Xiao Feng rushed through the door and saw Lin Yuchan hanging her head dejectedly, not daring to look directly at the young master, speaking with a troubled expression.

Xiao Feng felt relieved inside, eagerly looking up at the young master, waiting for him to question: “Where are the pastries? That big box of pastries?”

Then Xiao Feng could feign surprise and say, I left the pastries in the kitchen yesterday, wrapped well in oil paper, hung up high where you could see them upon entering—they couldn’t possibly have been eaten by rats, so how could they be missing?

She had already coordinated with the kitchen staff, so when the time came, everyone would have the same story—the pastries went missing when Big Foot Girl was “filling in.”

The young master was a noble who didn’t have that much time to investigate and solve cases. Moreover, the young master protected his people and would trust the words of familiar servants. Big Foot Girl would suffer then.

Xiao Feng happily rehearsed the script in her mind, just waiting for Big Foot Girl to defend herself.

Who knew Lin Yuchan didn’t speak at all? Seeing Xiao Feng arrive “just in time” without the slightest trace of illness, she understood eighty percent of what was happening.

This girl was bad, but not clever about it. Other villains knew to “harm others for personal gain”—what benefit did this affair bring her?

However, she couldn’t tear off the facade either. If she dared speak the truth, wouldn’t the young master and his guests vomit all over the floor? Lin Yuchan would still be the unlucky one.

She decided to scare Xiao Feng first. Unhurriedly pointing at the remaining “chicken nuggets” in the box, she smiled: “The young master asked me where these things came from…”

Xiao Feng followed her finger and looked over. Her face turned pale, she felt dizzy, leaned against the wall, and slid down, slowly kneeling.

Although crushed, kneaded flat, and deep-fried, she still recognized without effort that this was her daily midnight snack…

Greasy, sticky, with the smell of congealed oil—actually not delicious, but after all, it was secretly brought from the kitchen…

Big Foot Girl wasn’t playing by the rules. How—how dare she bring the “evidence” of her food theft here? She dared!

Xiao Feng’s first reaction was that Big Foot Girl was making false accusations, dragging Xiao Feng down into mutual destruction.

But why was the young master still smiling?

Xiao Feng panicked, suddenly felt the urge to urinate, and said frantically: “Young master, spare me! For the sake of my years of service… it was all her idea…”

Lin Yuchan raised her voice: “…this is Sister Xiao Feng’s family recipe, made into pastries using various precious ingredients. Today she asked the young master to try something fresh. Xiao Feng said, what’s so special about Western pastries? You can buy them at any restaurant. Her skills are unique and can bring honor to the Qi residence.”

Young Master Qi was delighted to hear this: “Exactly, exactly! Today you’ve brought me honor!”

He walked over and patted Xiao Feng’s shoulder encouragingly: “Xiao Feng, when guests come in the future, you’ll make this for me too—hey, does this pastry have a name?”

Xiao Feng felt dizzy and top-heavy. The young master’s pat made her shrink down a head, like a gambler who lost everything suddenly having his debts forgiven by the house—for a moment she was bewildered and didn’t know what to think, only managing a foolish “Mm.”

After a long while, she suddenly realized something, exclaimed “Aiya,” took small steps back to the side, and said quietly: “Young master honors me, I… I…”

The young master’s group of friends joined in the fun, laughing: “Since this pastry has no name, why doesn’t the young master bestow one? What’s this servant girl called? Xiao Feng? Then let’s call it Phoenix Cake…”

Another said: “Wrong, wrong! A mere little servant girl—how could she bear such a grand name? Phoenix is commonly called a chicken, and I see that this cake’s shape is also like a little chicken. Why not call it Chicken Cake?”

“Mm, not bad, not bad—vulgarity with elegant interest.”

The young master smiled at Xiao Feng: “How’s this name?”

Xiao Feng’s head was swelling—how could she speak? She only knew how to nod randomly.

She stole glances at Lin Yuchan from the corner of her eye. Big Foot Girl looked at her happily once, then quietly took her leave amid the commotion.

Xiao Feng won the young master’s favor. The young master specifically asked her name and rewarded her with a bolt of cloth to make clothes.

Xiao Feng sat on the bed, hugging that bundle of glossy black silk, kissing and looking at it, loving it immensely.

She suddenly put down the cloth and came before Lin Yuchan.

“Hey, Big… that Lin Ba Mei.” She said dryly, “You were quite clever today, knowing how to use my things in an emergency.”

She had thought her secret eating would be exposed, but after Lin Yuchan’s manipulation, she instead became the young master’s meritorious servant. Xiao Feng had rolled from despair to wild joy today, and finally became polite to Lin Yuchan, even somewhat afraid of her.

Xiao Feng didn’t know whether Lin Yuchan had seen through her “conspiracy” to frame her. But since Lin Yuchan hadn’t come to settle accounts, Xiao Feng went with the flow and didn’t mention it, treating it as an accident.

Lin Yuchan was washing her own clothes and replied casually: “Are you still having diarrhea? Do you want some tea?”

Xiao Feng shuddered all over, seeing her clear gaze held no intention of settling scores later.

However, Xiao Feng still couldn’t understand several things. She clearly hadn’t shown her a good face—why did Big Foot Girl repay evil with kindness? Repaying evil with kindness was one thing, but that fried pastry was her invention—why give the credit to herself? Where in the world was there such a foolish person? If she was foolish, why was she so clever when deceiving the young master?

Lin Yuchan saw her confusion and said lightly, “That credit is useless to me.”

She felt she didn’t belong in the Qi residence. The young master’s favor was worthless to her. But for Xiao Feng, who would likely never leave the Qi residence in her lifetime, it was a great life opportunity.

She had never intended to “fight” with these equally unfortunate servant girls. Besides, what was Xiao Feng’s little bit of malice? It was just a middle school level “class struggle” of hiding someone’s homework.

Lin Yuchan dried her hands, looked at Xiao Feng, and said seriously: “We servants should help each other get through our days. After a day of hard work, we’re so tired—we need to find ways to make each other more comfortable. There are no parents in the residence to care for us, so we must rely on these sisters around us.”

Xiao Feng was slightly stunned, thinking of her parents she hadn’t seen for years. Her eyes suddenly reddened, and she nodded involuntarily.

“That… in the past…”

The debt of gratitude to Big Foot Girl could never be repaid, and she had many weaknesses in her hands. Even when the young master said he wanted her to make more of those “Chicken Cakes” in the future, she’d have to ask Big Foot Girl for the recipe—she still needed her help.

Xiao Feng felt that no matter what, she had to apologize to her and put aside past grievances.

“I… you…”

But people aren’t vehicles—you can’t turn wherever you want to go. Xiao Feng still found her big feet unpleasant to look at, still found her otherworldly independent temperament strange. Heartfelt words of apology felt awkward however she tried to say them.

“Alright, let’s not talk about other things.” Lin Yuchan had a sudden inspiration and considerately interrupted her. “Oh, right, Sister Xiao Feng, I have something to ask of you.”

Xiao Feng quickly said: “Good, good.”

This made them even—she didn’t have to apologize to her.

Lin Yuchan thought for a moment and said: “Mm, first, when you bring food from the kitchen in the future, if there are whole pastries, please bring me one too—I don’t want the sticky kind.”

This was effortless. Xiao Feng nodded repeatedly.

“Second, my clothes are worn through. Teach me to mend them.”

Needlework, embroidery, hair styling, tailoring… these essential skills for ancient women—Lin Yuchan was completely clueless about all of them. She could get by for a month or two, but over time, it would affect her normal life. She had to quickly find a teacher.

Other servant girls, like Qiu Lan, were neither warm nor cold toward Lin Yuchan—their friendship was ordinary. Lin Yuchan didn’t dare rashly communicate with them either.

But after today’s incident with Xiao Feng, she now obeys Lin Yuchan completely and is the best choice.

Xiao Feng looked at her newly acquired silk fabric and felt this request wasn’t excessive. She had thought Lin Yuchan would ask for that bolt of cloth.

“Alright, alright.” After Xiao Feng finished speaking, she cleverly added: “You probably don’t know how to make shoe soles either, right? With your big feet, it’s very difficult to make shoes. I can teach you.”

Lin Yuchan hadn’t thought of this and smiled: “I’m clumsy with my hands.”

“Third,” Lin Yuchan made her final request, trying to appear casual, “do you know where our indenture contracts are usually kept?”

The “national mourning period” passed without much notice. The tea shop quickly reopened.

Lin Yuchan continued working like a beast of burden in the shop, getting scolded and slapped daily, with no wages.

She kept calculating in her mind: How could she earn some money herself…

Over there, Kou Laicai was reporting accounts to the accountant Mr. Zhan, chattering confusedly. Mr. Zhan was unusually patient, checking bit by bit.

Suddenly, Lin Yuchan said quietly:

“You forgot to calculate the interest again. Didn’t we agree last time on a monthly interest of eight and a half percent? From the day the account was opened, it’s been three months—you should subtract one hundred eighty taels of silver.”

Kou Laicai’s face immediately turned red. “I… I didn’t… I was just about to…”

He swung his arm to hit her. Lin Yuchan quickly dodged behind the counter.

Mr. Zhan turned his brush, good-naturedly and gently scolding: “Don’t show off! We were just about to calculate!”

As he spoke, he wrote down those one hundred eighty taels on paper with flourishing strokes.

Lin Yuchan dodged Kou Laicai’s bear paw, faced toward Wang Quan’s direction, and drawled: “Aiya, I calculated wrong—it should be one hundred seventy taels.”

Just middle school math. She was already familiar with modern currency conversion and expression methods, so calculation results came effortlessly. No matter how good Mr. Zhan’s mind was, he couldn’t compare to her, someone who had just fought on the college entrance exam battlefield as a problem-solving machine.

She was deliberately showing off, trying to stand out, to disturb this stagnant pool.

Mr. Zhan usually protected her quite a bit, but now he had no choice but to offend her slightly.

Mr. Zhan had just finished writing the downward stroke of the character “eight” when his brush tip froze.

He could have calculated correctly himself, but this servant girl’s “meddling” had never given wrong numbers. When Mr. Zhan was unreasonably interrupted by her, in a moment of carelessness, he was led by the nose, and hearing that “one hundred eighty taels” didn’t seem wrong, he wrote it down smoothly.

His beard bristled with anger, standing up like ten past ten, fuming: “Ba Mei, we took you in, not for you to cause trouble every day!”

But this time, Shopkeeper Wang Quan didn’t scold Lin Yuchan as usual. He stood with his hands behind his back, checked the account book a few times, darkened his face, grabbed Kou Laicai, and slapped him.

“Damn it!” The shopkeeper was angry. “Your brain is worse than a woman’s. What’s the use of my spending money to support you? You still have the face to blame others? I tell you, if this servant girl outperforms you again, this month’s losses will all be deducted from your heads!”

Kou Laicai glared at Lin Yuchan with suppressed anger, then silently turned to work.

He had been absent-minded these past days because he discovered that the scattered silver coins he had hidden under the shelves seemed to be missing some. He was afraid someone had discovered his “embezzlement,” but since the shopkeeper hadn’t punished him, he comforted himself, thinking perhaps they had rolled deeper inside—he’d search carefully when no one was around someday.

Wang Quan turned and scolded Lin Yuchan: “Don’t get cocky! In the future, when they calculate accounts wrong, you’ll be punished together!”

Lin Yuchan’s eyes lit up, and she smiled: “The shopkeeper wants me to do auditing?”

Wang Quan didn’t know what “auditing” meant, but he could see this girl had no good intentions. He glared at her and threw a tin can at her forehead.

Lin Yuchan quickly caught it. “Sample tea?”

Wang Quan gave her an errand: “Don’t you know that Young Master Su? Deliver this to him.”

Lin Yuchan immediately climbed up the pole: “This is making me a liaison?”

Before Wang Quan could object, she eagerly called out: “Great!”

Then she hugged the can and ran out the door, leaving Wang Quan’s curses behind her.

That stray dog she had fed fat trotted along behind her.

Only after running three streets away did Lin Yuchan realize an obvious fact.

…Where was Young Master Su?