Chapter 33

Pretending not to care was even harder than pretending to be excited.

It felt as if a jolt of electricity had run through the tips of Wei Xiaolu’s ears; her whole body itched with restlessness.

She didn’t shrink away. She turned like that, almost brushing Shen Siyan’s nose as she did.

Then she sprang back in a rush.

“Mm... I’ve got sharp eyes.”

Wei Xiaolu didn’t know whether Shen Siyan had seen how flustered she was, but she felt as if she’d exposed herself all the same; that was why the CEO could smile so leisurely, her right arm propped on the railing, her gaze covering her like a net.

“That’s right.” Shen Siyan lifted her left hand, reached around behind Wei Xiaolu, and patted her shoulder twice soothingly. “Keep watching the match.”

Wei Xiaolu was already a mess inside; most of her concentration had been sliced away.

Mainly because—CEO Shen didn’t seem to be watching the match at all.

She didn’t dare glance sideways, so she could only judge from the corner of her eye. Shen Siyan was still turned toward her, which made it impossible to tell whether she was watching the competition. It should be more like... was Shen Siyan looking at her?

Wei Xiaolu forced her gaze straight ahead. Don’t turn her head. Don’t look right.

She was genuinely scared that if Shen Siyan really was looking at her, and their eyes met, what was she supposed to do about the awkwardness? Laugh and say, “Isn’t the competition more interesting than I am?”

Of course, it was also possible that after years of delay, her own heart had finally opened up, and she simply couldn’t stop imagining things.

“CEO Shen, Assistant Wei,” a saving voice cut in at exactly the right time. “Our bosses are all here. The car’s waiting downstairs.”

Wei Xiaolu was immensely grateful for the salesperson’s appearance and stood up at once. “Okay, CEO Shen, let’s go.”

“Not watching the competition anymore?” Shen Siyan asked. “I can head over first; you can watch to the end and then leave.”

“I’m not watching anymore. I’ll go with you,” Wei Xiaolu said.

“All right.” Shen Siyan also stood, then motioned to the salesperson. “Please send me the result after it’s over, thank you.”

Wei Xiaolu glanced at Shen Siyan.

Then she quickly looked away, following behind her out of the internet base, getting into the bosses’ car, and arriving at the dinner that was mainly for discussing cooperation.

At this banquet, Wei Xiaolu once again deeply understood what it meant to feel too uncomfortable to sit still or stand up. It seemed every drinking party left her this stiff and awkward.

But Shen Siyan was still Shen Siyan, the CEO who controlled everything.

While chatting and laughing with several bosses, she could still discuss the technical outlook, and the price for product purchase was pushed lower again and again. Even while balancing everything that way, Shen Siyan still noticed the technical vice president trying to coax Wei Xiaolu into drinking and naturally reached over to stop the wine glass in front of the water she’d been holding.

“Mr. Li, I’ll drink this one for her,” Shen Siyan said with a proper smile, though her voice was completely firm. “My assistant can’t hold her liquor. If she drinks any more, she’ll get a headache, and I’ll still need her to remember the way back later.”

Wei Xiaolu froze.

In a setting like this, not drinking was hard to justify. Wei Xiaolu wasn’t incapable of drinking either; she grabbed her glass and was about to toast Mr. Li. “Um, I—”

Just then, an arm wrapped around her waist and guided her back down into her seat.

“Bottoms up, Mr. Li.” Shen Siyan clinked glasses with the technical vice president, let go of Wei Xiaolu, and drained the wine in one go.

Wei Xiaolu looked at Shen Siyan in confusion. Shen Siyan lifted the empty glass, then gave her a pointed look.

Got it.

In a flurry, Wei Xiaolu snatched up the bottle and began refilling the bosses’ glasses according to Shen Siyan’s meaning.

Overall, the two of them working together made the meal a great success.

It was just that Shen Siyan had really been carrying a heavy load; she’d drunk quite a bit, and once they were in the car, she leaned back against the seat and closed her eyes to rest.

The ride wasn’t long, but by the time they reached the hotel, Shen Siyan still hadn’t rested enough. After only a couple of steps, she looked somewhat unable to hold on and lifted a hand to press her temple.

“CEO Shen,” Wei Xiaolu hurriedly supported her. “There’s no way to make sobering soup here. Once I get you upstairs, I’ll come back down and buy you some yogurt.”

Shen Siyan leaned into her support.

Warm breath, carrying the damp scent of alcohol, brushed across the side of Wei Xiaolu’s face.

“Sure,” Shen Siyan said, then lifted a finger and lightly tapped Wei Xiaolu’s nose. “I’ll reimburse you.”

Wei Xiaolu’s ears heated at the sudden gesture, but she still forced herself to stay calm and pressed the elevator button. “No need to reimburse me... I’m just buying you something to drink.”

“Doesn’t my little sister know?” Shen Siyan said with a low laugh. “Our company has employee care. Business trips come with meal and lodging allowances.”

“Oh...” Wei Xiaolu thought this was kind of funny. Seeing that Shen Siyan was pretty drunk too, she said directly, “Then my employee care is being used on you.”

“Perfect.” Shen Siyan’s slightly tipsy laugh sounded as the elevator doors opened for them. “We’re taking care of each other.”

Thank heaven for the elevator.

If it hadn’t arrived in time, Wei Xiaolu really didn’t know how she was supposed to respond to that line.

Taking care of each other, my God; someone please tell her which boss would ever talk to a subordinate like that!

But once she was in the elevator, Wei Xiaolu quickly came back to her senses.

If business trips came with employee care, then the pan-fried buns Shen Siyan had bought at noon today must have been with her allowance too. Looked at that way, it really did seem like... they were taking care of each other.

When they reached the door of the room, Wei Xiaolu swiped the card and went in, then immediately let go of Shen Siyan.

“CEO Shen, please rest a bit first. I’ll go down—”

“Go where?”

Shen Siyan’s hand shot back and caught hers; her palm was warm, her grip tight enough to hold her in place.

Thump, thump.

Wei Xiaolu could hear the sound of her heart sinking, step by step.

“I’m going downstairs to buy yogurt,” she said, her breathing rising and falling sharply. “You... you’re not drinking it anymore?”

The expression on Shen Siyan’s face gradually shifted from guarded to a little more relaxed, and then, as if something suddenly dawned on her, she let go and pressed her fingertips to her brow. “I almost forgot.”

“You drank too much.” Wei Xiaolu quietly hid her hand behind her back.

“Mm.” Shen Siyan stepped aside. “Go on.”

“Okay, CEO Shen. I’ll be back fast.” Wei Xiaolu bolted out the door.

Was it just her imagination?

After fleeing the hotel, Wei Xiaolu took a long, deep breath before she finally calmed down.

Why did the atmosphere feel so wrong?

How had Shen Siyan, after drinking, become so boundaryless?

She dawdled around the supermarket for ages before taking the yogurt back.

When she returned to the hotel, Shen Siyan had already changed into sleepwear and was lying on the bed. Wei Xiaolu set the yogurt on her bedside table, then turned and sat down on the other bed.

“The competition results,” Shen Siyan said, “are out.”

Wei Xiaolu slowly turned back. “So? Did Data Is My Glory win a prize?”

Shen Siyan directly handed over her phone.

The final result was—Data Is My Glory had indeed won the championship.

It should have been something to celebrate. The team she’d picked had won outright; standing up and letting out a few triumphant cries would have been perfectly reasonable.

But Wei Xiaolu’s excitement had already been spent elsewhere...

The way Shen Siyan was lying on her side was simply too much for the blood to keep flowing the right way, especially since the reclining posture made the soft satin cling to her body. And Shen Siyan wasn’t wearing a bra; the outlines that rose beneath the fabric were truly impossible to ignore.

“Ah,” Wei Xiaolu said, her gaze skittering everywhere. “I knew they’d definitely win.”

Shen Siyan smiled and patted the empty space beside her. “Shouldn’t the person who backed the champion get a reward?”

What did that mean? What did she mean?

Wei Xiaolu froze completely, standing stiffly in place.

“Come here.”

Shen Siyan’s voice was a little drunk and tired, and hearing it made Wei Xiaolu feel cold and hot all at once. Slowly, she got up, took a couple of steps, and sat down on the edge of Shen Siyan’s bed.

“Phone.” Shen Siyan said.

Wei Xiaolu let out a little “oh,” and put the phone on the bedside table.

“Why put it there?” Shen Siyan sat up, took the phone, and tapped at it a few times.

Wei Xiaolu didn’t even dare look. She lowered her head, her fingers digging hard into her palm, every muscle in her body tensed tight as she tried to shrink herself into the smallest possible shape.

“Which one do you like? Pick one.”

The phone was held back out in front of her.

Seeing the several deer-head charms listed in the Taobao cart, Wei Xiaolu froze again, then blinked.

So the reward was buying her a charm?

Why didn’t she say so earlier? She’d thought it was...

Wei Xiaolu rubbed the corner of her eye and quietly exhaled. She’d gone off into nonsense again just now.

“I picked a few earlier,” Shen Siyan said, leaning closer and scrolling up the screen. “See if there’s one you like.”

So close...

Wei Xiaolu was still a little shaken. She had truly become completely wary of that sort of vaguely teasing ambiguity, of an attitude that was intimate one moment and uncertain the next. Was that kind of foggy, flirtatious behavior really fun?

Fine, play then.

I’m not nervous, flustered, or looking forward to anything at all. Since you like this sort of thing, I’ll play along to the end.

So she took the phone, but instead of choosing right away, she turned her head, used an expression that was utterly sweet and deliberate, and dragged out her final syllable.

“Are you going to give me a reward, sis?”

“Mm,” Shen Siyan said unhurriedly. “Or if you have something else you like, that’s fine too.”

“What I like?” Wei Xiaolu bumped her shoulder against Shen Siyan’s. “What if I just like beautiful women?”

Shen Siyan said nothing.

The more she said nothing, the more delighted Wei Xiaolu became. Taking advantage of Shen Siyan’s drunken exception today, she got bolder and bolder, wrapping her arm around Shen Siyan’s and leaning her head against her shoulder.

“Just sticking close to a beautiful woman like this is already a reward,” Wei Xiaolu said. “We don’t need to buy anything else.”

Then Wei Xiaolu heard Shen Siyan’s low laugh.

She inhaled a few more breaths of the scent on Shen Siyan’s body, then let go and pulled back to sit at a distance again.

Shen Siyan didn’t seem as affected as she’d imagined; she just paused for a moment.

As if in this tug-of-war, the only one who had taken things seriously was her. Shen Siyan remained untouched by wind and unruffled by water.

“That’s enough?” Shen Siyan looked at her. “Don’t be so easy to satisfy.”

Wei Xiaolu drew in a small breath. “I’m not satisfied yet.”

Then she half-cuddled, half-faked a hug against Shen Siyan’s body again. “So... is the beautiful woman planning to give me a bigger reward?”

Shen Siyan probably couldn’t answer that one and finally let her shoulders loosen with a laugh that came out silently.

“Forget it. You don’t need to pick.”

Right in front of Wei Xiaolu, she selected all of the dozens of deer-head charms in the cart and placed the order.

Wei Xiaolu had only been talking for fun just now, but now that Shen Siyan was actually buying them for real, she instantly bristled in alarm. “Hey, hey—no, CEO Shen, no, no...”

“Like this.” Facing her, Shen Siyan lifted a hand and ruffled her hair. “They’re all yours.”