"Miss Bao, try slapping me again."
Hui Yin's words shocked Bao Bai. Originally she thought the maid would burst into tears or at least yell at her in anger. If the latter happened, Bao Bai would only treat it as the maid talking back to her master and punish her even more severely for it. But Hui Yin did none of these things.
Before Bao Bai could fully comprehend what this maid was planning, she saw Hui Yin bow her head and say, "Good morning sir."
There was only one man who the maids call as 'sir'. It was the true master of the mansion, Lu Shen.
Hui Yin lowered her eyes and didn't look directly at him. She had already seen him come into the living room after Bao Bai slapped her.
Hui Yin deeply understood this man's character. If there was one thing Lu Shen didn't like, it was incompetent employees. But what he didn't like even more was if someone disciplined his employees without his consent.
Lu Shen looked at the swollen cheek of the maid. He recognized her as the one who fell into the pool yesterday. When he glanced back at Bao Bai, the frost in his eyes could form icicles.
Bao Bai wasn't the only one who was angry about what happened last night. This kind of woman, it made him loathe to share a house with her.
"What are you doing?"
At the man's cold voice, the only person in the room who wasn't scared stiff and could even roll her eyes was Hui Yin. He clearly saw what happened, but he had the gall to ask Bao Bai. My lord, get to the point. I still have to continue vacuuming the carpet under your feet!
"Lu Shen, it was my fault." Bao Bai's voice softened, her expression turning helpless. "I was looking over at the pictures that you sent me when I saw this maid snooping around and got angry. Since it was confidential, how could I let her be? I impulsively slapped her because I didn't want her to gossip around with the other maids. I'm already regretting doing it. If she wants to slap me back, then I won't stop her."
Hui Yin was speechless at Bao Bai's ability to turn black into white. Was this really her friend? This seemed to be Nian Zhen 2.0 ah! Maybe Nian Zhen possessed her body?
What 'regret'? There was no trace of that at all in her expression!
What 'if she wants to slap me back, then I won't stop her'? This was clearly trying to make it seem as if Hui Yin wanted to slap her back!
Hui Yin didn't wait for Lu Shen to make a judgement and said with a pitiful look, "Miss Bao, I wouldn't dare to slap you! Didn't I just say that Miss Bao can slap me again earlier? I was clearly at fault, so Miss Bao slapped me. But Miss Bao, doing this isn't right! I could sue you at court for a battery charge, don't you know?"
Lu Shen did a double take and glanced at the maid again. Although her chin was tilted down, her eyes that were staring at Bao Bai did not have a hint of backing down.
Bao Bai didn't expect that this maid would have the courage to sue her at court. With that, her fake white lotus appearance crumbled and she exclaimed with great fury, "You!"
The two of them simultaneously turned to look at Lu Shen. If he intended to side with Bao Bai, suing at court was useless. Ultimately, he was their judge, jury, and executioner.
But Lu Shen only looked dazed.
"Lu Shen?" asked Bao Bai tentatively, not knowing what happened for him to look so absent-minded.
Her voice succeeded in waking him up. Lu Shen shook his head. What was the matter with him? How could he think that this maid somehow looked like her? There wasn't even a single feature that was similar to the girl in his memories.
"Stop calling me so informally." His voice had returned to it's usual wintry chill. "Miss Bao, if you ever dare to slap anyone under my employ again, I'll be the first person to put you in jail. Interrogating you in my home or in prison doesn't matter much to me. Remember that you are a guest, and staying here is a temporary luxury. Don't overstep your bounds."
Then he turned to look at the maid. He should just dismiss her and have the butler take care of her wounds, but the words that came out of his mouth was, "Follow me into my study."
While Lu Shen regretted it as soon as he said it, he could only turn his back from her and indifferently stride out of the room. If there was nothing else, he could order her to do random tasks.
Hui Yin made a face at his retreating back. Unwilling to be left in the living room with the fuming Bao Bai, she quickly tailed Lu Shen into his study. Maybe she could sneakily peek at his documents and see if there were any information about the Wen family!
Hui Yin was very familiar with Lu Shen's study. Aside from the sunroom, this was where he tasked her to help him in handling all of his workload. It was a bigger version of his study in the villa, and Hui Yin bowed her head as soon as she entered.
She felt a bit dizzy.
It seemed that it was only yesterday when the two of them were here, discussing what Lu Shen had uncovered about the culprit's identity. His computer lingo, the laptop that was facing her, his implied threat that he wouldn't let her leave...[1]
Her eyes dropped on the red string that he wore around his wrist. She was a bit surprised that he still wore it. It didn't suit him, and it was a reminder of the wife that he reluctantly married. He should have gotten rid of it.
Thinking of the red thread that tied their fates together, Hui Yin's expression became somber.
[1] Chapter 154.