Chapter 20.2

He was beginning to understand. She genuinely treated him as a body pillow—entirely unintentional.

Chen Jubai looked down and chuckled softly. Wrapping an arm around her, he pulled her closer, letting her sleep more comfortably.

“Goodnight.”

….

The next morning, Chen Jubai left for Shenzhen. As soon as he departed, Yang Yingqiu and her husband went out one after another—Yang Yingqiu to meet her friends for tea, and Song Gao Yi to the research institute. Once again, it was just Song Wei and Snowflake at home.

After a solitary day, Monday morning arrived with the alarm blaring, and her desire to quit her job reached its peak.

At the office, she followed her usual routine—grabbing a coffee to kickstart her day.

Ji Yao joined her at the coffee machine. “Weiwei, you didn’t sleep well again, did you?”

“Don’t even mention it.” Her eyelids were still battling each other.

Ji Yao, also making coffee, shared some gossip. “It seems like our company no longer prohibits office relationships.”

Song Wei paused her stirring for two seconds before continuing, her tone indifferent. “Really?”

“Yes! It’s about that Xiao Liu from the marketing department and someone from tech. They’ve been dating for over half a month. Everyone knows. Last week, during a meal with HR Supervisor Tan, Xiao Liu accidentally spilled the beans. She was terrified all weekend, afraid she’d get fired or reassigned. But nothing happened!”

“I asked Supervisor Tan about it this morning—we’re on pretty good terms—and she said as long as it doesn’t affect work, it’s fine. But if it does, they’ll step in.”

Song Wei sipped her coffee and smiled faintly. “That’s good.”

“Right? I think so too.” After finishing her first bit of gossip, Ji Yao hesitated before continuing, “Weiwei…”

Noticing her hesitation, Song Wei asked, “What’s wrong?”

Ji Yao cautiously said, “Well… there’s some bad talk about you going around the office. I wasn’t sure if I should tell you.”

“It’s fine. Go ahead.”

Looking around to ensure no one was listening, Ji Yao lowered her voice. “They’re saying you’re strict, that you overwork your team, and that you’re bringing big-company practices to a small place like ours.”

She then handed over a few blurred screenshots—no names or avatars, just conversations:

[Is it the new manager in the product department? Heard she’s full of herself.]

[Yeah, her. From a big-name company in the capital—of course, she’s arrogant.]

[How can this small temple accommodate such a great deity?]

[She was just a supervisor before, but now she’s a manager. Must have good connections. I heard Jiang wants to give her the Changyan project too.]

[What? Two new projects right off the bat? Impressive.]

[Of course. Meanwhile, Manager Fang has been here five years with tons of experience but hasn’t gotten a turn.]

Song Wei read them and handed the phone back, her expression calm. “No worries. Thanks for letting me know.”

Ji Yao genuinely liked Song Wei. After seeing those screenshots, she even went around asking colleagues. Most of the feedback was consistent: the new manager was difficult to approach, imposing, and aloof. Yet, oddly enough, these colleagues hadn’t even interacted with her!

Ji Yao was furious. “It must’ve been Yao Miaoxuan spreading this around. She’s awful, always has been. She hasn’t changed one bit!”

With people coming and going outside the break room, Song Wei picked up her cup and moved to the end of the hallway, where Ji Yao followed her, still seething. “Remember when we made that VR gadget? Tech missed a data point, and it caused a three-second black screen at startup. At the time, it was about to be delivered, and Sister Cheng and Manager Shan were panicking, working overtime to fix it. But in the end, Yao Miaoxuan let it slip, and President Jiang scolded us severely. Sister Cheng even had her performance bonus docked!”

Song Wei asked, “Did she do it on purpose?”

“I don’t know if it was intentional,” Ji Yao admitted, “but it was definitely her who reported it. And believe me, I’m not exaggerating! Our whole group knows about this. She acts like a spoiled princess, always thinking we’re bullying her. One little complaint, and she gives everyone the cold shoulder.”

Song Wei inquired, “Who does she hang out with?”

“Someone from Division Two named Jiang Xian. Comes from a wealthy family too—they probably bond over that.”

Division Two… Song Wei furrowed her brow. The “Manager Fang” mentioned in those chat logs also happened to be from Division Two.

She pressed her lips together in thought, then spoke after a short pause. “Don’t let this escalate in our group. People outside can say whatever they want. Just focus on your work without letting emotions get in the way. This really isn’t a big deal.”

Ji Yao stomped her foot. “How is this not a big deal? This is defamation! Saying you exploit employees? That’s outrageous!”

Song Wei chuckled. “It’s not worth getting upset over. Don’t you gossip about executives’ personalities and families in your group chats?”

Ji Yao froze. “That’s… different…”

“Back to work. I’m fine.”

“Song Wei!”

“I mean it. I’m fine. Go.”

Reluctantly, Ji Yao left, glancing back every few steps. Song Wei stood by the window for a while, unbothered and unshaken. She’d endured far worse rumors before—this was nothing.

She recalled a similar situation from years ago. After working for a year, Sister Andy began to notice her potential, assigning her mostly high-profile projects. That’s when rumors started flying, accusing her of seducing her superiors to climb the ladder. What shocked her the most was that Andy was a woman—yet people still managed to spread such baseless lies. If her boss had been a man, wouldn’t they have crucified her outright?

At 23, fresh into the workplace, she was distraught for a week. Each day, she dreaded going to the office, convinced everyone’s eyes were on her.

When Andy found out, she didn’t offer comforting words but instead invited the key rumor-mongers and the male supervisor she was rumored to have “seduced” out to dinner. That effectively silenced the gossip.

Four or five years into her career, she had experienced it all: jealous colleagues sabotaging her, backstabbing, workplace bullying, harassment from sleazy clients—the list went on. Such uncontrollable external factors had long ceased to faze her.

These days, only her own shortcomings could stir her emotions—like failing to catch a mistake in a product or doubting her abilities after layoffs.

Still, she found today’s incident oddly amusing. Terms like “strict” and “exploitative” had never been used to describe her before. How refreshing! She’d often thought she was too soft and had considered toughening up. Now, others had done the job for her.

After finishing her coffee, Song Wei returned to her office. The first thing she did was call in Dong Ruicheng and Yao Miaoxuan to report their progress.

Dong Ruicheng was efficient, with clear reports and quick execution.

Afterward, she asked Yao Miaoxuan to stay behind.

Flipping through the documents on her desk, Song Wei casually asked, “With progress this fast, did you work overtime this weekend?”

Yao Miaoxuan stammered for a moment before hesitantly responding, “Yes.”

The document in her hand was clearly Dong Ruicheng’s work—it was far above Yao Miaoxuan’s usual level.

Song Wei closed the file and said evenly, “This still isn’t good enough. From now on, you’ll move into my office to work so I can keep an eye on you.”

Yao Miaoxuan’s eyes widened in shock. “Move into your office?!”

“That’s right. Is there a problem?” Song Wei smiled.

“Manager Song!” Yao Miaoxuan’s voice rose. “Do you have some kind of personal issue with me?”

“Not at all. I just think your current state isn’t suited for project work. If this continues, I might have to recommend transferring you to another department.”

Glaring at her resentfully, Yao Miaoxuan stormed out.

As soon as she left, Song Wei slumped in her chair.

Great. Tomorrow, Ji Yao would have even more gossip to share.

She messaged Zhu Qingfei: “Do you know Fang Hongshen from Product Department Two?”

It took Zhu Qingfei about half an hour to respond: “We’ve worked together a few times. He’s one of Guangnian’s most senior product managers. Why?”

Song Wei: “What projects has he handled in the past two years?”

Zhu Qingfei: “Hang on, let me check.”

Ten minutes later, Zhu Qingfei sent over a file—an operational report.

Browsing through it, Song Wei noted that Fang Hongshen handled only three products per year, but they were always the company’s highest-grossing projects.

This year’s first major project was the “Chanyan Navigation Plan.” Last week, Jiang Zhendong had mentioned assigning it to her.

Song Wei dared not speculate too much and decided to wait and observe.

…

The next morning, Song Wei went to the tech department to follow up on a product left behind by Li Cheng. Her team had already compiled the requirements, and she was there to discuss it with Shan Kaicheng.

She’d been working closely with Shan Kaicheng recently. He was notoriously stubborn and difficult to communicate with, but his technical skills were top-notch. Once aligned, he could deliver results quickly.

Shan Kaicheng skimmed the materials and frowned. “What kind of changes are these?”

It was an AR/VR smart glasses application initially targeted at teenagers. With an increasing number of older users, the interface and fonts needed optimization—dozens of small, simple yet tedious adjustments.

“…” Song Wei took a deep breath, her voice patient and coaxing. “Manager Shan, this is actually a good thing. It means our glasses have gained market recognition, and our application is popular. You engineers deserve all the credit.”

“These updates aren’t difficult, just time-consuming. Once implemented, they’ll attract more middle-aged and senior users. Older users have strong purchasing power, which will drive up our sales volume, right?”

“I’m not sure if you have elderly family members, Manager Shan. My grandparents live in the countryside, and my mother doesn’t usually dare let them go out alone. You know how complicated city roads are nowadays. Asking elderly people to read a map? That’s nearly impossible. But now, with AR glasses that show real-time traffic, it’s much more convenient.”

“Of course, there are many other aspects to consider. Manager Shan, take a look and see if these are feasible. The client is in a hurry. Manager Jiang even pushed me this morning to follow up.”

Shan Kaicheng glanced up at her with a light chuckle. “Manager Song, you’re really pulling out all the stops, huh?”

Song Wei responded with a candid laugh. “What can I do? You know how it is—our workload is enormous. I don’t want to get scolded.”

Shan Kaicheng waved the documents in his hand. “Can you code?”

“A little. I majored in computer science in university, but I’m still learning the technologies used in our company.”

“Which university?”

“University A.”

Shan Kaicheng raised an eyebrow. “I went to University A too, computer science.”

Caught off guard, Song Wei looked surprised. “Which year did you graduate?”

Shan Kaicheng smiled faintly. “I’ve been out for almost ten years.”

“Then you’re my senior, Manager Shan.”

Standing up, Shan Kaicheng said, “Alright then, I’ll hand it over to you in three days.”

“Thank you,” Song Wei hesitated briefly over how to address him, then smiled warmly. “Thank you, Senior.”

Shan Kaicheng glanced at her without replying. But as he reached the door, he stopped and turned back. “Are you competing with Fang Hongshen for the Changyan project?”

Song Wei was confused. “No, I’m not.”

“That guy’s trouble. Be careful not to get yourself caught up in his mess.”

Song Wei wanted to ask more, but Shan Kaicheng left her with just that warning and walked off with his hands in his pockets.