Chapter 29

There were only the two of them left in the conference room.

Shen Siyan leaned back in her chair, arms folded, studying Wei Xiaolu with relaxed composure.

The question shouldn’t have been hard to answer, but Wei Xiaolu kept pressing her lips together. It took her a long while before she finally lowered her head and answered honestly.

“If you’d praised me that openly back then, I probably would’ve ended up all over everyone’s gossip feed again tomorrow.”

“Again?” Shen Siyan frowned.

Wei Xiaolu suddenly looked like a panicked little animal, waving her hands in denial, then hurriedly steered the conversation back on track. “I mean… Senior Qian and the others have more need of recognition. And I’d just joined the team; it’s not good to stand out too much. The most important thing is just getting the work moving forward.”

Knowing when to step back and give credit away was certainly a good thing. In the workplace, that was simply reality; yielding the spotlight to her superiors and hiding her sharp edges was indeed the wiser, more sustainable choice.

But Shen Siyan didn’t think a child just entering the workplace could see that so clearly all at once.

More importantly, from what she’d observed, Wei Xiaolu only had a sweet mouth. She didn’t actually have that many schemes, subtle or otherwise; for her to suddenly be thinking so deeply seemed a little too abrupt.

“How smart of you, little sister,” she said gently, trying to ease Wei Xiaolu’s obvious fluster. “You know how to hand credit to the seniors, and you know to keep a low profile when you first join the team. Your head is very clear.”

Wei Xiaolu couldn’t stand being praised; after just a couple of words, she was grinning in that tooth-baring way of hers.

“Picked that up from you,” she said, spreading both arms in a very chuunibyou-like pose. “My brain’s getting better and better.”

Shen Siyan was startled by her sudden wide gesture and leaned back slightly.

After looking up at her for a while, Shen Siyan let out a soft sigh and pulled over a chair, setting it beside Wei Xiaolu’s legs.

Her fingertips tapped lightly against the chair. “Sit, little sister.”

Wei Xiaolu sat down.

“Tell me,” Shen Siyan said, straightening and leaning forward, “what did you mean by that ‘again’ just now?”

Wei Xiaolu didn’t answer, only waving her hands while stubbornly insisting, “There wasn’t any again. I just said it without thinking.”

“There wasn’t?” Shen Siyan rested one hand on the table, the back of that hand supporting her chin. “I felt something was off the night you went out to take that phone call.”

Wei Xiaolu’s eyes flew wide open; her mouth closed tightly.

“On the high-speed rail, you didn’t mind me hearing you talk to your family. But that night…” Shen Siyan paused. “I saw the corners of your eyes were a little red.”

Saying it so directly might have been cruel to Wei Xiaolu at this moment. Anyone whose privacy was being laid open like that would probably not be very happy.

But…

Shen Siyan could find plenty of legitimate reasons for herself. The responsibility of a superior looking after a subordinate; her own failure in self-control; or simply upholding basic fairness and justice. She had too many reasons.

Yet none of those reasons could conceal the most private one of all.

She was worried about Wei Xiaolu.

So when Wei Xiaolu lowered her head, looking as if she’d done something wrong, Shen Siyan no longer wanted to hide her impulse to know the reason. She reached out and gave the back of Wei Xiaolu’s hand a light pat.

“It’s okay. Relax,” she said with a smile. “It has nothing to do with work; I just want to know whether you’ve already been wronged by something.”

The touch had only brushed lightly over the back of Wei Xiaolu’s hand, like water; yet Wei Xiaolu’s expression still trembled from it, as if a feather had landed in her eye.

A second later, Wei Xiaolu looked up. Perhaps her psychological defenses had loosened a little, because even her gaze had softened.

“...Actually, it’s nothing much,” Wei Xiaolu puffed out her cheeks, then quickly let them out again. “Just some idle talk.”

Shen Siyan of course knew there had been idle talk. She only wanted to know what kind, so she could respond accordingly.

“What were they saying?” Shen Siyan paused. “Next time I hold a meeting, I’ll emphasize proper conduct on this issue—”

“No!”

Wei Xiaolu cut her off almost instantly.

“CEO Shen, really, there’s no need.” Both hands waved frantically in front of her chest.

Shen Siyan’s brows moved slightly.

“I…I’m not the kind of person who needs,” Wei Xiaolu said, bracing both hands on the armrests and leaning forward a little stubbornly, “to rely on someone, or cling to someone, just to stand firm.”

Shen Siyan instinctively wanted to say that this wasn’t only about her. She managed a department; she also had to oversee everyone’s conduct and create a clean, upright work environment.

But just as she was about to speak, she noticed the contradiction.

She had clearly opened the conversation on a personal, equal footing; yet now she wanted to solve the issue as a department head, from a managerial angle. Wasn’t that also mixing public and private concerns?

Ripples spread through her heart.

She looked at the girl in front of her. Just moments ago, Wei Xiaolu had still been a little panicked and at a loss, but now she was staring back at her with eyes bright as her name suggested, showing a bottom line that was pure and stubborn.

Because she was a newcomer?

This kind of awkward, already rare tenacity in the workplace, appearing in such a fresh and adorable little girl, somehow didn’t seem out of place.

But why had her appreciation for her spread all the way to her heartbeat?

With a pulse in her chest tangled with a little pleasure, a little admiration, and a little warmth, she let out a low laugh.

Then she said aloud, “All right, I won’t interfere.”

Wei Xiaolu grinned and shrugged.

“Little sister,” Shen Siyan said gently, “you’ve got guts.”

“Then that makes me a woman with ambition,” Wei Xiaolu said, thumping her own chest, then rolling her eyes and leaning over to lightly bump Shen Siyan’s knee. “Continuing to learn from CEO Shen.”

Shen Siyan looked at her, and it took a long time before she realized she was smiling.

By then, Wei Xiaolu had already been called out of the conference room by an old employee from the team because of other work.

Shen Siyan lowered her eyes and thought for a moment.

Then she called Xiao Qiu in HR to ask about Wei Xiaolu’s internship arrangement.

For this summer internship, the company had only hired two interns; the other one was in the finance department at headquarters, and both internships lasted two months.

So according to the contract term, Wei Xiaolu’s internship only had two weeks left.

That was fine.

After two weeks, once Wei Xiaolu’s internship was over and they were no longer colleagues, she could think about these things again.

She knew very clearly that there was an eighty to ninety percent chance she had developed feelings for Wei Xiaolu that went beyond those between colleagues or friends. But she would not allow herself, as Wei Xiaolu’s mentor, to harbor unclear personal feelings toward her.

That was her professional discipline; it was also a form of protection for Wei Xiaolu.

And from today’s conversation, Wei Xiaolu was not the kind of person who needed protecting. Though Shen Siyan did, indeed, have somewhat of a protective urge toward her.

But sometimes it was hard to tell whether that came from the responsibility of her position as minister, or from her own private desire.

Better to sort that out after two more weeks.

For now, the goal was to do a good job with the integration project and promote departmental cohesion.

In the afternoon, she still had a few smaller projects that needed her decision, and she had to discuss them with the relevant partners.

Ever since she had turned down the outsourcing company recommended by Zeng Cui, she had openly solicited partners instead. Many companies had responded; after careful selection, Shen Siyan had found a reliable company to take over the intelligent finance and taxation product.

At the same time, she didn’t want to give up on some of the other companies interested in cooperation. She was now actively promoting other parts of the department, trying to reach three to five cooperation agreements with them.

Because she needed to go discuss business with Qiding Technology, Shen Siyan had told Wei Xiaolu in advance that she wouldn’t be back and that Wei Xiaolu should go home by herself after work.

Wei Xiaolu replied crisply, “Okay, CEO Shen.”

Then she poked her head up from behind the computer. “Need me to bring dinner?”

“One meat dish, one vegetable dish, and half a bowl of rice,” Shen Siyan said. “Thank you, little sister.”

“Got it,” Wei Xiaolu said with a smile. “I’ll wait for the beautiful lady to come back and eat with me.”

Shen Siyan glanced back at her again, smiling as she picked up her bag and left to discuss the partnership.

Qiding Technology specialized in digital technology and had many very advanced data-processing tools. Although the company had not been established long, it was growing rapidly. At this point, it was basically a small but polished hidden champion.

With the other side’s partner leading the way, Shen Siyan toured Qiding Technology’s products. Their data-processing capabilities were indeed formidable; if they adopted the company’s technology, the amount of data Wei Xiaolu had once spent four or five days cleaning and organizing could be completed to a far higher standard in half a day.

It really was a powerful tool for improving efficiency.

But after getting burned by outsourcing last time, Shen Siyan was much more cautious. She didn’t sign on the spot, instead using the excuse of “comparing several options” to slow things down and thoroughly understand the company’s background.

By the time she left Qiding Technology, it was already late.

Wei Xiaolu should already have gone back to the apartment. It looked like she’d have to wait a little before they could eat together.

That summer had all crowded into July and August. It was only a few days into September, but the wind against her face was no longer hot, and jackets had come into season early.

Shen Siyan drove back. As soon as she reached the front door, she heard the person inside shouting angrily.

“What kind of miracle worker is this? Didn’t the meeting already decide we’d use the Starbit system? It was already decided, so why are they stirring up trouble again?”

“Pain in the ass! Isn’t integration just integrating from your own three systems? What’s with this worship of foreign things? Using someone else’s system—what the hell is that supposed to be?”

Tsk. This place really wasn’t very soundproof.

Shen Siyan silently noted the issue Wei Xiaolu had mentioned, then couldn’t help thinking that the last time she’d seen Wei Xiaolu this worked up seemed to be when they’d first run into each other by accident in this apartment.

Back then, Wei Xiaolu’s target of fury had still been her.

Shen Siyan pressed her lips together in a smile, entered the password, and opened the door.

Wei Xiaolu was sitting by the dining table; the food was already laid out. Everything looked quiet and peaceful.

“Welcome home.” Wei Xiaolu looked up obediently and smiled at her.

What a master of face-changing.

Shen Siyan also smiled, went to wash her hands, and sat down across from Wei Xiaolu.

Dinner was pleasant enough. After spending so much energy on work every day, the two of them huddling together to eat and laugh really did fill in a lot of the emptiness that had long been lodged in Shen Siyan’s chest.

“The internship is almost over, right?” Shen Siyan asked while eating, as if she were only confirming a work arrangement.

“Mm, almost,” Wei Xiaolu said after swallowing a couple of bites. She rested her index finger against her chin in thought. “I think there’s about half a month left?”

“What are you planning to do after that half month?” Shen Siyan asked.

Wei Xiaolu didn’t answer right away. She put down her bowl and chopsticks, sitting up straight as if she were in an interview—except for that little face of hers, smiling in a half-drunken sort of way.

“CEO Shen, I really like working here,” Wei Xiaolu said, swaying her head a little with expectation. “I remember the agreement was that after the internship contract ended, if the project still needed me, I could keep working for another month or two until the project was finished.”

Shen Siyan froze. “There was such an agreement?”

“Mm-hmm.” Wei Xiaolu nodded twice, her smile bright and dazzling. “I want to finish the team’s work before I go. Is that okay?”

Shen Siyan nodded, then heard her own voice, calm and steady: “Okay.”

Logically speaking, that really was the most efficient and economical approach. The intern’s work wouldn’t be interrupted, and having one more person would also lighten the team’s overall workload a little.

But the thing was… Wei Xiaolu would keep being her colleague.

That was fine.

She could just wait another month or two.