Chapter 24
Wei Xiaolu followed Shen Siyan back to the room almost on all fours, her face flushing hot and cold in turns.
That frantic, impulsive “I like someone like CEO Shen” she had blurted out, and Shen Siyan’s composed “Good taste,” kept battling in her head like a split-brain duet.
Could she just forget it? Please, let her forget it. This was way too embarrassing.
Being overheard saying she liked someone like Shen Siyan was no different from suddenly running naked in front of her.
While Wei Xiaolu was trapped in a furnace of ice and fire, Shen Siyan, on the other hand, was perfectly unruffled.
She didn’t seem to take it to heart at all.
After laying out the takeout on the table, Shen Siyan leisurely unwrapped a pair of disposable chopsticks, even thoughtfully opening the lid on the sweet-and-sour pork ribs for Wei Xiaolu and sliding it in front of her.
“...Thank you, CEO Shen.” Wei Xiaolu sat at the far end of the round table.
“Where do you want to go tomorrow?” Shen Siyan’s tone was calm and natural, as if nothing had happened.
But from Shen Siyan’s perspective, nothing had happened. It was just a tiny fangirl confessing her admiration. Wei Xiaolu didn’t even know what state her own mind was in, making it sound like something huge had gone down.
“I’m fine with anything,” Wei Xiaolu said softly. “Where do you want to go?”
Shen Siyan was quiet for a moment, then suddenly lifted her chin at her.
“Like fishing, little sister?”
Wei Xiaolu’s scalp prickled. She waved both hands in alarm. “No, no, I mean—I...”
Then she caught the puzzled look on Shen Siyan’s face.
The second half of “I have nothing to do with Wang Chen” got swallowed back down.
She realized... Shen Siyan seemed to be asking about fishing in the literal sense.
“Oh, fishing,” Wei Xiaolu said, calming down. “I think I’d probably like it. I’ve never tried it.”
“Then should we go fishing at sea tomorrow and let you give it a try?” Shen Siyan asked.
“Okay,” Wei Xiaolu said, propping her chin in her hands and swaying slightly. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Wei Xiaolu didn’t want her first time fishing with her boss to look pathetic, so that night she secretly went online and learned a bit about fishing. It didn’t seem difficult; it was just a hobby that depended entirely on luck.
Very simple.
They had originally agreed to go by boat in the morning, but it was too hot, so Shen Siyan changed it to the evening session. At five in the afternoon, they crossed the seafood market and reached the coast. The sun, no longer blazing, spilled across the water, dressing the sea in a coat of scales.
Following the guide with the others, they made their way to the boarding point.
The surroundings felt a little unsteady; the waves were rocking, and even the pier seemed to sway, making one’s heart wobble along with it.
The blue-and-white fishing boat they were to board bobbed up and down. A plank of just the right width separated them from it, swaying in rhythm with the waves.
Shen Siyan stepped onto the plank first, her pace steady and light. Then she immediately turned around and held out her hand to Wei Xiaolu.
Gripping the railing, Wei Xiaolu placed her other hand in Shen Siyan’s palm.
Shen Siyan clasped it, gave a slight pull, and led her onto the plank.
Getting on the boat was the same.
The guide stood at the bow explaining life jacket safety and handed them out one by one. Wei Xiaolu’s was tangled in knots, and she spent ages unable to get it open. When Shen Siyan saw, she took it over and simply slipped it down over Wei Xiaolu’s head in its tangled state.
After putting it on, there were still two buckles to fasten. Just as Wei Xiaolu lifted her hand, the back of it bumped into Shen Siyan’s.
Guiltily, she clenched her fingers and handed over the chance to buckle it to Shen Siyan, then quietly tucked both hands behind her back—the same hands Shen Siyan had already grabbed twice.
“All done.” Shen Siyan finished fastening it and patted her shoulder.
Wei Xiaolu gave a small “Mm,” then remembered to add, “Thank you, beautiful lady.”
According to the captain, it would take the boat about ten minutes to reach the fishing zone. Wei Xiaolu and Shen Siyan moved two chairs over and sat at the bow, admiring the view over the sea.
From Wei Xiaolu’s seat, she could see the water being torn open by the hull, the rippling waves split apart in pain.
After staring for a while, she looked up ahead. The salty, fresh scent drifted over on the wind. Wei Xiaolu took a deep breath of this free air and suddenly felt as though her chest had been opened wide.
She stole a glance at Shen Siyan beside her.
Shen Siyan was gathering her hair. The sea breeze never favored anyone, and especially not beautiful women with their hair down; it was easy for the wind to get jealous and blow them into sea monsters with wild, chaotic hairstyles.
Wei Xiaolu secretly smiled.
“CEO Shen,” she said, moving behind Shen Siyan, “let me tie it up for you.”
Shen Siyan paused, then handed over the hair tie. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, beautiful lady.” Wei Xiaolu gathered Shen Siyan’s hair at the back of her head and ran her fingers through it before tying it into a bundle.
When she sat back down and faced the wind again, the scent seemed different somehow, carrying a faint floral note.
Wei Xiaolu was a little distracted. A moment later, she took her fingers away from her nose, and the pure salty sea wind came rushing back in.
At last, the boat stopped.
They were on a broad stretch of water, surrounded by four or five other boats of various sizes, all with people on deck who had also come to fish.
Wei Xiaolu was looking across at the others when a fishing rod appeared in front of her.
“You can start.”
Wei Xiaolu took the rod from the captain. “I’m not very good at this... how do I fish?”
“Easy. Let the line out first,” the captain demonstrated. “Count it out—one, two, three, and then you can stop. After that, move it up and down. See? Like this, and that’s enough.”
“Don’t I need bait?” Wei Xiaolu asked.
“These are all small fish,” the captain said with a wave. “One hook and they’re on.”
That easy.
Wei Xiaolu picked it up quickly enough, but no matter where she cast, every time she thought she had a bite and reeled it up, there was still nothing on the hook.
Shen Siyan had already caught seven or eight fish. Seeing that Wei Xiaolu had come up empty-handed again and again, she smiled, walked over, and took the rod from behind her, guiding her through a round of fishing.
“Like this; follow the direction.”
Before long, Wei Xiaolu felt the rod grow heavy.
“Did I get one?” Wei Xiaolu turned back and asked.
Shen Siyan let go. “Reel it in and see.”
Wei Xiaolu wound the line like crazy. Finally, when the hooked fish broke the surface, she couldn’t help cheering.
“This way.”
She looked toward Shen Siyan’s voice and saw the camera. She straightened at once and set the fish beside her.
“Xiaolu’s first fish,” Shen Siyan said.
“Yay.” Wei Xiaolu raised a pair of V signs in delight.
After putting the fish into the bucket, Wei Xiaolu, now hooked on the feeling, soon caught her second and third fish as well.
The more she fished, the more addicted she got.
By evening, the setting sun was visibly softening, and the western sky had already been dyed a gorgeous orange-pink.
A few children were gathered at the stern watching the sunset. Wei Xiaolu had been fishing for so long that she was getting a little tired, so she set down her rod and wandered over too.
Warm light spilled across the sea, shattering into millions of flickering scales, rising and falling, bright and dim.
Wei Xiaolu recorded it on her phone in short clips.
After a while, Shen Siyan came over too and sat down beside her. She didn’t take any photos; she simply watched the end of the day from a distance in silence.
Wei Xiaolu was used to the lively Shen Siyan, the one who could make one frame stretch into eight; now that she had gone completely still, she felt strangely unfamiliar.
When Shen Siyan had expressions, words, and gestures, Wei Xiaolu could usually guess what CEO Shen was thinking. But once Shen Siyan stripped away every last detail that expressed emotion, Wei Xiaolu couldn’t read her at all.
Since she didn’t understand, she could only ask directly.
“CEO Shen, do you... really like fishing?”
Shen Siyan still looked toward the horizon, her tone faintly distant. “Mm. My parents once took me fishing.”
Wei Xiaolu wanted to say something, but her instinct told her it was okay not to. So she stayed quiet, letting the sea breeze gently pass through the space between them.
Shen Siyan continued watching the horizon, her voice as if dredged up from memory. “Back then, my father told me fishing isn’t about the result; it’s about learning to wait.”
“Wait?” Wei Xiaolu still didn’t quite get it. “You mean waiting for the fish to bite?”
Shen Siyan nodded. “Yes. To stay patient.”
“I think I get it now,” Wei Xiaolu said at once, applying this wisdom to the workplace and demonstrating her dedication to her boss. “It’s the same with work. Learning and doing things both require patience; you wait for the best moment to reel everything in.”
“You can think of it that way.” Shen Siyan finally turned to look at her, but in the glow of the sunset, her expression was hard to read.
Under the afterglow, staring at Shen Siyan’s face, Wei Xiaolu suddenly panicked a little. “Then... what are you thinking?”
“I was just thinking,” Shen Siyan said, her brow lifting slightly, “if we pull in the net now, will we miss a bigger fish?”
No, no; this was high-elo gameplay.
Wei Xiaolu caught a whiff of calculation. For no reason at all, she started to fear this version of Shen Siyan, and instinctively wanted to avoid it. So she quickly steered the conversation back to the present.
“We should only be able to catch small fish here. The captain said if we want bigger ones, we have to go farther in, to deeper water.”
“Yeah. Big fish aren’t so easy to catch,” Shen Siyan said with a smile, returning at last to her usual kind and attractive self. “Want to try the little fish we caught today?”
“Can you even eat these?” Wei Xiaolu asked in surprise, widening her eyes.
“You can,” Shen Siyan said. “We’ll take the bucket and find a place to have them fried. Then they’ll be ready to eat.”
“Okay then.” Wei Xiaolu answered eagerly.
By the time the fishing fatigue set in and the sunset had been watched, neither of them felt like doing any more. It wasn’t until the captain brought everyone back to shore that Wei Xiaolu stood up, handed in her fishing rod, and intended to take her spoils home with her.
But when she glanced into the bucket and saw it full of pale dead bellies, she got so frightened she dropped it right there on the spot.
“What’s wrong?” Shen Siyan came over and asked with concern.
“I...” Wei Xiaolu felt embarrassed, and her jumpy reaction also made her feel awkward. “The fish are all dead. It startled me.”
She really couldn’t stand the sight of something that had once been alive suddenly turned into a dead thing.
Shen Siyan bent down and lifted the bucket, her tone gentle. “Everyone’s like that the first time they go fishing. Seeing lively fish leave the water and die can be a little hard to take.”
Wei Xiaolu still felt uneasy and rubbed her hands together.
“I was the same my first time fishing. Later I got over it, because...” Shen Siyan gave the bucket a shake. “Salt-and-pepper fried fish is actually pretty delicious.”
Wei Xiaolu burst out laughing.
“Then are we having salt and pepper tonight?” she asked.
“Sure.” Shen Siyan smiled at her too.
They found a small restaurant nearby to have the fish cooked. While they sat outside waiting, Shen Siyan kept replying to messages, as if work had come calling again.
Wei Xiaolu sat there blankly for a while and started feeling restless. She was about to dig through her contacts and find someone to chat with, but when she picked up her phone and saw the DingTalk work messages, she suddenly froze.
—Because of Ai Jin’s major work negligence, the HR department had announced its final decision to dismiss her.
“How could Manager Ai be fired?” Wei Xiaolu felt deeply guilty and upset. “Didn’t we get the losses back? CEO Shen, didn’t you say anything about this in the company?”
Shen Siyan shook her head, but her tone was unexpectedly relaxed. “I didn’t say anything.”
“But if Manager Ai is getting fired, isn’t that way too unfair to her?”
Shen Siyan smiled and lifted one finger to wag it gently. “That’s not the same thing.”
Wei Xiaolu looked at her like that and could roughly guess it probably wasn’t because of the smart finance system. Ai Jin must have made another mistake on some other project. Even so, she still felt vaguely unhappy.
“Little sister,” Shen Siyan said, setting her phone face-down on the table and picking up the teapot to pour them each a cup of water, “don’t rush. Let’s wait and see.”
Just then the owner brought over a plate of golden, crispy fried fish; the aroma flooded the entire table.
Smiling, Shen Siyan picked up a piece with her chopsticks and put it into Wei Xiaolu’s bowl, then said, with deliberate vagueness, “We’ve only played for one day. Who knows what tomorrow will be like.”
TL Note:
DingTalk (钉钉) = a Chinese workplace messaging and collaboration app.