Who Moved My Ashes Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Turns out that death wasn’t the end of suffering.
Even if she had none of the five senses anymore, her nonexistent heart twitched in extreme sadness. This great pain drowned her and caused her to collapse onto the ground in despair. She wanted to cry and cry.
But she had no eyes and couldn’t shed tears.
Whether she hit the door or yelled, the world was always terrifyingly quiet. She could only watch Chen Man’s life dissipate bit by bit.
Too cruel.
It was more cruel than murdering her.
As her life faded, Chen Man heard a faint sound. She opened her eyes with difficulty and saw the person she had dreamt of all this time. She was still wearing the expensive clothes from that day - the dress that she had given her. When Jiang Xichu first received it, she had lectured her about not wasting money, but in the next second she’d put it on and excitedly asked if it made her look good. It especially highlighted her figure.
At that time, Chen Man didn’t answer. Now, as she looked at the increasingly blurry figure, Chen Man smiled ever so slightly. She opened her mouth and mouthed the words, “…. How good looking, very nice.”
When the little brother in white arrived at Chen Man’s house, he stood at a distance and looked at it with a frown.
He walked in and strolled around the first floor. It wasn’t easy to find Jiang Xichu. She was sitting on the ground against a wall. Her expression was hidden in the dark shadow, which made it hard for people to see.
The little brother in white still had a folder in his hand. He glanced at Jiang Xichu whose aura had obviously changed into a vengeful ghost*, then glanced at Chen Man, whose body was still.
(TN: A vengeful ghost (厉鬼) is a powerful evil spirit that gathers intense resentment due to a violent death, being wronged, or lack of offerings.)
He opened the folder and spoke in a business-like tone, “The investigation results just came out. There was a mistake from the higher-ups. You weren’t supposed to be involved in that accident; a mix-up in the fate lines led to you dying by mistake. You’re still a living soul - we didn’t notice at the time, which is why it was easy for you to go back to the human world.”
When Jiang Xichu got away, it wasn’t because they couldn’t find her, it was because they were too busy and didn’t have the time to find her. However, when Chen Man’s soul appeared in the underworld, they realised that something was wrong.
Chen Man was a person of great potential and wealth, but she died young at the age of 28. What had happened to her? The superior asked them to investigate, and only after they investigated did they find out that Chen Man wasn’t the one who was meant to die, and neither was Jiang Xichu. They were both victims of the butterfly effect. One mistake caused countless mistakes, and it must be corrected immediately or more people would die in the future.
“Go out of this door, you will be able to return to the past. I will not erase your memories, it is our compensation to you. There is only one thing I need to tell you: do not interfere with anyone’s life or death. You now know that a tragedy will happen in your company building, and a girl will lose her life in the deep sea, but you cannot interfere. Do you understand?”
Jiang Xichu’s eyes looked at him dazedly. They seemed to be less red now, “I…I can go back?”
“En,” the little brother in white casually lowered his head and closed the folder. He emphasized again, as if afraid Jiang Xicu would knowingly repeat her mistake, adding, “If you intervene, saving one life means paying with one life, saving two means paying with two. You only have your own life to use, the other will be paid for by the person you care about the most.”
Jiang Xichu unconsciously looked at Chen Man’s body lying next to her. Her voice was tight, “I won’t interfere.”
“En,” he said again. There were no emotional fluctuations, and the little brother in white urged: “Hurry back, don’t delay. I’ll be going. Remember what I told you.”
The little brother in white left. Jiang Xichu watched his figure disappear, then she immediately stood up and walked two steps forward. Suddenly, her figure stopped in place. She looked back at the person on the bed.
Chen Man had closed her eyes tightly and held the cold urn in her hand. Before, she would use her body temperature to warm the urn. Today, her own temperature was colder than the urn.
Jiang Xichu turned her head back abruptly, she didn’t want to see it anymore.
She followed the words of the little brother in white. She strode out and stood in front of the door that had blocked her for a whole year. She hesitated, then stretched her hand out. It passed through the door, but before she could step forward, a powerful suction force pulled her through. In an instant, she was outside.
The dense darkness disappeared, replaced by the bright daylight. People were rushing about; they were all office workers and it had just hit nine o’clock. Any later and they’d be late to work with no time to clock in.
Only Jiang Xichu stood there, stunned, dressed in her blue and white commuter suit and didn’t move for a long time.
A man carrying a briefcase walked over and accidentally hit her shoulder. The man immediately turned back and looked at her apologetically. “I'm sorry, excuse me. Are you okay?”
This collision brought Jiang Xichu’s soul back into her body. She finally reacted and shook her head, “No worries, I’m okay.”
After hearing that she was okay, the man soon left. Jiang Xichu looked around and walked to the edge of the road, so as to not hinder others. Her hands were shaking, and she took her cellphone out of her bag with great difficulty. After she saw the date clearly, Jiang Xichu felt her heart drop.
April 12th, two months before the day of her accident.
After reading the date, Jiang Xichu hurriedly headed to the company. The familiar building was still the same; it was the first day of the new Secretary Zhou, and she smiled sweetly to Jiang Xichu upon seeing her, “Secretary Jiang is early~”
“Yes.” Jiang Xichu quickly smiled at her, didn’t even drop off her bag, opened the door of the general manager’s office and walked in.
Secretary Zhou was stunned, then looked at Secretary Li on the other side. “It seems that President Chen is still inside. She…”
Secretary Li wasn’t surprised. “It’s okay. Maybe Secretary Jiang got up late today and forgot she was a secretary. Give her some time, she will remember.”
Secretary Zhou: "..."
Chen Man sat behind the desk, looking at a document when Jiang Xichu barged in. She didn’t say anything after she entered, only looking at her with a slight heave in her chest.
Chen Man frowned, "Did something happen?"
Jiang Xichu stared at her face. Chen Man looked very healthy. Her cheeks were flush with blood, her body wasn’t skin and bones. Although she was on the thin side, she wasn’t morbidly thin. She was alive.
"Nothing happened." Jiang Xichu's voice was hoarse.
Chen Man’s intuition knew that Jiang Xichu didn’t look quite right, but she couldn’t place it. She put the document down and cleared her throat. “Nothing…why didn’t you knock on the door? Jiang Xichu, you are the secretary and I am the general manager. You should show me respect, I am the leader…hello, are you listening to me?”
Chen Man stood up, puzzled, and reached out to check Jiang Xichu’s forehead. Just as the back of her cool hand made contact, her waist was held in a tight hug. Chen Man froze, caught in the motion with one arm still raised.
Jiang Xichu clutched her to her body. She was thin. Chen Man pressed against her chest and felt that she would soon run out of breath, but even if she were to suffocate and die now, she would never voice this to Jiang Xichu. This was the first time Jiang Xichu held her and she must savor it.
Blinded by lust, Chen Man hesitated for two seconds, then reached out with her hands, trying to push her away. She wanted to ask what was wrong. Something must have happened, otherwise Jiang Xichu wouldn’t look so fragile. Jiang Xichu’s forehead was pressed against her carotid artery, the vein throbbing rhythmically. In this position, she could feel the subtle tremors whenever Chen Man spoke.
Chen Man's tone softened considerably. “What’s wrong? Tell me, and your boss will try my best to help you.”
Jiang Xichu didn’t speak, but a faint sob came from her arms. Chen Man couldn’t even think as she immediately panicked, hurriedly asking her what happened. Jiang Xichu still didn’t answer but her cries got louder, driving Chen Man crazy.
Suddenly, Jiang Xichu looked straight at Chen Man’s face and slapped her arm.
"You're spineless! A coward! Irresponsible! Selfish! I hate you!"
Jiang Xichu wasn’t a gentle, soft girl - she had been an active player on her volleyball team during her university days. The impact from her slap left Chen Man’s arm numb, and as she listened to Jiang Xichu scolding her in tears, her mind went numb as well.
‘??? What did you say? Who is a coward? Who is selfish? Why do you hate me?’