Chapter 70

Wei Xiaolu had already worked things out with HR about starting her internship early the very next morning, so she could go to Kerong the day after to handle the formalities.

Not bad. She had completed the first step of walking out of the house.

“Reporting in tomorrow!” Wei Xiaolu said, shouldering her canvas bag. She turned to Shen Siyan. “Sis, do I look like a city superhero in this outfit?”

When she looked over, the corners of Shen Siyan’s lips curved too.

“How do you want to celebrate the superhero going on duty?”

“No need.” Wei Xiaolu waved a hand, admired herself in the mirror twice, then suddenly felt hungry. “I want to eat the food you make.”

“That’s your only requirement?”

“Only?” Wei Xiaolu blinked in surprise. “Isn’t that already the highest requirement? You’re the one doing the hard labor here.”

Shen Siyan walked over, cupped Wei Xiaolu’s face, and kissed her.

“Today happens to be our second-month anniversary too,” Shen Siyan said, her eyes curving with a quiet, flowing tenderness. “Don’t you want a little ceremony?”

“We’ve already been together two months?” Wei Xiaolu stared at her in shock.

Then she immediately answered the second question. “Oh, then yes, we can have a little ceremony.”

Shen Siyan let out a soft, unreadable “Mm,” calm to the point of seeming unusual. Wei Xiaolu sensed something was off, planted her hands on her hips, and circled her twice before reaching a conclusion.

“Are you hiding something from me?”

“I can’t keep it hidden anymore,” Shen Siyan finally said with a smile. “I booked a restaurant to celebrate you.”

“Ah!”

Wei Xiaolu immediately threw herself into Shen Siyan’s arms; nestled there, she said “I love you” over and over again.

Shen Siyan clearly took this going-on-duty dinner and second-month-anniversary meal very seriously. She went back into the room to change, and Wei Xiaolu took off the business outfit she had planned to wear tomorrow, put on her down jacket, and was about to leave when she saw Shen Siyan emerge fully dressed.

A brocade outer robe, paired with a gorgeous bright-blue long dress. Wei Xiaolu stared. “It’s just dinner. Why are you dressed so beautifully, sis?”

“Because I’m eating with you,” Shen Siyan said with a smile. “Are you going out like that?”

“Then I’ll change again. Wait for me.”

She was dressed too young; she’d look like she was dragging a child along. Wei Xiaolu had no choice but to dart back in and put on the most mature outfit she owned.

Traffic caused a bit of a delay on the way there, and by the time they reached the restaurant, it was already past eight. Wei Xiaolu rubbed her stomach and complained that she was hungry, urging Shen Siyan to hurry into the private room.

“Did you order already? I want their—”

Wei Xiaolu’s words stuck abruptly in her throat when she saw the romantic scene created by balloons, streamers, candlelight, and red satin.

“Little sister, congratulations.”

A bouquet of roses appeared before her eyes.

This was way too formal... Wei Xiaolu blanked out for a few seconds, then quickly tried to lighten the mood with a joke. “Shouldn’t it be congratulations to us? These are roses, you know.”

After all, they had already celebrated the job-hunting success meal while traveling; there wasn’t much need for another extravagant one.

And this arrangement in front of her looked more like Shen Siyan, unable to bring herself to say anything about the anniversary she wanted to celebrate, had borrowed the occasion of Wei Xiaolu starting work to prepare something instead.

Sure enough, once things had come to this point, Shen Siyan admitted it openly. “Right. Congratulations to us for walking into this winter together.”

“Then these flowers belong to both of us,” Wei Xiaolu said, setting them on the table. “Put them between us.”

“The flowers are ours,” Shen Siyan said, taking her hand. A gift bag dropped into Wei Xiaolu’s palm. “The present is for you.”

“Why did you buy something again!” Wei Xiaolu couldn’t help tearing it open. “A bag!”

“You need a proper bag for work,” Shen Siyan said. “That canvas one can retire.”

“This is so practical.” Wei Xiaolu slung it over her shoulder and admired it from every angle. “The bag you picked is so pretty, sis!”

Shen Siyan looked it over twice and said, “Pretty suitable.” Wei Xiaolu lowered her head, exclaiming, “Sis, you’re so good to me,” and then completely immersed herself in exploring the bag’s hidden compartments.

The dishes were served quickly; they were the ones Shen Siyan had ordered in advance, and every dish Wei Xiaolu loved was on the table.

Candles and roses, the atmosphere already set—when they first started eating, Wei Xiaolu genuinely enjoyed the romance Shen Siyan had created for her.

But after all, it was the day before she began her internship. After eating for a few minutes, she couldn’t help talking about how hard-won this job had been.

“Almost more than three months. Thinking about that time now still feels awful. Why has it all turned out like this? Making money really isn’t easy.”

“It’s already gone very smoothly,” Shen Siyan comforted her. “As long as the final result is good, that’s enough.”

“Smoothly?” Wei Xiaolu didn’t like the way Shen Siyan put it and shot back, “What do you call smooth? Back then, wasn’t it basically click and deliver for you?”

Shen Siyan smiled but said nothing.

“It’s a different era, sis,” Wei Xiaolu said, growing more irritated as she went on. “There’s an oversupply of talent, and we haven’t gotten the slightest benefit from it.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Shen Siyan said slowly. “No matter where you are, as long as you work hard, you can make something of yourself.”

For some reason, that line made Wei Xiaolu uncomfortable. She began explaining to Shen Siyan that wasn’t what she meant at all; the reason Shen Siyan could think that way was because her career luck had been good and she’d achieved money and status through her work, but in reality, many places were unfair, and it wasn’t as simple as just working hard.

As Wei Xiaolu spoke, Shen Siyan stopped eating. Her gaze lowered; candlelight cast a row of shadows beneath her lower lashes.

Once the topic turned to employment, Wei Xiaolu couldn’t help going on and on, rattling off a long stream of complaints. Finally, after venting all her indignation, she stopped; all she heard was Shen Siyan saying indifferently, “I know. I’m not trying to comfort you?”

That didn’t sound like Shen Siyan’s standard way of comforting people at all.

Wei Xiaolu was a little unhappy, and because of that she also failed to notice her own emotional imbalance. She could only vaguely feel a kind of frustration at not being able to truly open up to Shen Siyan; maybe it was because she was still in that anxious transition from campus to workplace, while Shen Siyan was already firmly established in the elite class, so this topic simply didn’t flow well between them.

There was a moment of silence.

Shen Siyan spoke first. “Now that you’ve found a job, don’t think about those unpleasant experiences anymore. Let’s just be happy today, okay?”

Those words made a sudden thought flash through Wei Xiaolu’s mind.

Was I the one overthinking it?

Am I being too negative?

But Shen Siyan immediately offered another explanation. “After all, today counts as one of our anniversaries too.”

Wei Xiaolu froze.

“I want that when you think back to this day in the future,” Shen Siyan paused, “you’ll be smiling.”

Her heart softened at once, and the bridge of her nose grew faintly sour.

On this anniversary carefully arranged by Shen Siyan, with flowers and a gift in her arms, Wei Xiaolu had to admit that she seemed to have put her own feelings first, overlooking Shen Siyan’s long-term guidance, support, and listening; she had just gone on and on about her own hardships.

She only wants me to be happy. Why do I have to make the atmosphere so heavy and say such spoil-sport things?

The corners of her mouth rose uncontrollably into a slightly embarrassed, yet touched, smile.

Wei Xiaolu reached out and gently took Shen Siyan’s hand. In a small voice she said, “Sis... you’re so corny.”

“Am I only corny today?” Shen Siyan asked with a smile.

“No.” Wei Xiaolu snickered.

“Then you’ll have to get used to it slowly,” Shen Siyan said, picking up her chopsticks again. “I’ve still got a lot I haven’t put into practice yet.”

Wei Xiaolu burst out laughing and hooked her left arm, shaking it. “I’m already getting used to it. I never thought being together for two months would mean celebrating an anniversary... Wait, are we going to have a monthly anniversary?”

If her memory wasn’t scrambled, it seemed that around the same time last month, Shen Siyan had also used the excuse of a “full month” to take her out for a big meal.

Strange.

Aren’t anniversaries usually measured in years? And there was another point that left Wei Xiaolu puzzled and conflicted: Shen Siyan, who didn’t even celebrate her own birthday, was actually willing to go to the trouble of splitting their anniversaries into months.

“Mm.” Shen Siyan was already planning ahead. “How do you want to spend next month?”

“Ah...” Wei Xiaolu accepted the plan in only half a second, bubbles of happiness rising in her heart. “As long as I’m with you, it’s fine however we spend it.”

“Then I’ll go ahead and arrange it.” Shen Siyan lifted an eyebrow.

Wei Xiaolu leaned against Shen Siyan’s cheek and gave her a loud smack. “Okay, I’ll follow your lead.”

Sure enough, atmosphere needed to be adjusted by hand; once things had eased up, the meal became much warmer. Near the end of dinner, Shen Siyan received a call. It seemed some proposal needed her decision, and she frowned. “Okay, I’ll go over in a bit.”

“Are you going back to the company?” Wei Xiaolu asked.

“Let’s finish eating first. No rush. I’m just going over for a meeting.” Shen Siyan put down her phone and added a little loquat juice to Wei Xiaolu’s cup.

“Then I’ll go with you,” Wei Xiaolu said. Since it was their anniversary, leaving Shen Siyan to go back alone would be a little cruel; besides, they had just had a small spat, so Wei Xiaolu turned into a considerate girlfriend. “There’s nothing to do when I go back anyway. I’ll wait for you in the car at the company.”

Wei Xiaolu had only meant to make up for things through companionship, but when Shen Siyan agreed readily, kissed her downstairs at the company, and smiled at her with “Baby, wait for me,” Wei Xiaolu would also come to a sudden realization in her dazed state: Shen Siyan... really seemed to like her a lot.

Of course they liked each other; otherwise they couldn’t have become a couple. It was just that—

Wei Xiaolu suddenly felt that their liking wasn’t quite the same.

As for exactly how it differed, she couldn’t quite sort it out.

But there was always this vague feeling that in this relationship, she seemed to place more weight on being in love, while Shen Siyan seemed to be walking inside love itself.

That thought made Wei Xiaolu’s heart feel as if it had been lightly scratched by a feather; itchy, and a little swollen.

She put the roses in her arms onto the driver’s seat and wanted to get out of the car for some air.

With her mind on other things, she didn’t notice whether anyone was around. The moment she opened the door, she heard a voice from the parking spot beside her: “Wei Xiaolu?”

Wei Xiaolu’s heart jolted; she turned her head.

The window of the car next door rolled down, revealing a wooden-looking head and Wang Chen’s bewildered voice. “Why are you in CEO Shen’s car?”

Before Wei Xiaolu could answer, his gaze had already followed the open car door inside. He gave an exaggerated “Oh-ho!” and said, “That’s a huge bouquet. Did CEO Shen go on a date with someone?”