Chapter 11 - Chapter 11: Whispers in the Dark

The October wind, carrying the crisp chill of late autumn, seeped through the gaps of the floor-to-ceiling windows on the 32nd floor of the office building, rustling the leaves of the potted plants hanging in the workspace. Su Wan sat at her window-side desk, typing the final construction note on her keyboard before lifting her hand to rub her aching shoulders. Spread out before her were the construction drawings for Stellar Center's underground landscape—their edges frayed from repeated handling, a faint fuzziness marking the sixth revision she'd crafted over four sleepless nights. Every line, every dimension, bore the weight of her dedication.Just as she saved the drawings to her computer folder, faint murmurs from the adjacent desk pricked her ears like tiny needles. At first, only fragmented words like "project" and "relationship" drifted over, but as the voices grew clearer, the phrases "Mr. Lu," "Su Wan," and "relying on connections" made her hand freeze mid-mouse click."Didn't you see? Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Lu called Su Wan into his office and kept the door closed for over half an hour," Lin Weiwei's voice carried a deliberately lowered triumph, sticky and shrill like tea-soaked cotton thread. "When I passed by, I faintly heard them talking about 'revising the proposal,' but let's be real—during the initial selection for the Stellar project, Su Wan's proposal was originally second. Yet within two days, it was suddenly chosen as the final plan. Do you think she got that lucky without Mr. Lu pulling strings behind the scenes?"A soft chuckle of agreement came from Chen, a colleague from the marketing department: "Tell me about it! I also heard that Su Wan skipped the probation period and got a direct promotion—all thanks to Mr. Lu's special approval. When has our company ever done that before? Let's call a spade a spade—some people just take shortcuts through connections."Su Wan's fingers tightened around her pen, the plastic casing warping slightly under her grip. She forced her gaze back to the computer screen, but the lines in the CAD software suddenly blurred. Unconsciously, she recalled the project review meeting from the previous week—Lin Weiwei's proposal had been rejected by the review experts due to miscalculations in the drainage system, losing by just two votes. After the meeting, Lin Weiwei had stood at the conference room door, her eyes cold as ice needles as she stared at Su Wan and said, "Just you wait." Now, it was clear the malice in those words had taken root and sprouted.The office clock struck 12, and the lunch break bell rang. Colleagues stood up one after another, heading to the pantry or cafeteria. Su Wan took a deep breath, picked up her ceramic water cup, and decided to escape the gossip by refilling it. But as she approached the pantry door, she saw Lin Weiwei raising her eyebrows at two new interns, twirling her mug in her palm, her tone brimming with provocation: "You're new here, so you don't know—around here, ability alone isn't enough. Some people pretend to work late and act hard, but they've already found a powerful backer behind the scenes. Mark my words, without Mr. Lu's support, her Stellar proposal will sooner or later fall apart. Then we'll see her cry.""That's not right, Sister Lin," Su Wan pushed open the door and stepped inside, her voice calm yet firm with undeniable weight. She walked to the water dispenser, pressed the button, and watched as clear water flowed into her cup. "I've revised the Stellar proposal six times. Each version's calculations have been verified by three departments: technical, cost, and design. Mr. Lu only offered two professional opinions during the review meeting—one on the direction of the underground pipelines, and another suggesting the addition of an emergency lighting system. All of this is documented in the meeting records. If you have doubts about the proposal, we can go find Engineer Li from the technical department right now and review all the verification data publicly."Lin Weiwei hadn't expected Su Wan to appear suddenly. Her smile froze instantly, and an unnatural flush crept up her cheeks. She waved her hands hastily, her voice flustered: "I was just chatting casually with the interns, Su Wan. Don't take it to heart—I didn't mean anything by it." With that, she grabbed her cup and squeezed out of the pantry almost as if fleeing, leaving the two interns standing there, exchanging awkward glances.Su Wan stared at the rippling water in her cup and sighed softly. She knew Lin Weiwei's "casual chat" was just the beginning. Rumors, like late autumn vines, once rooted, would spread through every corner of the company. She returned to her desk, and just as she sat down, her phone lit up with a WeChat message from her best friend Xia Mo: "Wanwan, let's have lunch together? I'm waiting for you at the light meal restaurant downstairs from your company."Su Wan replied, "On my way," and gathered her things. As she passed Lin Weiwei's desk, she glanced down and caught sight of Lin Weiwei typing on her phone. The chat bubble popping up on the screen read: "Su Wan was left tongue-tied by me—she must be guilty." Su Wan's footsteps faltered, a sharp twinge of bitterness stirring in her heart. She didn't linger, heading straight for the elevator—she refused to let these baseless rumors ruin her mood, let alone let Xia Mo notice something was wrong.At the light meal restaurant, Xia Mo had already ordered two salads. Spotting Su Wan, she waved enthusiastically: "Over here! Why are you so late? I thought you were tied up with work."Su Wan sat down, picked up her fork, and poked at the avocado in her bowl, her voice low: "Just now in the pantry, I heard Lin Weiwei telling others that I got the Stellar project through Mr. Lu's connections."Xia Mo's fork clanged against her plate, and her eyes widened in anger: "What nonsense is she spouting! Do I not know how many nights you stayed up for that proposal? Last time, you were on the phone with the design institute at 2 a.m. just to verify a drainage data point. Who does she think she is, accusing you of relying on connections? No way—I'm going to go confront her!""Don't," Su Wan grabbed Xia Mo's hand and shook her head. "We have no proof right now. Arguing with her will only make things worse. Besides, the truth speaks for itself. I believe as long as the project progresses smoothly, the rumors will eventually be disproven."Though she said this, Su Wan knew rumors were far more damaging than she'd imagined. When she returned to the company that afternoon, she noticed her colleagues' glances had grown strange—some deliberately slowed down as they passed her desk, others whispered behind her back, and even a new intern who had originally wanted to ask her about the construction drawings hesitated for a long time before turning to another colleague instead.She opened her computer and stared at the Stellar project folder on her desktop, her fingertips gliding gently over the mouse. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows onto her face, but her heart felt shrouded in a shadow. She knew this workplace storm, fueled by jealousy, had only just begun.