Sister, can I be a maid too?

Jiang Yubai answered with arrogance and self-righteousness.

He really hadn't seen enough.

These two sisters were already exceptional beauties, pleasing to the eye on their own. Now, standing side by side, they resembled two lotus flowers growing side by side, complementing each other. The combined beauty was enough to make one's heart race.

Of course, he simply admired the beauty of the United States and had absolutely no other intentions.

Lin Jianxia clearly underestimated this guy's thick skin, and was speechless for a moment after being choked by his blunt answer.

She glared at the scoundrel with some annoyance, then simply ignored him, picked up the ingredients at her feet, and turned to walk towards the kitchen.

Pah! Shameless!

Jiang Yubai watched Lin Jianxia's angry retreating figure with a hint of regret. Just as he looked away, a somewhat familiar spiral notebook was handed to him.

"Hello, Jiang Yubai!"

He looked up and met another pair of clear eyes.

The girl holding the notebook had clear eyes with a hint of barely perceptible curiosity; her pupils were bright and sparkling, like black pebbles soaking in a stream.

For some reason, Jiang Yubai's heart skipped a beat without warning.

"Hello, hello..."

He subconsciously looked away, touched the back of his neck, and felt his face getting hot.

But then, he cursed himself inwardly for being spineless, composed himself, and prepared to speak: "Um, Lin..."

"Jiang! Yu! Bai!"

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Jianxia rushed out of the kitchen, glaring at him angrily.

"Don't you dare harass my sister!"

"What do you mean I'm harassing you...?"

Jiang Yubai's lips twitched, and he subconsciously looked at Lin Tingwan, only to find that the girl had lowered her eyes at some point and was eating rice in small bites.

......Um?

"Lin Tingwan?"

Jiang Yubai called out tentatively, with a hint of doubt in his voice.

But Lin Tingwan continued eating quietly, without responding to his calls.

Instead, Lin Jianxia frowned and stood in front of her sister with a wary expression.

Blinking, Jiang Yubai suddenly understood something.

Wow... So, it turns out her older sister has explicitly forbidden her from talking to her?

That was just now...

Jiang Yubai felt a playful urge and feigned displeasure, saying:

"Hey, Lin Jianxia, ​​your sister and I are deskmates. We usually have a lot of fun chatting at school. Now you can't even say a few words to her?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Tingwan, who had been silently eating with her head down, paused, slightly raised her eyes, and looked at her older sister.

Lin Jianxia stiffened upon hearing this.

She tried to remain calm, but her eyes involuntarily darted around, and her voice unconsciously became slightly stammering:

"I...I didn't mean it...I was just afraid that you...afraid that you might say something inappropriate and scare Wanwan."

Seeing her guilty look, Jiang Yubai remained outwardly calm, but in reality, his stomach was about to hurt from laughing, and he had to exert a lot of effort to keep from breaking character.

He made a dissatisfied expression: "Fine, then I'll go back to school and we'll talk when you're not around, is that alright?"

"That's more like it."

Lin Jianxia nodded reluctantly, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

She didn't dare say anything more, quickly pulled out a chair, sat down, and buried her head in her food, starting to eat her late lunch.

The younger sister, Lin Tingwan, continued to eat in small bites, while the older sister, Lin Jianxia, ​​initially restrained herself a little, but gradually stopped caring about her image.

Perhaps because she was really hungry, she moved her chopsticks very quickly, her cheeks bulging, as if she wanted to swallow the pent-up frustration in her heart with the food.

Jiang Yubai sat opposite them, resting his chin on his hand, watching the two with great interest.

Only after Lin Tingwan quietly lowered her eyes, and Lin Jianxia had almost finished eating, did he speak:

"So... what exactly is going on?"

Lin Jianxia was sipping her chicken soup when she heard this and her body stiffened slightly.

Perhaps she had been too relaxed while bantering and joking with Jiang Yubai, or perhaps the warmth of the chicken soup was simply too comforting, but now she suddenly realized—

The relationship between the two was not simply that of classmates.

Sitting opposite me is the landlord of this building; and I am just a tenant who is behind on rent and has failed to keep my promises.

Lin Jianxia put down her chopsticks and straightened her back.

"Thank you for the meal..." Lin Jianxia pursed her lips, her voice slightly hoarse, "And... the groceries you bought for us."

Jiang Yubai didn't speak, but raised an eyebrow and continued listening.

He knew that what followed was the main event.

Lin Jianxia lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously twisting together, clearly finding it difficult to speak the words that were about to come.

After a moment of silence, she finally spoke in a hoarse voice: "Um... I only have eight hundred yuan on me right now. Could... I have a few more days to pay the rest?"

As soon as she finished speaking, the girl's ears turned slightly red with embarrassment.

Even with the three bags of vegetables Jiang Yubai bought, after covering the food expenses, she could only come up with a maximum of eight hundred yuan.

Hearing this, even though he was somewhat prepared, Jiang Yubai still couldn't help but speak:

"Give us a few more days?"

Lin Tingwan, standing to the side, glanced at Jiang Yubai, then at her own sister, a hint of worry in her eyes.

“Yes,” Lin Jianxia took a deep breath, her voice trembling slightly, “This time…this time I will definitely raise the money.”

Jiang Yubai chuckled and said, "Hey Lin, didn't you say the same thing last week?"

After a long silence, Lin Jianxia finally spoke softly, "I understand... My sister and I will be moving out today..."

"Stop, stop, stop," Jiang Yubai interrupted her helplessly. "Why are you in such a hurry? I didn't say I disagreed."

Lin Jianxia paused for a few seconds upon hearing this, then her eyes lit up slightly: "You... agreed?"

“I didn’t say I agreed.” Jiang Yubai shrugged.

Lin Jianxia: "......"

Even in her current predicament, she couldn't help but feel an urge to punch this guy.

"So what exactly do you want?" Lin Jianxia asked through gritted teeth.

Jiang Yubai leaned back in his chair and said helplessly:

“Although I am the landlord in name, I am just collecting rent for my mother. If you delay once this month and once next month, it will be difficult to explain to the accounts.”

"Although we are classmates, I can't keep breaking this rule over and over again. You should understand that, right?"

Lin Jianxia's face first turned red, then turned pale.

She knew in her heart that Jiang Yubai, as the landlord, had already agreed to extend the lease out of consideration for their friendship, and it would be shameless for her to ask again now.

But then she heard the other person change the subject:

"So... you have to let me understand the situation first, right? So that I can have an explanation if my mom asks."

Lin Jianxia blinked, her voice hesitant, "What... do you want to know?"

“Simple,” Jiang Yubai snapped his fingers. “First of all, didn’t you say last week that you could pay in full? How come you only have eight hundred yuan left this week? It can’t be… lost, can it?”

Lin Jianxia first glanced involuntarily at her younger sister beside her, bit her lower lip, and finally spoke:

"Towards the end of summer vacation, I found a job as a clerk at Sisyphus Bookstore. My job was to help organize books after school every day. The agreed-upon pay was 1,200 yuan a month..."

She lowered her voice and quietly recounted what had happened.

"...So when I settled the bill yesterday, I only received six hundred. Adding the cash I had on hand, I only had eight hundred in total."

As she finished speaking, Lin Jianxia's tone unconsciously revealed a hint of suppressed anger, mixed with a touch of helpless grievance.

She paused, trying to make her tone more resolute: "I'll look for other odd jobs... I'll definitely make up for it before the end of the month."

After saying that, Lin Jianxia unconsciously bit her lower lip and looked nervously at Jiang Yubai across from her.

She knew in her heart that her and her sister's fate was now entirely in the other party's hands.

But Jiang Yubai did not immediately express his opinion after hearing this; instead, he thoughtfully stroked his chin.

“Wait a minute,” a look of interest suddenly appeared on his face, “you said the name of the bookstore where you worked… what was it again?”

Chapter 18 I'm Just Here to Collect Rent

Saturday afternoon, 3 o'clock sharp.

Jiang Yubai stepped into the bookstore, and the wind chimes on the lintel rang crisply.

The proprietress behind the counter looked up when she heard the voice, saw a young man who looked like a student, and then lowered her head again to continue eating sunflower seeds.

Jiang Yubai didn't say anything, put his hands in his pockets and walked inside, looking around.

The bookstore is small and simply laid out.

To the left, against the wall, is a row of slightly worn bookshelves, piled with a jumble of old books, including literature, textbooks, and general encyclopedias.

On the right, a long table was covered with a tablecloth and piled high with colorful romance novels and comic books. Several students in school uniforms were gathered there, picking and choosing.

The counters further inside specialize in all kinds of stationery and notebooks, and there's a small wooden rack next to the door with keychains, postcards and other small items hanging on it.

It's less of a bookstore and more of a hodgepodge of small book stalls, stationery stores, and bookstores.

Jiang Yubai casually flipped through the bookshelf, pulled out a novel, and walked towards the counter.

"Boss, how much is this book?"