Chapter 47

All afternoon, the door to Shen Siyan’s office was almost never shut. One emergency meeting after another kept piling up and spilling over.

People from the legal department and the core technical team kept streaming in, and the different groups crowded together until the not-so-spacious office was packed to the brim.

Wei Xiaolu could barely breathe in there.

This time, she’d paid close attention to the news. At one o’clock in the afternoon, after Zhaolan Technology received the lawsuit notice, it began fighting back hard, feeding the media false claims and questioning the originality of Shen Siyan’s team.

Shen Siyan’s emergency response plan was extremely thorough; she must have been prepared long ago. But what she hadn’t expected was that, while the outside was still in chaos, there would also be trouble from within. The few people Chen Yuran had pointed out kept stirring things up.

“CEO Shen, Vice President Mao sent back the technical documents. He said the process isn’t compliant, so he won’t sign off.”

“The PR team just got word that someone in our company spoke to the media and said the team’s irregularities were real.”

“Zhaolan is trying to poach people. They’re offering triple salaries... ”

Bad news came one after another, too many to keep up with.

Wei Xiaolu watched Shen Siyan, signing pen in hand, writing out countermeasures at high speed on the paper.

Her white shirt sleeves were rolled up; her long hair was gathered into a messy knot at the back of her head, but her gaze was sharp and unyielding.

“Use the emergency channel directly. I’ll sign the special approval; I’ll take responsibility.”

“Contact Information Security. Find the source of the leak within half an hour; I’ll notify HR to fire them directly.”

“Poaching?” Shen Siyan paused with the tip of her pen and gave a cold laugh. “People who can be swayed by money were never on our list to begin with. I believe everyone here is a fellow traveler who shares my goals.”

Drawn in by the atmosphere, Wei Xiaolu also slipped into combat mode. She had no time for anything else all afternoon, and even dinner was just a few hurried bites in the office.

It was only close to six that the storm finally began to turn.

The technical team released proof of originality, strengthening the chain of evidence. The clarification copy and demonstration clips also received positive feedback from several authoritative technology media outlets, and public opinion began to shift.

At that point, Shen Siyan had PR announce that the integrated new product would be released soon. The timing was perfect; it rode the wave of attention while using an actual product to answer every doubt. The peers and users who had still been watching from the sidelines started turning around to attack Zhaolan for doing nothing but boasting and failing to produce anything real.

That meant the most dangerous ambush had been successfully turned into a stepping stone for rising heat.

Around eight o’clock, the situation gradually stabilized. Follow-up work settled into a routine, and they could finally catch their breath. Shen Siyan sent a big red envelope in the work chat and reminded everyone to rest well after getting off work.

Wei Xiaolu grabbed a total of fifty yuan; not much. Wang Chen got ten times that amount and shamelessly ran around shouting about it.

Maybe it was because, in recent days, CEO Shen’s cool, distant attitude toward him had finally made him taste what it was like to hit a wall at work; he’d become a little more worldly and even knew to buy something to bring in and thank Shen Siyan for the huge red envelope.

Wei Xiaolu glanced over.

Oh? He’d brought a whole case of yogurt. He must’ve done his homework; he actually knew what Shen Siyan liked.

Shen Siyan didn’t wait for Wang Chen to speak. She called out on the spot, “Xiaolu, the luckiest winner bought everyone some drinks. Help hand them out.”

“Sure thing, CEO Shen.” Wei Xiaolu darted over, took the case of yogurt from Wang Chen, and ran off to do the favors.

She was very scheming about it, deliberately setting one bottle aside for herself. After handing out the rest, she ran back to Shen Siyan and offered it up. “CEO Shen, I specifically saved one for you.”

“You keep it and drink it,” Shen Siyan said, finishing the last bit of work and closing her laptop. “Come on, let’s go home.”

After going through such a fierce storm, Wei Xiaolu felt as if she’d been drained dry. But once she followed Shen Siyan out of the office building and the night breeze hit her face, she felt instantly energized again, excitement surging through her.

She secretly stole a glance at Shen Siyan beside her.

CEO Shen didn’t look tired, but her expression wasn’t bright either. There was a trace of anger mixed into the faint furrow between her brows.

Was the matter still not fully resolved?

Wei Xiaolu looked away. When she looked ahead, she noticed the lazy figure leaning against a silver sports car.

“...” Her heart clenched.

Why had Qi Lang found his way here? Was he still not giving up? Was he going to keep pestering Shen Siyan?

Almost reflexively, she looked at Shen Siyan again.

Her chest suddenly tightened.

She didn’t really want to admit how upset she felt at that moment, but just thinking that there might still be some connection between Shen Siyan and Qi Lang made her nose sting and her vision blur.

But very quickly, that sour feeling was cut short.

Shen Siyan reached out, placed a hand at her waist, and gently pulled her closer. Then she leaned down, her hair brushing Wei Xiaolu’s ear and stirring a faint itch.

Then she heard Shen Siyan say, “Don’t misunderstand. Leave it all to me.”

Help.

Wei Xiaolu thought that if her current self were turned into a comic, there would probably be a lot of exaggerated effect lines around her.

...Maybe also some pink bubbles from who knew where.

Qi Lang was dressed rather expensively today, looking every inch the rich second-generation playboy. His gaze circled once around Shen Siyan’s hand at Wei Xiaolu’s waist, and then he opened his mouth with, “Hey, Shen Siyan, if you wanted to chase me off, just say it outright, okay? Getting so close to this pretty little lady and whispering like that—she might think you’re into her, and then it’ll be a real misunderstanding.”

For a moment, everything went dead silent.

Wei Xiaolu only felt blood rushing straight to her head. Panicking, she waved her hands. “N-no...”

“Qi Lang, do you always talk this much nonsense?” Shen Siyan suddenly said.

Apparently, she hadn’t expected that either. She let go of Wei Xiaolu and smiled before asking, “Say something useful. What are you here for?”

“I came to apologize.” Qi Lang shrugged.

Shen Siyan gave him a sidelong look. “Doesn’t seem sincere.”

“I’m here in person; how is that not sincere enough?” Qi Lang laughed once in irritation, then turned serious. “I thought if we kept acting a little longer, we could muddle through it. I really didn’t expect the old man to be serious this time.”

Shen Siyan gave a soft snort and folded her arms, looking at him. “So you explained it to your dad?”

“No.” Qi Lang spread his hands with an innocent expression. “Your dad came to talk to my dad, and that’s when I found out you’d actually cut ties with your family just because you didn’t want to get married.”

Wei Xiaolu sucked in a breath in disbelief.

She turned to look at Shen Siyan. CEO Shen was still in the same posture as before, only her lowered lashes cast a lonely shadow in the light.

“Pretty brave,” Qi Lang clicked his tongue twice. He had lost some of his usual carefree air, and little by little the cheerfulness drained away from him until he finally sighed.

Shen Siyan seemed to catch something in his tone. She lifted her eyes. “What about you?”

“I’ve been waiting from five in the afternoon until now. I’m already so idle I’m starting to question life,” Qi Lang said with another laugh. “You know why I’m so idle? Hey—because my dad took the company back again.”

“Didn’t you do pretty well?” Shen Siyan asked.

“Not at all.” Qi Lang had given up pretending and stopped pretending altogether. “It was that old man helping me from behind the whole time. Once he saw things weren’t going anywhere with you, he immediately turned around and said I was useless, that I’d ruin the company if I kept running it. Now he won’t even let me touch it.”

Wei Xiaolu couldn’t help it; she almost laughed out loud.

Shen Siyan really did laugh, without holding back. “Then go back to your old profession. Spend less time loafing in bars and thinking, and maybe one day you’ll hook a rich young lady. Then your dad might hand the company back to you.”

“That’s all I can do for now,” Qi Lang said, then looked at Wei Xiaolu. “Shen Siyan’s too harsh. Pretty lady, don’t hang around her anymore. Come find a rich woman with me and claw your way out of the mud.”

Shen Siyan’s face went cold all at once. “Get lost.”

“Alright, alright, I won’t curse you anymore,” Qi Lang surrendered. “You’ve got it worse than I do. You basically ripped your face off with your dad—that’s ruthless enough.”

Shen Siyan cursed him out a few more times, still irritated.

In the end, Qi Lang had no way to fight back. He went back to the car, brought out a bouquet of flowers, and tossed it to Shen Siyan. “This is the last time I’m buying you flowers. Let’s leave it at that.”

“You don’t need to send—” Shen Siyan was just about to refuse when she took a good look at the flowers and fell silent, then accepted them.

Wei Xiaolu saw that and suddenly felt her legs go weak.

Maybe it was because today’s flowers were lilies, maybe because last time Shen Siyan had handed the flowers Qi Lang brought her straight to her, or maybe because Shen Siyan had just been about to refuse and then suddenly changed her mind and took them.

In any case—when the wind brushed past, Wei Xiaolu felt even her fingertips trembling.

After apologizing, Qi Lang was ready to go back to being a playboy. As he drove off, he even gave Shen Siyan a mock salute and said he admired her.

And the poor king, Shen Siyan, who’d cut ties with her family, had no reaction at all. With no expression on her face, she got into the car. Only after Wei Xiaolu also sat in the passenger seat did she move slightly, turn her head, and call her softly, very softly, “Xiaomei.”

“Mm? CEO Shen.” Wei Xiaolu’s heart was beating very fast.

“The flowers...” Shen Siyan paused, then placed the bouquet of lilies into Wei Xiaolu’s arms. “I’m giving them to you.”

The fragrance hit her full in the face, making Wei Xiaolu a little dizzy. She was truly grateful the car’s lighting was dim; Shen Siyan couldn’t see how red her face had become.

Wei Xiaolu hugged the flowers, but said, “But these were given to you by him.”

“Mm,” Shen Siyan said softly. “He gave me the flowers because he wanted to make peace with me. I accepted them because of what the flowers mean. He probably doesn’t understand that...”

Wei Xiaolu’s heartbeat was so loud she could hardly hear what Shen Siyan was saying.

Shen Siyan looked at her quietly for two seconds, then smiled. “But we do.”

Wei Xiaolu froze at those words.

Then she realized what Shen Siyan meant, and her whole body went numb.

She forgot how to breathe; the blood seemed to stop flowing; even her heart felt like it had gone missing.

Wei Xiaolu knew she should do what she usually did and make some harmless joke, say something teasing, either flattering or coquettish. But at this moment, words seemed to have lost their color, leaving only a blank white—and that white was so still it couldn’t be broken.

She could only awkwardly tighten her arms around the lilies in her lap, white as snow, as if she were holding an answer that was about to reveal itself. In the silent, faint fragrance, she quietly mulled over Shen Siyan’s last sentence.

“Keep them,” Shen Siyan said, and after speaking, she drew a breath as if to force something down.

Then she started the car and drove them back.

Wei Xiaolu looked at the headlights sweeping past and felt like a pool of water, ready to evaporate at any moment.

What was this atmosphere supposed to be?

The fact that neither of them was speaking only made it stranger. The more Wei Xiaolu thought about it, the more she regretted not casually following up just now with something like, “Yeah, we’re just like these flowers, full of vitality,” or at the very least, “Thanks, pretty lady.” That would have been better than going mute.

So annoying! Why hadn’t she said anything!

What exactly was Shen Siyan trying to do? Was it... the meaning she thought it was?

Finally, the car reached its destination and pulled into the garage, coming to a stop. But Shen Siyan didn’t move, and Wei Xiaolu didn’t dare just open the door and get out.

What are you doing? What on earth are you doing? Why aren’t they both getting out?

Don’t scare me, please. She was really terrified of silence right now, terrified that Shen Siyan would suddenly say something earth-shattering again, and then humanity with Wei Xiaolu as its representative would go extinct, and then the world would be destroyed...

After about ten seconds of stalemate, Wei Xiaolu finally couldn’t hold back anymore. As the sensor light went out, she threw caution to the wind in the darkness:

“Ah, it smells so good! I don’t even want to get out of the car anymore.”

She tried to make her tone sound light and natural, as if all the pounding in her heart and the silence between them had been nothing more than the strong flower fragrance making her dizzy.

The moment she spoke, the sensor light came back on, and Shen Siyun’s smile appeared in front of her.

“Alright,” Shen Siyan said, reaching over to pinch the tip of her nose and give it a little shake. “If you keep smelling them, you’ll get dizzy.”

“There’s no need to keep smelling them,” Wei Xiaolu said, pouting slightly at the touch. “You almost scared me dizzy just now.”

Shen Siyan gave a soft laugh and rested a hand on Wei Xiaolu’s head, stroking it twice. “I scared you?”

Wei Xiaolu couldn’t nod, so she shrank her neck a little. “...Mm.”

Shen Siyan laughed again. “Didn’t expect that from me either?”