Chapter 67

Wei Xiaolu had an almost addictive weakness for kissing.

It wasn’t just the casual pecks they exchanged every day; even this kiss, meant only to quiet their laughter, had been dragged by her into a lingering, drawn-out tangle.

The phone in her pocket kept vibrating. It was probably a work message, but Shen Siyan was trapped by Wei Xiaolu in this lips-and-tongue battle of mutual reluctance to let go. Only when they finally paused for breath did she manage to sit up and check it.

“Who is it?” Wei Xiaolu asked from the sofa, her cheeks flushed red.

“Chen Yuran,” Shen Siyan typed back. “She’s reporting on the progress of the special task force.”

After reviewing the various metrics, Shen Siyan put down her phone. Just as she was about to turn and leave, she noticed that the little girl had been staring at her without blinking all this time.

“Finished replying?” Wei Xiaolu asked.

“Mm.” Shen Siyan nodded. “She did well. My standards were pretty high, but she met all of them.”

Wei Xiaolu still seemed half-lost in that fierce kiss from earlier. She stretched both hands toward her, as if asking for a hug.

Shen Siyan smiled, dropped to one knee beside her, and bent down to press a gentle kiss to her eyelids. “I still need to sort out her report and send it to headquarters.”

“Kiss me once before you go.” Wei Xiaolu wrapped her arms around Shen Siyan’s waist and buried her face against her chest.

Shen Siyan knew exactly what that “once” really meant, but she still had no choice but to cradle the back of Wei Xiaolu’s head and take the lips that were clamoring for “just one more little kiss” into her own.

Sure enough, more than ten minutes passed before Chen Yuran’s call came in, and the two of them snapped back to reality at once, pulling their hands out of each other’s shirts and sitting side by side to cool off for a couple of seconds.

Once her breathing had steadied a little, Shen Siyan said, “I’ll take the call.”

“Oh, okay.” Wei Xiaolu answered obediently.

Chen Yuran added a few more details on the phone, and Shen Siyan noted them down one by one, folding them into the summary report.

At ten that night, after she reviewed the content one last time and clicked to send it to the headquarters mailbox, work was temporarily done.

When Shen Siyan came out of the room, she couldn’t see Wei Xiaolu anywhere. Just as she was about to call for her, she suddenly noticed the bathroom light was on. Drawing closer, she could hear a strangely addictive singing voice.

“A light little email, and the interview invite has come around again; my abilities can finally take the stage once more…”

The tune suddenly turned forceful and stirring at that point: “Second round! Second round! A new battlefield! Interviewer, please catch my limitless talent～”

Shen Siyan walked lightly. By the time she reached Wei Xiaolu’s side, Wei Xiaolu still hadn’t noticed a thing. She was scrubbing foam off her face while twisting her waist and singing that wildly cheerful original tune.

“Who got into the second round?” Shen Siyan bent down and asked right by her ear.

“Ah! You scared me!” Wei Xiaolu jolted upright.

Shen Siyan rested against the sink and looked at the person in front of her; her face was covered in white foam, her eyes wide and round, like some little animal startled into puffing up its fur but still trying to act calm.

“The medical equipment company from today,” Wei Xiaolu said, rinsing off the foam, her voice bright with excitement under the running water.

“Congratulations.” Shen Siyan brushed her thumb across the bits of foam that hadn’t washed away near the corner of Wei Xiaolu’s eye.

Wei Xiaolu took that gesture for some kind of implicit invitation and immediately leaned in, her whole face still damp. “Is that my reward for getting in?”

What was going on in that little head of hers?

Shen Siyan could only smile helplessly and lower her head to kiss her on the lips.

Still, it wasn’t really Wei Xiaolu’s fault for thinking she’d become even cuter these past two days. The truth was that the Wei Xiaolu who had finally dropped her disguise, who no longer used sweet words as armor, who no longer feared sincerity, was willing to reveal more of herself to her; and that self had always been this lovable.

There was another reason too: Wei Xiaolu had recently been bursting with enthusiasm over job hunting. Her energy was completely different from a few days ago. Before interviews, she was full of ambition and fighting spirit; she stayed up until two in the morning preparing, and only then would she hum a little song and turn off the lights to sleep.

Shen Siyan hated to see her working so hard, but back when she herself had been fighting for a project, she had done exactly the same thing, burning the midnight oil. So she didn’t try to stop her and simply kept her company in silence.

After this interview, Wei Xiaolu didn’t give her a long summary. She only sent one line:

[Wei Xiaolu: I finished my interview]

For Wei Xiaolu, making a big fuss about something meant it hadn’t gone well; a light, casual sentence meant it had probably been okay.

So Shen Siyan didn’t press further either. She sent an emoji to show she’d seen it, then wrote: [I have a drinking engagement tonight; don’t wait for me for dinner]

The message had barely gone out before her phone started chiming nonstop.

[Wei Xiaolu: So sister can’t eat with me tonight]

[Wei Xiaolu: So sad, sob sob]

[Wei Xiaolu: I’ll be guarding an empty room alone tonight]

[Wei Xiaolu: Looking forward to a drunk Shen family fool coming home]

[Wei Xiaolu: Hey! Don’t drink too much! Be careful with your stomach!]

[Wei Xiaolu: Oh, and hangover soup]

[Wei Xiaolu: I’ll make it for you, but you need ten kisses to exchange for one bowl]

[Wei Xiaolu: Never mind, you’ll smell like alcohol all over anyway; don’t come kiss me. I’ll give you a bowl for free]

……

Shen Siyan couldn’t stop smiling as she read those messages, to the point that even Chen Yuran, who came into the office to report to her, began to wonder whether her own achievements were really that remarkable; was the leader this happy over it?

“CEO Shen,” Chen Yuran explained, “although the special task force is my responsibility, it’s only because of your guidance and leadership that we were able to produce such a hit.”

Shen Siyan’s smile faded. She nodded in acknowledgement. “I saw all your effort. Don’t belittle yourself; you should believe in your own ability.”

Chen Yuran was somewhat moved and wanted to seize the chance to thank CEO Shen properly, but Shen Siyan didn’t give her the opportunity and sent her back to continue working.

Back at her desk, Chen Yuran thought over the path she’d taken, how she’d navigated between all sides, how she’d stayed passive and mired in silence for so many years. It was only after meeting Shen Siyan, this benefactor of hers, that she’d finally been able to climb out of the trap that had been draining her and truly start doing something worthwhile and meaningful.

She wasn’t good with people, and she also knew Shen Siyan wasn’t the kind of boss who would accept gifts. In the end, she could only write a few clumsy lines and send them to her leader by text as a small expression of gratitude.

However, just as she was typing, she overheard people in the group discussing something.

“Hey, do you guys feel like CEO Shen has something going on lately?”

“Yeah, I do too. Yesterday I saw her smiling at her phone for a long time.”

“The moment she changed perfume, I knew something was off. That scent is way too sweet and doesn’t suit her at all; it smells like something a young girl would use.”

“Holy crap, is she trying to pass herself off as pure and young for a promotion?”

“If you ask me, I think it started even earlier. Before, she used to sleep in the office at lunchtime, but lately she hasn’t been here at noon at all…”

“What are you all talking about?” Chen Yuran raised her voice.

One of the girls suddenly seemed to remember something. “Oh, Sister Chen, weren’t you pretty familiar with that intern from before? I saw her get into CEO Shen’s car that day. What’s their relationship?”

Chen Yuran’s breath caught.

“If she really does have something going on with CEO Shen, we could ask her whether she knows,” the girl added.

“Worry about what you should be worrying about,” Chen Yuran said. “Don’t pry into things that aren’t your business.”

The room fell silent at once.

Of course Chen Yuran believed in Shen Siyan’s character, but rumors could be terrifying. Just being a lesbian was enough to shock people; if everyone found out she was dating a subordinate as well, no one knew what kind of monstrous rumors they’d twist it into.

After all, their department had been under Chen Dongqi’s management for so long that gossip had flourished there. Even though things were better after Shen Siyan took over, old habits were hard to uproot, and they couldn’t be taken lightly.

So in the end, Chen Yuran’s text to Shen Siyan also subtly hinted at the speculation already circulating in the department.

[Chen Yuran: CEO Shen, I’ve long wanted to thank you properly. The reason the project was able to succeed is entirely because you were willing to give me a chance to do something. I’ll repay this kindness by doing better work.

Also, I heard some gossip in the group today about your private life and stopped it. But I wanted to remind you to be careful; there are a lot of ears and eyes in the department, and some people can’t help but think in the dark.

Please take care of yourself.]

Reading that message, Shen Siyan’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.

She wasn’t afraid of rumors. Since taking office, she’d already gained complete confidence in her ability to control the department’s public opinion.

She also didn’t particularly care whether she was out or not. She had never intended to hide it in the first place, and even her parents, the people most deeply entangled with her interests, already knew. As for everyone else, they weren’t worth making her hide Wei Xiaolu for.

Of course, it wasn’t that she truly didn’t care about anyone’s opinion—except for Wei Xiaolu’s parents.

That was the exception; it was precisely this exception that made Shen Siyan, who was usually so adept at handling everything, especially cautious when managing this relationship.

Because Wei Xiaolu loved her parents and cared about what they thought, Shen Siyan had to be careful too. She had chosen gifts with great thought, hoping they might ease any prejudice there could be.

Wei Xiaolu’s preparations were equally thorough. She bought tea and knee warmers, and she also bought her “annoying” older brother a game console.

The day after the gifts were sent out, Shen Siyan was sorting through documents in the bedroom when she suddenly heard Wei Xiaolu shriek from the next room. Then she came rushing into her room in a panic, holding up her phone. “My mom’s video-calling me! What do I do!”

Shen Siyan took her hand. “It’s fine. Answer it; I’ll be right beside you.”

“You stay with me.” Wei Xiaolu gripped her tightly.

Shen Siyan nodded. “I’m here. I’ll face it with you.”

Wei Xiaolu was only afraid of exposing herself; that didn’t mean her parents disliked her true self. After the call connected, the first two lines were a little awkward, but once they started talking about the tea and the knee warmers, the awkwardness was gone entirely.

Just that—

Shen Siyan never appeared.

Or rather, when she had just been about to speak, Wei Xiaolu let go of her hand, shoved her away, and took two steps back, putting some distance between them.

Neither side on the video call mentioned the gifts she had sent. They tactfully avoided every topic that could touch on romance, instead chatting like ordinary family, checking on each other’s health and asking after each other’s recent life.

This wasn’t the first time Shen Siyan had listened in while Wei Xiaolu spoke to her family on the phone.

But it was the one that left her with the most complicated feelings.

She wanted to be recognized as Wei Xiaolu’s girlfriend. She wanted Wei Xiaolu to introduce her as her girlfriend. And then there was the feeling she had not felt just once, a mixture of envy and grief.

Both were parents; how could they be so utterly different?

Wei Xiaolu’s parents would repeatedly urge her over the phone to “rest if you’re tired,” and would laugh out loud with joy at their daughter’s progress in making it to the second round.

And her own parents... every conversation with them was either judgment or interest.

Even after she came out, they made the same silent move as Wei Xiaolu’s parents, but it wasn’t out of love at all. They had simply recognized the fact that she could no longer be controlled by them, and after weighing the pros and cons, they coldly discarded her as useless.

The video call ended, and Wei Xiaolu let out a long breath.

Then she cheered, “Oh yeah!” and threw herself at Shen Siyan, hugging her tightly. “I passed!”

Shen Siyan came back to herself, curved her lips, and returned the embrace with a smile. “Mm.”

Wei Xiaolu rubbed against the crook of her neck, her voice muffled. “Thank goodness she didn’t mention you. Otherwise that would’ve been so embarrassing.”

Shen Siyan froze for a moment, but she quickly tucked away the melancholy that had risen in her eyes. When Wei Xiaolu lifted her head, she smiled brightly and said, “Mm, thank goodness she didn’t mention me.”