Chapter 36: What She Told You

"Do you have any idea what the situation at home is like right now? If you aren't going to help, the least you could do is stop causing trouble. Do you want the whole family to end up living on the streets?"

"Mom, it’s not as serious as you're making it out to be," Xu Yanran retorted with dissatisfaction. "We did run into Mrs. Zhu at the mall today, but Xingyue and I left without saying a single word. Lu Yao saw it all happen." As she reached the end of her sentence, her voice dropped. Could it be that Mrs. Zhu was trying to stand up for Lu Yao and intentionally embarrassed Mother Xu?

Mother Xu paused. "Lu Yao was there too?"

Xu Yanran nodded. "Yes. Xingyue had her eye on an outfit, but Mrs. Zhu stepped in, stopped her from buying it, and gave it to Lu Yao instead." At the memory, Xu Yanran felt a surge of irritation. "I don't know what that Mrs. Zhu sees in Lu Yao, but helping her like that is just infuriating."

Mother Xu’s expression darkened. After hearing this, she understood exactly what was going on. "Did you bully her at the mall?" she asked, her tone rising with a hint of anger. The "her" she referred to was none other than Lu Yao. Otherwise, why would Zhu Wenhui have spoken to her in such a cryptic, mocking manner in front of so many people today?

Xu Yanran frowned, unhappy. "Who bullied her? It was clearly her being ungrateful—"

"Enough." Mother Xu cut her off before she could finish. "Lu Yao is not someone without status anymore. Don't go provoking her again, or I’ll deal with you myself." Still, the fact that Zhu Wenhui had bought the clothes from Xu Xingyue just to give them to Lu Yao was unexpected. She would have to find a chance to talk to Lu Yao properly. Perhaps she could persuade her to ask the Xiang family to help the Xu Corporation.

***

Meanwhile, Lu Yao and Cheng Gang returned from the Lidu Mall around one in the afternoon. Inside the villa, Auntie Wu was in the kitchen preparing vegetables. Beside her was the maid who handled the cooking and cleaning at the Golden Copper Villa. She was a native of Hong Kong, dressed in a crisp white uniform, a nanny’s cap, and professional white gloves. She looked to be about forty-two or forty-three, with a round face and black hair tucked neatly into a hairnet. She was efficient and sharp.

In contrast, Auntie Wu, who was in her fifties, seemed out of place, lacking the other woman's polished professionalism. Throughout the morning, the woman hadn't spoken a single word or even acknowledged Auntie Wu, as if she didn't exist. Auntie Wu felt the exclusion, but she said nothing, quietly going about her own chores in the living room and kitchen.

When Lu Yao walked in and set her things down, she saw Auntie Wu sitting alone on a stool in the kitchen. Unaware of the cold treatment Auntie Wu was receiving, she walked over happily. "I'm back, Auntie Wu!"

Auntie Wu, deep in her work, looked up at the familiar voice, her face breaking into a bright smile. "You're back, Miss Lu." She quickly put down the vegetables and stood up. "Are you hungry? Would you like me to make you a bowl of noodles?"

Lu Yao reached out to stop Auntie Wu from opening the refrigerator. "No need, Auntie Wu." Cheng Gang had taken her to a restaurant on the way back, and she was still quite full.

"Miss Lu!" The other maid, who had been wiping down the sink, saw Lu Yao and greeted her. Despite her internal disdain, she forced a polite smile. Only then did Lu Yao notice the other woman.

"Hello," Lu Yao said, nodding politely, though she didn't know the woman well.

"Miss Lu, did you get everything you needed?" Auntie Wu asked with concern. Having never had children of her own, she had worked for the Xu family since she was fifteen and had essentially raised Lu Yao. If not for the tragedy three years ago, things wouldn't have turned out this way. In her heart, she had long ago come to treat Lu Yao as her own daughter. "Young Master Xiang has been in his study all morning. Why don't you go check on him?"

Lu Yao was young and didn't fully understand, but Auntie Wu, with over fifty years of life experience, knew better. As his partner, she hoped Lu Yao would show more care for him to win his heart. Only then could Lu Yao secure her position as the young mistress of the Xiang family and stop others from gossiping behind her back.

Lu Yao blinked. "Has he eaten lunch yet?" *He hasn't been in the study all morning, has he?*

Auntie Wu shook her head. "After you and Assistant Cheng left, Young Master said not to disturb him. He hasn't eaten."

"How can he not eat?" Auntie Wu said anxiously. "He'll ruin his health."

***

Upstairs, in the study, Xiang Zhihua looked up from his files only after Cheng Gang entered. Having spent the entire morning hunched over paperwork, his neck was stiff and aching. He unhurriedly raised his slender fingers to massage the back of his neck.

"Did you get the clothes?" Xiang Zhihua asked casually, though it didn't slow his work pace; if anything, he began flipping through the documents even faster.

"Yes," Cheng Gang replied, hesitating before adding, "The young mistress ran into President Zhu at the mall today."

"The young mistress?" Xiang Zhihua’s pen paused. He raised his eyes to look at Cheng Gang, wondering what that little girl had done all morning to make him stop calling her "Miss Lu" and switch to "Young Mistress." "Was that the little girl's request?"

Cheng Gang, feeling the weight of Xiang Zhihua’s gaze, awkwardly rubbed the bridge of his nose. "No!" he denied hurriedly. "It was my own decision to address her that way." *Hasn't Young Master been sleeping in the same room as her? What's wrong with me calling her that?*

Xiang Zhihua didn't correct him, shifting the focus to Zhu Wenhui instead. "What did she say to you?"

Cheng Gang recounted how Lu Yao had been bullied and harassed by Xu Yanran and Xu Xingyue, and how Zhu Wenhui had intervened. "President Zhu said that since you’ve found such a wonderful girl, you must cherish her and not let any low-lives bully her."

Xiang Zhihua’s gaze darkened. "Give me my phone," he said in a low, steady voice.