“Don’t cross the line, okay~”
As her words fell, their eyes met. A subtle atmosphere filled the air.
“What are you two doing here?”
Xisi stood at the kitchen door with a confused expression, poking his head in.
Hearing Xisi’s voice, the two women turned and bowed at the same time.
Xisi looked at the fruit in Rafina’s hands, walked into the kitchen, reached out and patted Rafina’s head, showing a satisfied smile.
“As expected, my little maid knows me best! I was just thinking earlier that lunch was a bit too rich and I wanted some fruit. I didn’t expect you to have it ready.”
Rafina squinted her eyes like a little kitten and even proactively rubbed her head against Xisi’s hand.
Florin watched this scene and said nothing.
“Alright, you take the fruit to the study first. I’ll be there in a bit.”
“Yes, Young Master Xisi.”
Rafina left the kitchen carrying the tray with a satisfied smile.
Florin adjusted her glasses, picked up her water glass, and quickly walked past Xisi, preparing to attend to her own tasks.
Watching their backs, Xisi scratched his head.
‘The atmosphere just now… felt a bit strange? Oh well, maybe I’m overthinking.’
Back in the study, Xisi noticed that Rafina hadn’t left after setting down the fruit like she usually did; instead, she remained there.
“What’s wrong? Is there something?”
Xisi sat down in his chair, took a bite of fruit, and asked.
“Nothing really. Since I’m already here, I’d like to help Young Master Xisi tidy up the study.”
“It’s fine. Ni Wei should be coming by later.”
“She’s my little sister. It’s no big deal for me to share her workload occasionally.”
With that, Rafina turned around and dove into the bookshelves, starting to organize on her own.
Watching Rafina’s busy figure, Xisi shook his head with a smile. He had previously told Ni Wei to help her sister with some work, but now it was Rafina who was voluntarily taking over Ni Wei’s tasks. ‘It’s really the world turned upside down.’ Xisi didn’t dwell on it and buried himself in calculating the profits from this period.
Most of the stockpile had been cleared, and the remaining goods weren’t hard to sell. At the moment, just from reselling, he had a net profit of over 10,000 gold coins. On top of that, the shops he had bought at the bottom, plus the interest dividends from the loan business—the once-thin wallet now held nearly 30,000 gold coins.
For now, he shouldn’t have to worry about not being able to afford information anymore. Lately, Xisi had been overworking his brain and not resting well. Now that he had finished the accounts in one go, a heavy stone lifted from his heart, and his nerves suddenly relaxed.
‘Seems… I’m a bit sleepy…’
After placing the last book back in its original spot on the shelf, Rafina was about to report to Xisi when she noticed that he had already slumped over the desk. The pen in his hand was still crookedly resting on the paper, but he had fallen asleep.
‘As expected, Young Master Xisi really has been exhausted lately.’
Rafina tiptoed over to the desk. She looked down at Xisi’s sleeping face, and her heartbeat involuntarily quickened.
Unlike when he was awake, the sleeping Xisi no longer wore his usual calm smile. At this moment, he looked just a tired young man, his brows furrowed slightly, as if still thinking about something in his dreams. A few stray strands of hair covered his forehead, rising and falling gently with his breath.
For some reason, Rafina, as if possessed, reached out her hand to brush aside the stray hair on Xisi’s forehead.
Just then, Xisi suddenly moved, startling Rafina. The girl instinctively stepped back, but tripped over Xisi’s chair and fell forward.
Although Rafina instinctively reached out to brace herself against the desk, she couldn’t steady her center of gravity. The next second, her entire body pressed down on Xisi.
“Uh… what’s going on?”
Xisi groggily opened his eyes, and what met his gaze was Rafina’s face inches away. Light golden hair cascaded down, the girl’s eyes were full of panic, and a large flush spread from her cheeks to her ears.
Rafina’s voluptuous body was pressed tightly against him, and the collar of her uniform had loosened slightly due to the angle, revealing a small patch of fair skin. A pleasant fragrance hit Xisi’s nose, making his brain go “buzz.”
And his right hand, for some reason, had already come to rest on Rafina’s waist. Under his palm was the girl’s slender waist, and even through the fabric of her maid dress, he could feel the astonishing softness.
‘What’s going on?! Wait, wait! Calm down, Xisi, stay calm!’
Xisi’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. He looked into Rafina’s eyes again, only to find that the panic in them was fading away, replaced by a more complex emotion. ‘And why isn’t she getting up?!’
Rafina also knew that she should get up immediately. But she didn’t know what had come over her. Her reason kept telling her to get up quickly, yet her body was frozen, unable to move. She even grabbed hold of Xisi’s shirt with her hand.
“Young Master…”
The girl’s voice was like a feather brushing past his ear, making Xisi’s heart leap into his throat.
“Um… Rafina?”
“Young Master Xisi, I…”
Rafina moved her face closer, until they were almost touching. Faced with this situation, Xisi felt his reason slowly slipping away, and his hand on the girl’s soft waist unconsciously tightened.
“Knock, knock, knock!”
The sound of knocking rang out abruptly.
Both of them froze.
“Cough, cough. Young Master Xisi, I’m coming in to clean.”
Ni Wei’s voice came from outside the study.
Hearing that it was her sister, Rafina sprang off Xisi as if scalded by hot water. After quickly scanning the study and finding nowhere to hide, she had to crawl under Xisi’s desk to conceal herself. Meanwhile, Xisi, with an embarrassed expression, sat back down in his chair and picked up a stack of papers to cover his face.
“Come… come in.”
Xisi’s voice was a bit hoarse.
The study door was pushed open, and Ni Wei hummed a tune as she bounced into the room, as if she were the master here.
“Huh? It’s so clean in here today. Looks like it doesn’t even need cleaning.”
Ni Wei naturally switched back to her usual tone of speaking with Xisi.
“Ah… yeah. How about this: I’ll give you the day off. Go out and have some fun?”
With that, Xisi casually pulled a gold coin from his jacket pocket and handed it to Ni Wei.
“Oh? So generous?”
Ni Wei took the gold coin, but her small nose suddenly sniffed hard twice.
“Why does it smell like Sister in here?”