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Xiang Changge brought a box. There were four in each box, and each one was about the size of an egg.

She ate two at a time, finishing a box in two or three minutes.

Yu Qing watched her polish off all the little buns without asking if she wanted any. "?"

Wait, which one of us was the boss?

Unable to hold back, Yu Qing asked, "Didn't you have dinner tonight?"

Xiang Changge had found the buns a little dry, so she was drinking yogurt. At the question, she shook her head in confusion.

So she hadn't eaten. No wonder she was eating so earnestly.

Yu Qing looked enlightened. The next moment, she heard Xiang Changge say, "I did. It's already this late. How could I not have eaten?"

Yu Qing, who hadn't had either lunch or dinner, thought, "..."

Was she making a dig at her?

No, if she'd eaten, why did she still have such an appetite?

Suddenly, Yu Qing remembered what Aunt Yang had told her at noon.

Yu Qing's eyes drifted, almost against her will, toward Xiang Changge's waist.

She was still wearing the same clothes as that morning. Yu Qing had thought she looked like a meticulous housekeeper earlier, but now she was sitting on the floor with a box lid as a cushion—quite casual.

Still, her waist did seem very slender.

Yu Qing calmly continued asking, "What did you eat?"

Xiang Changge finished her yogurt, put the cup in the trash bag she'd brought, and answered casually, "A seafood feast and the staff meal."

Yu Qing: "...What seafood feast?"

A seafood feast sounded lavish.

Had she eaten at home? Or at a restaurant? Had she gone out today? When? Had she gone by herself?

For some reason, all sorts of questions suddenly sprang up in Yu Qing's mind.

Seeing Yu Qing's interest, Xiang Changge listed the dishes for her. "A pound of prawns made into typhoon shelter prawns, two pounds of flower whelks baked in salt, a pound of baby octopus stir-fried with scallions, and, oh, soup made with spare ribs, winter melon, and two flower crabs."

Yu Qing: "..."

She called that a seafood feast? Wasn't that just a few stir-fried dishes?

Yu Qing took a careful look at Xiang Changge. Xiang Changge met her gaze without a trace of embarrassment, and Yu Qing silently looked away again.

There was a note of simple confusion in Yu Qing's voice. "...So your 'seafood feast' didn't include king crab, Australian lobster, Boston lobster, abalone, sea cucumber, or grouper?"

Xiang Changge: "..."

Damn, was she showing off her wealth? She really wanted to fight this rich woman!

The two fell strangely silent. After a moment, Yu Qing cleared her throat and spoke first. "If you want to eat something, just ask the kitchen to make it."

Xiang Changge replied coldly, "Thank you, Miss. But I should remind you that seafood is cold in nature, so it's best not to eat any for now."

Yu Qing, who hadn't wanted any in the first place: "..."

An inexplicable feeling suddenly welled up inside her.

That was right. Xiang Changge was an orphan. She'd even signed a contract with Yu Qing's family in exchange for her parents' financial support. Her idea of a "seafood feast" was bound to be different from Yu Qing's.

Had what she'd said just now been a little hurtful?

A deep sense of guilt spread through Yu Qing, and she lowered her head, her voice growing quiet. "I'll give you a hundred thousand bonus this month. You..."

Yu Qing had meant to tell her to try a real seafood feast, but she was afraid it might hurt Xiang Changge's pride, so she fell silent instead.

Xiang Changge: "?"

What? What happened? What did she have this month?

The system, secretly watching: "Hmph, now you know how good the female supporting character is! Our precious female supporting character is an angel!"

Xiang Changge nodded vigorously.

That's right! Who'd said she wanted to fight the young miss? The young miss was so wonderful. She had to protect her with her life!

System: "..."

Wait, had its host been corrupted?

As the saying went, once you'd eaten someone's food, you couldn't criticize them; once you'd taken their money, you couldn't refuse them. What if 8802 became too weak-willed to do its mission because the female supporting character was so nice?

System: "Host, I suggest you refuse. This isn't a bonus; it's a blade meant to corrupt you!"

Xiang Changge ignored it and looked only at Yu Qing, a perfect forty-five-degree smile on her lips. "Miss, are you tired, hungry, or thirsty? Would you like something to eat, or would you like to go back?"

Yu Qing: "..."

Her mysterious, cold, merciless housekeeper, who always threatened her and had a way of getting on her nerves, seemed to have broken.

So she could be bought with a little money after all?

That was fine. After all, money was the only thing she had.

Yu Qing shifted into a more comfortable position and lifted her chin slightly. "I'm hungry. Bring me something to eat."

"Of course. We have fruit, nuts, and a small box of food left. What would you like, Miss?" Steward Xiang asked dutifully.

Yu Qing, who wanted a little bun: "..."

"The food, then."

There was no helping it. She could only choose the option that would fill her up.

Xiang Changge naturally took out the insulated lunch box she'd brought, which had originally been prepared for Yu Qing.

Besides the meal planned by the nutritionist, Xiang Changge had also had two cola chicken wings and three pieces of braised pork ribs added to it.

There was no other reason. The nutritionist's meal looked too bland, and Xiang Changge was afraid it wouldn't tempt Yu Qing's appetite.

After opening the lunch box and taking out the chopsticks, Xiang Changge even considerately asked, "Would you like me to feed you?"

Yu Qing: "...No."

No, she'd rather Xiang Changge go back to being the mighty, unyielding version of herself. This version made her feel uncomfortable.

Author's note: Steward Xiang: Don't mind me. This is my strategy.

System: [question mark] [question mark] [question mark]

-

I just discovered I have more nutrition potions than favorites. Does that mean I'm a legendary "hidden gem" of a story—the kind nobody reads, so my reader darlings are afraid I'll quit and are trying to keep me with nutrition potions? [crying] [crying] [crying]

[ingot] Remember to leave a comment on this chapter [ingot]

Chapter 16: Miss, I'm Not That Kind of Person...

It wasn't just the housekeeper beside her who felt uncomfortable. So did Yu Qing.

A small board could be pulled out from the side of the wheelchair's armrest. Once it was set across both armrests, it made a little table across her lap.

The lunch box, its compartments filled with different dishes, sat on the board. Yu Qing picked at the food with her chopsticks, her gaze moving back and forth between the box in front of her and the mountain scenery below.

For the first time, she was eating somewhere other than at home—and sitting in a wheelchair on the mountainside, no less.

The sunset slowly deepened from orange-red to dusky hues. Night hadn't fully fallen, but a pale crescent moon had already appeared on the horizon. Insects chirped noisily all around them, mingling with the scent of nature.

Yu Qing found the moment strange.

But she didn't dislike this strangeness.

Looking at the scenery before her, she felt she ought to be thinking about something. But her mind was so quiet that she didn't think about anything at all, nor did she want to.

The food was delicious, and she ate a few more bites.

"Crunch, crunch—"

A faint rustling sound reached her ears. Yu Qing glanced to the side and saw her housekeeper turning her attention to the two remaining packets of nuts.

She stuffed nuts into her mouth, chewing nonstop, yet kept her eyes fixed in the distance. She looked like an emotionless nut-destroying machine—or perhaps a tourist entranced by the scenery.

In the blue hour of dusk, even the aura around her had softened.

Yu Qing couldn't help wondering whether Xiang Changge was focused on the taste of the nuts, the view before her, or perhaps the thoughts in her own mind.

To her surprise, Yu Qing found herself curious.

So, after swallowing her food, she asked softly, "What are you thinking about?"

Xiang Changge didn't look at Yu Qing. She answered naturally, "The moon."

The moon?

Yu Qing turned her gaze toward it too.

People often pinned all sorts of inexplicable things on the moon, but in the end, it was simply Earth's natural satellite, made of silicate minerals.

It knew nothing, even as human emotions surged whenever people looked at it. Just like her—others envied her wealth, but didn't know that inside, she was desolate.

What good was having so much money?

In that brief moment, Yu Qing's thoughts surged. The food before her seemed to lose its flavor, and just as she was about to put down her chopsticks, she heard Xiang Changge continue, "I kind of want mooncakes...preferably with egg yolk and lotus seed paste."

"Too bad it's still a long way until Mid-Autumn Festival."

"..."

Yu Qing's chopsticks changed course. She picked up a piece of spinach from the lunch box and put it in her mouth without expression.

She'd figured it out. Her housekeeper had no literary sensibility whatsoever.

After finishing the small packet of mixed nuts in her hand, Xiang Changge dusted off her palms and took one last look at the crescent moon on the horizon. She murmured to herself, "Maybe I'll go back and have a banana split. The kitchen should be able to make one."

Bananas and boats both looked quite like that moon.