“Miss Jiang Cheng, you can get out of the car here.”
“Oh, okay…”
Inside the car, the daydreaming Jiang Cheng snapped back to reality. She pushed the door open, got out, and looked ahead.
Before her was a rather majestic high-rise building. The entrance was bustling with people, yet everything was orderly, without noise or clamor.
The sight before her made her feel a bit oppressed, a strange fear. She turned to the maid for help.
“An Xin? Aren’t you going with me?”
“No,” the maid refused with a smile, without even waving or shaking her head. “I’m sorry, but I have to go grocery shopping on the street, so I can’t guide Miss Jiang Cheng. Please ask the company’s staff.”
“Eh, well then…” Jiang Cheng was a bit disappointed.
“Go on,” although she said sorry, there was no trace of regret on An Xin’s face.
“Miss Jiang Cheng, go quickly. Don’t let the young lady wait too long, otherwise… she will get angry, you know.”
Jiang Cheng suspected that An Xin was a robot developed by Lin Shuangxue. Why else would she always have the same expression every time she saw her, even the same movements? It was too strange.
But now, there was a more serious event than the robot apocalypse, Skynet, and the Iron Man rebellion, and that was Lin Shuangxue’s punishment… ah no, reward.
Forget it, it was probably no different from punishment.
With a sigh, Jiang Cheng waved goodbye to An Xin and walked alone into the company gate.
An Xin watched Jiang Cheng slowly disappear into the crowd, but did not drive into the street.
She rolled up the car window, then lowered the seat, leaned back, and took out a tablet.
“Grocery shopping? When would I ever have to do that?” she murmured. “After all, I am the young lady’s most trusted maid…”
The tablet screen lit up, the image divided into dozens of small squares. An Xin tapped a few times, enlarging two squares, revealing two completely different scenes.
On the left was a tired-looking Lin Shuangxue, sitting alone in the office handling affairs.
The right screen showed a white-haired girl asking for directions at the main entrance.
A seductive curve lifted An Xin’s lips.
‘Yes, I am the young lady’s most trusted maid.’
‘Having surveillance permissions… isn’t that strange?’
***
After hesitating, Jiang Cheng stopped a hurried purple-haired girl.
“Hey, Sis, do you know where Lin Shuangxue’s office is?”
That girl was originally furious due to the inevitable overtime. She turned around ready to curse at this lost idiot, but after seeing Jiang Cheng’s slightly flustered face, she froze.
“Sis?”
“Ah! I-I-I’m listening…” The fierce girl instantly became flustered. She waved her hands, opened her mouth to say something, but then stopped.
“Um… what was your question again?” She scratched her head awkwardly.
For some reason, seeing the girl’s familiar flustered look made Jiang Cheng’s hanging heart relax.
‘That’s right, what am I afraid of?’
‘Even office workers are people, not beasts. As long as they’re human, they can’t resist my charm!’
“Sis~” Jiang Cheng put one hand on her hip and flicked the white hair from her shoulder with the other, acting like a young lady. “Do you know where Lin Shuangxue is? I have something to ask her.”
“Oh, oh, you’re looking for Lin Shuangxue… wait! You’re looking for President Lin!” The girl let out a sharp shriek.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Cheng tilted her head in confusion. “Is there some rumor about Lin Shuangxue’s name in this company? Like, if you mention it, you’ll be dragged into a small room and knocked unconscious?”
“No, no… forget it, actually it’s about the same…” The girl calmed herself down, looked left and right, glanced at the red-glowing camera, and only after making sure no one was watching did she carefully lean close to Jiang Cheng’s ear.
“There’s actually a legend here. Anyone who goes to President Lin’s office either gets fired or ends up too tired to stand up straight. In short, it’s terrifying.”
“Is that so?” Jiang Cheng was stunned. ‘This feels kinda scary…’
‘Too tired to stand up straight… no way…’
“Exactly,” the girl said seriously. “We privately call her the King of Hell. Every colleague she’s talked to feels like they’ve lost ten years of their life. It’s super exaggerated.”
“I suggest if you can finish the work yourself, don’t bother President Lin. Sure, she’ll help you solve it, but the price… you know. By the way, what department are you from? I’ve never seen you before.”
“I’m not an employee of the Lin Family Group. I’m Lin Shuangxue’s employee,” the girl waved her hand. “I’m not coming to Lin Shuangxue for work matters… Actually, it can be considered my work.”
She laughed at herself.
‘After all, taking care of the master’s physiological needs is the maid’s job, right?’
“Oh, so you’re President Lin’s maid. You must have other business with President Lin… By the way, you’re really bold to call her by her name.” The girl nodded. “I’ll take you there. Be careful. I think you’ve only been her maid for a short time, so you’re not familiar with her yet, hence the boldness.”
After saying that, the girl beckoned to Jiang Cheng, signaling for her to follow.
Jiang Cheng directly grabbed her hand.
The sudden temperature and softness from her palm startled her. “Y-Y-You… what are you doing?”
“What?” Jiang Cheng tilted her head innocently. “Isn’t holding hands between girls perfectly normal?”
“But this is the company! How can you…”
“But I’m not from this company.”
“…I guess that’s true…”
The girl felt something was off, but couldn’t put her finger on it.
So, dazed, she held Jiang Cheng’s hand and walked toward Lin Shuangxue’s office.
Along the way, the overly intimate pair attracted many gazes. Most eyes first landed on Jiang Cheng, then shifted from admiration to jealousy, resting on the girl.
Jiang Cheng was used to being stared at. Finding the company no different from school, she didn’t find it strange.
As for the girl, she even puffed out her chest.
‘Look all you want, you can’t hold this hand!’
She grew proud. What was this? The fox borrowing the tiger’s might?
After all, compared to a catgirl, Jiang Cheng was more like a pure coquettish fox with full charm…
Soon, the two arrived in front of Lin Shuangxue’s office.
“Can you go in by yourself?” the girl asked with worry. “Do you want me to go in with you?”
‘I know you mean well, but if we go in holding hands, we’ll both come out horizontal.’
“No need.” Jiang Cheng shook her head.
“Then be careful.”
“Mm.”
Watching Jiang Cheng walk into the office, the girl felt empty inside and had an ominous premonition.
“Oh no!” She slapped her head in frustration. “How did I forget to ask for her contact info? Seriously… forget it, I’ll ask when she comes out.”
As for Jiang Cheng, she pushed the door open, carefully closed it behind her, and turned around to find Lin Shuangxue sitting at her desk with a dark face, staring coldly at her.
“W-What is it?” Jiang Cheng initially wanted to back down, but then she remembered she was here for a reward, and she hadn’t done anything wrong, so what was there to fear?
So she puffed out her flat chest and looked Lin Shuangxue in the eye with confidence.
Lin Shuangxue didn’t answer. Instead, she slowly stood up and walked step by step toward the girl.
dah—dah—
The steps were small yet crisp, echoing distinctly in the empty office.
With each step Lin Shuangxue took, Jiang Cheng shrank a little. By the time she stood before her, the girl was shivering in the shadow cast by Lin Shuangxue’s body.
“Jiang Cheng.”
Just as the girl could no longer bear the pressure of the silence and was about to surrender, Lin Shuangxue finally spoke.
“You were holding hands with that girl outside…”
“What were you doing.”