Chapter 13

“Even if I didn’t like you, the place you have in my heart is one that could not be replaced by anyone, to say nothing of the fact that I do like you.”

Hearing Jiang Xichu say this, Chen Man was frozen for half a day, and only afterwards suddenly reacted, his complexion flushed in an instant; she tilted her head, pressing her lips together, and after a long time, she slowly turned her head back. She stammered a few words; Jiang Xichu, for a while, couldn’t hear them clearly, and she turned towards Chen Man slowly, and then turned her ear towards her, and said, “What are you saying? I can’t hear it clearly, speak a bit louder.”

“I said,” Chen Man said, and drew a deep breath, and only with great hardship summoned her courage, and increased the sound of her voice, “I want to kiss you…”

In total, five characters, each one’s loudness lower than the last. Jiang Xichu raised her head, gazing at Chen Man with astonishment; before, she hadn’t known that Chen Man had this sort of bashful and girlish side; she’d even just assumed that Chen Man was an idler; every day, only getting off work to nest into the sofa, holding a great bag of junk food, watching those old fashioned TV shows. This version of Chen Man made Jiang Xichu cherish her an excessive amount, and also made a secret sense of satisfaction rise within her heart, as if she was Chen Man’s master, and her single phrase towards Chen Man was in fact able to switch on her joy. Jiang Xichu couldn’t help but smile, and she said magnanimously, “That’s good, then.”

Chen Man’s eyes shone, and she immediately threw herself over, and then Jiang Xichu regretted it.

Chen Man was someone who, on words, was utterly short, and a giant in action. No matter if she had just been shy and embarrassed, when it came to the time for real work, Jiang Xichu discovered, she herself was unable to seize initiative, only being taken along by Chen Man. At Chen Man’s urging, Jiang Xichu obediently opened her mouth; the sensation of partners’ intertwining was truly too wonderful; Jiang Xichu had the sense, from head to foot, of all her cells expanding because of it; she closed her eyes, and quickly didn’t think more about the matter of whose hands the initiative was in. Who cared about that; as long as it was comfortable, that was fine.

As the kiss ended, the two exchanged many sweet nothings; seeing the hour was getting late, Jiang Xichu turned off the room’s light, and then got ready to get ready for bed. Chen Man was laying at her side, hot as if baking jianbing, tossing and turning so that she couldn’t be sleeping. Jiang Xichu, her condition weary, was both indifferent and pitiless, and absolutely didn’t want to bother with what sort of problems the person at her side was causing, only wanting to quickly fall asleep. But after tossing and turning for a while, Chen Man brushed against the person by her side, and cautiously and carefully asked, “Xichu, are you asleep?”

Jiang Xichu opened irritated eyes, and soundlessly fixed them on Chen Man. Chen Man’s scalp tensed, and she hurriedly expressed a fawning smile, and said, “You aren’t sleep, then, not having slept is good; that…there’s a matter I want to ask you; if I don’t ask it, I can’t even think of sleeping today.”

Jiang Xichu restrained her urge to get angry, and impatiently gathered up her hair, then closed her eyes. “Say it.”

Chen Man was ridiculing her silently in her heart; Jiang Xichu, who wasn’t worthy of sleeping, truly looked too much like a matriarch; it was better when she closed her eyes; if her eyes were open, it would scare one to death. Chen Man gentled her tone, afraid that if she misspoke, she’d piss off this matriarch, and she’d grab the pillow and beat her a round. “We…does this mean that we’ve formed a relationship?”

Jiang Xichu endured holding back her temper for a good while; in the end, she’d been waiting for this sort of practically nonsensical question; she stretched out her arm and picked up a duck down pillow; Chen Man looked at her with fright, and in an instant slipped half a metre away, immediately taking herself out of Jiang Xichu’s range of attack. Jiang Xichu’s movement became sluggish; she hadn’t thought of beating anyone, but seeing this scene, she had a bit of an itch for it.

…

Finally, Jiang Xichu silently swallowed a mouthful of old blood, turning over in irritation, holding the other duck down pillow in her grasp, and then, dazedly, went to sleep. Chen Man, at a loss for what to do now, stayed at the other extremity of the bed, and after twenty minutes, she once again slowly and quietly returned, continuing to cautiously and solemnly ask, “Xichu, are you asleep?”

Jiang Xichu was silent: “...”

Don’t obstruct her, today she would definitely beat Chen Man until she mewelled!

The second day was the weekend; the two didn’t go out to have fun, just stayed at home like this, enjoying hard-earned idleness. Chen Man really was like that way Jiang Xichu had said, holding a great bag of potato chips, laying on the sofa and watching a melodramatic romance that had been popular across China twenty years ago, and in fact laughed as she watched it. Jiang Xichu was using the computer in the study to research something, and at eleven in the afternoon, she emerged from the study. She was going to the kitchen to fetch water; at the same time, Chen Man’s phone sounded, and Chen Man grabbed her phone without much trouble, carelessly glancing at it, and then found it was an account bill that Jiang Xichu had sent her. Chen Man, not understanding, opened it; the amount of money on the account wasn’t much, and an amount that Chen Man would freely spend would be greater than it, but her eyes still widened in shock. Because on this account bill was no less than two hundred thousand; according to Jiang Xichu’s family background, this was probably the entirety of what she had saved.

Chen Man’s thought wasn’t wrong, this was in fact Jiang Xichu’s entire savings, and, after sending this entire amount, Jiang Xichu only retained two thousand or so, barely enough to be sufficient for this month’s grocery money. Jiang Xichu was like someone without worries; she held the water cup in her hands, about to return to the study; Chen Man hastily put on her slippers, and shoved her phone screen into her face, and said, “What situation is this?! What are you doing giving me this much money?!” The more Chen Man thought, the more it felt wrong; although Jiang Xichu wasn’t, in fact, miserly, she couldn’t be counted as magnanimous either, and even more than that, she wouldn’t this easily give all her own money to her, so could it be…Chen Man dragged in a cold breath; could it be that Jiang Xichu had done some sort of illegal business, and this was the black money that she hadn’t been able to clean yet?!

It had to be said, what Manager Chen was imagining was really too rich.

Jiang Xichu only indifferently cast her a glance, her tone as airy as clouds and as mild as the wind, and said, “Go ahead and take what I gave you, it’s not that much anyway.”

Chen Man once more looked at the string of numbers on her phone, and, bewildered, looked at Jiang Xichu for an indeterminate amount of time, and said, “You, what are you doing, you don’t want this much money, is it that your condition has gotten more severe?”

Jiang Xichu was silent: “...”

The more Chen Man thought, the more she thought it was like the matter she imagined, and she tugged at Jiang Xichu’s wrist, wanting to drag her out, saying, “Come come come, I’m taking you to go see the doctor.”

Jiang Xichu, face exasperated, dragged her hand back, and said, “I’m fine! My current condition is already much better, you can see it clearly.”

What she said was right as well; recently, Jiang Xichu had in fact gotten a good deal better; although the change was very minute, but when it accumulated bit by bit, it was rather clear, but Chen Man didn’t understand. “Then this is…?”

Jiang Xichu held the light purple crystal cup in her hands, and drank a mouthful, scalded slightly by the hot water, and then smiled faintly, and said, “This is my bride price; now I’ve married you.”

Chen Man was struck dumb in an instant.

Jiang Xichu cheerfully waved her hands before her eyes, and said, “Wei, this emotionally moved, you’ve become speechless?”

Chen Man’s spirit was drawn back by her waving hands, and she gazed at Jiang Xichu without knowing what to do, and said, “All, giving it all to me…”

Jiang Xichu nodded, making a show of being serious and earnest, and said, “En, after giving it all to you, I’ve become very very poor, and I hope that Manager Chen can give me a suitable raise, and then this way I won’t be made to starve on the street.”

As soon as she heard the matter of a raise, Chen Man’s reaction was that of most capitalists; a life was fine, but money was too far. She callously turned her head, putting her hands into her pockets without much effort, and as if she was afraid Jiang Xichu would regret it, mumbled to herself, “What increase of pay, the general manager has already married you, you’re still seeking a raise, you, this woman, really are too lacking in conscience.”

Jiang Xichu was silent: “...”

Evil capitalist.

Jiang Xichu shook her head, turning as if to leave, and she’d just taken two steps when she heard a minute sound come from behind her: “You already have me supporting you, and you still look for a raise; what use would a raise have; the wool comes from the back of the sheep; rather than thinking of discount vouchers, it would be better to think of how to kidnap the sheep and take it home.”

Jiang Xichu laughed softly, and declined to comment. Still using “swindle”? With a soft wave, not even some grass was necessary; her peer, the little sheep Man Yangyang,^[1] would already follow her home eagerly.

Seeing Jiang Xichu return to the study, Chen Man quietly cast a gaze at the partially-ajar door, and then returned to the sofa; the melodramatic romance show was still playing, but Chen Man’s line of sight didn’t track the images; her gaze was fixed on the already darkened scene of her phone for half a day, and her expression was a bit grave. However, the solemnity didn’t last more than three seconds, and Chen Man let out a scoffing laugh, and hurriedly kicked off the slippers that hindered her, and then shifted about the spacious sofa excitedly a good few times. When she sat up, holding her phone, her hair had become like Mei Chaofeng’s^[2] in appearance. Smiling, she kissed the screen of her phone, and, after that, reached out a hand to grab the bag of potato chips that hadn’t been fully eaten, and returned to her state of watching tv from earlier.

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Translator's notes:

[1]: Probably a reference to the show “Happy Sheep and Great Grey Wolf” (喜羊羊与灰太狼, Xi Yangyang yu Huitai Lang).

[2]: From Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong, a popular wuxia novel that has been adapted a number of times.