Zhi Yong crossed his arms in front of his chest, with his head up, trying to look as menacing as he could.
But he could only maintain it for a few moments before glancing over at Lin Xuan Qi to see if he was doing the stance correctly.
Lin Xuan Qi smiled at him and gave him a thumbs up.
That gave Zhi Yong confidence, even though he didn’t know what the thumbs up meant.
But it must have been something good.
Master Lin was smiling at him after all.
So, Zhi Yong kept his calm and stood there with his tall presence.
"Master Lin, rest assured we will listen to their orders."
The men and women who had just joined bowed at Xue Cong, Yue Jie, Yue Xin and Zhi Yong.
Lin Xuan Qi nodded his head at them and said, "First, let’s get you teamed up."
He glanced over at Xue Cong to see if she had any plans.
"I... Err..." Xue Cong didn’t expect this from him, and she panicked.
He stood up and walked to the side of Xue Cong.
Without giving much thought, he patted her on her back and said, "Take your time. Try and figure something out. That’s what I always do."
Lin Xuan Qi was speaking the truth.
All along he was just testing something out and seeing if it works.
No one can be totally sure of how it’s going to be.
And if it fails, learn from the mistakes and try again.
It’s worked out for him so far.
He had hoped that Xue Cong would be able to learn from it.
Xue Cong’s mind recalled the different times that Lin Xuan Qi had given her orders and how he explained his thought process behind it.
She pondered for a moment, glanced at the men and women and said, "Anyone of you have experience in cooking? Raise your hand if you have experience."
All the women nodded their heads and raised their hands.
It was common for the women to be involved with housework from young.
It was not a surprise that all of them were able to do it.
"You must love to cook though. Master Lin is someone particular with his meals."
She had heard him complaining about the taste of the food frequently, how it could have been better and when he had the time, his new invention would make the taste of everything better.
So, she figured it was best for the person to cook to be great at it.
And it’s tough to do so if you don’t love to do it.
Other than one of the women, the rest of them put down their hands.
"Then you shall help out in the kitchen with my mother, Mei Jiao. What’s your name?" Xue Cong said.
"You can call me Auntie Sue." The woman bowed at her and said.
Xue Cong nodded her head and glanced at Lin Xuan Qi, seeking his approval.
"You are doing well." Lin Xuan Qi gave her a smile and placed his hand over the shoulder of Xue Cong.
It was then that he realized that Yue Jie’s hand was also over the shoulder of Xue Cong.
He glanced over at Yue Jie, and she was blushing with her head lowered.
She didn’t know what to do next.
If she withdrew her hand, would Master Lin think that she felt offended, which she wasn’t.
And even if she was, she wouldn’t go against him, especially after what he had done for her and Yue Xin.
The three of them stood there with two of them having their hands across the shoulder of Xue Cong.
Lucky for him, Xue Cong’s mind was occupied with her task at hand.
Sitting in her seat, Liu Shi Shi saw what was happening and she began to doubt herself.
Maybe her teasing of Lin Xuan Qi had come true.
Was he already with them?
No. That can’t be!
She wasn’t sure why, but she felt a sense of something being snatched away from her.
Infuriated, she quickly poured herself a cup of tea and downed it in a mouthful.
Lee He Song would be teasing her if he was around.
He had always told her to consider settling down instead of trying to find the killer of her family.
The more she thought about it, the more she felt infuriated.
A plan hatched in her mind and Liu Shi Shi decided to try it out on Lin Xuan Qi at night.
Yue Xin saw her sister’s hand being overlapped by Lin Xuan Qi’s.
She was happy and glad that maybe there was a chance between them.
That would allow her to focus on her father and avenge him without any worries.
"Now, who is skilled in tailoring?" Xue Cong asked.
One of the women raised her hand and Xue Cong assigned her to be under the supervision of Yue Jie.
"What skills do you have?" Xue Cong asked the rest of the women who were left unassigned to any job role.
The women glanced at each other and lowered their heads.
They weren’t skilled at anything in particular.
Most of their lives were lived doing backbreaking work in the fields.
They could do other chores but weren’t particularly good at any of them.
"Then, you will help with the cleanliness of the mansion and any other chores instructed by Master Lin." Xue Cong said.
They bowed at her and said, "Yes..."
All of them didn’t know how to address Xue Cong.
Lin Xuan Qi interjected and said, "Call her Senior Xue Cong. Same with the others here.
"Work hard and you can be promoted to be a senior too."
"Yes, Master Lin." The men and women bowed at him and said excitedly.
At least it wasn’t a dead-end for them here in the mansion.
There was still something for them to hope for.
"You will get thirty copper coins allowance every month. Seniors will get sixty copper coins." Lin Xuan Qi proceeded to lay out the benefits.
"But you’ll be sure that allowance shall be deducted if you break the rules or defy my orders."
He glanced over to Zhi Yong and Zhi Yong handed them a piece of paper with the house rules written on it.