Chapter 12: A Fierce Battle

Su Jingqiu came forward suspiciously, on guard. “What are you doing?”

“Want to live together?” Si Mingming asked him directly.

Su Jingqiu thought he had heard wrong. “What did you say?”

“I said, do you want to live together?”

He was not surprised that such words had come from Si Mingming; he could never fathom what went on in her mind. He refused at once. “Don’t get any ideas about me. I’ll beat you to death.”

Su Jingqiu had always been blunt. He meant no harm, though at times he looked like a downright villain. People like him were often simple to the point of purity. Si Mingming had already seen through him more or less. He was in a hurry to leave, and she followed him, speaking like a good wife would: “Come back early.”

Su Jingqiu put a hand against her forehead and pushed her back inside, then shut the door.

The following week, Chen Ming came to see Si Mingming again, this time about the layoff list. He closed the door to her office, opened his computer, and said, “I have more than a hundred people under me. I’m only telling you which ones absolutely have to stay. The rest are up to you. Whether you use performance or age, I don’t care anymore.”

Si Mingming knew why Chen Ming was so anxious. The business figures under his command looked excellent. If the company’s strategy had not shifted, he could have risen another level this year. He had been waiting three years for that appointment. Si Mingming still remembered the day her own promotion notice came through. Chen Ming had congratulated her, but there had clearly been a trace of disappointment in his voice.

She did not answer him. Instead, she glanced at the names he had pointed out.

Zheng Liang, Guan Ruirui, Pang Yue… She knew all of them by reputation. Some were truly outstanding employees; during earlier business interviews, Si Mingming had read their reports. What surprised her was that Ailan was not among those Chen Ming was determined to protect.

Ailan was the one who had left the strongest impression on Si Mingming.

The email announcing Ailan’s appointment as team leader had been revised five times by Si Mingming’s subordinate. Si Mingming had met Ailan before. At twenty-nine, Ailan possessed exceptional ability. The reason her promotion had been so slow was that she lacked tact.

Si Mingming closed Chen Ming’s laptop and said, “All right, I understand. According to the company’s schedule, the final list has to be ready before August twentieth. We still have nearly a month. Before then, we also need to finalize severance terms with every business line. Don’t rush, Brother Ming.”

She deliberately softened herself by calling him Brother Ming, but Chen Ming was not taken in.

“Do it now. I need progress on my side.” He looked at her. “Since you’re leading this, I have to put my requirements to you.”

Si Mingming nodded. “Yes, I know.”

Chen Ming studied her calm expression for a long time. She revealed nothing and had not said a single unnecessary word. Yet he sensed danger.

“People are saying that middle and senior management may be promoted or demoted at will. It wouldn’t happen to be my name on that list too, would it?” Chen Ming asked suddenly.

By Si Mingming’s usual style, she would have dealt with the matter cleanly long ago. But ever since that closed-door meeting, she had still produced no plan. Knowing her as he did, Chen Ming suspected she had obtained some other information, or that she had another crucial target in mind.

Si Mingming merely smiled and changed the subject. “You know I registered my marriage last Friday, right? These past two days I’ve been thinking about how other people date for three or five years before getting married, while I got married the second time I saw him. One couple falls in love before marriage, another after marriage—the result may well be divorce either way. Taking things slowly is fine, and moving quickly is fine too. These days, I’m all about moderation.”

“You? Moderate? You, Si Mingming, are moderate?” Chen Ming tapped his knuckles against the desk, one knock after another. At last, he said jokingly, “You’re merely cunning. You’re not moderate at all.” Then he picked up his computer and left.

Si Mingming opened the door to see him out and watched as he crossed the long office floor until he disappeared at the far end. She knew Chen Ming was clever and certainly would not let the matter rest. The year before last, he had spent a fortune buying a villa near the company, along with several middle managers from other departments. If the company really decided to promote or demote him, he would have a mountain of trouble to deal with. Chen Ming would never allow things to reach that point. He would find a way out.

Si Mingming knew all about the rumors circulating outside. That morning, she had spoken with the two subordinates responsible for recruitment and reassigned them to the Organizational Restructuring Project. One of them had asked, “Will we still be hiring after the layoffs? You’re not going to lay off everyone else and then turn on us, are you?”

That was a good question.

It nearly left Si Mingming speechless.

“You can think of this as a normal process of replacement. An organization needs new blood; only by continually renewing itself can it stay young forever.”

There was one thing Si Mingming did not say: One day, I may be the one replaced.

She knew this was only the beginning. What awaited them was a prolonged storm.

Her assistant also asked, “Will I still be made permanent this year?”

It seemed that only a month ago, everyone had been carefree and happy, convinced they were working in a cutting-edge industry, earning high salaries, and casually discussing projects worth hundreds of millions. In their spare time, they traveled through mountains and wilderness, islands and distant frontiers, reveling in freedom and open horizons. Yet in less than a month, they had plunged headlong into an entirely different state of anxiety.

Before leaving work, Si Mingming encountered Zheng Liang in the restroom. Because they were separated by several levels of management, they normally had little chance to speak. Remembering that Zheng Liang was the first person Chen Ming had vowed to protect, Si Mingming took a careful look at her.

Si Mingming had always had a favorable impression of Zheng Liang.

Zheng Liang was an academic type of employee, a graduate of a top university. She worked with rigor and seriousness and was plainspoken and upright. She wore either T-shirts or shirts, always neat and clean. Si Mingming could tell that she was not good at ingratiating herself with others, and for that reason admired her somewhat. Chen Ming’s list of protected employees clearly contained a measure of fairness after all.

Zheng Liang noticed Si Mingming looking at her and greeted her openly. She turned off the tap, straightened up, and said solemnly, “Good afternoon, Ms. Si.”

Si Mingming smiled at her. “I hear your new project is about to go live?”

“Yes. We’ve already begun the phased testing.”

“Someone from our department took part in the testing and said it was highly entertaining—educational as well as fun. Zheng Liang, you’re as impressive as ever.”

Being praised by a senior executive in the restroom made Zheng Liang uncomfortable. She gave a polite smile. “Thank you.”

The people in the other stalls remained inside, none of them coming out. Unless they had something to be proud of, few people wanted to show their faces before Ms. Si. She was both praised and reviled throughout the company, a complicated person whose thoughts were impossible to read. To put it more bluntly, there was more negative news about her than positive. Many people considered her sinister; otherwise, they thought, she could never have climbed so quickly to her current position.

“Ms. Si, I’ll be going first,” Zheng Liang said after drying her hands.

“Keep it up,” Si Mingming replied.

There was an invisible line in Si Mingming’s heart, one she classified as professional ethics. Her position was extraordinarily sensitive, and at a moment like this, she was carrying more pressure than ever before. Walking behind Zheng Liang, she watched the still-naive young employee quicken her pace. Her innocence was like leaves after rain, breathing out a fresh fragrance.

Si Mingming suddenly envied Zheng Liang. How wonderful it was to be that age and still preserve such innocence. Unlike herself, tempered a thousand times in the furnace and frying pan of the workplace until she had become nothing more than an overfried strip of dough.

The strange thought amused Si Mingming, and she shook her head. As she passed the conference room, she heard what sounded like artillery fire from within.

“Ailan, you…”

Someone rose and shut the conference-room door, unwilling to let the business dispute be overheard.

On the way from the restroom to her private office, Si Mingming witnessed a great many things. She had never examined them closely before, but today the warmth and coldness of human nature were laid bare before her. Suddenly, she remembered what her former boss, Yinan, had said to her before her appointment.

“Do you know what your greatest strength is?”

“Please enlighten me, Boss.”

“You have less emotion than other people. In other words, you are exceptionally rational.”

I am a zero-degree person.

That was what Si Mingming had thought at the time.

She was trapped at the company until half past nine that night. Even while driving home, she was pulled into an online meeting. She drove back to her own apartment out of habit, intending to wash up while attending the meeting. But when she entered the bathroom and discovered that her toiletries were gone, she remembered that she had stuffed them all into her tote bag on Saturday night and taken them to Su Jingqiu’s home.

You’re married. Did you forget?

Si Mingming reminded herself. She stamped her foot, then went back out and hurried to Su Jingqiu’s place.

She rang the doorbell for a long time before Su Jingqiu finally opened the door. Water dripped from his hair, and wet footprints led from the bathroom in his bedroom all the way to the entrance. When he saw Si Mingming, he rolled his eyes. She pretended not to notice and lowered her head to change into slippers.

As she passed him, she tugged at the bath towel wrapped around his lower body. Su Jingqiu instinctively stepped back and cursed, “Have you lost your mind?”

“I was afraid you hadn’t wrapped it tightly enough,” Si Mingming teased him. She pointed toward the door outside. “What’s the passcode to our door? Or you could add my fingerprint.”

“Are you planning to move in here permanently or something?”

“Until we get divorced,” Si Mingming replied flatly.

Su Jingqiu actually became excited. “Divorced? When?”

“When I’ve had enough.” Her face expressionless, Si Mingming saw him trying to fob her off and asked again, “Can you add my fingerprint today?”

Su Jingqiu snorted and turned back to continue washing up. Si Mingming changed into her pajamas, opened her computer, and began reading her emails.

After a while, she heard a knock. She opened the bedroom door and saw Su Jingqiu standing outside. He jerked his head toward the entrance. “Come here.”

His tone was rather fierce. He led Si Mingming to the front door and bent over the electronic lock. When it prompted them to press a fingerprint, he ordered, “Press it.”

Si Mingming placed her index finger against the scanner. After the lock confirmed the print, she pressed it down again.

She had no idea why such a small thing moved her. When she suggested it, she had not expected him to agree. She thought he might simply tell her the passcode. But Su Jingqiu was truly surprising: while putting on an intimidating air as though he wanted her gone, he was still letting her register her fingerprint.

Once the fingerprint had been confirmed, he asked, “Done? Do you need the passcode too?”

Si Mingming shook her head. “No, I don’t.”

She felt a small warmth in her heart. Looking up, she met Su Jingqiu’s eyes and said earnestly, “Thank you.”

“Don’t try that with me,” Su Jingqiu said. “You’re practically an old fox.”

Though he said this, he still pointed toward one of the rooms. “That’s the study. I hardly ever use it. If you need to work, go in there. A place for sleeping is for sleeping. Do you really think it’s appropriate to pile all that messy stuff in there?”

Si Mingming remembered the study. Su Jingqiu must have put a great deal of thought into decorating it. There was a fine desk and an expensive ergonomic chair. The floor-to-ceiling windows faced the rising sun and could perfectly capture every ray of daylight. On rainy days, they offered a full view of the rain and the glistening world beyond.

Dawn and raindrops were ordinary things in this world. Yet to be able to see them whenever one wished made them seem precious.

“Then I won’t stand on ceremony. Thank you, hus—”

Si Mingming was deliberately trying to disgust him again, but Su Jingqiu clapped a hand over her mouth. “Shut up.”

Si Mingming seized his wrist and tried to pull his hand away. Su Jingqiu deliberately refused to move it. They struggled for a moment, until Si Mingming, exhausted, let go in defeat.

“Try calling me ‘husband’ again!” Su Jingqiu threatened before walking away.

Unwilling to surrender, Si Mingming called after him, “Husband!”

Before he could turn around and deal with her, she darted into the bedroom and slammed the door.

The sensation of the fingerprint scanner still seemed to linger on her index finger. She took out her phone and typed:

The mouse has started digging a tunnel.

Her husband was still like a vicious dog.