Chapter 229: Couldn’t Sleep
It was a simple workday, but while learning makeup from Sister Yu, Lin Muqing felt a bit uncomfortable.
Today, she wasn’t wearing the maid outfit, while everyone else in the cafe was.
That’s where the problem started. When she was resting in the break room, people kept coming over to ask why she wasn’t in uniform.
Only Sister Yu knew that she was the young lady of the Lin family. No one else in the cafe knew, and Lin Muqing didn’t want them to know either.
So, when people saw her not wearing the uniform at work, it was normal that they were surprised.
“Everyone else is in uniform, but you're not. Don’t you think that looks weird?”
Sister Yu said this with a playful smile near the end of Lin Muqing’s shift.
“Uh…”
Lin Muqing didn’t answer, but judging by her expression, she clearly agreed.
While teaching her, Sister Yu brought this up more than once and often hinted, sometimes directly, that Lin Muqing should wear the maid outfit again.
If she wanted to keep working happily with the other maids like before, and if she didn’t want anyone to find out her real identity, then maybe she had to go back to wearing the uniform.
On the way home after work, Lin Muqing kept thinking about this and was distracted the whole time.
“What are you thinking about?”
When they got home, Ye Ziming noticed Lin Muqing was still lost in thought, so he gently asked her.
“Emmm… nothing.”
Lin Muqing looked up at her good buddy and hesitated. She didn’t want to tell him, because she felt shy.
Wearing skirts and such… emmm… it was just too embarrassing to talk about.
“Well then, let’s get ready for dinner.”
Ye Ziming smiled and patted her on the head. Since she didn’t want to talk about it, he changed the topic.
To be honest, he was a bit disappointed today. While working at the cafe, he didn’t get to see Lin Muqing wearing that cute maid outfit again.
He used to have a reason to make her wear it, but now… that reason didn’t work anymore.
Looks like he’d have to come up with a new reason, or think of something else.
And so, with that in mind, Ye Ziming made an alliance with Sister Yu.
Plus, with the alliance he made with her mom a few days ago, Ye Ziming’s “team” now had three members!
“Ahhh~”
Late at night, after finishing her homework and playing some games, Lin Muqing let out a big yawn.
Feeling sleepy, she got up to brush her teeth and get ready for bed.
“Big Bro, good night!”
After brushing her teeth and before going to her room, Lin Muqing didn’t forget to say good night to her good buddy.
Since coming to this home, they had always slept in separate rooms, which made sense. But Lin Muqing still wasn’t used to it.
And Ye Ziming felt the same way. Without his little cutie nearby, the bed just felt kind of empty.
“Mm, good night.” Standing at the door to his room, Ye Ziming smiled at her as he replied.
They said good night to each other, then went into their own rooms to sleep.
But deep into the night, inside Lin Muqing’s room, someone was lying wide awake, staring at the ceiling.
“Aaaargh! So annoying!”
Hugging a pillow to her chest, Lin Muqing rolled around on the bed, making frustrated noises.
For the past half an hour, she had turned the light off and then back on again, tried all kinds of sleeping positions, but still couldn’t fall asleep.
She thought she had stopped being afraid of the dark, but as soon as she turned the light off, she started to feel uneasy. Then she got nervous.
It wasn’t as bad as before, but in that state, there was no way she could sleep.
But leaving the light on felt too bright, also impossible to sleep.
Everything just felt wrong. Lying in bed alone made her feel uncomfortable, and no matter how much she rolled around, she just couldn’t fall asleep.
Lin Muqing: "I definitely didn’t lose sleep because my good buddy wasn’t there!"
In the end, Lin Muqing didn’t even know how she fell asleep. She only knew that she had trouble sleeping last night.
The next morning, Ye Ziming woke up very early.
Although he wasn’t fully used to the new routine, he could adjust easily, so it didn’t affect how well he slept.
After brushing his teeth and washing his face, Ye Ziming checked the time and then looked at Lin Muqing’s room. He walked over and opened her door.
And then, he was surprised.
Inside the room, Lin Muqing’s phone alarm was ringing, but she was still sleeping soundly, totally unaffected by the noise.
Ye Ziming broke into a small sweat. He didn’t even know how to comment on this situation.
“Huh? What’s going on?”
After Ye Ziming physically shook her awake, Lin Muqing opened her eyes slowly. It was clear she still hadn’t fully woken up.
“We’re gonna be late.”
“Huh?”
Lin Muqing looked confused, as if she didn’t quite hear what Ye Ziming just said.
“Your cookies are going to be eaten.”
Ye Ziming sighed again, then changed how he said it.
“Ah!?”
That trick worked like magic. Lin Muqing suddenly opened her eyes wide and turned to look at her good buddy with a shocked face.
“Get up and get ready for school.”
With a helpless smile, Ye Ziming gently rubbed her head, then lifted her blanket off in one move.
Oh, she’s wearing a white lace nightdress today. It actually looked kind of cute.
“Emmm…”
Seeing her good buddy in front of her, Lin Muqing forced herself to sit up and lazily walked out of the room to brush her teeth.
Originally, she wanted to stay in bed just a little longer. Just for a few more minutes, no more than three, she told herself.
But Ye Ziming saw right through her. After pulling off her blanket, he even neatly folded it right there on her bed!
In no time, her blanket was folded perfectly and placed at the end of the bed.
“So sleepy, I really want to go back to bed…”
After brushing her teeth and washing her face, Lin Muqing looked at herself in the mirror, squinting as she let out a lazy sigh.
She had no choice, today was a school day, so she had to carry her bag and go.
“Did you sleep badly last night?”
On the way to school, Ye Ziming noticed that Lin Muqing looked tired the whole morning, so he asked with concern.
“Yeah…”
She nodded and didn’t try to hide it.
“Why?”
Ye Ziming kept asking. He was a bit worried and wanted to help if he could.
“Uh…”
Her eyes suddenly lit up like she was awake again, but her expression turned awkward. Lin Muqing instinctively looked over at her good buddy.
Besides looking awkward, her eyes also showed a bit of guilt. She opened her mouth a few times but didn’t dare to say the reason.
“Could it be because—”
Ye Ziming frowned a little, guessing the reason and starting to say it out loud.
“It’s not because of you!”
Recognizing that familiar “about to cast a spell” tone in his voice, Lin Muqing quickly cut him off before he could finish his sentence.
Then, the air suddenly went quiet.