Master Ye

"Alright, both of your orders are served." The maid smiled as she brought over the omelet rice and two glasses of lemon tea sparkling water.

Ye Shuang, feeling thirsty, took a sip from his glass and immediately paused. "Huh? Sprite?"

"No, sir, this is the Adorable Lemon Tea Sparkling Water~" the maid beside him said cheerfully.

"But..."

"Sir, this is lemon sparkling water—A·dor·a·ble Lem·on Spark·ling Wa·ter~"

Ye Shuang: "Uh..."

Just then, another voice called out, "Zhen Zhen, Table 2 wants a glass of Sprite."

"Coming~" The maid quickly left.

Ye Shuang: "..."

What a scam. Charging me 9 bucks for a glass of Sprite.

"So why did we come here to eat?" Since he’d already had lunch, Ye Shuang wasn’t particularly hungry. Noticing Chen Qin propping her chin in her hands and grinning at him, he finally asked.

"Didn’t you say you wanted to come?"

"When did I ever say that? I’m not really into this kind of thing." Ye Shuang chuckled.

"You did. Absolutely did." Chen Qin’s smile widened, a hint of mischief in her eyes. "How about a bet? If you really said it, you have to agree to one condition of mine."

Seeing how confident she looked, Ye Shuang briefly wondered if he had actually said it. But no matter how hard he racked his brain, he couldn’t recall ever suggesting they visit a maid café.

"What if I win?" he asked.

"Then I’ll agree to one of your conditions." Chen Qin grinned.

"Same difference. Fine, prove it—with solid evidence." Ye Shuang leaned back in his chair, perfectly calm, because he was certain he’d never said such a thing.

"Oh, I’ve got proof." Chen Qin tapped on her phone and handed it to him.

"Here."

Ye Shuang took it, skimmed the screen, and couldn’t help but laugh. "This isn’t even my chat history. Chen Qin, did you mix me up with someone else?"

The chat log she showed wasn’t his—how was this supposed to prove anything?

"Look closer?" Chen Qin picked up her drink, smirking.

Ye Shuang: "..."

He examined the screenshot again and realized it looked ancient—an old-style QQ chat window, complete with QQ Show avatars.

Reading further—

Group Chat: The Ultimate Family

Ultimate々Ye Shao: Just saw a maid handing out flyers near our elementary school.

Ultimate々Chen Shao: Damn, I saw her too. From a maid café. Insanely stacked.

Ultimate々Ye Shao: You dare go check it out?

Ultimate々Chen Shao: Hell yeah! Got birthday money yesterday. Let’s drag Fugui along.

Princess Qin: If you two dare go, I’m telling Dad.

Ultimate々Ye Shao: Just kidding…

Ultimate々Chen Shao: Always snitching. Let’s kick Chen Qin out.

Ultimate々Ye Shao: She’s the group admin…

Ultimate々Chen Shao: Stupid admin eat crap.ipg

Ultimate々Ye Shao: We’ll go another time. I, Ye Shao of the Ultimate Family, swear it.

……

……

Ye Shuang: "..."

He checked the timestamp—over a decade ago, back when he was in elementary school.

Ye Shuang interlaced his fingers and rested them against his face, deep in thought.

His toes curled.

He could’ve dug a three-bedroom apartment out of sheer embarrassment.

The atmosphere turned deathly silent.

"Remember now, Ultimate Ye Shao?" Chen Qin asked, her eyes curved into crescents.

Ye Shuang’s hands trembled slightly as he took a sip of Sprite, feigning composure. "Why do you even have this?"

"I save chat logs. Oh, and those posts you made on QQ Zone—" Chen Qin scrolled through her phone and began reading aloud:

"I long for night, for it brings solitude. I love solitude, for I am the Blood Monarch, Ye Shao."

"It’s snowing… Is she doing okay?"

"STOP!!!!!!!!!! I admit defeat! Please, spare me!" Ye Shuang lunged to cover her phone. "I deleted all that stuff in middle school! How do you still have it?!"

Having his childhood cringe exposed made him want to vanish on the spot.

"Mhm~ So, did you say it or not?" Chen Qin traced her pink manicured nail over the back of his hand, still pressing down on her phone.

"Using something I said in elementary school feels like cheating."

"No time limit was set, was there?" She continued reading, "I love blood, for blood is red—"

"OKAY, ENOUGH. I surrender." Ye Shuang held up a hand in defeat.

Chen Qin burst into laughter at his misery. "Giving up? By the way, when has it ever snowed here?"

"Fine. What do you want me to do?" Ye Shuang was thoroughly defeated—this woman had been holding onto a trump card.

"Haven’t decided yet. I’ll cash in later."

Ye Shuang’s lips twitched, but he asked anyway, "Can you at least delete those?"

"Nope. I’ve kept them safe for years." Chen Qin refused outright. Every bit of Ye Shuang’s history was precious to her, and these embarrassing relics were just a tiny fraction of her collection. To avoid losing them, she’d made three backups—phone, USB, and cloud storage.

Over the years, the files had grown to dozens of gigabytes.

Suddenly, Chen Qin felt her hand being held, warmth spreading through her fingers as her face flushed. "Huh?"

"Qin Bao, I know you’d never make things hard for me, right?" Ye Shuang’s voice turned velvety, his gaze deep as if they’d stepped into a manga panel—monochrome with flowers blooming around him in Chen Qin’s dazzled eyes.

"I-I wouldn’t!" Chen Qin’s head spun.

"Then, for me… delete them? Those forgotten memories, those sealed-away shadows of the past." His starry eyes and husky tone made her heart race.

"Deleting… m-might be okay," she stammered, avoiding his gaze.

"Give me your phone and cloud access." He reached out, voice dripping with persuasion.

"Alright…" She extended her hand but jerked back at the last second like she’d been shocked.

Clutching her phone, she shook her head violently. "Nope nope nope! You’re trying to trick me!"

"Qin—"

"No way!"