Chapter 28

Back at the apartment, after dinner with Shen Siyan, Wei Xiaolu shut her bedroom door and flopped onto the bed.

Joking around with Shen Siyan on the way home had helped push the rumors out of her mind for a while, but the moment she dropped all pretense and returned to a quieter space, she realized the feelings she had been forcing down at the company were still just as tangled and chaotic.

Now that she knew where the rumor had come from, she no longer felt quite so angry or wronged.

Instead, something else—something deeper and sharper—pierced straight through her.

Because in the middle of that conversation with Shen Siyan, she had suddenly, and with a flash of fear, realized that hidden inside the malicious speculation about her, the claims that she liked to curry favor and flatter people, was a sliver of truth she couldn’t entirely deny.

She really was trying to please Shen Siyan.

Every time she spoke to Shen Siyan, she was pretending to be a loyal underling, constantly guessing at her superior’s thoughts, then using every exaggerated trick she could think of to play the part of an energetic, devoted, and slightly sycophantic weakling.

“Am I really... the kind of person they say I am?”

Once that thought sank its hooks into her heart, it wouldn’t let go. Wei Xiaolu had no choice but to seek outside help, so she called Tang Xiaofen for some comfort.

But since the apartment wasn’t soundproof, she decided to change locations. Right before heading out, she only told Shen Siyan, “I’m going out to call home,” then turned and left.

Tang Xiaofen was in the shower, so Wei Zongqing answered the phone.

“Dad,” Wei Xiaolu said, with her earphones on, strolling slowly beneath the streetlights, “I’m not happy at this job anymore either.”

“What happened?” Wei Zongqing asked.

“Well, I get along pretty well with my boss, and then I said I liked people like my boss, and somehow that got turned into a rumor that I like flattering superiors.”

Once Wei Xiaolu started, she couldn’t stop. The more she talked, the sadder she felt, until Wei Zongqing said, “They just don’t understand,” and her eyes immediately went wet.

“Xiaolu,” Wei Zongqing said, “that’s not the kind of opportunistic flattery they’re talking about. You’re being sincere with her.”

“Mm.” Wei Xiaolu sniffled.

“Her position is what it is. Anyone working under her would do the same.”

Wei Xiaolu felt a little better. She let out a breath and asked, “Then, Dad, do you think I’m doing the right thing? Actually, at the beginning I didn’t mean to say such nice things to her either. It was just that when she moved in, I didn’t know, and I complained about her twice, and she overheard it. I panicked a little then, so I instinctively tried to smooth things over first..."

“What’s wrong with that? Those people are just jealous that you know how to talk,” Wei Zongqing said with a laugh. “Besides, as the saying goes, human sophistication is itself a kind of writing. From what I hear, I don’t think your relationship with your boss is you humbling yourself and flattering her one-sidedly. It’s mutual. Doesn’t the way she talks also make you feel comfortable and happy?”

Wei Xiaolu thought for a moment. “That’s true.”

“So don’t take those idle remarks to heart.”

“Mm,” Wei Xiaolu said, sounding much more confident now. “Let them say whatever they want. I’m going to work hard, and I’ll use real progress and real results to make all the gossip collapse on its own.”

“Oh, that’s quite the spirit,” Wei Zongqing said warmly, chuckling.

“You bet,” Wei Xiaolu said happily. “Don’t forget whose daughter I am.”

They chatted a little longer. Then Wei Xiaolu looked up and realized she had wandered to a convenience store. She paused at the entrance and thought it over for a moment. “Dad, I’m okay now. You and Mom should go to bed early.”

“Alright,” Wei Zongqing said. “Call again if anything comes up.”

Putting her phone away, she went into the store and bought a lot of yogurt. Shen Siyan didn’t seem to have any preferred flavor, so she bought one of everything.

When she brought it back to the apartment, Shen Siyan was still in the bedroom on a video conference. Wei Xiaolu didn’t want to disturb her, so she quietly put the yogurt in the fridge.

It wasn’t until Shen Siyan finished the meeting and came out, holding her laptop in one hand and opening the refrigerator with the other, that—

Seeing the dazed look on Shen Siyan’s face, Wei Xiaolu hid behind the folding screen and secretly curved her lips into a broad smile.

Suddenly, Shen Siyan turned around.

Oh no, she’s caught me spying! Wei Xiaolu promptly ducked completely behind the screen.

Then she heard Shen Siyan’s drawn-out laugh. “Little sister, the screen is frosted. I can still see your shadow.”

Wei Xiaolu sidestepped a few paces and ducked into the hallway. “Now you can’t see me, right?”

Another burst of laughter followed; bright and pleasant.

“Didn’t you go out to make a phone call? Why did you come back with so much yogurt?” Shen Siyan asked.

“I passed by and saw it, and I remembered the fridge was almost empty,” Wei Xiaolu said, poking her head out again and grinning. “So I just preordered you two weeks’ worth.”

Shen Siyan looked at her. “That’s just too happy-making.”

“I’m pretty happy too,” Wei Xiaolu said with a smile. “I’m going to destroy all this yogurt together with a beautiful woman.”

Shen Siyan didn’t waste words. She immediately took out two cups, called Wei Xiaolu over to sit by the sofa, and really did start “destroying” the yogurt.

“The newly formed work group is for cross-team collaboration, mainly responsible for a crucial integration project. The members are all key people seconded from their respective teams,” Shen Siyan said after taking a bite. “You need to prepare in advance.”

Wei Xiaolu agreed, then quickly made her position clear. “When I go, I definitely won’t embarrass you, CEO Shen.”

Shen Siyan slowly stirred the yogurt with her spoon, her tone calm but still caring. “Everyone drawn into this work group is a seasoned employee. Each of them has at least a little personality of their own. Once you’re added in, there may be some pressure at first, and some of the work may not go smoothly.”

Her boss had warned her that far; Wei Xiaolu wasn’t stupid. She knew there would be no shortage of hidden resistance once she joined the work group.

“I understand,” she said, taking a deep breath and nodding earnestly. “When the time comes, I’ll listen more, look more, learn more, do more, and stay cautious.”

Maybe she looked too much like a warrior braced for battle, because Shen Siyan glanced at her and couldn’t help laughing.

“No need to be nervous,” Shen Siyan said, setting down the yogurt cup. “The first group meeting is scheduled for Thursday afternoon. I’ll come by then and say a few words.”

That was a little vague. Wei Xiaolu couldn’t quite tell whether Shen Siyan meant she would simply give some leadership instructions and set the direction, or whether she would be there to back her up and help her find a clearer position and voice.

When Wei Xiaolu wasn’t sure, she didn’t invent drama on her own. She clapped and smiled, welcoming CEO Shen’s guidance and inspection, and just like that, that part of the matter was considered settled.

But whatever the real reason was, the answer was revealed on the day of the meeting.

Since it was the work group’s first meeting and the members had all been pulled in from different teams, not everyone knew each other well. The atmosphere was inevitably a little delicate.

People sat scattered around the long conference table, outwardly polite and restrained, but in reality drawing invisible boundaries all around them.

After Shen Siyan arrived, she explained the project’s overall arrangement and then began taking turns around the table in clockwise order for everyone to speak.

The discussion mainly centered on how to build the integration model. Each person proposed a few ideas, and they worked toward a final implementation plan.

“The problem I have right now is, everyone keeps saying integration, integration, but when you’ve got so many systems, there has to be give and take, right? Which one are we using as the baseline for development? And which systems’ functions are being layered on top? We need to settle that first.”

The speaker was Qian Longyue, from the technical team, and he was in charge of building the system architecture for the integration project.

The following remarks mostly branched out from the issue Qian Longyue had raised. There were three core fusion systems, and everyone gave the option they thought was best, along with solid and convincing reasons.

The speaking continued in order. When it came to Wei Xiaolu, before she even opened her mouth, she could feel several disdainful looks land on her. As for the rest who didn’t look over at her... they were probably too dismissive to bother.

She straightened in her seat and said clearly, but not too loudly, “Before choosing, I’d like to share a special situation I encountered while handling the data for the Dawn Project. It might offer a reference point.”

When she saw Shen Siyan nod at her, Wei Xiaolu felt a little more at ease.

“In the course of processing the data, I found an issue,” Wei Xiaolu continued. “Among these three products, the core transaction volume for two of them drops synchronously during certain periods, but all other monitoring indicators are normal.”

More and more people began looking up.

“I thought that was strange, so I dug deeper into the data to find the cause. Later, I discovered that the problem lay in a marginalized log system,” Wei Xiaolu said. “This log system doesn’t handle core business; it only records user operation trails. But its data-processing capacity is limited. Once usage exceeds a certain threshold, the log system itself enters a bottleneck stage, which indirectly blocks the other systems that depend on its log stream.”

As she spoke, her gaze swept across the rest of the work group. “Right now we’re discussing the advantages of these three products. There’s no denying they’re all excellent, each with its own strengths, and it’s hard to choose. But if we reverse the process and look at their weaknesses, I think the Stonelyn system, which doesn’t depend on the log stream, is better.”

Wei Xiaolu then went on to expand on her viewpoint with related thoughts. Judging from everyone’s reactions, it was clear her opinion really did have some constructive value.

At the very least, the connection she had raised was something everyone else had overlooked.

By the time she finished speaking, even Qian Longyue’s expression toward her was no longer marked by the hostility and suspicion from before; there even seemed to be a hint of admiration mixed in.

Whether or not her suggestion would ultimately be adopted, Wei Xiaolu was utterly satisfied in that moment. The days she had spent painstakingly digging and researching hadn’t been wasted; at the very least, she had managed to get a little revenge.

“What Xiaolu just brought up is extremely important.”

Shen Siyan loosened her interlaced fingers on the table and pointed toward Wei Xiaolu, her voice clear and bright. “It happens to connect perfectly with the risk avoidance we’re about to discuss next. For an intern to reach this level of insight in such a short time is very impressive...”

“CEO Shen.”

Wei Xiaolu gently interrupted her and, under the table, quietly made a stop gesture at her.

Then she naturally picked up the thread. “This idea was also inspired by a previous discussion with Engineer Qian. Engineer Qian knows the project’s characteristics better and guided me into this kind of research approach.”

That was, of course, an exaggeration.

At most, Qian Longyue had told her the names of the three products, but now he was shamelessly claiming the credit. Shen Siyan gave Wei Xiaolu a long look, then turned to praise the technical lead instead. “Qian Longyue has solid technical skills and thorough, thoughtful judgment. He’s also very capable when it comes to nurturing newcomers and opening up new ways of thinking. With you overseeing the technical architecture of the project, I’m very reassured.”

All praise and criticism, aside from when it landed on oneself, was really no one else’s concern at the meeting.

After another round of evaluation, Wei Xiaolu had almost forgotten about Qian Longyue being praised; but when the meeting ended, she saw him walk up to thank Shen Siyan profusely for her trust, beaming all the while.

Wei Xiaolu found that a little funny and was about to slip away with the crowd, but in the next second Shen Siyan suddenly called out to her.

“Xiaolu,” Shen Siyan looked at her, “stay a moment.”

Who knew what kind of work she was about to be assigned now? Her overworked-buffalo trait was really about to burst lately.

Wei Xiaolu stood behind Shen Siyan with little enthusiasm. After Qian Longyue finished speaking and left, Shen Siyan still didn’t start assigning tasks. It wasn’t until the very last person had gone that Shen Siyan closed her work manual, turned her chair halfway around, and faced Wei Xiaolu directly.

When their eyes met, Wei Xiaolu unconsciously began breathing harder.

Shen Siyan’s breathing was heavy too, not sounding especially relaxed. She lifted a hand, pulled Wei Xiaolu a little closer, tipped her chin up slightly, and looked at her from below and to the side.

“Just now, why did you stop me from saying it?”