The seventh piece of gossip: What melon? Take seven bites
And from now on, would she count as these private chefs' boss too?
At that thought, a surge of grandeur filled Ye Mo's heart, and she waved a hand. "Then bring a few portions each of the Chinese and Western pastries..."
The servant nodded, then asked, "What about drinks? What would you like to drink, Miss Ye? We have all kinds of beverages at home."
Ye Mo thought for a moment, leaned closer to the servant, and said, "Then get me a glass of whatever's the most expensive and tastes the best!"
The servant glanced at her with a smile and nodded. "All right! I'll go get it from the kitchen now."
The servant went to the kitchen. Meanwhile, after taking the scissors, Ye Miao had no choice, under Ye Zhipeng's and Ruan Xianyue's burning gazes, but to carefully cut open the suit that Ye Mo had already mostly cut apart.
The shoulder pads on both sides and the collar of the cut-open suit were packed with talismans sewn inside. Once it was cut open, the talismans scattered onto the floor, looking rather frightening.
The thought that things like these had been sewn into the clothes he wore sent a chill down Ye Zhipeng's spine.
"...Momo." He turned to Ye Mo and asked, "Are these things in my other suits too?"
Already sitting to one side, sharing pastries and drinks with Shen Yan, Ye Mo nodded and began relaying the information she had gotten from 888-
"-yes. Dad, don't you leave all your clothes to her to take care of? Among the clothes she's handled, aside from suits that are easy to hide talismans in, there are also your winter clothes. She sewed these things into all of them!"
At this point, Ye Mo could not help marveling, "She really is patient. How could this be just 999 talismans? There must be 99,999, right?"
[According to the system's count,] 888 chimed in right on cue, [over all these years since Sister Wu started doing this, she has sewn a total of 990,000 peach blossom talismans into your father's clothes, Host!]
Ye Mo: [...She really is patient, and in a certain sense, she's quite capable too.]
She had managed to do this for so many years without being discovered.
[Here's something you don't know, Host!] 888 spoke again, its tone brimming with gossip. [This Sister Wu's full name is Wu Xiuxiu, with "xiu" as in embroidery. Her ancestors were embroiderers, and so is Wu Xiuxiu. She inherited her ancestors' craft and is extremely gifted at embroidery. Had she lived in ancient times, she would at least have been a master embroiderer.]
Understanding dawned on Ye Mo. [So that's how she could hide these talismans in Ye Zhipeng's clothes and make it as seamless as a heavenly robe, without anyone noticing a thing.]
Thinking about it, though, that did make sense. After all, to put talismans into the lining of Ye Zhipeng's clothes, she would certainly have had to unpick the seams first, put the talismans inside, then sew the clothes back up.
If Sister Wu really was as skilled at embroidery as 888 said, she certainly could have done that.
It was just such a pity...
With skills like that, what couldn't she have done? If she had specialized in embroidery, she might even have become an intangible cultural heritage inheritor. Instead, she had insisted on using her abilities for this sort of opportunistic scheming.
For a moment, Ye Mo felt both regret and disdain.
Clearly, however, Wu Xiuxiu thought completely differently from Ye Mo.
After hearing Ye Zhipeng say he was going to fire her, she could not help throwing herself toward him and pleading, "Sir, please don't fire me! I've worked for your Ye family for eighteen years! Eighteen years, not eighteen days! After all these years, don't you have even the slightest affection for me?"
Ye Zhipeng's face turned green as he listened.
"You're a servant. What affection could I possibly have for you?" Anger rose in Ye Zhipeng's heart, and he suppressed it as he said, "Yes, you've worked in my house for eighteen years, but it's not as though we made you work for free. You get a monthly salary of 120,000, and we pay all five social insurance contributions and your housing fund in full. What more do you want?"
Does she actually want something to happen between her and me, her boss? Isn't that ridiculous?
Ye Mo, however, picked up on a key point and turned to ask the servant beside her, "Do you get paid that much to work for the Ye family?"
The servant nodded. "The Ye family's benefits are very good. Even I earn 40,000 a month, and I don't have to work overtime. They never fall behind on the five social insurance contributions or the housing fund, and during festivals and holidays, we even get red envelopes on top of the benefits!"
Hearing this, Ye Mo immediately looked at her with envy. "That good..."
She mulled it over. If she had failed to land the "job" of being the Ye family's biological daughter, then, failing anything else, working as their servant would have been pretty good too. High pay, great benefits, and no overtime-this was practically a heaven-chosen job.
"I don't believe it! Zhipeng, you must like me too! You even smiled at me last time. How could you not like me?"
Suddenly, Sister Wu's agitated voice rang out. Ye Mo looked over and saw that Sister Wu had flung herself onto her bargain-bin dad and was grabbing at him.
Sister Wu was strong. With her clinging to him, Ye Zhipeng actually could not break free for a moment and looked utterly disheveled.
Watching this, Ye Mo could not help remarking, "This really is quite a lively show!"
Chapter 7: The seventh piece of gossip: What melon? Take seven bites
The Ye family's living room really was lively at that moment.
"Zhipeng, I know you must like me!" Sister Wu grabbed Ye Zhipeng's hand and shouted with deep affection, "When I was sick back then, you even called the family doctor for me. If that wasn't because you liked me, what was it?"
Her tone was utterly certain. "I've known how you felt about me ever since then!"
Ye Zhipeng felt nothing but wronged when he heard this. "You're a servant in my house. You were lying unconscious in bed with a fever. If I hadn't called a doctor to treat you, you would have died! I only saved your life out of humanitarian concern!"
How had this become a matter of him liking her? Had doing a good deed been wrong too?
As for Sister Wu, hearing this only gave her an expression that said she would not listen, would not listen-she knew he liked her anyway. She said, "I know. It's because of Ruan Xianyue that you don't dare say you like me. B-but how is that woman worthy of you?"
She glared at Ruan Xianyue and said, "All she knows is how to fuss over her piano all day. She doesn't care about you or show you the slightest consideration. She even ignores your biological daughter. Look, Ye Mo has been home for a while now, and she hasn't even spoken to her."
Ye Mo, suddenly dragged into this: ...What does your business have to do with me?
As for Ruan Xianyue, hearing Sister Wu's words, she too instinctively glanced at Ye Mo, a somewhat uncomfortable expression appearing on her face.
"Only me! I'm the only one who truly keeps you in mind and thinks of you at every moment!" Sister Wu continued her bold declaration of love. "Sir, as long as you're willing, I won't fight Ruan Xianyue for you. I'd be willing to stay with you without any title or status!"
She gazed at Ye Zhipeng with deep affection, laying bare her devotion.
Ye Zhipeng: "..."
Ye Zhipeng struggled to peel her off him and said loudly, "But I'm not willing! I told you, I don't like you. I have no feelings for you beyond our working relationship. We are nothing more than employer and servant!"
He shouted to the butler, Zhou Yeping, "Butler Zhou, hurry up and call security to throw this crazy woman out!"
He looked coldly at Sister Wu and said, "Sister Wu, considering how many years you've worked in my house, I wasn't planning to hold you accountable for this. But if you keep making this unreasonable scene, don't blame me for showing you no mercy!"
When Ye Zhipeng's face hardened, he did look extremely intimidating. After all, he was the president of the Ye Corporation; his imposing presence was no mere pretense.
Thus, seeing that he was truly angry, Sister Wu did not dare say another word. She merely looked pitiful and hesitant, continuing to gaze at him with deep affection, as though hoping this would make him change his mind.
Under her stare, Ye Zhipeng said, "...Fuck!" He could not help swearing.
No matter how unwilling Sister Wu was, the Ye family's security guards escorted her out in the end, leaving nothing but a mess in the living room.
As Ye Zhipeng looked at the cut-up clothes and the talismans scattered out of them, the veins on his forehead throbbed.
"Get someone to clean this up!" he instructed Butler Zhou. "And have someone throw out every piece of clothing in my walk-in closet, then have a new batch delivered... Remember, this time, before any of those clothes go into the closet, make sure they're thoroughly inspected. Understood?"