A frown was plastered on Li Meilin's face the moment she saw the faces of her kidnappers once again. It was time for them to pick up her things from her apartment and transfer it all here, according to Mr. Lim's instructions earlier.
The leader of them-- a tall, dark, matured-looking man who has a slight beard growing surrounding his mouth with broad shoulders-- bowed his head and looked genuinely apologetic for the misunderstanding they had earlier.
"Just forget about it and move on," Li Meilin forced a smile before entering the van once more.
He closed the door and immediately went to the driver's seat and drove them out of the Lim residence and towards her apartment. She could now see herself face-to-face with her other kidnappers earlier who went mute upon seeing her.
The skies have already turned dark by the time they arrived in Li Meilin's apartment. The guy from earlier opened the door of the van after parking it a few yards away from the building. Like a ninja, Li Meilin got out in haste before her best friend Zhao Chen, who literally lives across the street, noticed what she's doing.
It almost gave her a heart attack when Li Meilin witnessed her precious things being thrown away outside of her room. It's really not that much, but those things that she has right now were the things that her mother gave to her when she was still here.
Li Meilin is completely aware that she doesn't have the right to complain since it was really her fault in the first place, but still, it irritates her to see her precious things scattered like this.
Speaking of which, Li Meilin just spotted the old hag, Ms. Zheng, coming out of the room looking displeased from the frown that she is currently wearing. She made it even worse when Ms. Zheng finally saw the girl who owes her a month's rent standing near the door.
"Well, look who's here," Ms. Zheng shot Li Meilin a glare while she put one hand in her hips, the other was holding onto something.
Her eyes instantly went round upon seeing what it is: her mother's picture frame!
"Since you have failed to pay me this month's rent, I'm sorry to say but I will have to kick you out of here since I will have new tenants by tomorrow who are much more responsible in paying their dues," Ms. Zheng said the last sentence with a grimace painted on her ugly saggy face.
Mr. Lim's group of men have eventually joined the girl here to which caused the old hag to raise her fake eyebrow.
"I'm sorry to burst your bubble as well, but there is somewhere that I'll be transferring to. I'm only here to gather my things, and these guys will help me do that." Li Meilin flashed a triumphant grin before motioning the guys to start picking up the things that the old hag had scattered on the floor.
"And give me back my mother's picture frame, will you?"
Before leaving the building, Li Meilin faced Ms. Zheng once more with the envelope in her right hand-- the last pay she received from Ms. Leigh that is only enough for the rent.
"I am also not the one who likes to run away from her dues and is responsible enough to pay them, if only you have been so patient with me, so therefore" Li Meilin hands her over the envelope and smirks. "Here is my last week's due. Goodbye."
She waved a hand to the astonished landlady of the apartment before walking out of here and followed the guys who have her things at the moment.
However, going back to the van, Li Meilin almost sulked into her seat remembering that she doesn't have any cash left after making that payment! She now regrets paying her last due to that old hag!
Being poor sometimes sucks.
---
Li Meilin thanked the guys for placing her things neatly inside her large briefcase when they were still in the van. Now that they have finally arrived once again at the Lim residence, she carried this heavy trolley bag behind her and walked her way towards the front door, where a group of women in their cute maid costumes is anticipating her arrival.
One of them, a middle-aged woman with short black hair, small height, and a grumpy, plump face meets with Li Meilin wearing a strict facial expression upon her face, suggesting that she holds some kind of position in this house or something like that.
"I suppose you are the new recruit that Mr. Lim has told me about," the old lady said, looking somehow disappointed that a new recruit would be joining their crew.
"Y-yes. I am," Li Meilin tried to smile to keep the tension away.
"Very well… Everyone calls me Ms. Yu here, so I expect you do the same with the utmost respect." Ms. Yu says. The girl fought the urge to raise an eyebrow at her. "I am the undisputed housekeeper of the Lim family for over a decade now ever since Master Lim Xian is still young."
Somewhere in her head, Li Meilin is trying to take note of every word that this woman is speaking if ever she wanted to stay out of trouble.
"Right, Ms. Yu," she repeated.
"Secondly, Mr. Lim has instructed me to give you an orientation as to your role in this family, and give you a brief tour of the house for you to be familiarized with before you start your work tomorrow."
On that part, Li Meilin did not miss the chance to see the displeased look on her face, like she was only forced to do so. Well, she tried to ignore that.
"So without further adieu, shall we start?"
"Yes… please."
And so in the next few hours of her life, Li Meilin spent the entire day listening to the boring lectures of this woman in the lobby and when they were taking the tour of the mansion.
The house itself was so huge Li Meilin thinks it would take two days for her to have a look at every corner of it and a month to memorize every room by heart, but Ms. Yu only takes her to the important rooms that she should be familiarized with: the kitchen, dining room, and of course… her room, which happens to be next to the bastard's room on the second floor of the house.
"Mr. Lim has specifically requested that your room and the master's room should be near to each other so that you will be able to monitor him and attend to his needs as quickly as possible," she explained when she must have seen the wary look in Li Meilin's face.
Then Ms. Yu adds "Lucky bitch," in the quietest way possible, but still, Li Meilin was able to hear it though.
After the discussion they had about her schedule, ground rules, and other things that Li Meilin should note about, Ms. Yu ended it with the statement, "Any questions?"
LI Meilin slowly shook her head sideways as her response.
"Well then, that ends our orientation. As of now, please organize your things inside your room as neatly as possible. I don't want anything unclean and disoriented to see in all parts of this house." Li Meilin noticed that Ms. Yu adds more emphasis on the word unclean than any other word in her statement.
"Got it, Ms. Yu."
"Alright. If you'll excuse me, I have many things to take care of. Don't forget to be present in the kitchen later to serve the master his dinner in his room."
That was her last statement before Ms. Yu finally left the room and closed the door behind her.
Li Meilin was then left alone, still being amazed at how spacious and grand her room is that a lowly servant like her doesn't even deserve. But since this is Mr. Lim's personal request, she would accept it with the utmost gratitude.
Setting the rules aside for a while, Li Meilin climbed the double-sized bed placed at the center of the room and began jumping up and down like some retarded kid to her heart's content.
She thought that maybe… just maybe… being the black prince's personal maid isn't so bad after all.