Page 22

Yu Qing didn't finish the small fried dough stick, leaving one bite behind.

Her appetite wasn't large, but perhaps eating had whetted it, as she suddenly wanted to try a bit more of the other items.

She picked up a steamed dumpling filled with shepherd's purse and pork. She didn't know how it was made, but there was actually juice inside; it was very savory.

After finishing one dumpling, Yu Qing rubbed her slightly bloated stomach. Feeling the lingering saltiness in her mouth, her gaze fell back onto that bowl of sweet potato and millet porridge.

Telling herself it was just to satisfy her palate, Yu Qing picked up the spoon and took a mouthful.

It was a clean, light sweetness, carrying the unique flavors of the sweet potato and millet.

Yu Qing drank another spoonful.

When she finally set down her chopsticks and let out a soft burp, she looked at the remaining food on the table and frowned.

Why was there still so much left?

If that person saw she had left this much, she wouldn't really buy her a pig to raise, would she?

Subconsciously, an image surfaced in Yu Qing's mind—

She was sitting at the dining table eating, feeling full after only a couple of bites. Soon, that person walked over, leading a large white pig, and chased it onto the table, making it gobble up the rest of her food...

Yu Qing hurriedly shook her head, casting the bizarre imagination out of her mind.

Even if she really had to find something to eat her leftovers, well, she would rather choose a dog.

At noon, after rightfully having the kitchen prepare a special meal for herself—a bowl of crab roe noodles where the crab roe almost outweighed the noodles—Aunt Yang found Xiang Changge, who was looking quite satisfied.

"Butler, your method is actually effective! The breakfast you had me put in the young lady's room this morning? She ate quite a bit of it."

"Oh?"

Xiang Changge, who was drinking freshly squeezed watermelon juice, set down her glass, wiped her mouth, and asked with some surprise, "How much did she eat?"

Aunt Yang replied, "She ate more than half a fried dough stick, two sips of soy milk, two sips of porridge, and one steamed dumpling!"

Xiang Changge: "..."

It did sound like a lot, but Xiang Changge knew very well that the "more than half a fried dough stick" was only about the size of a lighter to begin with.

"Even a mouse eats more than that."

Xiang Changge muttered to herself.

Then, she put on a calm, composed smile as if she had everything under control: "That's good."

"Everyone must follow my instructions. Even if the young lady might not eat, the service we provide must never be lacking."

Aunt Yang nodded in deep agreement.

Before Xiang Changge arrived, everyone had to act according to Yu Qing's mood. Knowing she didn't like to eat or go out, the kitchen would start the fires for three meals a day, but they never made things meant for Yu Qing to eat.

Every servant was slack, only starting their work when Yu Qing specifically asked for something.

Even the gardener could find ways to be lazy—only trimming the plants in Yu Qing's room and the piano and art rooms where she often stayed, while skipping the rest to save effort.

But now that Xiang Changge had arrived, all the lazy staff had been fired. In just two days, one could already feel a change in the atmosphere of the house.

Xiang Changge said, "From now on, three meals a day must be prepared on time. If the young lady doesn't come down to eat, take it to her."

Aunt Yang quickly agreed.

Xiang Changge had plenty of things to do, and since she had lost to Yu Qing at Gomoku that morning, she didn't hover around her.

Aunt Yang delivered lunch, and Yu Qing was currently lying lazily on the bed, not moving.

She hadn't slept well last night, and now her body felt limp; she didn't want to do anything.

Seeing Aunt Yang bring in lunch, she knitted her brows.

She had just eaten some in the morning and hadn't done anything strenuous, so she wasn't hungry yet.

"Take it away, I don't want to eat."

Yu Qing said, not looking up from her tablet.

Aunt Yang habitually wanted to agree. The word was already on the tip of her tongue, but she suddenly remembered something and swallowed it back.

"I can't do that, Miss. The butler said that even if you don't eat, I must bring the lunch to your side."

Even if Yu Qing really didn't want to eat, she had to wait until the food was cold and hard before she could take it away.

Hearing the word "butler," Yu Qing, who was searching online for how to raise a dog, looked up from her tablet. She glanced at Aunt Yang, who was avoiding her gaze, and asked with some confusion, "Aunt Yang, do you listen to her, or do you listen to me?"

The butler wanted her to bring the lunch to her side, and she had done that, hadn't she? She brought it, she didn't eat it, and she told her to take it away—what was the problem?

Hadn't Aunt Yang already completed her task? Why was she still finding excuses to refuse her?

Yu Qing, who thought she had it all figured out, was puzzled.

As someone with high emotional intelligence who had stayed by Yu Qing's side the longest, Aunt Yang rolled her eyes. After setting the food down, she walked a bit closer to Yu Qing, her tone earnest and her expression troubled: "Of course I listen to you, Miss."

Yu Qing nodded and said calmly, "Don't worry. I don't care about her firing others, but as long as I'm here, you won't be fired by her easily." This was meant to be a reassurance for Aunt Yang.

Aunt Yang felt a sense of relief hearing this. She looked at Yu Qing and smiled kindly. Then, remembering something, she acted mysterious and spoke to Yu Qing intimately: "But Miss, you might not know this, but this butler—she doesn't just have the trick of firing people. We... we are all terrified of her now."

Aunt Yang's words truly piqued Yu Qing's interest.

She turned off her tablet, set it aside, and looked at Aunt Yang with curiosity: "Afraid of her?"

Why would anyone be afraid of her?

Aside from her habit of firing people, what else was there to fear?

Aunt Yang nodded, crouched mysteriously by Yu Qing's bedside, and glanced toward the bedroom door a few times. Once she confirmed no one was around, she whispered to share the gossip she had heard today.

"I heard that this Steward Xiang is something else. Not only is she strong as an ox, but she also knows martial arts."

Strong as an ox?

Yu Qing recalled the strength of the arms that had lifted her from her blankets and nodded involuntarily.

Xiang Changge was indeed quite strong.

But what was this about "martial arts"?

"She's incredibly fierce. Yesterday morning..."

Aunt Yang began to vividly describe how Xiang Changge had battled the burly head chef in the kitchen yesterday morning, beating him until he was half-dead, bloodied, and wailing for mercy.

Aside from the time, location, and people involved, the accuracy of the story was roughly 0.01 percent.

After finishing, Aunt Yang swallowed hard and moved on to this morning's events.

"Steward Xiang isn't just strong and skilled in combat; she can also eat a massive amount."

"Eat a massive amount?"

Yu Qing played along instinctively, though in her heart, she wondered if Aunt Yang had been watching too many martial arts films lately.

Looking at her choice of words, you couldn't say things like that without having watched at least three action movies.

Aunt Yang nodded: "It's true. According to the people who arrived early for breakfast in the dining hall, Steward Xiang ate eighty meat buns and twenty sticky rice chickens today. She nearly finished everyone's breakfast; the two kitchen assistants couldn't even fold the buns as fast as she could eat them."

Yu Qing: "..."

Yu Qing, who had already been skeptical about Aunt Yang's story regarding the battle with the head chef, now completely disbelieved everything she was saying.

"...Do you really think that's possible, Aunt Yang?"

Yu Qing asked in a strained tone.

It was the first time she realized that the housekeepers in her home lacked such basic discernment.

Aunt Yang caught the hidden meaning in Yu Qing's tone. She stood up and gave a sheepish laugh: "I was half-doubting it too, but the thing is, several people said Steward Xiang really can eat that much."

If only one or two people had said it, she might have been suspicious, but since several people spoke as if they had seen it with their own eyes, she had ended up believing it.

"..."

After Aunt Yang left, Yu Qing looked down at her own hands.

She made a loose fist, using her palm to gauge the size of a bun, then expanded her hands to visualize the area eighty buns would take up.

Yu Qing recalled the image of Xiang Changge coming to wake her up this morning.

The other woman's white shirt seemed to be tailored at the waist, and the size of that waist—

Yu Qing's hands, which had been measuring the area of the buns, slowly closed.

Then, she looked at her own figure.

It seemed to be only slightly larger than her own.

No matter how she looked at it, she didn't seem like someone who could eat that much food.

At this moment, Xiang Changge, unaware that her reputation had been ruined, was sitting upright in the meeting room in the back annex, lost in thought as she looked at the resume in her hand.

This was a room occasionally used for staff meetings, but today, Xiang Changge was using it as an interview hall.

Many people had been dismissed from the villa, and Xiang Changge was currently selecting fresh blood to inject into the household.

The hiring conditions offered by the Yu Family were excellent; they had received hundreds, if not thousands, of resumes as soon as the posting went live. Xiang Changge had even used the system to help filter out many candidates before sending out interview invitations to the rest.

Aside from the positions already existing in the Yu Family, Xiang Changge planned to hire two or three kind-hearted, warm, and sincere young women. They wouldn't need to do much; their only responsibility would be to keep Yu Qing company.

The person she was interviewing now was for that very role.

Seeing Xiang Changge staring at her resume without speaking, the young girl sitting across from her nervously tugged at the hem of her shirt under the table.

She really wanted to get the job.

Thinking of the salary and benefits listed in the job posting, Chu Keke tried to suppress her racing heart. Just as she was about to say something, she heard the steward—who was incredibly beautiful but possessed a truly cold temperament—softly utter her name.

"Chu... Ke... Ke?"

Author's Note: