Chapter 35

Wei Xiaolu couldn’t hold it in anymore and burst out laughing, showing all her teeth.

“How is this anything like me?” She lifted the little crooked-headed deer to her ear and imitated it with exaggerated seriousness. “Like this?”

“Eight out of ten.” Shen Siyan flicked the rounded curve of the crooked deer’s jaw.

The pendant swayed at once.

The faint brush of air skimmed Wei Xiaolu’s cheek, and suddenly her heart seemed to sway with it too, as if the little deer and she had become one and someone had tilted her chin up as well.

“Really that similar?” Wei Xiaolu immediately slipped into cheerleader mode. “CEO Shen, your eyes are way too sharp. You pay such close attention to people.”

Amused, Shen Siyan took out the rest of the charms and placed them on Wei Xiaolu’s lap. “The longer you stay in the workplace, the less you need to observe people. Most of them are obvious at a glance.”

Wei Xiaolu threaded her fingers through a dangling ring and spun it in circles, still smiling on the outside while already grumbling inwardly.

Everyone at work was always pretending—pretending, pretending, pretending. What could you really see? Plenty of people built a saintly image at the office, then went out after hours to eat up beauties and cosplay. Everybody was just pretending to be a grown-up; whatever you could see at a glance was only one of their many faces.

Still, right now Wei Xiaolu had to keep playing the role of the exemplary subordinate who flattered her boss properly.

So she lifted her chin. “Then, CEO Shen, can you tell what I’m thinking right now?”

With her grinning so brightly, Shen Siyan probably didn’t even need to guess to know she was happy, right? Once she said it, she could praise CEO Shen a little more for her sharp judgment, and that would complete the round of flattery.

But Shen Siyan only smiled and shook her head.

“Can’t guess,” Shen Siyan said, standing up to lightly brush Wei Xiaolu’s shoulder. “What little sister is thinking, keep it hidden for now; tell me after your internship ends.”

Wei Xiaolu sat there hugging a pile of plush charms, staring blankly after Shen Siyan’s retreating back.

What did that mean?

Why did it suddenly feel like, the way Shen Siyan said it, she’d seen right through her?

She didn’t really get it. What did Shen Siyan mean?

Was she seeing through the fact that I was about to go full rainbow-barf praise mode and warning me not to overdo it?

Unable to figure it out, Wei Xiaolu hugged her rewards and tiptoed back to her room.

She arranged the little deer family neatly on the bed and took a photo to send to the family group chat, partly to ask for help and partly to show off in a sly way.

[Wei Xiaolu: These are all rewards my leader gave me. What does she mean by this?]

[Wei Jialuo: You can’t even tell that?]

[Wei Jialuo: It means she’s taking care of mentally challenged children.]

Wei Xiaolu was so furious she pinched the bridge of her nose.

[Wei Xiaolu: Wei Jialuo, you’re dead.]

[Wei Jialuo: That’s exactly how mentally challenged children talk when they get mad.]

[Wei Xiaolu: Fine, I’m mentally challenged then. Who was it last time who asked a girl out to dinner and came to mooch my Haidilao student discount?]

[Wei Jialuo: Consider it future repayment.]

[Wei Jialuo: Your leader gave you so many dog heads, so she likes you and values you, okay?]

Seeing the answer she wanted, Wei Xiaolu happily wiggled her waist and emphasized: [What eyes? They’re deer heads.]

[Wei Jialuo: Then I’m taro heads. Seriously though, your leader giving you so many little trinkets—she didn’t buy them by the pound at some wholesale market, did she?]

[Wei Xiaolu: Get lost. Stop talking.]

She swore she would never seek emotional comfort from Wei Jialuo again.

Tang Xiaofen was better. She immediately affirmed her progress at work and asked, [So your internship ends next week, right?]

[Wei Xiaolu: Right, but I applied to stay on a while longer.]

[Wei Jialuo: Ha. Born to be a wage slave.]

[Tang Xiaofen: Don’t listen to your brother talking nonsense. I support you. If the company is giving you a chance to go full-time, then do your best and perform well.]

A chance to go full-time… Wei Xiaolu didn’t dare hope too much. After all, there was only one full-time opening for the two interns. But she also vaguely felt that she should be fine.

Because the final evaluation would be based on the department leader’s assessment, and Shen Siyan should be very satisfied with her.

If worst came to worst, she’d just act spoiled and ask for a good review. Shen Siyan was so nice; she definitely wouldn’t make things hard for her.

So she didn’t explain further, just tacitly accepted Tang Xiaofen’s words.

[Wei Xiaolu: Mm-hmm! I’ll do my best!]

Mom and Dad were like her energy recharge station. Every time she finished chatting with them, she felt strength flooding back into her whole body.

Work hard, live hard.

After setting that resolve, Wei Xiaolu clipped the crooked-headed deer charm onto her bag. She admired it for a while, then happily hugged her laptop and got to work on the Stardull system’s product analysis.

That night, Shen Siyan seemed to sleep very late. Wei Xiaolu got up in the middle of the night and even saw that the light in her room was still on.

But it didn’t affect her at all the next day. Early that morning, she organized the workgroup meeting and, on the grounds of “limited budget, with priority needed for other core projects,” formally shelved the proposal to purchase an external system and instructed the technical team to continue advancing the project integration based on the Stardull system.

When this decision was announced, the office atmosphere dropped by a whole degree.

Shen Siyan clearly noticed it, but the report she presented on budget usage was too thorough, and the ranking of each project’s priority left no room for rebuttal. So after the meeting, she left with confidence.

What remained was a subtle ripple of shock moving through the room.

Qian Longyue looked as if the sky had fallen; he collapsed into his chair in disappointment.

That reaction was the real one, while Chen Yuran’s expression was truly worth pondering—she was the first to express understanding of the leader’s decision and said she would definitely supervise the integration work to the fullest. But every other sentence still managed to emphasize the difficulty of using an internal system and the risk of possible delays; her posture was full of that “I don’t want to, but I’ll comply” quality.

Wei Xiaolu found people like that a little frightening.

Not exactly sinister, but it felt like they hadn’t built their workplace persona properly, like they had several faces and you never knew which one would show up next.

“We technical people are not going to survive,” Qian Longyue wailed. “I still have several major projects to operate and maintain. How am I supposed to split myself into enough pieces?”

After starting work, Wei Xiaolu could really sympathize with him. That kind of exhausting busyness, of having to juggle multiple roles, wore you down mentally; when one pile of work wasn’t finished and another had already arrived, it really could drive someone to despair.

Wei Xiaolu’s programming wasn’t top-tier, but it was usable enough. After thinking it over, she said to Qian Longyue, “Engineer Qian, I know a little code too. How about… you see if there’s anything I can help with?”

Qian Longyue’s drooping eyelids shot up in an instant.

Like someone who had grabbed hold of a sliver of hope, he straightened up. “Xiaolu, you really are a good comrade!”

Then he immediately started digging through the computer, muttering to himself, “Let me see… there was a big project in our Dawn Plan before. This product used to have a great reputation and a huge user base. It was a really good project.”

As he spoke, Qian Longyue suddenly slapped the table, looking as if he were entrusting her with a major responsibility. “From the moment you picked the Stardull system, I knew I was right to be optimistic about you. I believe in your ability. I’m handing this major project over to you for the later follow-up.”

Wei Xiaolu felt a little embarrassed by his sudden trust and enthusiasm, but she also felt that the favor she’d shown him in the meeting had been worth it after all. She had actually gotten such a good opportunity; she had to seize it properly.

“Okay, Engineer Qian,” Wei Xiaolu nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

“I’ll send you the relevant materials later,” Qian Longyue said.

“Okay,” Wei Xiaolu said, unable to stop smiling. “Thank you, Engineer Qian.”

Carrying her computer, Wei Xiaolu returned to the office in high spirits, only to run into Shen Siyan on the phone with Qiding Technology, confirming the final purchase details.

She suddenly felt her chest loosen, and the future looked bright.

The workgroup integration had been pushed forward; she’d landed a project she could manage independently, and over here Shen Siyan was also buying a data-processing tool for the department. Once it was in use, it would greatly improve work efficiency and save time.

It was basically a sign that even the knot in her chest had been untied.

Sitting at her desk, she cheerfully clicked open the materials Qian Longyue had sent.

She read for more than two hours.

The more she read, the more worried she became.

The project really had once had very high daily active users, broad impact, and a solid reputation.

But starting in March of this year, user activity had gradually declined.

She went and asked for the product’s code repository, only to discover that it also hadn’t had any major updates for a year. There wasn’t even a clearly designated owner now; it was plainly in a half-abandoned state.

When quitting time arrived, a chain of “ding, off-work clock-in” sounds rang out one after another. Shen Siyan finished punching out and came back, saw that Wei Xiaolu was still researching, and smiled as she leaned nearby.

“Need a little longer?”

“Ah, CEO Shen,” Wei Xiaolu looked up from a mess of research windows. “Why don’t you head back first? I still have a few things here.”

“I’ll wait for you.” Shen Siyan got up again and returned to her desk.

How could she make her boss wait? Wei Xiaolu immediately stood up. “CEO Shen, let’s go. I’ll keep looking when I get back.”

“What are you working on?” Shen Siyan asked. “Is it urgent?”

Since the leader had asked, Wei Xiaolu didn’t hide anything and explained the whole thing, from Qian Longyue giving her the chance to the current situation.

“I’m quite grateful to Engineer Qian,” Wei Xiaolu said with a sigh. “But this project feels really challenging. I was thinking maybe I should first update it to a new version; maybe that could even bring the daily active users back…”

“Does anyone else know about this?” Shen Siyan asked.

“Let me think.” Wei Xiaolu paused. “I didn’t tell anyone else. Only you know, plus Engineer Qian.”

“Give it back,” Shen Siyan said, raising a hand. “Tell him your internship is ending soon and you can’t take it.”

Wei Xiaolu smiled. “I’m still working another month or two, CEO Shen. In two months I can definitely get it done.”

Shen Siyan made a stopping gesture. “You can’t do it. Return it immediately.”

Wei Xiaolu froze. She had been counting on this project to make a solid final push before her internship ended, and Shen Siyan had just flatly denied her ability, letting that chance to show herself slip away for nothing.

Her eyes stung faintly.

She held it back and lowered her head. “Okay, CEO Shen.”

Taking out her phone, she explained to Qian Longyue that she couldn’t take the project because of her internship. Qian Longyue sighed too, saying it was a real pity; there was a lot of training to be gained from this project.

After sending that message, Wei Xiaolu picked up her bag and walked to Shen Siyan’s side. “…Okay, CEO Shen, let’s go.”

“Do you know why?”

Wei Xiaolu was afraid her eyes might look red now, so she didn’t lift her head; she stared at the crooked little deer on the canvas bag and said, “Why?”

“You silly little thing.”

Shen Siyan reached out and caught her wrist. Her hand was warm, and for an instant it made Wei Xiaolu want to cry.

She pouted. “Then can my good sister tell me why?”

“Of course.” Shen Siyan still held her, though her grip was light, almost soothing. “Any product has a life cycle. Right now it’s in the last stage, when it’s about to go offline. Forcing a rescue would take too much time and energy; the loss wouldn’t be worth it.”

Wei Xiaolu bit her lip. “But I feel like there’s still hope. I want to try.”

“Our Xiaolu is very brave,” Shen Siyan said, patting her head once. “But this really is a hot potato, isn’t it?”

Wei Xiaolu said nothing.

“Qian Longyue is a slippery old hand,” Shen Siyan said. “He could never give you a good project. The reason he handed this to you is because he doesn’t want the reputation he built to be ruined on his own hands; he’s trying to drag you in to take the blame for him.”

Wei Xiaolu drew in a sharp breath and looked up.

“If you can’t do it, you take the responsibility; if you can do it, the credit still won’t be yours. This was originally his project. Besides, you already made your stance clear in the meeting last time. Even if he says you did the work, everyone will only think he’s good at mentoring newcomers.” Shen Siyan said.

“Oh…” Wei Xiaolu covered her mouth, eyes wide.

“Got it?” Shen Siyan leaned in a little, as if checking whether she was about to cry.

“G-got it,” Wei Xiaolu stammered. Maybe because of embarrassment, or because they were so close, her face felt faintly hot. “Thank you, CEO Shen. I didn’t think of any of that before.”

“It’s fine.” Shen Siyan let go of her wrist. “Never intend harm, but never be without caution. You’ve already done very well.”

Wei Xiaolu stole a glance at Shen Siyan and felt her face grow even hotter.

TL Note:

full rainbow-barf praise mode (彩虹屁) means exaggerated, over-the-top flattery.

Never intend harm, but never be without caution (害人之心不可有，防人之心不可无)