①From Selected Poems of Hai Zi
At six-thirty in the morning, Xiang Changge woke up a minute before her alarm went off and turned it off ahead of time.
She stretched, drew open the curtains by the floor-to-ceiling windows, and let out a long sigh.
"Having a bed to sleep in, a blanket to cover myself with, and air conditioning blowing on me is so comfortable." Most importantly, she didn't have to worry about danger lurking outside at night.
She'd only been living like this for two days, yet Xiang Changge already felt as if she'd grown decadent.
"It's easy to go from frugal to extravagant. That's how it is."
The system replied calmly.
But Xiang Changge's relaxed, cheerful mood faltered for a moment when she saw the rainy weather outside. "It's been raining for so long. Why is it still raining?"
She'd wanted to go outside, breathe some fresh air, and get some exercise.
This time, the system was silent for a few seconds before replying, "According to our analysis, the male and female leads are currently having a falling-out, so City A is rainy everywhere."
Xiang Changge: "...Are those two the Thunder God and Mother Lightning or something?"
The system chose to remain silent.
After washing up, Xiang Changge got on the treadmill in the gym and asked the system about Yu Qing.
The system showed her a line graph of Yu Qing's emotional changes from last night to this morning, and listed Yu Qing's physical and mental condition beside it.
They'd checked her physical condition the night before last. Only one day had passed, so the data had barely changed.
Xiang Changge's gaze fell on the line graph, which looked like a roller coaster, and she frowned.
"You mean, she woke up at two-thirty last night and felt sad for over half an hour, then her mood suddenly shot up and stayed there for a while. An hour later, it started dropping again and continued to fall, before more or less staying within the range of sixty degrees of sadness?"
The system confirmed it. "Susu-jiang can read line graphs! So impressive!"
Xiang Changge suppressed a sudden wave of nausea that might have been from running too fast, then asked, "What was she doing when her mood suddenly shot up?"
The system replied, "She accepted your friend request."
Xiang Changge: "?"
People who kept irregular hours might wake up in the middle of the night, or two to three hours after falling asleep, even if they suddenly started going to bed early.
Xiang Changge wasn't surprised that Yu Qing had woken up in the middle of the night. What surprised her was—
"Could accepting my friend request really cause such a huge swing in her emotions?"
She hadn't expected that, after only a few days of knowing this young lady, she could make Yu Qing feel such strong emotions.
Could it be that she was naturally gifted at completing missions?
Xiang Changge unconsciously raised a hand and touched her face.
The system detected Xiang Changge's thoughts. "..." As expected of such a confident host.
"Actually, Tongtong did a little behind-the-scenes maneuvering."
Then the system explained its little trick: when Yu Qing rejected Xiang Changge's friend request, it changed the response to acceptance.
Xiang Changge was speechless for a moment, then asked, "Since you can do that, why not just add my account to her friend list?" Wouldn't that save them the whole process of adding each other? It would be so much simpler and more efficient.
The system was shocked. "Wouldn't that be really obvious?"
Xiang Changge: "..."
Wasn't changing a rejection into an acceptance just as obvious?
...Well, maybe it wasn't quite as obvious. Yu Qing might think she'd accidentally tapped the wrong button.
After letting that go, Xiang Changge asked what Yu Qing had done after waking up.
The melancholy young lady had deleted her, then cheerfully read a poetry collection for quite a while. After that, a poem or a line in one of them must have touched her, because her mood had stayed sad and melancholy.
Finally, at five-thirty in the morning, she'd gotten up and sat on the bay window, watching the rain for an hour.
Now she'd just gone back to bed.
Xiang Changge: "...I think she's just got nothing better to do." People really shouldn't have too much free time.
-
Xiang Changge exercised in the gym in her villa dormitory for an hour, then took a shower. Feeling refreshed, she headed to the staff dining hall.
Breakfast was usually simple. Today, it was soy milk, steamed buns, and boiled eggs.
In the spirit of healthy eating, Xiang Changge got herself a bowl of hot soy milk, two boiled eggs, two red bean paste buns, two fresh pork buns, two pork buns with preserved mustard greens, two pickled cabbage and beef buns, and two sticky rice chicken parcels.
There weren't many staff members on their way to work yet. The dining hall was mostly occupied by the security guards who'd been on duty overnight, along with the kitchen helpers serving the food.
Xiang Changge sat at her special steward's seat. The two plates of plump white buns, a plate of sticky rice chicken, and a big bowl of soy milk on the round table in front of her stood out.
"Is it just me, or is the steward eating all that by herself?" Someone couldn't help quietly asking the person next to them.
"No way. I'm six-foot-one and weigh a hundred and seventy pounds, and even if I were starving, I could only eat six buns at most. She's got soy milk and sticky rice chicken, too."
Besides, the new steward was so slender. She looked like the kind of person who'd claim she was full after a single boiled egg.
"Maybe she took extra to bring away later?" someone else suggested.
The other two immediately shot that idea down. "Even less likely. The new steward lives alone. Where would she take it?"
If it were another employee, they might have wanted to bring the food home to their family. But Steward Xiang lived and ate here, and she was alone. If she wanted something, she could just ask the kitchen to make it. Why would she take extra? Cold buns didn't taste good.
Without meaning to, everyone eating in the staff dining hall slowed down, openly or discreetly watching Steward Xiang.
Xiang Changge wasn't interested in their observations and focused on eating.
Oh my god, hot sweet soy milk! The buns were soft on the outside, with fragrant, savory fillings inside. What kind of heavenly deliciousness was this? She was going to eat and eat and eat!
Mmm, the red bean paste buns were good, too. The filling was smooth and sweet. While they were still hot, the red bean paste was almost too hot to eat, but that scorching heat only made her want to ignore the burn and swallow it down.
Xiang Changge finished all eight buns and both sticky rice chicken parcels, then drank the last of her soy milk. She tucked the two remaining boiled eggs into her pocket, wiped her mouth, stood up, and left the dining hall.
After spending so long in the apocalypse, she felt uneasy without some food on her. Since she was full now, she decided to carry the two boiled eggs with her.
Feeling the boiled eggs, still warm, in her trouser pocket, Xiang Changge sighed and thought, It's a shame I'm still not used to this body. Otherwise, I definitely could've eaten both eggs.
The system chose to remain silent.
As soon as Xiang Changge left, the staff dining hall came alive.
"Wait, she really ate all of it?"
"No, I think she left two eggs."
"But she ate eight buns and two sticky rice chicken parcels!"
"Exactly! Those sticky rice chicken parcels are so greasy. I can't even eat one with soy milk."
"Seriously, she's so thin. You can't tell at all. Where does all that food go?"
"Hey, have you heard? Yesterday morning, when she fired the chef over at the main house, he wouldn't accept it and tried to hit her. She beat him until his head was covered in blood, then had him dragged away."
"What? That happened?"
"Yeah, I heard about it, too. The chef could lift a whole pig carcass with one hand, but she beat him like a punching bag. He couldn't fight back at all!"
"Damn, I heard people from other countries are weird. Maybe she's had too many growth hormones?"
In just one morning, a rumor began spreading through the manor that the new steward had incredible strength, astonishing martial arts skills, and could eat eighty buns in a single meal.
-
Xiang Changge knew nothing about it. It was already eight in the morning, and according to the daily schedule, Yu Qing should be getting up to wash, eat breakfast, and practice tai chi.
"Knock, knock, knock—"
On the third floor, someone knocked on Yu Qing's door.
After knocking for ten minutes, Xiang Changge asked the system, "What's she doing?"
The system replied, "Sleeping with earplugs in."
Xiang Changge: "...Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Why had it let her stand there knocking?
The system sounded aggrieved. "You didn't ask me, Susu-jiang."
Xiang Changge: "..."
Could this system have a virus?
The door was locked, and Yu Qing was wearing earplugs inside. How was Xiang Changge supposed to get into the room?
Xiang Changge rubbed her right thumb and forefinger together and asked the system, "What's Yu Qing's phone number?"
"..."
A minute later, Yu Qing lay in bed with her brows furrowed, clearly sleeping uneasily. Suddenly, she felt the bed beneath her shaking violently.
Half-asleep, she opened her eyes.
Her eyes were bloodshot, the corners red, and she stared blankly at a spot for a while before frowning and reaching beneath her pillow.
Soon, she pulled out a phone that was vibrating.
The incoming call showed an unfamiliar number.
Yu Qing stared at it for a long time. After confirming she didn't recognize it, she hesitated.
Was it a spam call? If so, she didn't want to answer.
Talking to people was exhausting, and speaking with strangers made her uncomfortable.
But Yu Qing was also worried that someone might need her.
She hesitated for a minute. When the call stopped and then began vibrating again, she finally made up her mind and answered.
It had called twice, so it probably wasn't a sales pitch.
"Hello?"
Her voice sounded hoarse and sleepy through the phone. Xiang Changge replied coldly, "Young lady, it's time to get up and have breakfast."
Before you continue