Chapter 184

Page Forty True Maids

“It might sound strange, but I actually have an fiancé.”

The certainty of Xiàlù’s words dealt a severe blow to the spirits of Xiǎo Qínglán… and even Xiǎo Qíngfēi. She didn’t recover until Miss Fànnī and the others returned with trays in hand, still looking heartbroken.

Setting down the dishes, Miss Fànnī asked, “Hmm? What’s wrong with the young lady?”

She was looking at me, but Líng Xiǎoyè, munching on a sweet pie, jokingly answered first, “Oh, I think… she’s heartbroken from a breakup.”

“Hmm? Heartbreak?”

Miss Fànnī was puzzled.

“Cough! No! Don’t say such things!”

Not wanting to lose face in front of her maid, Xiǎo Qíngfēi shook off her heartbreak and rallied herself.

Holding up her little hand, she pointed at Líng Xiǎoyè and said, “Fànnī, this elder sister is a maid from the Peach Cat Maid Café upstairs. She seems to admire you all. I know you have opinions about girls from that kind of place, but can you train her? Maki should be quite good at teaching others, right?”

Miss Margaret glanced at Líng Xiǎoyè, her brows forming an M shape.

She commented, “Very energetic, yet not too serious, somewhat like Fànnī during her trainee days.”

So Miss Fànnī used to be like this?

“Mà, Maki, what are you talking about? I’m not so frivolous!”

She denied it on the spot.

Xiǎo Qíngfēi pressed further, “So give her some training, or at least show her what being a true maid means.”

Her words seemed to be a diversion, but they hit the nail on the head for Líng Xiǎoyè.

This star-eyed maid bypassed the dining table, hurried over to Miss Fànnī, and in front of Xiàlù’s disgusted gaze, took Miss Fànnī’s hand, saying seriously, “Young Lady Qíngfēi is right. If the two of you are willing, I would like to hire you both as instructors for our café. Regular waitresses and maids are different. I hope the girls here understand this!”

She wanted all the maids in the café to listen to Miss Fànnī’s lecture, which was clearly going to be troublesome.

Líng Xiǎoyè had been scrutinizing the maid uniform on Fànnī. The latter pushed away her increasingly close face and warned, “Don’t get so close! Myself and Maki are employed by the young lady and have no intention of taking on outside jobs!”

Just as Miss Fànnī refused, Xiǎo Qíngfēi turned around and sold her out.

“Then I order you to go, don’t I? You’ve always thought that the employees of maid cafes aren’t real maids, right? This is a chance, a chance to make them real maids!”

The maids at maid cafes indeed weren’t traditional maids.

Miss Margaret helplessly advised, “Young lady, you’re thinking too simply. Years of training in institutions can’t be explained in just a few lessons. And truly considerate maids won’t always cater to their master’s preferences.”

“You don’t need to make it so complicated. You just need to convey the idea that what makes a true maid is understanding ‘what it means to be a maid’. Even demonstrating it within the café would suffice! We can negotiate salaries and other details!”

“Your name is Líng Xiǎoyè, right?”

Feeding the chicken wing dipped in sauce to Xiǎo Qíngfēi, Mother spoke up.

Líng Xiǎoyè put on a commercial smile and replied, “Yes, my name is Líng Xiǎoyè!”

“You’re not a café employee, so why do you oversee hiring and wages?”

“Ugh!”

Mother’s question was direct. Líng Xiǎoyè was momentarily speechless. The power implied in her words clearly exceeded that of a typical maid.

“In fact, I’m the acting manager! Yes, when Manager Zǐyè isn’t around, I manage everything at the café!”

Then Mother pulled a sticker from the hem of her skirt, usually used to mark interns… here indicating a new maid.

“An intern acting manager?”

Líng Xiǎoyè urgently stated, “I am indeed the acting manager, but I’m still in the probationary period as a maid. There’s no conflict!”

Though a flimsy reason, it was somewhat plausible. Although Miss Fànnī disliked maid cafes, Líng Xiǎoyè’s enthusiasm seemed genuine. She couldn’t keep a sour face, and the young lady, still chewing on the chicken, urged, “How about it? Go try it out! It’ll be fun for me if you go out occasionally!”

Unable to resist the young lady’s persistence, Miss Fànnī ultimately compromised.

“I understand, but if we do it, we’ll do it well. I will, so prepare yourselves!”

——————

At this moment, Xiǎo Kǎi was enjoying the howling northwest wind in a European-style pavilion in winter.

——————

Thus, the maid training plan for the Peach Cat Maid Café was settled at a fast-food restaurant table. We had planned to return after finishing our meal, but Líng Xiǎoyè invited us to stay and be entertained… though I had originally intended to find her, Mother and the others were clearly dragged into this.

When we sat in the sky corridor, Xiàlù even apologized for it.

“Sorry, dragging you into that person’s whims. Today’s food at the café is on me! Order whatever you want. Zi… Xiǎoyè doesn’t mind.”

But I hadn’t expected the bossy older sister to apologize proactively.

Mother waved her hand and smiled, “It’s nothing. I find it interesting and want to see how Fànnī and Maki work inside.”

Chewing on a lollipop she’d taken from the counter, Xiǎo Qíngfēi added, “I didn’t just suggest this without thinking. Fànnī has always had issues with maid cafes. My sister grumbles every time she goes to Kamehameha! This is a chance for her to realize that being a maid isn’t easy!”

The maids from Peach Cat were quite professional. After all, they were high-paid servers, and even for money, they provided meticulous service. They might genuinely impress Miss Fànnī.

But Xiàlù, who had completely failed as a maid, scratched her head and looked away upon hearing Xiǎo Qíngfēi’s words.

In front of the café’s circular water bar, maids dressed differently stood in a line, like soldiers being inspected. Though seats were far apart, I could hear their conversation.

After listening to Acting Manager Líng Xiǎoyè’s explanation, the maid supervisor said, “Since it’s Master Zǐyè’s wish, I’ll ask the two of you to provide guidance.”

Confused since Zǐyè hadn’t directly given the order, she quickly calmed down with strong mental fortitude and professional ethics, gathering all the maids not serving guests.

Five maids in total gathered, including Líng Xiǎoyè herself.

“I understand. Suddenly having a professional maid give lessons might upset you, but you haven’t shown anything yet, which is commendable.”

One maid in a rubber suit raised her hand.

“Just say it outright. We’re not in a military camp; there’s no need to be so formal.”

With Miss Fànnī’s agreement, the rubber maid said, “Teacher Fànnī, emotional management is fundamental in the service industry!”

I glanced at Xiàlù.

Given her appearance, even controlling a hint of emotion when serving guests wouldn’t fall short of Sister Qiūluó, who was a surface-level maid but actually a security guard.

Another furry-styled maid pointed at Xiǎo Qíngfēi with a cat paw.

“Because Teacher Fànnī’s owner is that super cute little girl, right? If it were a disliked guest, you wouldn’t feel resentment, right?”

Was she a dog?

Miss Margaret stepped forward to explain, “If the owner does something wrong, we naturally have emotions and may express them. Guiding her onto the right path is part of our job, correcting mistakes promptly to help her become better.”

Miss Fànnī added, “Besides daily care, we also control her diet and督促她完成锻炼计划。一味迎合主人的喜好，最终只会害了她……”

Miss Fànnī’s words gradually sank in among the maids.

Since she described their everyday life with Wū Qínglán vividly, the maids found it interesting even if they only listened as stories. Business was slow on weekdays, and it was a sleepy afternoon, so the maids sat down to listen to Miss Fànnī teach.

But whether this would have any effect remained unknown. These maids were essentially waitresses, and their “masters” kept changing. Zǐyè hoped they’d understand the essence of being a maid, which seemed unrealistic.

She herself mixed with the maid team, listening intently.

Yet, I needed to find a way to be alone with her to talk about Líng Shàojié, her unsuspecting elder sister.

“Sitting here is boring. Want something to drink?”

Since all the maids were gathered, Xiàlù went to the water bar and brought back several drinks herself.

“Thanks.”

She asked, “Why are you smiling so dumbly over there? Can you hear what they’re saying?”

I replied, “Humans can’t hear that far.”

Unfortunately, I wasn’t human.

“Oh, this is pretty good.” Mother’s praise.

The fruit tea Xiàlù brought was hot, blending the fragrance of passionfruit’s sourness and mango’s sweetness, giving it a unique taste.

But she alone added ice to her juice.

Xiàlù asked, “The maids from Xiǎo Qíngfēi’s house are from England, right?”

“Yes.”

“Unexpectedly, the maid the manager dreams of is hiding in Little Witch’s home.”

If that’s the case, it’s odd that Wū Qínglán, who already has the best maids, keeps going to maid cafes.

Xiǎo Qíngfēi said, “The manager is French, right? France probably has similar maid training institutes. Maybe he can’t afford them with his retired officer’s income? Fànnī and Maki’s combined annual salary is close to a million, although part is from institutional commissions, but they are still at the bottom of the ladder. Entering royal households, the number of maids would exceed this.”

She indirectly boasted about being wealthy… but just how rich was she?