Chapter 74: Courage

Tracy gradually sent the materials to Luan Nian, very detailed materials. Luan Nian carefully examined them, realizing that this was not something an ordinary background check agency could have cleared up; it really required some expertise, and at least some overseas connections. Tracy was reliable in his work, so he told her, “The money wasn’t wasted.”

Tracy didn’t pay attention to his comment and directly asked him, “Do you want to take him down?”

“His messy private life is his past. It doesn’t involve any illegal activities, and there’s no evidence of misconduct at his current company,” Luan Nian replied rationally.

“Are you sure he hasn’t broken the law?” Tracy responded, “Page fifteen, a girl testified that she had relations with him after a company dinner when she was drunk and unconscious.”

“I saw it.”

“So I’ll ask you again, do you want to take him down?” Tracy rarely sounded so serious and combative.

“Do you want to take him down because he was appointed by the board without consulting you?” Luan Nian asked Tracy.

“Do you want to take him down because the board wants to use him to get rid of you?” Tracy asked Luan Nian.

After a while, the two almost simultaneously sent messages:

“No, because he’s disgusting.” Luan Nian said.

“No, because I’m a woman.” Tracy said.

That’s how their alliance was formed.

But Luan Nian, this person either does nothing, or if he acts, he doesn’t want the other party to ever recover. He’s not a kind person and shouldn’t be provoked easily.

Flipping through Tracy’s materials, as Luan Nian had said, things that happened overseas couldn’t be traced domestically unless he repeated his bad habits here. There was no need to wait around idly. Luan Nian decided to take the initiative.

Song Qiuhang’s call interrupted his thoughts. Luan Nian asked him, “Have you reviewed the materials?”

“Yes, I’ve seen them.”

“What do you think?”

“They’re good. But it’s not my area of responsibility. I’ve forwarded the materials to my colleague in the China region. We’ll arrange a meeting soon.”

“Alright. I’ll go with you.”

“No problem. Don’t worry. If the team is reliable, their chance of securing investment is 95%,” Song Qiuhang predicted.

“You’ve always been steady in your work, and I trust your judgment. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye.”

Just from their phone conversation, one might think these two men weren’t particularly close, but they were. They had traveled together twice and were part of a group chat with four people, forming a solid friendship. However, neither of them liked to talk much, both being rather aloof. A few words sufficed as a greeting. But Luan Nian knew Song Qiuhang was reliable.

So he called Shang Zhitao.

She was at an event site, surrounded by noise, and was somewhat surprised to receive Luan Nian’s call, especially after he abruptly hung up the previous night and then ignored her.

“Give me Sun Yu’s number.”

“Huh?”

“There’s someone from an investment bank who will meet her.”

Shang Zhitao could hardly believe her ears and confirmed with Luan Nian, “Really?”

Luan Nian noticed her heartfelt joy and, for once, felt a little happy too, “Yes, give me her contact information, and I’ll arrange a time.”

Shang Zhitao had never thought Luan Nian would care about her matters, especially those of her friends, especially after he mysteriously hung up on her. She felt a twinge of emotion, sniffled, and said to Luan Nian, “Thank you so much.”

“You can repay me with your body.”

“I can also treat you to a meal.”

“You’d better stop making me angry!” Luan Nian hung up the phone, leaving Shang Zhitao staring at it in bewilderment. When did I make you angry? I’ve been trying to appease you! Thinking this way, she felt wronged by Luan Nian and messaged him, “When did I make you angry?”

“Figure it out yourself.”

Luan Nian replied like this, not expecting her to figure it out herself. With her mind, there was an eighty percent chance she wouldn’t understand. At the end of the workday, he packed up his things and left, bumping into Tracy face-to-face. Seeing her puzzled expression, he asked, “Meeting a client?”

“Going home to walk the dog.”

“Didn’t you say you gave that dog away?”

“I took it back.”

Tracy followed him onto the elevator, sizing up Luan Nian from top to bottom, “Are you in love?”

“Is this any of your business?”

“It’s not now, but when your girlfriend sends an email blast to the company exposing your scandals, it will be my business.” Tracy spoke sharply, dishing out soft knives frequently, but her opponents were even tougher: “Then you’ll finally have some work to do.”

Neither gained much advantage. Tracy scoffed and got off the elevator.

Luan Nian remembered the name “Dony” that flashed across Shang Zhitao’s phone screen that night and didn’t want to give Dony more time to expose himself. He couldn’t wait. He had to act.

When Luan Nian got home, he took Luke out of the neighborhood and scheduled a bath for it. Before entering the pet shop, Luke began to fidget. It hated baths and wanted to stay dirty, sitting firmly on the ground, tilting its neck backward forcefully, refusing to move forward.

Luan Nian threatened it, “If you don’t move, I’ll stew you.”

Luke still refused: Stew me then!

After a long standoff between man and dog, Luan Nian finally surrendered, walked over, and picked it up. Luke clung to his shoulder, shamelessly trembling its legs. Luan Nian was unusually gentle, even patting its back to comfort it, “What are you afraid of? It’s just a bath.”

Luke whined loudly, ~I don’t want to wash! It seemed to have a lot to say.

Luan Nian carried it into the pet shop and brought it to the bathing pool, comforting it for a long time before retreating to watch it bathe from outside the glass window. Luan Nian thought he must be incredibly bored, hugging a dog to bathe and comforting it—what kind of nonsense was this?

As Luke washed, it transformed, and after a while, white fur began floating in the bathing area, covering the floor thickly. Luan Nian thought the money was well spent. When it finished washing, he conveniently bought it a bathing card, as if Luke would often stay with him.

After the bath, Luke looked really good, covered in fine, small fluff, squinting its eyes and sticking out its tongue, smiling in the autumn breeze, looking incredibly cool. So cool that even Luan Nian thought this dog was pretty good.

That evening, Shang Zhitao called him and asked if Luke was behaving well. Luan Nian mocked her, “Don’t you know what your dog is like? It trembles during a bath—I’ve never seen such a cowardly dog.”

“You took it to bathe?”

“Yeah.”

“How much did it cost?”

“Five thousand.”

“What? Does it cost five thousand to bathe a dog near your neighborhood?”

“… I bought a card.”

“Oh.” Shang Zhitao thought for a moment and tentatively said, “A five-thousand-yuan card… then Luke should bathe there often… otherwise, if the owner runs away…”

“Yeah.”

As Luan Nian uttered this yeah, Luke was sitting by the window watching the falling leaves, under the dim yellow light, a lonely small silhouette, looking depressed. Why did Shang Zhitao’s dog also look so pitiful?

“I’ll come back next Friday. Shall I go straight to your place? Otherwise, it’s too much hassle…”

“Okay.” Luan Nian glanced at Luke again, thinking he really needed Luke to earn back those baths, or else the five thousand yuan would be wasted.

Today’s Luan Nian was surprisingly agreeable, not sulking at all. Shang Zhitao even found it unfamiliar. A colleague poked her head out of the private room and called her, “Shang Zhitao, hurry up!” She responded and said to Luan Nian, “Today, the Southwest branch arranged a dinner party. I’m going in.”

“Yeah. Are you drinking?”

“No.”

“Take care of yourself.”

Shang Zhitao acknowledged and hung up, walking in.

Inside the private room, after three rounds of drinks, it was extremely lively. Even Dony’s face slightly changed color. He unbuttoned two buttons of his shirt, rolled up his sleeves, revealing nice wrists, with a little sweat on his forehead—a sight to behold.

Shang Zhitao thought, if this person didn’t have such malicious intentions, how far could he go in the workplace? Lost in thought, Dony’s gaze shifted over, landing on her face across the table of food and wine, giving her a smile.

Shang Zhitao smiled back, picked up her teacup, sipped it, and looked elsewhere.

In Dony’s eyes, this girl was shy, perhaps showing a bit of interest in him. So, he occasionally glanced at her intentionally or unintentionally, carrying a special meaning, using his net to ensnare Shang Zhitao tightly. Until she lost all defenses and completely submitted.

Dony enjoyed this game; he loved getting pleasure from the process of conquering women.

A little later, Shang Zhitao went to the restroom. She didn’t choose the one inside the private room but went to the public restroom. The public restroom was at the end of the corridor, passing many empty private rooms. At this hour, many gatherings had dispersed.

She stayed a bit longer in the restroom, then came out to wash her hands, dry them, and started walking back. Dony came towards her, and as he passed her, he pulled her into a nearby private room, closing the door behind them. They were trapped in darkness.

Shang Zhitao harshly asked him, “What are you doing!”

“Flora, stop pretending. We’re all adults here. I know what you want.” Dony’s hands gripped her shoulders tightly, pushing her against the wall. Shang Zhitao heard a thud—it was the sound of her body hitting the wall.

She forced herself to calm down, “I advise you to let go, or I’ll call for help!”

“Really?” Dony placed his hand on her neck, “I heard your resume isn’t strong enough for the planning department, right?” The young woman’s temperature rose slightly, and Dony felt he was handling a little chick.

It was a very naked and straightforward temptation. Shang Zhitao remained silent, and Dony continued, “Promotion, salary increase, within reach. Think about it, wouldn’t it be easier than your own efforts? You’ve worked hard for over two years, only promoted two levels. When will it end?”

“Never expected Dony would resort to such means to capture women.” Shang Zhitao tried to sound calm, but she couldn’t. She was about to cry.

“The means don’t matter, only the result does.” Dony chuckled, his lips seeking Shang Zhitao’s ear. Suddenly, Shang Zhitao began to struggle and shouted loudly, “Let me go! Let me go!”

She reached out to tear at his clothes. The private room door opened, and a female colleague from Chengdu stood at the doorway, turning on the light and asking, “What’s going on?”

Shang Zhitao desperately pushed Dony away, ran out, grabbed her bag amidst the shocked expressions of everyone in the private room, and fled.

She ran out of the hotel, called Lumi, her voice trembling slightly.

“Lumi, I have evidence. Solid evidence, proof of workplace sexual harassment.”

“Flora, where are you? What about the colleagues in Chengdu?”

“I’m in Chengdu, but I’m preparing to catch the last flight back.”

“Wait until you return, we’ll proceed with the final step, okay?” Lumi said to her, “Hey sister, you know what? You’re incredible. I finally understand why I liked you the first time I saw you because deep down, you’re this incredible person!”

Shang Zhitao held back her hot tears. She had endured for so long, thoroughly recording how a man progressed from verbal harassment to specific actions, and even had a witness. Since the day Dony asked if she had a boyfriend, she bought a recording pen, always keeping it on her. Whenever Dony appeared near her, she turned it on.

Shang Zhitao thought, I am not a little lamb, I’ll make you, this maggot, have nowhere to hide. The bravest moment of Shang Zhitao’s life was that day. Such courage was because that colleague told her that day, “I don’t want to drink, there’s a wolf at the table.” The girl cried to Shang Zhitao, recounting how after she got drunk, Dony pressed on top of her. Luckily that day, she had her period.

Dony said to that colleague, “You drank too much, no one will believe a drunk woman. I can say you seduced me. Don’t you want a promotion? I can give you an opportunity.”

He succeeded before and thought all girls were easy to bully.

And Shang Zhitao, with evidence, could finally confront this maggot.

Until now, Dony still thought that incident would be forgotten. He didn’t think Shang Zhitao would do anything detrimental to him because she seemed so easy to bully.

Shang Zhitao felt she was about to win, but her legs kept shaking uncontrollably, even after boarding the plane, disembarking, and rushing straight to Luan Nian’s house, her trembling hadn’t stopped.

She opened the door, and Luke greeted her in the middle of the night. She hugged Luke, ran to Luan Nian’s room, and saw him just shutting down his computer. Shang Zhitao stripped off her clothes piece by piece, holding his face and passionately kissing him. Luan Nian embraced her trembling body, his lips and tongue branding her skin, whispering in her ear, “Weren’t you supposed to return in half a month?”

“I can’t wait. I want to see you today.”

Shang Zhitao arched her body, pressing closely against him, “I want to see you now.”

“Shang Zhitao, what’s wrong?”

Shang Zhitao shook her head, “I just suddenly missed you so much.” She thought she should tell Luan Nian how Dony had been harassing her, but she didn’t. Her small sense of pride made her feel she couldn’t tell Luan Nian; she should solve it herself, as an independent adult woman. Moreover, behind her were Lumi, Sun Yuanzhu, Sun Yu, and that extremely distressed female colleague. They could handle it.

Shang Zhitao never regretted her decision at that time. She knew she had started practicing facing everything alone from then on. She understood she had been thrown into this cruel reality, and those attempting to resolve problems with fairy tales would find it hard to find a better way out. Because reality was always bloody. She proved to herself that she could manage, even without Luan Nian.

One had to confront it head-on at least once.

“Luan Nian.” She called his name in the dark and held him tightly.

“I’m here.” Luan Nian, with passionate kisses, led her out of the darkness and toward the light.