Sister, can I be a maid too?

Lin Jianxia met his gaze, then quickly looked away, pouting as she said:

"Otherwise, are you planning to carry these two boxes up to the fifth floor yourself? We don't have an elevator here."

Jiang Yubai blinked, then suddenly released his suitcase and moved to her right. Lin Jianxia immediately turned her head to the left.

He swayed to the left again, and Lin Jianxia immediately turned to the right.

After several rounds of back and forth, Lin Jianxia finally snapped, her ears turning bright red as she glared at him and said:

"Jiang Yubai! Are you moving out or not?!"

The blushing wasn't because Lin Jianxia had any strange feelings for him, and this guy wouldn't be so shy as to avoid eye contact just because he came down to help him move something.

So... there's only one answer left.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yubai stroked his chin and said with a smile:

"Lin Jianxia, ​​all I did was glance at your novel, is it really that big of a deal?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Jianxia's ears turned even redder.

She took a deep breath, strode forward, snatched one of the suitcases, and walked into the stairwell without looking back.

"Hey, wait a minute—" Jiang Yubai quickly followed, "That's pretty heavy, be careful!"

After Jiang Yubai dragged his suitcase up to the fifth-floor platform, he turned around and saw Lin Jianxia still carrying the suitcase, struggling to move it up floor by floor.

He quickly went downstairs, took the box, and carried it back up in one go.

Lin Jianxia leaned against the wall, panting slightly, with beads of sweat on her forehead. She clearly didn't even have the strength to speak.

This box was indeed quite heavy; even he felt it had some weight, let alone Lin Jianxia's small frame.

“Actually, you could have waited for me to come up first,” Jiang Yubai said somewhat helplessly. “Why are you forcing yourself to stay up?”

Lin Jianxia took a few deep breaths, looked up and glared at him: "I came here to help you with your luggage out of kindness, and instead of thanking me, you have to call me a jerk?"

"...I was wrong."

Jiang Yubai raised his hands in surrender, then, as if remembering something, took out a red envelope from his pocket and handed it over:

"Here, this is for you."

Lin Jianxia looked at the red envelope and immediately asked warily, "Why are you giving me a red envelope?"

"A start-of-work bonus? Didn't we say we'd start paying wages today?" Jiang Yubai shrugged. "Do you want it or not? If not, I'll take it back."

Hearing this, Lin Jianxia hesitated for a moment, but still reached out and took the red envelope.

".....Thanks."

"What~?" Jiang Yubai covered his ears with his hands, his tone cheeky, "I~can't~hear~"

Lin Jianxia narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath:

"Thanks--!!!"

Jiang Yubai: "......."

He felt he might have gone deaf.

"What's wrong? What happened?!"

Hurried footsteps came from upstairs. As soon as Li, the landlord, came down the stairs, he looked up and saw Jiang Yubai covering his ears with a complicated expression, and Lin Jianxia standing frozen to the side.

She said "Oh," and turned to go upstairs again.

Lin Jianxia didn't even dare to think about the meaning hidden in that "oh." She grabbed her two suitcases and walked quickly toward her room without looking back, her ears burning red.

Jiang Yu picked at his ear, amused, and followed behind her.

Standing at the door, Lin Jianxia turned around expressionlessly:

"key."

Jiang Yubai took out the keys from his wallet and gave them to her.

Pushing open the door, Lin Jianxia walked into the room carrying her suitcase. Her eyes swept around the room, and she couldn't help but let out a soft "wow".

She had come to see it once before it was repainted. Back then, although it was big, it was a real old house, completely different from what it looked like now.

"How is it? The renovation turned out well, right?" Jiang Yubai shrugged. "The walls have been repainted, and most of the furniture has been replaced."

He put his suitcase aside and gestured for Lin Jianxia to come with him:

"Come on, look over here."

As he spoke, he pushed open the kitchen door, a hint of smugness finally creeping into his voice:

“I made special arrangements for the kitchen—look, the new range hood, the full set of kitchen utensils, and this big refrigerator are all prepared for you.”

Lin Jianxia looked at the brand-new kitchen with some surprise, hesitated for a moment, and then reached out to gently touch the smooth countertop.

A complete set of new knives, in various sizes, hangs on the wall; the cabinet is fully stocked with pots, pans, rice, oil, salt, and all kinds of seasonings, all still labeled.

To be honest, as someone who truly enjoys cooking, Lin Jianxia found it hard not to be tempted.

As for the kitchen in her room... it was more like a cubicle with a gas stove than a kitchen, without even a range hood.

"Is there anything else missing? I'll have landlord Li fill it in," Jiang Yubai asked.

Lin Jianxia came to her senses: "No, nothing's missing... It's fine."

It's not so much that she has nothing missing, but rather that she has too much; she doesn't even know what some of the knives are for.

“That’s good, right? Okay,” Jiang Yubai nodded, took a broom from outside the door and handed it to her. “Here, little maid, it’s time to get to work.”

"..."

Lin Jianxia looked down at the broom in her hand, remained silent for a few seconds, and then said in a low voice:

"A maid is a maid, why did you add the word 'little'?"

Jiang Yubai picked up the mop, weighed it in his hand, and shrugged.

"Don't you think it's cute to add a little bit in front of something? For example, 'You pig' is an insult, but 'You little pig' feels cute."

He suddenly chuckled: "For example... Xiaojian Xia?"

"If you call me that again, I'll shove a broom in your mouth!" Lin Jianxia immediately bristled.

“Alright, alright—” Jiang Yubai readily agreed, “Then, Miss, let’s get started.”

Although it was repainted, the landlord, Li, had previously had someone do a simple cleaning, so the house wasn't particularly dirty.

Lin Jianxia and Jiang Yubai took turns sweeping and mopping, working together to thoroughly clean the house in no time.

After finally throwing the mop into the bathroom, Jiang Yubai glanced at the time, clapped his hands, and said:

"Okay, there's still some time before noon, let's go shopping, buy some clothes and stock up on some groceries."

"Buy clothes?" Lin Jianxia blinked. "Buy what clothes?"

What else can I buy?

Jiang Yubai paused, then gave her a strange look:

"Since she's a maid... then of course she has to wear a maid outfit."

Chapter 36 Oh~~ Is it about choosing clothes for your boyfriend?

Maid outfit?!

Lin Jianxia's eyes widened, and she took a step back, raising her hands to protect herself.

"I don't want to wear it!"

Jiang Yubai looked puzzled: "Why aren't you wearing anything?"

"We made a pact: I'll only be responsible for cooking and daily chores, and I won't do anything else... anything else!" Lin Jianxia glared at him.

"What do you mean by 'messy things'? Isn't this normal?" Jiang Yubai asked, puzzled.

—Where is the normality?!

Before Lin Jianxia could retort, Jiang Yubai began counting on his fingers, explaining in a serious tone:

“Look, you have to wear an apron to work in a coffee shop, a uniform to work as a waitress in a hotel, and even a school uniform to go to school.”

"So...isn't it normal for maids to wear maid outfits? It's just work attire."

Lin Jianxia almost fainted from anger at his twisted logic:

"You're just trying to satisfy your wicked fetish! Who makes their classmate wear a maid outfit?!"

"Do you still want me to wear those light, flowing dresses, bow while holding a cup of red tea and say 'Please enjoy, Master,' get up early every morning to tie your tie, and draw your bathwater every night, serving you with all my heart like in a comic book?!"

"...It's fine if you fantasize, but why do you have to go into such detail?"

Jiang Yubai looked utterly astonished:

"Hey Lin Jianxia, ​​you read a lot of weird stuff... By the way, do you read any serious comics?"

Lin Jianxia's expression stiffened, and she gritted her teeth, saying:

"I'm not wearing it anyway, whoever wants to wear it can wear it!"

Jiang Yubai looked at her, while Lin Jianxia also stared back, meeting his gaze without backing down.

"Pfft... You actually believe that?" Jiang Yubai finally couldn't hold back and laughed, "Even if I wanted to buy one, there probably aren't any maid outfits for sale on the street, right?"

For him, the term "maid" was more of a joke.

After all, he wasn't a real young master, nor did he have any special fantasies, and he certainly wasn't so obsessed as to want someone to serve him in a maid outfit.

Ultimately, all Jiang Yubai really wanted was Lin Jianxia's excellent cooking skills.

"......"

Upon hearing this, Lin Jianxia's expression froze.

She paused for a few seconds, narrowed her eyes, and spoke with the calm before a storm:

"So what clothes are you planning to buy?"

"Of course these are my own clothes," Jiang Yubai shrugged. "I didn't bring a lot of clothes with me, so I'll take this opportunity to buy some new ones."