At 3 PM, Tang Lu promptly put on her uniform and prepared for work.
Although her job was a maid, she felt as though she were dressed like a coffee shop employee—white top paired with black pants and black leather shoes. If she added a black short apron around her waist and carried a tray, she could easily work at a café.
As soon as she stepped out of the dormitory building, a faint fragrance hit her. It was the scent of laundry detergent mixed with fabric softener. The area in front of the dormitory had three neat rows of clothes racks. The weather was perfect today—bright sunshine with a light breeze, and the bed sheets and towels hung on the racks swayed gently in the wind.
Tang Lu couldn't help but take a deep breath. The scent, unlike the overpowering artificial fragrance of some commercial fabric softeners, was subtle and elegant, giving off a very high-end impression.
According to Sister Ya, the Thin family's cleaning products were custom-made and not available in stores. The scents were specially blended to suit the family's preferences.
The eldest young master liked the scent of ebony, the second young master preferred gardenia, and the third young master, who had been abroad for years, used to like a citrus scent.
The laundry room staff would select the cleaning products based on each employer's preferences. The laundry room, located behind the staff dorms, was equipped with professional washing and drying machines.
However, the old housekeeper had a more traditional view. He believed that no matter how advanced the equipment, nothing beat the effectiveness of sunlight, so he insisted that all textiles be aired out once a week.
Tang Lu passed by the laundry area, walked through a colorful, fragrant flower garden, and arrived at a luxurious four-story villa that resembled a castle. She opened a small, inconspicuous iron gate.
Walking through a short corridor, she saw Wen Ya standing in the hall, gazing up at the giant crystal chandelier above her head. Tang Lu hurried over.
"Sister Ya, I'm here."
Wen Ya was her direct superior, and also her mentor. Currently, their work schedules were aligned, so Tang Lu worked alongside her.
"The crystal chandelier seems like it needs some cleaning," Wen Ya said after staring at it for a long time.
Tang Lu looked up at the chandelier but, no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't see any dirt on it. It appeared sparkling clean. But of course, she didn't dare to question Wen Ya. Instead, she eagerly responded, "Shall I go get the tools?"
"No need," Wen Ya replied. "It's too complicated for you to handle right now. I'll have Wu Jing and the others take care of it later." Wu Jing was also a maid at the Thin family and had worked there for three to four years, so she was quite experienced.
"Alright, what should I do today?"
"First, clean the dining room, and later change the towels in the guest rooms and take them to the laundry room."
"Got it."
Tang Lu had been on the job for two months, so she could handle some basic tasks on her own. Wen Ya didn't need to follow her around all the time and only occasionally checked in on her.
After assigning her tasks, Wen Ya went off to take care of her own duties.
Tang Lu went to the tool room, grabbed a vacuum cleaner and mop, then started cleaning the dining room.
At that moment, there were only Tang Lu and Wen Ya in the villa. Tang Lu was very satisfied with this work environment—no one disturbed her, and she could focus on her tasks in peace.
The Thin family had very clear divisions of labor. Except for the maids and housekeepers, no one else was allowed to enter the villa. Anyone caught doing so would have their wages deducted, and after three violations, they would be fired.
Of course, there were other strict requirements as well.
Tang Lu had specifically looked over her labor contract, and it had far more stipulations than her actual job responsibilities. For example, she was not allowed to bring outsiders into the dormitory, have pets in the dormitory, or disclose any information about the employers. Additionally, she had to report her whereabouts when leaving the premises, and security checks were required when returning.
Although the rules were strict, the job came with excellent benefits, such as meals and housing provided. The salary increased by 10% every year, and there was a threefold wage increase for public holidays, along with extra holiday bonuses.
Tang Lu did the math and realized that, without any extravagant spending, she could save over 100,000 yuan in a year.
The Thin family only hired maids under the age of 30, but if one turned 30, they could be assigned a job in the Thin Group's company. Given the Thin family's dominance in C City, working for Thin Group was as secure as having a government job.
At 19 years old, Tang Lu had eleven more years to work in this position. If she put in the effort, saving a couple million yuan was definitely achievable.
Before this, she had worked in a small company with fewer than 20 people, doing everything from human resources to administration to reception. The company was too small, so she ended up handling all sorts of random tasks. The work hours were from 8 AM to 5 PM, and sometimes she had to work overtime without pay. Despite working herself to exhaustion, her monthly salary was only about 3,000 yuan, and after paying for rent and living expenses, saving even a thousand yuan was tough.
That's why, during holidays, she would often do part-time work with friends to earn extra money.
So, when she found out she had crossed into another world, Tang Lu's first reaction was: this job is amazing!
Her second reaction was: Damn, I've transmigrated into a novel!
Yes, not just a transmigration, but into a "novel + wealthy CEO + cannon fodder female supporting role" situation.
She was sure that she had transmigrated into a novel called The Thin Family's Deep Affection: The CEO's Substitute Lover. She had read this novel in her younger years. The plot was clichéd and over the top, but she had been obsessed with it at the time.
The general story of the novel was about the second young master of the Thin family, Thin Siyuan, who had secretly harbored feelings for his childhood sweetheart, but before he could confess, his sweetheart married his good friend. Because of this, he started collecting "postcards" of women who resembled his lost love.
The female protagonist resembled the childhood sweetheart, and after going through all sorts of dramatic twists and turns, they eventually got their happy ending.
Although Tang Lu had read this novel years ago, she remembered very clearly that the female protagonist was actually a maid of the Thin family. However, this character was definitely not her because the novel had a character with the same name—Tang Lu—and that character was the background cannon fodder before the female protagonist appeared.
In the original novel, this Tang Lu was from the countryside, an orphan who had always lived under the care of relatives. One of her relatives worked as a cook at the Thin family, and when she retired, she got Tang Lu a maid job at the family.
As long as Tang Lu worked diligently, she could stay at the Thin family until she turned 30 and then join Thin Group. This would be a decent life.
But unfortunately, Tang Lu resembled Thin Siyuan's childhood sweetheart, and soon after she joined the Thin family, Thin Siyuan took an interest in her.
Coming from the countryside, Tang Lu was no match for someone like Thin Siyuan, an experienced player in the romance game. She quickly fell for his sweet words and thought she had found true love. However, soon after, Thin Siyuan lost interest in her, finding a new object of affection, and gave her a breakup fee—a generous sum for a parting gift.
Though Tang Lu could have started a new life with the money, she was already dazzled by the luxurious life and, in order to stay in that circle, she found a new sugar daddy.
Unfortunately, her looks and naïve charm couldn't keep her in that world for long. Ultimately, Tang Lu disappeared from the story, and though the author never directly stated it, one could guess that her ending wasn't very good.
At the time, Tang Lu hadn't paid much attention to this character. After all, who would focus on a minor, inconsequential role in a melodramatic novel? The author had probably created her just to serve as a contrast to the real female protagonist, as both were maids and substitutes, but their life stories were vastly different.
However, now that she was in this situation, Tang Lu couldn't help but regret not paying more attention to the story when she was younger. If she had, she would have known exactly what was coming and might have had a plan.
Having just started her job, the story hadn't fully unfolded yet. Based on the plot, the female protagonist wouldn't appear for at least another six months, which meant Tang Lu had about half a year to replay the background events of the novel before the true female protagonist arrived.
So, was she just going to let herself become a pawn in the plot and end up as someone's lover?
The answer was, of course, no!
Tang Lu may not have been a genius, but she was a modern, idealistic young woman with morals and culture. There was no way she would let this kind of thing happen to her!