Chapter 12

Xiang Changge didn’t answer. She simply picked up the shawl lying on the bench at the foot of the bed and handed it to Yu Qing.
Looking at the familiar shawl that appeared in front of her, Yu Qing still didn’t lift her head; her voice dropped another notch.
“Isn’t it a little late to start trying to please me now?”
If—if she apologized right now, promised to listen to her from now on and never again force her, as a subordinate, to do things she didn’t want to do… then… Yu Qing might still magnanimously forgive her this once.
The room was quiet for two seconds. Then Yu Qing heard Xiang Changge’s cool voice. “Let’s go, Miss.”
Yu Qing: “!”
Too much. This was too much. Did she think Yu Qing was joking? Did she not realize how serious this was? She was firing her!
Yu Qing snapped her head up and glared. “I said, I’m going to fire you!”
Who was going anywhere? If someone had to go, it should be her. This was her house.
Yu Qing sat on the edge of the bed; Xiang Changge stood.
With Xiang Changge’s height, Yu Qing had to crane her neck to meet her eyes.
Under that downward gaze, she could feel her own momentum shriveling.
Just as she was cursing herself and wondering if she ought to stand on the bed, she heard Xiang Changge say in an unreadable tone, “Are you sure you want to fire me?”
Yu Qing fell briefly silent.
What did that mean? Could it be that Xiang Changge didn’t actually want to be her butler, and was acting like this on purpose just to provoke her into firing her?
Was that her real goal—to make Yu Qing dismiss her?
It was certainly possible.
She was still so young. She must have had lots of things she wanted to do. Being tied to this lonely mountain year‑round, working as her butler without a single day off—she was probably deeply unwilling.
According to the contract she’d signed with Yu Qing’s parents, they had sponsored her on the condition that she come back to serve as Yu Qing’s butler. But if Yu Qing were the one to fire her, she could leave with a clear conscience.
She might even be owed compensation.
All these thoughts flashed through Yu Qing’s mind at once.
And somehow, the word “sure,” which had been at the tip of her tongue, refused to come out.
Not that Xiang Changge was waiting for an answer.
Seeing her fall silent, clearly lost in some internal brainstorm, Xiang Changge simply took her by the elbow, lifted, and guided her off the bed, half‑pushing, half‑leading her down to the flower hall.
Seated on the sofa there, watching brand models file by in front of her one after another, Yu Qing slumped back, her gaze unfocused as she sank into thought.
Hadn’t she just been talking about firing Xiang Changge? How had she ended up here instead?
“……”
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to fire her. She just didn’t want to let the other woman get her way so easily.
If Xiang Changge didn’t want to be a butler, she could have *talked* to her. As for the penalty fees—Yu Qing hardly lacked the money. But how could she deliberately provoke Yu Qing like this to make her angry enough to fire her?
If that was what she wanted, then Yu Qing would certainly not indulge her.
If she wanted to resign, she could beg for it nicely. Otherwise, there was nothing to talk about.
And if Yu Qing did let her go, would she really still have to pay some kind of severance? Money didn’t grow on trees. She wasn’t about to throw it away.
“Miss? Young Miss?”
Her mind still running wild, Yu Qing only came back to herself when a familiar voice reached her ears. She blinked.
Looking to the side, she saw the very person she’d been brooding over bent slightly toward her. “Did you like anything from this batch?”
Yu Qing: “……”
What had the last batch even looked like?
Taking in her empty stare, Xiang Changge knew there was no point in asking.
She turned to the smiling brand rep instead. “Please reserve numbers one, five, six, and twelve in Miss Yu’s size.”
The rep hurried to jot the numbers down.
Yu Qing: “……”
So what, exactly, was she doing here?
After two more rounds of half‑hearted picking, Yu Qing was just suppressing a yawn and preparing to get up and go back to bed when she heard a rep ask, “Butler Xiang, would you like to choose a few more pieces for yourself?”
She shifted in her seat instead.
Sensing the movement, Xiang Changge glanced her way, one brow rising slightly.
So the young miss wasn’t interested in choosing her own clothes, but she was happy enough to watch someone else pick theirs?
Still, any spark of interest from Yu Qing was a good thing. Right now, Xiang Changge’s goal was to expose her to as much of the outside world as possible.
“Miss, would you help me choose a couple of ‘butler outfits’?”
She turned to Yu Qing.
Yu Qing lifted her lids with lazy disdain. “What’s there to choose? Just take everything you like.”
That was what she said. But in the pauses while the models were changing, she still found herself looking Xiang Changge over several times, considering what kind of outfit might suit her best.
At the moment, Xiang Changge was standing with a small knot of brand reps, tablet in hand as they went over the order list.
At 173 centimeters, plus four‑centimeter heels, she would have stood out in an ordinary crowd. Here, however, surrounded by fashion reps and models all starting at 178, her height wasn’t what drew the eye.
The brand reps were all immaculately turned out, their heels starting at seven centimeters, whereas Xiang Changge’s face was completely bare—yet she was the one who commanded attention.
With her hair swept up, her entire face was exposed.
The lines of her jaw were smooth and clean, her brows naturally shaped, her nose high and straight, her lips lightly pressed together. Perhaps because of her light eyes, there was a wild, predatory beauty about her when she watched others in silence.
Even so, the first thing people noticed about her was not her features, but the quiet, fathomless air she carried.
She was slender but not frail. Her waist was narrow, her legs long, her back straight, the fingers holding the tablet long and clearly jointed.
Yu Qing remembered how that same person had, just earlier, scooped her up like a child.
How their bodies had been flush together, the warmth seeping through the layers of fabric, how that cool ear had rested in her palm.
She found herself dazed.
Only when the person she was staring at turned slightly, glancing back toward her, did Yu Qing’s lashes flutter and her gaze dart away.
It felt as if everything about her invited curiosity.
Her mind. Her actions. Her very being.
Yu Qing took a sip of the warm water on the side table, stubbornly tamping down the sudden flicker of interest.
She was just an overbearing butler with too many little schemes. There was nothing to be curious about.
Clearly she’d just been seeing too few people and was bound to stare a bit at anyone new.
Xiang Changge had no idea what Yu Qing was thinking. She was only worried the other woman might not be able to handle sitting here too long with her weak health, and had been watching her closely.
Seeing that her complexion was still fine, she said nothing, only sped up the pace of choosing.
Maybe picking outfits for Yu Qing had cured her decision paralysis a little, or maybe Yu Qing’s offhand “just take everything you like” had bolstered her confidence. Either way, Xiang Changge grew much more decisive.
She had just finished checking off her own selections on the tablet when she heard Yu Qing, eyes dull as ever, rattle off seven or eight numbers in a bored voice.
After comparing Yu Qing’s list with her own, Xiang Changge found quite a bit of overlap. She held her tongue and simply chose to take them all.
For Yu Qing, she had selected twelve outfits. Yu Qing herself added two more, making fourteen in total. For Xiang Changge’s “butler wardrobe,” from formal to casual to refined, they ended up with over forty sets.
Staring at the long list of numbers, Xiang Changge was quiet for a moment.
With a ratio like this, who was the real young miss here?
Yu Qing glanced over at her, frowning at the silence. “What’s wrong? Is there not enough money in the account?”
The butler had full access to a Yu family account for daily expenses and household purchases, with the bank transferring a set amount from Yu Qing’s personal funds every month. If spending ever exceeded the limit, the butler could report to Yu Qing at month’s end for reimbursement.
In other words, the butler had considerable authority and funds to manage, as long as the monthly statements checked out. Most of the time, Yu Qing couldn’t be bothered to look at them. She had long since forgotten how much the monthly limit even was.
Seeing Xiang Changge hesitate, she instinctively assumed the account was short.
Before Xiang Changge could answer, Yu Qing turned to Aunt Yang. “Go get my card. Put it on that.”
Xiang Changge: “……”
For someone who looked so frail, she certainly had her moments.
Catching the starry‑eyed looks the models and brand reps were sending Yu Qing, Xiang Changge quickly stopped Aunt Yang. “That’s all right. There’s enough in the account.”
She had simply never seen such a long bill before. The numbers looked less like amounts of money and more like telephone numbers. It was enough to give anyone complicated feelings.
Yu Qing gave her a curious glance, but since she’d said it was fine, she let it go.
With the clothes chosen, Yu Qing rose, steadying herself on the arm of the sofa. She was just about to head out when Xiang Changge’s voice drifted after her. “Since we’ve picked outfits today, when would Miss like to choose shoes and accessories? I’ll schedule with the brands in advance.”
Yu Qing: “!”
There was more?
She had already been bored almost to sleep. Why did she have to waste time on more of this?
“You pick. You don’t have to ask me.”
With that, she quickened her pace out of the hall.
They hadn’t asked her what time she wanted to pick clothes today—why should they ask about tomorrow? She had no desire to make work for herself.
Afraid she’d be forced to hear some appointment time for “shoe and accessory selection,” Yu Qing hurried to the elevators. Only when she’d stepped inside and pressed the button for the third floor did she let out a breath, hand over her heart.
So tiring. It was exhausting.
Why did she have to do any of this? The old butler had never made her.
Sagging a little, she sighed.
Was it just that this new butler was still young and full of energy?
Maybe she should find something else for her to do. Have her take some kind of certification course or something; then she could at least get a break.
She hadn’t yet figured out why, when she clearly found the woman so annoying, she wasn’t choosing to fire her—but was instead planning how to keep her busy—when the elevator chimed.
As she stepped out onto the third floor, the elevator beside hers also dinged.