Chapter 10 Afternoon Conversation The cicadas chirped incessantly on a summer afternoon, the most...

Chapter 10 Afternoon Conversation The cicadas chirped incessantly on a summer afternoon, the most...

On a summer afternoon, the cicadas chirped incessantly, a time when one is most prone to drowsiness. In the warm courtyard, Qingfu leaned against the wall behind the ice basin, nodding her head slowly. A few steps away, behind the desk, Xiao Yanhui was writing furiously.

Thanks to her time in the gifted youth program and the added muscle memory of the original owner, Xiao Yan's handwriting on the paper looked quite neat. At this moment, the paper was filled with writing, which was a business plan for the shop.

As he was writing, he suddenly heard a thud in his ear. He turned around and saw that Qingfu, half asleep and half awake, had stumbled and bumped his head on the wall.

A sharp pain shot through his head, and Qingfu cried out in a daze before realizing that he had actually fallen asleep while on duty.

Suddenly opening his eyes, Qingfu saw the third girl behind the desk looking at him, covering her mouth and laughing. His face flushed red with embarrassment.

Xiao Yan couldn't help but tease her when she saw her awkward and shy appearance: "I told you to go to the back room to rest for a while, but you didn't go. You insisted on banging your head against the wall here. Do you think you can sleep better standing here?"

Qingfu blushed even more: "Miss~"

With a coquettish and pleading tone, Qingfu noticed that there was only half a cup of tea left on the table. Finally, he found a way to ease the awkwardness and hurriedly went to replace the tea for the girl.

Watching Qingfu's somewhat hurried figure, Xiao Yan chuckled softly again. After spending more than a month together, she was no longer as wary and guarded as she had been at the beginning.

To be honest, when she first transmigrated, what she was most worried about were the original owner's personal maids and aunts, fearing that they might notice something in her daily life.

But now Xiao Yan Hui finds that she seems to have gradually adapted to the original owner. This adaptation does not mean that she perfectly plays the role of the original owner. On the contrary, even if she pays attention, she still cannot match the original owner in certain details.

For example, when they first met, Master Xiao noticed a change in her temperament. If a father can sense a change, a mother naturally can too. These days, the First Madam has said things like, "My son has grown up," and "He's become more mature," and there have been some other changes in her life. I imagine the maids have noticed them as well.

But everyone's reaction was to accept it naturally.

Xiao Yanhui's initial worries turned into understanding—this is a real world.

In real life, as long as you don't do something reckless or outrageous, no one will really pry into the details of minor changes in personality and lifestyle. With this understanding, she gradually became less tense.

"Miss, this is some herbal tea brewed in the small kitchen. This time, I added half a spoonful of honey. Please try it and see if it suits your taste." Qingfu, who went out to refill the tea, returned with a covered bowl with an orchid pattern. The bowl was carefully placed in front of Xiao Yan Hui. There were still some water droplets on the bowl, indicating that it had been chilled.

She picked it up and took a sip. The slightly sweet herbal tea, with its medicinal and grassy aroma, entered her throat, and Xiao Yanhui comfortably squinted her eyes. It was just the sweetness she liked.

See? She said last time that the desserts were a bit too sweet, but today the herbal tea that Qingfu brought has the perfect sweetness. That's normal human thinking.

Qingfu didn't think, "Why has the girl's taste changed? Has she been replaced?" Instead, he thought that the girl's taste had become a bit bland, and he should add less sugar next time.

"Even in this sweltering heat, the young lady doesn't take a break. She writes more diligently than the young men do their homework." Qingfu carefully collected the papers that had just dried, then placed them neatly on the corner of the table and weighed them down with a paperweight.

Rubbing her slightly sore wrists, Xiao Yan sighed and said, "It's finally all done. I suppose Manager Wu has also finished most of the scattered preparations. Now we're just waiting to choose a good day to open for business."

Upon hearing Xiao Yan's reply, Qing Fu glared at a porcelain vase on the cabinet by the wall, his face full of dissatisfaction: "If it weren't for the Second Miss getting there first, our shop wouldn't have been delayed until now, and the Miss wouldn't have had to go through this second ordeal."

"A loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise." Xiao Yan Hui didn't care as much as Qing Fu. In fact, she genuinely felt that being beaten to it was a good thing.

When considering business projects that day, Xiao Yan's first thought was cosmetics, face powder, and soap. There was no way around it; these things were really feasible, profitable, and had development potential.

However, Qibao Street already had a well-established brand with a good reputation – Baihuaxiu Rouge Shop.

This shop targets upper-middle-class customers. Xiao Yanhui already has quite a few Baihuaxiu products in her dressing table and bathroom. Their customer base almost completely overlaps with her own expectations, and the quality of their products is also very good. If she doesn't use some modern methods, Xiao Yanhui is actually a little unsure of herself.

At that time, she was already hesitant, but what finally made her completely give up the idea was not Baihuaxiu, but Xiao Quexian.

The exquisite little porcelain jar on the cabinet contains the beauty powder that Xiao Quexian sent a few days ago, saying it was specially prepared for her newly opened shop.

Indeed, Xiao Quexian's shop also planned to sell rouge and face powder, and she had already announced it herself. Under these circumstances, Xiao Yanhui had no choice but to back down.

Not to mention that Master Xiao would certainly not want to see his two daughters causing trouble again. From a business perspective, Xiao Yan Hui was already somewhat uncertain, and there was really no need to add more difficulties to herself under the current circumstances.

Otherwise, imagine if there were three shops with similar positioning on the same street. If they started to compete fiercely, her inexperienced and novice new shop would probably have a hard time competing with the established brand, Baihuaxiu.

She opened the shop to make money, not to cause trouble. After weighing the options, she simply changed her goal, which led to the previous plan being scrapped. Qingfu was so indignant because he saw her working so hard on the second plan these past few days.

"It's all Cai Die's fault for being such a traitor. The young lady was kind and gave her a second chance, but she just sold out the news about our Qingnuan Courtyard." Qing Fu muttered, puffing out his cheeks.

Unbeknownst to her, Xiao Yan Hui was already hesitant at the time, feeling that the Second Miss had stolen her young lady's excellent business opportunity. She had been angry for Xiao Yan Hui for several days, and she had also repeatedly brought up Cai Die, the one who claimed to have accidentally let slip the secret but was actually the seller.

Even though he had been kicked out of Qingnuan Courtyard, Qingfu still spoke with great hatred when the topic came up again.

Upon hearing Qingfu mention Caidie, Xiao Yan couldn't help but think of the new batch of young maids. Because of Caidie, it was said that Qingfu and Lü'e had become much stricter with them in teaching them manners than before.

......

The back room, the one where the maids and servants on duty would rest temporarily, was bustling with activity at the moment.

Cat and the other three little maids sat obediently in a circle, listening to the head maid, Green Moth, teach them manners. A few steps away, by the sun-shaded window, the needlework lady, Qiu Gu, and the kitchen lady, Aunt Fu, were chatting.

In this kind of weather, there's no cool-down period all afternoon. If we really make these young girls work under the sun, wouldn't that be making them suffer?

However, if they were allowed to play around freely, they would not only become lazy but also cause trouble or spread rumors. With the example of Cai Die, Qing Fu and Lü E decided to keep them in the room to teach them rules and skills.

"You must not enter the young lady's room casually, as our young lady is superstitious about that. You are also not allowed to gossip about what happens in the courtyard. Of course, the most important thing is loyalty. The young lady is kind, but we must also know our limits in our conduct, otherwise we will all go back to where we came from, understand?"

Green-browed maidservants raised their eyebrows and looked at the girls sternly. Faced with such a gaze, the four girls trembled and hurriedly replied that they understood.

"If you understand, you must remember it well. In the future, if you ever have any ulterior motives, just recall what your sister said today."

Thinking of the betrayer, Firefly, and the butterfly who initially tried to slack off but was distracted by some snacks, and later leaked information about the girl because of a small gain, Green Moth felt that the new batch of people needed to be properly trained in terms of loyalty and discretion.

“Sister, the fact that you let us stay is a great kindness. We would never have any wicked thoughts.” While the others were nodding in agreement, the slenderest girl suddenly spoke up.

Green Moth looked over and noticed that this was the least noticeable of the four: "Your name is Bamboo?"

Green Moth didn't even remember the girl's name clearly, only vaguely recalling that it was something like "Bamboo," but listening to her speak now, it sounded like she had been to school.

"Sister Green Moth, you can call me Bamboo or Little Bamboo, it's fine with you." After saying that, Little Bamboo grinned. She was of average appearance, but her smile had a kind of sweet and innocent charm that made her seem approachable at first glance.

Seeing this smiling face, Green Moth's tense expression relaxed: "It's good that you know how to be grateful. You've been to school, haven't you?"

"Hehe, I overheard a little bit of my older brother studying at home." Xiao Zhu laughed as if she had gotten a great deal, but the laughter quickly faded: "Later, the family didn't have enough money to support my older brother's studies, so they sold me."

“Sister Xiaozhu…” Cat, standing beside her with slightly red eyes, reached out to take her hand, trying to comfort the older sister who had always taken good care of her.

"Sister Green Moth, I heard that we won't have to do sweeping and cleaning work with Granny Flower next month, is that true?" Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, one of the four chosen from the servants was the most clever. She changed the subject and asked the question she had been wanting to ask.

"That depends on whether you can catch the eye of Aunt Qiu and Aunt Fu." Green Moth exchanged glances with Aunt Qiu and Aunt Fu, who were chatting idly, and did not hide her next plan.

The girl who asked the question showed a hint of disappointment. She thought they could learn from the two head maids. Wasn't it said that the Third Miss's room was severely short of people? Why were they still assigned to needlework and the kitchen?

"Green Moth Girl, Green Moth Girl..." Just then, the old woman guarding the gate hurried over: "I saw from afar that Granny Gui is coming into our courtyard."

"What?" Upon hearing this, Green Moth was startled and quickly stood up.

Wasn't Granny Gui in seclusion on the mountain with the old lady? When did she return? And why is she heading straight for Qingnuan Courtyard? There's a high chance that the old nanny's return is anything but good.

A look of worry crossed Green Moth's face as she hurried toward the Third Sister's study.

A note from the author:

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The ages of these new maids have been slightly adjusted in the previous text, now changed to twelve or thirteen years old.