Who Moved My Ashes Chapter 7
Chapter 7
The house that Jiang Xichu rented was not very far from Chen Man’s house, only two kilometers apart. Both of their houses were one kilometer away from the company. If you looked at a map, you would see the three locations forming a triangle..
Jiang Xichu planned to move out first, then speak to the landlord about returning the rent. In the morning, Chen Man drove to Jiang Xichu’s house and the two packed four full suitcases, which only held smaller items. The rest were big, like electrical appliances, furniture, fitness equipment, etc. Chen Man wasn’t in a hurry to move those items. When the time came, she would find a moving company to move them all at once.
After transporting everything back to Chen Man’s home, Jiang Xichu only needed to rest for two minutes. She tightened the cap on her water bottle, swallowed a mouthful of water, and stood up again. “You rest. I’ll go and put the things away.”
Chen Man’s face was flushed and she was panting heavily from exhaustion. If a stranger saw her right now, they would think she had just done some unspeakable acts.
(TLN: AKA sex lol)
Seeing Jiang Xichu carry on like everything was normal and head inside to clean up, Chen Man seized her arm and pulled her back so hard she almost lost her footing. “Can’t you just rest for a bit? What’s the hurry? Aren’t you afraid of completely exhausting yourself?!”
Jiang Xichu was tired, but not as tired as Chen Man. She only held a suitcase in one hand and two woven bags, anyone who had gone to university would be used to hauling this around. Chen Man was just too delicate. She had the body and the life of a pampered young lady, raised without ever having to lift a finger, so the slightest exertion wore her out.
Suddenly, Jiang Xichu’s heartstrings twinged. She thought of Chen Man’s last words and quickly turned her head away. For a moment, her expression grew troubled. Chen Man was lying down, dead to the world and didn’t see it.
Jiang Xichu came to her side and nodded amiably. “Alright, I’ll take a break. Want some fruit? I’ll cut you a plate.”
‘Huh???’
‘Was the sun coming from the west?’
Chen Man looked surprised and said, “Why aren’t you making sarcastic remarks?”
Jiang Xichu: “…Why would I do that?”
Chen Man chuckled. "You always have to make sarcastic remarks," she said, sitting up and mimicking Jiang Xichu's mannerisms. "You can't even walk this far, what are you good for? I tell you to train, but you refuse. Chen Man, tell me, could you be any more pathetic?"
Chen Man was having a great time imitating her. After she laughed at herself, she looked at Jiang Xichu, the latter’s face overcast with clouds and it felt like a death ray had fallen on her.
Chen Man: “...”
She sat down and calmly said in her normal tone, “I want to eat an apple, peel one for me, thank you.”
Jiang Xichu gave her a look, then left.
A minute later, she came out with the cut apple.
She held out a white porcelain plate, which only had a single, unbroken strip of apple peel.
Chen Man looked at what she was holding and quietly swallowed the words that had been forming in her mouth. She had known for a long time that Jiang Xichu responded better to a gentle approach rather than a forceful one, but sometimes she could not help but prod her like this. Right now, she managed to restrain herself, so she could respond rationally and maximise her own advantage.
Jiang Xichu took a big bite of the crisp, peeled apple, then glanced defiantly at Chen Man beside her. However, she was suddenly met with Chen Man's pitiful, aggrieved eyes. Jiang Xichu froze, her chewing slowing a beat.
They looked at each other for a few seconds. Then Jiang Xichu took the apple peel from her hand and went back to the kitchen.
After another minute, she came out holding a peeled apple and Chen Man felt like her heart could bubble out of her chest.
Her Secretary Jiang was gentle like water and was soft-hearted to everyone, but especially to her. As long as she was soft and pretended to be pitiful, Jiang Xichu would even find a way to get her the stars in the night sky.
The feeling in her heart was sweet and sour. Jiang Xichu was really good to her, so she easily fell for Jiang Xichu, which only grew day by day and had never diminished. Sometimes she felt that her life could not get any better, because she was the most beloved and cared for person by Jiang Xichu’s side, but…no matter how good Jiang Xichu was to her, the relationship between them still couldn’t be anything other than friends.
She had thought about taking it further, but Chen Man was too timid to gamble.
...
Jiang Xichu looked at Chen Man like she was an unfathomable mystery. She really couldn’t understand how her brain worked. How could eating an apple hurt spring and autumn*?
(TN: It’s a verse from a poem, the referred person has a delicate heart.)
She threw the apple core into the trash can. Jiang Xichu washed her hands and took her suitcase to put away. Her room was opposite to Chen Man’s room. There were two rooms, one was the master bedroom and the other was the second bedroom. There were already many of Jiang Xichu’s belongings here - now that she’d brought all her luggage over, it looked no different than her own home.
Jiang Xichu hung up her clothes, threw her plushies on the bed and put away all the miscellaneous things into the cupboard. Chen Man walked in with a melancholy mood. She came to the door slowly and watched Jiang Xichu walk non-stop around the room like a gyroscope.
Jiang Xichu was a woman who embodied the ideals of a good wife and devoted mother. Her features were soft and gentle, carrying the unmistakable quality of warmth from a mother’s comfort and a wife’s care. Currently, her eyes were cast down as she arranged several pieces of clothing, carefully folding each one, smoothing them flat with her palm, and only then placing them into the wardrobe.
Chen Man looked at this scene and the thought that had crossed her mind countless times already rose again.
‘How nice would it be if Jiang Xichu could always be mine.’
Chen Man hung her head. After a while, she could only wipe her mood and make it look as if nothing had happened. She looked up with a smile. As soon as she walked in to help, she froze in place.
She was shocked to see Jiang Xichu's hand, which was carefully playing with her underwear that was a red, blue, and abstinence black...
Jiang Xichu's figure was better than Chen Man’s, she protruded from the front and back. Compared with Jiang Xichu, Chen Man was taller and thinner. Once Jiang Xichu undressed, she looked a lot more impressive.
‘Oh mama, mama, mamamia…’
Jiang Xichu had been observing Chen Man through the corner of her eye since she wandered around to the door. She wanted to enter but didn’t dare to enter. She wanted to talk but didn’t know what to say. Jiang Xichu secretly smiled, then pursed her lips, put down her underwear and picked up a pair of lace underwear that matched a bright red bra.
She grabbed both sides of her underwear and stretched them hard. Jiang Xichu’s hands were white and elegant, and the red panties were small and thin. The combination of the two had an amazing visual impact. Chen Man felt that she couldn’t stay any longer. Jiang Xichu didn’t mean anything to her. She just thought that she was a girl and there was nothing to avoid, but Chen Man couldn’t think that way. To her, if she stayed here, she would be suspected of being a dirty peeping tom.
When she turned around and was about to leave, Jiang Xichu turned to her and anxiously asked, “I don’t think I have enough underwear to wear. Could you let me borrow two, so I can wait until the weekend to go to the mall?”
Chen Man: "..."
‘What the fuck.’
She stared at Jiang Xichu. “Are you kidding me? How could you borrow this!”
Jiang Xichu looked at her innocently. “Don’t you have a lot of clothes that you haven’t worn? What’s wrong with giving me two new ones?”
Jiang Xichu tilted her head again. “Am I wrong? Why are you blushing?”
Chen Man replied: “It’s hot.”
Hearing that, Jiang Xichu raised an eyebrow. “Oh, yes, it’s really hot. Look, your ears are red.”
After a few short seconds, Chen Man fled as if she was being chased by monsters.
Jiang Xichu looked at the direction she fled in. After a while, she turned back, now in a good mood. She continued to fold the clothes in her hands and thought in her heart, hehe, little girl, fight me if you can.
...
In less than a day, the whole secretary office heard the news that Secretary Jiang was staying at President Chen’s home. Except for Secretary Zhou, who was shocked, the remaining didn’t feel anything. After all, Secretary Jiang used to go to President Chen’s house and stay there frequently, now it simply changed into a long-term residence, so it wasn’t particularly a surprise.
They were more concerned about something else.
This morning, Secretary Yang and Secretary Li murmured in front of their workstation. They were just like an underground party who spoke in secret signals.
“Three days.”
“Well, counting today, it’s the fourth day.”
“Have you seen it?”
“No, how about you?”
“Not at all.”
“Something big is going to happen.”
“It’s absolutely something big!”
“What’s going on?”
The third voice suddenly cut in. Secretary Yang and Secretary Li were startled. They turned around to see Chen Man looking at them with her arms crossed. Most of the time, Chen Man’s manner was very consistent with the momentum of a general manager. For example, right now, she had successfully scared the two secretaries into speechlessness.
Chen Man was silent for a moment, “If you remain silent, there will be a deduction in your wages.”
Nothing was as important as money. When they heard this threat, they immediately told the truth. She listened to their words and Chen Man finally understood what they were talking about.
It turned out that they had been watching Jiang Xichu for a few days and were stunned. Even if she saw Chen Man making mistakes, she didn’t yell at her loudly. They thought it was extremely wrong, so they exchanged information with each other. They just wanted to know what happened to Secretary Jiang.
The two secretaries were honest and looked at Chen Man expectantly. They didn’t know if Chen Man would be angry, but Chen Man still had her arms crossed in silence.
After what felt like half a day, they saw Chen Man’s shoulders collapse.
With a long sigh, she pulled out a chair and became the third to join this underground party. “I also think something important is going to happen. Do you want to help me analyze it? Is Jiang Xichu about to make a big move?”
The other two secretaries: “…”