The afternoon budget sheet was done exceptionally slowly. Xia Wei checked the data over and over again, and after confirming it was correct, she sent it out.
Usually, Song Qiao would at least reply with a “Received,” but today there was nothing.
When it was time to get off work, Xia Wei packed her things.
She glanced in the direction of Song Qiao’s office. The door was closed, and a light was on behind the frosted glass. Standing by her workstation, she hesitated for two seconds, then sent Song Qiao a message.
Xia Wei: Director Song, if there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving work first.
Song Qiao replied very quickly, with just a single character: Hm.
Seeing that “Hm,” Xia Wei felt a great sense of relief. She shouldered the bag she had already packed and walked toward the elevator.
As she passed that door, her footsteps did not stop.
The elevator door opened, and she walked in, pressing the first-floor button. The moment the elevator door closed, she heard the sound of a door opening very softly from behind her.
She did not look back.
On the subway, Xia Wei leaned against the corner, and her phone buzzed.
Fang Tian: How was it today? Did the female devil make things difficult for you?
Xia Wei thought for a moment and typed a few characters: No.
Fang Tian: So good?
Xia Wei typed another line: She didn’t really manage me today, and she wouldn’t even look me straight in the eye.
Fang Tian: ??? What do you mean?
Xia Wei: Just what it sounds like. She didn’t look for me to talk, didn’t look at me, and seemed like she didn’t want any extra communication with me.
Fang Tian: And what about you? Did you look for her?
Xia Wei’s fingers paused. Did she look for Song Qiao? It’s a good thing when the boss doesn’t look for you; why would she go out of her way to seek out the boss?
Xia Wei: No.
Fang Tian: Then what are you two doing? A Cold War?
Looking at those two words, Xia Wei felt they weren’t quite right.
There was nothing to “war” over between her and Song Qiao—they were just superiors and subordinates, and last night was merely an accident.
Song Qiao’s attitude today was probably just her returning to a normal superior-subordinate distance.
Previously taking her to banquets and blocking drinks for her at drinking sessions were just exceptions.
Now the exception was over.
Xia Wei locked her screen and tucked her phone into her pocket. Outside the subway window was pitch black, with lights occasionally flashing by, reflecting her blurry silhouette.
She stared at that silhouette for a moment, then closed her eyes.
It wasn’t grievance; she just felt that today’s time seemed a bit longer than usual.
Getting off work on time today and being able to eat a hot meal put Xia Wei in a good mood.
It was just that Zhou Ci’s nagging at the dinner table made her feel a bit uneasy.
“Weiwei, oh, this morning… was that really not your girlfriend?” Zhou Ci asked probingly.
Xia Wei shook her head: “No, she’s my leader, and I’m her assistant. She drank too much at a banquet last night, and it wasn’t safe for her to stay in a hotel alone, so I brought her back.”
Fearing that Zhou Ci would keep asking, she simply explained everything clearly.
Zhou Ci nodded: “I know, this child is really pretty, what a pity…”
With that, Zhou Ci’s gaze lingered on Xia Wei’s face for a few seconds, and she leisurely said: “Fortunately, you look like me. If you looked like your dad, I’d be too embarrassed to ask someone if she’s your girlfriend.”
“Cough…” Xia Wei choked on the chili, tears even squeezed out.
To be honest, her dad Xia Yuanting had delicate and pretty facial features, but compared to Zhou Ci, he was still a bit lacking.
“Then which of Dad’s points did you value?” Xia Wei asked, wiping away a tear.
“Sigh, you child, we’re talking about your business, how did you drag me and your dad into it.” Zhou Ci evaded the question, her eyeballs rolling before she asked again: “Then does your leader have a partner? Can she accept girls?”
“Mom…” Xia Wei drew out the end of her syllable, her usual way of showing impatience without daring to lose her temper with Zhou Ci.
This time, Zhou Ci didn’t give up. With eyes similar to Xia Wei’s, she looked at Xia Wei full of gossip.
“I don’t know,” Xia Wei said, lowering her head to shovel rice.
Hearing this, Zhou Ci gave Xia Wei a thoughtful look at her reddened earlobes and said earnestly: “Then you should still take good care of Song Qiao. It’s not easy for her to make a living alone in this city.”
“How do you know she’s alone?” Xia Wei asked, instantly regretting it.
Zhou Ci didn’t speak, looking at Xia Wei with the gaze of ginger getting hotter the older it gets.
She almost forgot, Song Qiao had seen Zhou Ci this morning…
“I know,” Xia Wei said, continuing to lower her head to eat.
After cleaning up the kitchen, Zhou Ci went out to dance square dance with the aunt next door. Xia Wei tidied up alone in her bedroom. When she was changing the bed sheets and quilt covers, that familiar faint fragrance appeared in her bedroom.
“She only slept for one night, and a whole day has passed, how can I still smell it?” Xia Wei muttered softly.
Just as she started the washing machine, Fang Tian’s call came through.
“Quickly tell me what happened today?”
Before Xia Wei could even open her mouth, Fang Tian’s voice was already pouring out of the receiver.
“Nothing happened, I just feel like she’s avoiding me.” Xia Wei sat on the sofa and turned down the television volume.
“Avoiding you? Why is she avoiding you?” Fang Tian didn’t understand.
Xia Wei sighed: “I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you know anything… Wait, didn’t Auntie ask if she was your girlfriend? Could she be avoiding you because of that?” Fang Tian was startled.
Xia Wei frowned and said nothing. From her expression, it looked like she agreed with Fang Tian’s guess.
“Hey, are you still there? Why aren’t you talking?” Fang Tian saw that Xia Wei hadn’t made a sound for a long time.
“I’m here. I don’t know, let’s just wait and see. I can’t possibly run over and ask her, ‘Are you avoiding me because my mom said you’re my girlfriend?'” Xia Wei’s expression relaxed.
Fang Tian chuckled: “I think you could also pretend she is your girlfriend, and then facing her various demands, you’d be able to do all the hard work without complaint.”
“Fang Tian,” Xia Wei called out Fang Tian’s full name.
“My bad, my bad,” Fang Tian immediately admitted her mistake, changing the subject to continue: “But if she keeps ignoring you like this, wouldn’t that just be getting paid while slacking off?”
“You wish.” Xia Wei let out a long sigh.
The two of them casually chatted for a bit before hanging up to rest.
After work started again, Xia Wei felt that her sleep quality had improved a lot. With a regular routine, in just a few short days, her entire mental outlook took on a completely new look.
“Weiwei, come out to eat.” Zhou Ci shouted from outside.
Xia Wei rubbed her eyes and pushed open the door: “Mom, you don’t need to get up so early to make me breakfast. It’s all the same if I eat outside.”
“How is it the same? You basically don’t eat outside,” Zhou Ci glared at her.
Her bluff was called.
Xia Wei didn’t panic. After washing up, she sat down at the dining table: “How long until Dad and Grandma come back?”
“Not for a while. Grandma’s childhood friend came back when she was young, and she said she wanted to play for a couple more days, staying until the other person returns to the north before coming back.” Zhou Ci also sat down.
Xia Wei nodded, sipping her porridge in small sips. With those two away, Zhou Ci would target her alone, and there was no one else to share the firepower.
Friday was business as usual. Ordering on her phone right on schedule, she went straight to pick up her coffee upon arriving downstairs at the company.
As soon as she stepped into the department, Xia Wei keenly sensed that the atmosphere was wrong. Everyone had arrived, and even Xie Xiaoqing, who always clocked in right at the deadline, was seated properly at her desk.
Everyone was sitting at their workstations, typing on their keyboards with extra care, not even daring to slide their chairs back for fear of making a harsh noise.
Song Qiao’s office door was also open, emanating a chilly air, with voices faintly coming from inside. Xia Wei sat down and quietly adjusted her angle to peek—she met eyes with her again.
Xia Wei didn’t know why her luck was so good; every time she peeked, she would be caught by Song Qiao.
Looking away as if nothing had happened, she quickly stooped down and lowered her voice to ask Xie Xiaoqing, “Sister Xiaoqing, what happened?”
Xie Xiaoqing glanced at Song Qiao’s office and lowered her voice in response: “The guest for the interview program didn’t work out, Director Song is throwing a tantrum.”
Just as her voice fell, Lin Yuan walked out holding a laptop. The expression on his face looked like he had just returned from a battlefield—not the kind of deep sorrow, but that dazed “I made it out alive, but I don’t know how I survived” look.
As he passed Xia Wei’s workstation, Xia Wei looked up at him. He paused and gave a bitter smile.
“It’s nothing,” he said, “it has nothing to do with you.”
Before Xia Wei could ask anything else, he was already gone.
Xie Xiaoqing muttered beside her: “See that? Even Lin Yuan is like this, you shouldn’t march right into the line of fire today.”
Xia Wei glanced at the cup of iced Americano already bought on her desk—cup rim facing inward, angle adjusted, exactly the same as the past few days.
She took a deep breath, picked it up, and walked toward the director’s office.
Knock.
“Come in.”
The voice wasn’t loud, but that single word sounded like it was squeezed out from between teeth, carrying an impatience of “I don’t want to talk to anyone right now, but if you have something to say, say it.”
When Xia Wei pushed the door open, Song Qiao was standing by the window making a phone call, one hand on her hip, the other holding the phone pressed to her ear, with her back to the door.
Her shoulders were tensed very tightly, and the shoulder seams of her suit jacket were stretched somewhat stiffly.
“I don’t care when his schedule is booked; this interview has to happen,” Song Qiao’s voice was kept very low, as if controlling something.
“…I know she’s hard to book, but the publicity window for the Starlight Project is only these two weeks, if we miss it, there won’t be another… If not, offer more money; if more money doesn’t work, think of another way. In short, I must see this person.”
After the person on the other end said something, Song Qiao fell silent for a few seconds.
Xia Wei stood at the door, not daring to make a sound, almost walking on tiptoes. She placed the coffee on the desk, cup rim facing inward, gave it a gentle push to confirm the position was correct, and immediately turned to hurry out, afraid of being called back by Song Qiao.
As she reached the door, she heard Song Qiao say another sentence: “Then I’ll go wait for them myself.”
The voice was much lower than before, so low that almost no emotion could be discerned, but Xia Wei caught something—not anger, not unwillingness, but a sense of helplessness of “I know this matter is very difficult, but I have no other choice.”
Xia Wei softly pulled the door closed and returned to her workstation.
“How was it?” Xie Xiaoqing asked.
“She’s on the phone,” Xia Wei sat down.
Xie Xiaoqing nodded thoughtfully and didn’t press further.
After about ten minutes, Lin Yuan came back from the pantry holding a cup of coffee. His complexion looked a bit better than before, but he still carried that lingering vibe of “having just been scolded.”
Several colleagues gathered around: “How is it? Is it really impossible to book them?”