Chapter 39
Wei Xiaolu woke up at noon. Her biggest surprise was discovering that Shen Siyan had liked her post at 1:30 a.m.
She was actually browsing my Moments in the middle of the night.
What was she doing up so late? Why wasn’t she sleeping yet?
Wei Xiaolu rolled around on the bed, opening her chat with Shen Siyan and then backing out again. In the end, she decided there was nothing wrong with checking in a little, and bravely hit send.
[Wei Xiaolu: CEO Shen, Happy National Day! What are your plans for the next few days~]
Unexpectedly, Shen Siyan replied very quickly.
[Shen Siyan: Going back to the company to work overtime]
Wei Xiaolu shot upright.
Staring at those five words on the screen, she couldn’t help but feel a surge of respect for this woman; she was the very model of someone with endless energy.
Still, she also felt a little sorry for Shen Siyan. With the holiday and everyone scattered, the department was empty, with only one or two people on duty, and an uncomplaining supervisor working away.
Then an idea struck her.
[Wei Xiaolu: CEO Shen, can the duty roster still be rearranged now?]
[Shen Siyan: Yes. Why, little sister?]
[Wei Xiaolu: I didn’t know you were still working during the holiday, so I didn’t sign up for voluntary overtime. I’ve got nothing to do at home anyway, so why don’t I come to the company and keep you company while you work overtime?]
After Wei Xiaolu sent the message, Shen Siyan was silent for a few seconds.
[Shen Siyan: Come if you want; be careful on the way]
That simple reply made Wei Xiaolu roll around on the bed in excitement. She immediately got up, packed her things at top speed, told her parents, “Something urgent came up at the company,” and then, despite their endless grumbling of “You just got here and already have to leave?”, headed back to the office.
The building during the holiday was empty and quiet.
Wei Xiaolu pushed open the department head’s office door and saw Shen Siyan sitting behind her computer, unusually focused.
Light and shadow mottled over her, giving her a faintly translucent look.
“CEO Shen,” Wei Xiaolu said, glancing at the roses on the desk and smiling despite herself, “is there anything I can help with?”
Shen Siyan pressed a hand to her forehead and looked up, her expression gentle and warm. “You came at just the right time, little sister. I just bought Qiding Technology’s data tool; process the datasets the workgroup has been holding onto lately.”
Wei Xiaolu’s smile died.
She had come to keep Shen Siyan company while Shen Siyan worked; she hadn’t actually wanted to come and work overtime with her!
“Sure thing, CEO Shen.” Wei Xiaolu put on a fake smile and tried to look composed.
Once she really sat down and started working, though, Wei Xiaolu still couldn’t figure out where she’d gone wrong in life to end up at the company during a holiday, suffering for no reason.
But the suffering stayed at the company. When overtime ended, they would go back to the apartment together. Since the cafeteria wasn’t open on the holiday, Shen Siyan would personally cook two simple dishes, and Wei Xiaolu would help out and chatter about amusing little things.
Clock in, clock out; everything ran on schedule.
Thanks to work, the holiday, which should have whisked by in a flash, felt especially long. By the last day, Wei Xiaolu couldn’t hold on any longer.
The data was basically finished processing anyway, so she started slacking off. The office in the afternoon had a bit of a chill to it, but the sunlight was warm. She propped her chin on her hand and drifted, and before she knew it, her eyelids were drooping...
Wei Xiaolu found herself standing on a stretch of meadow bathed in a soft halo of light. Beneath her feet was springy grass, but the air was filled with the sweet scent of roses.
She wandered around the meadow for a while, then suddenly saw Shen Siyan riding on horseback, her long hair stirring gently in the breeze.
“CEO Shen?” Wei Xiaolu called uncertainly.
Shen Siyan turned back, her face bright with an easy smile Wei Xiaolu had never once seen her give her.
A hand reached out. As if bewitched, Wei Xiaolu placed her hand in it.
Her whole body suddenly turned light; when she came to her senses again, she was already seated on the horse with the reins in her hand, together with Shen Siyan.
Shen Siyan’s arms circled around her waist; against the back of her neck, she could feel a wave of breath that was cool yet damp.
Her brain was still foggy, but by the time she realized she was being held in Shen Siyan’s arms, the horse had already broken into a gallop.
Her heartbeat was so fast it felt like it might burst through her chest. In the wind rushing toward her, a mix of longing, shyness, and joy surged and howled into another kind of thought she dared not voice.
She tilted her head back and looked at Shen Siyan’s eyes right beside her. Those eyes were still fixed unflinchingly ahead, but the hand around her waist tightened a little, pressing their waists and lower bodies together; then Shen Siyan leaned down, close to her ear, and said in a carefree voice:
“If I’d known you liked this, little sister, I should’ve come riding over earlier.”
The words were like magic, making her go numb all over in an instant.
Especially her arms; they were so numb they’d lost all feeling.
When Wei Xiaolu slowly opened her eyes, she tried to prop up the upper half of her body from where she’d been lying down, only to find that her arm had long since been pinned useless by the weight of her head. She could only use her waist to push herself upright.
Click.
Something on her body slid off, falling from the side of the chair to the floor.
Wei Xiaolu turned and saw the jacket Shen Siyan had worn today.
What had just been draped over her was Shen Siyan’s jacket.
Reality and dream had linked together in such an eerie way that for a split second, Wei Xiaolu really had the illusion that “Shen Siyan’s clothes had hugged me from behind in place of Shen Siyan.”
And so the wildly unrestrained heartbeat from her dream reappeared in reality.
Just as she nearly panicked and bent down to pick up the jacket, a long, pale hand moved one step ahead of her and lifted it first.
Wei Xiaolu froze. Her gaze traveled up along those beautiful fingers, over the neat cuff of a suit sleeve, and straight into Shen Siyan’s eyes, which were glowing with deep emotion.
“Your face is so red,” Shen Siyan said, leaning against the desk and slightly bending toward her. “The room isn’t hot. What did you dream about, little sister?”
Wei Xiaolu didn’t want to show weakness; since Shen Siyan teased her like that, she would give as good as she got. “I dreamed about you, CEO Shen.”
“Did I scold you?” Shen Siyan used her height advantage to give Wei Xiaolu a light pat on the head. “Your face is red from me being fierce?”
“Yes,” Wei Xiaolu said, running wild with nonsense. “Sister blamed me for not bringing you any local specialties when I went home this time.”
Shen Siyan’s brows twitched in surprise, then she shook her head in dawning realization. “You were thinking about me like that in your dream?”
“I said last time that when I went home, I’d bring you local specialties again.” Wei Xiaolu said.
Shen Siyan looked at her. “Then why didn’t you bring any this time?”
Wei Xiaolu grinned. “I was only thinking about hurrying back to see you, so I forgot.”
That answer seemed to suit Shen Siyan very well. Wei Xiaolu could see the smile she was barely holding back.
Taking advantage of her good mood, Wei Xiaolu poured out her thanks all at once. “The jacket... thank you, beautiful lady.”
Shen Siyan draped the jacket loosely over her arm. “What for? I was worried you’d catch cold.”
Who said the room wasn’t hot? Wei Xiaolu felt her face turn red again.
“I promise I won’t sleep at work anymore.”
“Good,” Shen Siyan said. “Otherwise neither of us would be able to work.”
“Hm?” Wei Xiaolu tilted her head in confusion.
“Seeing how soundly you were sleeping,” Shen Siyan paused, “I didn’t even dare to type on the keyboard.”
An electric jolt shot through her, racing into every limb. In her panic, Wei Xiaolu was about to stand up and apologize, but Shen Siyan pressed a hand to her shoulder and said softly, “I lied to you. I went out for something just now, so I wasn’t typing.”
Wei Xiaolu’s already racing heart finally went completely feral, trembling through her entire body without letup.
Whether it was because she resented being tricked, or because that tenderness that had been meant to avoid disturbing her sleep turned out to be a lie, Wei Xiaolu’s mind twisted, and she blurted, “I lied to you too.”
Shen Siyan lifted a brow.
“I dreamed that we rode horses together,” Wei Xiaolu said, looking up at her. “On the grasslands.”
Shen Siyan paused. “When we get the chance, we can go together.”
“One horse.” Wei Xiaolu suddenly said.
Shen Siyan’s eyes trembled.
Seeing Shen Siyan pause here, Wei Xiaolu actually felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction, like it was always Shen Siyan who made her heart go all over the place, and now, at last, she’d finally managed to get one over on her.
But Shen Siyan’s silence only lasted two seconds.
“No wonder,” she said, her gaze dropping and lingering on Wei Xiaolu’s face. “You’re blushing, little sister.”
Damn it.
She’d stepped on her own tail.
After her imaginary tail got stepped on, Wei Xiaolu felt like all the fur on her body was about to explode.
She couldn’t outplay someone who even knew how to counterattack!
“It’s from the sun!” Wei Xiaolu suddenly stood up so fast the chair made a harsh squeak. “It’s already this late, CEO Shen, I should hurry and process the data. Qiding’s tool is really useful!”
She practically sprang up and sat back down, facing the computer and wildly hammering at the keyboard.
“That... everything that needed uploading has been uploaded,” Wei Xiaolu said, staring at the progress bar that still hadn’t even finished loading, her voice nearly an octave higher. “When Engineer Qian comes back tomorrow, we can run tests, and the first version of the integrated product will be more or less done.”
She stared fixedly at the screen, as though that spinning loading icon was the most important thing in the world, and Shen Siyan sitting beside her didn’t matter in the slightest.
“Mhm, very good,” Shen Siyan said, rising to return to her own desk, slipping back into calm. “Since most of it’s been handled, you can start preparing the materials for the product presentation. Once the technical team finishes the final tests, we’ll launch the internal warm-up.”
Clear to-do items made Wei Xiaolu breathe easier.
As long as things weren’t as elusive as Shen Siyan’s attitude, or as ambiguous as the way the other woman seemed to feel about her.
Anything definite and concrete gave Wei Xiaolu the grounding sense that her feet were once again on the earth.
Having something to do was sometimes happier than having nothing to do.
She didn’t need to puzzle over those vague, uncertain things. Wei Xiaolu focused all her thoughts on the task at hand. After the holiday, and then another week of effort, the integrated product finally passed testing.
Shen Siyan was very satisfied with their progress. After reviewing the product introduction, she prepared to begin the first round of promotion and momentum-building.
“Xiaolu,” Shen Siyan said, “notify everyone. We’ll hold a launch meeting tomorrow.”
Wei Xiaolu was holding the product brochure. “Okay, CEO Shen, I’ll pass it on right away—”
Before she could finish, the office door was shoved open, and Qian Longyue rushed in in terror, gasping, “CEO Shen, something’s happened!”
Shen Siyan frowned. “What is it? Say it.”
“The news I just saw,” Qian Longyue said, slamming his laptop onto the desk and showing it to them. “Zhaolan Technology just held a press conference ten minutes ago. They said they’re going to release an all-in-one platform, and they’re warming up the publicity right now. When I looked at it, damn it, from architecture to interaction, this thing is almost exactly the same as our workgroup’s integration plan!”
“How could that be...” Wei Xiaolu’s voice trembled. But when she leaned in and looked at Zhaolan’s product introduction, her blood still went cold.
It was really a complete substitute; from function to layout, they’d copied it all over.
How could this happen? Wei Xiaolu was suddenly lost and at a complete loss.
It was already too late.
If they released theirs after Zhaolan, would it be labeled plagiarism?
Was all the work they’d put into this integrated product going to be lost just like that?
Shen Siyan stared at the screen, her face as dark as water.
“Zhaolan picked the timing for this press conference beautifully,” she said with a cold laugh. “Right after we finished testing and were about to start internal warm-up; they want to catch us off guard and seize the market first.”
Qian Longyue looked incredulous. “But how could it be completely the same? CEO Shen, do you think someone in the workgroup leaked our plan?”
Wei Xiaolu’s heart jolted. Thinking of someone, she turned and met Shen Siyan’s gaze.
Shen Siyan narrowed her eyes at her and gave the slightest shake of her head.
Then she turned to Qian Longyue. “No. Everyone signed confidentiality agreements. I trust every person I selected for the workgroup; no one would betray the company.”
Qian Longyue clearly didn’t believe it. “But this is way too similar; look here, it’s basically—”
“I saw it, but this isn’t the time to discuss that,” Shen Siyan cut him off. “Engineer Qian, go notify all members of the workgroup. There will be an emergency meeting in Conference Room One in five minutes.”
Qian Longyue opened his mouth, then nodded. “Okay, I’ll go now.”
After he hurried off, only the two of them were left in the office. Wei Xiaolu looked at Shen Siyan anxiously. “CEO Shen, this is obviously Sister Chen...”
Shen Siyan raised a hand to stop her.
“Whether it is or isn’t, that can be settled later,” Shen Siyan said. “For now, before the problem is resolved, remember not to show any suspicion toward your coworkers.”
Wei Xiaolu swallowed the words stuck in her throat; her head was buzzing.
“Okay, I understand, CEO Shen.”
Shen Siyan nodded, propping one hand against her temple and lightly tapping at it with her fingers.
Half a minute later, she made a call, her tone crisp. “Ai Jin, help me arrange a meeting with the person in charge of Zhaolan’s all-in-one platform. Also, contact legal and confirm the applicable clauses for trade secret protection.”
She hung up, then looked at Wei Xiaolu with a clear gaze. “Come on; let’s go to the meeting.”
Wei Xiaolu was still stunned by the world falling apart before her eyes. She followed behind Shen Siyan in a daze, moving her weak, unsteady legs purely on instinct.
The Shen Siyan walking in front suddenly came to a stop, as if sensing something, and turned back at once.
“Why panic?” Shen Siyan said with a smile. “If Zhaolan wants to seize the advantage with this kind of method, they’ll have to ask whether we agree.”
Wei Xiaolu took a deep breath and nodded hard. “Mm, CEO Shen; the battle hasn’t even started yet. I can’t lose my momentum first.”
“Great,” Shen Siyan gave her a thumbs-up. “Stick close to me; none of this is a problem.”