Chapter 23

Seeing Bai Manruo silent and staring intently at the curtains, Ji Yingqing followed her gaze. “If you like them, I’ll have Butler Li change yours to a similar style.”

Bai Manruo snapped out of it, realizing the boss had misunderstood. She shook her head. “No need to trouble Butler Li.”

Remembering why she came, Bai Manruo placed the box on the table, carefully took out the bracelet, and asked, “Miss Ji, how do you usually store your bracelets? It’s so precious that I’m afraid I won’t protect it well. It would be such a pity if it were ruined in my hands.” Her voice carried a trace of grievance.

The online comments were all pointing fingers at her. Thinking of those malicious reviews, Bai Manruo unconsciously puffed out her cheeks.

Ji Yingqing’s deep eyes fell on her face, and she pondered for a few seconds.

She took the bracelet, then her slender fingers gripped Bai Manruo’s hand, gently pulling it toward her. Their pale, delicate skin met.

Her left hand suddenly being held caused Bai Manruo’s angry cheeks to deflate instantly, her expression dazed.

“Miss… Miss Ji…” Before she could finish her sentence.

She felt a cold, smooth sensation on her wrist. Looking down, the white jade bracelet was back on her hand.

Ji Yingqing did not withdraw her hand after putting the bracelet on. Her slender, pale fingertips gently stroked the translucent jade. From a certain angle, it looked as if she were caressing Bai Manruo’s hand.

Bai Manruo’s eyelashes flickered. Being touched by those well-defined fingers against her warm skin made her black eyes stare at the bracelet, her mind a blur.

Ji Yingqing applied a slight bit of pressure with her fingers, making the exquisitely carved white jade bracelet spin slowly around the slender wrist.

Ji Yingqing finally let go. Looking at the bracelet on the girl’s hand, her deep eyes shimmered with pleasure; she seemed very satisfied.

As the cool, delicate touch vanished, Bai Manruo suppressed the emotions in her eyes. She lifted her wrist to look at the bracelet and asked worriedly, “Miss Ji, can I really wear this?” If she actually wore it daily, forget cleaning—she’d have to be cautious just to move.

Ji Yingqing didn’t understand her concern. She looked at the bracelet on her hand and said, “Why can’t you wear it? Didn’t you ask me how I usually preserve it?”

Bai Manruo asked back in disbelief, “Pre… preserve it by wearing it on the hand?”

The corners of Ji Yingqing’s mouth curled up as she gave a small nod. “Bracelets are meant to be worn by people.” She paused, lifted her gaze to her, and spoke slowly: “From now on, you aren’t allowed to take it off whenever you feel like it, either.”

Looking into those deep eyes, Bai Manruo seemed bewitched. She agreed without hesitation: “Okay.”

By the time she reacted, the words had already left her mouth.

A flash of amusement crossed Ji Yingqing’s eyes. Seeing that she was about to say something more, Ji Yingqing suddenly rubbed her eyes and said in a sleepy tone, “It’s late; we should get some rest.”

Bai Manruo had no choice but to swallow her words. Seeing the boss so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open, she didn’t want to disturb her further. She said goodnight and returned to her room.

Lying in bed, Bai Manruo raised her left arm, watching the smooth, translucent white jade bracelet sway before her eyes.

She raised her other hand and gently touched the bracelet with her long fingers, the corners of her mouth curling up uncontrollably.

Since the boss put it on her personally, she would wear it.

A smile slowly spread through Bai Manruo’s eyes.

She couldn’t let the boss’s kind intentions go to waste; otherwise, it might hurt the relationship between boss and employee. After all, she still had to work at the castle for a while.

Blinding sunlight streamed through the curtains.

Bai Manruo groggily rubbed her eyes. The first thing she did upon sitting up was check her phone.

…It was actually 12:00 PM.

She hadn’t expected to sleep until noon again. Why hadn’t anyone woken her up? This was probably the only place where a servant could sleep this late without getting fired by the boss.

In fact, she didn’t know that Butler Li had come to the castle at 6:10 AM to wake her up, only to be turned away by Ji Yingqing before she could even knock.

Bai Manruo suddenly felt that her constant thoughts about making money to leave were a bit unfair to such a good boss. Perhaps life wouldn’t even be as comfortable as this after regaining her freedom.

She brushed her teeth while contemplating her reflection in the mirror. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that as long as she worked at the castle, she should fulfill her duties and take good care of the boss during work hours.

Butler Li usually paid little attention to matters outside the castle and Miss Ji, but after hearing the servants gossiping, she realized Bai Manruo had caused such a massive headache for the Young Mistress.

Seeing Bai Manruo once again sleeping until noon, the butler was furious but couldn’t openly reprimand her.

Bai Manruo didn’t notice Butler Li’s expression at all. She ran over and asked, “Butler Li, has Miss Ji gone out?” She had searched the third floor earlier but found no sign of her.

She wanted to take good care of the Young Mistress to make up for the events of the past few days.

Seeing her lack of decorum, Butler Li nearly lost her breath from anger. Spotting the bracelet on her hand, Butler Li’s brow furrowed, and she questioned, “What are you wearing on your wrist? Where did you get that?” Because of the previous celadon vase incident, she had a poor impression of Bai Manruo.

To prevent Butler Li’s prejudice from deepening—even though it was already there—Bai Manruo explained patiently, telling her that Ji Yingqing had given her the bracelet.

Bai Manruo took a leisurely sip of water and said quite candidly, “If Butler Li doesn’t believe me, you can call Miss Ji and ask.”

Butler Li stared at her with a deep frown. She didn’t believe the Young Mistress would give such a thing to a servant. She called right in front of Bai Manruo, but the call went unanswered.

Bai Manruo shrugged and looked at the resentful Butler Li. “Don’t blame me. Miss Ji might be busy. You can ask when she gets back.”

Butler Li’s gaze was sharp enough to bore a hole through her. Since the Young Mistress was out today, she felt it was necessary to properly teach her how to be a good servant of the castle.

Bai Manruo finished her meal unhurriedly, only to find that Butler Li hadn’t left.

Bai Manruo pushed the dishes on the table toward her and asked in confusion, “Butler Li, haven’t you eaten either?” Otherwise, why are you staring at the table? (She left the second half of the thought unsaid).

Butler Li gave her a look of pure disdain. Miss Ji has such good taste; why on earth did she choose her to live in the castle?

Fine, don’t eat then. What’s with that look? Even as dense as she was, Bai Manruo could see the contempt in Butler Li’s eyes.

Butler Li tossed a mop and a rag at her and said coldly, [bailiantales.com]“Because you took leave previously, today it is your turn to clean the castle. Every corner must be spotless. Not a single speck of dust.”

Bai Manruo pinched the rag on the table, the corner of her mouth twitching. “I can do cleaning, but in a castle this big, how can I finish it with just these and a pair of hands?”

Butler Li pushed up her glasses. She knew perfectly well Bai Manruo couldn’t finish it alone; she was just using this as an opportunity to teach her a small lesson, making her realize she was just a servant, not here to enjoy life.

Bai Manruo gripped the mop, trying to negotiate piteously. “But surely we don’t need to use such primitive tools for cleaning? Aren’t there smart cleaning robots?”

Seeing her haggling, Butler Li’s brow furrowed tightly. “Can other houses compare to the castle? AI cleaning is never as meticulous or clean as a human. Besides, if you accidentally break any single thing here, you wouldn’t be able to pay it back even if you went bankrupt.”

Bai Manruo opened her mouth to speak, but Butler Li dropped the line “Have it finished before Miss Ji returns” and left immediately.