Su Yun obediently picked up a red apple from the glass table and balanced it on top of her head.
If nothing else, she was definitely getting good at this—after two days of balancing apples, she could now walk without it falling at all.
And the longer she kept it up, the more she could pass the time at work.
Just then, Qin Xuanxuan walked up from behind and took the apple off Su Yun’s head.
“Eh?” Su Yun blinked in confusion. Suddenly remembering something, she turned and walked toward the room.
“I forgot to change clothes. Give me a second—”
“No need. Just stay like this,” Qin Xuanxuan reached out and easily grabbed the petite girl’s shoulders.
Much easier than earlier in the afternoon.
“Today you’re training for something else.”
“Huh? Okay,” Su Yun nodded, still confused.
Guess there’s no slacking off today.
And no maid uniform either for this session…
I have a bad feeling about this.
……
……
Training always dragged on forever. After finishing, she had to perform in front of Qin Xue again. By the time it was all over, it was already night.
Su Yun felt like this afternoon had scarred her for life.
As the sky dimmed, she dragged her exhausted body home.
“Ugh… hehe…” The girl sat dazed on the edge of her bed, long hair a mess and draped over her shoulders, a vacant, silly smile on her face.
Like something had broken inside her.
She was still holding a thermos—her hard-earned reward from earlier.
As for what had happened… Su Yun didn’t even want to remember.
Taking out her phone, she transferred the thousand yuan she earned today to her mom.
After sending it, she felt a small sense of fulfillment.
When would her parents finally listen and stop working overtime?
She could earn money now.
Su Yun looked down at her small, delicate body in thought.
Then she walked over to the mirror in her wardrobe and stared at the pretty white-haired girl reflected back.
A wave of confusion rose in her heart.
To be fair, she hadn’t done anything too shameful. All she had to do was speak in a cutesy voice all afternoon. Compared to the low tone she used when pretending to be a boy, this was much higher pitched.
Basically, she had to act like a squeaky little maid.
Throwing on a sweet voice and whining in front of Qin Xue… just calling her “Master” a few times earned her a thousand yuan.
Su Yun sniffled in front of the mirror, feeling a deep sense of grievance.
She was clearly a guy, but they had her doing this stuff… and no one even cared how she felt.
Well, Qin Xue didn’t know I was a guy.
“…I’ll bite you to death!”
With a boing, Su Yun launched herself several feet through the air onto her bed. Her body was so light, the bed barely made a sound.
She buried her face in the warm blanket, furiously biting at the covers to vent her frustration.
She had thought this was going to be a normal maid job.
But instead, what she got was—
“Master, do you want dinner… or me~?” (forms heart with hands)
“Don’t go! I want you to stay with me~” (stomps feet)
This was straight-up an escort maid gig, wasn’t it?
And when she said those lines, Qin Xue—the main culprit—looked totally delighted, while Qin Yuanyuan hid off in the corner like she’d spotted a pervert.
Su Yun felt like a circus performer up on stage.
Ding-ling~ Just as she was savaging the blanket, her phone lit up.
Su Yun thought maybe her mom had messaged, so she quickly sat up and grabbed her phone.
But when she looked—
(Qin Xue: Little maid, are you home yet?)
([Voice message])
“Huh? This is the first time she’s ever sent me a voice message,” Su Yun was still kind of mad, but her frown relaxed a bit as she saw that.
She climbed to the center of the bed, sat properly, and tapped the voice message.
“Master, do you want dinner or do you want me~? Mua~”
A sugary-sweet voice rang out from her phone, sweet enough to make someone’s heart tremble.
If a guy heard this, he’d probably kick off his shoes, grab his cute little wife, and bolt into the bedroom to—well, you know.
Thud.
Su Yun smacked the phone onto the bed mid-message, but the next second, she dove after it, cradling it in her arms like it was precious.
The voice in that recording wasn’t Qin Xue.
It wasn’t Qin Yuanyuan either.
It was herself.
As if it wasn’t embarrassing enough, she’d been recorded?!
Su Yun swore that if Qin Xue showed up right now, she’d definitely sink her teeth into her.
Ding-ling. Another message came in.
(Qin Xue: You did great today. Here’s your reward.)
(Transfer: ¥5200.00)
Su Yun, hair a mess, slumped beside the bed as she stared at that number—enough to match her parents’ monthly salary.
Compared to that previous hundred thousand, this was something she’d at least worked hard for.
She hesitated for a moment, then still accepted the money.
But even with the money in her account, Su Yun felt a strange sense of emptiness.
She didn’t even know why…
“Oh well. Money’s money. A job is a job.”
(Qin Xue: Sister Xiaoyun, you’re home now, right? Send a voice clip calling me ‘Master.’ If it sounds good, I’ll give you more.)
Su Yun stared at the screen, cheeks puffed out in frustration.
Get lost. Not happening.
She typed a few words into the message box, then deleted them. In the end, she just didn’t reply.
(Qin Xue: I saw you typing. Why aren’t you replying now? Hmph.)
(Then you don’t have to call me Master. Just call me Sister Xue, okay?)
Su Yun sat like a sulky little girlfriend, arms crossed, watching the constant stream of messages.
The more anxious Qin Xue got, the more satisfied she felt.
After making her wait a solid five minutes, Su Yun finally replied.
(Me: Sister Xue, I’m doing homework.)
(Qin Xue: Huh? Sister Xiaoyun is so hardworking. Studying as soon as she gets home.)
(Alright then, I’ll go study too.)
Qin Xue didn’t send any more messages, and Su Yun had no idea whether she’d really gone to study… or if she’d gone off to flirt with some other pretty girl.
After calming down for a while, Su Yun got up like always and sat at the wooden desk chair.
But the motivation she had in the past few days was gone now.
It felt like her goal had suddenly disappeared.
She sat there staring blankly at the half-finished book on the desk.
“Why was I working so hard these past few days?”
“Using that voice is so tiring… maybe I’ll nap.”
Her face looked gloomy and dark.
Turning off the light should’ve been easy, but she had to use all her strength just to hit the switch on the wall.
……
She’d naively believed that a rich, beautiful school idol living in a villa would want to be friends with her.
Turns out… she just thought she was cute and fun.
Something to play with, then toss aside.
……
Meanwhile, several kilometers away in a luxury villa, a girl was sitting at her desk, grinning foolishly.
The room was empty except for her, so no one saw the goofy expression on her face.
She had never shown this side of herself to anyone before.
Qin Xue set her phone on the table, resting her cheek on one hand while the other tapped the play button again.
“Master, do you want dinner or do you want me~? Mua~”
“Pfft.” Qin Xue couldn’t help but laugh at the memory of Su Yun’s face turning bright red from embarrassment while saying that line.
She ended up replaying the message dozens of times before she finally set her phone aside and opened her textbook.
Su Yun had been right—after she sent that message, she didn’t go study right away.
She just kept listening to that voice message.
And that voice… was Su Yun’s.
Qin Xue thought teasing Su Yun was way too much fun.
The more flustered and shy she got, the more delighted Qin Xue became.
But it wasn’t just some twisted hobby born from boredom.
If it had been any of those other girls she’d gone to dinner with before, she would’ve found that fake cutesy tone disgusting—she might not even be able to eat afterward.
But from Su Yun?
It was totally fine.
“Now, how should I tease her tomorrow?” Qin Xue smiled as she looked down at her book.
For some reason, she felt unusually motivated to study today.
(End of Chapter)