chapter 2

Lu Yanzhou: ? ? ?

A rare moment of blankness appeared on Qing Jun's face. He silently bowed his head, looking at his younger brother.

Don't listen to them, Xiao Lu. It's a bad review.

With his long eyelashes trembling lightly, concealing the surprise in his eyes, Lu Yanzhou began to observe quietly without a change in his expression.

Who is it?

Beside him, as if the person who was knocked down was herself, Bai Liye continued to weep.

"Do you know how much you've hurt me? Why did you send someone to do this to me? I've been crying until twelve o'clock, my eyes are all swollen."

Under Lu Yanzhou's gaze, Shi Leliao quickly stood up, dusted off her clothes, and listened silently to Bai Liye's crying, her thick eyelashes trembling lightly.

Then that voice appeared again.

[Crying until twelve o'clock? Did you stop right at midnight? Exactly at twelve? Why were you watching the clock while crying?]

Noticing the gaze from someone who never looked at her directly before, Shi Leliao lifted her eyelids and glanced at Lu Yanzhou.

[What are you looking at? If you fire me, I'll go poop in your study.]

Lu Yanzhou: "....."

So it was you who spread the rumors.

"What did he do to you?"

Shifting his gaze from Shi Leliao, Lu Yanzhou walked further inside and revealed a slightly surprised expression at an angle where no one else could see.

...Mind reading?

Taking off his coat and sitting down on the sofa, he lazily leaned back with his long legs crossed after receiving a cup of tea from the servant.

Surprised?

Not really.

He is, after all, the future president.

So what if he knows a little mind reading?

Bai Liye gave Shi Leliao a "you're finished" look and ran over in her high heels.

"She... she... she did something to me..."

She couldn't let out the fact that someone had pooped on her head.

She sobbed, seemingly too pained by the memory to continue.

Lu Yanzhou took a sip of tea, his pale lips glistening with moisture.

"She fell in love with you at first sight?"

"Shi Leliao, get ready. You're marrying Miss Bai tomorrow."

Bai Liye: ?

Shi Leliao walked over with emotion flickering in her usually calm eyes like dead water.

Catching that fleeting anomaly, Lu Yanzhou raised an eyebrow. Do you really like Bai Liye?

[We are just master and servant; you're crossing the line, Xiao Lu.]

Xiao Lu: "......"

Seeing that Lu Yanzhou intended to ignore the matter, Bai Liye quickly realized.

She thought about how Lu Yanzhou's attitude toward this young manservant wasn't like this before...

Bai Liye's thoughts shifted, and from nowhere she produced a light blue lunchbox.

"You must be hungry after coming back from school. Here, I made this myself. Try it."

Lu Yanzhou's face remained indifferent.

Seeing him smiling faintly at her without speaking, Bai Liye cursed inwardly but showed a very aggrieved face and started crying. "Your manservant bullies me; are you going to treat me the same way?"

"You clearly know my feelings. The first time I saw you, I was attracted by the sexy mole under your eye..." Listening to Bai Liye's words, Shi Leliao, who was standing by waiting to be fired, gradually became vacant in gaze.

[Speaking of which, when I first saw Lu Yanzhou, I was also attracted by his mole. At that time, I was thinking...]

Lu Yanzhou gave her a look that seemed amused but not quite a smile.

Oh?

[Wow, that's a big piece of eye booger.]

Lu Yanzhou: "..."

He almost couldn't maintain the curve of his lips.

What had the old butler said to him before he passed away?

'This child doesn't talk much; just pretend he's mute.'

Indeed.

Before reading minds: Mute

After reading minds: Loudspeaker

A look of inquiry appeared in Lu Yanzhou's eyes.

As Shi Leliao's mind wandered aimlessly, she was caught off guard when she met Lu Yanzhou's tea-brown eyes that looked affectionate even towards a dog because of his thick eyelashes. She was a bit slow to react.

[What's this about? You usually ignore me as if I'm an NPC. Why do you keep looking at me today?]

[It's no use looking at me; I don't have eye boogers on my face.]

Lu Yanzhou: "......Enough."

Can we let this joke pass?

Bai Liye thought he was talking about her and immediately shut up.

She seemed somewhat surprised.

Although Lu Yanzhou had an elegant appearance and his lips were always curved in a habitual smile, anyone who interacted with him would realize that very few people caught his attention or stirred his emotions.

So much so that the clearly emotional "Enough" from just before actually made Bai Liye feel unexpectedly flattered.

Oh my god, did I actually make Lu Yanzhou, Young Master Lu angry?

Shi Leliao was also surprised.

But what was more surprising was that Lu Yanzhou actually took the blue lunchbox.

It was evident that Bai Liye had put effort into pleasing the wealth of the... Young Master. The dishes were almost picked according to Lu Yanzhou's taste; it was clear she had done her homework with the Lu family's cooks.

However, Lu Yanzhou just glanced at it and then looked up at Shi Leliao who could swallow a whole Lu Yanzhou because she was actually starving with an expressionless face.

"Come here."

Test for poison.

He handed over the opened lunchbox.

This was the first time Lu Yanzhou had asked her to do something since Shi Leliao entered the Lu family. The expressions of many servants changed as they looked at Shi Leliao differently.

Shi Leliao reacted slowly and walked over before extending her hand.

Her fingers were as delicate and elegant as she was, with pinkish joints and not at all like a man's hand.

Lu Yanzhou paused for a moment before calmly moving his gaze away. His tea-brown eyes observed the person in front of him.

Shi Leliao picked at the meat inside and tasted each piece.

"How is it?"

He kept staring at Shi Leliao's face as if he didn't want to miss any subtle expression.

After swallowing the food, Shi Leliao looked at him. Her eyes were clear and pure with no impurities as they lifted slightly at the corners.

"Delicious."

Her voice was cold, just like the one that echoed in her mind.

Watching as Shi Leliao handed over a new lunchbox and a fresh pair of chopsticks, Lu Yanzhou inexplicably accepted them and, as if possessed, chose a piece of fried chicken that looked decent and put it into his mouth.

[The chicken is fried tougher than my grandpa's calluses]

Lu Yanzhou, with the callus-like fried chicken already touching his lips: "......."

"If I remember correctly, the Shi family's butler was buried on the western outskirts."

Seeing him put down his chopsticks and suddenly speak, Shi Leliao nodded somewhat perplexedly.

How did the topic suddenly shift to this?

[Does eating chicken make you reminisce about my grandpa?]

Lu Yanzhou gracefully wiped the corner of his lips, thinking to have someone dig up the grave tonight to see who is older compared to the fried chicken, the former butler's calluses.