There was absolutely no way I could let Mom find out about the injury on my neck.
Even though I’d already used concealer, just in case, I still made sure to wear a scarf.
I’d even prepared an excuse in advance: “A friend told me that eating with a scarf boosts my attractiveness by 20%.”
“Mhm, my sweet daughter is the prettiest of all.”
“Obviously.”
By the time I finished dinner, changed into pajamas, and washed up, it was already past 10:30.
I collapsed lazily onto the iron bunk bed like a dead fish.
I took a deep breath, and as soon as all the muscles in my body relaxed, I nearly passed out on the spot.
Everything hurt.
That hit against the wall earlier had done some real damage to my joints.
I still had a PPT to finish reviewing tonight, and I also needed to buy a few female products.
After all, I was still wearing Yan Qiuzhi’s underwear, and I’d need to wash and return it later.
After taking one last deep breath of the cozy warmth of my blanket, I dragged myself out of bed, put on my slippers, and headed out the door.
“So expensive.”
I stood there, staring blankly at the 24-hour supermarket shelf where a single bra could cost dozens or even over a hundred, and a tiny pack of pads was more than ten yuan. I fell into deep thought.
Damn, being a girl is seriously expensive…
I pulled out my phone in frustration and started calculating how much money I actually had left.
But before I could decide on a price range for a bra, my phone buzzed unexpectedly.
It was a call from Yan Dong.
I guess he was home now too.
Work should stay separate from life, and answering work calls during downtime was practically asking for misery.
I didn’t really want to pick up, but he did help me out tonight, so after a moment of hesitation, I put the phone to my ear.
“Young Master, what’s the matter?”
I placed the slightly pricey mint-green bra back on the rack.
The cold steel hook made a crisp clink in the quiet supermarket.
“Just got back from riding—figured I’d check in.”
His voice came through the speaker, cool and sharp like cedarwood scent, along with the sound of a fridge door opening.
I could almost picture his fingers wandering lazily over the drink shelf.
“My little maid isn’t hiding in her room crying, is she?”
“Sorry to disappoint you, Young Master. I’m perfectly fine—currently shopping at the supermarket.”
I answered offhandedly, while scanning the shelves, trying to find the most cost-effective bra I could.
“When I was speeding on Fourth Ring Road, I spotted your little junk scooter from a mile away. Thought I’d come show off a bit, but who knew I’d stumble into something fun. I was gonna stick around and watch for a while…”
“Young Master, do you seriously think watching me get beaten up is fun?”
I cut him off coldly.
As much as I doubted he’d ever stand by and do nothing, he did hurt his finger throwing that helmet after all, I definitely didn’t believe his nonsense about spotting my scooter from far away.
The only reason he knew where I was… was because I had compromised with him.
It all started a few days ago when Yan Dong was lying on the sofa playing games.
He suddenly tossed me a GPS dog collar: “Wear this when you’re out delivering. It’s a good item.”
For this ridiculous prank just to entertain himself, I had looked down coldly at the flashing blue-tracked electronic shackle lying on the floor as I scrubbed the floorboards.
My voice, as always, remained flat and calm: “It’s such a great item, I strongly recommend Young Master wear it 24/7. Last week, when you disappeared on a whim, Uncle Yan was so worried he almost called the police.”
The game sound effects abruptly stopped.
Yan Dong, still on the sofa, leaned forward with a habitual, mocking sneer curling at his lips.
Then he began imitating my flat tone: “Article 1034 of the Civil Code—private space, private activities, and private information are all protected by law—”
His deliberately drawn-out words suddenly turned sharp and hostile.
“Lin, do you seriously think you’re my damn lawyer?”
Of course, Yan Dong hadn’t done any of this out of concern.
It was purely because Uncle Yan was looking out for me.
If something happened to me under his nose, it might jeopardize his allowance—so he needed something to prove his innocence, just in case.
I lowered my gaze and picked up the collar, placing it gently back on the coffee table.
The cold metal GPS tag hitting the white marble surface let out a faint, chilly ring.
“I’m just a maid in Young Master’s house. But according to Article 24 of the Personal Information Protection Law, handling sensitive data requires my consent.”
“Then strap that damn collar to your crappy scooter. Or are you planning to ask whether that secondhand piece of junk agrees or not?”
The final compromise was stuffing the GPS tracker into the battery compartment under my scooter seat.
Being tracked like that still felt invasive, but it was better than wearing a collar around my neck or having a tracking app shoved into my phone.
So the first part of what he said was probably true—he’d genuinely wanted to flaunt his new 1.2 million Honda. As for the second part…
Whether it was true or not didn’t matter.
What did matter was that I had a sudden urge to go over and punch him in the face.
Either way, I wasn’t in the mood to talk to him normally.
“Pfft, that’s how you talk? I just saved your life, you know. Shouldn’t you be thanking me, Miss Lin?”
On the phone, I could hear the fridge door close, followed by his footsteps and the creak of leather as he flopped back onto the sofa.
I returned yet another decent-looking—but well over budget—bra to the shelf and let out a faint sigh.
“Got it. Thanks, Young Master.”
“Huh? From the sound of it… Housekeeper Lin doesn’t seem very cheerful tonight?”
“I don’t think tonight was exactly… pleasant… cough…”
The dull ache in my throat made me cover my mouth and cough again, muffling the sound.
Yan Dong was silent for a moment on the other end, then suddenly let out a low chuckle.
“Lin Yunxia, did that chick snap at you? How’s it feel to be scolded after sticking your nose into someone else’s business?”
“Young Master, that girl has a name. She’s Zhao Qinghe, my class monitor. And she only lashed out because she was terrified and couldn’t control her emotions…”
“Oh, please. You got ripped to shreds and you’re still defending her?”
His usual arrogant tone was now accompanied by the crack of a soda can opening, as if he could see right through my thoughts.
“Don’t tell me Housekeeper Lin actually buys into that ‘people say dumb stuff when they’re scared’ crap?”
The beeping of the scanner at the checkout counter echoed from nearby.
No longer in the mood to pick out a bra, I found myself gripping the metal rack edge without realizing it.
“Did Young Master call just to mock me?”
“I’m just checking on the mental health of my little maid.”
Listening to his smug voice on the other end, I felt my expression darken.
I had absolutely no desire to keep talking.
Even my tone turned colder without meaning to: “If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up.”
“Fine, back to business—don’t forget the parent-teacher meeting at 9:30 tomorrow morning.”
“Got it.”
……