Chapter 32: Dramatic and Fiery

“Must you be so hurtful with your words?”

Zhan Su stroked his alluring chin and thin lips… Her first kiss? His expression unconsciously softened a shade.

It must have been. With her nondescript looks and shabby attire, she likely didn’t even have a boyfriend.

Who would fancy her? Unless they were blind.

Oddly enough, his mood brightened a little. “You’ve offended me, but I’m not entirely unwilling to forgive you…”

Shi Qingqing’s eyes sparkled.

Campus heartthrob, you’re truly a good person, so kind! The nation needs conscientious young men like you, tender-hearted little princes of the people! Bless you!

Zhan Su calmly added the rest, “Given that you have grievously damaged my dignity, you ought to make amends…”

But before he could finish, Shi Qingqing cut in, “I have no money, but I do have my life.”

Make amends? Compensation?

No way. Not a chance.

“Be my maid for a month. Do as I say, let me vent my anger, and I’ll forgive you.”

“What? What did you just say?”

Shi Qingqing blinked. All those thoughts about “tender-hearted little prince” and “model citizen” vanished instantly.

And you—don’t you know what era this is? Still talking about maids?

Sure, your family’s been rich for three generations, your father’s the vice president, your mother’s the queen of real estate, but—hey, I’m nobody’s maid!

Yet Zhan Su spoke again, his tone light, “You don’t need to follow me around the clock. One hour of housework a day, at a rate of five hundred per hour.”

Shi Qingqing’s jaw nearly dropped.

Wait, hourly wage? Five hundred an hour? Thirty hours would be fifteen thousand?

Just for cleaning?

This was her forte!

She was mediocre at cooking, but cleaning? That took no skill at all!

In fact, being a servant was an ancient profession with contracts and wages. As the saying goes, out of three hundred and sixty-five trades, there’s a master in every one.

What’s wrong with being a servant? Servants are people too!

It’s a legitimate line of work!

As a person of the new era, how could she possibly look down on such a well-paid profession?

But that wasn’t the real point.

The point was…

Being the campus heartthrob’s maid?

Shi Qingqing’s mind raced as she recalled all the melodramatic, wildly popular online campus romances she’d read—titles like “The Campus Heartthrob Has His Eyes on You,” “Heartthrob Eats Up the Sweetheart,” “Heartthrob, You’re Doomed…” They all seemed to echo her current predicament. Was she destined to become the domineering campus idol’s exclusive maid—and maybe his girlfriend?

First bickering, then love blooming over time, and finally living a blissful, harmonious, and outrageously domineering life together…

Shi Qingqing’s imagination was running wild, unable to stop.

…

Zhan Su, watching Shi Qingqing’s delighted face at the mention of five hundred per hour, couldn’t help but feel a surge of disdain.

Luo Hua had already given him a full report on Shi Qingqing. She was poor, lived alone with her mother, and often did odd jobs between classes to make ends meet.

For someone like her, a few clever tricks and a bit of money were all it took.

If it weren’t for this particular opportunity—and if she weren’t the type whose eyes sparkled at the mention of cash—he wouldn’t even spare her a glance.

“Give your bank account number to my bodyguard. The job starts today. Wait for me at the back gate after school…”

Wow, he really was the archetypal overbearing campus heartthrob!

Tsk, tsk, tsk…

But Shi Qingqing’s personality was nothing like the sweet heroines in those stories. What a pity.