☆、Girlfriend
Over a month passed again, and Xiao Banli spent her days idly in the backyard, tending to a small garden of flowers and plants. Her work was limited to the area between the backyard and the laundry room, and her dormitory was a room in the backyard. Every day, she watched the other four maids go in and out of the backyard to serve Xiao Fen in the front hall.
Although this house was small, it was bigger than any house outside. Ouyang Que was attending university and staying as a boarding student, while Ouyang Hongcan was always traveling the world. Therefore, the large house was mostly empty, with only six women, including Xiao Banli. The atmosphere was cold, even eerie, because Xiao Fen didn’t like to open the windows and always locked herself in her room. The third house in the Ouyang family was basically a non-existent master’s residence, and with no man in charge, even visitors would go around it.
Holding a bowl of mung bean soup in one hand and a set of white clothes in the other, Xiao Banli walked down the quiet corridor. It was Friday, and Ouyang Que had returned around 3 p.m. After taking a shower, he came out and threw a tantrum. Xiao Banli was in the backyard trimming the flowers when Yu Yan stopped her and asked her to go to the laundry room to deliver clothes to Ouyang Que.
“Master, I’ve brought your clothes,” Xiao Banli knocked on the door with her fingers. She waited for a long while before the door was opened. Inside, Ouyang Que stood with his upper body bare and a white towel around his waist. When he saw Xiao Banli, his phoenix eyes narrowed in irritation.
Under his gaze, Xiao Banli extended the things she was holding.
Ouyang Que took the clothes from her and his gaze landed on the mung bean soup she was holding. His expression softened slightly. “How did you know to bring me mung bean soup?”
Xiao Banli remained silent, waiting for him to take the soup. Yu Yan and the others usually liked to gather around Ouyang Que, and Xiao Fen had nearly lost her position in the Ouyang family. The next most influential person in the third house was Ouyang Que. Everyone hoped that after the young master returned and graduated, he would strengthen the third house, allowing them to show off in the Ouyang family as well. With the young master being young and handsome, everyone loved a beautiful man. Once Ouyang Que came back, the four women would even compete to deliver his shoelaces. Yet, this time, they pushed her to do it, so naturally, she had to stay alert.
“Quite clever, knowing that I’m upset.” Ouyang Que took the bowl from her hands and tilted his head back, drinking the entire mung bean soup in one go. After drinking, his complexion improved significantly.
Xiao Banli still remained silent, attempting to take the bowl from him, but he suddenly raised it above his head. Xiao Banli, looking at his raised hand, felt speechless and almost wanted to ask him something. In the end, she didn’t speak, and his voice came down from above her. “Come in.”
After he spoke, he went ahead and carried the bowl and clothes into the room.
Xiao Banli hesitated for a moment at the door before stepping inside. Upon entering the spacious room, she quickly turned to face the wall.
Behind her, Ouyang Que’s loud laughter echoed. “What she has, you have too. It’s just a naked body. Why are you hiding? Xiao Banli, turn around.”
Xiao Banli gritted her teeth, then turned around to face Ouyang Que, doing her best to ignore the female body tied to the bed with a bedsheet next to the television. “Master, is there anything else you need me to do?”
Ouyang Que pressed his waist down, half-lying on the sofa with his long, maturing body. He lazily pointed at the female body beside the TV across from him. “Xiao Banli, do you remember I once told you that I don’t keep useless people?”
Xiao Banli nodded, as she had been thinking about this sentence for a long time.
“My uncle hasn’t given up, no, all my uncles haven’t given up. They covet my dad’s shares while trying to win me over to join them. So, since the night I turned 18, they’ve been trying to find a woman for me. I don’t want to end up like my dad, forced to marry at 19.”
Xiao Banli remained silent. She wanted to cover her ears, she didn’t want to know too much about these inheritance struggles within rich families.
“Every time I come back, sometimes when I wake up, there’s always a woman in my room, licking me. Can you imagine how disgusting that feels?” Ouyang Que said as he propped his hands behind his head, his voice filled with a cold, detached tone. His phoenix eyes glinted with a trace of bitterness.
Xiao Banli didn’t want to speculate whether he was also helpless in this situation, but she could hear the sourness in his tone. His mother was useless, his father wasn’t around, and the people in the Ouyang family were like wolves and tigers. He, as a young sprout without the protection of a father, was the easiest to manipulate and the easiest to make a target.
Ouyang Que is helpless.
—
“Quick, quick, Xiao Banli, come help, what are you standing there for? Go to the front hall!” The housekeeper, who had never appeared in the Third Master’s house, suddenly showed up in the backyard.
Xiao Banli placed the scissors she had just picked up back on the chair, wiped her hands, adjusted her hair, and followed the housekeeper, who was hurrying around. Every master’s household had a housekeeper, but the Third Master’s housekeeper rarely stayed in the Third Master’s house. He usually preferred to visit the First Master’s place. Only when Xiao Fen had something important for him to do would he return. Otherwise, he acted like a lapdog for the First Master’s wife, wagging his tail around her, and even called the First Master’s housekeeper his brother.
The front hall was unusually lively. The already large front hall now had the windows wide open, and the door was open. The room was filled with people, their heads crowded together. Xiao Fen, sitting on the big sofa, had a flushed face for the first time, smiling radiantly. Even the First Master’s wife put away her usual cold demeanor, calling out to Xiao Fen in a familiar, affectionate tone.
“You can’t be seen.” The housekeeper pushed Xiao Banli into the kitchen. “Stay here and wash the fruit properly.”
Xiao Banli took the apples from the torn box and placed them in the sink to wash. Yu Yan entered, holding a tray. “Our young master is really something. Banli, since you’ve finally come to the front hall, take a good breath of fresh air. Spending all your time with those flowers and plants in the backyard, any normal person would go crazy.”
The sound of water splashing in the sink echoed, hitting Xiao Banli’s pale hands, making them seem delicate and transparent.
The last time she saw Ouyang Que was that afternoon, when he said the woman sent by his uncle disgusted him.
“Banli, cut the fruit into smaller pieces.” Yu Yan squeezed into the kitchen again, speaking to Xiao Banli, who was washing and cutting the fruit.
Xiao Banli turned off the sink, focusing intently on cutting the fruit. Her knife skills were increasingly refined, and the pieces she cut became more and more beautiful.
“Banli…”
Just as Xiao Banli became absorbed in her task, she heard the soft call. Her body immediately tensed as Yuan Muxiao had appeared by her side, lazily leaning against the vanity. “Banli, I heard you’ve been staying in the Third Master’s backyard?”
Xiao Banli stiffened for a moment, then continued cutting the fruit in her hands. “Mm, I’ve been in the backyard.”
“What a pity. You were so beautiful before. How did your face end up like this after just one night?” In the first three days after returning to the country, Xiao Banli’s right cheek began to break out with pockmarked acne, and it gradually covered half her face, scaring the others so much that they refused to sleep near her.
“I don’t know,” Xiao Banli casually responded.
“Does that mean you won’t be able to see anyone from now on?” Yuan Muxiao asked, concerned. “Won’t it be too lonely? Should I speak to the Third Mistress and have her move you to the front hall?”
Xiao Banli stared at the fruit in her hands and shook her head. “No, thank you.”
“No need to thank me. The Third Mistress is really happy today. No, she’s always happy from now on. Your young master is amazing, finding a princess from the British royal family as his girlfriend,” Yuan Muxiao said enviously, picking up some fruit from the chopping board and popping it into her mouth. “Banli, your good days are coming. When the time comes, remember to ask me for a favor. You’re not the prettiest, but you’re skillful, so if you serve him well, who knows, maybe one day he’ll pamper you.”
Xiao Banli turned her body, twisted off the tightly closed faucet, and pushed the tray of fruit toward Yuan Muxiao. “Yuan Muxiao, could you help me take the fruit out?”
Yuan Muxiao rolled her eyes and lazily picked up the fruit tray. “Banli, you’re talking less and less, and when you do speak, your voice sounds so unpleasant.”
After saying that, Yuan Muxiao swayed her hips and left the kitchen.
The water from the faucet kept running noisily, and Xiao Banli turned off the water and continued cutting the fruit.
Before preparing dinner, Ouyang Que appeared in the kitchen, locked the door with a snap, and startled Xiao Banli, who was picking out vegetables. She turned around and met his eyes.
“Xiao Banli, guess why I have a girlfriend,” Ouyang Que leaned against the kitchen door, narrowing his phoenix eyes.
The soup on the stove made a sizzling sound as it boiled. Xiao Banli pursed her lips and lowered the heat. “I can’t guess your thoughts, Young Master.”
“Don’t try to block me with words like that. You should know what I’m asking, and you should be able to answer. Answer me now,” Ouyang Que snorted coldly, his tall, imposing figure moving toward Xiao Banli. He leaned in close and looked at the side of her face that wasn’t covered in acne.
Xiao Banli took two steps back, knowing that if she didn’t answer, he would keep asking.
“Having a girlfriend means the Eldest Master won’t try to push women on you anymore. With a girlfriend of a prestigious background, the Eldest Master won’t dare touch the Third Master’s shares. Having a girlfriend also means the Madam can live a little better in the Ouyang family.” Ouyang Que was no fool.
“I knew it. I knew you would know,” Ouyang Que straightened up, narrowing his phoenix eyes even more. “But you didn’t guess the last part…”
Xiao Banli remained silent, uninterested in the last point.