Sister, can I become a maid too?

Chapter 158 was just an expression of gratitude... Don't overthink it!

The box was placed in front of Lin Jianxia for a few seconds, but the girl still looked like she hadn't reacted yet.

"For...me?"

She blinked, looking somewhat bewildered.

Lifting her small face to confirm that Jiang Yubai wasn't joking, Lin Jianxia hesitated before reaching out and taking the small box.

Seeing that she was holding the box, looking at it from left to right but not touching it, Jiang Yubai finally couldn't hold back any longer:

"Hey, hurry up and open it! Weren't you just eager to see it? Why are you dawdling now that it's in your hands?"

"Okay, okay, don't rush me!"

The little hedgehog glared at him fiercely before reaching out and carefully unpacking the box.

She looked down and saw a set of off-white cashmere hat and scarf lying quietly in the box. The fabric was soft, and the color was clean and warm.

"...For me?"

Lin Jianxia stared wide-eyed at him in disbelief.

"Mmm... Ah..."

Jiang Yu scratched his chin, feeling somewhat uncertain himself.

After all, Lin Jianxia had knitted scarves for him and Lin Tingwan before, but he hadn't done it himself, so he had been thinking of returning the favor for a while.

He had been preparing this scarf for several days, originally planning to give it to her at a more natural time, but who knew that Lin Jianxia had such sharp eyes and caught him red-handed on the spot.

Now look what's happened, we didn't even have time to come up with a decent reason...

After all, he had hardly ever given gifts to anyone properly, let alone to girls, so it was quite awkward.

Thinking this to herself, she saw Lin Jianxia reach out her hand, her fingertips almost touching the scarf, then suddenly stop, raising her small face warily:

"Hey, Jiang Yubai... this wasn't something you were planning to give to some girl, but I ran into you, so you suddenly said you were going to give it to me?"

Jiang Yubai: "?"

To be honest, he was so angry he laughed.

That's why Lin Jianxia is so adept at it; after hearing these words, his previous subtle embarrassment instantly vanished.

He stretched out his hand impatiently:

"You don't want it? Then give it back to me."

"No!"

Lin Jianxia suddenly jumped two steps away, clutching the box and shouting.

"You gave them all to me!"

"I actually intended to give this to another girl, but you saw it, so I had no choice but to tell you it was for you."

Jiang Yubai solemnly repeated her "reasoning" from earlier.

"I still can't bear to part with it, I need to return it quickly."

Lin Jianxia finally realized what was going on, and the expression on her face gradually brightened, even showing a hint of barely concealed smugness.

"No, no, I don't want to pay it back!"

—This is... a return gift for the scarf I received before, right?

She blinked, her gaze falling on the hat on the other side of the box, and asked curiously:

"Why are there hats too?"

Since the gift had already been given, Jiang Yubai didn't feel too pretentious.

He pointed to the hand-knitted scarf around his neck and explained:

"You knitted this scarf for me before, so I thought I'd give you one too."

"But I definitely can't knit it. If you really want to learn from scratch, by the time you graduate from university... I can probably knit half of it for you."

"So, after looking for a long time, I finally chose this one that suits my taste. It just so happens that the hat is sold together with the bag, so I bought it at the same time."

He didn't know why, but when a simple "we delivered them together" could have explained it all, he ended up reciting such a long string of words as if he were doing something wrong.

Jiang Yu had just finished speaking and raised his head to see Lin Jianxia's reaction when he was knocked back half a step by a soft impact.

A faint lavender scent instantly filled my nostrils, carrying the clean aroma of shampoo and sun-dried shampoo.

Lin Jianxia then threw herself into his arms.

But after only two or three seconds, the girl in his arms suddenly released his grip like a startled animal, took a small step back, turned her face away, and coughed lightly:

"Th-thank you... I... I really like it..."

His voice grew softer and softer until the last few words were almost inaudible, like a soft hum.

Jiang Yubai blinked and hesitated before saying:

"Uh... whatever you like..."

He was still a little taken aback.

Although hugs from Lin Tingwan have become a daily routine, Lin Jianxia's initiative to offer a hug... seems to be a first.

Even though they are twins, their hugs seem completely different.

Lin Tingwan's hugs always carried a soft, affectionate tone, like a clingy person who couldn't bear to part.

Lin Jianxia's embrace contained a reckless courage, but she quickly withdrew after actually touching him.

It really does resemble a little hedgehog that acted impulsively and then curled up its claws in fear afterwards.

Jiang Yubai was still thinking about these random things, and when Lin Jianxia saw that he didn't speak, she quickly added:

"It was just... I was just expressing my gratitude... Please... don't overthink it!"

Before Jiang Yubai could respond, the girl coughed softly, reached out and took the scarf out of the box, carefully holding it in her palm and examining it closely.

The slight, inexplicable embarrassment I felt was quickly replaced by amazement.

The scarf is made of fine cashmere, soft to the touch, with a clean and gentle off-white base and simple knitted patterns embroidered along the edges.

On one corner of the scarf, a small hedgehog is embroidered with light gray thread.

The moment Lin Jianxia saw the hedgehog, she looked over with suspicion:

"Hey, Jiang Yubai, what does it mean by embroidering a hedgehog on this?"

She vaguely heard him mutter something about a little hedgehog, and she felt it was some strange description he was using to subtly criticize her.

Jiang Yubai finally came to his senses. Upon hearing this, he remained expressionless and spoke in a serious tone:

"It doesn't mean anything. Don't you think hedgehogs are cute?"

Lin Jianxia blinked and looked at the little hedgehog—the little guy was curled up, and it really did have a cute and adorable look.

"It is cute, indeed..." she muttered.

Before he could finish speaking, Jiang Yubai nodded and patiently guided him:

"Yes, yes, the little hedgehog is cute, and you're quite cute too. I think we're a good match."

—Well, it's definitely not because a puffy-up hedgehog with its bristling fur looks good or anything like that.

"Don't say such weird things!"

Lin Jianxia tried to glare at him, but her flushed cheeks and watery eyes made it seem harmless.

W-what?!

Why would you suddenly say something like that!

At least... at least give us some preparations!

Lin Jianxia suddenly felt a little uneasy again.

Could it be because of that hug I just gave him... that...?

-----------------

Jiang Yubai felt that Lin Jianxia's reaction was a bit strange.

This guy just stared intently at the scarf in his hand, his face flushing red and then turning pale, and it always felt like his eyes were about to spin around and make him dizzy.

—Could it be that you don't like it? That can't be...

"Lin Jianxia?" Jiang Yubai asked tentatively.

After being called twice more, Lin Jianxia seemed to suddenly wake up from some kind of reverie, and blankly replied with an "Ah".

"Uh...you don't like it?"

Jiang Yubai pointed to the scarf in her hand, his tone somewhat hesitant.

"Should I go and get a different one?"

Lin Jianxia blinked, and it took her several seconds to understand what he meant. She quickly shook her head.

"No, no need! I like it very much!"

As she spoke, she reached out to try to wrap a scarf around herself, but with one hand still holding the box, it was rather clumsy to use only one hand.

Jiang Yubai watched her struggle for so long, almost turning herself into a caterpillar, and finally couldn't help but speak:

"How about I help you set up the fence?"

Lin Jianxia paused, seemingly realizing that this was indeed inconvenient, and then slowly said "Oh".

Jiang Yubai didn't hesitate, reaching out to take the tangled scarf from her and gently patting her shoulder:

"Hey, pull your collar down a little."

Lin Jianxia obediently did as she was told.

Jiang Yubai straightened the scarf and carefully helped her wrap it around her neck.

His fingers would occasionally brush against the girl's slender nape or her slightly cool earlobe, and he could always feel her tremble slightly, but he said nothing.

After tidying up the scarf, Jiang Yubai picked up the off-white hat and gently pressed it against her head.

A snowman...

Oh no, a cute and adorable young girl has already dressed up.

Jiang Yubai took two steps back, looked him up and down, and a hint of amazement involuntarily appeared in his eyes.

The girl was wrapped in a thick down jacket, with a beige scarf loosely wrapped around her neck twice, making her neck appear even more slender.

A matching plush hat was softly placed on her head, and a few strands of dark hair slipped out from under the brim, cascading gently over her shoulders.

Her fair skin, accentuated by the warm-toned clothing, appeared even cleaner and more translucent, making her look like an incredibly cute snowman doll.

—They say clothes make the man and a saddle makes the horse, and when Xia An calms down and dresses up, she actually looks quite cute.

—Yeah, it must be because I have good taste.

Lin Jianxia had no idea what was going on in this guy's mind, but she looked at him nervously and asked in a low voice:

"Um... is it good-looking?"

Jiang Yu was disappointed:

"Hey, are you questioning my taste? Why don't you just take a picture with your phone and see for yourself?"

Lin Jianxia then realized what was happening, and hurriedly rummaged through her bag for her phone, switched it to selfie mode, and carefully examined the screen.

Seeing her eyes widen slightly, and her expression showing a hint of delight, Jiang Yu chuckled twice:

"How is it? Pretty, right?"

Lin Jianxia happily turned off the screen, but deliberately wrinkled her little nose and let out a soft hum:

"It's alright... just so-so."

"It's just so-so~"

Jiang Yubai was sarcastic and unfriendly.

"I think the scarf and hat are definitely nice; the reason they're just so-so is something else."

Lin Jianxia was stunned for a few seconds, then her eyes widened:

"Jiang Yubai! Are you saying I'm not good-looking!?"

"I didn't say that," Jiang Yubai immediately distanced himself, "I was just helping you analyze where the 'just so-so' reason might be."

"you!"

Lin Jianxia gritted her teeth, then snorted and turned her face away.

"Pah, I'll let it go since you gave me a gift."

—Pah, arrogant.

However, Jiang Yubai dared not say these words aloud; he simply took the empty box from her hand.

"I'll throw that box away for you."

Before she could finish speaking, Lin Jianxia hurriedly snatched the box back.

"No, no!"

Jiang Yubai was taken aback: "What do you need an empty box for?"

"Can't I use it to store things?"

Lin Jianxia held the box to her chest with a self-righteous air, looking wary as if to say, "Try taking it again."

"Okay, okay, okay..."

Jiang Yubai glanced at the empty box, then belatedly realized—

Just now, Lin Jianxia couldn't tie the scarf with one hand. Actually, I only needed to help her carry the box... There was no need for me to help her tie it myself, right?

Well, anyway, that idiot Lin Jianxia didn't notice anything wrong.

Thinking about it this way, Jiang Yubai immediately felt at ease again.

"Hey, Jiang Yubai..."

Turning her head, she saw Lin Jianxia hesitantly speak:

"Um... by the way, did you buy it for Wanwan?"

Late?

"No, she already has the scarf you knitted, right?" Jiang Yubai thought for a moment, "You mean the hat? Or should I pick out another one for her?"

"No, no!"

Lin Jianxia hurriedly waved her hand in a panic.

"I... I was just asking casually. She already has a scarf, she doesn't need to buy another one!"

"Um, weren't we supposed to be buying New Year's goods? If we dawdle any longer, we'll be late coming back."