"What if I say no?" Xu Xiaoyou asked.
"What's so good about this place?" Bai Youyou grumbled. "And what's wrong with me?"
"Am I too fierce? Not good-looking? Not really."
"Or did you do something to wrong me and you're feeling guilty?"
"I don't have a particularly good personality either. Don't let my current appearance fool you—appearing easy-going, empathetic, and a good listener," Xu Xiaoyou continued, "Maybe I actually have a lot of schemes hidden inside?"
"Schemes?" Bai Youyou was stunned.
"What you see is only what others want you to see."
"Maybe once you truly get to know someone, you'll start to hate them."
Xu Xiaoyou said calmly, "Actually, I'm no different from anyone else. I'm just the first person you met while exploring this world who left a deep impression on you."
The sound of the sea wind gradually faded away.
'I don't care if you're willing or not. Before I leave, I'm definitely knocking you out and stuffing you into a suitcase,' Bai Youyou thought.
..........
"Xiaoyou, Anya, breakfast is ready."
Lin Ran's call came from the living room.
The three sat around the dining table.
Whether it was Lin Ran's imagination or not, she suddenly found Xu Xiaoyou much more pleasing to the eye than yesterday. It was a strange feeling.
Anya also seemed to be sitting closer to Xu Xiaoyou, almost imperceptibly.
Lin Ran, who always loved gossip, felt her radar pinging. She considered her insight quite sharp—there was definitely something fishy going on!!
She quietly ate a piece of bread, intending to continue observing Xu Xiaoyou.
"Hah~" Xu Xiaoyou yawned without any regard for her image, saliva almost dripping onto her clothes.
Lin Ran's heart stirred slightly.
What was wrong with her? Why were her thoughts becoming so strange?
She actually thought the girl looked quite cute like this. She even felt an urge to wipe the saliva from the corner of her mouth.
"Why are you looking at me like that...?" Xu Xiaoyou asked.
Lin Ran silently retracted her gaze. "Tch, tch, tch. I don't care about you."
Xu Xiaoyou: "?"
Looking at the bacon on her plate, Xu Xiaoyou frowned slightly and turned to Anya. "Anya, do you want some bacon?"
Anya blinked, then shook her head.
Then she saw Xu Xiaoyou spear the bacon from Anya's plate and put it in her own mouth.
Anya: "!"
After chewing the bacon, Xu Xiaoyou looked at the bread on Anya's plate. "Anya, do you want bread?"
Anya protectively guarded her plate and nodded firmly.
Xu Xiaoyou looked relieved and speared the bread from her own plate, placing it on Anya's.
"Just as well, I don't like bread."
Anya's small head was filled with big questions.
"Hey, that's enough! She's just a kid and she's still growing!" Lin Ran waved her fist.
"Hehe."
After finishing breakfast, Xu Xiaoyou went to the company to clock in for the first time in over half a month, no longer letting her Substitute work for her.
As soon as she sat in her chair, she began to daze off, thinking about the next A-rank commission.
Just then, a commotion came from nearby.
"What kind of design is this? Aphrah, are you still asleep? Are you dreaming?"
Glos lost her temper—a rare occurrence—and threw a stack of design papers onto the veela girl.
The horns on Aphrah's head trembled. She shrunk into a corner, not saying a word as the scolding continued in her ear.
"Look at what you've designed this past half month. It's barely coherent. Only I would even bother looking at it."
"Any other master would have kicked you out long ago. Go back! Redesign it!!"
"Yes, yes..." Aphrah nodded weakly.
As if to calm her anger, Glos stood up and walked out of the office.
The large office was suddenly left with only Xu Xiaoyou and Aphrah.
Aphrah huddled in the corner, looking despondent and on the verge of tears.
Xu Xiaoyou couldn't bear to see the veela girl so sad and beckoned her over.
"Senior Xu Nian..."
Because of previous events, Aphrah was still a bit afraid of the blonde girl.
Coupled with the fact that the other had completed so many orders in a row lately, Aphrah was even more convinced: beneath that seemingly gentle exterior, there was definitely a crazy heart!
She must have used perverted methods to force those guys to pay back their money!
'Aphrah, you absolutely cannot be fooled by her again!'
"Haven't you noticed? You've always been too weak in front of Glos," Xu Xiaoyou asked.
Aphrah was slightly stunned.
Thinking about it carefully, it did seem that way.
"You're being PUA-ed at work," Xu Xiaoyou said.
"PUA?"
Aphrah didn't understand what that meant.
"Simply put, haven't you noticed she's been using a harsh tone to belittle you and elevate herself? It's to make you feel in awe and fearful of her."
"But... Teacher is right. My designs really are terrible," Aphrah whispered.
"But is there really nothing worth keeping in your designs?" Xu Xiaoyou emphasized.
Aphrah's mouth fell open slightly.
The girl's words echoed in her mind like magic.
She... she was right!
Was there really nothing valuable in the designs she had meticulously crafted?
Were they truly as worthless as her teacher claimed?
No matter what, there must be at least some points that could be optimized or improved!
"Senior, what should I do?" Aphrah asked for help. "I think many of my ideas are right!"
It was strange. Even though she had built up a resistance, she still subconsciously wanted to align with Senior Xu Nian's thoughts.
Was the girl different from a few days ago? She suddenly seemed more beautiful, her gaze gentler, her voice sweeter.
She subconsciously wanted to drop her guard and get closer to her.
"If you don't want to be too passive, you have to become firm. Learn to talk back."
"Talk back..."
Aphrah repeated the words as if chewing them to understand their full meaning.
"Talk back... yes, I must talk back."
"Teacher isn't always right. I must learn to talk back."
Seeing the veela girl walk away looking like she was possessed, Xu Xiaoyou suddenly had a bad feeling.
'I didn't just mess up this kid's head, did I?'
Before long, Glos returned. Seeing Aphrah still standing by the desk looking dazed, as if she had suffered a major blow, Glos's gaze softened slightly.
'Was I too harsh?' Glos thought.
She had been too impatient. She really needed to show more tolerance toward her apprentice.
"Bring me my chair, Aphrah."
Aphrah suddenly took a deep breath, puffed out her chest as if preparing for something, and shouted:
"This isn't even a chair!"
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