Chapter 4
The servant: “………”
Guys, what do I do? I knew exactly who he meant by the Shitting Lady.
Suppressing that damned urge to laugh, he coughed and put on a stern face. “The young master wants you.”
Recalling the young master’s expression just now, he couldn’t quite keep a little gloating from showing in his eyes.
Shi Liaoliao was truly finished this time.
The hamster lying in her palm noticed, too, and couldn’t resist commenting. [Your people skills aren’t great, are they? That’s hardly right for an all-purpose valet.]
Following the servant, Shi Liaoliao mentally told Wanwan what had happened since she’d joined the Lu household.
Wanwan was shocked. [People are calling you a fox spirit even when you’re presenting as a man??]
It took a closer look at its host’s face, its furry expression turning complicated.
[Fine, you do look the part. But it still doesn’t make sense.]
In old-school romances from before female empowerment was a thing, this sort of situation, where everyone was full of malice and misunderstandings, normally only happened to the heroine.
[Your situation’s a little unusual. This shouldn’t happen to an NPC. I’ll report it to my superiors for you.]
Shi Liaoliao hadn’t cared before, but now she was wavering.
Before, she’d thought she was about to leave this place where everyone seemed nuts. Now a system had suddenly popped up and told her that completing a mission would let her return to her original world.
[When does the heroine show up?]
If it was only three lines, that sounded… pretty easy?
Wanwan reassured her. [Don’t worry. Very soon. Not long after Lu Yanzhou starts the new term, he’ll meet the heroine, who’s earned a scholarship to the school and is disguised as a boy.]
Hearing that the heroine was also dressed as a boy gave Shi Liaoliao a small sense of kinship.
Until she realized the servant was leading her toward the back garden.
The pebble path had been swept so clean that not a fallen leaf was in sight. Plants of every kind filled both sides, tended by someone with a real knack for it. Despite all their different colors, nothing looked untidy.
Lu Yanzhou, freshly home from school, had changed out of his academy uniform suit into a simple, light-colored wool sweater and trousers.
His eyes were pale, and in the light, his hair wasn’t jet black, either, but a softer shade. Before Shi Liaoliao had hurriedly taken up her post, she’d been warned that this young master of the Lu family only looked easy to get along with. In reality, he wasn’t close to anyone.
He was so tall that Shi Liaoliao had to tilt her head up slightly to see those tea-brown eyes when she stood before him.
[Just like the golden retriever I used to have.]
Lu Yanzhou, who hadn’t even managed to say a word: “…………”
“Young master, you wanted to see me.”
Completely unaware that her thoughts were being broadcast, Shi Liaoliao adopted the most respectful attitude she’d ever displayed.
The way she looked at Lu Yanzhou suggested that if he ordered her through a mountain of blades or a sea of fire, she’d go at once.
Lu Yanzhou wore his usual faint smile. Meeting her gaze, he finally spoke slowly. “I believe I told you…”
“You could do whatever you liked in this house, as long as you didn’t bother me.”
Shi Liaoliao nodded.
He had indeed said that when she’d first started.
Lu Yanzhou slowly turned and pointed to the flower bed behind him.
“So…”
“Is that why you pulled up all the Moroccan daisies I planted and replaced them with Chinese chives?”
Shi Liaoliao: “………”
The servant beside them: No more ‘oi’? Just not in the mood for ‘oi’ anymore?
Growing flowers was the only thing in Lu Yanzhou’s busy life that could be called a hobby. While he was at the academy, the gardener tended them for him. Otherwise, Lu Yanzhou took care of all these flowers himself.
Looking at those thriving clumps of Chinese chives, which would soon grow tough if they weren’t harvested, Lu Yanzhou’s pale, gentle-looking eyes turned cold.
Destroying everything he loved, then calmly watching him suffer in silence, had always been one of his father’s favorite things to do.
He looked again at the little valet his father had personally sent over, with features lovelier than a girl’s.
All warmth drained from Lu Yanzhou’s eyes. The little spark of interest he’d felt earlier vanished, too.
Shi Liaoliao pressed her lips together.
Wanwan was frantic. [Host, what’s going on?!]
Shi Liaoliao briefly explained what had happened.
She’d previously asked the gardener for a small patch of ground to grow some vegetables. He’d very generously brought her here and said she could plant whatever she liked.
At first, seeing that whole bed of flowers had made Shi Liaoliao hesitate. They were blooming far too beautifully for the place to be an untended flower bed.
But the gardener had insisted that no one looked after this patch and that the flowers were only wildflowers. When Shi Liaoliao came back the next day, the flowers were all gone. The gardener helpfully told her he’d pulled them up for her, so she could go ahead and plant.
Wanwan relaxed. [Then hurry up and explain to the male lead! If he fires you, you’ll never get back to your original world!]
But… even if she said it, would Lu Yanzhou believe her?
As she was thinking this, Lu Yanzhou, who’d been waiting for her to speak, stopped looking at her. His expression listless, he said, “I’ll pay you double your wages. Pack your things and go back to my father.”
With that, he turned and left, without another glance at Shi Liaoliao.
Decisive as his departure was, he still found himself wondering what expression the valet would wear.
The same blank face as always, or dejection? He was a grown man, after all. Surely he wouldn’t cry…
[Yanzhou! Don’t go, Yanzhou! How am I supposed to live without you?!]
[Let me explain, Yanzhou!!!]
Lu Yanzhou: “………”
That concern had been wasted.
Shi Liaoliao hurried forward, intending to stop Lu Yanzhou, only for him to turn around abruptly.
They collided before she could react. The tip of her nose struck his hard chest, and the aching sting brought reflexive tears to her eyes. As the tears fell, her eyes instantly reddened.
A rich, woody fragrance swept past. Shi Liaoliao instinctively pushed him away.
Lu Yanzhou was a little fastidious about cleanliness, but not so sensitive that he couldn’t stand an accidental touch.
If anything, Shi Liaoliao’s resistance was much more obvious.
The sweet scent he’d just caught surprised him a little.
How could a grown man smell so nice?
Raising his eyes, he saw the person before him clutching her nose, great tears rolling down her face. Her upturned eyes shone with a film of moisture. She looked utterly pitiful.
Lu Yanzhou suddenly remembered a conversation he’d once overheard among the servants about Shi Liaoliao.
A male fox spirit…
If he hadn’t been certain he was attracted to women, he might have started questioning his father’s motive for sending this person over.
A fleeting trace of helplessness crossed his face.
“Are you all right?”
Shi Liaoliao said something indistinctly behind the hand covering her nose.
Lu Yanzhou didn’t catch it. He raised a brow slightly, signaling her to repeat herself.
Shi Liaoliao: “…Can I claim workers’ compensation?”
Lu Yanzhou: “…Yes.”
The servant beside them: ?
Weren’t they sending him packing?? How had this suddenly turned into a workers’ compensation claim?!