The Princess That Bullied Me Cries On My Legs Every Day - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Yu Xian took the roast duck out of the refrigerator: “Do you know how to carve it?”

She had bought a whole roast duck.

The moment the words left her mouth, Yu Xian caught sight of those pampered fingers that had never touched dishwater in their life—every single nail styled with sparkling, bling-bling micro-diamonds. She knew immediately that she shouldn’t have even bothered asking.

“Go fetch two bowls and ladle the rice.”

Before heading out, Yu Xian had washed the rice and set the rice cooker on a timer to cook, ensuring it would be ready to eat the moment she returned.

Ming Ruixi nodded: “Fine, this lady understands.”

Only then did Yu Xian turn back to carve the roast duck, following it up by stir-frying a plate of spicy shredded potatoes.

One meat, one vegetable, plus a small plate of after-meal fruit—for her alone, it was more than enough.

Clearly, however, Eldest Miss Ming was far from pleased: “Only two dishes? At my house, we have at least five dishes for every single meal, breakfast included. For holidays and special occasions, it’s easily twenty to thirty courses.”

Yu Xian sat down, entirely accustomed to her nitpicking: “If you find it beneath you, you’re free to go back home and eat.”

Ming Ruixi choked on her words and fell silent. Truly starving, she picked up her chopsticks and couldn’t resist grabbing a piece of roast duck to eat.

Her manner of eating remained refined and elegant. Even in the throes of hunger, she didn’t gorge herself—perhaps the sole virtue that still matched her former status as a noble heiress.

Once lunch was finished, it was time for Eldest Miss Ming to wash the dishes. Yet she remained glued to her chair, staring down at the leftovers on the table and then down at her diamond-encrusted manicure, hesitating for ages.

This manicure had cost over ten thousand yuan; how could she possibly use these hands to scrub dirty dishes?

Yu Xian acted as if she hadn’t seen a thing: “Once you’re done washing up, come upstairs. I’ll show you which room you’ll be staying in.”

Ming Ruixi: “Why don’t you buy a dishwasher? A dishwasher is so much more convenient.”

Yu Xian: “Why don’t you go back home? Going home is so much more comfortable.”

Ming Ruixi: “…”

In the end, Eldest Miss Ming resigned herself to her fate and went over to wash the dishes, gingerly holding the dish sponge with an expression of vivid disgust plastered across her face.

Yu Xian stood to the side. Looking down at the dishes in the sink that looked just as dirty as before they were touched, her brows furrowed into a tight knot, her tone turning thin and cool: “Eldest Miss, if you can’t endure hardship, you should head back.”

“Yu Xian, don’t push your luck!” Ming Ruixi was instantly upset. “Isn’t this lady washing them right now? Do you have to threaten me with that every single time?!”

“Yes, I do.”

Yu Xian’s nonchalant three-word reply left Ming Ruixi completely speechless.

Deep down, Ming Ruixi was still thoroughly repulsed by the grease-soaked sponge, terrified of ruining her diamond manicure. Taking a shortcut, she picked up a single chopstick, gave it two careless rubs, and turned on the faucet to rinse it off.

Yet the moment the water began running, someone reached out and shut it off. Ming Ruixi froze. Before she could turn her head to look, a sudden tightening around her fingers forced them down, and the sensation of being plunged straight into the greasy sludge made her instantly explode.

“My nails!”

Ming Ruixi let out an angry, delicate scream: “Do you have any idea that this lady’s manicure cost thirteen thousand yuan?! Thirteen thousand!”

Yet the woman behind her seemed entirely deaf to her cries. Wrapping her palm over the back of Ming Ruixi’s hand, she forcefully guided her to scrub the bowl.

Every time Ming Ruixi emphasized “thirteen thousand,” Yu Xian pressed the back of her hand an inch deeper into the greasy dishwater.

The glittering manicure finally ended up smeared with grease and specks of meat residue.

Utterly traumatized, Ming Ruixi felt her entire world collapsing. She struggled desperately to pull away and yank her hands back, but the woman behind her kept her pinned firmly between her chest and the countertop, rendering her completely unable to move.

Her hands fared even worse—she couldn’t break free from Yu Xian’s grip in the slightest. Who knew what this woman had eaten growing up to possess such strength?

Yu Xian’s fingers were long and slender, with distinct veins and bone structure across the back of her hand. Her fingertips were slightly rough from years of holding paintbrushes, nowhere near the pampered, delicate state of Ming Ruixi’s scallion-white jade fingers.

“Yu Xian! You’re going to pay for my thirteen-thousand-yuan manicure!”

“Keep yelling, why don’t you?” Yu Xian whispered right against her ear, her voice laced with frigid ice. “Yell one more time, and you can pack up and get the hell out.”

Ming Ruixi’s voice cut off instantly. Her lips quivered as she pouted in grievance, biting down hard on her bottom lip.

Yu Xian: “My patience is limited. If I can’t see any value in your labor, there’s no reason for me to keep a high-and-mighty ancestral master around.”

She had merely flipped their circumstances from back then, and this young lady was already falling apart at the seams.

Not to mention, the things Ming Ruixi had done in the past were far worse than this.

The memory etched deepest in Yu Xian’s mind was when Eldest Miss Ming had forgotten to give her the errand tip. Yu Xian had been rushing against the deadline on the final day to pay her tuition fees, missing only those few hundred yuan from the errand money.

She had been forced to remind her, but all she received in return was the young lady’s deep impatience. She had watched with her own eyes as the heiress casually pulled several hundred yuan from her wallet and held them out the car window. Before Yu Xian could even reach out to take them, the girl let go, letting the bills scatter as the luxury sedan sped away into the distance.

She had picked them up, one by one, off the public street.

“Do you know how to wash dishes now?” Yu Xian released her grip. The dish sponge slipped from Ming Ruixi’s hand and dropped instantly. Hearing those words, Ming Ruixi shivered as she reached down to pick it back up, staring blankly as the greasy dishwater once again crept over her diamond manicure and seeped into the crevices of her nails.

An overpowering urge to wash her hands surged within her, and her gaze drifted toward the faucet. But the woman behind her was far too oppressive; she could practically feel Yu Xian’s eyes fixed on her, demanding she scrub them clean for her to see.

“Still not washing?” Yu Xian shifted the faucet over to the other sink basin, leisurely pumping out some dish soap to wash the grease from her own hands.

Holding a bowl in one hand and the sponge in the other, Ming Ruixi sniffled and held the sponge under the soap dispenser nozzle. Yu Xian pressed down on the pump for her.

Yu Xian took a hand towel and dried the water from her hands. After a moment of thought, she added, “Break a bowl, skip a meal. You’re a grown adult—don’t pull childish stunts.”

The words sounded like a warning against petty retaliation, yet they also carried a sharp mockery implying she was an oversized infant.

Ming Ruixi felt an unpleasant knot in her chest. After scrubbing one bowl, she moved on to the next dish, and then to the chopsticks, finally arranging them neatly inside the clean drying rack. Only after confirming that Yu Xian wasn’t going to nitpick any further did she toss aside the sponge and rush over to the faucet to rinse the grease off her manicure. Leaning down to sniff her fingers, the lingering scent of food made her delicate brows knit tightly in disgust. She hurriedly pumped a generous amount of soap, lathering up thick foam, and scrubbed for a whole half hour before finally banishing the smell.

Yet several of the micro-diamonds had fallen off, and a chunk was even missing from one nail, breaking her heart to pieces.

Still, there was no other choice; this was the path she had chosen. Fuming with indignation, she left the kitchen and headed upstairs.

After Ming Ruixi finished the dishes, Yu Xian went to tend to her art box, which was caked in yellow clay. Once it was cleaned spotless, she returned it to the art studio.

“This will be your room.” Yu Xian led her to a doorway. “It used to be a guest room. I’m freeing one up for you to sleep in. As for clothes, you can wear mine for the time being.”

Eldest Miss Ming, however, felt no sense of privilege whatsoever, and asked in a delicate, haughty tone, “A guest room?”

The moment Yu Xian heard that tone, she knew the complaints were about to begin.

Sure enough, the heiress was so repulsed she didn’t even want to step inside: “Do you have any idea how much bacteria is left on a bed slept in by others? Especially male guests—reeking of sweat, and if they don’t wash their feet, it’s utterly filthy! You expect this lady to sleep in a bed like that? Yu Xian, I’ve already done chores for you and waited on you hand and foot, yet you’re too stingy to even give me a decent room or a clean bed! What is the meaning of this?!”

Yu Xian pulled the door shut: “Then don’t sleep here.”

With that, she turned to walk away. Ming Ruixi stomped her foot in fury, grabbing Yu Xian’s arm and slightly lowering her posture: “Yu Xian, consider it a plea from this lady. Switch me to a cleaner room.”

Yu Xian genuinely couldn’t fathom what could be considered unclean. She had only renovated the place two months ago. Because Auntie Xu constantly referred tourists to her, she had redecorated a few rooms in a boutique homestay aesthetic to make them presentable, and up until now, all her guests had been young women, female students, and other women travelers.

She figured Auntie Xu had taken into account that she was a woman living alone out here, which was why she never referred male guests to stay.

Yu Xian: “No man has ever slept in this bed. All the previous guests were young women.”

The disgust in Ming Ruixi’s eyes did not fade: “Even so, other people have still slept in it.”

Yu Xian: “As I said, you don’t have to sleep here.”

“Yu Xian!”

Ming Ruixi watched her walk off, then looked back at the closed door, nearly suffocating with rage. In the end, out of sheer necessity, she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

At first glance… the overall setup was fairly decent.

Resting on a ten-centimeter moisture-proof platform was a mattress that looked reasonably soft, though compared to the ones at her family manor, it fell far short and wasn’t from any luxury brand.

The nooks and crannies were free of stray hairs or trash.

The room was relatively spacious, with a sizable area fitted with Japanese-style tatami mats, upon which sat a low tea table and floor cushions. A minimalist wooden rack held three different styles of kimonos, while the surrounding walls were adorned with oil paintings depicting Japanese cultural motifs. Ming Ruixi looked closely and deduced that Yu Xian had painted and framed them herself.

The room featured a private en-suite bathroom, a large mirror, and an oversized projector.

Yu Xian seemed to understand what young women liked for taking photos; every corner of the room was perfectly photogenic.

Knock, knock, knock. A sudden knock sounded at the door.

Ming Ruixi looked over: “Come in.”

Yu Xian carried in two sets of clothes and fresh towels, on top of which rested a secondhand smartphone: “Before you get into that bed, please make sure you wash yourself clean.”

Ming Ruixi gave a speechless scoff: “Now you’re the one acting disgusted by me? Do you have any idea how expensive this dress on me is? Eighty-eight thousand yuan!”

Yu Xian calmly met the arrogance in her eyes: “If you have eighty-eight thousand, how come you couldn’t afford a single meal?”

“That’s only because—” Custom orders couldn’t be returned, and nobody wanted to buy them secondhand.

Realizing the subtle mockery in Yu Xian’s tone, Ming Ruixi snapped her mouth shut. Every ounce of grief and frustration she had suffered today had come entirely from this woman.

Stepping forward, she took the clothes. Although the phone was seventy to eighty percent new, it was still secondhand; Ming Ruixi felt an intense wave of disdain toward it, tossing it onto the bed before rummaging through the clothes Yu Xian had brought.

“No underwear?” Ming Ruixi’s distaste flared up once more. It was one thing to wear someone else’s hand-me-downs, but she hadn’t even provided essential undergarments. Did she expect her to go commando under those clothes?

A vein twitched at Yu Xian’s temple: “Wait here.”

She remembered having an unworn set of underwear, so she could only lend it to this young lady for now.

Before long, Ming Ruixi saw Yu Xian return holding a set of plain, neutral-toned lingerie.

As if seeing right through her thoughts, Yu Xian spoke up first to explain: “It’s unworn.”

Only then did Ming Ruixi accept it, immediately following up with a critique of her taste in undergarments: “So ugly.”

Yu Xian: “…”

Choosing not to lower herself to her level, Yu Xian said before stepping out: “Once you’ve showered, come with me to town.”

Ming Ruixi: “Why?”

Yu Xian: “To show you where the wet market is, so you won’t be lost when buying groceries tomorrow.”

A look of sheer misery washed over Ming Ruixi’s small face: “This lady just came down from the mountain not long ago, and I’m exhausted to death. Can’t you let me get a proper rest first? Even production team donkeys don’t work this hard.”

“Besides, what time is it right now?” Ming Ruixi leaned a knee against the edge of the bed to reach for the secondhand phone she had tossed onto the mattress. “It’s only two-thirty in the afternoon!”

The moment the words left her mouth, Ming Ruixi sensed a shadow cast over her head. Her wrist tightened as she was yanked straight back from the bed.

Stumbling and nearly losing her balance, she snapped in a delicate, angry voice: “What are you doing? Don’t just lay your hands on me!”

“Ming Ruixi, did I or did I not tell you not to touch that bed with your filthy body? Do you think this is your house?”

She had rolled down the hillside; who knew how many dirt smudges and grass stains were all over her clothes? If they rubbed off onto the white bedding, it would never wash clean.

Not to mention her feet had trodden through yellow clay. Although she had only leaned her knee against the foot of the bed just now, the top of her dirty foot had nearly touched the sheets.

Ming Ruixi initially locked eyes with Yu Xian with self-righteous defiance, but after being scolded, she bit her lip and lowered her gaze: “Why are you being so fierce? At worst, this lady will just wash it clean for you.”

Yu Xian gave a cold chuckle: “And what if it won’t wash out?”

Holding the clothes, Ming Ruixi stayed quiet for a good while before finally muttering: “If it won’t wash out… then just throw it away.”

Her voice grew quieter and quieter with each word.

Yu Xian closed her eyes, pinched the bridge of her nose, and warned: “Before you leave, you are to keep everything here in its original state.”

Ming Ruixi: “…Got it.”

Seeing that Yu Xian was still lingering in her room, Ming Ruixi reminded her: “You can go out now. This lady needs to shower.”

Before leaving, Yu Xian added: “We head to town at five.”

…

Yu Xian returned to her bedroom and took a sip of water. The client from yesterday had just messaged her again, asking if a background could be added.

Normally, once a transaction was settled and paid for, no additional labor would be provided.

Client: [Please, Artist! We can easily discuss the pricing. It’s just that after looking over it, I felt the character lacked a bit of atmospheric depth. It would be amazing if a background could be added.]

Yu Xian asked: [What kind of background are you imagining?]

Client: [Feel free to do whatever you like, Artist! As long as it blends nicely and feels atmospheric hahahaha.]

Yu Xian pondered for a moment: [It might take a bit longer, around five days to finish. I didn’t plan for a background initially, so adding one means the lighting and shadows will have to be reworked.]

The client replied: [Totally understandable! Your speed is already astonishing anyway—I received the finished piece days ahead of schedule.]

After agreeing on the price with the client, Yu Xian opened her tablet once more. The princess-syndrome character concept immediately leaped into view.

She was still quite pleased with this piece—it was visually striking. Yet for some reason, the longer she looked at it, the more it resembled Ming Ruixi.

Even though she hadn’t consciously drawn it after her face at all…

Yu Xian set down her stylus and rubbed her temples. It was likely because too much had happened since last night, and Eldest Miss Ming had been bustling right in front of her eyes the entire time.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Ming Ruixi finished her shower, dried her hair, and collapsed onto the bed, falling into a deep sleep. Her feet had climbed up and down a mountain in high heels, followed by that long trek along the asphalt road—she was exhausted to the bone.

The pajamas she wore carried Yu Xian’s scent, reminiscent of Darjeeling tea. It was decent enough; she didn’t dislike it.

She slept straight until five in the afternoon. When Yu Xian came over to knock on the door, Ming Ruixi was still bleary-eyed with sleep. Plagued by severe grogginess and a morning temper, she called out with a spoiled whine: “Who is it? Stop knocking! Knock again, and this lady will fire you!”

After shouting, the knocking ceased. Assuming her threat had worked, Ming Ruixi rolled over to go back to sleep.

Until the blanket over her was suddenly yanked away. Knitting her willow-leaf brows, Ming Ruixi couldn’t believe a maid dared treat her, the Eldest Miss, this way.

How utterly insolent. It had to be Xiao Qiu, that new maid her mother had hired; she had disliked her from the very start.

“I’m telling you, this lady is furious!” Ming Ruixi propped herself up and glared with wide, angry eyes. “You’d better haul yourself out of my house right this instant!”

With an impassive face, Yu Xian pulled her back to reality: “Wake up. I’m taking you to see the wet market.”