A Worker in the Marquis’s Estate

Before the Liu family fell into ruin, Liu Qianqiu: Getting a job? No way! I would never work for anyone in my life!

After the Liu family fell into ruin, Liu Qianqiu: Cousin, can a maid at the Ji'an Marquis's residence really earn one and a half taels a month?

Not only that. It was only after Qianqiu entered the marquis's residence that she learned the lowest-ranking servants there earned one and a half taels, while first-class maids all earned at least two taels a month. On top of that, they could take on little extra jobs, and their masters would give them bonus money.

From then on, Qianqiu was either keeping watch for a young master who liked to flirt, covering for a mistress having an affair, or running errands to deliver letters for a young lady. She managed to save quite a bit each month.

She had it all figured out. After working hard for two or three years, she could still save enough for a dowry and marry into a good family, provided that damned bookkeeper, Zeng Luwei, would stop finding fault with her!

*

Plans never keep up with changes. One day, a longtime family friend, the Yuan family, came to ask about her. They seemed interested in taking her as a bride, and she was about to rise to great heights!

She raced into Zeng Luwei's room and shook him awake. Catching him off guard, she slapped him hard twice. "You, Zeng! I've put up with you for long enough! What gives you the right to charge me for every broken bowl and plate?! You black-hearted bastard of a servant! A servant for life, a servant for all eternity!"

She never imagined that on the day the marriage was to be arranged, her cousin would come back with news. "It seems this good match of yours may not happen. Zeng Luwei won't agree."

"Him? What is he, anyway? What right does he have to refuse?!"

"He's the master's illegitimate son. That makes him the Second Young Master."

Zeng Luwei was restored to his rightful position and became the Second Young Master of the Ji'an Marquis's residence, while Qianqiu became the first-class maid in his household.

That night, Luwei glanced at the maid glaring at him resentfully. He casually tossed down the account book. "You got a raise, so why aren't you happy?"

Qianqiu gritted her teeth, clasped her hands into a circle behind her back, and made a choking gesture. "I can't accept that you and I were both beasts of burden yesterday, and now you've suddenly turned into a master!"

"You could become a master, too. That depends on whether I'm pleased..."

He turned around with a dark smile. "I heard you cried in front of the young master of the Yuan family. What did you say? Tell me."

*

Liu Qianqiu's work diary: I hate Zeng Luwei. Why? Because your own failure is frightening, but your coworker's success is even more upsetting. I'm jealous!

Zeng Luwei's work reflections: I love Liu Qianqiu. No reason. She likes slacking off and cutting corners, and I like sneaking glances at her smiling face.

A scheming but timid little maid x a bitter, taciturn official's son

Romance is the main focus.

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Next novel: Thinking of Auntie

Du Guan lost his parents when he was young and lived with his aunt, Shuangqiao.

Aunt Shuangqiao was very young, about his age, with the face of a celestial beauty. He often wondered what his late uncle had looked like. What sort of man could possibly have deserved her?

Shuangqiao had a peculiar temperament and rarely smiled. Even when she did, her smile was cold. She was sometimes kind to him and sometimes cruel. When he misbehaved, she beat him without mercy, yet once he fell asleep, she would quietly apply medicine to his wounds.

Du Guan was a little afraid of her at first, but later...

Even when she beat him with a cane, he couldn't stop his heart from yearning for her.

One day, a beautiful female guest came to their home. Du Guan exchanged a few flirtatious words with her and immediately regretted it. Before Shuangqiao could question him, he tried to curry favor, kneeling outside her door to beg forgiveness. "Guan'er behaved improperly. Please punish me, Auntie."

She opened the door. The wind stirred the hem of her skirt like ripples spreading across the water. Rarely, she smiled at him gently. "Guan'er has grown up. Liking pretty women is only natural. It isn't a mistake."

Du Guan thought that the prettiest woman he had ever seen was his aunt.

*

When Shuangqiao was young, a man had betrayed her. His surname was Mei. He stole her family's fortune and caused her family's deaths.

She swore to take revenge on the Mei family!

One day, she found an unconscious young man. As luck would have it, he was the young master of the Mei family. Fate had handed her a gift: when he woke, he remembered nothing. Tapping his forehead, he asked, "Who am I... and who are you?"

Shuangqiao smiled. "Your name is Du Guan. I'm your aunt."

The young man pushed himself upright on the bed. "Then where are my other relatives?"

Shuangqiao dabbed the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. "They're all dead. The Mei family killed them. You must avenge them."

From then on, Shuangqiao fashioned a warm home for the Du Guan she had invented, while also weaving a dream of revenge for him.

She trained him to be an unruly, frivolous man, because women liked that sort of man.

Then she took him to live with the Mei family, stirring up discord between the Mei couple and making close relatives turn against each other.

*

At last, the Mei family fell, and Shuangqiao got what she wanted. She planned to pack her things and flee under cover of night, but for some reason, neither door would budge, no matter how hard she pulled.

In her panic, someone inside the room called softly, "Auntie."

Du Guan emerged from the darkness and came toward her. He raised a hand to caress her face, smiling strangely. "I finally understand why you called yourself my aunt. The man surnamed Mei was my real uncle, wasn't he?"

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