Chapter 12

Although she had spent the weekend by her superior’s side, she hadn’t actually done anything.

Shen Siyan, on the other hand, had been busy the whole time. While Wei Xiaolu played in the bedroom with her headphones on, she could still occasionally hear Shen Siyan making phone calls.

So CEO Shen actually didn’t have any hobbies of her own?

Still, after two full days, the only time she’d really rested was Sunday evening. After dinner was delivered, she opened the fridge, found that the yogurt was gone, and casually mentioned that she was going out to buy some.

Wei Xiaolu, with her sharp little brain, immediately thought that if their leader was buying yogurt, it must be to stock up and drink slowly. That meant the amount would definitely be large, and carrying it all by herself might be a bit much.

“I’ll go with you,” Wei Xiaolu said, springing to her feet. “I need to buy some snacks too.”

“Sure,” Shen Siyan said. “Let’s go to the snack shop.”

Wei Xiaolu darted back into the room, changed clothes in a few quick motions, and immediately headed out with great enthusiasm. “Let’s go, let’s go. Time to go shopping.”

Shen Siyan smiled and closed the apartment door behind them.

Their staff housing was in the city center, in the most convenient part of town. Step outside, and you were at Renmin Square; next door were a library and a bookstore, and three large shopping malls stood side by side. There was never any shortage of places to buy snacks.

Sure enough, in less than five minutes, they ran into a chain snack warehouse.

“Our apartment is in such a great location,” Wei Xiaolu couldn’t help saying.

Shen Siyan picked up a basket. “That just means our company is strong.”

The hand basket she was carrying was cheaply made, with rough burrs on the edges, and it snagged on Shen Siyan’s gauzy skirt.

Seeing that, Wei Xiaolu hurried over to help pry the annoying burrs apart.

“How much would it cost to buy a place like this?” The apartment was pretty big, and it was right in the city center; it had to be expensive.

Shen Siyan paused and thought for a moment before saying, “It seems like it was 138.”

“So cheap?” Wei Xiaolu suddenly felt full of hope for the road ahead. “Then if I work hard and make money in the future, I can buy one too.”

At that, Shen Siyan froze for a beat, then the corners of her eyes curved with mischief. She gave a soft ah and pointed at herself. “I meant this dress cost 138.”

“Oh.” Wei Xiaolu went stiff.

Shen Siyan looked at her, her smile deepening. She bent down slightly, leaning closer as she asked in a breathy voice, “What, little sister, were you talking about buying a house?”

It was only a harmless misunderstanding caused by a unit of measurement, but with the fragrance of flowers and plants drifting up around them, Wei Xiaolu suddenly felt her face flush.

She stammered, trying to explain. “I-I meant... well, of course I want to buy a house someday! The dress is nice too. I was just thinking I might want to buy some new clothes...”

The whole explanation came out so incoherent that even Wei Xiaolu herself got confused.

She didn’t even know why she was panicking. Why had her words suddenly turned so weak and contradictory? Was it because something as enormous as a “house” was too much of a fantasy for a college student who still couldn’t even support herself financially?

“Fine, we’ll buy both.” Shen Siyan seemed to find her reaction amusing and finally straightened up, heading toward the beverage section.

Wei Xiaolu followed behind and watched as the woman placed different flavors of yogurt into the basket, two at a time.

“But the house we’re living in is a little expensive,” Shen Siyan said, her fingertips brushing over a row of yogurt bottles. “You’ll have to work hard.”

“Yes, CEO Shen,” Wei Xiaolu said. “I’ll strive for a better life.”

Shen Siyan smiled and let out a faint sigh. “I was actually thinking of buying a place nearby, but the mortgage on these houses around here would take decades to pay off.”

Shen Siyan?

A mortgage?

—That didn’t sound right.

With her family background, wouldn’t her parents have already bought her several places? She didn’t look like someone who needed to toil miserably to buy a home.

Wei Xiaolu was deeply shocked. Then she suddenly remembered that after observing and poking around lately, she’d realized CEO Shen was actually pretty low-key: she drove a car worth eighty or ninety thousand, used a plain, affordable phone, carried an unbranded bag, and was frugal with food too, either eating in the cafeteria or ordering delivery. Even the clothes she’d mentioned today were only around a hundred yuan apiece; not expensive.

After zoning out for a few seconds, Wei Xiaolu returned to the reality in which Shen Siyan was standing there.

“Decades are nothing,” she said, walking closer and looking up with a smile. “If I can spend the next few decades working hard alongside CEO Shen, then paying off a mortgage wouldn’t be a burden for me. It’d be a future worth looking forward to.”

A flash of surprise passed through Shen Siyan’s eyes, then she laughed.

Just then, they reached the refrigerated case. She picked up a cup of ice-cold yogurt and gently pressed it to Wei Xiaolu’s burning cheek.

“Big ambitions,” Shen Siyan teased, her tone almost indulgent. “Fine, I’ll wait. But for now, help me carry these two weeks’ worth of future back home.”

“Yes, ma’am, beautiful lady.” Wei Xiaolu lifted the basket with remarkable enthusiasm.

In the end, the two of them each carried a full load of yogurt and snacks back to the apartment.

After filling the empty fridge, they tore open a bag of chips and sat on the sofa, chatting casually while they ate. For a moment, Wei Xiaolu actually felt like this was what life was supposed to be.

Very quickly, she dismissed that thought.

Life was supposed to be free and easy; clearly, she wasn’t. The one who was free and easy was Shen Siyan, while she herself had to choose her words carefully and maintain the superior-subordinate relationship with great caution.

But Shen Siyan’s ease only lasted so long.

Before she’d even finished one bag of chips, a call from the vice department head summoned her away, and she went back to her room to handle official work.

Thinking about it that way, being in a high position and having power wasn’t necessarily a good thing. Wei Xiaolu was better off; at least weekends were quieter for her.

Of course... that quiet had to ignore Wang Chen’s persistent “clock-ins.”

[Wang Chen: Went for barbecue again]

[Wang Chen: Just finished writing a program]

[Wang Chen: I’ve got some fresh gossip here. Want to hear it?]

[Wang Chen: I’m telling you this in confidence, don’t spread it around]

[Wang Chen: Ai Jin and Shen Siyan don’t get along. Didn’t you see how she’s always going against Shen? This time she even pulled tricks in the outsourcing process]

“...” Wei Xiaolu’s brow twitched as she read.

Did Comrade Wang Chen have a brain at all?

She couldn’t be bothered to reply, so she just sent him a single line—Don’t talk nonsense. Manager Ai didn’t sabotage anything—and then blocked him completely.

However, after she came to work the next day, she discovered that Wang Chen wasn’t the only one who treated rumors as fact. During a break, she went to the lounge for snacks and suddenly realized that public opinion really was a gigantic factory for making up stories out of thin air.

While eating dried fruit, Wei Xiaolu heard several people talking about Manager Ai. Although she couldn’t make out the details from that distance, she also had instincts much like Ai Jin’s.

She could tell this wasn’t anything good.

Shen Siyan had handed the outsourcing matter to Ai Jin, so it was only natural that some people would be dissatisfied.

But Ai Jin hadn’t made any mistakes in the negotiation process, had she? Why had the rumor become what it was?

If she really had to say...

Wei Xiaolu thought of what she’d said in reply to Tao Wei that day.

A chill ran down her back.

Could it be...

Wei Xiaolu felt her arms go a little weak.

From what she knew so far, Tao Wei really was a bigmouth. She was nearly eighty percent certain that the rumor about “being at odds with CEO Shen” had spread from Tao Wei.

What she hated most was this sort of person who built up a false spectacle, made a mountain out of nothing, and even banged drums and trumpets to announce it. Utterly vulgar.

Anger surged up in her chest. Wei Xiaolu swallowed the dried fruit, turned, and walked out of the lounge, heading back to the department to find Tao Wei and talk to her.

But the moment she got inside, she saw Ai Jin and Tao Wei discussing something. Tao Wei was speaking to Ai Jin in a syrupy voice, leaning forward with an extremely humble expression.

That scene calmed Wei Xiaolu down quite a bit, even though she had only been riding a wave of emotion a moment ago.

First of all, she had no proof at all that Tao Wei was the one spreading rumors. Secondly... she was only an intern. Wasn’t it enough to do her own work well and collect her pitiful little salary? Why get involved in bigger, more complicated causes and effects?

Wei Xiaolu felt a little dazed.

When she’d first started interning, hadn’t she understood this very clearly?

Just do what was assigned; know nothing else, ask nothing else. Don’t steal the spotlight, slack off a little, and once she had her internship certificate, get out immediately.

But just now, she had felt such a desperate urge to rush in front of Tao Wei, speak up for Ai Jin, and question why Tao Wei was spouting rumors so casually.

Why had she suddenly become so impulsive?

Was it because she was no longer just watching from the sidelines, but had personally taken part in the research, negotiations, and the whole process; because she had seen Ai Jin’s professionalism and responsibility with her own eyes, and therefore couldn’t ignore such a false judgment?

Or was it because, in the first place, she had gone along with Tao Wei’s interpretation of “going against CEO Shen” in order not to argue, failed to deny it in time, and now felt so guilty that she wanted to make amends in the name of justice?

Her heart thudded hard.

She glanced again at the two people in conversation, then turned around and fled back to Shen Siyan’s office.

She hurried back to her seat, still not calm, when Shen Siyan suddenly called, “Xiaolu,” forcing her back into work mode.

“CEO Shen,” Wei Xiaolu looked over. “What is it?”

Shen Siyan didn’t look at her; she was busy writing something in her notebook. “Those outsourcing companies really do have problems. Go and call Ai Jin over.”

Sent to pass on a message? Ha, that was great.

“Got it, CEO Shen.” Wei Xiaolu rolled up sleeves that didn’t exist and swaggered out with great confidence.

“Manager Ai!” she called loudly on purpose as soon as she stepped out of the office.

Ai Jin turned her head toward her.

“CEO Shen is looking for you,” Wei Xiaolu said as she walked over. “She said it was lucky you were cautious and didn’t let a single detail slip by, since the company might have suffered a loss. See? That outsourcing deal really was off.”

Ai Jin let out a breath. “Good thing we didn’t sign.”

“Go on over quickly,” Wei Xiaolu said, reaching Tao Wei’s side. “CEO Shen’s waiting to discuss the next step with you.”

“Okay, I’ll go now.” Ai Jin set down what she was holding and headed toward the department head’s office.

“Hey, Weiwei,” Wei Xiaolu said to Tao Wei, her tone light. “Have you heard the gossip going around lately? They even said Manager Ai was deliberately stirring things up.”

Tao Wei froze. “Ah, yes. I have heard people say that.”

“But look at this—wasn’t it all thanks to Manager Ai’s sharp eye? If she’d signed without knowing right from wrong, what a huge loss that would’ve been,” Wei Xiaolu said, lowering her voice as she continued, “Now that I think about it, whoever was spreading those rumors—ugh, my face hurts just thinking about her.”

The smile on Tao Wei’s face stiffened. Her eyes flickered with panic a few times before she forced the corners of her mouth up again. “Exactly, exactly.”

“I even suspect this person is targeting CEO Shen,” Wei Xiaolu went on. “CEO Shen is working so hard on this project right now. If she hears this kind of talk too, wouldn’t that just make things worse for her?”

“How could this be targeting CEO Shen?” Tao Wei said with a faint smile. “This is targeting Manager Ai.”

Wei Xiaolu nodded, then asked, “Weiwei, don’t you think Manager Ai is actually pretty good?”

“Mm.” Tao Wei nodded as well. “Manager Ai is very nice.”

“Then from now on, if we hear anyone saying this kind of thing, let’s help clear it up together,” Wei Xiaolu said, shooting Tao Wei a meaningful look. “Otherwise people might think there’s disharmony inside our department.”

Tao Wei gave a very strange smile. “Our department is just...”

“Our department needs all of us to protect it together,” Wei Xiaolu cut in. “Oh, and to be honest, I even praised you to CEO Shen before. I said you have the best relationships in the department, you’re well-informed, and you’re always willing to share; everybody likes talking to you. How about that? I’m pretty loyal, aren’t I?”

Tao Wei’s face turned ugly. “Thanks... What did CEO Shen say?”

“CEO Shen is very satisfied with you,” Wei Xiaolu said with a smile that hid a knife. “She said you’re a rare talent.”

She added, “She also said that for a department to develop, it needs someone like you acting as a liaison; only then can everyone be united, morale stay stable, and a good atmosphere be created.”

Tao Wei looked as if she’d been forced to swallow the most hated cilantro in the world and still had to chew it down with a smile.

Wei Xiaolu patted her shoulder affectionately and said in a voice full of trust, “So from now on, if you hear any more nasty talk about Manager Ai, we’ll still have to rely on you and me to put in the effort and clear things up.”