After Yu Qingxue arrived in the first-class cabin, she took off her boots and rested her beautiful feet, wrapped in patterned black stockings, on the plush carpet. Her gaze was deep and distant as she stared out the window at the scenery.
Even though she could have strained her eyes until they wore out, she wouldn’t have been able to find Gao Sijin’s figure from here. Yet, Yu Qingxue still fixed her gaze on the terminal building near the airport outside the window.
“I’m leaving, Sijin…” she murmured to herself.
Her suitcase was filled with all sorts of strange and unusual tools. The inventory included, but was not limited to, handcuffs, hallucinogenic drugs, black tape, syringes, a GPS personal tracker, and a stun baton. In truth, her original plan had been to simply knock Gao Sijin out by force and abduct him directly to Tokyo. It would have been convenient and fast.
However, the Young Miss had forbidden it. Besides, as her time spent with Gao Sijin grew longer, Yu Qingxue actually found herself enjoying his company quite a bit.
As a capable maid, her standard operating procedure was calm, collected, and flawless. But recently, whenever she caused a huge ruckus and saw that utterly defeated look on Gao Sijin’s face, she found it deeply amusing.
She had discovered that, at her core, she was a textbook sadist.
“Sijin, I’m really looking forward to you walking right into the trap. Your expression when the Young Miss breaks you is going to be absolutely fascinating.”
The moment Gao Sijin’s feet touched the soil of J-Country, with Lady Tsukiyuki’s influence, he would never have any chance of escaping that nation, becoming Lady Tsukiyuki’s personal plaything forever.
And, based on Yu Qingxue’s understanding of Gao Sijin, he would definitely come to Tokyo to reunite with her.
The plane had already entered the runway and was about to take off.
Recalling that morning, how he’d looked so serious about wanting to kiss her—it was utterly ridiculous.
For a fleeting moment, it was true that her heart had rippled slightly. But Yu Qingxue couldn’t step forward for a farewell kiss. The hug was the absolute limit of what she could do with Gao Sijin.
Otherwise, given the Young Miss’s brand of “tenderness,” she would definitely be thrown into Tokyo Bay to feed the sharks, or carved into a human pillar, buried alive in cement, and left to starve to death in some unmarked grove.
Crossing the line meant getting the knife.
About ten or so minutes later, they had reached a stable cruising altitude.
Yu Qingxue took out her iPad and began reading his light novel, which she had cached earlier. Including this time, this would be her third read-through.
Book or person, Yu Qingxue didn’t dislike either of them.
One could even say this feeling bordered on fondness, but calling it love was still far too premature.
“Champagne and caviar, please.”
Around noon, she ordered a set meal.
Traveling from Bincheng to Tokyo took roughly two-plus hours. The time would pass swiftly.
Honestly, when it came to the separation itself, Yu Qingxue couldn’t help but feel a sense of emptiness.
She had grown so used to being with Gao Sijin these past few days.
But this sentiment absolutely could not be expressed. She was, and always would be, a maid of the Tsukiyuki Family, serving the household in that capacity alone. As for maids who overthrew their superiors, those only existed in his novels.
At 1 PM, the plane arrived precisely on time at Tokyo International Airport. Yu Qingxue pulled her suitcase behind her and disembarked.
With that, her mission was over.
“It has been a while since I last paid my respects, Eldest Miss Tsukiyuki.”
Entering the terminal, Yu Qingxue laid eyes on the true master she served—Tsukiyuki Rio.
Her beauty was dreamlike and ethereal. The tailored black kimono perfectly traced her slender, graceful figure. Her hair was styled in a perfectly neat Hime-cut, making her resemble a highborn princess. The slightly drooping corners of her eyes carried a gentle vibe, and her cherry-blossom-pink lips curved into a perfect arc—a sight that made Yu Qingxue involuntarily feel tense.
“How is Gao-kun?”
Tsukiyuki Rio asked in Chinese, her accent so flawless she was almost indistinguishable from a native speaker.
“He will certainly become a delightful plaything for you.” Yu Qingxue walked toward Tsukiyuki Rio with measured, cautious steps. “Keeping him at home is, without a doubt, a wise decision. He has also brought me considerable amusement these days. He is an ordinary yet interesting person.”
“Is that so?”
Seeing Yu Qingxue praise the man she fancied so highly, Tsukiyuki Rio couldn’t help but giggle.
Despite being just a high school girl in her senior year, she was the kind of young lady who could casually eat a macaron while watching someone commit seppuku.
On her person, one could hardly perceive any trace of human emotion. Perhaps, she simply didn’t view so-called humans as anything worth considering.
Yu Qingxue still couldn’t understand why Eldest Miss Tsukiyuki Rio had taken an interest in a man from another country, living so far away. By all logic, the two of them should have never had any connection whatsoever.
“Don’t let your thoughts wander too much, okay?”
Her dark-red contact lenses shimmered like ruby gemstones, bewitching and demonically beautiful. They were eyes that could easily see straight through a person’s heart.
There was a saying that perfectly described the feeling of serving the Eldest Miss Tsukiyuki: being in her company was like keeping a tiger as a pet.
Yu Qingxue walked behind Tsukiyuki Rio, not daring to take a single step ahead of her.
Parked outside was a black Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan.
While the Eldest Miss Tsukiyuki’s financial resources and influence within the family made it entirely possible for her to choose a more ostentatious, flashier luxury car to showcase her noble status, low-key discretion was one of Tsukiyuki Rio’s virtues.
Getting into the car, Yu Qingxue pressed the accelerator with the utmost caution, terrified that driving too fast might displease Eldest Miss Tsukiyuki Rio.
“Where are we headed, Young Miss?”
“Let’s go home for now.”
“Which home? Setagaya Ward, Shibuya Ward, Minato Ward, Chiyoda Ward, or Shoto Ward?”
“Whichever.”
Tsukiyuki Rio narrowed her beautiful eyes, scanning the scenery outside the car window like an empress inspecting her subjects’ lives.
From a certain perspective, in this country controlled by financial conglomerates, Tsukiyuki Rio was, indeed, an uncrowned empress.
“In two weeks, he will be by your side.”
“Mhm, I know.”
Tsukiyuki Rio took out her phone with rapt attention, seemingly chatting with Gao Sijin.
Usually, Tsukiyuki Rio wasn’t a girl who smiled particularly often. But whenever she picked up her phone, a pure and lovely smile would grace her face, making her look just like an innocent little girl.
She was Gao Sijin’s most devoted reader.
“By the way, Young Miss,” Yu Qingxue suddenly spoke up, “Regarding his copyright, I’ve already sent someone to negotiate.”
“How did it go?”
“Secured for twenty thousand.” Yu Qingxue carefully steered the car around the bustling streets. “In the web novel industry of China, ninety percent of all books can’t even sell their copyrights. Even a book with 30,000 average subscribers—in reality, its copyright might be completely worthless. Unless a work has the potential for film, television, or game adaptation rights, it won’t command a high copyright fee. When they heard I wanted to buy Sijin’s book for twenty thousand, they were practically over the moon. In their eyes, his book is a complete flop that sank without a trace. I estimate they would have agreed to even just two thousand.”
“Hmph, they are blind and ignorant!”
Tsukiyuki Rio clenched her fist slightly, seeming somewhat irritated.
Whenever matters concerning Gao Sijin were brought up, the Young Miss could never quite help becoming emotional.
“Once Gao-kun is by my side, I will immediately begin preparations for an anime adaptation of his book. I want to show the entire world just how brilliant the story Gao-kun has written truly is!”
