“Uncle Liu, just prepare whatever you think is best—I’m not picky about food.”
Xi Xia shook her head, indicating she could eat anything, and told Uncle Liu to arrange things as he saw fit.
“Then please go bathe and change first, Miss. I’ll go prepare your meal.”
Hearing this, Xi Xia was taken aback. She had to bathe and change before eating? They were both young ladies from wealthy families, so why didn’t Luo Xinyu’s household require all that fuss before a meal?
And on top of that, if she took off her clothes, wouldn’t that fluffy tail behind her be exposed as something real rather than just an accessory?
“I’m not really in the mood for a bath today. Let’s leave it for tomorrow.”
Xi Xia waved her hand and shook her head. Right now, she was using Baicha’s female body. Setting aside the question of whether it was polite to use someone else’s body to bathe, the simple fact that she didn’t want to reveal that her cat ears and tail weren’t just decorations meant there was no way she was taking a bath.
Even though this Baicha was probably just a character created by the system, she was still a living, breathing person in the real world right now, and she deserved some basic respect.
“That won’t do, Miss. If you don’t bathe and change every day, your father will be upset.”
Uncle Liu furrowed his brow and spoke earnestly. He genuinely meant well for his young miss—after all, given how strictly her grandfather adhered to rules, not following them would surely earn her a scolding.
“Well…”
Xi Xia was at a loss for words. Who forces someone to take a bath every single day? Even calling it a cleanliness obsession would be an understatement.
“Fine, I’ll have a quick bath then.”
With no way around it, Xi Xia chose a comfortable bath over getting chewed out. It wasn’t like she’d never seen a girl’s body before—just a simple bath, no big deal! She was sure Baicha would understand.
And then…
“Uncle Liu never told me someone would be attending me during the bath!”
Xi Xia had assumed that even if there was assistance, it would be like at Luo Xinyu’s place—a couple of little maids waiting outside the bathroom to hand her fresh clothes when needed. But to her surprise, at Baicha’s house, the maids actually came in to scrub her down themselves!
“Miss, how did you attach these cat ears and tail? They’re so realistic! I can’t even find where they connect~”
The little maids seemed quite familiar with their young miss, speaking without the usual formal boundaries between master and servant, more like friends.
“Never mind that—just get on with the bath.”
Xi Xia hummed dismissively, not planning to explain further. She couldn’t exactly tell them that her cat ears and tail were real. A living human turning into a cat-girl was something nobody would believe anyway—and if they did, the next thing waiting for her might be researchers from some institute showing up to take her away for experiments.
Speaking of being taken away for research, she wondered how An Hu—the one she’d swapped limbs on earlier—was doing now. Was he getting sliced up for study every day?
“Hmph, Miss is so cold today. I actually learned a new dance and was going to perform it for you, but I guess I’ll forget about it now~”
Xi Xia could tell the maid was only pretending to be upset. After all, their relationship was still one of master and servant, and no matter how close they were, there were limits. Still, the prospect of watching a pretty girl dance made her heart skip a beat.
“Hmm… Why don’t you dance for me first? If it’s good, I’ll give you a reward~”
“Anything I want?”
“Of course.”
Heh, these maids were probably after money or something similar as rewards. Who would willingly serve others if not for dirty cash? Only those selfless public servants with a grand sense of duty could have such noble, no-strings-attached character.
For an ordinary person, life’s pursuits really boiled down to money. Buying a house cost money, buying a car cost money, getting married and having kids cost money—and especially now, with the economy being what it was, money was even harder to come by.
Soaking in the bath that felt like a small hot spring, Xi Xia rested her arms on the floor, leaned her back against the cool edge, and let most of her body sink into the perfectly warm water. She had to admit, rich folks really knew how to enjoy themselves. Setting everything else aside, this bathroom alone was big enough to swim in.
With her sensitivity doubled, soaking in warm water felt absolutely blissful. It seemed the doubled sensitivity wasn’t all bad—at least it made enjoyable experiences twice as pleasant.
Xi Xia turned her gaze toward the little maid who had stepped out of the water and started swaying her hips and twisting her waist in a dance. Her eyes lit up.
Not bad at all!
If she could, Xi Xia would’ve loved to call out, “Keep the music playing, keep the dancing going!” She finally understood why ancient emperors loved watching beautiful women dance—and why dance videos from girls on short-video platforms were so popular.
Ah, it’s only human nature, only human nature~
After a delightful bath, Xi Xia was helped into a black-and-white cow-print pajama set by the maids. With the perky cat tail swaying behind her and the cat ears occasionally twitching atop her head, she looked absolutely adorable.
“Miss, please follow me to the dining room.”
It was called a dining room, but inside there wasn’t a round or square table like usual. Instead, there was one of those super-long tables you’d only see in TV dramas. Xi Xia’s first thought upon seeing it was, “With a table this long, do they have to run back and forth just to add a dish?”
Reality quickly taught her otherwise. She only needed to hold her bowl of rice; whatever dish she wanted, she’d just say the word, and a maid would use a small bowl to scoop some up and personally feed it to her.
Now this was royal treatment!
Days when someone served her meals were so much more comfortable than battling with Xia Yue over a piece of tofu with their chopsticks at the dinner table.
“Miss, your father sent word that he has work to attend to today and won’t be coming home. He asked you to go to bed early.”
Just as Xi Xia was enjoying herself, Uncle Liu leaned down and whispered to her.
“Got it, Uncle Liu. You go ahead and do your thing—no need to stand guard over me.”
Xi Xia waved him off, leaving only a group of beautiful maids in black-and-white uniforms behind.
“Hehe, I want to watch dancing!!!”
Usually, Xi Xia scrolled through short videos while eating, but now she could enjoy a live performance—so much more entertaining than watching through a screen! The maids were happy to oblige; since they were getting paid, they really listened to their young miss. When she asked them to dance, they lined up neatly and started performing right there~
