Chapter 17

“Oh... then that is a little presumptuous.” Qi Lang’s voice cut in, breaking the unexpected eye contact between Wei Xiaolu and Shen Siyan.

Wei Xiaolu lowered her head and fiddled with the strap of her umbrella. “Sorry.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Qi Lang said, dropping the flirtation and switching to matchmaking mode. “If you still want to come hang out, you can. A lot of my friends are lesbians; I can call a few of them over and we can all get together.”

“I’ve had quite a bit to drink tonight,” Shen Siyan said suddenly. “Cut it out. Say one more word and I’ll twist your tongue off.”

“Hey...” Qi Lang pulled a disgusted face. “No fun.”

Wei Xiaolu wasn’t new to talking about her sexuality in front of others. The friends she was closest with basically all knew, but never before had she said it out loud and then felt her hands tremble afterward like this.

She didn’t know when the trembling stopped. Anyway, by the time Qi Lang dropped them off outside the residential complex, she had already collected herself and returned to her usual state.

After Shen Siyan got out of the car, Wei Xiaolu hurriedly raised the umbrella to shield her from the rain. Her voice was as attentive as ever. “CEO Shen, watch your step. There’s standing water.”

“Mission accomplished.” Qi Lang turned the car around. As he rolled up the window, he tossed out one more line. “Remember to say something nice about me to my dad later.”

Shen Siyan said nothing. She only lifted a hand in a casual shooing motion, as if physically escorting him away.

Qi Lang muttered another “No fun” and drove off in search of fun elsewhere.

There was still some distance from the drop-off point to their apartment building. Wei Xiaolu walked side by side with Shen Siyan. The space between them was quiet, filled only with the fine tapping of raindrops against the umbrella overhead. Even this tiny stretch of air seemed to develop a rhythm of its own; sticky, lingering, intertwined.

The world was like a rainstorm, enclosing the two of them beneath the umbrella.

Wei Xiaolu couldn’t quite say what she was feeling. She only knew that on the whole walk back, she had wracked her brain for something to talk about and come up with nothing. Yet the moment they got back to the apartment, her mouth suddenly became very efficient and started speaking on its own: “CEO Shen, wet clothes are uncomfortable. You should change first; I’ll go make some hangover soup.”

Shen Siyan, who had always been generous and unguarded when it came to Wei Xiaolu’s attentiveness, didn’t answer this time.

She leaned against the wall, tilted her head back slightly, and closed her eyes. Her slender neck was exposed in the warm light, and she looked unusually tired.

After two or three seconds of silence, she slowly opened her eyes and let them fall on Wei Xiaolu’s half-wet shoulder. Her voice was lower than usual. “You’re wet too. Go change first; don’t catch a cold.”

“Okay, beautiful lady.” Wei Xiaolu returned to her room.

After changing into her pajamas and sitting down on the edge of the bed, her thoughts still hadn’t settled. There was still a trace of unease in her heart. Wei Xiaolu tried to figure out where that restlessness was coming from, but before she could make sense of it, she heard the sound of chopping vegetables from the kitchen.

She quickly went over.

Shen Siyan was cutting an apple. When she saw Wei Xiaolu come over, the knife paused for a moment. She picked up the remaining half that hadn’t been cut.

“Little sister, want some?”

The apple was held out in front of her.

Wei Xiaolu took a step back before she recovered herself, then reached out to take it and took a bite. “Thanks, beautiful lady.”

She couldn’t just stop Shen Siyan and tell her to hand the kitchen over to her; after all, when a leader wanted to cook, that meant she was showing off her skills. All Wei Xiaolu needed to do was help quietly and not spoil the mood.

So Wei Xiaolu decisively washed the pot and boiled the water, silently taking care of the rest of the support work.

Shen Siyan might really have been feeling the alcohol by then. She softly chewed over Wei Xiaolu’s “beautiful lady” while dropping the chopped apple into the pot.

Every gesture and movement carried the relaxed ease she usually kept carefully hidden.

Steam curled upward, softening her outline.

Suddenly, Shen Siyan turned her head and let her gaze fall on Wei Xiaolu’s face. With a lazy, at-ease air, she teased, “Little sister is a little beauty too.”

Wei Xiaolu’s apple-biting motion froze.

What did that mean?

Was she being sarcastic because Qi Lang had called her little beauty and she didn’t like it?

That didn’t seem right. Wei Xiaolu hadn’t seen any special feeling toward Qi Lang in Shen Siyan at all. If she had to force a reading, it would be the kind of feeling that made her think he was too chatty and want to smack him.

For a moment, she didn’t know how to respond. Still chewing her apple, she flashed a goofy grin and bared her teeth.

Then Shen Siyan gave her a very satisfied smile in return and muttered to herself, “A beautiful lady and a little beauty; making hangover soup together.”

Wei Xiaolu wasn’t sure whether she was supposed to respond when a leader started talking to herself, but in order not to let the atmosphere go cold, she thought it over and said, “The little beauty is making hangover soup for the beautiful lady. The beautiful lady got drunk today.”

Shen Siyan nodded. “Once I drink it, I won’t be drunk anymore. I know.”

What do you know? From the way you look now, you seem about as “knowing” as someone who only knows to look for food when they’re hungry and water when they’re thirsty.

Wei Xiaolu couldn’t help complaining inwardly, but her mouth was all sweetness and flattery. “That’s right. Our beautiful lady knows everything.”

Maybe she had flattered Shen Siyan just right, because the other woman’s eyes had turned bright and glossy, like longans.

Wei Xiaolu couldn’t stand being stared at so directly. When the soup came to a boil, she ladled a bowl for Shen Siyan and brought it over, then scratched at herself uncomfortably and said her body itched from getting wet in the rain before darting into the bathroom to shower.

Tonight was clearly the night Shen Siyan had had too much to drink, but Wei Xiaolu felt as though ever since she had turned back to look at the rain, she had been a little drunk herself.

After she slept that night, that half-drunk, half-awake feeling not only didn’t fade, it seemed to seep silently into her heart the way drizzle sank into the earth. Shen Siyan’s face had somehow invaded her thoughts too.

That unfamiliar emotion made Wei Xiaolu restless and itchy inside. For no reason at all, she desperately wanted to do something to offset this muddled state.

So early Sunday morning, she caught a bus home.

Going home to enjoy a happy weekend had become secondary; the main thing was that she wanted to stay farther away from Shen Siyan. She was too easily disturbed by that woman’s magnetic field right now.

This time, Wei Zongqing made her the pork tripe and chicken soup she’d missed. Wei Xiaolu ate with great relish, drinking so much in the summer heat that she was practically hissing steam.

“Dad, your soup is amazing,” Wei Xiaolu said, slurping up a big mouthful. “I feel so happy after drinking it!”

Chef Wei Zongqing sat beside her, grinning stupidly.

While eating, they naturally ended up talking about work again.

After a torrent of complaints, Wei Xiaolu suddenly fell silent in the middle of speaking. After quietly finishing a piece of chicken, she took the initiative to bring up workplace relationships with Tang Xiaofen.

“Mom, you think... I’m living with my leader now, and she usually takes really good care of me. Should I give her something to show my thanks?”

“Of course you should!” Tang Xiaofen suddenly perked up. “What made you think of that, girl? Last time I told you to give something, didn’t you still refuse?”

Wei Xiaolu thought about it. “Back then I felt like if we were already close, there wasn’t a need. But now...”

“But now you’ve realized flattery alone isn’t enough?” Wei Jialuo cut in.

“You’ve never even worked in an office. How do you have the nerve to say that?” Wei Xiaolu shot back.

“Hey, hey,” Tang Xiaofen said, tapping Wei Jialuo once. “Let your sister finish. Xiaolu, go on—what’s up now?”

“...” Wei Xiaolu angrily snatched all the meat out of Wei Jialuo’s bowl. “Now? Now it’s just... I feel like she’s been too good to me. If I don’t give her something, I won’t feel right.”

“That does call for a gift,” Wei Zongqing said. “What does your leader like?”

“She likes yogurt,” Wei Xiaolu said. “And sometimes plain milk.”

“Yogurt isn’t very appropriate,” Tang Xiaofen considered it for a moment. “For a female boss, you should give skincare products and add a box of local specialties.”

Wei Xiaolu replied halfheartedly, “Sure, I think that works. Let’s do that.”

That afternoon, Tang Xiaofen went out with her to buy the gifts. It came to more than eight hundred yuan. Tang Xiaofen said that since she was only an intern, those gifts were enough; once she became a regular employee, she could give something more expensive.

“I’m not even sure I want to go permanent,” Wei Xiaolu muttered, feeling that the gift was already heavy enough and a little sour inside. “What if I get a better job offer and run off?”

“Fine,” Tang Xiaofen said firmly. “If something better comes along, we’ll switch.”

Wei Xiaolu giggled and hooked her arm through Tang Xiaofen’s. “If not, then I’ll keep working.”

Holding the gifts in her hands, Wei Xiaolu still didn’t feel much of anything. It wasn’t until Monday morning, when she got up early and rushed back to the apartment, that her heart suddenly began to feel strangely empty.

The living room was neat and spotless; the floor was clean enough to reflect light. It was obvious Shen Siyan had already cleaned it.

Wei Xiaolu stood in the hallway holding two gift boxes in fancy wrapping, and suddenly felt that her visit was terribly out of place.

Nervousness was unavoidable. After all, this was her first time giving a gift to her boss. But beneath that nervousness, she still couldn’t quite make out the vast, lingering desolation she felt.

She lowered her eyes and looked at the things in her hands.

Then Shen Siyan’s bedroom door opened, and her gloom instantly transformed into a businesslike smile.

Wei Xiaolu turned to her. “Morning, CEO Shen.”

“You’re back.” Shen Siyan brushed past her, and the morning light streamed through her hair, drawing out strand after strand of golden nobility. Then the noble woman smiled. “Morning, little beauty.”

At the table, she poured herself a glass of water. But as she lifted the cup, her gaze fell in tandem on the gift bag in Wei Xiaolu’s hands.

The smile at the corner of her mouth stiffened for a moment.

But very quickly, it returned to normal.

That frozen expression felt to Wei Xiaolu like a speck of dust landing on water: a faint ripple, then calm again.

Gathering her courage, Wei Xiaolu carried the things straight into her boss’s bedroom. “CEO Shen, I went home yesterday and brought you some specialties from my hometown. I left them in your room.”

Shen Siyan looked at Wei Xiaolu and, after a two-second delay, replied, “Little sister, you don’t have to be so polite. Keep them and eat them yourself.”

“No, no, CEO Shen.” Wei Xiaolu walked up respectfully. “You’ve taken care of me so much all this time, giving me rides to and from work and even assigning me tasks with stipends. I’ve kept it all in mind, and I’m really grateful. This is just a little token of my appreciation; it’s not expensive, so please keep it. Otherwise, I won’t feel right.”

Shen Siyan continued to look at her quietly for about two or three seconds.

But Wei Xiaolu had the feeling that this look was somehow different from before.

Now it was more like a pool of water with no ripples left, leaving only a cool clarity. Even the smile had become faint and formulaic; it no longer belonged to Shen Siyan, but to CEO Shen.

“Alright,” Shen Siyan said, lowering her gaze as she took a sip of water and not lifting it again. “Then thank you, Xiaolu.”

“I’m relieved as long as you’ll accept it,” Wei Xiaolu said, a little at a loss. After a pause, she emphasized again, “I’m really especially grateful for how you’ve taken care of me.”

Shen Siyan gave a nearly inaudible “Mm” in response.

The moment seemed to stall for another two seconds.

“Wait a moment. I’ll tidy up and then leave.” She no longer looked at Wei Xiaolu. Setting down her glass, she turned and walked toward the bathroom.

“Okay, CEO Shen, I’ll wait for you.” Looking at that upright back, Wei Xiaolu felt a lingering sense of distance.

The restlessness in her heart had vanished completely, but in its place was that terrifying emptiness, as if something had been pulled away in an instant.

But if she said she really didn’t know what that emptiness meant, that wouldn’t be entirely true.

In fact, she vaguely knew a little.

Put plainly, giving the gift was not only about gratitude; more than that, it was a kind of probe and an escape.

Who was Wei Xiaolu, anyway? Just another office drone in the Product Interaction Department, and an intern at that, without even six-insurances-and-two-funds benefits. She needed to stay within the safe zone of a subordinate, needed a socially appropriate relationship model, needed all the boundaries that had already been drawn and clearly separated.

That slightly drunk feeling was an emotional experience she still couldn’t control.

So she pulled back from the cliff, strangled that faint, almost transgressive budding feeling in her heart, and succeeded. She was safe.

But somehow... she also suddenly felt empty.

Still, that emptiness didn’t last long. After all, if her heart couldn’t hold feelings, it could still hold other things; for example, work.

Ten minutes later, after getting ready, Shen Siyan waved her over. “Let’s go, Xiaolu. Work.”

“Coming, CEO Shen.” Wei Xiaolu followed her.

“It’s Monday again.” As she walked, Shen Siyan flipped through her schedule. After checking it over, she said, “We’ll have a department morning meeting in a bit. You should come too and help me take meeting minutes.”

Hearing Shen Siyan’s matter-of-fact tone, calm as a breeze over still water, Wei Xiaolu gradually settled down too.

She answered seriously, “Got it, CEO Shen. After the meeting, I’ll organize it and send it to you.”

TL Note:

matchmaking mode (拉郎) = trying to pair people up romantically, often as a ship

office drone (牛马) = slang for an overworked, exploited worker

six-insurances-and-two-funds (六险二金) = an expanded Chinese employee benefits package, with six insurances and two housing/provident-style funds