficiency improvement research going?” Luan Nian finally spoke, asking her.

“The project initiation system can still be optimized. The review and acceptance can be completely digitalized. It should be almost there.”

“When can it be revised?”

“It will take two to three months.” They didn’t even discuss whether she wanted to do it but directly discussed the solution.

“Go ahead and do it. By the way, ask your mentor if she can take you to manage the budget together. We’re short-handed.” Luan Nian threw this question out again, his eyes fixed on Shang Zhitao, waiting for her answer.

“Oh,” Shang Zhitao said. “Is the interview over?”

“Yes, it’s over,” Tracy nodded, but in her heart, she thought, What kind of interview was that? It was just a casual chat. Not challenging at all.

“Then I’ll go back to work?”

“Okay. Thanks for your hard work.”

Shang Zhitao stood up and walked towards the door, her hand on the doorknob, when she heard Luan Nian call her, “Flora.”

“Hmm?” She turned her head, looking at Luan Nian.

“If Alex has talked to you about hoping you’d go to another company with him, I personally hope you refuse.” Luan Nian glanced at Tracy. “Your career has just begun. There are still many paths worth exploring and many experiences worth learning. At the same time, the company sees your hard work and growth, and we hope you can stay and fight alongside us. Tracy once told me that your work performance was recognized in the 360-degree evaluation, and I personally agree with that result.”

Shang Zhitao stood there, stunned.

This was the first time Luan Nian had formally praised her, in front of the HR Director. Was this also a boss’s way of managing people? She didn’t understand, but she was deeply touched.

“Thank you,” she replied with just these two words.

It wasn’t until she sat back at her workstation and Lumi called her that she came back to her senses. “What’s wrong? What did you talk about?”

Shang Zhitao shook her head. “We didn’t talk about anything.”

After Shang Zhitao left, Luan Nian mocked Tracy, “Have you been taking some kind of training course recently? Is this the new interview routine?”

“Isn’t it pretty good?”

“I finally understand why your department couldn’t monitor the senior executive’s departure.”

“Why?”

“You’re all so idle that you’re introducing boyfriends to employees. How can you focus on work?” Luan Nian found it quite amusing. It was the first time he had seen an HR Director introducing someone to an employee during an interview.

“Just a few casual words, don’t be so serious,” Tracy劝 him. “Relax.”

“I am quite relaxed. I’m afraid you’re all too relaxed.”

“Okay, okay. I apologize again.” Tracy raised her hand. “I can’t argue with you. I surrender. You win.” She left with her laptop.

Luan Nian didn’t really care about winning or losing, but he felt he should say something to Shang Zhitao, like the praise he had just given her was serious, sincere, and from the bottom of his heart. The reason he had told Shang Zhitao that Alex wanted to take her because she was cheap and obedient wasn’t because he personally thought of her that way, but to realistically analyze the mindset of a job-hopping manager. If he wanted to take people with him, they had to be of various levels, not all strong performers. Sunny was a strong performer, so the next level would be executors.

He dealt with work in his office, occasionally getting up to look into the distance to relieve his dry eyes, and glancing at Shang Zhitao when he sat down. She was frowning at the computer, probably researching the 25% efficiency improvement. Luan Nian didn’t know when Shang Zhitao had changed her mind, but he had clearly known one thing since Wednesday night: women were not to be trifled with. Arguing with a woman was like hurting the enemy by a thousand and yourself by eight hundred. You wouldn’t gain any advantage.

Shang Zhitao’s mind was full of the word “efficiency improvement.” She was still frowning in thought while waiting for the bus, so much so that she didn’t notice Luan Nian standing beside her for a long time. Luan Nian stood there for a while, not expecting Shang Zhitao to notice him on her own, and finally took a step in front of her. Shang Zhitao subconsciously took a step back and then focused her eyes on Luan Nian.

“What are you doing?” Luan Nian had his hands in his pockets, his posture relaxed.

“I’m researching efficiency improvement,” Shang Zhitao said very seriously. She had made the decision to stay suddenly while eating with Sun Yu. Because she listened to advice, she remembered what she had wanted in her heart on her first day in Beijing and knew that she wasn’t strong enough to stand on her own yet. Although having such a big argument with Luan Nian made it seem like she couldn’t hold her head up if she didn’t leave, in Sun Yu’s words: someone who could stay after such an argument had a truly strong mentality.

“Want to take a walk?” Luan Nian asked Shang Zhitao.

“But I haven’t eaten yet.”

“What do you want to eat?”

“I want to eat Korean BBQ with soybean paste stew.”

“Let’s go.”

The two walked side by side in the late night, with a person’s distance between them. Shang Zhitao took a few steps before remembering that Luan Nian hadn’t driven today. She looked left and right and asked him, “Hey? Where’s the car?”

“Sat all day, didn’t want to drive.” Luan Nian hadn’t been sleeping well these past few days, his dry eye was a bit worse, so he wasn’t suitable for driving and didn’t want Liu Wu to drive either. Liu Wu’s family member was sick, and Luan Nian had that much compassion.

“Oh,” Shang Zhitao quieted down, remembering her loss of composure that day. She suddenly felt a bit embarrassed and chuckled twice. “What I said on the phone that day was out of anger. Don’t be mad.”

Shang Zhitao was just such a generous person, brave enough to admit her mistakes and not at all awkward. She hadn’t been calm that day and had become like Luan Nian, unable to speak properly. Thinking about it, she felt quite ashamed. Luan Nian stopped walking and turned his head to look at her. What a lovely girl, with a pleasing face and smiling eyes. He couldn’t help but reach out and pinch her cheek before saying to her, “Shang Zhitao, I know sometimes my words aren’t pleasant, but I hope you understand that most of the time, I don’t have bad intentions. If you feel that something I said makes you uncomfortable, just tell me directly. There’s no need for that kind of way.”

“Making a fuss is quite exhausting.”

If Tan Mian and the others heard what Luan Nian had just said, they would definitely say, “Luan Nian must be possessed by some strange thing!” Where had they ever seen Luan Nian say such soft words? But Luan Nian was telling the truth. He had never been bothered by these things before. He was too lazy to date, too lazy to break up after dating, and too lazy to look back after breaking up. His heart hadn’t suffered any major trauma. In his opinion, maintaining a relationship was much harder than dating.

Arguing with Shang Zhitao this time had kept him awake all night with anger and had given him a stomachache. Seeing the dark circles under her eyes in the meeting room the next day had made him want to strangle her.

“Then can you praise me occasionally? Like today,” Shang Zhitao tugged at the corner of his shirt. “I need you to praise me sometimes, to let me know that I’m not as bad as you say. Luan Nian, I need your encouragement.”

“Is my encouragement important?”

“Very important. Really.”

Shang Zhitao wanted to say, Someone like me, who has spent twenty-two years comfortably being an applauder, only had her fighting spirit ignited after meeting you. When I feel like I’ve been defeated repeatedly, I need your recognition. That’s the food and ammunition for me to go to the battlefield, and it’s also a small joy that others can’t give.

“So can you handle the 25% efficiency improvement?” Luan Nian asked her.

“I can.”

“Then you can eat more meat later.”

“Okay. I can also drink a little wine.” Shang Zhitao clasped her fingers together. “Just this little bit.”

“No way.” Luan Nian glared at her. “You bite people after drinking.”

Stingy.