The faint sounds of laughter, and the clash of cultlery against the plates resounded in the room as Jiang Meiying quietly made the bed while Zhang Hien joined her In the room.
His shiny, thick locks of black hair was wet; evident that he had just freshened up.
He felt a bit guilty that Jiang Tao had really acted on his words, and had sent his daughter upstairs without dinner.
The Jiang Meiying he knew could not do without food even for an hour, and going hungry was a weakness her family members used against her to get her to do anything they wanted.
But as he watched her dress the bed with a lost expression on her face, he didn't think she was even bothered about it.
"Are you hungry?"
The question threw him off balance. He wasn't expecting it at all.
Honestly, he wasn't just hungry. He was famished. He didn't even remember the last time he had a proper meal, and the last thing he remembered eating was a piece of toast for breakfast which a maid had grumpily given him.
But what did Jiang Meiying know about cooking?
Would she go downstairs to beg for food from her own family members? Would she return the money she had taken from her sister? But they had spent it all. How exactly was she going to do anything If he said he was really starving?
He shook his head meekly, but Jiang Meiying's sharp eyes caught the look of reluctancy in his when he looked down.
"I'll be back, okay?"
His head snapped up.
"Where are... "
But she had left the room.
Ahhh... When did this woman walk this fast?
Where was she heading to?
He grabbed onto the wheels of his chair and made to push himself out of the room and find out, but he persistently told himself to just trust her and remain here.
His prescence won't be of any use, and Jiang Meiying was capable of taking care of herself now. He had seen the confidence and coldness she exacted on the bullies back at the pharmacy, and the way her father recoiled back in the living room when he was about to hit her.
Something had definitely changed about her, but for some reason, he suddenly liked the new her who wasn't reluctant about letting people know that she was his wife and shamelessly fighting for her rights.
As Jiang Meiying walked downstairs, she took a mental note to always run up and down the hills on her way to school every morning, since that was another longer route to take to school.
Besides, her 'father' didn't let her use the private limousine which took Jiang Ming to school everyday, and only left a few dollars for her transportation and feeding which Jiang Chu personally gave her, making sure to deduct some money when she caused trouble.
The chatter and laughter stopped, and she turned to see that the family of three were staring at her like she was a criminal.
Jiang Tao puffed up, chest raised high, feeling satisfied that Jiang Meiying (as usual), couldn't bear skipping dinner, and had come to her senses.
Jiang Ming had already adjusted in her seat, waiting for her money refund, and Jiang Chu was intent on seeing her apologize to her younger sister with a ludicrous smirk curled on her lips.
"Heh." She just sneered coldly and left for the kitchen, ignoring them all.
"!!!"
**
A maid was left in the kitchen, washing the dirty dishes. She wore a grumpy look on her face as she went about her work, but when she saw Jiang Meiying, a sneer replaced the look on her face as she backed away from the sink and wiped her hands on her apron.
"I thought you'd never come. You better start on these dishes and clean up in the dining after." She spoke with an air of authority, and threw the apron at Jiang Meiying's feet.
Without glancing at her, she walked past Jiang Meiying, but the woman roughly pulled her back by holding the scruff of her shirt.
The maid yelped and saw black spots as her head hit the floor. Her vision blurred for a bit, but she knew she wasn't dreaming. The first Young Miss of the Jiang family had knocked her to the ground.
"What's your name?" Jiang Meiying calmly asked, towering over her.
The maid fumed, ready to get up and give her a few punches but the aura emanating from those cold eyes chilled her to the bones.
She didn't realize when tears filled her eyes and her hands trembled.
"P- PangFua."
"And your position in this family?"
She began stuttering, and Nora simply placed her feet over her outstretched hand. PangFua grinded her teeth and winced as she quickly replied.
"I'm a maid!!!"
"And who am I?"
"Huh?"
That was an odd question to ask...
But when Jiang Meiying exerted pressure on her foot, she almost yelled again.
"You're the eldest Young Miss of the Jiang's family!"
Chuckling coldly at her pathetic expression, she stepped back and let the maid get up.
"I don't have to remind you what maids do, do I?"
Shaking her head vigorously, she wiped the tears forming at the edge of her eyes and turned to continue washing the dishes, trembling, still a bit in disbelief about what just happened.
Young Miss had suddenly become so scary!
Without another glance, Jiang Meiying went about getting out pots and a pan, some ingredients, a chopping board, a knife and some rice.
PangFua half-stared at her, wondering if she was going to ask her to cook. A grumbling sound almost left her lips but when Jiang Meiying turned to her, she looked away quickly.
However, she turned to stare at her again, especially when the Young Miss began turning the gas cooker on and off. To Jiang Meiying, it was a strange feeling, because their world was more advanced. There, manna could be drawn from the environment to make use of it; an alternative resource for magic energy.
Here, it was almost an manual process. She chuckled as she finally switched it off and PangFua concluded that she had completely gone mad!!!
When Jiang Meiying began chopping the onions, the maid was hypnotized. The way her fingers held the knife, her flexible wrists's locomotive movements around the board, and the way the blade stepped hard on the board with a resounding noise as it chopped the onions In little bits left her so mesmerized that for a few minutes, she stopped washing and just watched her.
When had Young Miss used a knife so expertly like this? Her dexterity was impressive!
Does this mean she was going to cook?
Young Miss knew how to cook?!