Will You Come Be My Maid?

After putting away the remaining cash, Lin Jianxia's voice still carried a hint of gritted-teeth resentment:

"Did you count it all? I don't owe you a single cent of last month's rent anymore!"

When Jiang Yubai nodded, she ground her teeth. She could not even be bothered to say goodbye before turning and stomping off in a huff.

Straight guy! Idiot! Blockhead!

She had only taken a couple of steps when Jiang Yubai's unhurried voice sounded behind her again:

"Hey, Lin Jianxia—"

Lin Jianxia took a deep breath, but her body honestly turned back anyway. She glared at him.

"What!"

Jiang Yubai watched this puffed-up kitten with great interest, his tone still leisurely.

"I'm saying... you may have paid off this month's rent, but what about next month?"

"It's true that I helped you get your wages back this time, but you've lost your job now, haven't you? What are you planning to do about next month's rent?"

At those words, Lin Jianxia's expression froze, and her voice weakened involuntarily.

"I... I'll look elsewhere and see if I can pick up some odd jobs..."

"Odd jobs?" Jiang Yubai said with an amused smile. "What date is it today? Even if you find one tomorrow, will you get paid before the rent is due?"

"You can't possibly be planning to delay it again next month, can you?"

Lin Jianxia opened her mouth, but in the end, nothing came out.

Seeing that the time was right, Jiang Yubai cleared his throat and adopted a serious tone. "If you don't mind... I happen to have a pretty good suggestion."

Lin Jianxia froze for a moment, instantly becoming wary.

"...What?"

Jiang Yubai acted as though he had not seen the blatant distrust on her face and continued in that same leisurely tone.

"I've been planning to move lately. I want somewhere convenient for daily life, especially somewhere with more good food around."

Lin Jianxia narrowed her eyes slightly but said nothing.

"I think Splendid New Village is pretty good. The transportation is convenient, it's close to school, and most importantly, there's an entire food street right downstairs. It'd be easy to go out looking for something to eat."

At that, Jiang Yubai paused before finally revealing his true intentions.

"But living alone means cooking and cleaning are both a hassle, so..."

Lin Jianxia took two quick steps back, gritting her teeth.

"So after going around in such a huge circle, you still want me to be your maid!!!"

She had thought this guy was going to say something else, but he was still fixated on that!

The girl's ears turned burning red, and she could practically feel the heat creeping up her cheeks.

"Jiang Yubai! Even if you helped me get my wages back, I absolutely will not... will not wear one of those flimsy maid dresses, and I definitely won't... won't call you 'Master' in that kind of voice!"

With that, Lin Jianxia stared hard at the bad guy before her, trying to find even the slightest trace of guilt or embarrassment on his face.

Unfortunately, there was not the slightest hint of shame on Jiang Yubai's face. Instead, he looked rather speechless.

"Lin Jianxia, do you normally read too much weird stuff? Did I mention maids even once?"

What was this supposed to be...

He had the feeling that Lin Jianxia's little head was filled with... things unsuitable for children.

He had not even said anything yet, but she had already automatically filled in the whole matching set of maid outfits and masters.

Seeing how righteously indignant he looked, Lin Jianxia's puffed-up expression gradually stiffened.

"N-no... it isn't?"

Jiang Yubai clicked his tongue and began counting on his fingers.

"The working hours would be about the same as your usual part-time job. Come over for two or three hours after school each day, help me clean the house, and make dinner."

"But on weekends, you'd be responsible for all three meals. I'll prepare the ingredients, and you and your sister can eat them as staff meals. The pay will be the same as your outside job—twelve hundred a month."

"If you really need to put a label on it, it'd be..."

Jiang Yubai thought for a moment. "A housekeeping auntie?"

Lin Jianxia had understood most of it halfway through, and her cheeks had begun to warm.

But when she heard that final term, she could not help protesting softly, "I don't want to be called an 'auntie'... It sounds so old."

"Then maid it is," Jiang Yubai readily agreed.

Lin Jianxia choked, opening her mouth, but this time, she unusually did not refute him.

Actually... she could tell.

Although Jiang Yubai was always flippant with his words, what he actually did was nothing like those playboys. If anything, he had helped her quite a bit, both openly and behind the scenes.

This time included.

He made it sound perfectly serious, talking about "cleaning and cooking," but when she thought about it carefully, she understood that he probably just saw how difficult her situation was and wanted to arrange a stable job for her in a roundabout way.

Not only would she not have to run around outside looking for odd jobs, but Jiang Yubai would even prepare the ingredients for lunch himself...

Making a meal and doing some housework... how could that really count as compensation?

Lin Jianxia pressed her lips together, glancing slightly to one side as her voice unconsciously softened.

"I-I think I'll pass... I'll find a job myself..."

Even though she knew perfectly well that if she nodded now, she might not have to worry so fearfully about next month's rent—or even her future life.

Still, she wanted to preserve the last shred of her wavering dignity in front of this boy.

Just like how she had insisted on paying him back those three hundred yuan for the groceries.

Jiang Yubai was not particularly surprised by her answer. He merely looked at her with interest.

It was not until Lin Jianxia began to feel uncomfortable under his gaze that he sighed.

"Hey, don't tell me... you think everything I just said was because I pity you?"

The little thought she had been carefully hiding was suddenly dragged into the open, and Lin Jianxia's tone immediately took on a trace of embarrassed annoyance.

"What else could it be? You're some rich young master, yet you won't live in your perfectly nice big house and want to come all the way to my urban village instead?"

Jiang Yubai laughed. "A big house? You really should come experience mine sometime."

"I really didn't come looking for you because I had nothing better to do and wanted to experience life," he paused, looking thoroughly sincere. "I just want to evolve from primitive life into modern society."

Lin Jianxia: "...?"

Seeing the distrust on her face, Jiang Yubai let out a despairing sigh.

"To tell you the truth, I'd been looking for a place to move to even before I met you..."

"Because living at home is practically like living as a wild man!"

"It's as cold as an icehouse in winter and as hot as a steamer in summer. Running the underfloor heating and central air conditioning for a month costs four thousand—how is that any different from robbery?!"

By the end, Jiang Yubai was gritting his teeth.

"The Wi-Fi is installed on the second floor, and by the fourth floor it cuts out completely. The signal can't get through the walls at all."

"And every day, I have to pedal a bike like mad for dozens of minutes to get to school—whoever wants to live in that kind of house can have it!"

His words were heartrending, enough to make anyone who heard them weep.

His parents were complete amateurs at interior design, after all. Their only principle was to make everything look grand—who had time to fuss over something like Wi-Fi?

It was not as though they lived there anyway!

Seeing how miserable he sounded, Lin Jianxia could not help feeling half-convinced. "Then... there are so many good places. Why choose our neighborhood?"

"Because I really crave you," Jiang Yubai answered quickly.

Lin Jianxia's whole body stiffened. Before she could say anything, she heard the latter half of his sentence.

"...I crave your cooking."

Huh?

A huge question mark popped into Lin Jianxia's mind.

"Do you know what kind of torture it is, for a foodie, to either eat the pig slop you cook yourself every meal or survive on instant noodles?"

"I really crave your cooking," Jiang Yubai repeated.

Those words came completely from the heart.

Ever since tasting those two stunning plates of home-style dishes she had made, then thinking about going home to face the kitchen waste he cooked himself... he might as well starve to death.

"So, Miss Lin Jianxia, just consider it saving my life..."

Jiang Yubai pressed his palms together, his tone earnest.

"...Will you come be my maid?"