Chapter 16

According to the plan, the data-cleaning phase was supposed to be finished within the first week.

But Wei Xiaolu’s hands could only move so fast, and she still had a long way to go before she could turn it in. Shen Siyan must have seen how hard she was struggling, because she offered to find someone to help speed things up.

Wei Xiaolu, stubborn as ever, refused flatly.

Even she didn’t know why she’d suddenly become so set in her ways. Clearly, if she just found someone to pair up with, she wouldn’t have to work overtime. Yet for some intangible sense of “face,” or maybe the urge to prove she could do it, she’d made such an irrational choice.

But if she did that, would she earn points in her leader’s eyes?

When she came to the company on Saturday to work overtime, Wei Xiaolu glanced at the empty department head’s desk and felt her heart sink.

Now even the judge had disappeared. Who was she working so hard for?

This morning, when she woke up and found Shen Siyan wasn’t in the room, she’d thought her boss had come to the company to work overtime again on the weekend.

In the end, she was the only one in the office, alone and forlorn.

What she’d imagined was joining hands to build a bright future for the company; what it had become was her punishment, suffering endlessly with no sweetness in return.

At this point.

...Fine. She’d just get on with it. She still had to hand it in on Monday.

There was no hurdle she couldn’t get over, no job she couldn’t finish. Wei Xiaolu firmly believed that.

She flopped into her chair, tied her hair up with a data cable, and immediately got to moving digital bricks with great enthusiasm.

She hadn’t even rested at noon. Right now, Wei Xiaolu had no worldly desires at all; all she wanted was to finish as quickly as possible and say goodbye to those hateful ten-plus gigabytes of data.

At last, she entered the final command and exported the neatly organized data. Wei Xiaolu let out a long breath.

A sense of accomplishment? None.

She was so exhausted it felt as if she’d been submerged in a tide; her neck was stiff, her eyes were dry, and if she took a peek with a small mirror, she’d probably be shocked for a long time by who this yellow-faced woman was.

Work was a ghost, wasn’t it? It was about to drain her dry.

After sending the final data to the technical team for the next stage, Wei Xiaolu packed up and headed downstairs.

The moment she pushed open the company doors, the damp heat hit her in the face. The ground was already soaked; rain was falling from the sky, not heavy but not light either, sticky and clinging, making her uncomfortable.

So much for finishing the work and getting her subsidy paid out, too. Now they even wanted to reward her with a miserable rainy day.

Wei Xiaolu sighed as she pulled out her umbrella, just about to open it, when she saw Shen Siyan’s car sitting in the parking lot.

She was here too?

Wei Xiaolu paused, then suddenly folded the umbrella ribs back and turned to run inside.

Only when she was waiting for the elevator did she start to feel confused about her own behavior. Was she going to find Shen Siyan? What was she going to say when she saw her—brag about her achievement? Show off that she’d processed the data in one day?

She couldn’t quite make sense of it, but when the elevator arrived, Wei Xiaolu stepped in without hesitation.

When she reached the office door, sure enough, she saw Shen Siyan just inside, crouched in front of a cabinet and searching through files.

Wei Xiaolu pushed the door open. Before she’d even had time to think, her mouth spoke first: “CEO Shen, why are you here too?”

Shen Siyan looked up at the sound and smiled, her eyes half-lidded. “I came back to pick up a contract.”

Wei Xiaolu walked over and crouched beside her, asking which contract it was, then helping her look.

“And you?” Shen Siyan said, still able to talk while going through the files. “How’s the data processing going?”

“Mm, it’s all done,” Wei Xiaolu said, not stopping her search, though her tone still betrayed an untimely spark of delight. “I just finished. When I went downstairs and saw your car, I thought I’d come up to find you.”

“You did very well,” Shen Siyan said.

Wei Xiaolu knew CEO Shen was praising her for finishing the work, but her brain just couldn’t stop attaching that “very well” to the fact that she’d taken the initiative to come up and find her.

“Thank you for the compliment, beautiful lady.” Wei Xiaolu’s legs were starting to feel a little weak from crouching.

Shen Siyan found the contract and stood up, bringing a draft of cool air with her.

She looked out at the rain. Seeing Wei Xiaolu still crouched there, she naturally reached out and hooked an arm under her to pull her up.

“Since everything’s done, and it happens to be your favorite rainy weather too,” Shen Siyan said, holding the contract as she pointed outside, “do you want to go for a walk together?”

“Yes!”

Wei Xiaolu blurted out the one word before belatedly realizing she’d reacted far too excitedly. She hurried to recover: “...CEO Shen, you really understand me. Just after finishing the data, I was in need of a walk in the rain to purify my body and soul.”

“It does need purifying,” Shen Siyan said in return. “From now until work starts again on Monday, don’t think about work anymore. I allow it.”

“I’m grateful, beautiful lady.” Wei Xiaolu followed after her with a grin.

But very soon she discovered she’d been played.

Shen Siyan had said not to worry about work, but in reality this so-called walk was just taking her along to deliver a contract. And on top of that, accompanying the leader was part of the job; she had to hold the umbrella, carry the bag, and hand over the contract! After that, the client insisted on having dinner together, and Wei Xiaolu was dragged along with Shen Siyan to a restaurant and forced into overtime again!

Too miserable! As expected, she really couldn’t place too much hope on a leader.

After eating her fill, Wei Xiaolu angrily bit into a chicken leg and glanced at Shen Siyan, who was still socializing beside her.

That Shen woman was truly immersed in it; in the give-and-take of drinks, she not only got along well with the person across from her, but also pushed the cooperation forward and, through introductions, gained several new connections.

At first, Wei Xiaolu had wanted to learn from her, but the restaurant’s dishes were really good. As she ate, she gradually forgot all about studying Shen Siyan’s way of handling people.

By the time she remembered again after finishing her food, Shen Siyan’s side was nearly done too.

The client, Mr. Wang, lifted his glass, his face flushed red, and stood up. His heated gaze landed on Shen Siyan’s face.

“CEO Shen, today’s conversation was just too congenial! This meal wasn’t nearly enough. I know there’s a foot massage place that just opened nearby; the environment is especially nice. How about we go there and talk in more detail about the follow-up?”

Shen Siyan faced him with a polite smile, but her posture was clearly distant. “Mr. Wang, you’re too kind. You’ve already taken up far too much of your time today. As for the details, let’s continue discussing them next week in the company conference room.”

“Oh, work is work, friendship is friendship!” Mr. Wang pressed on relentlessly, even leaning forward a step. “Being able to make friends with someone as talented and beautiful as CEO Shen is truly a blessing from my ancestors.”

“Then your ancestors must have really lacked morals.” Wei Xiaolu heard enough to get angry and muttered under her breath.

Shen Siyan had clearly heard her, because the corners of her mouth curved slightly.

Then her hand moved beneath the table and settled on the back of Wei Xiaolu’s hand; the touch was gentle, but carried unmistakable steadiness.

“Being able to become partners with someone like Mr. Wang is also a blessing for our company,” Shen Siyan said, lifting her brows as she picked up her phone and made a call. “But today really is unfortunate; we can only talk this far for now. My partner is still waiting to drive me home.”

The call connected, and Shen Siyan said again, “Don’t worry, Mr. Wang was just being too enthusiastic, so I chatted a little longer. I’m done here now; I’ll be over right away.”

Shen Siyan hung up and stood with calm composure. “Mr. Wang, then let’s continue next week in the conference room?”

“Ah, yes, yes. Take care, CEO Shen.” Mr. Wang awkwardly smiled and saw them out the door.

Wei Xiaolu thought Shen Siyan had only been bluffing; as they left, she was still worried for her, afraid the lie would be exposed.

But the moment they stepped out of the hotel entrance, they saw a silver luxury car that looked as if it had “cool as hell” written all over it from front to back... Even though Wei Xiaolu didn’t recognize the brand, she could still tell it was worth a fortune.

In the rain, the driver’s window silently rolled down. Then she saw the damp hair inside being swept back into a messy shape, before that lazy-looking face turned around.

When he saw Shen Siyan, his expression barely changed. He just lifted his chin and that was that, as if it were only a greeting.

But when he skipped over Shen Siyan and his gaze swept toward her, those deep eyes suddenly filled with amusement; the corner of his eye lifted, and he even let out a whistle.

“Mr. Wang, thanks for the hospitality,” Shen Siyan said in farewell. “See you next week.”

Bang.

The car door closed.

Wei Xiaolu climbed into the luxurious but low-ceilinged, slightly cramped space with Shen Siyan; the sound of rain was cut off outside.

“Qi Lang, thanks.” Shen Siyan was smoothing down her rain-damp hair.

“If the young lady from the Shen family speaks, how could I not come?” Qi Lang was driving, glancing back at Wei Xiaolu without hiding it at all. “You two came out here to talk business?”

“More or less,” Shen Siyan said. “Halfway through the meal, I felt something was off. Then after we finished, he really did want to invite me to a foot massage place.”

“Oh, I thought you were calling me because you needed to pretend you were going on a blind date again. You called so urgently I didn’t even buy a bouquet,” Qi Lang said with a low laugh. “Turns out I was just emergency cover.”

Wei Xiaolu had basically figured out the fake relationship between the two of them, but before she could even feel relieved for a few seconds, Qi Lang chuckled and his voice suddenly turned magnetic. “You can’t have me come out here and help for nothing, can you? Why not introduce this little beauty to me?”

The way he said “little beauty” made Wei Xiaolu feel nauseated, and on top of that whistle from earlier, after all the company gossip she’d absorbed during her internship, she was already able to quickly figure out what kind of rotten intentions Qi Lang had.

“My intern,” Shen Siyan’s voice came out low, but unmistakably warning. “Don’t think about anything else; just focus on driving.”

But being stopped like that only seemed to stir Qi Lang’s interest even more. “An intern? Not very old, then. Just graduated?”

This time, Shen Siyan said nothing, so Wei Xiaolu had no choice but to answer for herself. “...I graduate next year.”

“Which school?” Qi Lang asked.

“T University.”

“Same as me.”

Shen Siyan and she spoke at the same time. After saying that, Shen Siyan folded her arms and leaned back. “If you’re driving, shut your mouth.”

“Shen Siyan, you really have no sense of fun. Don’t mind her,” Qi Lang said, looking back through the rearview mirror again and throwing over a self-satisfied, charming glance. “Let’s play together. Once I send Shen Siyan home, big brother will take you to sing karaoke.”

“Tone it down,” Shen Siyan snorted. “You’re no different from that Mr. Wang just now.”

“Tch, it’s still pretty different, okay?” Qi Lang’s teasing smile deepened. “I’m very respectful of what the little beauty wants. If she doesn’t like me, then I won’t take her.”

As he spoke, he raised his eyebrows at Wei Xiaolu, carrying the confidence of a hunter and unabashed desire, and said, “So? Little beauty, give me a chance?”

“I can’t,” Wei Xiaolu said.

The air in the car froze for a moment. Wei Xiaolu didn’t know what Qi Lang’s reaction was, because she didn’t look; all of her attention had already been exiled to Shen Siyan.

“I like women,” Wei Xiaolu added in the silence.

No sooner had the words left her mouth than she saw Shen Siyan’s eyelashes tremble under the light from outside the window.

Then that broad, composed face turned toward her.

In that instant, their eyes met. In Shen Siyan’s gaze, Wei Xiaolu saw her own flustered, just-blooming crush.

TL Note:

"foot massage place" (足疗) = a foot-massage parlor; here it can imply a shady entertainment venue, not just ordinary massage.

"PUA" = manipulative emotional control / gaslighting through praise, pressure, and belittlement.

"yellow-faced woman" (黄脸婆) = a haggard, worn-out woman, often said contemptuously of someone exhausted by work or housework.