Chapter 8

Friday’s air was sweet.

Maybe it was because it was Friday, or maybe because everyone had been rattled by yesterday’s news that the project was being restarted; either way, the Product Interaction Department had grown a little listless.

When Wei Xiaolu went to the bathroom, she saw several people slacking off at their desks and plenty of others chatting. Tao Wei was right in the middle of the crowd, talking and laughing with everyone around her.

Seeing how well she got along with the other employees made Wei Xiaolu feel oddly out of place, so she decided not to greet her. Besides, even if she did, Tao Wei was probably too busy to notice her.

But Tao Wei called out to her first.

“Xiaolu,” Tao Wei said, stepping out from the group, “did Manager Ai go see CEO Shen yesterday?”

Wei Xiaolu froze for a moment, then nodded. “Mm.”

“What did she say?” Tao Wei looked genuinely curious.

“She just gave CEO Shen some feedback about everyone’s attitude,” Wei Xiaolu said.

“Damn, that’s bold,” Tao Wei said, turning back to the people behind her. “Manager Ai went and confronted CEO Shen face-to-face.”

“Ooh, she just went straight to CEO Shen with objections?”

“We haven’t even figured out what the bosses are like yet, and she already dared to go. She really isn’t afraid of trouble.”

“But if she can get it stopped, that saves us a lot of hassle. Doing it all over again was honestly giving me a headache.”

“Maybe she’s just trying to show off. Whether she’s really capable depends on what CEO Shen says. If CEO Shen really changes her mind, then the credit would really belong to Ai Jin…”

Listening to their chatter, Wei Xiaolu felt as if a film had settled over her chest; it was stifling and uncomfortable.

Tao Wei was taking part in the discussion too, while Wei Xiaolu herself seemed to have been left outside the glass window; her only role had been to slip a flyer through the window and stir up all this noise.

“Waiwai, I’m heading back first. CEO Shen still has a form she’s waiting on,” Wei Xiaolu said, seizing a gap in the conversation.

Tao Wei glanced at her and waved her off. “Oh, okay, go on.”

Back at her desk, her emotions still felt as though they were hovering in midair without anywhere to land.

It seemed like everyone…

Wei Xiaolu stole a glance at Shen Siyan.

Even though no one said it outright, did everyone actually have opinions about CEO Shen?

Thinking from the perspective of the department’s veteran employees, this young elite with little grassroots experience, who held all the power in the department and whose thinking seemed a little detached from ordinary people, had shown up and wanted to make sweeping changes right away. No wonder she wasn’t liked.

Wei Xiaolu rested her chin in her hand and sighed.

Then she quietly made a wish; please let Shen Siyan stop being so stubborn and repent early, the sooner the better.

Her wishes usually came true easily, and this time was no exception. That afternoon, after headquarters sent someone to speak with Shen Siyan, an “urgent notice” was issued.

When Shen Siyan sent out the notice, she admitted without dodging that her judgment had been insufficient, and finally announced that the project restart would be abandoned and the collapsed version would continue to be maintained.

After the announcement, the technical team seemed to have suddenly had their sentence reduced; every face was glowing with springtime joy.

Wang Chen even sent Wei Xiaolu a message, asking her to go out for barbecue after work to celebrate.

Wei Xiaolu appreciated the thought, but after work she needed to race home like she was riding the clouds. Socializing was temporarily off the table.

【Wei Xiaolu: Thanks for remembering me, Engineer Wang~ I don’t know your team, so I won’t join in and crowd things haha】

She thought that counted as a tactful refusal, but the very next moment, Wang Chen’s reply made the water she’d just drunk go down the wrong way.

【Wang Chen: Then I won’t call them; let’s go together】

He even sent a little blushing puppy emoji.

Cough, cough, cough… what was this?

The network of connections she was trying to build was supposed to serve work, but this didn’t look much like that.

When it came to feelings, Wei Xiaolu was pretty dull. Back in high school, there had been a trio sitting in a row; the girl on her left and the boy on her right had both been dating for two months, and when others tried to warn her, Wei Xiaolu had firmly waved them off and said it was impossible; the two of them were just friends, absolutely no dirty thoughts at all.

It wasn’t until the girl switched seats and started holding hands with the boy in class that Wei Xiaolu reluctantly admitted their relationship had long since existed.

But even someone as slow as she was could tell Wang Chen had some very suspicious intentions.

—Because after she repeatedly refused, said goodbye to Shen Siyan after work, rode the shuttle bus back to her warm little nest, and happily settled in at home to mooch off her family, that guy with the surname Wang was still Wang-ing away.

【Wang Chen: This barbecue place is really famous; I’ll bring you to try it another day】

【Wang Chen: Just finished basketball】

【Wang Chen: Suddenly got forced into overtime】

【Wang Chen: Finished the code; let me show you how it turned out】

Wei Xiaolu: “…”

She kicked Wei Jialuo, who was sitting on the sofa gnawing on a peach, and in the middle of his furious “What the fuck!” she shoved the phone at him. “How am I supposed to reply?”

“What the hell?” Wei Jialuo craned his neck to look, visibly disgusted. “No need to reply. This guy has bad taste; just leave him hanging.”

“Your skin’s itchy, huh?” Wei Xiaolu slapped his back. “Anyone who likes me has excellent taste!”

“That’s true enough; your taste is—ugh.” Wei Jialuo dry-heaved.

“Looking for death?” Wei Xiaolu kicked him again, but he dodged.

Tang Xiaofen came over carrying cut-up dragon fruit and set it on the coffee table.

Seeing the two of them roughhousing, she hurried to stop them. “Jialuo, what are you doing again? Your sister finally came home; talk properly.”

This was Wei Xiaolu’s personal judge, and Wei Jialuo had no human rights in front of Tang Xiaofen. He shrugged and shut up.

“Xiaolu,” Tang Xiaofen said, pulling Wei Jialuo up and shooing him away before sitting down beside her daughter, “how’s the new job? It’s been ages since I heard you call and curse out your boss. Mom’s been missing you; I was worried you’d run into another boss who bullies you.”

“Not this time,” Wei Xiaolu said, leaning against her and hugging her arm. “My boss this time is pretty good. Mm… she’s been quite considerate of me.”

“Oh, really?” Tang Xiaofen smiled, deep crow’s-feet creasing at the corners of her eyes. “That’s wonderful. I told you my girl would definitely meet a good boss. That Zhang Jixia—she’s just a little beast. If the boss is good, we can work happily too.”

Wei Xiaolu smiled and rubbed her face against her mother’s clothes. “Mm, the right person leads to the right money.”

“Oh my,” Tang Xiaofen shook her. “If she’s a good boss, we can’t let that go to waste. I’ll get you some health-boosting goji berries to bring to work on Monday.”

Wei Xiaolu felt it wasn’t necessary and hesitated for two seconds. “Maybe not. I get along with her pretty well, and I feel like she probably likes me too. If I keep giving her things, it might feel like overdoing it.”

Tang Xiaofen was still uneasy. “What boss ever knows when they’ve had enough…”

Just then Wei Zongqing came over too and stood nearby listening for a couple of lines before backing up Tang Xiaofen. “If your daughter doesn’t want to give anything, then don’t give it. But Xiaolu, your mom’s just worried it’s hard to find a job, and she wants you to grab hold of this good opportunity.”

The moment “hard to find a job” came up, Tang Xiaofen’s automatic “scold Wei Jialuo” mechanism activated. She glared at her son, who was swiping on his phone nearby, like an irritable sparrow about to burst.

“If your brother were even half as diligent as you, that’d be great,” Tang Xiaofen said. “He just sits at home every day, and I don’t even know what he’s trying to do.”

“He wouldn’t just sit there,” Wei Xiaolu said with a laugh. “He’d get tired if he did that. He’d have to find a position that feels comfortable.”

“What, does no one see me helping make and sell noodles every day?” Wei Jialuo pointed at Wei Zongqing. “Dad, testify for me.”

Wei Zongqing covered his eyes and sighed. “Ah… I, I can’t see anything.”

“Old man, keep your eyes open and remember this,” Wei Jialuo declared solemnly. “I came back to inherit the family business. I’m not like Wei Xiaolu, slaving away outside for capitalists.”

Wei Xiaolu collapsed into Tang Xiaofen’s arms. “Mom, he stabbed me in the heart.”

“Don’t listen to his nonsense,” Tang Xiaofen snapped at her son. “You’re out there building your career. You’re nothing like this lazy good-for-nothing.”

“Exactly.” Wei Xiaolu provoked her brother.

But Wei Jialuo didn’t take the bait. He ate two bites of red-fleshed dragon fruit, then went back to his room with a mouth stained bright red.

Wei Xiaolu chatted with her parents for a while longer.

In terms of support, her parents had actually already been doing a lot to help the siblings with a safety net. Their decade-old noodle shop was what gave Wei Xiaolu the confidence to quit her job, so even though her new job was still relatively decent, she hadn’t thrown herself into it wholeheartedly. She always felt that even if something went wrong at work, it wasn’t a big deal; after all, she had the courage to walk away at any time.

Slack when it was time to slack off; work when it was time to work. She treated work only as a game for earning money and standing on her own, not as faith, and certainly not as a royal road to promotion and wealth.

—That was Wei Xiaolu’s life creed, revised in time after she discovered she wasn’t some kind of “new star of the workplace” at all.

The two days of the weekend passed like lightning.

On Sunday night, carrying the snack bag specially assembled by Tang Xiaofen, Wei Xiaolu set off on the road back.

By the time she returned to the apartment, it was nearly ten at night. When Wei Xiaolu pushed the door open and saw the apartment was pitch-black, she set her things down and ran to the balcony to confirm once more that there really was no car downstairs belonging to Shen Siyan.

At this hour, Shen Siyan should be staying out all night, right?

Yay, she was living alone again.

Happiness existed in every moment without a boss present.

Wei Xiaolu put on some sugary little love songs, set her phone on the bathroom shelf, and enjoyed a hot shower to the fullest.

These apartments had separate wet and dry areas; just outside the bathroom was the toilet, and the entire wall above the sink was a mirror.

Perfect for admiring herself.

After she came out from showering, Wei Xiaolu began making faces at the mirror, striking extremely coquettish poses while twisting her waist and singing nonsense: “Oh my, what a great body I’ve got, boobs and butt, both I’ve got, with a little waist that sways, who could not be obsessed…”

Right as she was getting into it, the sound of the refrigerator door closing from outside made Wei Xiaolu’s face turn to ash and her heart sink.

Shen Siyan was back?

She hadn’t heard the door open. Was she already there?

Then where had her car gone?

Fraud! This was fraud!

The bathroom steam had made Wei Xiaolu’s face hot. She quickly wrapped herself in a bath towel, pressed the backs of her hands against her cheeks, and decided to storm back into the bedroom, that safe territory, with utmost force.

She held her breath and listened for a few seconds; there were no more sounds. Then she opened the bathroom door and sneaked out.

“Want some yogurt?”

Behind her, Shen Siyan spoke.

Wei Xiaolu’s heart gave a jolt. She pulled the towel tighter around her chest and slowly turned back.

Between the bedroom and the living room stood a folding screen made of frosted glass; a blurry silhouette could be seen on it, Shen Siyan’s figure.

“Yes.” Wei Xiaolu went around the screen and saw a figure in a silver sleep robe. Its owner was toying with a bottle of yogurt; when she saw Wei Xiaolu, she tossed it over.

Wei Xiaolu caught it steadily. “Thanks for the yogurt, beautiful CEO.”

As Wei Xiaolu took the yogurt, Shen Siyan casually let her eyes sweep over her, then slightly lifted a brow.

That tiny expression, worth a thousand words, instantly sent Wei Xiaolu into endless interpretation.

“You’ve been here the whole time?” she asked with an embarrassed, guilty grin.

“I was a little sleepy so I went to bed first,” Shen Siyan said elegantly, using a spoon to eat her yogurt. “But then I heard a concert going on outside, so I came out to listen.”

…Wei Xiaolu was a little dead inside.

Forget dignity, forget pride; she had already been stripped of all face. She could only bow and scrape and say, “You choose the songs. Whatever you want to hear, I’ll sing for you.”

“Oh? Is little sister putting on a solo concert?” Shen Siyan looked at her with smiling eyes. “Is one bottle of yogurt enough for a ticket?”

“It’s enough; even paying in advance through next month would be enough,” Wei Xiaolu said with the air of someone who had accepted her fate.

Maybe her eyes were too resigned to death, because Shen Siyan finally stopped teasing her. With a soft laugh, she rose from her chair and headed toward the bedroom, lazily waving back at her.

“Fine, keep the ticket on credit. The air conditioning inside is set so low; go dry your hair quickly,” Shen Siyan said as she reached the bedroom door. Then she turned back and lifted her brows at her. “Otherwise, if you catch a cold tomorrow, who’s going to be responsible?”

Wei Xiaolu held back a smile. “You are.”

When Shen Siyan arched a brow, she immediately clutched her yogurt and darted back to her room, then poked her head out from the doorframe to add, “You’re right to remind me. I’m going to dry my hair right now!”

TL Note:

“Wang-ing away” (还在汪) is a pun on the surname Wang/Wei Chen’s surname and means he kept texting her nonstop.