Chapter 21

Shen Siyan’s car didn’t head straight to the mall. It stopped at the staff apartments on the way so the two of them could go back first and shed all that office stiffness.

Mostly, Shen Siyan wanted to change her entire look. Wei Xiaolu didn’t care much about dressing up; the point of going out to play was the “play” part. But it was obvious Shen Siyan cared more about the “going out” part.

Since there was nothing that could be improved about her face, Wei Xiaolu changed into a pair of easy-on, easy-off shoes and sat on the sofa waiting for the beauty to appear.

The beauty took ten minutes to get ready inside.

Thinking back to Shen Siyan’s outfit on the day of her blind date, and to the clothes she usually wore to work, Wei Xiaolu reasonably inferred that CEO Shen was the type to dress for the occasion.

So when she was going shopping with a subordinate, what kind of outfit would she choose for the occasion?

Too hard to guess.

Wei Xiaolu pressed the corners of her mouth down so they wouldn’t keep twitching upward on their own.

At last, she’d waited the person out.

The bedroom door clicked softly open. Wei Xiaolu looked up at the sound, and her breath caught so hard it almost stopped being breath at all—she really got a taste of what it meant to gasp.

Shen Siyan had changed into a deep-sea-blue satin mermaid skirt. The curve of her waist and hips was simply too striking; the skirt narrowed below the knees before flaring out again, truly looking like a mermaid’s tailfin.

She seemed to have redone her makeup as well. Her lipstick had changed to a fresher eggplant red, and her long hair had been let down, adding a few more touches of lazy, carefree ease.

“Wow,” Wei Xiaolu blurted, unable to hold it in. “So beautiful.”

Shen Siyan looked over, and her lovely face suddenly pinched. “You’re going shopping barefaced, little sister?”

“Oh, I’m fine like this.” Wei Xiaolu touched her own face.

Shen Siyan came over and lightly tapped the ripped jeans with her fingertip. “No. Our Xiaolu is this pretty, so she has to be pretty with me too.”

When Wei Xiaolu was led into her boss’s bedroom to be transformed, she still didn’t quite get it. She took Shen Siyan’s clothes and changed while thinking that maybe Shen Siyan was into some kind of dress-up game; she’d taken the second dimension into the third.

It wasn’t until after she’d changed and Shen Siyan walked over, the two of them dressed up and clearly framed together in the same mirror, that Wei Xiaolu suddenly understood.

So she needed to match her leader.

In Wei Xiaolu’s old understanding, she was supposed to downplay herself so her superior could stand out, so even if she wore something shabby, it wouldn’t feel out of place; it was enough for the leader to shine on her own.

But her boss didn’t see it that way.

From Shen Siyan’s words and actions, it wasn’t hard to tell that CEO Shen wanted a balanced team aesthetic; and besides, a dazzling companion could also highlight the leader’s taste and charisma.

In the mirror, Wei Xiaolu wore a sky-blue fitted dress that echoed Shen Siyan’s presence. One was clear and elegant like a blue sky; the other was deep and rich like the ocean.

“That’s more like it,” Shen Siyan said with satisfaction. “Our Xiaolu just needs a little dressing up to look deadly.”

“I’m not that good,” Wei Xiaolu said, a little hot around the ears. “Standing next to a great beauty like you, this bit of good looks I have is all being propped up by thick skin.”

“Then your skin probably isn’t thicker than mine,” Shen Siyan said with a smile. “I only put on two layers of base makeup today.”

Wei Xiaolu laughed too.

“How about it?” Shen Siyan asked at last. “Shall we go out wearing these?”

“Yay,” Wei Xiaolu said, then stole another look at the two of them in the mirror and murmured in admiration, “Oh my god, it’s like a perfect match.”

Shen Siyan paused, then laughed out loud. “Then don’t waste such a heaven-made pairing. Let’s go out and stun everyone together.”

“Go!” Wei Xiaolu twisted her waist and excitedly danced twice.

Since they were already in such a good location, there was no need to take the car to the mall. They walked there in five minutes and arrived at tonight’s main battlefield.

But Sunday evening was prime strolling time, and the mall was crowded. After Wei Xiaolu followed Shen Siyan for a bit and noticed that CEO Shen kept turning back to look at her, she simply chased after her and brazenly walked shoulder to shoulder with her leader.

“Want to eat here?” Shen Siyan asked as they passed a Yunnan restaurant, lifting one eyebrow.

“I’ve never had it before!” Wei Xiaolu wanted to eat it but tried not to seem too uncultured. After a pause she added, “If you want to eat here, then let’s eat here.”

Shen Siyan tipped her chin toward the restaurant, meaning that was the one.

Once they were seated, Wei Xiaolu remembered the social survival tips she’d learned online and strictly enforced the rule that whoever paid should order the food. Shen Siyan had said on the way that this meal was on her, so Wei Xiaolu wiped the table, poured water, and dragged out the time until Shen Siyan finished ordering.

“Little sister, pick two dishes.” Shen Siyan handed her the phone.

She’d originally wanted to shove all the choice back to Shen Siyan, but the pretty drink at the next table looked kind of delicious. She had to order that one.

So she took Shen Siyan’s phone with practiced obedience.

After choosing the dishes and returning the phone, Wei Xiaolu was still worried about what would happen if there was nothing to say before eating and the conversation went cold. Then she saw Shen Siyan finish placing the order, look up, pause, and brighten with surprise. “This place is decorated really nicely. Want to take a picture?”

“I’ll take it for you.” Wei Xiaolu took the phone back from Shen Siyan again and took on the role of photographer.

After snapping the photo, she returned the phone. Shen Siyan looked at it; apparently she liked it, and she even praised Wei Xiaolu’s photography skills.

But then she asked, “Want one too?”

“No, CEO Shen.” Wei Xiaolu shook her head and waved her hand. “I usually don’t take photos when I’m out having fun.”

“Not keeping it as a souvenir?” Shen Siyan asked.

“...” Wei Xiaolu changed her mind again. “A souvenir? Sure, then let’s take one.”

Shen Siyan took two photos of her.

When she got the phone back, Wei Xiaolu didn’t really want to look. One of the main reasons she disliked taking photos when she went out was that she hated seeing the pictures. She always felt that looking at her unmoving self was kind of uncanny, as if she were looking at the death of that moment in time. That state in photos, so much like her and yet not really her, could sometimes even make Wei Xiaolu feel uncomfortable, or faintly frightened.

She liked everything dynamic, active, alive, and full of vitality.

Not something still and frozen like a photograph, waiting for other people’s eyes to judge it.

Wei Xiaolu’s gaze stopped on the screen.

Shen Siyan had taken a moving photo of her.

...It was pretty nice.

Then Wei Xiaolu looked at it carefully a few more times and came to a conclusion:

Holy crap, it looks so good.

“I’m posting this to Moments,” Wei Xiaolu decided immediately.

By then, the dishes were starting to arrive one after another. Shen Siyan arranged them a little and said, “With some pretty food to go with it.”

“Right, right.” Wei Xiaolu hurriedly found a few angles and took two more shots.

Wei Xiaolu had eaten plenty of dinners at home with Shen Siyan, but this was the first time eating out together, and for some reason she felt a little shy.

Maybe it had something to do with the atmosphere of the place too. Flowers decorated every corner, and the lights overhead were a warm, ambiguous yellow. No matter how she looked at it, it felt like—

A workplace.

During the meal, Shen Siyan took four or five calls. In between, she even had a file to approve, so she simply took her tablet out of her bag and looked at it while she ate.

By now, Wei Xiaolu finally knew where her embarrassment was coming from... it was the awkwardness of the boss working while she ate.

It was fine. She might not be able to do the work, but she would definitely eat well.

Wei Xiaolu ate that entire meal with immaculate seriousness in front of CEO Shen.

Fortunately, Shen Siyan wasn’t a workaholic either. The people calling her at this hour were all bringing urgent matters. After dinner, she set aside that two-handed multitasking mode, and once they got to the clothing store, the only thing left was focusing on picking clothes.

Maybe to take Wei Xiaolu’s spending power into account, the stores they went to were all affordable, mainstream shops.

Of course, the gap in spending power still couldn’t be erased. In the end, Shen Siyan bought six or seven sets of fall clothes, while Wei Xiaolu only bought one wool sweater and one brown-coffee-colored tweed long skirt.

But for Wei Xiaolu, that was already a rich harvest.

On the way back to the apartment, they passed a little lane strung with bright lanterns, and Shen Siyan said that taking photos there would produce a divine shot. Wei Xiaolu immediately offered up her phone with both hands and cooperated obediently with her leader’s poses.

Shen Siyan hadn’t lied to her.

Back at the apartment, Wei Xiaolu rolled around on the bed admiring the moving photos. In the end she flopped flat on her back and kicked her legs wildly in the air a few times with excitement. “How am I this pretty?”

Moments. Time to edit.

Wei Xiaolu was too lazy to retouch the photos, but she was still diligent enough to spend a long time writing the caption, praising today’s food and beauty, and thanking Shen Siyan for her special contribution.

After posting, Wei Xiaolu couldn’t help but look forward to it.

Would Shen Siyan see it and give her a like?

She lay in bed waiting for a while, but instead of a like, she got a private message from someone.

[Wang Chen: Out having fun tonight?]

[Wang Chen: Why didn’t you call me along?]

What, was he looking only at the picture and not the text? Why would you call him along to go shopping with Shen Siyan? A trio?

[Wei Xiaolu: Engineer Wang wants to be my bag-carrying little helper?]

Wang Chen sent a shy emoji, then said:

[Wang Chen: Sure. I’ll carry your bags for you from now on.]

“Huh?” Wei Xiaolu’s whole body felt itchy just looking at it, and she gave a little shudder.

This guy was not okay.

CEO Shen was right next to her, and he was coming to carry her bags? Was he not taking the leader seriously at all?

[Wei Xiaolu: No, no, carry CEO Shen’s bags first.]

The other side sent two question marks, then finally fell silent for a while.

During that time, Wei Xiaolu received a red heart from Shen Siyan, so the thank-you in her caption must have been seen. That meant she’d at least been thoughtful; she hadn’t just freeloaded off other people’s labor.

Having seen what she wanted to see, Wei Xiaolu tossed her phone aside and prepared to wash up and sleep.

However, her phone vibrated again, unwilling to be ignored.

Wei Xiaolu picked it up and looked: it was still Wang Chen.

[Wang Chen: Carrying CEO Shen’s bags is work; carrying your bags is voluntary. Totally different, you know]

Wei Xiaolu’s brows furrowed.

Could the matchmaker please pay attention to gender next time when matching peach blossoms? Getting it wrong makes it look a lot like harassment; she’d already run into this twice recently.

But Wang Chen was different from Qi Lang. She couldn’t hurt a coworker’s feelings too much, and she also couldn’t expose herself or give him leverage.

While she was thinking about how to gently but firmly make her position clear, another message came through.

[Wang Chen: The lighting on the way was amazing. Next time we can go stroll again, just the two of us, and I’ll take pictures for you]

[Wang Chen: I’m in tech; trust me, I can absolutely take photos even better than these]

Stop.

Wei Xiaolu couldn’t take it anymore and replied directly: [Thanks for the kind offer, Engineer Wang, but when it comes to taking photos, I only recognize CEO Shen’s style.]

Before he could answer, she sent one more line.

[Wei Xiaolu: It’s late. We still have work tomorrow.]

Then she added a row of smiling, waving yellow bean emojis.

That was it. Wei Xiaolu dropped her phone and slipped into the bathroom to wash her face.

She hadn’t expected Shen Siyan to be in there too. She rushed in, then backed out again, politely and deferentially saying, “CEO Shen, you go first. I’ll come back in a bit.”

Shen Siyan was putting on a face mask, and her immersive skincare ritual had been interrupted. She turned her head and asked, “Did you come flying in on wheels? Why are you so flustered?”

It wasn’t convenient to tattle on Wang Chen to Shen Siyan, and for a moment Wei Xiaolu couldn’t think of a suitable excuse. Her mind flashed, and she blurted out, “You just liked my post. I was happy.”

Her face was covered by the mask, so her expression wasn’t visible, but Wei Xiaolu still felt that, for a moment, Shen Siyan’s movements had paused.

Maybe that was just her imagination, because Shen Siyan quickly laughed and teased her, “One like and you can’t sit still?”

Wei Xiaolu had originally wanted to say that getting her approval made her happier than getting a hundred likes.

But that sounded too much like bootlicking, and if Wei Jialuo found out, he’d probably laugh at her for ten days and ten nights.

So she touched her ear and changed the wording: “It’s not just the like. You’re the reason I’m happy.”

Shen Siyan gave no reaction.

Wei Xiaolu added, “Going out to play isn’t even the main thing. The main thing is being with you.”

Shen Siyan’s eyes flickered.

Still getting no response, Wei Xiaolu awkwardly scratched her cheek and softened her voice. “Really, I was only thinking about you.”

The eyes opposite her immediately curved. Smiling slightly, Shen Siyan said, “If you put it that way, then while you were shopping tonight, you didn’t really see much of the scenery, did you?”

Wei Xiaolu decided to keep piling on the flattery until it bloomed into flowers, so she went along with her words and said, “Yeah. Today, every bit of scenery on the street paled in comparison to you.”