Yu Xuejiao happily smiled as she waited for the car she booked in the ride-hailing app. She couldn't stop fidgeting out of excitement.
"Yu Xuejiao, what do you think you're wearing? And why does your makeup look terrible?"
Hearing her name in full, she instantly froze and felt a chill travel down her spine.
'F*ck!'
The voice sounded familiar to her.
She turned around to face the source of the voice. Pulling her chin down, she flashed a mechanical smile that didn't reach her eyes and consciously blinked once.
"I'm going to work, Brother." Her voice subconsciously softened out of fear.
This brother she was referring to was none other than the one and only, strict as f*ck, handsome Yu Chengli.
Yu Xuejiao couldn't help but think, 'For someone who looks like an innocent, gentle, handsome young man, how could he be so scarily strict?'
Yu Chengli merely raised an eyebrow. "Five… Four…"
Without wasting another second, Yu Xuejiao ran back up to her condominium.
Fortunately, she was too excited to start working, so everything she needed the next day was prepared already. All she had to do after waking up was take a bath, wear the clothes she chose, and put on makeup.
Even if she were to take her time to change, she would still arrive thirty minutes early.
The moment she got inside her flat, she paused in front of the mirror.
Upon seeing her hideous figure in the mirror, she blanked out.
'Thank God, my brother stopped me.'
Yu Xuejiao felt her cheeks heat up.
She quickly covered her face with her hands and abruptly squatted down in shame.
"It didn't look that bad earlier."
She absolutely went too far.
When she put her hands down, she was once again shocked by her reflection and fell down.
"Okay, it's really too much." She wore a badly mixed-up maximalist outfit.
She wore neon and muted colours at the same time, all of which were unflattering for her skin colour and undertone. The same went with her overall silhouette.
Her makeup was also hideous. The foundation she used was too orange for her skin, and she also paired it with a cool-toned blush and eyeshadow.
Honestly, she might have gone too far with this one too. A few more touches and she would've looked like a clown.
Lili's voice suddenly sounded, "Incoming call from Strict-beep Mother-beep."
'Sh*t, I totally forgot to change his name in my contacts.'
"A-accept call." Yu Xuejiao suddenly felt like crying.
The moment the call commected, Yu Chengli started talking, "Sweetie, I don't know what you're up to right now, and it's alright to be unconventional at times. I will not stop you. But you're going to work, not to a downgrade Gucci photoshoot."
Afraid that her brother would continue to say more things that could blow up her temper, Yu Xuejiao quickly spoke, "Yes, yes. I get it, Brother. You can stop now."
How could such a gentle voice be so mocking?
"I want to see you down here in fifteen minutes."
The call ended.
How could such a gentle voice be so scary?
Yu Xuejiao felt like crying. Nevertheless, she sprinted towards her room.
"Lili! Set a timer to fifteen minutes. Remind me every three minutes!"
"Label?"
"Yu Chengli is about to kill you!"
"Timer has been set for Yu Chengli is about to kill you."
She rushed to the bathroom and roughly washed her face.
Not even bothering to use a cotton pad, she poured the makeup remover in her palms and rubbed it all over her face like a facial wash.
Before leaving, she simply used tissue to wipe her face.
"Yu Chengli is about to kill you. Reminder one out of five."
"MOMMYYY!"
With stumbling steps, Yu Xuejiao rushed to her closet and grabbed an off-white turtleneck, a long knee-length pencil skirt of the same color, and a cropped blazer.
She took a quick look at the mirror and ranted, "Damn, my legs are too long for this to be unflattering."
Lili's voice sounded, "Yu Chengli is about to kill you. Reminder two out of five."
"F*ck! SHOES!"
She quickly picked up a random pair of white heels, grabbed her bag, and then ran out of her condo.
By the time she reached the elevator, she remembered that she had a bare face, so she had to run back to stuff random makeup products into a makeup bag.
Lili's voice sounded again, "Yu Chengli is about to kill you. Reminder three out of five."
Yu Xuejiao removed and carried her heels and sprinted barefoot back to the elevator. Fortunately, she was just on time as the elevator door was yet to close.
"Thank you!" Yu Xuejiao exclaimed at the man in a muted dark blue suit, who was inside the elevator.
The man only quietly stared at her and politely said, "No need. I didn't do anything."
Yu Xuejiao just replied with a smile.
'Oh my god! He's really handsome.'
He kind of looked familiar too. But maybe it was because he was conventionally handsome.
Growing up with raised visual standards because she was surrounded by incredibly good-looking relatives and friends, it was not common for Yu Xuejiao to praise another person's good looks.
Naturally, there are exceptions, such as idols, artists, actors, and cosplayers.
But for 'normal' people, there really wasn't a lot.
"Yu Chengli is about to kill you. Reminder four out of five." Lili's calming voice suddenly sounded, startling Yu Xuejiao into jumping.
The man in the elevator quietly looked at her, so she had the random urge to explain.
"Uh, today's my first day at work, so I set a timer…" That didn't explain anything at all.
But finding it rude to not reply, the other man casually asked, "Is Yu Chengli the name of your Boss?"
Yu Xuejiao chuckled. "In my work? No, no. The name of my new Boss seems to be Xiao something… Ah! Xiao Chunsheng. Yu Chengli is my brother. He's going to send me to work."
She pouted and continued, "I didn't expect him to come, but I'm kind of glad he did. Earlier, I was wearing a weird outfit because… I don't know what my reason was. I just happened to be stupid one hour ago. And yesterday."
"I'm not even late. I'll still be fifteen minutes early at the latest. It's really a good company. Their schedule is literally 9-5. You don't see that often, right?"
She set her heels to the ground, and looked down as she wore her heels.
"Although if I am indeed late, it's not my direct superior that I'm afraid of. I think my brother is more scary." Yu Xuejiao even hugged her own arms.
This was why Yu Chengli and Yu Chengze often had to interject the moment they found a chance to stop their sister.
She was normally introverted, but the moment her talkativeness switch was turned on, she wouldn't stop talking.
This one-sided conversation was only relatively short because the man was still a stranger.
"I just realized that I shouldn't be happy about the 9 to 5."
"I applied as a personal assistant after all, and my schedule is going to change after my probation is over. Plus, the requirements were pretty high, so I might even have to take some work home."
"But my probation won't be over until the handover is finished, so there'll be two people for the job somewhat, and it shouldn't be difficult right away…"
"Also, the pay seems high, and others kept saying that my new Boss is handsome. That should cleanse my eyes from whatever work I'm supposed to do, right?"
"But it's okay even if he isn't that good-looking. My social media is filled with eye-cleansing cosplayers, so—"
Yu Xuejiao abruptly paused her endless chattering when she lifted her head, as she was met with an intense gaze from the other party.
The elevator sounded with a 'ding,' but they were still looking at each other.
'Oh my God, did I talk too much?' Yu Xuejiao couldn't help but wonder.
'But I wanted to mention that I originally wanted to apply as a game developer, but misclicked and yada~'
The man blinked, which Yu Xuejiao thought was cute.
She had received similar looks before, and she knew it meant, 'Wow! How can someone talk that much alone?'
"Yu Chengli is about to kill you. Reminder five out of five." Lili's voice sounded, snapping Yu Xuejiao back to her senses.
Yu Xuejiao rushed out of the elevator and sprinted again, but suddenly stopped as she remembered something.
"Mister, I'm sorry for being so noisy! See you next time." Yu Xuejiao shouted and then bowed, somewhat catching other people's attention.
Luckily, there weren't a lot of other people, but she still felt flustered.
"Ah, sh*t. My brother is going to kill me."
She went about two or three minutes past the time her brother had set. Although she knew that her brother wouldn't really scold her or anything, she still felt like her life was in danger.
And what should be done to avoid danger?
Cling. To. A. Golden. Thigh.
And she did exactly that.
Except, she didn't hug a golden thigh but her brother's waist. "Brother loves me the most!"
Yu Chengli looked down at his sister with a pair of eyes that seemed to ask, 'Who are you?'
He rolled his eyes and gently but firmly pushed the sticky bunny off of him.
"Get in," Yu Chengli's gentle voice sounded.
Yu Xuejiao pretended to be obedient and got inside.
When they hit the red light, Yu Chengli asked, "Sweetie, did you book a car to pick you up online?"
The little bunny snapped her fingers, "Right! I almost forgot."
"Lili, send a message to the driver I booked. Say that I won't ride anymore. Ask for his online wallet details and reimburse him for his wasted time."
"Message sent."
The car was silent for about five seconds.
"Brother!" Yu Xuejiao exclaimed out of the blue.
Silence would never last as long as Yu Xuejiao's talkative mode doesn't shut down.
Yu Chengli didn't reply.
"Brotheeeeeer!"
Yu Chengli questioningly hummed in response.
"I didn't realize that there's a handsome man on the same floor as me. We met in the elevator earlier! When…"
Yu Chengli sighed, feeling helpless.
He knew more than anyone that he wouldn't be able to stop his sister from talking.