The Young Lady's Daily Farm Work, Xia Tongxin's Fear +999...

At the academy, outside Xia Tongxin's villa.

Beep beep.

Ye Cheng steadied the small electric scooter carrying the three of them, then lifted the young miss off first and set her down from the vehicle.

There was no helping it—the space inside was way too cramped, and with the young miss's serious germophobia, she couldn't touch the Head Maid, so it fell to Ye Cheng to play the part.

Shen Qinghan gazed calmly at the luxurious villa before her.

This piece of property, vacant for many years, rang a faint bell.

As luck would have it, the Du family and the Shen family each owned several properties within the academy, and one of the closest ones was less than a few hundred meters from Xia Tongxin's villa.

Also vacant for a long time.

The last time anyone stayed there was back when Du Wanyi was studying—she'd lasted less than a month before getting driven off by the people at the academy and bolting.

It had been sitting empty ever since.

The only one qualified to live there was Shen Qinghan, but Shen Qinghan didn't stay in villas—she chose the student dorms instead, so it just kept gathering dust.

"Beep!"

"Door opened successfully!" The gate slowly slid wide.

The Head Maid stepped off the scooter, walked over to the entrance, scanned her face to unlock the door, then looked back at the two of them: "You two go on in first. I'll go park this."

The Head Maid rode the little scooter loaded with papayas toward an empty patch of ground nearby.

"Hey, young miss, you want some papaya? Munch munch munch, it's pretty sweet, munch munch munch..."

Somewhere along the way, Ye Cheng had pulled one papaya out from the pile, already sliced open, and was chomping on it while chatting with Shen Qinghan.

Shen Qinghan: "..."

Shen Qinghan shot him a look like he was an idiot: "When exactly did you meet this guy?"

"Can't quite remember. Met him playing games late at night. Munch munch munch."

"What game?" Shen Qinghan frowned.

"Honor of Kings, duh. Here, check it out... munch munch munch."

Ye Cheng whipped out his phone and, right in front of Shen Qinghan, began demonstrating his "daily farm work"—perfect, another day of freeloading. No wonder he'd been feeling a bit off today, like something was missing.

This was it!

Click click click, he jabbed wildly at the flashy, money-grubbing pages on the screen, claimed his "luxury gift pack"—a few rune fragments, a handful of diamonds and gold coins, some flowers...

A satisfied grin spread across Ye Cheng's face.

Another day of mooching.

Shen Qinghan: "..."

"Boring," Shen Qinghan said flatly.

That said, her body betrayed her as she grabbed Ye Cheng's phone and started tapping away at it herself, imitating his moves...

"Hey, that's right, just like that, young miss—tap that one, yeah, this event too, and this one, don't forget the daily share gives you five extra gold coins..."

Ye Cheng looked like he'd struck gold.

His eyes lit up as he started sweet-talking Shen Qinghan into doing his "farm work" for free, without even paying her—finally getting a taste of what it felt like to be a heartless capitalist. Man, it felt good!

Within half a minute, the young miss was completely hooked. She didn't even need Ye Cheng's instructions anymore—she was just tapping away on her own.

Ye Cheng wore a smug smile.

When the Head Maid finished parking the scooter and came back carrying a papaya, she saw the two still standing by the entrance—one glued to a phone, the other beside her munching on papaya...

Head Maid: "???"

What were these two up to now?

Though she had no idea how Ye Cheng managed it—how he could convince the frosty gangster heiress to do such bizarre things—she had to admit, Ye Cheng was seriously impressive.

When others spoke to her, she wouldn't listen at all, and would snap at the drop of a hat.

Only around Ye Cheng did she turn obedient...

The Head Maid's lips twitched. She sighed inwardly, didn't bother calling out to the pair at the door, and simply walked inside with her papaya.

She needed to give her lady a heads-up first—otherwise, she'd get scared.

Even the Head Maid herself had some psychological scars from dealing with that gangster heiress, let alone her own young miss. Tonight was probably going to be another night of nightmares. Ugh...

Click.

"I'm back."

"Sister!"

"Sister, you're finally back!"

"Sister, are we having papaya tonight?!"

The moment the Head Maid walked in, the little maids in the hall swarmed around her like chicks, chattering away—"sister, sister" on repeat.

The Head Maid once again displayed her impressive skill—not only remembering every single thing each of them said but responding to all of it too. After handling that, she started making arrangements and asking questions.

"Is the young miss still upstairs watching cartoons?" the Head Maid frowned.

"Yeah, sister. She came down earlier and said she wanted to go out looking for you, but we managed to talk her out of it."

A few of the little maids spoke with pride in their voices, like students who'd done well on a test showing off to their parents, hoping for praise.

The Head Maid patted each of their heads: "Mm, good job. You can all head back and rest for today. I'll take it from here. Oh, and use the back door."

The Head Maid quickly dismissed the several maids who'd been staying in the villa to take care of things.

A detail—use the back door.

Because Shen Qinghan was still camped out at the front.

Though she didn't exactly relish dealing with some of the young miss's fussy quirks, Shen Qinghan's situation was a special case—genuinely troublesome.

To avoid stirring up unnecessary problems, it was better to get them out of the way early.

After all, things had been lax and easygoing with their young miss, and if they accidentally provoked that cold-faced gangster heiress outside, things would get ugly.

Given that the woman was a problem child who showed zero regard for courtesy.

"Sister, bye-bye!" The little maids waved as they grabbed their things and left, like kids getting out of kindergarten.

"Mm, bye-bye." The Head Maid responded with her standard polite smile.

Phew.

After they left, the Head Maid let out a breath. Next up was the matter of her own lady...

Tap tap tap. The Head Maid walked up to the second floor, paused at the door, knocked softly, and asked.

"Young miss?"

Inside the room.

Xia Tongxin was snuggled up in her blanket, strawberry milk and a bag of chips at her side, staring at the cartoon playing in front of her, utterly absorbed and delighted.

Hearing the Head Maid's voice from outside the door, Xia Tongxin froze for a second, then her little face lit up with excitement.

"Xiaxia, you're finally back! I missed you so much!"

Xia Tongxin scrambled off the bed, flung the door open, and threw herself onto the Head Maid.

Soft and warm—she loved it most!

"Young miss, there's good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?" The Head Maid was silent for a moment, unwilling to drop the harsh truth on her lady so bluntly.

She planned to play a little "game"—at least it would keep her lady from falling apart too quickly, give her a buffer.

Xia Tongxin's eyes sparkled.

A game! She loved these little surprise games!

"Good news! I want the good news!"

The Head Maid nodded: "He's back. He's having dinner at our place tonight."

“Yay!!! Grandpa Niu is back again, we’re gaming all night tonight!” Xia Tongxin hopped around like a kid who was several hundred months old, bouncing on the bed without a care in the world.

The Head Maid: “……”

Hmm... is there any chance that... miss, there’s still some bad news you haven’t heard yet?

Getting happy a little too early, aren’t we?

She was so carried away with joy that she completely ignored the fact that there was bad news on the way. Or maybe she just forgot, since Xia Tongxin wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.

The Head Maid took a deep breath, forcing a smile onto her face: “Miss, there’s also some bad news.”

“Huh? Bad news? What bad news, can I just not listen?” Xia Tongxin blinked, her light blue eyes full of innocence.

The Head Maid: “……”

Does not listening make it go away?

Miss, you...

“Oh, alright, Xiaxia, what’s the bad news?”

Xia Tongxin pouted, glancing at her beloved Xiaxia and realizing there was no way around hearing the bad news. She resigned herself to her fate.

“Another guest is visiting our home.”

“Huh? One of your friends, Xiaxia?” Xia Tongxin asked.

The Head Maid: “……”

“Mmm... kind of.”

The Head Maid steeled herself and said it out loud. A friend’s friend... should count as a friend, right?

Xia Tongxin blinked again: “Your friend is my friend, how is that bad news!”

“Xiaxia, let’s go! We’re gaming all night tonight!” Xia Tongxin stood on the bed, waving her hand, already starting to lay out the gaming plan for the evening!

Her face was full of the excitement and smugness of a proper Little Miss Nobody!

The Head Maid: “……”

A few minutes later.

Xia Tongxin, who had been all excitement and arrogance just moments before, looked like her world had collapsed. She sat obediently in her seat, fidgeting nervously, while across from her on the couch sat Shen Qinghan, still glued to her phone, diligently tending to her farm game.

Xia Tongxin: “……”

A friend?

How is this a friend? This isn’t a friend, this is a demon!

Xiaxia, you lied to me!

Xia Tongxin: “……”

Xia Tongxin felt like she’d been hit with a freeze spell. The entire living room had only the two of them, with Ye Cheng and the Head Maid busy in the kitchen preparing dinner for four.

The big miss was lost in her farming game and couldn’t be pulled away, while Xia Tongxin sat there lifeless, feeling like she was sitting on pins and needles...

Click, click, click.

Time ticked by, one second at a time. The turning point came when the big miss started her first game!

After completing all the free quests and rewards Ye Cheng had mentioned, and thanks to the big miss’s ultra-high IQ and tinkering, she jumped into a tense and exciting ranked match. As for why she chose ranked over casual...

Probably because “ranked” sounded more important and more challenging, so of course she went for it.

And just like that, the big miss stumbled into a high-stakes lobby.

The game started.

“666, we’ve got a national champion here, boys! Just sit back and enjoy!”

“Holy crap, is that real? That’s insane!”

“Screenshotting this. Oh hey, dude, want to duo? I have a sexy voice...”

Shen Qinghan furrowed her brow, a little confused by what her teammates were saying, as if deep in thought... but soon her frown relaxed. These people were probably complimenting her.

A few minutes later.

The big miss’s terrifying gaming instincts revealed themselves — she went full feed mode!

“666, the boss is on his smurf!”

“Run, boys, this national champion is cursed!”

“Screenshot taken, check your DMs!! @#¥%...”

“Teammate has been muted!”

Shen Qinghan: “……”

Shen Qinghan stared at her grayed-out screen, her brows knitting tightly, displeasure flashing in her eyes. She had no idea what those asterisks meant... but she was certain they weren’t saying anything nice.

Combined with the system notification she’d just seen, her teammate had been muted. So... they were probably insulting her.

The big miss’s anger +1+1+1...

“Pfft, hahaha, you’re so bad at this, hahaha...”

Xia Tongxin, who had somehow crept over at some point, couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing, clutching her stomach with tears streaming down her face.

As she laughed, she suddenly realized something. A huge shadow loomed over her — terrifying, unspeakably menacing...

Xia Tongxin: “……”

Xia Tongxin’s fear +999+999+999...