Chapter 50: Protective Instincts
Chapter 50: Protective Instincts
"This is a spare toothbrush you can use and here’s a towel." Pei Qing roughly handed Zhao Lifei the supplies, nearly shoving everything onto her hands.
Zhao Lifei felt her eyebrows raise in surprise, a small fire building within her. She reminded herself to stay level-headed. She didn’t want to throw a big scene in someone else’s house, especially when the servant didn’t even belong to her.
"Oh, and here’s the cup. Mr. Yang doesn’t like to share things with people, so just throw everything out later." Pei Qing set the cup onto the marble sink, it clunked and made a loud sound.
"And this is the spare clothes for you." She tossed the clothes onto the counter.
Zhao Lifei gritted her teeth to suppress her anger. Her hand itched to smack and punish the maid.
If this was the same spoiled and haughty woman from two years ago, she wouldn’t have hesitated at the idea of punishing someone like Pei Qing right then and there. For her, hurting someone was as easy as blinking an eye. She wouldn’t even have batted an eyelash to slapping the woman silly. She used to be able to get socialites from wealthy families under her control, a maid with no backing would have been child’s play for her.
But she reminded herself this wasn’t what she learned within the two years of her disappearance. Her counselors warned her to never show people her true emotions. The calmer the storm, the bigger the chaos.
She told herself she didn’t have to get so worked up over something as small as this horrible treatment. It was not like she had to endure it any longer, nor she was planning to visit Yang Feng’s house again. If she wanted to strike at Pei Qing, she would need to wait until the woman burned Zhao Lifei’s last string of patience within the amount of time she was here.
A small devil sitting on Zhao Lifei’s shoulders whispered to her to punish Pei Qing right then and there. It will show who the superior one is in this context and who should respect who. The devil told her it was better to smack her now so that it would teach a harsh lesson to Pei Qing to never mess with her again.
Zhao Lifei stared at Pei Qing’s face as she debated whether to listen to the devil, and Pei Qing was left with no choice but to leave the room. She was still a servant after all.
Pei Qing was growing frustrated when she saw Zhao Lifei’s blank face that was nearly impossible to read. She had seen the slight twitch of her hands as if she wanted to strike her.
Pei Qing thought about scheming against Zhao Lifei. What would happen to that random woman if she cried to her master that the woman had struck him? Wouldn’t she look like the innocent victim of a vicious woman?
Every man had protective instincts. The more domineering and powerful a man, the more protective he becomes over the women in his life, and Pei Qing knew Yang Feng wasn’t any different. She had experienced first hand how he handled the people that dared to disrespect the women in his life.
Pei Qing smirked to herself.
If she was able to make herself seem like the victim, she might be able to get rid of Zhao Lifei. Yang Feng had a reputation of making sure anyone who schemed against him or his people was punished. She had been working exceptionally for him for three years, she could be considered as one of "his people". Besides, no one likes a bad-tempered woman...
She planned to secretly treat Zhao Lifei as roughly as possible so that she could push all of the buttons that would force her to slap her.
Pei Qing slightly hesitated when she thought about how hard Zhao Lifei might smack her. Although she looked frail, rich women who beat their servants mercilessly are not unheard of. This Zhao Lifei reeks of being raised in extreme wealth. What if she was able to leave a dark bruise on her beautiful cheeks? Just then, she brushed the thought aside and smiled. The darker the bruise, the quicker Yang Feng’s protective instinct will flare up!
When Zhao Lifei saw the shadow of Pei Qing’s feet from the crack under the door, she nearly rolled her eyes. Did that simple maid take her for a fool? She already knew what Pei Qing was planning.
Zhao Lifei used to scheme against Xia Mengxi. Though it rarely worked, it made her an expert in acting as a white lotus. To force tears and make herself the most pitiful woman in the room, she knew exactly how to tug at the heartstrings of a simple man.
However, Zheng Tianyi wasn’t just a simple man and Xia Mengxi’s ’I’m just a commoner who fell in love with a prince and is now being bullied all the time’ act is much more effective than hers.
That’s why Zhao Lifei’s tactics never worked on him.
She wondered if Yang Feng would fall for her foolish antics. Judging by his high IQ, she knew it would be nearly impossible. But at the very least, it would make the maid look bad.
She pushed any more thoughts about the maid at the back of her mind and quickly washed up. After stepping out of the shower, she had a different smell to her signature Jasmine-scented tones. She wasn’t surprised to see that even the guest bathroom was stocked with high-end luxury products.
With Yang Enterprises’ success domestically and internationally, Yang Feng was practically swimming in money.
She hurriedly brushed her teeth, washed her face, and wore the outfit given to her. Lifei wasn’t surprised to see the clothes hang loosely on her, despite its small size. She knew it was Ruqin’s clothes the instant she saw them.
All of the Yang siblings were really tall, thanks to the good genetics from both of their parents. Because of their ideal height and nearly flawless body, every piece of clothing looked amazing on them.
Zhao Lifei, on the other hand, thought she looked like a child playing with her mother’s clothes. The white dress surely hugged Yang Ruqin in all of the right places, but it was loose and flowy on her.
It didn’t do Lifei’s body any justice as she looked shapeless and bland in the dress. She sulked to herself and thought there was a reason why she and Qinqin didn’t share clothes with each other.
When she walked out of the bathroom, she realized that she only spent thirty minutes inside, yet Pei Qing was nowhere in sight.
Rolling her eyes at the incompetent maid, she thought of telling Yang Feng about it. Since Pei Qing wasn’t her servant, she couldn’t do anything to her. Besides, she didn’t want to waste her time and energy on insignificant people.
I’ll leave the job to Yang Feng to deal with since he was the one who hired this kind of people in the first place!
Yang Feng had placed the finishing touches on the grand breakfast he just made when he somehow sensed Zhao Lifei approaching.
He glanced up and sucked in a deep breath when he saw Zhao Lifei. Dressed in a loose white dress that swayed with each step she took, he thought she looked like an angel. On top of that, when she came nearer, he realized that she smelled like him too. He figured she most likely used the same body wash as him.
He rarely had female guests over, so the shelves were usually stocked with male products. Unless Zhao Lifei had lived here for a while and had rummaged through the shelves where he especially kept toiletries for his mother and Ruqin, she wouldn’t find products that women used. The idea of her living in the same house as him and their bodies smelling the same brightened his mood further.
"What are you looking at?" Zhao Lifei self-consciously asked.
"Nothing." Yang Feng mused, his eyes catching the brilliant light of the chandeliers, which enhanced it. His eyes which usually seemed like an endless pool of despair was only bright and playful for Zhao Lifei. But she didn’t know that, as his eyes often had a teasing look during their frequent recent encounters.
She pressed her lips together and decided to not say anything. ’I should stop overthinking.’ She chided herself, brushing the little devil off of her shoulder once again.