The Detestable Scheming Maid, Tang Yuyao's Greatest Enemy Still Profiteering from War

"What are you doing, Auntie?"

The little boy was still happily digging through the carrots when suddenly they vanished, and his aunt, who had been lying on her stomach watching intently just moments before, shot upright.

Wasn't that scary?

It scared him so badly that he nearly merged with the pork stall behind him, grabbing a couple of slabs of pork to shield himself.

He had a feeling that his aunt was about to go berserk again!

Tang Yuyao gritted her teeth, glaring at the two figures in the distance who were "hugging and cuddling" with extremely intimate body language, the carrot in her hand creaking under her grip.

"Shut up!"

The little boy: "..."

He felt that if he said another word, he'd be impaled by a carrot on the spot, so he quickly shut his mouth, blinked his mung-bean-sized eyes, and ran his finger across his lips.

Like a zipper, signaling that he would behave.

"Auntie, how about we go catch them in the act?" the little boy said hesitantly after being timid for a while, seeing that his aunt's face was still pitch black.

This couldn't go on, after all.

"Get that nonsense out of your head. You're always watching all kinds of garbage. They're just friends." Tang Yuyao whacked the little boy on the head with the carrot.

Thunk!

Like striking a wooden fish. She brushed it off with an explanation she didn't even believe herself—"just friends."

"Do you really think I'm a three-year-old..." the little boy muttered timidly. He was already five now, no way such childish talk could fool him.

"What did you say!" Tang Yuyao looked like she was about to eat someone alive.

The little boy blinked: "My dear, beautiful, kind, and the auntie whom my uncle loves the most—I didn't say anything at all."

"Hmph, you'd better not have!" Tang Yuyao snorted coldly, finally letting go of the grip on the little boy and putting away the carrot she'd been about to use as a weapon.

The little boy: "..."

Auntie, you're hopeless like this. No wonder you still haven't won over Uncle after all this time. That other maid sister is so gentle—no wonder Uncle likes her.

Of course, these were thoughts the little boy only dared to keep in his head. If he'd said them out loud, he'd have been beaten into a meatball.

The aunt and nephew squatted behind the vegetable stall, sneakily continuing their tailing mission, with the little boy still munching away.

Soon, the bag of sweet carrots Tang Yuyao had bought earlier to blend in was completely eaten by the little boy.

He patted his round belly, looking a bit unsatisfied.

Since they'd been lingering in front of the stall for so long, Tang Yuyao bought a few more things from the stall owner—this time, green peppers.

The little boy: "..."

Uh... I'll pass on those, thanks.

He stuck his hand in and poked around a couple of times, but it felt plump and weirdly smooth.

Silently, he pulled his paw back out. Sorry, green peppers, you're not my type. I prefer something with a bit more texture—like Miss Carrot...

Up ahead.

"Xiaxia, are you sure we can finish all this?" Ye Cheng asked, holding a mountain of stuff in front of him.

The Head Maid held a small notebook and pen, standing in front of Ye Cheng as she checked items, counting them to make sure nothing was missed before putting the notebook away.

She began helping Ye Cheng carry things.

"This is enough for a week, minus some loss. The final yield rate might be less than half, so we'll probably need to come back in a few days," the Head Maid said, shaking her head.

"Yield rate? That fancy? What do you do with the ones that don't make the cut?" Ye Cheng asked.

"Throw them away," the Head Maid replied expressionlessly, like a heartless machine.

Ye Cheng gasped: "How dare you, Xiaxia! You've disappointed me greatly. From this day forward, you are the enemy of the Ye family army, you hear me, Xiaxia!"

The Head Maid: "..."

Clearly, the Head Maid had underestimated Ye Cheng's strength. Even with his hands full of papayas, he still managed to pull off one of his classic moves.

Now he was reenacting a famous scene, holding a bunch of freshly bought papayas in one hand while performing dramatically with the other, his expression and voice so exaggerated that everyone around was stunned speechless.

Even someone with nerves of steel and thick skin like the Head Maid couldn't take it anymore. Her face flushed red in an instant—how utterly embarrassing.

"Fine, fine. The ones that don't make the cut, I'll let you eat them, okay?" The Head Maid covered her face with one hand, her ears burning hot.

Ye Cheng blinked: "Now that's acceptable."

He cleared his throat.

"Ahem. Well, seeing as Xiaxia is so sincere, I'll forgive you this time. Let's go."

Ye Cheng carried a huge pile of stuff and started walking out, but stopped after a couple of steps, looking mischievous as he leaned in to whisper to the Head Maid.

"Xiaxia, don't you feel it? The people around us are looking at us strangely. Like they're staring at us."

The Head Maid: "..."

Could it be... they're staring at you?

The Head Maid clenched her fist, her face burning with embarrassment, but in the end, she just shot him a glare, linked her arm through his, and hurried out of the market to escape the scene.

Over by a small vegetable stall not far away.

In Tang Yuyao's eyes, the two figures turned into something entirely different—cozy, flirty, playful, and finally walking off into the sunset together.

Tang Yuyao's anger +999 +999 +999...

At this moment, Tang Yuyao's greatest enemy was no longer Xia Tongxin, whom she'd been cursing at all night, but this shameless dead maid who'd come out of nowhere!

Someone's broken into your house, you know that!!!

"Auntie, Auntie, let's go buy some of that too."

Just as Tang Yuyao was about to chase after them, the little boy's excited voice came from beside her, pointing at the papaya stall nearby.

Tang Yuyao frowned: "Don't make me smack you right now, boy. Hurry up."

The little boy panicked. He'd been gnawing on carrots this whole time and had been eyeing those papayas longingly. He slurped his drool, puffed out his chest, sucked in his belly, and even tried to look a bit more handsome.

"Auntie, you know what? I'm actually doing this for your own good. There's a saying: know your enemy and know yourself, and you'll win every battle. Uncle likes papaya-based stuff so much, that's why that pretty maid sister—I mean, that wicked maid sister—lured him away!"

Tang Yuyao raised an eyebrow, her gaze landing on the stall the Head Maid had just visited.

Indeed... she'd bought a ton of papayas.

Does he really like papayas that much, or is there another purpose?

Instinctively, an image of the Head Maid flashed through Tang Yuyao's mind, and the only two words she could see were... natural endowment!

Tang Yuyao: "???"

Like waking from a dream, Tang Yuyao's pupils suddenly contracted. Now she understood—so that's where the secret lay. Well, well, what a scheming maid!

"Fine, let's go buy a couple!" Tang Yuyao gritted her teeth.

The little boy's eyes lit up. Yes! It worked!

Classic wartime profiteering—eating well, eating happy!

The youngest son laughed... but soon couldn't laugh anymore, as if he had been smiling prematurely.

"Little aunt, didn't we buy a bit too much?" the youngest son said, sounding a little uncertain.

"Too much? It's fine, it's fine. Hurry up — a real man can handle way more than this, can't he?" Tang Yuyao craned her neck, looking outside, searching for the two people's figures.

They had already left the vegetable market. Judging by the direction they went, it looked like they were heading back to school. That was as far as they could follow — any further and they'd end up at home.

Damn it, that scheming maid!

Tang Yuyao gritted her teeth, while beside her, the youngest son was dragging a pile of papayas stacked as high as a mountain, looking utterly defeated. Sure, he had wanted to eat some papayas, and maybe make a little profit off the chaos too.

But... wasn't this way too much?

"Little aunt, come help me out here," the youngest son said, pulling hard, but the mountain of papayas behind him didn't budge an inch. Just looking at it was enough to drain all his strength.

"No wonder that girl won't give you the time of day. You can't even handle a little thing like this. Tsk, if it were that Xiao Ming from before, he'd definitely manage just fine," Tang Yuyao said with an airy, teasing tone.

The youngest son: "???"

Taking that low blow straight to the face, he powered up like he'd gone Super Saiyan, his whole body surging with energy, burning hot, and he started hauling the giant pile of papayas behind him toward the exit.

Meanwhile, Tang Yuyao kept fanning the flames from the side: "Xiaobao, if it's too much, just give up. No need to push yourself. Your health is more important..."

"Little aunt, what are you talking about? I don't understand. This is nothing — it's just a little weight... Let's hurry up. If we're late, Grandma and Grandpa will get worried."

The youngest son's hands were trembling, but his mouth stayed stubborn, putting on a calm and composed act.

Where the youngest son couldn't see, a wicked smile spread across Tang Yuyao's face... As expected, guys were way too easy to fool. Kids like him? She could wrap them around her finger with ease!

Fueled by his non-stop burning spirit, the aunt and nephew duo finally made it back home.

At the Tang family residence, by the front door.

"Hurry up, Xiaobao. Don't tell me you're out of steam already?" Tang Yuyao slowly got out of the car. The trunk was open, and the youngest son, flushed and sweating, dragged the papayas down from the car.

He propped one hand on the car, struck a somewhat "cool" pose, and blew at the hair on his forehead.

"This? That's nothing. I wasn't even trying yet..."

Tremble, tremble, tremble...

Tang Yuyao: "..."

Tang Yuyao couldn't hold it in anymore, but seeing how hard he'd worked, she decided to be a good little aunt for once — no mocking this time. Instead, she'd give him a little reward.

Otherwise, next time she went out, she'd have no nuclear-powered donkey to do the heavy lifting.

"Wow, so cool, Xiaobao! If your little aunt were Xiaohong, I'd definitely fall head over heels for you. So handsome, so manly!"

Tang Yuyao put on a lovesick expression, and the youngest son's mouth curled up uncontrollably.

"Really, little aunt? If I told Xiaohong about what I did today, do you think she'd actually like me?"

"Who knows..." Tang Yuyao said, speechless.

"Huh?" A question mark appeared over the youngest son's head.

"Ahem, what little aunt means is, there's a very good chance she'd fall for you!" Tang Yuyao coughed twice and forcibly steered the conversation back on track.

With that, she picked out the two biggest and prettiest papayas from the mountain of them piled behind the youngest son, hugged them to her chest, and walked into the house.

She didn't care one bit about the youngest son's misery. He stood outside, still dreaming of a bright future, completely unaware that it was all just a pie in the sky his evil little aunt had baked for him.

From inside the house, Tang's mother's voice came out.

"The eldest daughter is back?"

"Mm, I'm back."

"Oh? Where's Xiaocheng? Why did you come back alone?"

Tang Yuyao: "..."

"Sigh..."

"Mom, why are you sighing?"

"Nothing. I just felt like sighing at that moment..." Tang's mother turned into a dejected little old lady, shaking her head repeatedly in the direction of her eldest daughter.

Tang Yuyao: "..."