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Sitting back down on the bed, Yu Qing began carefully going through the contracts inside.

Meanwhile, Xiang Changge, feeling that she had done a pretty good job at work today, returned to the kitchen.

She had decisively fired quite a few people that morning, and now both the kitchen and the house were much quieter.

Without any irritating people around, and after learning to order herself a crispy roast chicken and a honey-glazed roast chicken online at noon, along with an iced cola, she had eaten to her heart's content. Her mood was exceptionally good now.

After handing the tray to the kitchen auntie, Xiang Changge made a few cuts and additions to the dinner menu handed over by the only remaining head chef before leaving the kitchen.

After leaving the main house kitchen, Xiang Changge went around to the staff cafeteria in the back. She went inside to take a look, grabbed two bananas to eat, and helped the chef test whether the braised lamb trotters for dinner were tender enough. Only then did she return to the main house in satisfaction.

Yu Qing had never managed things before, and the former butler had been the sort to muddle along. The entire Yu Family had become lax and disorganized. Perhaps because of the butler knowledge in her mind, once Xiang Changge took over, she instinctively wanted to put the Yu Family in perfect order.

The first step was to get everyone in the Yu Family some new clothes.

Summer would last quite a while longer, so it was time to buy new work uniforms.

Also, since people had been dismissed, the new hires needed staff uniforms. Even she, the new butler, needed a few uniforms and some clothes suitable for formal occasions.

Xiang Changge then contacted the brands the Yu Family had used before and asked them to send over some clothing samples.

The Yu Family's work uniforms were specially required to be embroidered with the Yu Family crest—several scattered golden osmanthus blossoms.

The outfit Xiang Changge was wearing today was her own, without the family crest.

Thinking about clothes, Xiang Changge looked down at what she was wearing and asked the system in her mind, "Why does a butler have to dress so seriously? Can't I wear sportswear?"

What if she had to fight in something like a suit skirt?

The system snapped, "8802, please stop asking this system such stupid questions."

"Please recall the relevant provisions of the Butler Code in your mind yourself!"

It was an omnipotent system. Why did she have to ask it about everything? It was not some chatterbox!

Xiang Changge: "..."

Article Three of the Butler Code: A butler is the face of the household and must pay close attention to their personal image, giving others an impression of professionalism, confidence, and grace...

"Oh," Xiang Changge said in sudden realization. "So I just need to look professional, confident, and graceful."

It never said she had to wear a suit and leather shoes. Novels and TV dramas had misled her.

Although the appointment with the brands was at four-thirty, they certainly would not all arrive right on time.

Just after four-ten, several brands arrived one after another.

Xiang Changge chose a conservatory beside the villa to receive them.

The staff uniforms were simple. Once they picked a style, the representatives only needed to take the employees' measurements. Only Xiang Changge's and Yu Qing's clothes required more careful selection.

Xiang Changge had thought choosing clothes would be easy—if she liked something, she would take it. But when a row of models wearing sample outfits lined up before her, she realized she seemed to have a bit of indecisiveness.

After looking at more than ten outfits, Xiang Changge abruptly stood up and told them to wait while she ran upstairs.

The elevator reached the third floor where Yu Qing lived. Xiang Changge quickly walked to Yu Qing's door and knocked.

She knocked two or three times, receiving no response, exactly as expected.

When the Yu Family's doors were closed, they could only be opened from the inside without a key. But as the butler, Xiang Changge had keys to every door on the estate.

Xiang Changge reached toward her lower back. The tablet she had originally tucked there had been put away, and what was tucked there now was a ring of keys.

She had long guessed that Yu Qing, who had no interest in this sort of thing, would not obediently go downstairs to pick clothes herself. That was why she had brought the keys with her.

Picking out the right one, she heard a click as the door opened.

As Xiang Changge walked inside, she called, "Miss, the brand representatives are here. It's time to pick out clothes."

Yu Qing, who had grown tired after reading contracts and a will for quite some time and had lain beneath the covers, feeling drowsy again: "..."

"What?" Yu Qing angrily threw back the covers and looked at Xiang Changge in confusion, gathering up all her disrupted resentment. "Why can you just walk into my room?"

Standing beside the bed, Xiang Changge gave her a light smile. "Because I have a key."

!

Was having a key the point? The point was that she had entered her room without permission!

And what was with that fake smile of hers? Was she threatening her?

Perhaps seeing something in Yu Qing's expression, Xiang Changge added, "If I didn't have a key, when you fainted at noon, you might have fallen flat on your face. Then two bottles of glucose wouldn't have been enough to fix you."

Yu Qing pressed her lips together.

Ridiculous logic.

"I want to sleep now. Pick whatever you want yourself. Stop bothering me."

As Yu Qing spoke, she tried to lie back down.

Xiang Changge reminded her, "It isn't time for you to sleep yet. Although you fainted from low blood sugar today, you still can't sleep. You can only rest after dinner."

"Also, if you don't want to go downstairs to choose, I can have them come up here."

"Or I don't mind carrying you downstairs."

Author's Note:

Believe It or Not, I'll Fire You

Have them come upstairs... Yu Qing did not like people coming and going through her territory, especially private places like her room, where she spent much of her time.

So Yu Qing dismissed Xiang Changge's first option without even needing to think about it.

As for the latter—

She was not a child anymore. How could someone as grown as her be carried around by Xiang Changge? She could forget about it.

Anyway, she did not want to choose anything.

Yu Qing chose to glare at Xiang Changge. "So you mean I have to go no matter what?"

Xiang Changge nodded.

Yu Qing met her gaze and gritted out, "Believe it or not, I'll fire you?"

The same conversation, with barely any time between it, played out again in the same place between the same people.

"I believe you."

Without wasting any more time, Xiang Changge answered as she walked toward the bed.

Watching her get closer and closer, Yu Qing suddenly remembered the strong arms that had fished her out from under the covers not long ago. At the thought, she instinctively shrank farther back into the bed.

Staring at Xiang Changge warily, she asked, "Y-you, what are you doing?"

Xiang Changge tilted her head slightly and looked at Yu Qing with a smile that seemed terrifying to her. "I'm guessing you chose the option where I carry you downstairs?"

Yu Qing was so angry that her usually listless eyes were filled with fury. "I'm not going! Don't come any closer! I'm not choosing anything! I'm the boss! If you come any closer, I'll fire you!"

On her first official day at work, the boss was already going to fire her. If it had been anyone else, they probably would have obediently stopped by now.

But unfortunately, Xiang Changge, who had the system and feared nothing, merely shrugged. The next moment, she continued toward Yu Qing.

Fortunately, Yu Qing's bed was very large. When Xiang Changge was on one side, Yu Qing could hide on the inner side. If Xiang Changge wanted to catch her, she would have to climb onto the bed or go around to the other side.

Yu Qing glanced behind her, considering whether she could run off the other side of the bed while Xiang Changge climbed up to catch her.

Unfortunately, the moment she looked away, she felt as if she were sitting on something that could move. With a swift slide, she was pulled forward at high speed, unable to resist.

When Yu Qing abruptly turned back in frightened confusion to look ahead, she unexpectedly fell into a pair of calm, light-colored eyes.

They were extremely close, close enough that Yu Qing, who had instinctively held her breath, seemed to feel the force of the other woman's breath brushing across the fine hairs on her face.

At that moment, Yu Qing's mind went blank.

She did not know why, after merely looking away, she had ended up nearly pressed against this person. Nor did she know why, at that moment, her heart seemed to skip a beat.

The next instant, still dazed and oblivious, she was lifted by the backs of her knees.

The sudden loss of support made Yu Qing lean forward by instinct, and her hands wrapped tightly around the person before her neck.

By the time she realized she had been lifted one-handed by Xiang Changge like a child and was sitting on her arm, Yu Qing blankly looked at the face close at hand, then turned to look back at her bed.

She happened to see Xiang Changge straighten up and flick her hand. The bedsheet that had just pulled her out along with it drifted lightly back onto the bed.

Yu Qing: "..."

Very quickly, she understood what had just happened.

She had been thinking that Xiang Changge might not be able to catch her, but who would have thought that Xiang Changge would grab the bedsheet and yank it, pulling her right in front of her like she was on a slide with no way to turn back?

And then, she had been pinned down like this.

She had not been held in this position since she was eight.

And now, she was twenty-two.

"Xiang Changge!"

Yu Qing did not know whether it was from anger or embarrassment, but her entire body had turned red down to her neck. Gritting her teeth, she enunciated the name of the person in front of her, who was looking straight ahead as she carried her out of the room.

Because she was being held in the other woman's arms, Yu Qing was a head taller than her at the moment. At this height, she could only wrap one arm tightly around Xiang Changge's neck, afraid that Xiang Changge might accidentally drop her.

But Yu Qing did not forget to resist. She freed one hand, grabbed Xiang Changge's ear, and threatened, "Put me down right now!"