Chapter 68: Does Flora Have a Boyfriend?

“That day was quite chaotic,” Lumi said while picking at her nails to Shang Zhitao. “The old men and women in the hutong were terrified. Someone even called my mom: ‘Come quickly! There might be trouble at your place!’”

Lumi was referring to the incident involving the house her family rented out, which was also related to Zang Yao.

“What happened then?”

“Then I drove with my mom over there. That bastard guy got drunk and hit that fairy of a woman, but she’s no pushover either. She stabbed his hand with a knife—she’s fierce. By the time I arrived, that idiot had scared himself into submission, sitting in the corner crying. The fairy pointed her knife at him and yelled, ‘Shut the f*** up!’” Lumi mimicked Zang Yao’s actions and gave a thumbs-up: “Damn impressive. It’s the first time I’ve seen a woman tougher than me.”

Shang Zhitao didn’t care how tough Zang Yao was; she cared more about whether she was hurt badly. “Was it serious? The beating?”

“Her arm turned purple. When he hit her, maybe he thought he couldn’t bear to ruin such a beautiful face.”

“And after that?”

“She left. Later, I found out that her family is in America, they have money, and she moves around frequently, experiencing life’s hardships.”

“Oh.”

After receiving flowers from Luan Nian, Zang Yao left. Did Luan Nian not try to stop her? Did he know she had a boyfriend? Did he know she was beaten by her boyfriend? Shang Zhitao had so many questions but nowhere to ask. Why did someone resort to violence? What kind of nonsense was this?

“The man who beat her is disgusting,” Shang Zhitao said.

“Castrate the bastard,” Lumi added angrily, then asked Shang Zhitao, “Do you think Luke knows she was beaten?”

Shang Zhitao shook her head.

“Let’s go downstairs and buy coffee.” Lumi pulled Shang Zhitao, and the two went to the elevator. Just as the elevator doors were closing, a gentle male voice interrupted: “Hold on, please. Thank you.”

It was their first formal encounter with Dony. Lumi and Shang Zhitao traveled a lot for work and rarely stayed in the office. Dony smiled faintly: “Are you Lumi and Flora?”

Lumi and Shang Zhitao exchanged glances, and Lumi responded: “Hello, Dony.”

No further words were exchanged.

Shang Zhitao stood straight, avoiding eye contact, her posture naturally setting her apart. As they exited the elevator, she accidentally caught Dony’s gaze reflected in the mirror, just a fleeting moment, but it made her feel uncomfortable. All three were heading to the café. As Dony ordered coffee, he turned to them: “What would the two ladies like to drink? My treat.”

“Two lattes, thank you,” Lumi answered on behalf of Shang Zhitao.

Dony nodded, ordered two lattes, and handed each of them a cup.

Lumi didn’t want to ride back upstairs with Dony, so she told Shang Zhitao: “Keep me company for a smoke.”

“Sure.”

The two smiled at Dony, left the café, and headed to the outdoor smoking area. At that moment, the smoking area was empty. Lumi lit a cigarette and said to Shang Zhitao: “Why does this Dony seem so insincere?”

“What do you mean by insincere? This morning, I heard Kitty praise him: handsome, gentle, wealthy—the dream of every young girl.”

“Ugh! Those girls are blind. Their dreams belong to my stubborn donkey.”

Shang Zhitao laughed at her joke: “If Luke knew you fantasize about him every day, he’d probably kill you.”

Lumi chuckled mischievously, pointing her cigarette toward the building above: “Did you notice those suckers starting to take sides?”

“What do you mean by taking sides?” Shang Zhitao, being rather oblivious, hadn’t observed any of this.

“They say Dony was sent by the board to replace Luke. The board isn’t satisfied with Luke because he’s hard to control.”

Shang Zhitao recalled the bottle of water named “One Heart” given by Luan Nian and asked Lumi: “Who do you support?”

“I’m not taking sides. I’m just a small fry doing my job.” She extinguished her cigarette: “But I support Luke. Even though my opinion doesn’t matter much, I find Luke more likable than Dony.”

“Just because he’s more likable?”

“Yes. I support whoever looks good to me.”

Shang Zhitao giggled at her logic. Luan Nian had just finished a meeting and passed by them: “Skipping work?”

Lumi pouted, and the two followed Luan Nian into the elevator, behaving like obedient chicks, despite their earlier bold talk behind his back.

Luan Nian glanced at the pair through the elevator mirror—one resembling a street thug, the other a well-behaved student. Their presence was comical. He snorted as he exited the elevator.

Lumi clutched her chest and said to Shang Zhitao: “Damn, that’s scary.”

Shang Zhitao thought to herself, this is scary? Try turning off the lights.

After returning to her desk, she continued working on the budget approvals for various departments. Two budget items in the planning department were incorrect, with the actual amounts exceeding the pre-approved amounts by 300,000 yuan. So, she asked Kitty: “I need to see the details of these two budgets. Special approval is also required.”

Kitty replied: “Dony has already approved them.”

“Special approval needs to go to Luke.”

“Is the process really this long?” Kitty complained.

“First-time budget approval? Didn’t you attend the training?” Lumi chimed in: “I suggest you speed up the approval process. If it’s not completed by Friday, it’ll be rejected, sister.”

Lumi felt great after lecturing Kitty and privately told Shang Zhitao: “Be tougher on her next time. She picks on those she thinks are weak, thinking you’re easy to bully!”

“I’m making her a flowchart right now.”

“She knows what’s going on; she’s deliberately making things difficult for you. And it’s not the first time.” Lumi managed budgets alongside Shang Zhitao. Usually, she didn’t get involved, but she excelled at handling troublemakers. As they were talking, Shang Zhitao noticed Kitty standing up from her desk and heading to Dony’s office.

Lumi sneered: “Big Sister is tattling.”

Of course, Kitty had to complain. She was competitive and always looked down on Shang Zhitao. In her mind, Shang Zhitao didn’t deserve to work with them, yet not only did she stay, but she also got promoted twice in a row, just like Kitty. They were lower-ranked employees, so internal departmental approvals sufficed. Last year, Alex approved Shang Zhitao’s promotion, and Kitty thought it was luck. She assumed Luke would block her this year, but Luke also approved her. Everyone in the company knew that Luke disliked Shang Zhitao, so why did he approve her? Kitty couldn’t understand. What baffled her most was that Shang Zhitao ended up managing two core tasks: suppliers and budgets, and she was even recruiting outsourced help.

She told Dony about the budget discrepancies and the approval process, appearing to report work but adding at the end: “Other departments also exceed their budgets sometimes, but they don’t need approval from Luke.” The implication was clear: Shang Zhitao was targeting you.

Dony listened to her explanation and nodded: “I understand. In that case, ask Flora to come to my office. Thank you.” Dony appeared extremely gentle, but everyone knew that was just a facade. The board wouldn’t send someone merely gentle.

When Shang Zhitao heard that Dony wanted to talk to her, she wasn’t afraid. She picked up her laptop and knocked on his office door. His office was one room away from Luan Nian’s and slightly smaller, but still spacious and bright.

“Flora, please sit down.” Dony stood up to pour Shang Zhitao a glass of water, observing her seated neatly like an obedient female student, clean and fresh: “Kitty just told me about the budget approval issue. I’m new here and not familiar with the process. Could Flora explain it to me?”

“Sure.” Shang Zhitao opened her laptop, found the flowchart she created, and zoomed in. Dony pointed to the chair beside her: “Should I sit here? It seems convenient.”

“Yes, Dony.” Shang Zhitao moved her chair slightly outward, maintaining distance from the other chair. Workplace dynamics dictated that sitting too close to your boss would result in gossip the next day.

“The three core aspects of Lingmei’s budget management are amount/approval deadlines/application scenarios, meaning project levels. Different budget amounts and application scenarios have different approval processes, timelines, and scopes.” Shang Zhitao then retrieved the planning department’s budget sheets and explained each item to Dony.

Dony understood just by glancing at the flowchart, but he didn’t interrupt Shang Zhitao. She had a pleasant, clean scent, spoke gently without dragging her words, and wasted no breath. Her mentor must be very capable.

Dony listened attentively, occasionally asking a few questions, and Shang Zhitao answered seriously. Dony roughly understood that there had indeed been lax reviews in the past, and Kitty wasn’t lying. However, now that the task fell to Shang Zhitao, she was diligently handling it without intentionally making things difficult for the planning department. As for why Kitty seemed hostile, it was likely due to their past conflicts. That had nothing to do with Dony—he didn’t return to China to deal with petty squabbles.

“Alright. Thank you, Flora. I understand. Let’s follow the normal procedures for those two budgets, and I’ll also urge Luke to approve them.”

“Thank you for your understanding.” Shang Zhitao packed up her laptop, stood up, and said, “Then I won’t disturb you anymore.”

Dony smiled, stood up to see Shang Zhitao out, and suddenly asked her: “Does Flora have a boyfriend?”

Shang Zhitao thought she misheard and turned to look at him. He smiled: “You didn’t hear wrong. I really was asking if you have a boyfriend.”

“Is this relevant to work?”

“Not particularly relevant to work. It’s just casual talk; you can choose not to answer.” Dony discovered that Shang Zhitao was also a person with some edge. The obedient subordinate who just explained the budget to him was now bristling. Interesting.

“Then excuse me for not answering. Sorry.”

But Dony smiled: “I don’t think it’s a hard question. I’m single.”

Shang Zhitao remembered Lumi’s rule of thumb: anyone you dislike is a bastard. Though crude, it was effective. For instance, she saw Dony as a jerk, and sure enough, he privately asked cross-departmental female employees if they had boyfriends. After returning to her desk, she thought for a moment, checked her phone, and opened a shopping website.

She finally understood why Dony’s gaze in the elevator had made her uncomfortable. It was the kind of look that penetrated a woman’s clothes, carrying an air of entitlement: “This woman, I can sleep with her anytime.” It was a look of disdain.

Screw you.

A rebellious streak surged within Shang Zhitao, and in her mind, she cursed him in Lumi’s tone.