The maids didn’t quite understand what was going on, but they felt that the conversation just now sounded a little strange.
But the Eldest Miss was indeed praising the Second Young Miss, wasn’t she?
Only Li Butler knew she didn’t come with good intentions, but with so many people present, he didn’t dare say anything and could only silently move aside, exchanging cold glances with the just-arrived Zhang Butler.
King to king, general to general, needle tip to wheat awn.
But even so, Bai Xia only gave a polite smile.
Bai Xiaoya took the initiative: “Have you all finished tidying up? I still want to keep chatting with my sister, but we were dragged away before we even started.”
The maid who had just cleaned the room glanced at the empty, monotonous interior with hesitation, but at that moment Bai Xia spoke up: “It’s already cleaned up. Let’s go back to where we were before.”
“Alright, sister.”
This was a solo invitation. Both butlers consciously remained upstairs, leaving the stage for the two Misses.
A clueless maid brought over some tea, but was quickly pulled away and told not to get close.
Although nothing seemed wrong, many people felt that the atmosphere between the two Misses was strange—a storm was brewing.
Bai Xia picked up the teapot the maid had left on the table, slowly poured a cup of hot tea, and pushed it in front of Bai Xiaoya.
Very elegant, but Bai Xiaoya wasn’t easily intimidated.
“Sister, I heard you used to live in a pretty rough place. Were you scared?”
“I got used to it. Actually, it’s not as bad as people say.”
“See, what did I say before? This is what maturity is, too mature.”
Faced with Bai Xiaoya’s ambiguous words, Bai Xia remained calm, her smile unchanged at the corners of her mouth.
“Maybe. Or maybe I was just lucky.”
Tsk.
Bai Xiaoya hadn’t really considered things like character setting, status, reputation, or family image.
She just wanted to fulfill the ‘at least once’ part of the Task so she wouldn’t be passive.
After all, the Labor Day Holiday only lasted a few days.
But she hadn’t expected Bai Xia to have such a strong mental fortitude—there still wasn’t any Task completion prompt, meaning the other party showed no emotional fluctuation.
She decided to push a bit further:
“Sister, now that you’ve come to the Bai Family, what about your original mom and dad?”
Bai Xiaoya had heard the general situation from Zhang Butler.
She pretended not to know—anyway, Bai Xia didn’t know whether she knew or not…
Maybe she did, but there was no evidence.
“Because of some reasons, they passed away,” Bai Xia said lightly.
“I’ve been living alone these past few years.”
Even speaking of such things, her emotions didn’t waver.
“Oh, I see.”
Bai Xiaoya hesitated for a moment and chose not to press further.
After all, family matters were tricky—easy to step on a landmine.
She thought for a bit and asked, “Since you’ve been living alone for years, what about school? What grade are you in now?”
“When the accident happened, I took a break from school. I read some books at home, but it’s still not the same as being in school,” Bai Xia poured herself another cup of tea, “So after the Labor Day Holiday, I’ll be returning to campus, but I’ll have to start from High School.”
“An 18-year-old genius first-year girl? Then you’ll be unstoppable,” Bai Xiaoya smiled brightly.
“Mature, insightful, and self-taught for years—who could keep up with you~”
Bai Xia’s smile finally showed a slight fluctuation.
It was hard to tell if it was because the tea was hot or because the busty girl’s tone was too exaggerated.
Even so, there was still no Task completion prompt.
Bai Xiaoya muttered to herself—is this System broken, or is its sensitivity too low to detect the other party’s emotional fluctuations…
“Bai Xiaoya.”
The black-haired girl suddenly called her name, setting down her teacup lightly and gazing at the white-haired, busty girl opposite her with wine-red eyes.
“W-what is it?”
Bai Xiaoya felt a sudden, inexplicable tension but forced herself not to lose her composure, puffing out her chest for momentum.
“Did you burn your mouth on the tea? Should I blow on it for you?”
“You’re interesting, Bai Xiaoya.”
Bai Xia spoke to herself, completely ignoring the look of surprise on the busty girl’s cute face.
“Before coming here, I considered what you might do. I’ve seen many cases about situations like ours. Many people worry about their treatment, status changes, inheritance, or simply feel dissatisfied and look for opportunities to deal with the other party—even verbally, like you did just now… But you’re different. You’re not like them.”
She suddenly leaned forward a little.
As Bai Xiaoya’s surprise turned to shock and embarrassment, Bai Xia continued:
“There’s no anger in your voice, nor a desperate desire to gain something. It’s as if you simply wanted to speak ill of me. I even sensed some excitement, and a feeling of anticipation.”
Excitement from the thrill of starting a new job, anticipation to see what rewards might come…
In short, she’d been seen through!
She didn’t even notice when the other person left.
Bai Xiaoya sat alone for a long time.
“Eldest Miss~ Eldest Miss~”
Zhang Butler ran over with a stack of documents, seeing her sitting alone with a cold cup of tea in front of her.
“Eldest Miss, is something wrong?”
He asked cautiously.
Bai Xiaoya shook her head.
“I’m fine.”
Stay calm. Stay steady. It’s normal for work to be challenging—salary is never easy money.
Most importantly, the strong never complain about their environment.
A harsh environment is still an environment.
Thinking this, she felt a little better.
She turned to the documents Zhang Butler had brought and raised an eyebrow.
“Got the intel?”
“Yes, it’s all here,” Zhang Butler respectfully handed over the documents.
“All the information that could be found about the Second Young Miss is inside.”
Bai Xiaoya quickly flipped through them, hoping to find her weakness.
“Eldest Miss, you talked with her for a while earlier. How did it go?”
Zhang Butler took the chance to ask.
Bai Xiaoya paused, her hand on the documents.
In her mind, she saw the black-haired girl’s wine-red eyes and the faint smile at her lips.
She bit her little silver tooth.
“Dominant aura, extremely dangerous!”
Ignoring the stunned Zhang Butler, she continued reading.
Though labeled as investigative intel, there wasn’t much truly useful information.
The most substantial part was Bai Xia’s family background—once wealthy, now deeply in debt, parents both deceased.
But she already knew all this.
The last page was some reports from the Hospital.
Bai Xiaoya couldn’t understand them, nor did she know why they were included.
“These are?”
“Oh, right, as you see, these are injury reports for some people from the Underground Street,” Zhang Butler explained.
“They all have one thing in common—they tried to cause trouble for the Second Young Miss not long before they got hurt.”
Bai Xiaoya froze.
“What did you say?”
“One died in an accident after drinking, others suffered various misfortunes—some had multiple fractures, some broke their hand while drunk. They were all considered accidents, but because of that common link, they were included in the report… Eldest Miss, are you alright?”
A complex expression settled on Bai Xiaoya’s cute face.
“Old Zhang, this kind of thing—you should have told me sooner.”
The strong never complain about their environment, but sometimes the environment is just too strong.