Sexy Ghost (Lily ABO) - Chapter 6

Just as Xu Jinliang was preparing the documents for dispatch, Old Wei knocked and entered. Xu Jinliang wondered why he was so idle. Old Wei was older than her, and could affectionately call her “Xiao Xu,” but he didn’t. After all, they used to be on the same level, and now that Xu Jinliang was his subordinate, he had to be careful with his address.

“Factory Director Xu, you’ve worked hard, hehe.” Old Wei greeted her first, then got straight to the point without much fuss, asking, “There’s a city banquet this afternoon; would you like to come with me?”

Xu Jinliang smiled faintly and replied, “I’m long past the stage of frequent socializing; spare me, please.” She glanced at her secretary and said, “Take him instead. He’ll gain experience with you, and when the time comes for a transfer, he’ll be considered first.”

The secretary was smart. Without waiting for Old Wei to think further, he immediately expressed his gratitude, “Thank you, Factory Director, thank you, Mr. Wei.”

Old Wei seemed to want to say more, his eyes betraying hesitation. It wasn’t that taking a younger person out would inconvenience him; there might have been something else, but he kept it to himself, indicating it wasn’t a huge matter. So Xu Jinliang ignored it, pretending not to see. The secretary reached out to take the documents, but Xu Jinliang said, “Aren’t you going to drive Mr. Wei?”

The secretary nodded, took the car keys, and ran downstairs.

“Then I, cough, I’ll be going too.”

“Take care, Mr. Wei.”

Xu Jinliang took the documents and walked to the office on the second floor. Without stopping, she purposefully entered Feng Yan’s office. The office door was open. She knocked twice.

“Come in.” Feng Yan looked up, saw it was the Factory Director, and immediately stood up. “Please come in, why did you come down yourself?”

Her sharp eyes noticed Xu Jinliang was holding the dispatch documents, so she said, “Why didn’t you have your secretary send them down?”

Xu Jinliang was led to a chair and sat down, saying, “Mr. Wei dropped by, and I sent him out to help drive.”

With the boss sitting in her office, Feng Yan didn’t dare to relax. She opened the documents and busied herself with arranging tasks. But just being busy wasn’t enough. She also made time for small talk, because the boss wasn’t leaving, just sitting there steadily, and she didn’t know what it meant.

Xu Jinliang didn’t keep staring at her, her eyes scanning the surroundings. Feng Yan’s office wasn’t desolate; several potted plants sat on the windowsill. She was drawn to one of them and asked, “Do you like growing flowers?”

“Ah, not really, just a dabbler.”

Xu Jinliang looked at the delicate white flower, her gaze softening, her voice also gentle, “It’s pretty, and it smells good.”

Undoubtedly, Xu Jinliang was a very charming person; both her appearance and temperament were top-notch. Even her age didn’t detract from her; instead, it brewed a more mellow aura. When she intentionally revealed her charm, it was quite noticeable, making Feng Yan look up from her desk. Noticing which pot of flowers she was referring to, she said, “It’s jasmine. I like its scent. I just don’t grow it very well; I had to search online for how to fertilize it to make it bloom.”

Xu Jinliang stood up and walked over, squeezing between the windowsill and the desk. Feng Yan’s heart raced, her gaze naturally following. She saw Xu Jinliang bend down, her fingers gently and softly stroking a small white flower, her nose lightly sniffing it.

By evening, Xu Jinliang quickly showered and lay in bed early. She was somewhat looking forward to sleeping now.

As expected, she had a dream.

However, the dream was repetitive.

She dreamt of sliding down the slope towards the riverbank, watching the white figure washing the bedsheet, but the scene where her mother arrived later didn’t appear. The dream cycled; or rather, it infinitely extended that segment, where the young woman finished washing the bedsheet and then stepped into the water, her white dress completely soaked.

That day, Old Wei didn’t come to the factory, but he called Xu Jinliang directly in her office. He said he heard about a good product exhibition and asked if she wanted to go see it together. Xu Jinliang made another excuse to dismiss him, and Old Wei didn’t insist, ending the call after a few pleasantries.

Old Wei, he seems to be on Director Chang’s side.

So Director Chang wanted to see her.

Having guessed the reason, Xu Jinliang didn’t have much time to spare. As soon as lunch break arrived, she, uncharacteristically, wanted to take a nap. She got her wish and entered the dream. This time, she didn’t hide from the small white flower but sat directly by the riverbank, watching the white figure dance by the river.

The young woman splashed water, giggling, and when happy, she would jump up, lift her skirt, and twirl around.

The woman probably hadn’t learned to dance at all but danced according to her mood. Her movements looked both clumsy and cute. Xu Jinliang had no idea that in her dream, she was merely watching with a satisfied and relaxed smile, and the little white flower also didn’t know, because she hadn’t seen Xu Jinliang.

When she woke up, it was still early. Xu Jinliang quickly washed up and went to the cafeteria. Workers usually took their meals back to their dorms to eat and nap, so there were only a few office staff eating in the cafeteria now. However, since she arrived late, there weren’t many people left eating. Among the scattered individuals, Xu Jinliang noticed Feng Yan also eating at this time. She went to get a tray and serve herself first.

Feng Yan had actually just sat down herself. As she ate, someone sat down next to her. It had been a long time since anyone had eaten with her at work. She looked over in surprise, and a mouthful of rice directly got stuck in her throat.

“Good day, Factory Director. Did you just come down too?”

Xu Jinliang smiled, pushed her water cup over, and said, “Have some water.”

Xu Jinliang observed the marks on her meal tray; it wasn’t that she ate quickly, but rather that she had taken very little food to begin with. Even with the small amount of food, Feng Yan ate with difficulty, finally forcing it into her mouth as if unwilling to waste it. After swallowing the last bite, Feng Yan picked up her tray and stood up, saying, “Factory Director, please take your time eating. I’m done and will go back to work.”

Xu Jinliang was indeed very attractive, but at the same time, she put people under a lot of pressure. Feng Yan couldn’t withstand the pressure from her aura and status, so she fled in disarray.

In the afternoon, Factory Director Xu left. The people in the office building breathed a sigh of relief and, by unspoken agreement, reduced their work intensity. Managers didn’t urge their subordinates, and even the workers in the workshop relaxed considerably.

At the end of the workday, Feng Yan reluctantly gathered her spirits. She walked out of her office to the main office area and asked a few staff members, “I don’t feel like cooking tonight. Perfect, want to go out for a bite together? My treat.”

One girl, who had been reprimanded by Feng Yan earlier for not meeting a deadline, reluctantly said, “Sorry, Sister Yan, I have to work overtime for a bit.” After she finished speaking, the girl’s boyfriend also sat down and said, “I have to work overtime too. We’ll treat you next time.”

Feng Yan could only smile and say, “It’s alright, let’s talk about it weekend.” She picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder, “The Factory Director left this afternoon, so everyone go home early.” With that, she walked away, her eyes red.

It’s nothing, truly nothing.

Just colleagues, and still young subordinates, what could it be?

Yes, it was supposed to be nothing. But it’s hard to go from luxury to frugality. When she was young, she also wanted to make a name for herself through hard work, but she almost burned herself out. Factory work wasn’t great; the pay was low, and there was almost no room for advancement. Without connections, it would never be her turn for a transfer. But it also had its advantages: little competition, low pressure, and not much change, very stable.

Feng Yan had already been enjoying this stability, made friends, got along well with her superiors and subordinates, and even had fun together in her free time.

Now, everything had changed, and it felt like she had lost a lot.

She walked towards the bus stop in a daze. Then, two honks sounded from the roadside. It was Factory Director Xu’s car; she recognized it.

Feng Yan ultimately didn’t get in the car, but she accepted the local delicacies Xu Jinliang gave her, which were reportedly bought from a specialty store several hours’ drive away.

From that day on, the people in the factory noticed that Factory Director Xu often came downstairs for no reason, scaring them into holding their breath. Later, Factory Director Xu frequently visited the workshops for inspections, which was always better than just lingering in the office building. However, they didn’t notice that Feng Yan was also no longer in her office very often.

Author’s Note:

1v1. Xu Jinliang will not have any romantic relationships with others (neither physical; she’s not capable of that).
But she’s still quite easy to curse at. I even feel like cursing her.