"Did my mouth just open without making a sound?" Young Master Fei turned his head to confirm.
"What did the master say?" The maid looked completely bewildered and completely clueless, but seeing the master's dark expression, she couldn't help letting out a soft laugh, "Pfft!"
Young Master Fei's face grew even darker. "Don't be all smiles! What did she mean by that?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know? Then why were you meddling just now?" Young Master Fei brought up past grievances.
In the original book's setup for Fei Yangyao, although respecting contracts was part of his persona, Gu Xiyue's will took highest priority. Therefore, he could have smoothly cut her loose and shaken off this burden just now, but unfortunately, before he had time to agree, she had interrupted with her interjection.
Yet now, it seemed there was a pretty good reason after all?
A married woman had her womanly virtues, and a maid naturally had her maidly virtues.
How could a maid go against the interests of her employer?
Clearly, what Jiang Anran had just said—that she "didn't like Xiyue"—was an interference in his interests, giving him sufficient grounds to dismiss her.
Finally able to shake off the troublesome burden of Jiang Anran, Young Master Fei couldn't help feeling secretly pleased.
"Jiang Anran, I formally inform you that you don't need to come starting tomorrow. I'll have Uncle Fu pay you a full month's salary." Young Master Fei concealed the smug little delight in his heart, put on a stiff face, and notified Jiang Anran in a stern tone.
"Why?" Jiang Anran grew a bit anxious, not knowing where things went wrong to make the master want to fire her.
"You failed to uphold your maidly virtues and actually said something like 'I don't like Xiyue'."
"Just because of that?"
"Just that, isn't that enough? Xiyue is a presence greater than the sun and moon in my heart; how could I possibly fail to adore her? As a mere little maid, you actually went against my will as your master—if I don't fire you, who do I fire?"
That was it. It really was like this. It seemed that in the master's heart, Gu Xiyue truly was the most important thing.
No, rather, it was the persona of "Gu Xiyue's licking dog" that was most important to him.
Jiang Anran understood clearly in her heart.
At the same time, confirming this situation filled her with certainty.
Now that the situation was no longer critical, she curiously decided to test out right then whether the master had any other personas. After all, this was to help the master better play his role.
"Master, well, isn't that salary a bit too much? I only worked for one day..." Jiang Anran decided to start probing.
"I really don't care about this little bit of money, consider it a reward from me. After all, even the dogs at my place eat very well."
Jiang Anran made a note in her mental notebook: the master is very good to his subordinates, the benefits are decent?
"Master, then these clothes..."
"I'm rewarding all of them to you. Throw away your own rags directly. After all, you're someone who has spent time in the Fei Family—even if it's only for a day, once a dog of the Fei Family, others will never treat you like someone else's dog."
There it was. How could the female lead Jiang Anran's pride ever endure being insulted as a dog? This was all set. Young Master Fei decided to award himself a full score in his heart!
As for being good to subordinates? This really wasn't Young Master Fei improvising; it was also one of his crucial personas!
Later on, the bankruptcy of his company was closely tied to this persona as well.
If he were usually unkind to subordinates, and suddenly a new employee arrived and he unconditionally exposed all company secrets to her, wouldn't that seem extremely abrupt?
Precisely because he was too good to his subordinates and completely trusted the corporate spy planted by Ye Chen, the company was perfectly targeted by Ye Chen, allowing that contract which led to the company's bankruptcy to be signed!
Jiang Anran ignored remarks about dogs, confirmed her earlier guess, and made a note in her mental notebook: the master is very good to his subordinates and cares about their daily food and clothing!
"Master, your feelings for Miss Gu are truly enviable!"
Item number two!
Jiang Anran flipped a page in her mental notebook.
Did she just say something insulting to her? Why wasn't she reacting at all?
To confirm whether he was hallucinating, Young Master Fei emphasized once again, "Of course. I don't know if you, this dog of the Fei Family, realize this or not. As long as she is happy, I will do anything. Even the stars in the night sky, I am willing to try my best to pluck for her. Because she is the moon in my heart..." (One thousand words omitted here)
Watching the master rattling on and reciting "dog-licking quotes"—the master himself was a licking dog, and he had called her a dog, wouldn't that mean...? The little maid thought it was cute, and without leaving a trace, the corners of her mouth curled up as she silently made a mental note: Gu Xiyue's licking dog. P.S.: Currently the highest priority persona.
"Master is so good, in the future I will definitely proudly tell others that the master's feelings for Miss Gu are truly the envy of everyone..."
Item number three!
Jiang Anran turned yet another page in her mental notebook. This time, she confirmed the persona of a "profligate playboy," which was also what had made her curious about the master right from the start.
"Naturally." Young Master Fei was already speechless. How could this person have zero reaction? Had this female lead's personality completely changed? In the book, being insulted like this would have given enough material for ten chapters of plot, yet this was all she did?
"And you're also very good to us subordinates."
"No need to mention that."
"No, how can that be! The master's reputation outside is very bad, everyone misunderstands you."
"Misunderstanding?"
Almost instinctively, Fei Yangyao slowly approached the little maid, his gaze gloomy and cold as if he could pierce through all her thoughts. Suddenly, his right hand slammed fiercely against the wall, forcefully trapping her between himself and the cold surface, forming a tight, enclosed space.
"No! They got it right! What gave you the misconception that I am not a profligate playboy? Huh?"
This action was completed almost in an instant, catching the little maid off guard, causing her heartbeat to accelerate. The atmosphere in the air turned tense and... subtle?
"Ma... Master... you mustn't..."
When the master pressed her lightly against the wall in that irresistible, domineering CEO-like posture, her heart instantly sped up, her cheeks unconsciously flushed, her gaze flickered, and her fingertips trembled slightly. Her hands placed themselves awkwardly at her sides in a pushing-away gesture, seemingly resisting, yet not daring to easily touch his arm.
Her lips parted slightly, wanting to say something, but under the gaze of those deep eyes, all words dissolved into a silent murmur.
She simply closed her eyes and awaited the choice of fate.
"Don't..."
While her mouth said no, there was only a single thought in her heart: if it's the master, it actually seems rather nice.
On the other side, Young Master Fei was initially able to maintain his stiff face, but looking at the youth-filled face before him—especially that entirely unresisting expression—he felt things were turning out rather differently than he had expected.
Did he step into the wrong channel?
Shouldn't she be fiercely resisting?
At the very least, she should say a few tough lines!
What was the meaning of this "don't"?
What was wrong with this female lead?
What was with that shy expression?!
Before you continue