The Pure Master-Servant Relationship

"Hello, your total is 792 yuan. Will you be paying by card or cash?"

Jiang Yubai thought for a moment, but instead of paying right away, he turned to the girl beside him.

"By the way, Lin Jianxia, aren't you going to look at some clothes?"

At that, Lin Jianxia's faintly upturned lips immediately flattened, and she said stiffly, "Student Jiang, just mind yourself. I don't need any."

Jiang Yubai nearly laughed out loud.

When he turned his head, the receptionist seemed to be pursing her lips as well. Still, restrained by professional etiquette, she was doing her best to maintain her perfect service smile.

It couldn't be helped.

The girl beside him had been saying, "Don't come within three meters of me," but when they were picking out clothes just now, she had been more enthusiastic than anyone.

Paired with that deliberately stern little face, she was simply too amusing to look at.

Still...

Lin Jianxia really did have impeccable taste in clothes.

Although she herself was always dressed in that blue-and-white school uniform, her professionalism as a "stylist" was practically better than the sales assistants'. In this small shop, she had somehow put together three full outfits for him.

It felt like she was even happier about this than he was...

She really was playing dress-up with a live model.

Jiang Yubai paid, carrying the two large bags in his hands as he tilted his head and asked, "Shall we go buy groceries?"

The moment he said that, the receptionist's eyes lit up. Her gaze darted back and forth between the two of them before she frantically shot meaningful looks at the sales assistant nearby.

Meanwhile, Lin Jianxia nodded instinctively.

But when she saw the receptionist's knowing smile, her expression froze. As if she had suddenly realized something, she turned and hurried outside.

By the time Jiang Yubai emerged from the store carrying the two large bags of clothes, he immediately saw Lin Jianxia standing beneath a tree not far away, glaring at him indignantly.

He could not help complaining, "Lin Jianxia, why did you run off so fast?"

"Jiang Yubai!" Lin Jianxia was furious. "Why did you say we were going grocery shopping?!"

Jiang Yubai pretended not to understand. "What? Didn't we agree that we'd go buy groceries after getting clothes? I'm still waiting for you to cook for me."

Lin Jianxia choked on her words, then anxiously muttered, "That's true... but don't mention it in front of them!"

"Huh? Why not?"

Jiang Yubai blinked, looking extremely eager to learn.

Lin Jianxia narrowed her eyes and stared at his face for a long while, but all she saw was utterly genuine confusion.

She pressed her lips together before finally saying, "Because... because going grocery shopping together makes people think we're... we're, you know..."

"Think what?" Jiang Yubai still looked completely bewildered.

"..."

That was a little too fake.

Lin Jianxia was finally certain that this bastard was just teasing her again.

She ground her teeth and said dangerously, "Jiang Yubai, if you keep pretending, you can buy the groceries yourself later."

"Pfft... Hahahaha!"

Jiang Yubai finally could not hold back his laughter.

After laughing for a while, he waved his hand and spoke beneath Lin Jianxia's murderous glare. "It's not as serious as you say. Maybe they just thought we were siblings."

"Did they look like they thought we were siblings?!" Lin Jianxia snapped. "Besides, what siblings go grocery shopping together?"

"People who aren't siblings go grocery shopping together too," Jiang Yubai said after thinking for a moment. "For example... um... for example..."

He suddenly got stuck.

Lin Jianxia narrowed her eyes. "For example what? Go on, say it."

"..."

"..."

Jiang Yubai stood there like a statue for quite some time before immediately changing his tune. "That's not important. As long as we know we're completely innocent, that's enough."

That actually made Lin Jianxia feel a little better. This guy can be pretty good with words sometimes.

She turned her face away with satisfaction and casually followed up, "That's more like it. So if anyone asks what our relationship is next time, you know how to answer, right?"

Jiang Yubai stroked his chin and answered uncertainly, "Hmm... a pure master-servant relationship?"

"?"

Lin Jianxia was so angry that she kicked him in the butt. "Jiang Yubai!"

Seeing that she was really about to start hitting him, Jiang Yubai quickly sidestepped. "Hey, hey, hey, we're still right outside the store! With you getting handsy like this, won't we look even more like a couple flirting?"

Lin Jianxia had originally wanted to give him another kick, but at those words, she paused. Her cheeks warmed slightly again.

She ground her teeth, but in the end only glared at him before turning around and stomping off in a huff.

Jiang Yubai nodded in satisfaction and quickened his pace to follow behind her.

Hah. Try fighting me.

Just in case, he still asked, "By the way, we're going grocery shopping now, right?"

"...Say one more word, and I'll poison you to death later!"

After walking for four or five minutes, Lin Jianxia stopped in front of a bustling open-air market.

The concrete ground was wet, vegetable and fruit stalls lined both sides, and the air was thick with the smells of earth and fish. Voices clamored all around them.

Jiang Yubai looked around and hesitated. "Uh... aren't we going to a supermarket?"

"Young Master Jiang, this is the old district. The supermarkets you mentioned are all in the new district," Lin Jianxia said, rolling her pretty eyes. "Besides, the vegetables here are cheap and fresh. Why go to a supermarket?"

Jiang Yubai did not insist, simply nodding along. "Fine, you're the chef. I'll listen to you about everything."

Lin Jianxia did not respond, but the corners of her lips quietly curled upward.

After taking two steps inside, she seemed to remember something and turned back. "Right, I haven't even asked what you want to eat."

"I'm fine with anything. I'm not picky," Jiang Yubai said, his curious gaze sweeping over the stalls on both sides. "Just see what you and your sister feel like eating."

It was actually his first time at an open-air market like this.

After all, his mother usually prepared the ingredients at home. Even when he occasionally bought something himself, he always went to a supermarket.

Seeing Jiang Yubai looking eager to give it a try, Lin Jianxia pointed at a stall nearby. "There. Why don't you try buying some yourself? Start with two jin of potatoes."

"I'm buying them? Sure, sure." Jiang Yubai blinked and immediately agreed.

He handed the clothes in his hands to Lin Jianxia, then eagerly approached the stall and asked the auntie arranging vegetables, "Auntie, how much are the potatoes?"

The stall owner looked him over.

A clean cream-colored jacket, a neat face, and an expression full of curiosity—he was obviously a student who rarely visited markets.

Smiling, she said, "Young man, two yuan per jin."

The moment Lin Jianxia heard that, she instinctively wanted to remind him, but Jiang Yubai had already nodded readily.

"Okay, then weigh out two jin for me... Auntie, make sure to pick some good-looking ones. No rotten ones."

The instant those words left his mouth, Lin Jianxia's anxious expression turned into complete speechlessness.

When Jiang Yubai accepted the bag of potatoes and happily turned around, clearly intending to claim credit, he met Lin Jianxia's gloomy gaze head-on.

Jiang Yubai: "..."

Why did that look... feel like she was looking at an idiot?