The Princess That Bullied Me Cries On My Legs Every Day - Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Just then, a food delivery scooter puttered up to the roadside with a series of beeps.

The delivery driver retrieved a packaged paper bag from the thermal box on the back of the bike, stamped with a roast duck restaurant logo—Quanjude.

As the courier brushed past Eldest Miss Ming carrying the roast duck, a rich, savory aroma wafted through the air.

Ming Ruixi’s body stiffened, and her feet instantly glued themselves to the ground. She hadn’t eaten anything for an entire day; she wanted nothing more than to snatch it away and tear into it right then and there.

Yet her pride reminded her that she couldn’t do such a thing. She was the Eldest Miss of the Ming family—how could she possibly make such an uncouth, disgraceful scene?

“Hello, here is the Quanjude roast duck you ordered.” The courier handed it to Yu Xian.

“Thank you for your trouble.”

Yu Xian signed for the duck. She had placed the order the day before. There was a Quanjude branch in Xiangling Town; after trying it by chance once, she had developed a taste for it, ordering once or twice a week to the point where the delivery driver practically recognized her.

“You’re welcome.” The delivery driver had other orders to deliver, so he turned, hopped back on his scooter, and rode off toward his next drop-off.

Yu Xian returned inside and placed the duck in the fridge, intending to heat it up for lunch when she got back.

Picking up her art box again and heading out the door, the young lady was nowhere to be seen, having presumably headed back.

Yu Xian carried her art box toward the hills. The small hill stood only one or two hundred meters high, though it was tricky to climb after the rain. To avoid getting sticky yellow clay all over her flat canvas shoes, she chose to walk along the grassy verge beside the path.

The grass had grown slick from the rain, posing an easy slip hazard for an ordinary person, but Yu Xian clearly had ample experience. Her steps were steady, sure-footed, and practiced.

Arriving before the lake, the view was indeed as breathtaking as a fairyland. Surrounded by mountains on all sides, it was nestled in a small valley. The broadleaf trees of autumn were stripped down to bare branches, radiating a desolate, evocative beauty.

The lake’s surface was like a mirror reflecting the azure sky, with layered veils of mist drifting and lingering like gossamer silk.

Yu Xian stood beneath a withered tree on the hill. The crisp air carried the scent of freshly dampened earth; taking a deep breath left her feeling entirely refreshed in body and mind.

She began setting up her easel and folding stool, securing her canvas, and squeezing out pigments to mix colors, carrying out every movement in meticulous order.

As the sun climbed higher, Yu Xian set down her final stroke. Looking at the finished piece before her, she pondered where she was dissatisfied and what aspects of her technique still required practice. Handling light and shadow had always been her forte, whether in oil painting or digital art.

Glancing at the time, it was time to head back. Yu Xian waited for the oil paint to dry slightly before packing it away. Reaching down for her water bottle, she looked up and spotted a dark figure emerging at the nearby path entrance.

Yu Xian paused for a fraction of a second, then unscrewed the bottle cap as if she hadn’t seen anything, taking a sip to wet her throat.

Ming Ruixi looked down at her beloved patent leather Ferragamo heels—now thoroughly soiled with filthy mud—and felt a sharp pang of heartbreak, forcing down her mounting temper.

Having dragged herself up to the hilltop with great effort only to see Yu Xian sitting leisurely beneath the tree, Ming Ruixi smoothed down her black velvet dress and strode over with practiced elegance. “Yu Xian, I’ve thought it over.”

Seeing her walk up to the easel, Yu Xian raised her eyelids slightly. “Thought what over?”

Ming Ruixi cleared her throat lightly: “I can be your canvas, but you must provide me with good food and drink. You are not allowed to boss me around or treat me like a servant; you are not allowed to address me by my full name, and I will only serve as your canvas three times a week at most. If you don’t feel like waiting on me, you can hire a maid.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, Yu Xian tightened the cap on her water bottle, treating her speech like hot air.

Noticing her complete lack of reaction, Ming Ruixi grew secretly resentful: “Yu Xian, don’t be ungrateful! My willingness to be your canvas is a blessing you wouldn’t earn across several lifetimes!”

“If it’s such a blessing, why don’t you keep it for yourself?” Yu Xian glanced at her, unruffled.

Seeing her calmly take down the painting, pack it up, and fold the easel and stool—making it clear she was leaving and harbored zero interest in the terms offered—Ming Ruixi panicked.

She was truly starving.

So dizzy with hunger that black spots danced before her eyes.

She wanted that roast duck so badly.

“Yu Xian, then you state your terms! As long as they aren’t excessive, I can agree to them!”

Yu Xian didn’t slow down, or rather, she didn’t believe a single word coming out of her mouth.

Packing everything neatly into the art box, Yu Xian picked it up and began walking down the hill. Ming Ruixi had no choice but to stumble after her.

“Yu Xian, you’ve changed! You weren’t like this before!” Ming Ruixi hitched up her dress hem, scolding in frustration behind her back. “I took such good care of you in the past, and now that I want a little repayment, you refuse! Give me back all the tips I ever gave you!”

Yu Xian came to an abrupt halt. Turning around, she fixed an icy gaze upon her: “In your eyes, my labor is entirely worthless, isn’t it?”

Braving wind and rain just to run errands outside the campus gate for her—back then, to earn those errand tips, she had never hesitated to wait on this young lady hand and foot. Even when her classmates sneered behind her back, she had never felt that exchanging honest labor for wages was something to be ashamed of.

Yet now, this heiress suddenly demanded the errand tips back, wiping away all her past labor and reducing it to nothing more than a high-and-mighty handout.

Frightened by Yu Xian’s frost-cold expression, Ming Ruixi bit her lip. She knew the woman was angry because of that remark, but asking her to apologize was out of the question.

“Yu Xian, tell me—what does this lady have to do for you to agree to take me in?”

“Too late,” Yu Xian said flatly. “I gave you a chance last night, and you didn’t appreciate it.”

She had originally intended to knock her down a peg and humble her a little, only to nearly get slapped across the face twice.

Ming Ruixi’s face turned green and pale by turns. She had never begged anyone so meekly in her life, only to be given so little face in return.

Yet she had no other way out. She couldn’t return to the city, and even if she did, there was no place left for her to stay.

“I promise I won’t lose my temper and slap you again. Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it. Please, Yu Xian.”

Ming Ruixi’s eyes slowly reddened. She felt an unprecedented humiliation—for a bite of food, for a roof over her head, she had to cast her dignity to the ground and let others trample on it.

“…Please.” Ming Ruixi lowered her head, not wanting the other woman to see her tearful eyes. Her hands hung at her sides, clutching tightly at the fabric of her velvet dress.

Taking in this sight, Yu Xian remained silent for a long moment: “I can take you in, but it won’t be without conditions.”

With rimmed, red eyes, Ming Ruixi looked up at her: “…I can be your human canvas.”

Yu Xian: “I changed my mind.”

Ming Ruixi thought she was going back on her word and refusing to house her: “How can you break your promise? You just agreed to it!”

Yu Xian saw that she had misunderstood: “I mean, my conditions have changed. You won’t just be my human canvas.”

“Not just a human canvas?” Ming Ruixi murmured, a sense of foreboding creeping into her heart.

Yu Xian: “Starting today, you have to take care of me like a maid in your household.”

Ming Ruixi retorted on the spot: “In your dreams! How could this lady ever become a lowly maid?!”

Hearing her go on and on with “this lady” and “lowly,” Yu Xian felt a faint ache throbbing in her temples: “If you can’t, you’re free to leave.”

Ming Ruixi’s next retort choked in her throat. Glaring furiously, she saw that Yu Xian wasn’t joking in the slightest. Finally, she forced out through gritted teeth: “…Fine. This lady will be your maid.”

Yu Xian said in a flat tone, “Laundry and cooking are the basics. You should know that much, right?”

Ming Ruixi turned her head away, unwilling to look at her smug expression: “I know. But I don’t know how to cook—you have to teach me.”

Yu Xian: “…”

“Every morning, you have to go to the wet market in town to buy groceries. You must wash the dishes after meals and clean the inn three times a week. If guests check in, you need to help register them. You don’t need to clean their rooms; I’ll hire a part-time cleaner for that. I’ll explain the specifics when we get back. Also, whenever I go out to sketch, you must carry my art box up the hill. Do you understand what you need to do now?”

Ming Ruixi nodded reluctantly and took the art box handed to her. It was so heavy that she nearly stumbled: “Understood.”

Yu Xian led her down the hill. Walking along the hillside path for a while, she glanced back at the delicate heiress trailing dozens of meters behind.

Carrying the heavy art box, Ming Ruixi stepped gingerly onto the muddy path. Because she wore high heels, every step sank half the heel into the mud, forcing her to yank it back out. Seeing the yellow sludge caked onto the shoes filled her with both heartache and boiling frustration.

Ming Ruixi simply took off her high heels. Unable to lift the box with one hand, she had to use both, which ended up pressing her filthy shoes directly against the handle, soiling and staining it.

She didn’t dare walk barefoot on the grassy slopes—she had tried to be clever on her way up and took a nasty tumble on the slick grass, which hurt terribly.

Left with no choice, she had to swallow her disgust and step directly onto the muddy clay. The moment her foot landed, slimy yellow mud squelched up between her fair, tender toes.

“Ah… so gross!” Ming Ruixi cursed delicately while shaking her foot, attempting to fling the mud away. “How can something be this disgusting?!”

She immediately stepped onto the grass beside the path, rubbing her toes clean against the blades before daring to continue her descent.

Yu Xian checked the time—it was nearly twelve noon, and this young lady was still dawdling: “Hurry up.”

Ming Ruixi snapped back, “Aren’t I walking slowly just to carry this box for you? You think I want to be like this?!”

Yu Xian glanced at the handle of the art box she had soiled, momentarily at a loss for words.

Walking up to her, Yu Xian took the box away: “Carry it when we reach the bottom.”

With that, Yu Xian turned to leave. Ming Ruixi hurriedly grabbed the hem of her shirt: “Wait… wait.”

Yu Xian turned back, glancing down at the hand clutching her hem before looking up at Eldest Miss Ming’s delicate face.

Ming Ruixi: “Give me a hand… just support me for a moment. This lady can’t get down on her own.”

She truly couldn’t make the descent. The slope was so steep that if she accidentally took a tumble, she would end up dead or crippled. Besides, what if her face got scarred? Her entire life would be ruined!

Yu Xian stared at her for a long moment before finally letting her lean on her shoulder for support.

However, leaning on her shoulder didn’t help much either. Ming Ruixi stepped onto the slick grass; her foot slipped, and she nearly took Yu Xian down with her.

Fortunately, at the critical moment, Yu Xian balanced her footing and caught the young lady firmly by the waist.

“Th-Thank you.” Ming Ruixi hadn’t expected that a grand heiress like herself would need someone’s help just to walk down a hill. A trace of humiliation colored her face, and she no longer wanted to lean on Yu Xian’s shoulder.

This woman, Yu Xian was definitely laughing in her heart at how she couldn’t even walk properly.

“You go ahead. This lady will make her way down slowly.”

Yu Xian didn’t hesitate in the slightest, picking up the art box and continuing downward.

Only after Yu Xian’s figure had completely disappeared from view did Ming Ruixi slowly examine the terrain of the next drop. The drop between the patch she stood on and the slope below was practically vertical. Fortunately, the grass grew thick and lush; casting aside all squeamishness, she squatted down.

With her black velvet hem trailing across the grass, Ming Ruixi tossed her high heels down first. She then flipped her body around, digging her gloved hands tightly into the roots of the grass, and slowly lowered her feet down.

Relying on this bizarre descent technique, Eldest Miss Ming finally reached the foot of the hill half an hour later.

Standing beneath a tree in the shade, Yu Xian expressionlessly watched as Ming Ruixi slipped her heels back on and strode over with an elegant, noble poise, as though nothing embarrassing had just transpired.

“Give it to me.” Ming Ruixi swayed her slender figure, taking the initiative to carry the art box and leading the way toward the inn.

Yu Xian raised her wrist to check her watch. It was nearly one in the afternoon. Since graduating, this was the first time she had gone this late without eating lunch.

After walking for about ten minutes along the asphalt road baked red-hot by the blazing sun, the two finally arrived at Yu Xian Inn.

Yu Xian retrieved her keys from her pocket. Eldest Miss Ming stood beside her, holding the art box and waiting to enter.

The way she carried herself didn’t look like someone coming to work as a maid at all; rather, she looked like an esteemed heiress gracing them with her presence.

Yu Xian paused slightly as she turned the key, wondering whether her decision to take this young lady in was right or wrong.

“Come in.” Before her mind could fully settle the debate, her body reacted first, opening the door to let her inside.

The young lady hummed a faint acknowledgment from her throat.

Yu Xian: “Leave the art box in the living room and follow me to the kitchen.”

The image of the roast duck delivered that morning flashed through Ming Ruixi’s mind, and she unconsciously swallowed: “Okay.”

Yu Xian gave her a rundown of the appliances and key precautions one by one: “If there’s anything you don’t know how to use, look it up online.”

Ming Ruixi: “I lost my phone.”

Yu Xian was caught off guard, trying to catch any trace of falsehood on her face.

Sensing her skeptical look, Ming Ruixi instinctively wanted to scold her for daring to question her word. Fortunately, reason kicked in just in time, choking the words back down her throat.

Though she held her tongue, her movements made her anger blatantly obvious. Ming Ruixi snatched up her small clutch, aggressively popping it open right in front of Yu Xian to reveal nothing more than two lipsticks and a compact powder: “Look for yourself! Why would I lie to you?”

Ignoring her irritation, Yu Xian said calmly, “Understood. I just upgraded to a new phone last month.”

Ming Ruixi’s eyes lit up instantly: “You’re going to let this lady use the new phone?”

Yu Xian gave her a flat glance: “The old one.”

Ming Ruixi drew in a deep breath: “Fine. Secondhand is secondhand. This lady knows how to yield when necessary.”

For a proud heiress like her to be reduced to using someone else’s secondhand phone—what an absolute humiliation!