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Yu Qing, whose soul had long since left her body, could no longer make out what they were saying. Her mind was too weighed down to process anything. Whenever someone mentioned her, it was like an old, rotten machine, able to output only the scraps of information it had left.

Braised what?

What did she like braised?

What was so good about braised food?

Would Xiang Changge do?

Yu Qing's voice was vague, and so soft that Xiang Changge only heard her murmur three words in reply: "...Xiang Changge."

"..."

The moment she heard it clearly, Xiang Changge fell into thought.

Was Yu Qing answering her question, or had she simply called out her name?

Thinking it over, the former seemed more likely.

After all, if it was the latter, why would Yu Qing call her name when she asked her a question?

And in such a vague, instinctive, gentle voice, too.

Did she want to go back and lie down to sleep, instead of making incense or perhaps braised food?

But she had only called her name once before going quiet again.

So Yu Qing was so angry with her for always pestering her, making her go to bed early, get up early, and eat on time, that she wanted to turn her into braised meat and gobble her up.

...That was some serious resentment.

Xiang Changge smiled, suddenly feeling quite impressed with herself. It was an empty smile, with no particular meaning.

"Miss, you can give it a try."

"?"

The three people around them, wondering if they had heard right: "?"

Wait a second. What strange things were they talking about? Weren't they just discussing what would taste good braised? How had they suddenly ended up on completely different wavelengths?

Was it true that rich people just thought differently?

Yu Qing had no idea what she had said, or what Xiang Changge had replied. Whenever someone asked her something, she answered vaguely; when no one did, she walked ahead in a daze, mechanically putting one foot in front of the other.

They reached the garden, and just as she was about to climb the few steps leading up to the greenhouse, a palm, burning hot, closed around her arm through her shawl.

The thin fabric did nothing to block the other person's warmth.

In that instant, Yu Qing—who had been frozen stiff in the icy wilderness, walking forward on autopilot and repeating simple instructions—felt her wandering soul return in the warmth. She suddenly came to her senses.

Focus returned to her vacant black eyes. She turned her head and saw Xiang Changge beside her, steadying her arm with one hand, as if worried she might stumble and fall while walking. "Careful on the steps."

Yu Qing: "..."

She blinked her sore eyes and, with a little help from the other woman, entered the greenhouse with a stiff expression.

Despicable. Utterly despicable.

Yu Qing thought.

She would have been better off if Xiang Changge hadn't spoken to her at all, and had let her stay in that drowsy, muddled state. At least then she wouldn't have to spend energy dealing with things she wasn't interested in.

She could have spoken to her earlier or later, but no—she had to wait until they were about to reach the greenhouse. Wasn't she just trying to chase away Yu Qing's drowsiness?

So devious. So devious.

Xiang Changge had no idea that her thoughtfulness had earned her the labels "despicable" and "devious." Seeing that Yu Qing had perked up a little and probably wouldn't collapse where she stood, she finally turned her attention to their surroundings.

Unlike the garden outside, the greenhouse was filled with flowers that looked dazzling, unusual, and expensive beneath the transparent glass and bright sunlight.

The greenhouse was glass on all four sides. In winter, it also served as a hothouse, ensuring that whenever the owners wanted to admire the flowers, they could see them at their most vibrant.

At that moment, besides the fragrant flowers, there was also a woman in a qipao at a table nearby, grinding something.

When she saw them come in, she quickly stood and greeted them. She then made a point of inviting Yu Qing to sit down and began introducing the incense ingredients spread across the long table.

The incense-making instructor looked experienced, with the air of someone whose every movement reflected deep expertise, but she wasn't one for lengthy explanations or lecturing.

After a brief introduction, she simply demonstrated the process for everyone.

Yu Qing really hadn't been interested at first, but since she was already there, she watched casually for a while.

Before long, she was absorbed.

She had never tried making incense. Now, watching the instructor work—grinding, sifting, and mixing the ingredients bit by bit—she found the process calming, despite how tedious it seemed.

It looked kind of interesting.

Once a person became interested in something, they forgot about their fatigue and the passage of time.

Only after the incense had been cut and shaped, and the instructor had told them to store it properly and let it dry in the shade, did Yu Qing realize that her back and knees ached and her legs felt weak.

She slumped lazily into a chair and looked up at the sky outside. It had to be past six in the evening.

So the day was that long. Had she really done so much?

"I thought you could use the incense right away. I was already planning to try it tonight, but I didn't realize we'd have to wait for it to dry in the shade."

After speaking, Ge Bufan stretched, washed her hands, then walked over to Yu Qing and asked with concern, "Miss Yu, are you tired? I can give you a massage. Your arms can get sore the next day after all that work, so a massage beforehand should help."

Making incense involved a lot of steps, and every part required using their hands. After working for several hours, their hands were bound to feel sore and tired.

And Yu Qing looked so delicate and frail, clearly the kind of pampered young miss who hardly exercised. If they didn't loosen up her muscles, Ge Bufan was afraid she'd wake up crying from the soreness tomorrow.

Ge Bufan couldn't bear to watch a beauty suffer.

Caught off guard by Yu Qing's enthusiasm, Yu Qing felt very uncomfortable and instinctively looked around for Xiang Changge.

When they'd first started learning to make incense, Xiang Changge hadn't joined the four of them in trying it out. She'd just watched from the side. But at some point, she had slipped away without a sound.

Left?

She had left Yu Qing alone here, with three extremely outgoing people, and just walked off!

Feeling uneasy, Yu Qing thought to herself that she would have to dock Xiang Changge's pay when payday came.

With Xiang Changge gone, she still had to handle things herself. Yu Qing looked at the sunny young woman, who was smiling and waiting for her answer, and pressed her lips together before shaking her head. "...No need."

She didn't need one.

If she wanted a massage, she had professionals for that, or Aunt Yang and the others.

"Oh, it's fine."

Ge Bufan was an exceptionally warm and considerate person. "Don't worry. I give my mom massages now and then at home. I'm really good at it. You can trust me."

Yu Qing: "..."

It wasn't a matter of whether she trusted her. It was a matter of whether she wanted one.

Seeing this, Chu Keke came over too. "A massage? Can I learn? Then I can give myself one once I know how."

In old-fashioned romance novels, seventy percent of the heroines came from humble backgrounds, often with suffocating families. Either their fathers didn't love them and their mothers didn't care, or their entire families were dead and they had to depend on others.

The remaining thirty percent were the real daughters in stories about switched-at-birth girls. They had good families, but a villain had switched them at birth, and they'd grown up as little slaves in the villain's household.

Chu Keke was the former.

After her parents divorced, her mother left on her own, leaving her and her poor little sister to live in fear with their alcoholic father. Being beaten and going hungry had been part of daily life since childhood.

It wasn't until her father got drunk and was hit by a car on the road that she finally became like a weed pushing aside a boulder to reach the sunlight.

And because of her sister's illness, she had no one to rely on and had always worked while studying.

She took every part-time job she could find that paid.

Still, she got tired, too.

"Of course you can."

Ge Bufan said generously, "My grandfather was a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, and I learned this from him. It's not hard. If you pay attention, you'll definitely get the hang of it."

Yu Qing listened to the two of them going back and forth. "..."

What were they learning? Their "practice model" hadn't even agreed yet.

Yao Ningran shook out her arms and added, "I feel fine, actually. Maybe I'm used to it from all the piano practice."

Ge Bufan didn't agree. "Being used to it is one thing; taking proper care of yourself is another. You may feel fine now, but what if it builds up over time and causes problems?"

Yao Ningran found that very reasonable and joined them. "Then I'll learn, too."

Yu Qing, surrounded by the three of them: "..."

Couldn't anyone ask what she thought? She knew they meant well, but she really didn't need a massage.

Fortunately, Ge Bufan didn't wait for Yu Qing's answer or try to start massaging her. She only gazed at her expectantly.