Who Moved My Ashes Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Afterwards, regardless of Chen Man’s questions, Dr. Liu only emphasized one thing, “Spend more time with her.”
Chen Man muttered in her heart, how could she spend more time with her? She went to work with Jiang Xichu and went home together. How could she spend even more time with her?
President Chen thought for a long time until she finally understood.
In the evening, Jiang Xichu was stunned as she watched Chen Man’s actions. As she set up her things in Jiang Xichu’s bedroom, Chen Man saw her face and nonchalantly explained, “Dr. Liu said that I needed to spend more time with you. So, you will live with me until you get better. We will eat, sleep and work together to create a better tomorrow.”
...What was this, some kind of rustication assignment?
(TN: she’s making a joke, referencing the Down to the Countryside Movement (上山下乡运动), where millions of urban youths were sent to remote rural and mountainous areas to live and work as laborers.)
Jiang Xichu looked at her funny, but Chen Man didn’t see it, focused on unpacking her clothes. Jiang Xichu silently went over and started helping. When all the work was finished, Jiang Xichu walked up to Chen Man and looked at her, like a wife organizing clothes by category. She squatted down beside her and whispered, “I’m sorry.”
Chen Man froze mid-motion, glancing over with a puzzled look. Jiang Xichu met her eyes, her expression the picture of innocence.
“Why are you saying sorry to me?”
Jiang Xichu blinked, “Because I made you worry.”
Chen Man thought about it and turned her head back. “True, then yes, you should be sorry.”
Jiang Xichu: “......” I want to hit her.
Chen Man slowly folded a pair of jeans. “If you feel sorry, then hurry and get better so you won’t ever have to say sorry to me again.”
Jiang Xichu chuckled. “Yes, I will definitely get better.” She wanted to live a good life with Chen Man after all.
Chen Man seemed to sense something. She glanced at Jiang Xichu, only to see her gazing back at her with bright, sparkling eyes. Chen Man’s cheeks flushed, and after a brief silence, she lowered her head in a show of wilful blindness - pretending that nothing had happened.
At the same time, she felt it was strange; Jiang Xichu had never looked at her like that before.
...
Jiang Xichu didn't sleep that night, and Chen Man only managed four hours. The next day, they didn’t even talk and fell asleep straight away. In the middle of the night, Jiang Xichu was awakened by a nightmare. Almost at the same moment, Chen Man also woke up. They looked at each other and Chen Man was visibly worried. Jiang Xichu couldn’t help but shrink to her side but Chen Man immediately reached out and embraced her within her arms.
It didn't take long for Jiang Xichu to fall asleep again. Chen Man sighed silently. After a while, she also fell asleep.
Living with Jiang Xichu, Chen Man knew why Dr. Liu told her to pay more attention otherwise the situation would become much more serious. Jiang Xichu had nightmares every night, there were almost no nights that she didn’t.
Her only comfort was that after startling awake, Jiang Xichu had not been as agitated as she had been that day. She would blink a few times, stay bleary for a moment, then drift off and sleep soundly after.
Chen Man had no idea it was because Jiang Xichu had laid eyes on her. She was still scouring the internet for ways to treat nightmares.
After reading through countless suggestions, she felt that none of them were reliable. Chen Man rolled her neck; she’d been sitting in her office for too long, and her neck was starting to protest.
It was lunch break, Jiang Xichu was chatting outside with the other secretaries. Chen Man walked out of her office and slowly walked into the secretary's office, which was full of laughter and smiles. She didn’t hear what Secretary Li said to make everyone else laugh.
As they saw Chen Man approaching, Secretary Li and Secretary Yang hurriedly called out to President Chen. Jiang Xichu had her back towards her but turned her head and saw Chen Man, smiling more brightly than when she had heard the joke. “How come you came out?”
Chen Man looked at her. Then, she quickly turned and walked away.
Walked away.
Walked…away…
The other three secretaries immediately turned to Jiang Xichu and silently observed her face. Sure enough, Jiang Xichu’s face had darkened.
The three secretaries: “...”
‘I mean seriously! What on earth possessed you, President Chen, to have the audacity to disregard Secretary Jiang’s words!! Ahhhhh!?!?’
Chen Man returned to her office and frowned. That afternoon, she did nothing but spend the entire time lost in thought with furrowed brows.
Jiang Xichu was still nursing a grudge over what Chen Man had done at noon. On the way home, when Chen Man asked what they should have for dinner, Jiang Xichu gave a cold sniff. "The southeast wind."
Why not the northwest wind? Because it was summer, the air was blowing from the sea to the land, from high to low pressure, so their dinner was the warm southeast wind.
(TLN: There’s an idiom known as 喝西北风 (lit. drinking northwest wind), which means ‘to have nothing to eat / to go hungry’. This is bc in northern China, the northwest wind is cold, dry, and empty; there’s nothing nourishing in it. So if you have no food and nothing to live on, you’re just “drinking the wind” instead of eating a meal.)
......
Chen Man silently changed direction and drove to the door of a restaurant. Then, with a decisive tone, she said to Jiang Xichu: “The southeast wind is abundant, but it doesn’t fill the belly. Tonight, let’s just eat here!”
Jiang Xichu wanted to continue wearing her cold face, but she heard Chen Man’s serious explanation and couldn’t help but laugh.
After that, she couldn’t keep up her anger.
When ordering, Chen Man was also absent-minded. Suddenly, she moved her eyes from the menu to Jiang Xichu’s face and had an idea.
“I’d like to order some blueberry yam.”
Jiang Xichu looked at her strangely, “If you want.”
“But I can't eat it all, it’s too big.”
“Then you can take home the leftovers.”
“It’s not good once it’s packed up,” Chen Man said tentatively, "Maybe you would like to eat it with me?”
Blueberry yam was a dessert. The white yam flesh was covered with a layer of blueberry sauce, and the taste was very bland. In fact, Chen Man didn’t even like it that much, but this dish was the best answer to the questions in her heart.
This dessert was not a ball-shaped dessert but a large plate of gooey paste. It could only be eaten with a spoon. If she was eating outside, Jiang Xichu would be unlikely to touch this dish on account of her being a germaphobe. She hates eating a shared plate with others. No matter how it was divided, it still made her feel unclean.
Chen Man waited nervously for Jiang Xichu’s answer. The latter frowned and looked reluctant. Chen Man’s heart sank, but Jiang Xichu’s face changed a little. “Okay, let’s eat it together.”
What the fuck.
What! The! Fuck!
Chen Man immediately lowered her head and hid her shocked face behind the menu.
The person Jiang Xichu liked...couldn’t possibly be her, right?!?!