Wipe Clean After Eating

Translated by Dree and edited by peanuts

I rest a day and go to work as usual the second day. Thank goodness the wound isn’t large. I replace the worn band-aid with new one, put on my business attire and head off to work early.

As soon as I walk into the office, I notice that the atmosphere isn’t quite right. I have special duties, every morning I have to arrive extra early to clean the general manager’s office. Although it’s not unusual to have colleagues arrive earlier than I do, at most there would only be a handful of people. Today, when I arrive at the company, there are already more than a dozen co-workers at their posts and they are all women!

“Xiao Xia!” A person suddenly shouts to me.

I look towards the direction of the sound and see the well-dressed and lightly made-up, Liu Meng Xi beaming at me. When I see her, I instinctively feel a bit guilty and reluctantly shout back in reply: “Sister Meng Xi!”

Liu Meng Xi pats my shoulder cordially and says: “The things I asked you to give to the general manager, have you given it to him?”

Oops, I’ve forgotten! My face stiffens and her smile immediately stiffens. I quickly say, “I gave it already!” (Note: Later on when he arrives, I’ll give it to him right away!)

She smiles again: “Well then, what did the general manager say?”

I quickly fabricate a response: “He said he really likes it!”

Liu Meng Xi’s face is full of joy: “Xiao Xia, I cannot thank you enough! One day, I really must treat you out to eat!”

Feeling guilty, I quickly change the subject and say with a sigh, “Everyone is here so early today!”

She lowers her voice and says disdainfully, “In order to catch a millionaire, who would not arrive early?”

I ask wonderingly, “What millionaire?”

She stares at me in surprise, “Such big news, how can you not know?”

I’m at a loss and shake my head: “I don’t know ah!”

“Oh, right, you did not come to work yesterday.”

Liu Meng Xi suddenly sees the light and pats her forehead as she explains: “Yesterday, the Boss said that his little brother needs to intern at our company. He’ll arrive this morning! You think about it, as the general manager’s little brother interning at our company, he’ll certainly be given a management position. Moreover, with the general manager so handsome, his little brother can’t be much worse. How can the flirts in our company not be boiling over in excitement?”

While speaking, she secretly points to the female colleagues in contemptuous disgust: “Look over at the one by the window, and the one in the middle. Both of them arrived at work early in the morning. Right now, they are surreptitiously touching up their make-up under the table thinking that no one can see them.”

I kept quiet. You also came to work super early today. You also put on made-up on the face!

I’ve just finished cleaning half of the office when Lu Jun comes in, which is earlier than usual. He is wearing a new, impeccably tailored suit and tie, and pushes open the door in a dignified and leisurely manner. His eyes gently scan the desk and he asks in a very serious and businesslike manner: “Xia Ye, you didn’t bring me breakfast today?”

I then suddenly realize: “Oh, I forgot to make scallion pancake for you this morning!”

His mouth spasms and he says between clenched teeth: “Henceforth, you are forbidden from saying scallion pancake in my presence!”

I am a little embarrassed: “Then in the future, what would you like for breakfast?”

He sits down on his leather chair and rotates around, taps his hands together and says casually: “When I came in just now, the loving heart bento that manager Wang was eating doesn’t look too bad.”

I am more embarrassed, and since I am puzzled, I toss out a question: “What kind of bento is called a loving heart bento?”

He throws the question back at me: “That is for you to figure out. I am only responsible for tasting.” I complain silently in my heart. Manager Wang, why did you have to eat a loving heart bento for no reason? If you must eat, then eat! Why did you have to let the general manager see it?!

After I’ve finished cleaning the office, I take the item that Liu Meng Xi left in my care from the cabinet. Since I’ve already boasted to her that Big Boss Lu liked her gift, I now have to make him love it. Thus, I say in a very gentle, mild, and cautious tone, “General manager, this is for you.”

Apparently Lu Jun loves receiving gifts. From across the computer screen, he holds out his hand to take the gift. With a faint smile on his face, he opens the beautifully packaged box and takes out the light grey tie from inside. He first looks at the tie, then looks touched and says to me: “This isn’t something you can afford. Where did you get it?”

I nod my head and say flatteringly, “General manager, you have really great insight! With only a glance you can tell! This is what our company’s Liu Meng Xi asked me to give you on her behalf!”

His face sinks: “You are quite enthusiastic.”

I give an awkward, hearty laugh: “Ha ha! Since I am not busy, I take pleasure in helping others!”

He opens his drawer and takes out a bottle of black ink: “Since you are so free, why don’t you take this bottle of ink and pour it outside on the hallway. Remember to pour it evenly.”

I am a bit fearful of his evil intention and say: “Uh huh, sure. Then right after I’ve poured it, you’re going to tell me to clean it up!”

He smiles and shakes his head: “I won’t.”

I still refuse to yield: “If it is not I who need to clean it up, someone else must. I absolutely will not do this type of evil deed that harms others without benefiting myself!”

He raises his eyebrows: “You won’t do things that harm others without benefiting yourself, then will you do things that harm others for your personal benefit?”

I: “……”

He smilingly continues to say: “Xia Ye, what would you say if I take this tie and throw it out in the trash, and afterward tell Liu Meng Xi that I never received her gift. What do you think she’ll do?”

Okay! You are considered ruthless! If you really do that, Liu Meng Xi will think that I threw out the tie and didn’t deliver it safely to the general manager’s hands! And afterward, she will treat me like her worse enemy with absolutely no chance of reconciling……

This is definitely a case of framing somebody ah!

Holding a bottle of carbon black ink, I sneakily walk down the hallway. It appears that the hallway has not been cleaned and sanitized today. There are lots of dust and scraps of paper on the bright white floor but I still do not have the heart to dirty the floor. After I struggle internally for a bit, I take advantage of nobody coming my way then bend down to evenly and carefully pour the black ink over the floor.

“What are you doing?” An angry voice demands from behind me.

I quickly stand straight and sneakily hide away the ink bottle. I turn my head and see a man with his face covered with a cleaning mask, wearing a cleaning suit, donning a cleaning cap, and holding a cleaning tool. This is simply the look of a first rate cleaner!

Indeed I can’t do evil deeds and harm others. As soon as I do an evil deed I get caught red-handed! Although I’ve a guilty conscience, I pretend as if nothing had happened and intend to leave with a sashay.

The cleaning person stops me with a furious accusation: “You poured ink all over the floor!”

I counter: “Don’t speak nonsense. It wasn’t me.”

He responds with conviction: “I saw you! It was you!”

I continue to refute: “It truly wasn’t me.”

He: “It was you!”

I: “It wasn’t me.”

He: “It was you!”

I: “It was me!”

He: “It wasn’t you!”

And then he is stunned.

I say to him with a proud smile: “That’s what you said!”

He stares angrily at me: “You…!”

I can see that he is very angry until speechless so I quickly straighten him out: “Actually, why are you arguing over this until your face and ears are red? I deny that I poured the ink. You are responsible for cleaning up the floors. I admit that I poured the ink. You still have to clean the floors, so regardless, the outcome is the same.”

`……’

His eyes get bigger, it seems like his lips are trembling under the mask. In my heart, I think it is not easy to earn money as a cleaner so I stop annoying him. Out of the kindness of my heart, I turn and walk straight away.

On my way back, I meet manager Wang holding a pink lunch box in his hands, with a flattered expression on his face. I recall general manager’s love bento and call after him, “Manager Wang, I heard that your bento breakfast for today was really nice!”

Manager Wang said, with his face full of happiness: “Xiao Xia ah, thanks to your picture, I have dispelled my wife’s suspicions about other women. In fact, she no longer gets mad at me but instead is very sympathetic towards me and treats me unbelievably well. This morning, she even made me a love bento breakfast!”

I’m all confused. Mrs. Wang in the past was angry at manager Wang because she heard that there are lots of beauties at the company and would often loudly quarrel with him over it. Now after seeing my photo, she is sympathetic towards him?

Every time I speak to manager Wang, I also get irritated by him. It seems that in the future, whenever I see him, I better take a detour.

But there is one question that I have to ask: This love bento thing, what exactly is it?”

Manager Wang replies modestly: “In fact, it’s not really anything special, it’s just some fried egg with some ham on it.”

I exhale in relief: “This is good, not too much trouble.”

Manager Wang continues: “But this egg is fried in a heart shape and the ham is cut into a heart shape.”

I am depressed: heart-shape ah…heart-shape ah…

Mrs. Wang giving her husband a heart-shaped bento is called reasonable. If I am to give Lu Jun a heart-shaped bento, then what is it considered ah!

Today, at the end of the work day, the so-called general manager’s brother has still not appeared in the company. The female colleagues’ desires are unsatisfied and their faces hide bitterness. I pack up my things properly in preparation to leave. Lu Jun calls out from his office: “Xia Ye, don’t go yet.”

I quickly state: “I have already finished today’s work!”

He looks at me: “We leave together.”

I reluctantly ask: “Why?”

He tilts his head slightly, “Does there need to be a reason?”

I firmly nod my head. If there is no reason, then there is no need. If there is no need, I absolutely will not leave with this man with a belly-full of evil water!

He turns around, picks up a stack of five files, each the thickness of the Xinhua dictionary and plops them into my hands.

I’m struggling to hold the files, my face blackens: “What are you doing?”

He smiles harmlessly: “Didn’t you want a reason? You are my secretary. I need you to help me take these files to my place. Is this reason good enough for you?”

Steam fills my head: “But these documents are supposed to be left in the office, tomorrow morning it is supposed to be distributed to the colleagues ah!”

He says with a calm demeanor: “Right, so tomorrow morning, you need to retrieve these files from my place and take them back to the company.”

I burst into tears, mother! I will never ask him for a reason again!

The company’s employees have pretty much all left by now but I am still stuck carrying a large stack of files, so I am immensely remorseful as I walk out of the company at Lu Jun’s side. If I had known earlier, I would have obediently agreed to go with him. At least, it would have been relaxing with me empty-handed. At least it would have been better than being his porter!

When passing the area where I spilled the ink, I notice that the cleaner is still mopping the floor far away. On the floor, most of the ink has been cleaned but there is still a small part left. I feel guilty, looking at that cleaner who seems exhausted when he bends over to clean the floor. Thus, when I am walking near him, I purposely conceal my face with the files.

But the cleaner straightens his bent body and blocks our way.

I am surprised, like that he also can recognize me?

However what surprise me more is that, he holds a black mop in one hand and with the other hand, he points at Lu Jun and shouts: “Brother!”