Chapter 7

The place that Jiang Xichu had rented wasn’t far from Chen Man’s home, the two places separated only by two kilometres, and both were only one kilometre away from the office; if one looked at a map, they would be able to see an isosceles triangle. Jiang Xichu had planned to first move, then go to discuss the matter of ending the lease with the landlord; in the morning, Chen Man drove, and, arriving at Jiang Xichu’s home, the two packed up four full suitcases, and only then packed up all of Jiang Xichu’s small suitcases; what remained were the large items, like electrical appliances, furniture, exercise machines, and so forth, which all were also at Chen Man’s, so they didn’t need to be moved urgently; when the time came, a moving company could be found, and everything could be moved in one go.

After moving everything back to Chen Man’s home, Jiang Xichu hadn’t rested even two minutes when she twisted the lid of the mineral water bottle shut, a large mouthful of water in her mouth, and, swallowing the water, she stood up, saying, “You rest, I’ll go put things in order.”

Chen Man’s complexion was flushed, tired enough to be gasping, unknowingly thinking she had just experienced some sort of unspeakable exercise. Seeing Jiang Xichu like an unaffected person, even wanting to go inside to put things in order, she tugged at Jiang Xichu’s arm, tugging her until she stumbled, and said, “You just rest as well! What urgency is this, ah, aren’t you afraid of being tired!”

Jiang Xichu was also tired, but not as much Chen Man was; wasn’t it just a suitcase in each hand, plus two woven bags? Someone who’d gone to university, who hadn’t used their bodies for hard work? Chen Man was just delicate; the eldest daughter of an affluent family’s body, her life, from youth until adulthood hadn’t done any work, so just using a little bit of effort couldn’t be tolerated. Her heartstrings were suddenly moved; thinking of the words Chen Man had said before she had died, Jiang Xichu immediately tilted her head, her expression turning uncomfortable in a split second; Chen Man, who was just laying motionless, hadn’t seen this before. Jiang Xichu walked to her side, readily following her advice and nodding, and said, “Then I’ll rest a while too, eat some fruit; I’ll cut a plate for you.”

En???

The sun was rising from the west?

Chen Man looked at her in amazement, and said, “How is it that you’re not mocking me?”

Jiang Xichu replied, “...what would I mock you for?”

Chen Man said cheerfully, “What times aren’t you allowed to mock me a bit?” Saying this, Chen Man sat up, crossing her waist, and imitated Jiang Xichu, saying, “You can’t even walk this little bit, what are you doing eating; asking you to work out you can’t even manage, Chen Man, tell me, could you be even a bit more unable to make profit?” Chen Man’s imitation was very cheerful, and once she finished laughing, she looked at Jiang Xichu; the other’s face was covered in a dark cloud, her gaze rays of death falling onto her body. Chen Man was silent: “...” She sat upright, calmly saying in a normal voice, “I want to eat apples; peeling one for me is enough, thanks.”

Jiang Xichu stared at her blankly, then left. A moment later, she returned with a peeled apple. She held a porcelain plate in hand, on which there was only a single, complete apple peel; looking at the thing in her hand, Chen Man silently swallowed a mouthful of words. Jiang Xichu was amenable to gentleness but not forcing, which she’d known from early on, but sometimes she couldn’t help but want to meet her head-on; like right now when she’d been able to bear it, she was able to rationally come up with a plan in reply, and obtain the maximal benefit for herself. Jiang Xichu resolutely bit a mouthful of crisp, peeled apple, then looked at Chen Man at her side in demonstration, and suddenly knocked against the other’s aggrieved and pitiful expression; Jiang Xichu’s body went rigid, and her chewing also slowed down halfway. The two looked at each other for many moment, and then finally, Jiang Xichu took away the apple peel in her hand, and returned to the kitchen. After a minute, holding a similar apple, Chen Man gelt her heart was pleased enough to give off bubbles. Her Secretary Jiang had a sharp mouth and a soft heart, tender enough to leak water, softhearted to everyone, especially softhearted towards her; as long as she admitted defeat and put on a pathetic appearance, then even if she wanted the stars in the sky, Jiang Xichu would find a way to get them for her.

Her heart felt both sweet and sour; Jiang Xichu really was very good to her; of course she’d fallen for Jiang Xichu, and this liking had increased day by day, never decreasing; sometimes she felt that the life she had now couldn’t get any better because Jiang Xichu was by her side, and she was the person most able to obtain Jiang Xichu’s concern and attention, but…

No matter how well Jiang Xichu was towards her, the relationship between the two of them was, at the end, still the two inseparable characters of “friends”. It wasn’t that she’d never thought of going a step further, but her courage wasn’t enough, and she couldn’t manage to make the gamble.

…

Jiang Xichu looked at Chen Man with bafflement, entirely not understanding how the paths in her mind had formed; how was it that eating an apple could make her lament the passing of the spring and have autumn melancholy? Throwing the apple core into the garbage, Jiang Xichu washed her hands and then took the luggage to go put things in order. Her room was just across from Chen Man’s; of the two rooms, one was the master bedroom, and one was the guest bedroom; it had already had a lot of Jiang Xichu’s things, and now, bringing the luggage, it didn’t have any differences with Jiang Xichu’s home. Jiang Xichu hung up all of her clothes, and tossed her stuffed toys onto the bed, putting an assortment of other things around the room as well; Chen Man emerged from her melancholy, slowly coming to the doorway, and saw Jiang Xichu ceaselessly walking to and fro in the room like a spinning top.

Jiang Xichu was the type of woman who was a good wife and a loving mother; her appearance was very gentle, appearing to be exceedingly like a mother and a wife, and at this moment, she raised and lowered her eyes, fiddling with a few sets of clothes in her hands; she carefully folded the clothes, then used her palm to gently flatten them down, and then finally put them in the wardrobe; Chen Man watched this scene, that unknown sense that she’d felt so many times appearing once again.

——If Jiang Xichu was mine forever, how could would that be?

Chen Man dropped her head with a sense of loss; only after a long time did she fix up up her mood, and put on an expression of nonchalance, a smiling expression on her face as she raised her head; she was just about to go help when she froze on the spot. She looked in shock at Jiang Xichu’s hand, where the latter was earnestly fiddling with underwear; there was a red one, a blue one, an ascetic black one…

Jiang Xichu’s figure was better than Chen Man’s, shapely and curvaceous; compared to Jiang Xichu, Chen Man was a bit thinner, and a bit taller, but with their clothes off, Jiang Xichu was significantly more impressive.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck…

Jiang Xichu had been continuously watching Chen Man out of the corner of her eye, and seeing her hovering at the doorway, wanting to enter but not daring to, wanting to say something but not knowing what to say, she laughed to herself, then pursed her lips and put the underwear down, then picked up a lace pair, that pair that matched with the scarlet bra. She tugged at the two sides of the underwear, using effort to stretch it out; Jiang Xichu’s elegant, fair hands, and the small and exquisitely fine and flimsy underwear, together were an absolutely shocking visual; Chen Man felt that she couldn’t stay here any longer; Jiang Xichu didn’t have any interest in her, her acting like this was just because they were both women, that there wasn’t any taboo to be avoided here, but it wasn’t for her; if she stayed here any longer, she would be a wretched voyeur. She turned around, just about to leave, when she saw Jiang Xichu turn her head, vexedly stating a question: “My underwear seems to not be fit to wear; how about you loan me a couple, and then on the weekend, I can go buy some at the store?”

Chen Man was silent: “...”

She glared at Jiang Xichu and said, “What are you joking for, could this sort of thing be borrowed!”

Jiang Xichu looked at her innocently, and said, “You have a lot of clothes you’ve never even worn, what’s wrong with giving me a couple of new pairs?” Saying so, Jiang Xichu tilted her head, and said, “Did I say something wrong? What are you blushing for?”

Chen Man replied, stupified, “It’s hot.”

Hearing those words, Jiang Xichu raised a brow, and said, “Eh, is it? It really must be hot, even your ears are red.”

A few moments passed, and then Chen Man fled in defeat, as if some sort of monster was chasing after her. Jiang Xichu watched her depart, and only after a good while she turned around in good spirits, continuing to fold the clothes in her hands, thinking as she folded, hehe, silly girl, compete with me.

…

The news of Secretary Jiang moving in with Manager Chen was known by the entire office before even a day had passed, and aside from Secretary Zhou being entirely stunned, the other two didn’t have any sort of reaction; after all, in the past, Secretary Jiang often went to Manager Chen’s home, and often stayed overnight; now, changing to staying for an extended time, there wasn’t anything to be astonished by. What they cared about more was still the other matter. This morning, Secretary Yang and Secretary Li were muttering in front of their own work stations, the two like two underground party members having a liaison, everything they said in code.

“It’s been three days, hasn’t it.”

“En, adding on today, then it’s the fourth day.”

“Did you see?”

“I didn’t, what about you?”

“Neither have I.”

“Something big is going to happen.”

“Something big is absolutely going to happen!”

“What big thing is going to happen?”

The third voice suddenly interrupted, and Secretary Yang and Secretary Li were scared out of their skins, the two turning their heads; Chen Man was looking at them with her arms crossed; most of the time, Chen Man’s manner was keeping with the aloofness of a general manager; for example, now, she had scared the two secretaries into speechlessness. Chen Man was silent for a moment, and then said, “If you don’t speak, your wages will be deducted.”

Nothing was as important as money; hearing this threat, the two immediately told the truth; hearing the two speak, adding onto each other, Chen Man finally understood what they were saying. Once the two secretaries had honestly explained, they dully looked at Chen Man, not knowing whether Chen Man would be upset, but Chen Man silently crossed her arms as before, not saying a single word. Only after a good while did they see Chen Man’s shoulders collapse. With a deep sigh, she pulled over a chair, becoming the third member of this underground party, and said, “I also think something big is going to happen; you two help me analyse it, is Jiang Xichu holding back an ultimate move?”

The other two secretaries were silent: “...”

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