Chapter 55

On Sunday morning, Shen Siyan called her mother, only to be hung up on outright.

So she left a message.

[Shen Siyan: I used to have a very outstanding intern. I want to keep her on; can you help me say something to headquarters?]

As expected, the message was ignored.

If this had been in the past, her pride and principles would never have let her ask her parents for help. But by the time she had put all that lofty dignity aside and tried to use a private connection to fight for even a sliver of hope, she had already severed ties with her parents; her mother wouldn’t even answer her calls.

More new projects had come up lately, and Shen Siyan couldn’t spare the time. By the afternoon, when she checked WeChat again, her mother still hadn’t replied. She was probably still angry about her coming out.

Certain there would be no response, Shen Siyan went to headquarters after work. But the HR manager wouldn’t give her any face, and the senior executives all preferred to avoid trouble; none of them wanted to incur extra costs just to change an already settled outcome.

She wanted to keep fighting for Wei Xiaolu, but problems had to be solved step by step; pushing too hard might backfire.

So she decided she’d come back another day and ask headquarters again.

After all, it was only about slipping one more person into the company. If she threw out the moral standards and rules she had always held herself to, there would always be a way. And if it really came to it, she could borrow her mother’s name to pressure headquarters; they wouldn’t actually go to her mother to verify it.

When she left headquarters, the sky had already gone black beneath the curtain of rain.

It was rush hour, and the roads were completely clogged. Shen Siyan couldn’t find a place to pull over and buy food, so she changed her mind and went home to cook for herself.

At the apartment building, she folded her umbrella, shook off the water, and walked into the quiet stairwell.

As usual, she entered the password and opened the door, but instead of the familiar bright apartment, the whole place was pitch-black, cold and indifferent, as if it had been abandoned by its owner.

In that instant, Shen Siyan deeply understood why Wei Xiaolu hated dead silence; sometimes, for no reason at all, she too would become disgusted with lonely, empty surroundings.

She thought Wei Xiaolu hadn’t turned on the lights because she was asleep inside, but when she stepped into the living room and saw Wei Xiaolu curled up on the sofa, she couldn’t help frowning.

"Baby, why didn’t you turn on the lights?"

As she spoke, Shen Siyan took off her coat and headed for the kitchen.

But Wei Xiaolu didn’t answer. After Shen Siyan washed the vegetables, she only grew more uneasy and turned back, calling, "Xiaolu."

Wei Xiaolu still didn’t move.

Last night she had already seemed off, crying until her eyes were swollen. Shen Siyan had wrapped some ice in a towel and helped her apply it for a while, and only then had the swelling gone down. But by the time they were ready for bed, Wei Xiaolu had already brightened up again, staring wide-eyed as she swore she would never cry over job hunting again.

At this rate, she was clearly forcing herself again.

Shen Siyan sat down beside her and patted Wei Xiaolu’s back. "I’m here. If something’s bothering you, you can tell me."

After a while, Wei Xiaolu lifted her head, and Shen Siyan saw that even her forehead had been pressed into clear lines.

"Sister," Wei Xiaolu said.

"Mm-hm." Shen Siyan answered.

Wei Xiaolu opened her phone. "The company directly announced the regularization results today."

"It’s fine," Shen Siyan said. "That’s only one step. There are other ways in."

"That’s not why." Wei Xiaolu glanced at her phone twice more, then closed it again.

Shen Siyan didn’t ask. She simply pulled out a tissue and handed it over.

"I..." Wei Xiaolu took it, then twisted it between both hands until it tore cleanly in half, looking thoroughly conflicted. "If I say it, don’t think I’m being childish or too sensitive."

"Go on," Shen Siyan said, noticing how pale Wei Xiaolu’s knuckles had gone from gripping the tissue so hard. "Anything about you deserves to be taken seriously. There’s no such thing as childish or too sensitive."

Wei Xiaolu sniffled.

"It’s just... my roommates saw the announcement," she said, her voice trembling a little. "Then they started talking about me in the group chat... they said really ugly things."

Holding back her anger, Shen Siyan reached for Wei Xiaolu’s phone.

"Open it. Let me see."

Maybe she sounded too much like a parent checking a child’s phone; Wei Xiaolu flinched slightly before slowly extending a finger and pressing her fingerprint to unlock it.

The conversation came after a screenshot of the announcement.

[ @Wei Xiaolu Honestly, weren’t you boasting before? And now what, you got nothing? Isn’t that a pretty loud slap in the face? ]

[ Told you ages ago not to aim so high. ]

[ LOL, I said she was never going to make it. A toad wants to eat swan meat, and she still didn’t believe it. ]

[ Looks like everyone else in our year has already found jobs. If hers blew up, does that mean she doesn’t have a job anymore? Haha, how pathetic. ]

Further down, the insults got even harsher. They weren’t just mocking Wei Xiaolu’s failed regularization; they had escalated into sneers at her ability, her personality, and her looks. Their words were vicious, the kind of malice that came from classmates who knew exactly where to strike.

Shen Siyan’s hand tightened hard around the phone.

Her fingertip hovered over the screen for a moment; then she held down the voice-message button.

"I’m Shen Siyan, Wei Xiaolu’s direct supervisor, and also her current roommate."

She enunciated each word clearly. "I’ve read all of your chat logs. As fellow students of T University, I’m deeply disappointed by the narrow-mindedness, the sharp-tongued cruelty, and even the schadenfreude on display here."

"Wei Xiaolu’s internship performance in my department was personally evaluated by me as excellent. Her failure to pass the final regularization stage was the result of a strategic adjustment at the company’s upper levels and has nothing to do with her personal ability. In fact, it is a loss to our company; I can guarantee that with my career."

In an instant, Shen Siyan’s tone sharpened.

"And as for you, when she was fighting for her future, you mocked her. When she hit a brief setback, you gloated. That is not normal; it is obvious bullying. And I have never been lenient with bullies."

"By tonight, delete every inappropriate comment aimed at Wei Xiaolu and apologize. If I see even a trace of malice left tomorrow morning, or if I hear that anyone is still stirring up trouble behind her back," she paused briefly, then continued, "I don’t mind going through proper channels, contacting the T University student affairs office, submitting every single word to your counselors, and visiting each and every one of your parents one by one."

"That’s all. I suggest you conduct yourselves accordingly."

After sending the final voice message, Shen Siyan set the phone down lightly on the coffee table with a soft thud.

She was still angry. She let out a few breaths before forcing herself back to calm, then turned to Wei Xiaolu. "It’s handled."

Wei Xiaolu stared at her blankly.

That made Shen Siyan’s heart ache, and she reached out, wanting to pull her into her arms.

But Wei Xiaolu waved her arm away.

This time, it was Shen Siyan who froze.

Picking up her phone from the table, Wei Xiaolu pressed and held the first voice message, but it had already timed out and could no longer be recalled.

She tossed the phone aside, stood up, and looked down at Shen Siyan, her eyes red-rimmed again.

"Xiaolu?" Shen Siyan called, confused.

"CEO Shen." Wei Xiaolu answered.

Shen Siyan thought for a moment. "There’s no need to be afraid. You’ve got me behind you. I won’t let anyone bully you."

"I was never going to let anyone bully me in the first place." Wei Xiaolu said.

It sounded like she was speaking through tears, and as Shen Siyan listened, she seemed to understand why. Wei Xiaolu felt like she was meddling too much.

"I wanted to help you because I thought it would be faster to deal with the problem," Shen Siyan explained. "I don’t want people saying things like that about you."

"But," Wei Xiaolu’s eyes were full of broken, glittering tears, "I never said I wanted you to help me. I was just upset when I saw those words; when I calm down, I’ll handle it myself."

"Things like this need to be dealt with while they’re still hot. The longer you let it sit, the more damage it can do."

Before she could even finish, Wei Xiaolu flung out a hand and shouted, "Stop using that no-nonsense, take-charge attitude from work to deal with my business!"

Shen Siyan fell silent.

"Yes, exactly," Wei Xiaolu looked at her. "You’re very good at handling things. Maybe everything you said tonight was useful, and I know you didn’t mean anything else—you just wanted to help me. But—"

Wei Xiaolu sucked in a breath. "But when I told you about this, I wasn’t asking you to help me do anything. I just wanted you to know that I was unhappy."

Shen Siyan looked at her for a while, then finally said, "I ignored the fact that you were unhappy. And I shouldn’t have tried to solve this for you in the name of wanting what’s best for you without asking you first."

"Do you not believe I can handle it myself?" Wei Xiaolu asked.

"I believe you," Shen Siyan said. "I know you can."

Wei Xiaolu stood there like that, staring at Shen Siyan for another two minutes.

Then, as if her temper had eased a little, she sat back down beside her.

Neither of them spoke first.

It felt as if the argument itself had only lasted a few seconds, while the silence stretched on and on.

Then Wei Xiaolu’s phone started dinging.

The group chat had exploded. Those shameless roommates were all apologizing in a rush. After reading it, Wei Xiaolu handed the phone to Shen Siyan without expression.

At a glance, Shen Siyan could tell they weren’t truly sorry. She asked, "Will this affect you later?"

"I don’t know." Wei Xiaolu said.

Shen Siyan looked again at the nasty things those people had said in the chat. In the end, it all came back to the fact that Wei Xiaolu’s job search hadn’t gone smoothly. But based on her trip to headquarters today, things there wouldn’t move quickly, and once it dragged on, those roommates would inevitably keep gossiping behind Wei Xiaolu’s back about how she couldn’t find work.

And as for finding a job, Wei Xiaolu herself was anxious too.

So Shen Siyan started thinking about whether there was some quicker route.

Suddenly, she stood up.

"Don’t worry about finding work anymore. I’ll say something to my dad, and you can go straight into Hongjian Group."

She picked up her phone, ready to call Shen Gaolang, when Wei Xiaolu suddenly sprang up, alarm all over her face.

"What did you say?"

"That intern got in through connections; you can too," Shen Siyan said. "Hongjian Group’s pay is pretty good, and at least I know the people there. I’d feel more at ease if you went."

"What kind of connections am I supposed to use? And what am I to you?" Wei Xiaolu blurted out in disarray. "I’m not going in through connections. I’d rather find a job on my own."

Shen Siyan truly felt sorry for her. "I’m your connection. You know me, and you’ve been by my side for so long; that already counts as access to resources. You need it now, so don’t be stubborn. Don’t get into a fight with your own future."

"Fine! You’re my resource!" Wei Xiaolu lifted her head in agitation, tears spilling down her face, her voice sharp and piercing. "Then I’ll use you! You help me get a job, and from now on I’ll treat you only as a connection, as a stepping stone. Is that it, CEO Shen!"

"That’s not what I meant."

"Then what do you mean?" Wei Xiaolu said. "You just said you believed I could handle it myself, and then you immediately jumped in to help me. Did you do that because you feel sorry for me, because I have no power or status? Let me tell you, I don’t need your pity at all!"

It was obvious this had gone far beyond what they had been dealing with tonight.

Shen Siyan had a headache from the way Wei Xiaolu was shouting. If they kept arguing, Wei Xiaolu would only get more and more worked up. Shen Siyan didn’t want things to become irreparable, so she glanced at the time and said, "That’s not it. Don’t overthink it. I’ll go buy some food and come back; then we can sit down and talk properly."

Wei Xiaolu stayed silent, so Shen Siyan put on her coat, took her umbrella, and went out.

The rain was even heavier than when she had come back.

It came crashing down, carrying a kind of savage force. Even the yellow glow of the streetlights was blurred by the rainwater, stretching out into rings of heavy light.

Shen Siyan walked forward under her umbrella. The cold air cooled her heated mind a little, but the feeling in her chest had already been soaked through by the damp chill, sinking leadenly downward.

This kind of exhaustion didn’t come from being overworked; it came from the helplessness of intimacy.

She had long been used to controlling the whole situation and offering the best solution, but with Wei Xiaolu, the thing she had always been most proud of had become the force pushing them apart.

Just as she took a deep breath of the rain-scented cold air and prepared to let out a sigh—

"Shen Siyan!"

A sharp cry cut through the pounding rain from behind her.

Shen Siyan spun around abruptly.

Wei Xiaolu was running straight toward her in the torrential downpour without even holding an umbrella.

By the time she finally reached Shen Siyan, she was soaked through, water streaming down from her eyelashes and jaw.

Wei Xiaolu lifted a hand and wiped her face, then looked into Shen Siyan’s eyes and said, "Sister, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that just now."

Shen Siyan tipped the umbrella forward to cover her.

"There’s no right or wrong here," Shen Siyan said. "I was a little too forceful just now. If it were me, I’d be angry too."

Wei Xiaolu immediately said, "I’m not angry."

"Neither am I." Shen Siyan said.

"I was just afraid you’d be angry."

Shen Siyan shook her head and said again, "You don’t need to be afraid of that. I’ll never be angry at you."

"But I’m afraid of something else."

Shen Siyan didn’t answer; she just looked at her.

"I’m afraid you see me as a child. Afraid you only pity me, that you feel sorry for me. Afraid you think I need your help all the time," another tear slipped from beneath Wei Xiaolu’s eyes, and she brushed it away with the back of her hand before continuing, "but I’m even more afraid that I’ll really keep depending on you this way, completely at ease, and then treat you like a kind superior, a good roommate, or just a useful connection."

She lifted her wet hand toward Shen Siyan as if she wanted to grab hold of her, but in the end it dropped helplessly back down.

"I don’t want that."

Wei Xiaolu said it softly, but it sounded as if she had used all her strength. Then she raised her hand again and clutched Shen Siyan’s sleeve, speaking her heart over the wind and rain: "Shen Siyan, my feelings for you... aren’t just those things."