Chapter 48: Completely Scared
What he didn’t expect was that Lin Muqing didn’t react at all. It was like she had zero guard up around him.
Even though she acted really shy when wearing cute clothes and looked like a very innocent girl, she wasn’t acting cautious at all now.
This made him feel very confused. He wondered if maybe his guess was wrong?
Maybe he still needed to learn more about Lin Muqing. So far, he didn’t really know her well enough.
“Phew~ Is there anything else I need to do now?”
After finishing her tasks, Lin Muqing stretched lazily, then turned to ask her good buddy, who was also her boss.
Since there wasn’t much work left and there was still some time before the end of the shift, she wasn’t sure what to do next.
“Nope, go have dinner.”
Pulled out of his thoughts, Ye Ziming turned his head and looked at the girl beside him.
Her pretty almond-shaped eyes blinked a few times, and from them, he could tell she was hoping to clock out, not get another job to do.
He was in a good mood today, so he let her go eat.
“Yay~!”
She was so happy she almost bounced out of her chair. After all, for office workers, nothing feels better than the end of the workday.
She packed her things, stood up, and said goodbye to her good buddy. By the time she finished talking, she was already standing at the office door.
“Let me know after you finish eating.”
Before Lin Muqing opened the door, Ye Ziming reminded her.
Since he was the boss, he could leave work at any time. So as soon as she was done with dinner, he’d be ready to leave too.
“Okay, got it!”
She grabbed the doorknob, turned her head to nod at her good buddy, gave him a cute smile, then opened the door and stepped out.
The break room wasn’t far from the office, just a few steps away, and there was a hallway connecting them.
On the other side of the hallway was the cafe’s kitchen, which was quite a bit bigger as expected.
This hallway had the main cafe area on one side, and the back door on the other.
Now, Lin Muqing needed to go to the break room to grab her lunchbox, then head to the kitchen to get food, and finally return to the break room to eat.
She’d done this routine so many times. It was second nature.
“Wow! It’s really a catgirl maid!”
Just two steps out of the office, while thinking about what would be served for dinner, Lin Muqing suddenly heard a familiar voice shout in surprise.
Looking ahead, she saw three familiar faces, Lin Wenbin, Zhang Xiaoling, and Wang Wenxin.
“Eek!”
In that moment, Lin Muqing completely forgot about food. Her cute little face went pale in shock.
Without thinking, she spun around and basically did a full-on panicked retreat, running back to the office in a flustered panic.
She was so nervous, she nearly tripped over nothing and gave everyone a bonus performance: “What it looks like to fall flat on your face.”
When she reached the office door, she had to yank the handle several times before she finally got it open.
She rushed in, slammed the door shut, and leaned against it, locking it behind her.
“Huff... huff...”
She was really scared. Leaning against the door, Lin Muqing was still trying to calm down.
She took deep breaths, her chest rising and falling so much that the bell on her outfit jingled a little.
It even had a bit of rhythm to it.
“What… happened?”
Seeing this whole dramatic scene, Ye Ziming immediately stood up from his chair and hurried over to ask.
He was shocked and filled with confusion, mixed with a little worry.
Looking closer, Lin Muqing did seem pretty pale. She looked like she had just gotten scared.
He reached out with his right hand, trying to place it on her back to help her calm down before asking what had happened.
“I’m doomed!”
After catching her breath for a bit, Lin Muqing suddenly raised her head and grabbed onto Ye Ziming’s hand, looking up at her good buddy with wide, anxious eyes.
There was even a bit of a sob in her voice.
Clutching his hand tightly, she looked like she was about to cry.
Her classmates had seen her just now!
“Uh…”
Seeing Lin Muqing’s expression, Ye Ziming’s eyes widened, and his heart felt like it was being squeezed.
He panicked. He wanted to comfort her but didn’t know what to say or do. He was completely flustered.
Outside the office, the commotion wasn’t small. Soon, some of the maids noticed what was happening.
Assistant manager Sister Yu quickly jumped in, and a group of maids caught the three people who had intruded.
“Excuse me, this is our staff’s break area. Guests aren’t allowed in here.”
That was Sister Yu’s voice. She scolded them right away, not holding back at all.
“Ah! Sorry, sorry, it was my idea!”
That was Lin Wenbin apologizing again and again, saying he just wanted to see a “catgirl maid” or something.
Leaning against the door, Ye Ziming heard some of the conversation and figured out what had just happened.
Thinking about Lin Wenbin, he frowned. A strong sense of danger briefly flared up around him.
But it quickly faded. Right now, comforting Lin Muqing was more important.
“Don’t worry. Just sit down for a bit. It’s going to be okay.”
He gently pulled Lin Muqing’s hand and guided her to the office chair by the desk, helping her sit down.
Then he patted her head softly and said in the gentlest tone he could manage.
“But…”
Her voice trembled even more. Just thinking about her biggest secret being exposed made Lin Muqing feel helpless.
Now that something so big had happened, she didn’t know who to turn to. It felt like there was no one in the world she could rely on.
“It’s okay. I’m here. Everything will be fine.”
Holding her hand tightly, Ye Ziming looked her in the eyes and spoke clearly, one word at a time.
His eyes were full of confidence.
It was that confidence that helped Lin Muqing calm down a lot. At least she stopped imagining the worst.
“Mm.”
She nodded gently. In that moment, she felt much better. Just knowing that her good buddy would help her gave her strength.
Maybe it was because she still saw herself as a man deep down, so crying felt shameful.
Lin Muqing sniffled hard, and in the end, no tears came out. She held them all in.
Her eyes turned firm, lips pressed tight, and her head lowered. She needed to figure out what to do next.
She thought, ‘If no one else can help me, then I’ll solve it on my own. That’s how I’ve gotten through this whole past year, anyway.’
“……”
Seeing how quickly Lin Muqing pulled herself together, Ye Ziming was a little surprised.
He didn’t know why, but watching her sit there deep in thought made his heart ache a bit.
A thought suddenly popped into his head, ‘If I just use a little strength, I could pull her into my arms… and let her rely on me.’