Chapter 11: Maid Outfit Cafe

“President…”

Su Nian stood at the shop entrance, looking up at the sign with an expression that looked like someone had hit the pause button.

“What is it, my 10,000,000 Miss Su Nian?”

I didn’t look back as I continued to unlock the door.

“What is… this?”

She calmly accepted the new nickname, but her eyes remained glued to the sign.

“A Maid Cafe. It says so right there.”

I didn’t bother explaining further and led her inside to start changing.

“President, when are we going to start training?”

Su Nian’s voice drifted out from the dressing room.

Through the curtain, her voice sounded slightly heroic, tinged with a bit of anticipation.

“We’ll see.”

I answered the empty air.

Everyone has expectations when they first start their career as an Idol, but the reality is different:

Repetition and exhaustion are the only truths.

She had better get used to it quickly.

This shop was a temporary rental I picked up nearby.

The reason I rented it wasn’t that I had too much money, but because it would serve as the Beginner Tutorial for Su Nian’s journey as an Idol —

The One-day Manager.

It was a fairly traditional project.

But it was effective.

I put on my dirt-resistant work clothes, donned white gloves, and began organizing the shop’s clutter.

Click.

The dressing room door opened.

“President, I’m finished changing — “

I turned around.

Then, I blinked.

She was no longer wearing that old tracksuit.

Her mask and hat were gone, too —

Healthy, rosy white skin, a waist full of confidence, and a black-and-white long maid dress that outlined her curves.

Beneath her bright red eyelashes, those dark red eyes were looking at me.

It was just as I thought.

Even though she wasn’t wearing the clothes I picked out yesterday, and it was just a regular Maid Outfit, she looked far better than before.

And —

She was an undeniable beauty.

But with this build, calling her a beautiful girl seemed a bit… too tall?

“Su Nian, how old are you?”

“Huh? Nineteen. Why?”

I blinked, stunned for a moment.

For most people, nineteen is a year full of youth.

Except for an — Idol.

An Idol’s career depends on youth.

It doesn’t mean they just have to be in their teens; it means it’s best to start training as early as possible, treasuring every second of their blooming youth to perform.

Although the recommended debut age is still seventeen or eighteen, counting training time, they actually need to start much earlier.

“You should know what the best age is to join an agency or become a rookie, right?”

Not to mention, the girl before me was nineteen and hadn’t even started training yet.

“Uh… six, sixteen.”

Yes, sixteen.

One year of training behind the scenes and one year of practical experience on stage.

By the time they are eighteen, they usually have the skill, experience, and fan base to become a “standard” Idol.

“And yet you’re only joining now.”

I looked coldly at the fidgeting Su Nian, my tone as calm as if I were commenting on the weather.

“I… I just never succeeded… since I was sixteen.”

Su Nian began to talk about her past.

When she was sixteen, she saw an Idol performance outside her family for the first time.

The person on stage was shining.

Standing below the stage, she felt for the first time: So, a person can live like that.

At sixteen, she decided to become a real Idol.

She spent the first year finding ways to rebel against her family’s arrangements and the second year finding a way to escape.

As it turned out, things were not even close to what she had expected after escaping.

she hit walls everywhere, and by the third year, she had spent the entire time wandering…

She looked up and tried to force a smile, but it didn’t quite work.

“Then… that night, I met you, President.”

I looked at her.

Three seconds later, I looked away.

“Whatever. The money’s already spent.”

“Heh heh — “

As soon as Su Nian started that silly laugh again, I interrupted her.

“Get out there and get ready to serve customers.”

Otherwise —

Seeing that stupid look on her face made my heart ache for my money.

Anyway, I wasn’t interested in Su Nian’s past.

Or rather, it wasn’t a high priority.

“Oh! Then I’m going — “

“Wait.”

I stopped her, pulled a pair of gloves out of a drawer, and threw them over.

“Put them on.”

Lesson one: No matter what you do, always be prepared with protection.

She caught the gloves, paused for a second, and then nodded vigorously.

“Mm-hmm!”

Very energetic.

I watched her figure disappear behind the curtain, hoping she would realize — from the moment she put on those gloves, the training had already begun.

I tightened my own white gloves and looked down at the mess in the kitchen.

“…Fine. I should get to work too.”

“Ugh — President… I’m so tired — “

It was noon.

Su Nian was sprawled on the floor like a stranded fish.

I looked down at her.

‘Hmph, serves her right.’

The resentment in my heart caused by that 10,000,000 finally dissipated a little bit.

Since it was the first day of the weekend, the foot traffic was heavier than usual.

The key was that throughout the entire morning, she was the only maid.

Yes, the only one.

I did it on purpose.

It wasn’t deliberate revenge, though; I needed to check her stamina first.

In the Idol industry, things look glamorous, but the foundation is physical fitness.

One song is three minutes long.

If you dance to three in a row, an amateur will be out of breath.

If she couldn’t even handle standing for half a day, there was no point in talking about the rest.

Now I knew — this girl truly hadn’t exercised at all.

But that was strange.

“How did you survive during those days you were wandering?”

In my mind, wandering meant working part-time while traveling from city to city.

With her like this, how on earth did she survive?

“Oh, because I have great luck! I always met kind old grandpas and grandmas who took me in~ Heh heh.”

After hearing that, I gave her another kick.

“Ow! — President, what was that for!?”

“Avenging those elderly people.”

“Waaaaah…”

After speaking, I turned and walked away, no longer paying attention to this embarrassing creature.

No matter how she whimpered or acted spoiled behind me, I ignored her completely.

Once she had whined enough and crawled back up on her own, I spoke through the door.

“Rest up. There’s more this afternoon.”

“I know…”

“You’ll have a helper this afternoon.”

“Yay! I knew the President was good to me!”

She jumped up three times faster than she had collapsed earlier.

Looking at her, I suddenly felt —

I might be raising a paramecium.

The single-celled kind.

I hoped it was just an illusion.

No, I couldn’t think about it anymore.

If I did, I would feel like that 10,000,000 was crying.

Actually, two little figures were fighting in my mind afterward.

Little Figure A: If you care so much about the money, don’t throw it around so coolly!

Little Figure B: Money is meant to be spent.

Money that can’t be spent is better off gone.

But I knew their arguing was useless.

Because at that time, I simply —

Couldn’t help myself.

Just like when I couldn’t restrain myself on stage.

I instinctively knew that this girl was worth that price.

So I did it.

I bought her.

***

The lunch break ended.

Su Nian crawled out of bed and patted her maid dress.

Her face still had sleep marks, and a tuft of her hair was sticking up.

“President, who is the helper for this afternoon?”

“You’ll know when they get here.”

“Eh — Can’t you tell me now?”

I ignored her and turned into the kitchen.

The sound of her footsteps followed me, pit-a-pat, as she pointed to her face and asked.

“President, President — is it a girl? Is she pretty? Is she prettier than me?”

“President, say something — “

I stopped.

I turned to look at her, thinking to myself:

‘Does she not know what a — Maid — Cafe — is?’

Could the helper who came to assist her really be some middle-aged man?

She really was a single-celled organism.

I grumbled inwardly but didn’t say it aloud.

I hoped I was overthinking things…

However, looking at her face, I suddenly realized something….

Her face held curiosity, anticipation, and a bit of nervousness that she probably wasn’t even aware of.

Nineteen years old.

Deciding to become an Idol at sixteen.

Born into a Noble family, yet she struggled to escape, even wandering for a whole year for it.

The first time she was “bought.”

The first time standing in a maid shop to welcome guests.

The first time looking forward to what a “helper” would look like.

That night under the streetlights.

She had crouched there, writing those crooked words like a cat soaked by the rain.

Now, this cat was starting to get curious about what other cats looked like.

“……Prettier than you.”

“Eh — !?”

The expression on her face collapsed instantly.

I turned and continued walking.

The pit-a-pat of footsteps followed again, louder than before.

“President, you’re lying!

You didn’t even look closely at me, how would you know!”

“I looked.”

“When!?”

“Just now.”

“Where just now — “

Her voice stopped.

She probably remembered how she looked sprawling on the bed — with sleep marks on her face and messy hair.

And she hadn’t expected me to look.

‘True, and there was drool, too.’

“……President, you’re a bully.”

I pushed open the door.

“Continuing tomorrow.”

“Eaaahhh — !!??”

The tragic scream behind me sounded like a cat that had its tail stepped on.

I didn’t look back.

But the corner of my mouth twitched slightly.

At that same moment.

In a certain apartment, Chuxue turned off her phone.

The address of that Maid Cafe had been on the screen just now.

“……A maid outfit.”

She let out a soft laugh.