7
Those two naive fools believed every word.
I sat looking at the four gorgeous men and women before me, unable to keep from sighing inwardly.
For generations, my ancestors had all worked as housekeepers for the young master's family.
In my generation, I was the one chosen.
Ever since the old master learned that the young master had “switched teams,” he personally transferred me—a useless girl loafing around out there—to the young master's side.
Simply because I'm a woman.
The young master couldn't find Zhao Yue no matter how hard he looked because the old master had secretly set him up and hidden him away.
The old man couldn't bear to see his family line end with the young master.
And he was even less willing to do anything illegal.
He'd ordered the young master not to let romance bring shame upon the nation or disgrace his ancestors.
So that whole “DY” scheme—forget carrying it out; just thinking about it was enough to make the old master break all three of the young master's legs, or else he wouldn't be a member of the family.
I let out a sigh.
I glanced at my bank balance…and it had grown by a few more digits.
That's right: I was drawing two salaries.
One from the old master—to keep an eye on the young master and make sure no male fox spirit seduced him.
The other from the young master—to bribe the old master so he could date Zhao Yue in peace.
I did feel a little conflicted. My conscience pricked at me just a tiny bit.
But…only a tiny bit. It pricked for one second, then I was overcome with joy.
I immediately sent a message back, half-truthfully:
【Old master, the young master is having lunch with Miss Hứa.】
Well, they were having lunch together—just not alone.
【They're having a wonderful time.】
Exactly. All four of them were having a grand old time.
【Looks like some good news is just around the corner~】
Absolutely. Good things were coming. Two couples. Same-sex. Perfectly matched. In love.
8
There was a small room inside the young master's office where he usually took a nap after finishing work.
But not today.
He sat in a chair not far from Zhao Yue's desk, radiating such a fearsome chill that none of the employees dared slack off, much less invent an excuse to strike up a conversation with the handsome man.
The only voices in the office were Miss Hứa and Tô Khanh Khanh's, chatting away.
Maybe seeing everyone else laughing and chatting happily while he got nothing out of it was starting to get under the young master's skin.
“BAM!” He suddenly sprang to his feet, making everyone jump.
Before anyone could recover, the young master grabbed Zhao Yue and dragged him straight into his private office, tossing out one last remark:
“It's lunchtime. Take a break.”
The people pretending to work immediately sighed with relief, their faces relaxing.
As for me…of course I wanted to follow them and see what happened next.
After all, a novel with nothing but bones and no meat couldn't possibly be called a quality work, right?
To make it good, it needed plenty of color, fragrance, and flavor!
But I was also afraid of ruining their good thing.
As I hesitated, I heard a click…
The glass door had been locked from the inside—with a one-way mirror lock that kept anyone outside from seeing in.
Wait, what? Was the young master so afraid I'd ruin things that he locked the door?
But today, I wasn't the one who would ruin his good time.
Less than ten minutes later, the old master showed up at the company with a middle-aged man—the young master's second uncle, his fiercest rival in the inheritance struggle.
My face went pale.
I immediately scooped up a stack of documents and ran over, planning to pretend I was reporting on another project's status, but the old master cut me off coldly:
“Open the door.”
I lowered my head and kept standing in front of the door without saying a word.
“I'll say it again—open the door.”
I bowed my head even lower, ready to sacrifice myself to protect my double-salary lifestyle.
Who ratted me out?!
It hadn't even been long—how had the old master already come here in person?!
I couldn't bear to imagine what would happen if the door opened and they saw something they shouldn't…
Would the old master beat the young master straight into the ICU?
I said nothing, but the old master had plenty of ways to force people to comply.
And the worst one was the second uncle—deliberately making a scene to undermine the young master.
When he saw I wouldn't move, he ordered his people to break down the door.
I was about to stop them when several men in black rushed forward, grabbed me, and pinned me against the wall so I couldn't move.
In the end, it was only when Miss Hứa spoke up that they let me go.
The people who'd come to knock on the door, along with a flood of employees eager to watch, had no intention of saving the young master's face.
A chill ran down my back, and I was jostled so hard I could barely stay on my feet.
This is bad, this is bad!
My double salary was as good as gone!
The young master was about to be humiliated in front of everyone!
Would I even get to keep my job as housekeeper?!
Most importantly: would the old master make me pay the money back?!
I was worried sick. The second uncle looked smug, as if he'd already pictured the young master being caught in the act—and had taken that as license to act like he was in charge.
BAM! The door was smashed open.
I hurriedly covered my eyes, afraid to look.
9
The space around us suddenly fell silent.
I was puzzled and glanced over—then froze.
Inside the office, the two men sat facing each other, neatly dressed and solemnly poring over a report…
I took two more steps forward and saw what everyone else couldn't.
I froze on the spot, not daring to move.
From this angle, I could clearly see…
Their pants were rumpled, with faint wet spots, and the young master's hand was on Zhao Yue's thigh… slowly sliding upward.
But before it could get far, Zhao Yue pinched him hard.
The young master's face was taut, his features twisted with the effort as he put on an utterly serious expression:
“Grandpa, Second Uncle, what brings you all the way here?”
That icy expression was exactly what you'd expect from someone interrupted in the middle of something important—with a touch of annoyance, too.
The old master didn't answer right away. He only scanned the room, seemingly unable to find anything out of the ordinary.
At last, his expression softened a little:
“Nothing. I was passing by the company, so I thought I'd stop in and see how you were doing.”
“If there's nothing else, then we'll get back to work.”
The second uncle seemed unwilling to accept this. Clearly, an ordinary scene like this wasn't enough for him; he barged in, intent on searching farther into the office.
I hurried to block his way, just as the young master's assistant did:
“This is a workplace. Unauthorized visitors aren't allowed in.”
If it had been the old master, we'd have had to back down, but this man was only the second uncle—
We work for the young master. We don't have to show that man any respect.
His face stiffened. He was about to fly into a rage when the old master spoke just in time:
“That's enough. Let's go.”
The old master shot him a warning glance, and he shut his mouth, glaring resentfully before turning away.
I couldn't spare a thought for his glare.
What I cared about was the person who paid my salary.
But the old master's final look before he left was bone-chilling.
I knew perfectly well… the old master had figured it out.
He was only holding back to save the young master's face.
This visit had clearly been forced on him, but the old master still showed up. It was a warning in itself.
Caught between his son and grandson, he'd chosen… his grandson.
10
The danmei story I'd been writing lately—the kind with a PO narrator—was getting great feedback and drawing in a whole crowd of CP-obsessed fans eager to follow along.
While they were clamoring, “So sweet! More, please!” I was feeling a little gloomy…
Because the main characters still seemed not to realize who their hearts truly belonged to.
At the evening banquet, the engaged couple danced the opening number beneath everyone's watchful eyes.
The lights shone down on the pair, both paragons of the new generation, radiating the kind of brilliance that said they'd been born at the top of the pyramid.
All around us, people praised how perfectly matched they were.
I glanced at Tô Khanh Khanh, happily choosing dessert, then at Zhao Yue, who was staring straight ahead with an expressionless face.
I couldn't help shaking my head with a sigh.
To keep the CP rankings I'd worked so hard to build alive, I quietly edged over to Zhao Yue, pulled out my little notebook, and switched into emotional-investigation mode:
“How does it feel?”
Zhao Yue didn't look at me. He scratched his chin:
“Kind of weird.”
“What's weird about it?”
I perked up—could this hopelessly dense guy finally be jealous?
“Weird… you know…”
I hurriedly took out my pen, ready to write it down.
“Weird because… I'm starving.”
…
Yeah, I thought that was weird too. Weirdly, I wanted to punch him.
I ground my teeth as I watched Zhao Yue amble toward the buffet, then unconsciously turned to look at the young master.
He was especially well-dressed today—a light-colored suit accentuated his cool, aristocratic air, and his emerald eyes were so captivating they drew you in.
I still remembered how, before we left the house, he'd sprayed himself with cologne like crazy, muttering:
“This is Little Zhao's favorite scent! I hope he throws himself on me and gets his fill of sniffing, heh heh heh!”
From the way he was spraying, you'd think he meant to douse himself in the whole bottle. He was determined to seduce him into coming home with him tonight.
As it turned out, after their first dance, Miss Hứa, standing nearby, could barely keep up her “virtuous and demure” facade.
Once they were somewhere quiet, she rolled her eyes and called the young master a peacock showing off his tail.
The young master didn't get mad. He just grinned and headed over to Zhao Yue.
That's when I realized Zhao Yue was still standing frozen in a corner, looking like he'd lost his soul.
My heart leaped. Could he have figured it out?
Otherwise, why would he dodge the young master's outstretched hand at the last second?
The young master froze, then looked a little annoyed:
“Do you think I'm disgusting?”
Before Zhao Yue could answer, he grabbed his hand and dragged him away.
I wanted to follow and see what happened next, but the moment I lifted a foot, the young master shot me a glance—and I froze on the spot.
What a petty guy!
Luckily, I still had that other couple to observe.
Compared with the young master, Miss Hứa was a relationship pro.
Just a few words had Tô Khanh Khanh blushing furiously, though she still didn't seem to have caught on.
Not until Miss Hứa kissed Tô Khanh Khanh on the cheek and licked off the bit of cream that had gotten stuck there.
Only then did Tô Khanh Khanh freeze.
A long while later, she touched her cheek, looking dazed and alarmed, then utterly bewildered.
She clearly… thought of her as a best friend.
Who knew the other woman wanted to date her?!
Miss Hứa gazed at her tenderly:
“I really want to kiss you on the lips, but I can't without your permission. But I really can't hold back anymore… You can't keep making me wait forever. That's too cruel.”
Did you hear that, young master?
That's how you talk to someone!
I was so moved I could've cried.
If you had even half her emotional intelligence, Zhao Yue would be clinging to you by now!
“You can't treat me so cruelly.”
Miss Hứa held Tô Khanh Khanh's hand, her voice soft and pained.
After a few seconds of stunned silence, Tô Khanh Khanh… began to feel guilty.
I screamed inwardly:
What does she have to feel guilty about? She's the one trying to “turn” her best friend—she's the one who should be ashamed!
Best friends becoming lovers—obviously, Tô Khanh Khanh hadn't quite processed it yet.
But under the pretext of “wearing her down over time,” she finally agreed to give Miss Hứa a chance.
I immediately gave her a thumbs-up.
My hand kept busily taking notes.
I take my employer's money, so I have to handle my employer's business—including his love life.
I had to memorize these seduction techniques and pass them on to the young master.
11
The past few days had been eerily quiet, the kind of quiet that comes before a storm.
The only thing was, that thick “danmei romance” vibe was getting stronger by the day.
To my left was a lesbian couple.
To my right was a gay couple.
Only me, shining with the pure fragrance of a certified forever-single person.
“Hey, you find them annoying too, don't you?”
I was getting coffee when a man suddenly appeared behind me, running his hand through his hair in a “trying to look suave” way, with an expression so fake he could've competed with the scholar types in period dramas.
Suddenly, my coffee tasted too sweet, so I dumped it and switched to green tea to keep from choking on it.
“What do you want?”
“Nothing. I just think you work so hard every day. Wouldn't it be nice to have a man to lean on and a home of your own?”
At that, I wanted to roll my eyes.
A man?
All I need is eight Gods of Wealth.
Who the hell do you think you are?
But remembering the task the young master had given me, I forced a dry smile:
“If you think I'm working so hard… why not send me some money?”
The guy's mouth twitched, and his face scrunched up as if he were about to lecture me.
I quickly raised a hand to stop him and made an excuse to get away.
Flirting is fine. But a man lecturing me that men are everything? I'll throw up right here.
Because I'm both materialistic and shameless.
After a few encounters, he seemed to give up. I’d successfully cultivated an image of myself as someone who loved money but wasn’t interested in looks.
Until the day I caught him… drugging someone.
I was genuinely shocked.