Chapter 11: Forgot to Bring Underwear
The air in the corridor was somewhat stale, mixed with the spiciness of instant noodles and the smell of sweat from the crowd.
Jiang Chen leaned against the doorframe. The not-so-sturdy wooden door behind him occasionally emitted a slight tremor, and each tremor felt like a knock against his taut nerves.
The sound of water inside stopped.
It was replaced by a rustling sound of clothes being put on, and conversations that were deliberately lowered but still clear.
"Manman, don't crowd me, this place is too small." It was Lin Wan's voice, soft and slightly helpless.
"Oh, Sister Wan, your butt sticks out, taking up space." Chen Man's laughter always had a hook to it. "Sister Su, did your stockings snag? I thought they caught on the doorknob just now."
"... Shut up." Su Qingge's voice was muffled, as if she were struggling into something tight. "Hurry up and get dressed, there must be a lot of people waiting outside."
Jiang Chen tilted his head up, staring at the flickering emergency light on the ceiling of the carriage, trying to clear his mind.
But a person's imagination is always exceptionally rich at times like these. Even though he couldn't see anything, his mind automatically filled in the scene of the three women in that not-so-spacious area at this very moment.
Just then, the door panel behind him was gently knocked upon.
Tap tap.
The sound was light, tinged with hesitation.
"Xiao Jiang?" Lin Wan's voice came through the crack in the door, sounding somewhat embarrassed.
Jiang Chen didn't move, just turned his head slightly: "I'm here. What's wrong, Sister Wan?"
Silence reigned inside for two seconds, followed by a sound of shoving, as if they were pushing the task onto one another.
Finally, Lin Wan spoke, her voice even weaker than before: "Um... could you pass that black travel bag in for a moment?"
Jiang Chen looked down at his feet. There was indeed a black handbag there, bulging, which he had casually placed on the floor while moving water earlier.
"Okay." Jiang Chen bent down and picked up the bag. "Should I open the door now?"
"Don't!" Chen Man's cry of alarm came from inside. "Don't open it wide! Just... just open a crack! Wanwan forgot to bring her intimate... cough, forgot to bring her change of clothes."
Jiang Chen's hand froze mid-air.
So they forgot their clothes.
They could forget that?
"Are you ready?" Jiang Chen took a deep breath, trying to make his tone sound upright.
"Um... we're ready. You can pass it in now."
Jiang Chen turned around, his hand gripping the cool, spherical doorknob, and slowly twisted it. The broken latch made a faint metallic scraping sound, and the door was pushed open a gap of about five centimeters.
A wave of rich, warm vapor instantly surged out from the crack.
The smell was complex, possessing the unique crispness of evian water, mixed with the sweet fragrance of shower gel, and that indescribable, subtle body scent belonging to women.
The heat rushed onto Jiang Chen's face, like countless soft little hands brushing past.
He kept his eyes straight ahead, staring at the wood grain on the door panel, and pushed the black bag in his hand through the gap.
"Is that enough room?"
A hand reached out from the dense white mist.
The hand was very wet, the skin flushed pink from the hot water, and water droplets were still dripping from the fingertips.
Because the gap was too narrow, as the hand reached for the bag, it inevitably touched the back of Jiang Chen's hand.
Slippery. Warm.
The sensation in that instant made both of them flinch as if they had received an electric shock.
"Th-thank you." The hand hastily grabbed the handle of the bag and quickly retracted.
Jiang Chen could tell that it was Su Qingge's voice.
Although she tried hard to remain calm, the slight tremor in her trailing voice betrayed her current panic.
With a 'thud,' the door was shut again.
Jiang Chen leaned back against the doorframe, looking at the back of his hand that had just been touched, where a slight warm dampness still lingered.
He rubbed his fingers together, a helpless smile touching the corner of his mouth.
This was really testing him.
Inside, there was another flurry of sounds of dressing.
"Sister Su, why is your face so red?" Chen Man's voice, as always, sounded at the most inopportune time. "It's just passing in clothes, we didn't see anything."
"It's hot," Su Qingge replied coldly. "Also, that's my bag, don't rummage through it."
"Got it, got it. I can't look at President Su's personal belongings. But these lace edges... tsk tsk, nice taste."
"Chen Man!"
Listening to the bickering inside, the slight agitation in Jiang Chen's heart slowly subsided.
This kind of interaction, full of mundane life, made him feel exceptionally real.
These were no longer the aloof female CEO or the wealthy socialite, just a few women who had temporarily let down their guard due to an accident during their journey.
About ten minutes passed.
The door lock moved again. This time, the door was pulled completely open.
Chen Man was the first to step out.
She had changed into a loose white T-shirt, the hem tied in a knot at her waist, revealing her flat abdomen.
The signature hot pants were still on, but her legs, having just showered, looked exceptionally fair and long.
Her hair was draped down wetly, and her whole person exuded a freshness and wildness of someone just out of the water.
"Phew—I'm alive!" Chen Man shook her hair, and a few drops of water splashed onto Jiang Chen's face. "Little brother, bathing with evian water really is different; it feels like my skin has softened by a layer."
Lin Wan followed immediately after.
She was dressed more conservatively in a set of gray cotton loungewear. Although it didn't accentuate her figure, the gentle, wifely aura she possessed was brought out vividly.
Her cheeks were flushed, like a ripe peach.
The last to emerge was Su Qingge.
She seemed to have made a special effort to tidy up. Although it was just a simple shirt and long pants, the buttons were fastened meticulously.
However, her hair, which was not yet completely dry, and the rich scent of the bath product on her person, significantly diminished her usual sense of distance.
The three women stood in the narrow corridor, like three different scenic vistas, instantly lighting up the dim carriage.
"Are you all ready?" Jiang Chen looked at them, his eyes clear.
"Yes, we're ready." Su Qingge nodded, handing the towel in her hand to Jiang Chen. "There's still half a bucket of hot water inside, untouched. If you find it..."
"What's there to find fault with?" Jiang Chen took the towel, which still carried Su Qingge's body temperature. "Water resources are so precious, of course, we can't waste them. You all go back to the compartment first. It's messy here, don't linger outside."
"Then hurry up, we'll wait for you," Lin Wan reminded him.
Watching the backs of the three women disappear around the corner, Jiang Chen finally turned and entered the washroom.
The space was very small, probably only about two square meters.
The four walls were covered in water droplets, and the sweet, cloying fragrance in the air was so dense it was almost suffocating.
The tiles on the floor were somewhat slippery, and the empty evian water bottles were still placed in the corner.
Jiang Chen locked the door from the inside, looking at the stainless steel thermos on the sink that was still emitting heat.
There was indeed more than half the water left in the bucket, crystal clear, with no impurities.
He took off his top, revealing lean and firm muscle lines.
In this small, sealed space filled with an ambiguous atmosphere, using the hot water just used by the three beauties—this experience was probably a unique luxury on this train.