Trending Again – Chapter 3

An Assistant Is Someone Who Helps Those Who Can’t Take Care of Themselves

Si Meng had just bent down to pick up her suitcase when she saw a maid beside her snatch it away before she could. Si Meng fell into deep thought. Sure enough, choosing this suitcase in the first place had been a mistake.

The butler gave a few instructions, then led Si Meng to the guest room on the right side of Lin Hanyue’s bedroom. “From now on, you’ll be responsible for Miss’s three meals a day. You must be available whenever she calls…”

            

Si Meng couldn’t help muttering under her breath, “With all these maids, she still needs more people to boss around? Talk about princess disease¹.”

The moment the words left her mouth, a figure appeared in the doorway. An icy voice drifted from behind her. “Sounds like you have quite a few complaints about me. Uncle Wang, find her an etiquette teacher. She needs to learn some manners.”

Si Meng gritted her teeth. After all these years, this woman still had the same insufferable habits.

            

Si Meng dozed off while listening to the etiquette teacher lecture her on the complete guide to pleasing a wealthy woman. She was now fully aware of the situation: under someone’s eaves, one must lower one’s head² — in a rich woman’s embrace, one had to coo “baby” on command.

At exactly six o’clock, the butler came upstairs to fetch Si Meng, drilling her with warnings: his Miss had a weak stomach and had to eat on time. No spicy food. Light flavors only.

Si Meng took the recipe book and gained a general understanding of Lin Hanyue’s tastes. Weak stomach? She began mentally listing ingredients that could nourish the stomach.

            

Butler Wang had no idea why his Miss would take a liking to this little white face³ who lived off their looks. But according to the file, this yellow-haired girl Si Meng was actually an internationally top-tier S-level Nutritionist⁴. Plenty of celebrities had come begging for her cooking — a single dish was worth a fortune and hard to come by.

Si Meng went downstairs to find Lin Hanyue lounging like a lord, legs crossed, watching the news. She didn’t even spare Si Meng a glance when she came down. Si Meng fumed. This is your goddess’s true nature. That whole noble, icy, cool beauty persona? Doesn’t exist.

As Si Meng picked ingredients from the fridge, the maids in the kitchen pointed and whispered, clearly unhappy about her working in their space.

            

Ever since Si Meng stepped foot in the Lin residence, the entire household had been buzzing with gossip that she was Miss’s little lover. Look at that fair, delicate face — she was clearly only good for one thing in bed. And now this little white face didn’t know her place, getting on Miss’s nerves the moment she arrived. They’d show her a thing or two.

Si Meng reached for a knife, but a maid beside her snatched it away first. She tried to wash vegetables, but another maid stood at the sink washing the same batch for half an hour and refused to move. Si Meng was speechless. These petty tricks? I wouldn’t even bother with them back when I was in the entertainment industry.

Si Meng focused on peeling the Chinese yam. Dietary therapy was the best treatment. She remembered how she’d cured several patients with severe insomnia and depression using food therapy abroad. She didn’t want her archenemy to collapse from stomach problems before she’d even had her comeback.

            

Si Meng couldn’t be bothered with them. What she hated most was people disturbing her while she cooked. She gave a cold laugh. “Move it. If you delay your Miss’s meal and she gets stomach problems, are you going to take responsibility?”

Some of the timid maids quickly made way for Si Meng, but the older ones weren’t so easily intimidated. They reached out to snatch the ingredients from her hands. “Look at you, all soft and delicate. What can you even do? Just go cheer up our Miss and that’s enough.”

Si Meng dodged their dirty hands. She’d worked hard to prepare these ingredients. If they were handled badly, they wouldn’t nourish the stomach — they’d be hard to digest instead.

            

Ignoring the disgruntled older women, Si Meng said smugly, “Your Miss asked me to cook. If you’re not happy, take it up with her.” She quickened her pace, cutting the yam into chunks for flavor absorption, then began mixing her private secret recipe.

One of the maids signaled the others with her eyes. Si Meng paid them no mind, completely immersing herself in the joy of cooking, her mind full of the delighted smiles people would make when they tasted her food.

Suddenly, a maid slammed into Si Meng’s right arm. Si Meng tried to steady her, but felt a sharp sting on her left hand. She didn’t know how the knives on the rack had all fallen at once, but one of the small blades had sliced her finger. Si Meng winced in pain. She was about to give them a piece of her mind when Lin Hanyue, who had been watching TV, rushed in like a shot.

            

Lin Hanyue’s brows were tightly knit, clearly startled by the commotion in the kitchen. “What are you doing?”

Si Meng was holding her injured hand, her eyes red and brimming with tears streaming down her face like a broken kite string. Even the maids beside her were frightened by her pitiful, pear-blossom-in-the-rain⁵ appearance — just a second ago she’d looked like she was about to beat them up.

Lin Hanyue clearly hadn’t expected such a strong reaction. She’d only wanted the servants to bully her a little, to make her submit. But now…

            

Si Meng’s voice trembled with tears. “Hanyue, it hurts. They’re bullying me.”

Lin Hanyue had never liked green tea⁶ types or whimper monsters⁷. But when Si Meng whimpered at her like this, it stirred a strange sense of satisfaction instead.

Not knowing how to comfort her, Lin Hanyue reached out and patted the top of Si Meng’s head. “Be good. Give me your hand. Let me see where you’re hurt.” Si Meng obediently offered her hand. This was the first time she’d seen Lin Hanyue this gentle. Back when they were together, she was always the one fawning over Lin Hanyue, while Lin Hanyue was as tsundere as a little princess.

            

Seeing that the wound was still bleeding, and having no medical knowledge, Lin Hanyue impulsively put Si Meng’s finger in her mouth. Si Meng felt like she’d been struck by lightning. Suppressing her goosebumps, she said, “Um, a Band-Aid would be fine. Uh, saliva can cause infections…”

Before Si Meng could finish, she saw Lin Hanyue’s expression shift. She looked like she’d been amused despite herself.

Lin Hanyue walked over to the maids and said sternly, “She’s my person⁸. How dare you bully her? Confess now, or I’ll check the surveillance footage and charge you with intentional harm.”

            

Two maids immediately fell to their knees before Lin Hanyue, begging for mercy. Both were dismissed on the spot. From then on, no one dared to look down on Si Meng. In fact, some of the younger maids started shipping the Meng Yue CP⁹.

Si Meng caught the box of Band-Aids Lin Hanyue tossed at her. She had no idea why Lin Hanyue was suddenly angry. Baffled, she could only duck back into the kitchen to cook.

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