Little Maid Lin Tingwan

Before he could figure it out, that familiar voice came drifting in again:

"Jiang Yubai!"

Hearing that, Jiang Yubai finally woke up a little.

He glanced at the alarm clock by his bed, buried his head in his pillow, and let out a deep sigh.

"Come on, Lin Jianxia. I thought you'd make breakfast and head to school yourself. Why are you providing a morning wake-up service too?"

The voice outside fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly turned muffled.

"Get up... I have something to tell you."

Something to tell me?

Jiang Yubai savored the warmth of his blankets one last time before reluctantly sitting up.

He'd been thinking about it yesterday... Living close to school was great. He could even sleep an extra half hour.

But look at this now. It was still the same familiar wake-up time, except the thing waking him up...

Had changed from an alarm clock to Lin Jianxia.

...Come in and wake me up, then. If you've got the nerve, stop shouting outside the door and provide some proper professional maid wake-up service.

Grumbling inwardly, he swiftly got dressed and washed up.

By the time he finished tidying himself and opened the door, Lin Jianxia's hand, poised to knock, was hanging in midair.

The moment she saw him, the girl's originally puffed-up little face stiffened slightly, and even the imposing air of someone here to demand answers faded somewhat.

The reason was simple—Jiang Yubai was staring at her, his eyes plainly brimming with displeasure.

Jiang Yubai really was annoyed.

His beautiful extra half hour of sleep was gone. Did she know how much damage that did to a senior-year high school student?

Getting up early itself was fine. After all, this was the time he woke up every day anyway. If he had to wake up at six, then so be it. But the problem was...

His dream wasn't over yet!

Give me back that gentle, obedient little maid who could massage my shoulders and pound my back!

He hadn't even gotten to enjoy one proper massage.

The more Jiang Yubai thought about it, the more annoyed he became.

Right now, he genuinely wanted to stuff the girl in front of him into a maid outfit and make her lower her head obediently, calling him Master in a pitiful voice.

Lin Jianxia shrank her neck under his gaze. "W-what are you doing...?"

Just as Jiang Yubai was about to speak, a thread of warm fragrance wafted over.

He instinctively turned his head to look—

On the table sat a golden-brown, fluffy ham-and-egg pancake, a bowl of mushroom and lean pork congee gently steaming, and a small dish of neatly sliced pickled vegetables beside it.

Jiang Yubai's gaze lingered on the bowl of congee before he finally couldn't help asking:

"Wait, why is there congee too? What time did you get up?"

Lin Jianxia immediately saw what he was thinking and curled her lips.

"What, did you think I got up at four in the morning to make you congee? The congee and pickles were bought downstairs. I only made the ham-and-egg pancake."

That was still absurd, okay...

She'd gone downstairs to buy congee and side dishes, then come back up to make him a ham-and-egg pancake... This little maid was way too dedicated.

Thinking that, Jiang Yubai felt like laughing.

She'd clearly come looking like she was about to demand answers, yet she turned around and served up such an unbelievably lavish breakfast...

The contrast was kind of adorable.

He didn't stand on ceremony and sat down at the table to dig in.

Forget it. For the sake of this breakfast, he wouldn't hold it against her for waking him up so early in the morning and making the little maid Lin Tingwan from his dream disappear—

Jiang Yubai suddenly froze.

Wait, why was it little maid Lin Tingwan?

Only then did he belatedly realize that the one in his dream wearing a maid outfit and softly calling him Master... didn't seem to be Lin Jianxia, but rather...

"What's wrong? Is it not good?"

The girl's puzzled voice reached his ears.

Jiang Yubai blinked and coughed lightly. "No, no, it's delicious..."

Damn, why did I dream about Lin Tingwan?

And with the maid outfit bonus, in that super-cute form where she could talk.

That's not right. Why would I have a dream like that?

For one, I don't have any particular obsession with maid outfits. For another, I don't have any special thoughts about Lin Tingwan either. What does this mean?

Could that hug have had that much of an aftereffect?

...No, dreams are always the opposite of reality. That makes sense, then.

Look, Lin Tingwan could even talk in the dream!

Though he comforted himself like that, Jiang Yubai inexplicably felt a little guilty and hurriedly changed the subject.

"By the way, have you eaten breakfast yet?"

"Wanwan and I already ate," Lin Jianxia said with a curl of her lips. "You think everyone's like you, still refusing to get up when the sun's already high in the sky."

The sun was already high in the sky...

Jiang Yubai gave the wall clock a strange look.

Miss Lin, what planet do you live on, where the sun was already high in the sky just past six in the morning?

Grumbling inwardly, Jiang Yubai casually said, "Right, didn't you say you had something to tell me?"

Though he asked, he more or less knew what it was about—it was probably related to Lin Tingwan asking him for a hug yesterday.

Sure enough, the moment Lin Jianxia heard the question, her expression immediately turned resentful.

"Jiang Yubai,"

she began gloomily.

"What exactly... did you say to my little sister yesterday?"

"...?"

Jiang Yubai was silent for a few seconds before calmly asking,

"Is that a question or a rhetorical question?"

"A question! What exactly did you say to Wanwan?!"

Jiang Yubai suddenly felt a toothache.

"No, why don't you ask Lin Tingwan herself? Why did you insist on waiting all night and coming to ask me?"

It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned it. The moment he did, Lin Jianxia's expression became even more aggrieved, and she practically ground her teeth.

"I did ask! It's because Wanwan wouldn't tell me that I came to ask you, okay?!"

After making sure he hadn't misheard, Jiang Yubai repeated in disbelief:

"Lin Tingwan... wouldn't tell you?"

"Exactly!" Lin Jianxia looked like she was about to cry. "No matter how I asked, Wanwan wouldn't tell me. I-I could only come ask you..."

Jiang Yubai: "..."

No wonder. No wonder she'd looked so puffed-up last night, then come running to find him first thing this morning.

So Lin Tingwan really hadn't said anything...

Lin Jianxia bit her lower lip and looked at him eagerly. "Hey, Jiang Yubai, you'll tell me, right?"

Facing Lin Jianxia's expectant gaze, Jiang Yubai thought for a moment.

"Mm... Answer one question for me first—why were you so surprised when Lin Tingwan came over yesterday?"

Lin Jianxia paused and pressed her lips together.

"Didn't I tell you? Wanwan hardly ever goes out, much less follows someone to their home for dinner."

"She doesn't go out... Then how does she go to school?" Jiang Yubai frowned. "Don't tell me you two actually have a triplet sister."

"How could that be..."

Lin Jianxia sighed. After hesitating for a moment, she finally said quietly, "When Wanwan is at school... have you ever talked to her?"

Jiang Yubai froze.

Seeing his reaction, Lin Jianxia immediately looked somewhat disappointed. "As expected... you haven't either."

"What do you mean, as expected?" Jiang Yubai couldn't help speaking up. "Can you explain it more clearly?"

Lin Jianxia slowly leaned onto the table and spoke in a muffled voice.

"It's not that Wanwan can't go out. It's that once she leaves an area where she feels safe... she becomes like that."

"Maybe it's some kind of psychological defense mechanism. When she's like that, she basically doesn't even acknowledge me, her own sister..."

"And every day after she gets home from school, she has to stay in her room for quite a while before she can slowly recover."

At that, Lin Jianxia sighed.

"So I've always been worried that if this keeps going on for too long, Wanwan might stay like that forever."

"But yesterday was different. It seemed like she also considered your place... somewhere she could stay without feeling uneasy."

"That's why I really wanted to know what you two talked about... But Wanwan actually refused to tell me."

The more Lin Jianxia spoke, the more troubled she looked, her brows knitting together.

Listening to her explanation, Jiang Yubai finally understood.

So that was it... Lin Tingwan could clearly go to and from school normally. Why had Lin Jianxia made it sound like even going out for a meal was impossible?

So talking with Lin Tingwan had actually helped?

Could talk therapy really be the answer?

Or was it... because of that hug?

Just as he was thinking, Lin Jianxia sat upright and said seriously, "So, I told you. You should answer my question now, right?"

Jiang Yubai pressed his lips together.

"Actually, we just talked about some ordinary things, like what food she liked and what kinds of stuffed toys she liked."

Lin Jianxia froze. "That's all?"

Jiang Yubai thought about it, then still said:

"Mm... Does it count that she said hugs felt nice and wanted to ask me for one?"

"?"

Lin Jianxia blanked out for a moment, then her eyes abruptly widened.

"You actually hugged her?!"