Maid Studies

The afternoon sunlight flooded the playground, and a refreshing breeze swept across as I strolled by the artificial lake on campus, bringing a pleasant feeling to my heart.

After walking around the lake and buying lunch boxes from the campus Lawson convenience store, Lu Qing and Wen Le headed back to their dormitory together.

The dormitory area was built outside the campus, about a kilometer away from the school gate, still within the bounds of Tianhe University Town.

This university town housed seven universities, including some prestigious institutions: a renowned foreign language university, a top-tier law school, a comprehensive first-tier university, a first-tier business school, a second-tier engineering college, and this newest art academy.

Due to the high concentration of schools and students, the dormitory areas were divided into phases - Phase One, Phase Two, Phase Three student apartments, and so on.

Lu Qing's dormitory was in Phase Four of the university town. Walking along the street, both sides were lined with various shops and stores, offering everything from food to entertainment.

"Tsk, students' money is really easy to make. Have you noticed that fruit shop owner near our dorm? I remember he was quite normal when we were freshmen, but now look at him - he's wearing a gold chain! I heard he even bought two apartments in the back street. Sure, it's in the suburbs, but it's still in Tianhai City, and the housing prices there are no joke..."

Wen Le kept mumbling, always ready to pass judgment wherever he went.

Lu Qing remained neutral on the matter. After all, an adult's life experience was on a completely different level from that of college students. If someone could make money, good for them; plenty couldn't, and he wasn't concerned about such things.

What he was concerned about was...

On the left side of the road, outside a café decorated with life-sized anime girl standees, a twin-tailed female student in a maid outfit and cat ears was walking towards them, holding a thick stack of flyers—

"Hey students! Just finished class? Got some time? Why not come to our shop and enjoy a lovely afternoon tea? We have maid sisters who can play board games with you~"

The girl, wearing heavy makeup, spoke in a affected voice to attract customers.

Wen Le, who had zero resistance to anything anime-related, immediately grabbed Lu Qing and tried to drag him inside:

"We've got time! Come on, let's go in and check it out. Hehe, I've always wanted to experience a maid café!"

He rubbed his hands together with a lecherous grin, his eyes fixed on the girl.

But before they could take a step, Lu Qing pulled him back.

Lu Qing returned the flyer to the girl and shook his head expressionlessly, "No need, we're busy. Maybe next time."

"Oh... well, alright. Kurororo Café welcomes you both anytime!"

The maid looked disappointed but still waved at them with a smile before running off to attract other customers.

"What the hell, man? I just saw their menu - coffee's only about 50 yuan. I really wanted to experience it."

Wen Le beat his chest in frustration, completely baffled by Lu Qing's quick rejection.

"Calm down."

Lu Qing said as they walked, "If you want to experience a maid café, there are better options. This one's just not very legitimate."

"Not legitimate? What's not legitimate about it? I like it when things aren't legitimate!"

"..."

Seeing him start to act up, Lu Qing couldn't be bothered to explain further and just kept walking toward the dorm.

"Come on, tell me what's wrong with them. I thought they were fine." Wen Le persisted, as he always liked to get to the bottom of things and wouldn't give up until everything was explained clearly.

"Fine, I'll tell you. Listen up."

"First."

"Did you notice anything off just now?"

"No."

"What did she call you, remember?"

"I think... 'student'?"

Wen Le thought for a moment before answering with a head slap.

"Exactly. Next question, what should a proper maid call customers?"

"Uh..."

Wen Le paused for a few seconds before showing signs of realization.

He turned to look at Lu Qing and asked, not entirely sure, "Am I right in thinking she should call customers 'Master'?"

"So you do know something about maid culture."

"Damn, you rejected them just because of that?"

Wen Le adjusted his glasses helplessly, not knowing how to describe his friend's perfectionism.

Lu Qing stopped again and pointed back with his thumb.

Looking in that direction, they could clearly see the female student still trying to attract customers at the store entrance.

"See what she's wearing?" Lu Qing asked.

"Yeah, a normal maid outfit."

"Look again. Is it really normal?"

"Huh?"

Wen Le hesitated, squinting as he examined with scholarly attention.

After about twenty seconds, when the girl in the distance started to notice, Lu Qing pulled him back and decided to reveal the answer directly:

"First of all, that's not a proper maid outfit - it's the cheapest knockoff you can buy for 50 yuan on Taobao. It's neither English nor Japanese style, but the typical 'Chinese style.'

The workmanship and design are far from authentic standards. I don't believe someone wearing such an outfit can provide precise maid services."

"?! What?"

He continued, speaking like an expert, "Secondly, proper maids don't wear cat ears - they wear lace accessories, white headbands, or ribbon hair ties.

Cat ears aren't standard maid attire; they're actually a type of adult novelty item. Standing on the street wearing them to attract customers shows a lack of understanding. To put it another way, if she's not embarrassed, I'm embarrassed for her."

"??"

"Finally, if you really want to experience a maid café, I recommend 'Maidream Manor' in the City Development area or 'Black and White Mansion' in the Coastal district. At least the money you spend there will get you about 80% of the Akihabara service standard, far better than this 'board game shop' that's just trying to scam college students."

"??? Holy crap, bro, how do you know so much about this?! This is..."

After hearing Lu Qing's explanation, Wen Le was dumbfounded.

Although he hadn't deeply studied maid culture, he was still an experienced anime fan and had heard some related information.

But what Lu Qing said was completely new to him, and he could tell these points were well-founded - he couldn't argue against any of it.

"I just know a little bit. Anyway, I need to get back to the dorm to write. If you still want to go, suit yourself, just don't drag me into it."

Lu Qing didn't want to waste any more time and quickened his pace into the dormitory area.

"...Wait up!"

At this point, Wen Le naturally wouldn't go back either, but his roommate's level of expertise had once again caught his attention.

He couldn't help but wonder, "Damn, with this level of research... don't tell me... were you writing maid stories before?"

...

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