Page 39

"Sorry, Tongtong might be a little silly. I almost forgot~ (pouting and sadly twiddling fingers) I'm back."

Xiang Changge stuffed the half-palm-sized piece of dried tofu into her mouth, cheeks puffed as she chewed with a loud crunch.

It was as if she weren't eating dried tofu, but something else entirely.

"If you keep talking while holding your CPU, you can go sit at the same table as the Thunder God and Mother Lightning."

The system said, "Oh."

-

When they reached the main house, Xiang Changge parked the sightseeing cart and asked the system, "Are you ready?"

"Ready? For what?"

The system sounded confused.

Xiang Changge said, "...Ready to get a chance to touch Yu Qing's little face." She couldn't keep suffering through having to abandon her meal halfway to deal with a mission.

If she could hurry up and bring the system back, then the next time something like this happened, she could send it to comfort Yu Qing first.

That way, she could finish eating before coming over.

The system replied at top volume, "Tongtong is always ready!"

Xiang Changge's head was still buzzing from the noise. "..."

Great. Everything was in place. Now all she had to do was find out what kind of dog Yu Qing wanted.

Author's note: This one's late, Orz.

I was full of energy yesterday, but woke up with a fever today, Orz. Even so, this very capable author still managed to post a nice, long chapter [dove][dove].

She was treating her like a child.

When someone knocked on her door, Yu Qing was still standing by the window, staring blankly out at the night.

The loneliness of being abandoned by the whole world enveloped her along with the darkness.

The knock, knock, knock was like a fishing line cast from a distant horizon. It snapped around her, as if she were a fish, and tugged her back into the world.

Was Aunt Gong here to collect the dishes?

Knock, knock, knock—

No, that rhythm belonged to Xiang Changge.

Yu Qing looked toward the door from across the room.

What was she doing here at this hour?

Shouldn't she be happily eating with those three cheerful girls?

Could she be here to call Yu Qing down to eat with them? But her food had already been brought up. If she went downstairs now, would she have to bring the leftovers with her?

That would be ridiculous.

She'd already refused to go down earlier. If she went now, she'd lose face.

Unable to guess why the other woman had come, Yu Qing suddenly didn't know whether she should open the door.

She slowly walked toward it, stopping several steps away to stare at the closed door, uncertain.

The knocking stopped after three tries.

Now she didn't know whether Xiang Changge was still outside.

There didn't seem to be any noise out there anymore.

She must have left.

Yu Qing had taken so long to open the door; the message was clear.

...But before, when Yu Qing hadn't opened the door, Xiang Changge would keep knocking or find some other way to get her to open it.

Why had she given up so quickly tonight?

Sure enough, no one was willing to put up with her coldness for long. She was difficult, complicated, and full of contradictions.

No one wanted to enter her territory. No one wanted to step into her world.

"Click—"

Yu Qing's thoughts were still swirling when someone suddenly pushed open the door in front of her. Both women jumped at the sight of each other.

"..."

Yu Qing stared at Xiang Changge, who was still holding a key, her eyes widening slightly.

Xiang Changge, in turn, was startled to see Yu Qing standing silently just inside the doorway.

She'd knocked several times and waited for ages without seeing Yu Qing come to open the door. Thinking Yu Qing wasn't going to let her in, she'd used her key.

Who knew Yu Qing would be standing just inside?

So she had been coming to open the door after all.

They stared at each other in silence for a moment. Then Yu Qing looked away, her voice low and edged with anger. "Why did you come in?"

Xiang Changge put the key away and considered Yu Qing's words. She guessed Yu Qing might be annoyed because she'd walked all the way over only for Xiang Changge to have a key and make the trip pointless.

Xiang Changge said, "I thought you hadn't heard me... Should I close the door and let you open it for me?"

Yu Qing: "..."

What did she mean? Was she trying to soothe her like a child?

Yu Qing couldn't be bothered to entertain her and turned to walk farther into the room.

Behind her, Xiang Changge pulled the door nearly shut and followed.

Yu Qing sat down at the table by the floor-to-ceiling window, where the dishes were still untouched. When the housekeeper came up to her, she'd already forgotten what she'd been thinking earlier. She picked up her chopsticks and poked at the rice in her bowl, then casually asked, as if she didn't care, "What are you here for?"

"Aren't you eating with them?"

Xiang Changge glanced at the nearly untouched spread. Her fingers twitched; she hadn't eaten her fill either.

After a moment's thought, as the queen of the house, she didn't need an invitation from Yu Qing. She sat down opposite her.

"You weren't there, so there was no point eating dinner together. They've all gone back."

Xiang Changge answered honestly, not noticing that Yu Qing had stopped poking at her rice.

As for Yu Qing's other question, Xiang Changge obviously couldn't say that the system had detected her getting gloomy again, so she'd had to come check on her.

She only asked, "Have you eaten your fill?"

Yu Qing realized that Xiang Changge was actually a very good student.

After Yu Qing had told her that afternoon that she didn't need to be so formal as a housekeeper, Xiang Changge really had stopped being so stiff. The only problem was that her authority seemed to have gone with it.

She'd stopped addressing Yu Qing formally, and had even begun showing initiative in certain matters.

The thought flashed through Yu Qing's mind. She put a mouthful of rice in her mouth and answered with a hint of resolve, very shrewdly, "No."

"Good."

Xiang Changge replied.

"If you keep leaving this much food at every meal, we'll have to get you a pig."

After all, a dog probably wouldn't be able to finish it.

And if it took two, she'd have to ask whether the system could split itself in two.

Yu Qing had already guessed what Xiang Changge would say, but she still hadn't dodged it. "..."

"I don't want a pig."

Yu Qing had her own principles.

She wasn't a vegetarian. If she really got a pig... how would she face dishes made with pork in the future?

"Then I take it you've decided what answer you're going to give me."

"What color would you like?"

Xiang Changge propped one hand on the corner of the table, resting her chin on it as she waited for Yu Qing's answer.

"White..."

Yu Qing started to answer, then remembered something and hurriedly clamped her mouth shut.

The effort of forcing the words back nearly made her bite her tongue. "Mm, I don't want anything."

Yu Qing lowered her head, not even knowing what she was eating. She just tried her hardest to look as if she were focused on her food.

"If you're worried about having leftovers, just ask the kitchen to make less. I'm not getting a pet."

Yu Qing sounded firm. "I don't like keeping little animals at all."

Xiang Changge raised an eyebrow without commenting. She only glanced at the dishes, letting her gaze linger for an extra second on the plate of braised food.

"The kitchen made you only a third of a regular portion tonight. Can you finish it?"

Yu Qing fell silent.

Who did she think she was looking down on? She could eat it, she could, she could—

Ten minutes later, Yu Qing looked at the five dishes, a bowl of soup, and a small plate of braised food, all of which had suffered only superficial damage. She was silent for a few seconds, then looked up at the person whose gaze was still fixed on the food.

"...Have you eaten?"

Xiang Changge slowly lifted her head and met Yu Qing's suggestive gaze. Generous as she was, Steward Xiang immediately decided to forgive Yu Qing for skipping her meal and brooding, which had forced Xiang Changge to leave her dinner halfway through.

"Of course not."

Eating only half didn't count as eating.

Steward Xiang quickly went downstairs to get a bowl and chopsticks. On the way, she also swiped a serving of salted egg yolk chicken wings that the chef had made for his own midnight snack, leaving Yu Qing just one piece, and asked him to make something else.

The chef was a little sad. "..."

You mean you'll be back again later, right?

There was no room left on the table for another dish, so Xiang Changge simply placed the steaming plate of salted egg yolk chicken wings among the other dishes.

The rich scent of salted egg yolk filled the air. Yu Qing stared at the plate, piled high with golden, appetizing chicken wings, and fell into thought.

How had Xiang Changge managed to bring up a new dish in the two or three minutes it took to go downstairs and get a pair of chopsticks? The kitchen shouldn't still be cooking at this hour.

"Did you make these?" Yu Qing asked.

Xiang Changge shook her head. "Chef Wei was bored, so he made them as a midnight snack. I just took some up."

Yu Qing nodded and thought nothing of it.

Seeing her keep looking at the chicken wings, Xiang Changge assumed she wanted some, so she used her untouched chopsticks to put one in front of her.