“Su Ruanruan, do you know how to do this problem?”
On the podium, the teacher’s voice was like a thin thread, barely pulling back Su Ruanruan’s drifting thoughts. She stood up in a daze, staring at the formulas on the blackboard that looked like ancient hieroglyphs. Before she could even open her mouth, the bell signaling the end of class rang like a lifeline.
“All right, class is dismissed.”
As the teacher walked out of the classroom, the suffocating atmosphere seemed to loosen for a moment. But for Su Ruanruan, the real trial had only just begun.
She wanted to collapse onto her desk and play dead, but a hand slapped down, neither lightly nor heavily, onto her desk.
“Hey, lift your head up.”
The voice was imperious, carrying an unquestionable arrogance, yet hiding a trace of hard-to-detect awkwardness in its tone.
Su Ruanruan was forced to look up, her eyes meeting Chu Youyu’s exquisite face, which looked as perfect as a porcelain doll.
The Young Lady stood there now with her arms crossed, looking down at her. Her ink-black twin-tails swayed slightly behind her with every movement. Her beautiful eyes were fixed on Su Ruanruan, and her cheeks were puffed out like a sulky little pufferfish.
“What is wrong with you?”
Chu Youyu bit her soft, pink lips, her gaze sweeping over Su Ruanruan’s pale cheeks and slightly swollen eyes. Her tone was aggressive, yet it somehow carried a hint of concern.
“You’ve been acting weird since this morning. Where’s that insufferably arrogant attitude you used to have, the one where you’d roll your eyes whenever you saw me? Suddenly turning into this soft, limp mess… it really makes me mad.”
“I’m sorry…”
Su Ruanruan lowered her head, her voice soft and nasally. Her sincerity was enough to make anyone’s heart tremble.
“Youyu, and Shiori. The old me… was really terrible.”
“I shouldn’t have taken your sincerity for granted, squandered your money, and trampled on your dignity. I’ve realized recently that I’m a rotten person, but… I want to change. I really am very sorry.”
The air seemed to freeze in that instant.
Chu Youyu’s aggressive expression froze, and her beautiful phoenix eyes widened as if she had seen a ghost.
She had expected Su Ruanruan to argue, to mock her, or even to cry and play the victim, but she never expected this.
‘Th-that’s foul! Making an expression like that…’
Chu Youyu suddenly sucked in a breath of cold air and instinctively clutched her chest, feeling as if her heart had been struck by something.
“Hmph! S-so you know you were wrong now?”
Chu Youyu’s face turned red all the way to her ears, and her eyes darted around frantically, not daring to meet Su Ruanruan’s gaze. She tilted her chin up arrogantly, trying to maintain the last of her dignity as a Young Lady, though her voice stammered slightly.
“S-since you’ve apologized so sincerely, then this lady will… will show some mercy and reluctantly forgive you this time! Honestly, I don’t know what to do with you!”
As she spoke, as if to hide her embarrassment, she hurriedly pulled a Black Card from her limited-edition schoolbag and slammed it onto the desk with a loud thud
“This card has 500,000 dollars on it! The password is your birthday! Take it!”
“Clear all those messy debts you owe to others! Do you hear me? I-it’s not that I want to help you, I just don’t want to see my girlfriend-to-be acting humble and low for money! It’s an embarrassment to me!”
On the other side, Saginomiya Shiori would not be outdone. Although she wasn’t as wealthy as Chu Youyu, her eyes were red with anxiety as she quickly pulled out her phone.
“Ruanruan! I’ll transfer money to you right now! This is my living allowance for the month, plus the wages I just got from my part-time job… It’s not as much as Chu Youyu’s, but it’s enough for your immediate needs! Use it, you don’t have to pay me back!”
Looking at the tempting Black Card and the two burning hearts on the table, Su Ruanruan gently shook her head.
She reached out her fair hand, firmly pushed the Black Card back, and pressed down on Shiori’s hand holding the phone.
“No.”
Su Ruanruan bit her pale lip. Though her gaze was weak, it held an unprecedented persistence.
“I can’t take your money anymore. I already owe you both too much… If I take more, I’ll really become a parasite who can only live by clinging to others. I will… I’ll go work and earn money to pay you back myself!”
Shiori froze, a flash of grievance and panic appearing in her eyes, looking like a puppy that had been refused food by its master.
“Huh? Work?”
Chu Youyu acted as if she had heard the world’s biggest joke. Her previous shyness vanished, replaced by an urgent frustration.
She grabbed the calculator from the desk, her slender fingers moving rapidly and making a sharp *click-clack-click* sound as if venting her anger.
“Su Ruanruan, has your brain rotted? Do you think this is Playing House? Here, let this lady do the math for you!”
“I don’t know exactly how much you owe, but considering the creditors in this school, your usual luxury expenses, and that mad dog Lin Lie…”
“At a conservative estimate, you’re carrying at least several million in debt. With your underage, uneducated, and physically weak useless body, the hourly wage for washing dishes is at most 20 dollars.”
“Without eating, drinking, or sleeping, how many years would you have to work? 20 years? 30 years?”
Chu Youyu shoved the calculator screen right in front of Su Ruanruan’s face. The string of cold numbers made Su Ruanruan feel dizzy.
“By the time you pay it off, you’ll be an old woman that nobody wants! Do you think those creditors will wait for you? Be realistic, you idiot!”
As this cold reality crashed down, the tiny spark of hope Su Ruanruan had managed to ignite was instantly extinguished.
It was true… even without counting Gu Qingleng’s side, she could never pay off Lin Lie’s high-interest loans just by working.
“How can it be… so much…”
Was there really no way out?
Seeing Su Ruanruan looking so devastated, as if she might shatter at any second, a flash of heartache crossed Chu Youyu’s eyes. However, it was soon replaced by a “plan succeeding” kind of cunning.
‘Hmph, you dummy. Why did you have to refuse my money? You’re forcing my hand.’
“Ahem. So, this stupid method of yours won’t work.”
Chu Youyu cleared her throat and leaned her face closer to Su Ruanruan. Her exquisite face held a hint of little-demon-like temptation, but her eyes were sparkling.
“However… I do have a way to make fast money. You won’t have to sell your body, and you can pay off your debts quickly. Do you want to try it?”
Su Ruanruan snapped her head up, a new light igniting in her eyes like a drowning person catching a piece of driftwood. “Wh-what method?”
A successful smile played on Chu Youyu’s lips. She twirled her twin-tails with her finger and spoke nonchalantly, though she deliberately looked away.
“I just opened a new Maid Cafe near the school. It’s mainly to… ahem, to expand the family business! Yes, a strategic business layout!”
“It just so happens that I’m missing a… Top Maid. Given your soft, crybaby personality, you’re useless for anything other than being eye candy. If you’re willing to come, I’ll give you five times the hourly wage! Plus commissions, it’s not impossible to pay off your debts.”
“A-A maid?”
Su Ruanruan froze, shameful images of wearing a short skirt and cat ears while calling customers “Master” flashing through her mind.
“What? You don’t want to?” Chu Youyu raised an eyebrow, her tone turning cold and threatening. “Then go work under the table for 30 years. Or… wait for Lin Lie to catch you and sell you off? I heard she’s been drooling over you for a long time.”
Su Ruanruan bit her lip, struggling with the decision for a long time.
Compared to that hopeless future, being a maid seemed… to be the only choice left.
“I’ll do it!” Su Ruanruan closed her eyes and shouted as if accepting her fate. “I’ll go! As long as I can pay back the money… I’ll wear anything!”
“I’m going too!”
Saginomiya Shiori, who had been silent, suddenly interjected. She stared at Chu Youyu, her clear eyes full of suspicion.
“I want to work at that shop too! I don’t want a salary; I just want to be with Ruanruan!”
She absolutely could not let Su Ruanruan fall into the hands of this tsundere Young Lady alone!
“Tch, whatever. We need someone to wash the dishes anyway.”
Chu Youyu shrugged dismissively. Either way, her goal was achieved—to keep this disobedient kitten within her own territory, where she could dote on her whenever she wanted.
“Then it’s settled. Come report to the shop with me after school.” Chu Youyu clapped her hands in satisfaction, a smile she couldn’t suppress appearing on her face.
Everything had happened so fast that the sheer amount of information made Su Ruanruan’s brain stall.
“Um… I…”
Su Ruanruan used the table to slowly stand up, her face pale.
“I want to go to the restroom… to wash my face and calm down.”
“Eh? Are you okay?” Chu Youyu instinctively reached out to support her but then pulled her hand back arrogantly. “Hmph, so delicate. Go on, then. Don’t think about running away!”
“Ruanruan…” Shiori looked at her worriedly, wanting to follow, but was stopped by Su Ruanruan’s gaze.
Su Ruanruan grabbed her schoolbag and walked shakily out of the classroom’s back door.
—
The restroom on the first floor of the teaching building was in a secluded location. Since school was almost out, the area was quiet, with only the occasional sound of wind echoing through the hallway.
Su Ruanruan didn’t notice that not far behind her, several shifty figures were following her, using the pillars for cover.
Leading them was the wild, blonde School Bully with a face full of malice—Lin Lie.
“Heh, finally alone.”
Lin Lie watched Su Ruanruan’s back as she entered the women’s restroom. She licked her dry lips, her eyes flashing with the excitement of a hungry beast that had finally found its prey.
“That hypocritical woman Gu Qingleng ruined things this morning, and I’ve been holding this grudge all day. This time… let’s see who can save you.”
Su Ruanruan entered the restroom, turned on the faucet, and splashed cold water onto her face.
The icy sensation cleared her head a bit. Looking at her pale reflection in the mirror, she took a deep breath.
‘It’s all right. As long as I work hard… I can definitely pay it back.’
She dried her face and walked toward the innermost stall, wanting a private place to settle her nerves for a moment.
However, just as she reached out to pull the stall door open to enter—
A hand suddenly reached out from behind her, carrying an irresistible force, and clamped down hard over her mouth!
“Mmph?!”
Before she could cry out, a massive surge of power pushed her directly into the narrow stall.
Immediately following her, the person who pushed her squeezed inside.
Click.
The sound of the door being locked was exceptionally piercing in the confined space, sounding like a death sentence.
Su Ruanruan turned around in terror, meeting a pair of aggressive, golden, beast-like eyes.
“Yo, cutie.”
Lin Lie propped one hand against the door, trapping Su Ruanruan between herself and the cold wall, an utterly wicked smile on her face.
“You got away this morning. Now… I wonder who else is coming to save you?”
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