Chapter 91: The Unexpected

Lumi placed her laptop on the desk, sensing a chilling glare in the air, and gently picked it up again before setting it down softly.

Shang Zhitao glanced up at her, then toward Will’s meeting room, and chuckled quietly.

“What’s so funny?” Lumi whispered in protest, plopping down into her chair like a wilted eggplant.

Shang Zhitao sent her a message: “What’s wrong? Didn’t you say, my dear Lumi, that there are thousands of men out there, and even if they were all dragons, they’d have to bow down to you? Why are you so scared now that you can’t even put your laptop down without trembling?”

“Damn it,” Lumi shot back. “That guy is seriously creepy. But considering he saved me once, I’ll tolerate him.”

Will had indeed saved Lumi once.

One day, when Zhang Qing came to harass her downstairs at the company, Will happened to witness the scene. Without hesitation, he set his laptop aside and beat up Zhang Qing and his friend with his bare hands—a one-on-one fight against two burly, tattooed men, yet Will barely broke a sweat.

As Lumi later described it: “It was pretty terrifying. That stubborn mule probably attracts people just like him.” Despite her words, she no longer dared to provoke Will after that incident.

Shang Zhitao glanced at her briefly before refocusing on the project in front of her. She was reviewing details about an upcoming deployment to a northwestern city to assist government departments in building industrial bases. This was Lingmei’s S+ level project for the year—a significant opportunity.

Lumi wheeled her chair over and noticed what Shang Zhitao was looking at. “You want to go?”

Shang Zhitao nodded. “I want to be promoted to expert next year. Grace told me my project count, service quality, and overall score aren’t issues, but there’s one thing—I’ve never led an S+ project. This is a rare chance.”

“Northwest?!” Lumi pinched her cheek. “Are you insane? Fourteen months, not fourteen days! Do you know what you’ll look like when you return? Your delicate face will be gone, replaced by two red apples on your cheeks.”

Shang Zhitao giggled. “I know, but I really want to go.”

She pulled out her wishlist from the drawer and pointed it out to Lumi. “Look, I’m only one step away from achieving this wish—becoming an expert!”

Lumi examined the list, which looked worn and frayed at the edges. It read: “Wishes to fulfill before turning 30.”

“Alright,” Lumi pushed the list back to her. “Maybe I’ll sign up for this project too. After all, I’m just sitting around doing nothing. Besides, our marketing department mentioned that we only need to go for half a month each time—not like you guys who are required to stay long-term.”

“You’re not afraid of having two red apples on your cheeks?” Shang Zhitao teased.

Lumi clicked her tongue. “I’m more afraid of being scolded by that bastard Will.” She slid her chair back to her desk. “So annoying!”

Shang Zhitao carefully weighed the possibility of signing up for the project. After much thought, she decided to seek Grace’s opinion. Grace was leaving with her breast pump when she spotted Shang Zhitao approaching. “Come with me while I pump.”

The maternity area was empty. It seemed that women working at Lingmei weren’t particularly interested in having children. As Grace began pumping, the machine hummed softly. Shang Zhitao said, “Grace, I want to apply for that base project. Do you think I should?”

“The situation right now is that no one wants to go, even for a lot of money. It’s an S+ project, but if something goes wrong, it’s a big deal. Risk and opportunity always come hand in hand.”

“What about you? If you were in my position?”

“If I were you—twenty-six or twenty-seven, single, with no attachments—I’d go,” Grace replied frankly. “There’s risk, yes, but also opportunity. Take the chance while you’re young. Otherwise, do you plan to wait until you’re old?”

Shang Zhitao nodded.

In the past, she wasn’t one for taking risks, preferring to tread cautiously and steadily. But as Grace had pointed out, if she didn’t take risks while young, when would she? Adults needed the ability to make choices and take responsibility for them.

Now, Shang Zhitao felt confident in her ability to do just that.

After returning to her desk and sitting for a moment, she messaged Luke’s secretary: “Hello, I’d like to inquire about Luke’s schedule today. I’d like to book around fifteen minutes to discuss something with him.”

Since the start of the year, Luan Nian had been incredibly busy, spending little time in Beijing. When he was in the office, his schedule was packed with meetings and appointments, so the secretary had begun managing reservations. Shang Zhitao could have messaged him directly, but she chose not to. She didn’t want to overstep boundaries anymore.

“Hold on.” Five minutes later, the secretary replied: “Luke has half an hour free at noon. I’ll order lunch for him now, and I’ll include something for Flora too. You can talk while you eat.” The secretary was considerate—it wouldn’t do for Luan Nian to eat alone while Shang Zhitao watched, so she ordered two meals to ease the awkwardness.

“Thank you.”

At noon, Shang Zhitao saw Will emerge from his office, and sure enough, the secretary told her, “Go ahead, Flora.”

Shang Zhitao rose and headed to Luan Nian’s office.

It was early April, and she wore an apricot silk blouse casually tucked into vintage jeans, exuding a fresh and gentle vibe. Luan Nian looked up at her and smiled faintly. “Sit.”

“Thank you.”

It had been a long time since they’d been alone together. As Shang Zhitao sat down, she caught a glimpse of his handsome nose when he lowered his head, stirring a faint flutter in her heart. But it wasn’t as intense as before. Time truly did dull certain feelings.

Sitting across from him, she accepted the fast food he pushed toward her. The secretary had ordered steak and shrimp combos. She opened hers and took a bite. “Delicious.”

“Your salary isn’t enough for you to eat truly good food, huh?” Luan Nian mocked lightly. He disliked how she found everything delicious.

“I can barely afford a treat once a month. So, can you give me a raise this year?” Shang Zhitao seized the opportunity to make a request.

“No.” Luan Nian glanced at her. It was only April, yet beads of sweat already formed on her nose under the sunlight. How could someone sweat so easily? “So, what did you want to talk to me about?” He took a bite of steak, set down his fork, and asked.

Shang Zhitao also put down her fork and looked at him earnestly. “I want to apply for that deployment project.”

“Fourteen months, with only two days allowed back home each month. And it’s high-risk.” Luan Nian reminded her.

“Even so, I still want to go.”

“Why?”

Shang Zhitao thought for a moment. “Because I’m still young, and I want to take a risk.”

Luan Nian raised an eyebrow and continued eating. He had a hangover from the previous night and hadn’t eaten breakfast, so he was ravenous. Shang Zhitao divided her shrimp and steak in half and pushed one portion toward him, and he ate it without hesitation.

After finishing their meal in silence, Shang Zhitao asked him: “Will you approve my application to go?”

“I don’t have any objections.”

“Thank you.”

“What about Luke?” Luan Nian suddenly asked.

“I’ll figure something out. If I can’t, I’ll take him with me.” Luke was indeed a problem, and Shang Zhitao began considering the possibility of bringing him along.

“You could leave him with me,” Luan Nian suggested. “You can bring him over beforehand to get familiar with the environment.”

“But you travel often.”

“There are dog walkers in our neighborhood.”

“Oh, okay.” Shang Zhitao smiled. “But you don’t like Luke.”

“You really know me well.” Luan Nian took a sip of water, his brows furrowing slightly.

The secretary knocked on the door: “Luke, your time is up.”

“Alright.”

Shang Zhitao stood up and said to him: “Thank you, Luke. I’ll go back and submit the application through the system.”

“Okay.”

As she left, she remembered that he seemed a bit unwell today. She sat at her desk for a while before messaging him: “Are you feeling unwell?”

“?”

“You’ve been frowning.”

“My stomach hurts.”

Luan Nian had been traveling continuously recently, and the intense workload made him feel that something might be wrong with his body. He had a slight bloated sensation in his abdomen, so he asked Dr. Liang about it. After some thought, Dr. Liang hesitated before speaking. Impatient, Luan Nian urged her to get to the point. Dr. Liang chuckled mischievously: “Have you had unprotected sex recently?” Furious, Luan Nian hung up the phone. In her mind, why did she think he was so reckless? Unprotected sex—what nonsense! He might as well become a monk. Looking up, he saw Shang Zhitao talking to Lumi. Their expressions hinted at some juicy gossip. Lumi’s face was brimming with curiosity, while Shang Zhitao’s mouth formed an O shape, seemingly surprised.

Their topic of gossip was Will.

Lumi had accidentally met a former colleague of Will’s and uncovered a piece of gossip: Will had been divorced for two years. This revelation shocked Lumi, but not because he had been married or divorced—it was the fact that a virile man had been single for two whole years. The reason behind the divorce was worth pondering.

Seeing Lumi’s mischievous expression, Shang Zhitao felt a chill run down her spine: “How do you plan to investigate?”

Lumi grinned slyly: “Do you remember my famous saying?” She winked at Shang Zhitao and lowered her voice: “If you can’t beat them, join them.”

“… How do you plan to ‘join’?”

Lumi raised an eyebrow. Shang Zhitao suddenly understood and quickly tried to dissuade her: “Don’t mess around, Lumi. With Will’s strict personality, if you act recklessly, he’ll definitely punish you.”

“So let him punish me. If he has the guts, we can settle this in bed.” Lumi stretched out the last word, her mood surprisingly buoyant. Shang Zhitao could do nothing but sigh deeply.

Returning to her desk, Shang Zhitao began studying the S+ government tourism project. It was a collaboration between Lingmei, a tech company, and the government. The government provided funding and land, while Lingmei and the tech company handled project design. The goal was to create a top-tier scenic area nationwide. The initial survey, planning, and design phase would take six months, followed by eight months of implementation.

This was intriguing.

Shang Zhitao had never participated in such a high-level government project. The entire company was tense about it. Luan Nian had traveled to the site countless times, and it had taken nearly six months just to establish preliminary cooperation intentions among the three parties. The contract process had only recently been finalized.

Lingmei’s creative design was top-notch.

The project required a project manager. Based on past standards, Shang Zhitao’s qualifications were insufficient. Normally, the company would send someone like Grace, an expert, to lead the project. However, as Grace had pointed out, the project was arduous, and no one wanted to go.

But Shang Zhitao was willing.

This was her opportunity.

She placed her wishlist back in the drawer; the next time she’d take it out would likely be at the end of the year. If the company approved her application, she would depart in July, and by the time she returned, it would already be September of the following year.

Time truly flew. Clients who once thought of her as a young girl now called her Miss Shang. In a few more years, she’d become Madam Shang.

After thoroughly reviewing the project materials, Shang Zhitao looked up again—it was already past ten o’clock. She packed her things to head home when she noticed Luan Nian still hunched over his desk.

He had never done this before.

Most colleagues had either left, gone on business trips, or were working from home. Apart from her and Luan Nian, there was no one else left in the office.

Feeling a twinge of concern, she hesitated for a moment before knocking on his office door. His voice trembled slightly: “Come in.”

“Luke.” Shang Zhitao froze upon seeing beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. “What’s wrong?”

“It hurts.”