Chapter 20
Over the weekend, Wei Xiaolu went with Ai Jin to verify the two major questions Shen Siyan had raised.
They had been to the outsourcing company before, but only in passing; they’d come away with the vague impression that it was fairly large, without looking into the details.
This time, they discovered that the company occupied less than a hundred square meters; the rest of the space belonged to other tech companies.
“Do companies this small still get a lot of contracts?”
Wei Xiaolu wasn’t naturally suspicious, but she couldn’t help being curious.
“They don’t look at size,” Ai Jin said. “They look at actual capability.”
The company then proceeded to demonstrate its capability to them.
This time, Ai Jin was more cautious than ever, grilling the technical staff in detail. In the end, she was completely convinced by their professional strength and began discussing the emergency expedited work with great respect.
Of course, all of this was based on the confirmed fact that the rating had plunged——
According to the crawler data, the online rating had hovered around 3 points before the incident. It dropped sharply on the day of the accident, then kept stubbornly sliding downhill. If the trend continued, next week it would fall below 1 and enter the world of zero-point-something.
“Our company has never had a product below 2 points,” Ai Jin said, looking as if she’d lost all color on the way back to the office. “The first one to break that record happened under my watch.”
“Manager Ai, don’t worry too much,” Wei Xiaolu said, sitting beside her. “Haven’t we already figured out the problem? And we’ve even settled on a solution. Once the new expedited version goes live, things will definitely improve.”
Ai Jin let out a faint sigh. After a moment of silence, she stared blankly out the car window at the passing streets and said lightly, almost casually, “I honestly don’t even know what I’m supposed to do anymore.”
Then I really don’t know what to do either!
Wei Xiaolu was only a rookie; she had zero experience with this kind of situation and couldn’t offer any useful advice. She could only toss out some empty consolation: “We’re about to get through the hardest part. After this, things will definitely keep getting better.”
“I hope so.” Ai Jin rubbed her folded hands over her knees. “Sigh, I’ve already been called in by HR this week.”
Wei Xiaolu froze.
“Another project I’m in charge of also had some unexplained slip-up,” Ai Jin said wearily, forcing herself to stay composed. “There are a lot of people in the department eyeing my position, and the gossip hasn’t stopped. If the smart finance and tax product rating keeps taking hits and turns into a negative example, then I may have to..."
She stopped there and didn’t go on, but the meaning was already clear enough.
Hearing that, Wei Xiaolu no longer felt simple sympathy.
A chill crept quietly up her spine.
It seemed that some things were far from as simple as they looked.
Wei Xiaolu thought of the rumors she’d heard in the department about Manager Ai; thought of the fact that such an important metric as the online rating hadn’t even been reported to Shen Siyan; thought of the cramped, oppressive outsourcing office they had just seen, and the other side’s exaggerated, anxious assurances.
All these scattered clues were like loose beads. She still couldn’t string them together, but her instincts told her there was something deeply strange here.
“Manager Ai,” Wei Xiaolu lowered her voice unconsciously, her tone sharpening with caution, “don’t you think this is just... a little off?”
“Off everywhere,” Ai Jin couldn’t help muttering. “CEO Shen has only been here a month, and how did my side end up like this?”
“That has nothing to do with CEO Shen, right?” Wei Xiaolu blurted out.
“Ha...” Ai Jin didn’t seem to catch her meaning; she only gave a vague response and turned her gaze back to the window. “I’m not thinking about it anymore. Let’s just handle what’s in front of us first.”
Back at the company, Shen Siyan was still working overtime in her office. Ai Jin went straight to her and asked for approval to fast-track the work.
A few minutes later, Ai Jin left the department head’s office with the expedited request approved, and the door was gently pulled shut behind her.
For a moment, the office was left with only the faint sound of the computer running and the deepening dusk lying across the floor.
It felt as if a cat were scratching at her heart.
After everything she’d experienced, Wei Xiaolu realized she was no longer just a bystander. Standing high above the fray no longer felt secure; in the middle of the matter, it seemed she had a place in it too.
Looking at Shen Siyan sitting upright behind her desk, calm and unreadable, Wei Xiaolu’s urge to speak finally overpowered her usual restraint in front of someone above her.
“CEO Shen,” she took a few small steps forward, “I think... what happened to Manager Ai is a little too coincidental.”
“Oh?” Shen Siyan lifted her long lashes, her gaze sweeping over her with quiet composure. She didn’t interrupt; instead, she raised a brow, signaling for Wei Xiaolu to continue.
“Manager Ai was called in by HR, and the other projects she’s been handling recently also just happened to run into problems. Plus, there’ve been some rumors about her in the department lately,” Wei Xiaolu said faster and faster, as if trying to string those scattered beads together. “It feels like there’s an invisible hand pushing all the bad things onto Manager Ai, forcing her to choose the expedited request as her only lifeline.”
Shen Siyan said nothing. Wei Xiaolu glanced at her a couple of times, then went on.
“And that outsourcing company, too. The whole impression they give is so sloppy. Even though the technical strength they showed is undeniable—they really are strong—the environment, and the way they communicate with us, just makes it seem like they’re especially desperate to get this money.”
Wei Xiaolu paused, then continued, “So while Manager Ai was negotiating with them, I checked their historical transaction records. There really was a cooperation with the network department four years ago, but it was only a thirty-thousand-yuan internet speed test. It wasn’t the positioning system and communication software that General Manager Cen told us about.”
After pouring out all her observations in one breath, Wei Xiaolu did feel relieved not to be holding it in anymore, but since it was all just guesswork, she couldn’t help feeling a little nervous. She was afraid Shen Siyan would think she was the type who loved conspiracy theories.
Shen Siyan didn’t answer right away.
She leaned slightly forward, her fingertip tracing over the smooth desktop; in the end, she picked up a pen and wrote a couple of strokes in the work manual.
Then Shen Siyan leaned back in her chair, chin slightly raised, her eyes growing deeper, as though through Wei Xiaolu’s words she were examining a more complicated game behind all this.
A few seconds later, she spoke with utter calm: “Your feeling isn’t wrong.”
Wei Xiaolu saw her turn two fingers; the pen spun once at her fingertips before settling neatly into her palm.
“Ai Jin is in the middle of it now, so she can’t see it clearly.”
Wei Xiaolu’s heart jolted.
She wasn’t especially bad at keeping secrets; rushing to tell Shen Siyan what she’d found had, to some extent, also carried a little desire to show off her own ability.
But Shen Siyan’s attitude made it seem as though she had already known all of this.
After a brief daze, Wei Xiaolu returned to the issue at hand. “Then why did you still approve the expedited request?”
“Beat them at their own game,” Shen Siyan said, spreading her palms apart in an inviting gesture. “And invite the guest into the trap too.”
Wei Xiaolu felt a chill run over her head.
Perhaps seeing her shock, Shen Siyan pressed her lips together and smiled. “Scared you? The ‘guest’ isn’t you, little sister.”
Wei Xiaolu wanted to ask more, but didn’t dare.
She was afraid that knowing what she shouldn’t know would mean taking on what she shouldn’t have to bear; yet not knowing made her feel distinctly at a disadvantage, as if some people were born able to see through secrets in just a few glances, while she could only use a subjective “I feel” to explain her suspicions.
She hesitated, wanting to speak but unable to.
But Shen Siyan didn’t let her struggle for long. Instead, she took the initiative to share her plan. “Don’t worry. I have absolute control over this money. No matter what contract it is, I had Ai Jin add supplemental clauses, so the risk can be completely locked down. If the other side is just a shell company, the agreement won’t be enforceable in substance. If they want to run, we can still recover the losses through the bank or the guarantor.”
Wei Xiaolu had only just started learning about contracts, and there were many things she didn’t understand. After hearing Shen Siyan’s explanation, she suddenly wasn’t so panicked anymore.
She let out a slow “oh.” “So we can’t actually be cheated.”
“Our money; I won’t let a single cent of it be cheated away,” Shen Siyan said, reaching out to lightly tap Wei Xiaolu’s arm in reassurance. “Besides, I’ve already prepared the backup records. I’ve kept all the relevant evidence on whoever plotted this.”
This time, Wei Xiaolu was completely reassured, letting out a long breath. “Then that’s fine. Thinking about it all day really scared me; I’ve been worried all day.”
When she finished, she looked down and found that Shen Siyan was actually watching her with an expression that was half appreciative, half relieved.
Then Shen Siyan said with a sigh of admiration, “Not bad. Our Xiaolu has already learned to think for the department.”
“Of course. The department is my home,” Wei Xiaolu immediately declared her loyalty. “Everything that belongs to the department is my business, and the department’s money is mine..."
Realizing she’d misspoken, Wei Xiaolu quickly coughed twice. “Cough, cough. I mean, the department’s money has to be watched closely.”
Shen Siyan laughed out loud, looking very happy. “Your awareness is very high, little sister.”
“You taught me well, sister.” Wei Xiaolu cupped her hands in mock respect.
Shen Siyan accepted the compliment with ease, turned her chair halfway around, and faced the computer to shut it down.
“I didn’t rest this weekend either,” Shen Siyan said.
You don’t seem to rest any weekend, do you?
Sometimes Wei Xiaolu really admired Shen Siyan’s energy. To be able to work at such intensity and still stay so driven; just watching her made Wei Xiaolu feel tired. She couldn’t help asking, “Then are you going to take a break tonight?”
The sound of Shen Siyan clicking the mouse suddenly stopped.
Then she turned her head; her hair covered half her face.
“Sure. There’s nothing urgent tonight.”
Wei Xiaolu didn’t know what to say back and could only give a silly little grin. “Me too.”
“Then do you want to go shopping together? It’s time to buy autumn clothes,” Shen Siyan said as she clicked the final program shut. The screen went dark, and she stood up. “You also said you needed clothes; I haven’t seen you change into anything new.”
Who could refuse shopping?
Wei Xiaolu almost agreed on the spot. “Okay, let’s go buy clothes tonight.”
Shen Siyan picked up her bag and walked out first. Her long half-skirt trousers seemed to carry the wind with them.
With the leader moving ahead, the subordinate had to clean up behind her.
After Wei Xiaolu finished closing the window and turning off the lights, she hurried out of the office and followed after Shen Siyan.
They entered the elevator one after the other. As Shen Siyan reached to press the floor number, her fingertip paused slightly over the cafeteria on the second floor before sliding down to the first floor.
Then she looked over, tilting her head a little and leaning closer. She smiled at the still-dazed Wei Xiaolu.
“Since we’re going out to have fun anyway, I’ll take you to eat something good on the way.”
Wei Xiaolu was practically bursting with happiness; she held down the corners of her mouth with great effort. “Okay. Beautiful lady, you decide where we go; I’ll follow you anywhere.”