The small interactions between these two had not escaped the watchful eyes of Su Qiuyu across from them. Seeing their blatant flirtations, Su Qiuyu felt like an outsider, despite having known Xia Zheng for many years.
Suppressing the bitterness in her heart, Su Qiuyu managed to squeeze out a smile, "So Miss Lin actually has hobbies unlike other women. Hearing Brother Zheng praise you to the skies has made me quite curious. I wonder if I might ask Miss Lin to showcase her skills and cook some of her special dishes for me as well, so I too can witness her remarkable talents?"
Su Qiuyu spoke as if it was only natural, or rather, as if ordering Lin Yuan to cook was her rightful privilege.
Lin Yuan, seeing her apparently respectful but actually challenging demeanor, felt a wave of nausea. She didn’t like such a woman, and not just Xia Zheng, she herself found it distasteful.
"If Miss Su wishes to eat, I’ll call over Shopkeeper Liu right away. Our chefs at Fuman Building are each highly skilled and will surely satisfy Miss Su."
Su Qiuyu raised an eyebrow, looking at Lin Yuan with the most innocent and naive eyes, "Oh? Isn’t Miss Lin the boss of Fuman Building? Shouldn’t you satisfy any request of a guest?"
Lin Yuan sneered inwardly, marveling at this girl’s adeptness at feigning ignorance.
Suddenly, Xia Zheng huffed, "If even cooking is required of the boss personally, there would be no point in running Fuman Building any longer."
Sensing Xia Zheng’s dissatisfaction, Su Qiuyu’s body tensed, and her bright eyes began to well up, "Brother Zheng, did I... did I say something wrong? I didn’t mean to, it’s just that I’ve never seen a woman be a boss before, that’s why I asked. If Brother Zheng thinks Qiu Yu was wrong, then I, I will apologize to Miss Lin immediately."
As she spoke, Su Qiuyu stood up from her seat, but before she could leave the chair, she suddenly clutched her forehead, let out a soft moan, and collapsed weakly back into the chair.
Yaner quickly came forward to support her, asking with concern what was wrong.
Su Qiuyu weakly waved her hand.
Yaner, frantic with worry, knelt down on the floor with a plop, tears streaming down her face, "Young Master Xia, my Miss has always been frail, and these past days she has been hurrying day and night in order to see you as soon as possible. Her body has been overtaxed. She was merely curious just now, and did not mean to give Miss Lin a hard time. If Miss Lin is upset, Yaner will apologize on behalf of my Miss, please do not blame her."
With that, she began to kowtow on the floor.
Lin Yuan was taken aback; she thought the act that this maid and her mistress were putting on was a bit too much—one fainting on cue and the other kneeling at the drop of a hat. What had she said? Had she wronged them in any way?
"Miss Yaner, please get up, I cannot accept such a grand gesture," Lin Yuan quickly stood up, seeing Yaner still kneeling on the ground. She frowned and glanced at Su Qiuyu, saying, "I am not angry, you are being overly sensitive. Please, go see to your Miss. If she’s not well, I’ll have Shopkeeper Liu call for a doctor right away."
"Thank you, Miss Lin, for not taking offense," Yaner thanked her while cursing Lin Yuan inwardly.
Su Qiuyu gestured with her hand, her body still slack, but at least she could sit up straight now. Lin Yuan sincerely marveled at her strong self-recovery ability.
Xia Zheng looked at her frail appearance and muttered softly, "With such a delicate constitution, you should have stayed well in the Capital city. What’s a young lady doing running about by herself here? Don’t you know it’s dangerous?"
After hearing his murmur, Su Qiuyu bit her lip tightly, instantly feeling a profound sense of loss. She had come all this way just to see him, yet such an action seemed to him unnecessary. Tears flowed even more fiercely as Su Qiuyu said, "Brother Zheng, are you... are you blaming me? I, I’ll leave now, I won’t bother you anymore."