Chapter 5: A Good Bro’s Confusion
“Hmm?” Lin Muqing tilted her head slightly in confusion. She was looking at Ye Ziming, who was sitting across the table, and he was also looking at her.
For a moment, the break room was completely quiet. The sounds from outside didn’t reach in, and inside, no one said a word. Only the water dispenser in the corner made a soft noise now and then.
Little by little, Muqing realized that Ye Ziming wasn’t looking at her eyes.
His gaze was a bit… lower.
Following his line of sight, Muqing slowly looked down, and saw her slightly curved chest. Since she was wearing a sports bra, it didn’t look that big, but it was definitely there.
“Huh… What are you looking at?”
Her face suddenly turned red. She quickly raised her hands to cover her chest, feeling a little guilty under her good bro’s strange gaze.
She suddenly remembered something very important. After taking off the jade pendant, both her body and voice became that of a girl. There wasn’t a trace of anything boy-like left.
“Ahem…”
Hearing her speak, Ye Ziming awkwardly looked away. Even though he tried to keep a calm face, the tips of his ears were slightly red.
He coughed into his fist a couple of times to cover up the awkward moment, took a sip of water to calm down, then finally spoke.
“I was just curious about… your voice and… uh, that.”
He couldn’t bring himself to say the word chest. So instead, he pointed at his own chest, then looked back at Muqing’s. Specifically, at her chest and the two small hands still covering it.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but Ye Ziming felt like Muqing had changed a lot over the summer break. Her skin was paler, her face looked softer, her body seemed smaller and more delicate.
No matter how he looked at her now, it was hard to believe she was a guy. Especially when she was wearing a maid outfit.
“Um… that… well…”
This question hit the mark. Muqing fumbled with her words while still covering her chest. Then suddenly, she remembered something useful.
“It’s just… uh… fake boobs, you know? The silicone kind. I bought them cheap on PXX a while ago. They feel super real—just like the real thing!”
Whew—she wiped some imaginary sweat off her forehead, feeling proud of her quick thinking.
With that kind of explanation, he’d probably drop the topic, right?
But what she didn’t expect was for Ye Ziming to look at her and say—
“Can I see them?”
The air froze.
Muqing’s smile completely stiffened, her mouth twitching a bit. She was totally stunned.
Ye Ziming was also stunned after saying that.
The red on the tips of his ears deepened and almost spread to his cheeks.
He didn’t even know why he asked. But somehow, whenever he looked at Muqing now, he couldn’t help but feel something strange in his heart. It was like a tickling feeling that wouldn’t go away.
“Ahem… If it’s inconvenient, then never mind. Let’s talk about your voice instead. Did you learn how to fake it?”
Trying to escape the awkward moment, Ye Ziming quickly changed the subject and asked another question. This time, about Muqing’s voice.
“Uh… yeah, yeah! You know me, boss. It was super hard to find a part-time job that pays this well, so I taught myself how to do this fake voice thing. Eh-heh~”
There was a little unexpected moment, just as Muqing was still trying to think of a way to talk her way out of trouble, Ye Ziming surprisingly helped her come up with a reason.
Well, that was nice. She could just go along with it now without needing to come up with excuses on her own.
She let out another breath of relief and thought, This should be over now, right? After all, she still had to get back to work soon.
“So, that means you’re using a fake voice now?”
“Yes, I am.”
“Then… can I hear your original voice?”
“?!”
In just a few minutes, Muqing felt like she’d been on a roller coaster. It was so intense that she nearly got a nosebleed from the stress.
Her jade pendant was at home, which meant she couldn’t speak in her male voice even if she wanted to. This was way too difficult.
“Ahem… is it something like this?”
She did her best to lower her voice and make it sound raspy.
But the sound that came out was still soft and cute, like a girl trying really hard to imitate a boy’s voice.
Which, to be honest, was exactly what was happening.
“I guess so…”
Ye Ziming replied, looking at her quietly, with a faint smile at the corners of his mouth.
The air turned awkward again. Muqing felt like a clown sitting in her chair, not knowing what to do with her hands or where to look.
The more he stayed silent, the more embarrassed she felt. Her face turned red again.
“Ahem… um, I have to get back to work now. Bye!”
Unable to hold it in any longer, Muqing stood up from the chair.
She quickly pulled up her white stockings and, after saying that, rushed out of the break room and joined the rest of the maids at work.
Back in the break room, Ye Ziming stared at Muqing’s back as she left, full of questions in his heart.
“Lin Muqing…”
He softly said her name. His mind was filled with the image of her in a maid outfit, along with her soft, cute voice.
He looked down at the notebook on the table, filled with notes about the cafe.
Originally, he planned to take this quiet moment to review his notes so he could better manage the cafe in the future and live up to the “training” assigned to him by his family.
But now he couldn’t concentrate. Muqing’s image kept replaying in his head. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like, that person had to be a girl.
……………………
Just as Muqing walked out of the break room, she felt like all the other maids in the shop were looking at her.
And the looks on their faces had a very clear meaning in them, though she didn’t understand what it was.
She also noticed that even Sister Yu was giving her the same strange look. That made Muqing even more nervous.
“Sister Yu… why are you all smiling like that?” She walked over and hesitantly asked.
“Haha~ Did the new manager say something to you?”
Sister Yu smiled softly without answering and asked a different question instead.
“Uh… no, not really. We just talked about stuff related to the cafe…”
She shrank her neck guiltily. There was no way she was going to tell them what she really talked about with Ye Ziming.
But what she didn’t know was, Sister Yu saw her nervous little reaction and smiled even more. The sparkle in her eyes became even clearer.
“Oh~”
Sister Yu dragged out the sound, clearly not buying the “just cafe talk” excuse.
Then she saw Muqing’s slightly shy expression and nodded to herself in satisfaction, like a proud mom.
“I get it. Go take care of the customers.”
After finishing her little imagination session, Sister Yu casually grabbed a pen and a small notepad from the cashier counter.
She handed them to Muqing, and even gave her head a gentle pat.
As the “mascot” of the cafe, Muqing’s appearance drew a lot of attention.
Among a group of more mature women, this small and adorable little maid really stood out in a good way.