Chapter 8: Gaining Sympathy

Bao Mianmian ran until she was panting heavily. Seeing Chunyu, she put her hands on her hips and blocked the middle of the road.

"It's your first day in the manor and you're already running around wildly. Do you have any idea? I thought you had drowned in the washroom!"

This little mouth was quite poisonous.

However, Bao Mianmian liked it.

Chunyu was much more pleasing to the eye than that Da Guo.

She immediately slunk over with a sycophantic, smiling face.

"Sister Chunyu, look, I changed my clothes, but they're a bit tight."

"Now you're actually complaining about it."

"No, no, it's just that Sister Chunyu's waist is so slender."

Who wouldn't love hearing sweet words? These days, the "slender beauty" look was all the rage.

Chunyu's face instantly cleared up like the sky after rain.

"Where on earth did you run off to? The Head Steward entrusted you to me."

"I went to check on the kitchen."

"What are you holding in your hands? Did you steal it from the kitchen!"

Chunyu's eyes nearly popped out of her head as she stepped forward and grabbed her by the ear.

"Sister, Sister, Sister, let's talk this out, don't get physical."

"I'm asking you, did you go to the kitchen to steal things?"

"No, no, it's for tomorrow morning, I took it openly and legitimately."

Chunyu's grip was quite strong, but Bao Mianmian was partly playing the victim.

Only by being pitiful could one win sympathy.

She needed Chunyu's sympathy.

Otherwise, as a newcomer, she would be at too much of a disadvantage.

"You're not lying to me?"

"Sister, there are seven or eight people in the kitchen and a dozen eyes watching. How would I dare to steal?"

Chunyu thought about it, realized the logic made sense, and let go.

Seeing Bao Mianmian's eyes rimmed with red, she shook her hand.

"Did I pull too hard?"

"Sister is only doing it for my own good, it doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt."

Even though the corners of her eyes were watery, the corners of her mouth were curling upward.

Chunyu dragged her closer and looked at the tip of her ear, which was bright red.

Looking down at her, it was like holding a little rabbit in her arms, and her heart softened instantly.

She began to rub Bao Mianmian's ear with intermittent strokes.

"I'm a person with a sharp tongue but a soft heart; I won't harm you."

"The first time I saw you, Sister, it felt like I had seen you somewhere before."

"Don't be fooled by how peaceful the Prince's manor looks; in reality, there isn't a single person here you can afford to offend."

Bao Mianmian continued to play the victim: "Sister Chunyu is a good person, I'm not afraid."

"Did you sneak some honey on your mouth during the day? Your words are dripping with sweetness."

Chunyu pulled her steady: "Spit it out, what favor do you want me to do?"

On one hand, Bao Mianmian admired Chunyu's quick wit; on the other, she put on a face of dazed innocence.

"How did Sister know I needed help?"

"Otherwise, why would you be saying so many nice things to coax me?"

"Hehe." With that laugh, her previous three parts of cleverness vanished.

"Speak quickly, I don't have that much free time."

"Sister, do you know which well in the manor is the 'Sweet Well'?"

"I wouldn't know about that."

"Then, how many wells are there in the manor in total?"

"Five."

"I want to go see them all."

Chunyu gave her a massive eye-roll: "There's one right behind the washroom, use that one!"

"Sister, the Sweet Well is very important."

Seeing that Chunyu wasn't budging, she added another sentence.

"If I don't meet the Prince's requirements tomorrow morning and can't stay in the manor, there won't be anyone calling you 'Sister this' and 'Sister that' in the future."

"You think I actually care about that?"

"Sister might not care, but I do."

Bao Mianmian simply sold herself out, telling Chunyu the whole story of how she had sold everything at home and left her hometown.

Of course, she temporarily omitted the fact that she had been struck by lightning to get here.

"You have no relatives left at home?"

"Not a single one."

"So you can't go back?"

"If I'm kicked out of the Prince's manor, I'll probably die out in the streets."

Chunyu fell silent for a moment: "I don't know which well is the Sweet Well, but I know the Prince gives everything good to the Young Master, so the well the Young Master uses for water should be the best one."

Bao Mianmian's eyes lit up. Yes, that was exactly the logic.

"I'll take you there. How much water do you need?"

"Not much, just enough to soak beans and some extra for tomorrow morning."

Chunyu found a bucket for her to carry.

Bao Mianmian took a sip first; as expected, the water quality was excellent, tasting sweet upon entry.

She quickly filled a whole bucket and huffed and puffed her way back.

"As for anything else, I can't help. You'll have to prove yourself."

"Sister, if I stay in the manor, I'll make you delicious food every day in the future."

"I wouldn't dare. Even if you stay, it's to serve the Young Master."

Chunyu suddenly looked left and right.

Bao Mianmian grew nervous along with her. Usually, when people made such movements, it meant they were about to share a secret!

"Even though the Prince has the final say, remember not to try and get close to him."

Bao Mianmian froze. Was she afraid she would seduce the Prince?

Not to mention that the Prince was such a brother-con that he had no eyes for anyone else.

With her flat, washboard-like figure, she didn't even have the courage to try.

"Did you hear me!"

"Heard, I heard you."

Chunyu nodded with satisfaction. Seeing Bao Mianmian glance back with a suspicious look, she said

"What are you looking at? You think I'm going to be jealous? I'm doing this for your own good."

Bao Mianmian realized she couldn't quite remember what Prince Cheng looked like—tall and thin.

And then, nothing.

Everything could be put aside for now; securing a stable job was the key.

She returned to her room, poured the beans into a wooden basin, and soaked them thoroughly with well water.

She thought about taking a nap, but feared oversleeping and delaying her tasks.

After tossing and turning seventeen or eighteen times, Bao Mianmian couldn't lie down anymore.

She simply got up and performed a vigorous square dance in the room.

She even provided her own musical accompaniment by singing and dancing.

*I stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp on the little villains.* *I stomp, stomp, stomp, stomp on the bad luck.*

The more Bao Mianmian danced, the more energetic she became. This was the only way she could think of to relieve boredom and get some exercise.

Otherwise, her kick against Da Guo today wouldn't have been so precise and powerful.

Once she had danced her fill, she pushed open the window to check the sky.

Then she turned back to look at the beans in the wooden basin.

Bao Mianmian pinched them with her fingers; having absorbed the Sweet Well water, the beans had become soft.

She fished something out of her bundle, tucked it into her bosom, and walked out carrying the wooden basin.

When she reached the kitchen door.

Good heavens, a large iron lock blocked the way.

Bao Mianmian gnashed her teeth. The kitchen door shouldn't have been closed; Da Guo must have been up to no good.

He was likely trying to use this trick to keep her out of the kitchen and delay her morning tasks.

Presumably, Da Guo hadn't expected her to come so early.

Bao Mianmian set the wooden basin on the ground.

Did he really think a lock could stop her?

She wasn't just boasting; when she first arrived, there were over a dozen locks at home, and she had no idea where the keys were.

In the end, she had picked them all open.

From now on, please call her the "Little Lock-Picking Expert."

Bao Mianmian pulled out a thin iron wire and inserted it into the keyhole.

Three turns to the left, three turns to the right, a twist of the neck, a wiggle of the hips.

*Click.* The iron lock opened and fell into her hand.

Mm, it was just that simple.

Bao Mianmian swaggered into the spacious, empty kitchen.

She raised her arms and shouted three times: "Go! Go! Go!"