On my second playthrough, they were full of malice towards me.

Ah Xue understood.

She was about to kneel down, like many demi-human slaves, to beg her master to give her a name, but she was stopped halfway by the angry young man.

What are you doing?

"I...I..." Looking at the noble youth questioning her, Ah Xue was both scared and confused. Wasn't this the normal procedure for all slaves? Had she gone wrong somewhere?

"I asked you your name, and you answered me? Can't you even do something as simple as that? Then why did I buy you?"

"Ah, Xue! My name is Xue! Xue is my name."

Seeing that Liao Ji seemed to be considering "returning" the goods, Xue quickly spoke up, her tone becoming urgent. She couldn't let him return her; this noble young man in front of her was the future of their revolutionary army. She had already promised everyone that she would complete her mission as an inside agent no matter what, and seize the future!

"Ah Xue, I knew it! I was wondering why she looked so much like me."

After muttering something under his breath, Liao Ji reached out his hand to the petite black cat-like demi-human in front of him.

"Liao Ji, that's my name."

When Ah Xue was completely stunned, she vaguely reached out and gently shook hands. At this scene, Yi Lin behind her curled her lips.

cut.

It's the same old trick again.

Back in the cave in the ruins, this guy played the same trick on her!

but

As it turns out, the reason a routine becomes a routine is because it consistently proves effective.

After exchanging names, Liao Ji didn't say anything else and turned to leave, this time truly taking Ah Xue directly out of the slave market.

Although Ah Xue was still cautious and full of fear and dread of the unknown.

But it was obvious that, whether it was because she was wearing a cloak, or for some other reason, fewer people were paying attention to her.

Ah Xue discovered that her body had stopped trembling.

Her brown eyes, hidden beneath her cloak, stole a glance at the young man leading the way.

An absurd idea suddenly popped into her head.

Could it be that this young man isn't as bad as he seems on the surface?

perhaps

Is he actually different from other nobles of the Dragon Kingdom?

Chapter 81 The Lost Cat

Ok.

Ah Xue retracted that absurd thought she had for a moment on the road; all the nobles were indeed the same.

Because as soon as they returned to the mansion.

"Welcome home, Master," Number Eighty-Six said through gritted teeth, seemingly having spotted yet another new competitor.

Before Ah Xue could react to the strange-speaking maid at the door, the nobleman's voice, which sounded like he "couldn't stand it," rang in her ears.

"86, go, take off her clothes, then throw her in the bathtub and wash her from head to toe."

“Yes, Master,” Number Eighty-Six said, filled with jealousy for the newcomer and preparing to download a “Beast Girl” costume module as well.

After receiving the order, the maid immediately led Ah Xue, whose face had darkened again, to the bathroom on the second floor. Ah Xue didn't even have the right to take off her own clothes before being stripped naked by 86, who strictly followed Liao Ji's instructions.

Naked, Ah Xue, like many inexperienced young girls, instinctively tried to cover her private parts with her hands. Her fingers gripped her skin, and she silently repeated countless times in her heart, "This is for their revolution, this is for the subspecies, this is for their future."

After 86 filled the bathtub with water and adjusted it to the right temperature, the maid looked at the catgirl behind her who was still unmoved, head down, silently waiting for something. 86 tilted her head and said:

"I'm puzzled. Miss Xue, what are you waiting for? Do you really need me to throw you into the bathtub?"

"Ah? Then, Master, isn't he coming?" Ah Xue asked the maid timidly.

"Even more puzzled. Why did the master come?"

"Not washing with me." Ah Xue pursed her lips and lowered her gaze.

Generally speaking, when demi-human slaves were bought by nobles, they were cleaned using external water pipes, just like washing a carriage. After all, in the eyes of many nobles, slaves and carriages were both tools.

So in Ah Xue's eyes, this clean and spacious noble bathroom with soft, warm lighting, where she was now, was not a place for slaves. The only reason a slave could "honor" come here was to "serve" the nobles. Since that was the case, how dare she make any moves before her master arrived?

"Based on the analysis of Miss Xue's affinity with the master, the probability of you and the master bathing together is 0.001%." Number 86 secretly calculated that his own probability of bathing with the master was 0.1% and said smugly.

Ah Xue: "."

"So the master really told me to... clean... myself?"

"Yes, although I don't have a sense of smell, judging from the filth on Miss Xue's body, you must smell terrible. For the sake of the hygiene of this house, please be sure to wash yourself properly," Number 86 said, deliberately using an exaggerated tone to urge her on.

Ah Xue: "."

The catgirl, who had just finished speaking to the maid, looked down at her own body.

Her skin was ashen, which was not her original color, but rather the result of accumulated dust and grime. If you secretly rubbed it hard with your finger, a small strip of mud would roll off. After all, for her, taking a bath? They couldn't even get enough to eat, let alone have the time to take a bath; it was simply a luxury.

It turned out that in other people's eyes, she was dirty and smelly. And then Ah Xue thought back to how she had actually thought the noble young man wanted to bathe with her.

Ah Xue wished she could disappear into a crack in the ground. Fortunately, although the maid opposite her spoke strangely and was quite venomous, her expression remained unchanged. Ah Xue stopped waiting foolishly for Liao Ji and quickly went to the bathtub.

She lifted one little foot and tentatively touched the surface of the bathtub. This was an instinct of the cat people. The warmth and moisture coming from her toes were so unfamiliar that Ah Xue was a little uncomfortable for a moment.

However, Ah Xue knew that this was not her home, and she was not here to enjoy herself. With a grit of her teeth, Ah Xue stepped into the bathtub and squatted down, leaving only her head above the water.

Enveloped in hot water, Ah Xue felt every pore of her body open up at that moment. The water temperature was just right, stimulating relaxation without being too hot.

Even Ah Xue herself didn't realize that the two cat ears on her head, after she took a bath, immediately went from lying flat to standing upright and were even jumping up and down involuntarily. The cat tail that she tried to press under her buttocks was also swinging wildly in the bathtub, causing the hot water in the tub to churn and flow.

After a thorough cleaning, when Ah Xue came out of the bathtub, she secretly rubbed her arms, neck, legs, and other parts with her fingertips to make sure that this time the texture was smooth and no more mud would be rolled off before she breathed a sigh of relief.

While the maid went to get her clothes, Xue secretly sniffed her armpits to make sure there was no odor. Then, she quickly drained the basin of grey water from the bathtub, which had gone from clear to filthy, and began to use the brush next to her to clean the bathtub that she had dirtied.

After finishing all this, Ah Xue turned around and found that the maid holding the clothes had been behind her for some time, but had remained silent and did not disturb her.

Startled, Ah Xue instinctively tried to explain something.

"Ah! That's me, I am."

“Praise. Miss Xue is much more sensible than some people. Number 86 was definitely not implying that Miss Yilin always forgets to put things back after using them.”

Is Miss Irene the servant who follows the young man?

Speaking of

It wasn't just because of the maid's words. Ah Xue recalled the feeling that Yilin and Liao Ji gave her along the way. She always felt that the two were more like friends than master and servant.

Would a nobleman befriend his servant?

This was something that was hard for Ah Xue to imagine.

After quickly changing into casual clothes, Xue, led by a maid, arrived at Liao Ji's room.

Before they even entered the door, they could hear an argument coming from outside.

"Damn it! How dare you make us work six days a week? Three days! No more than that!"

"Huh!? I'm warning you, Irene, don't push your luck. Five and a half days! No less than that!"

"Four days!"

"Four and a half days!"

"make a deal!"

The argument inside the house seemed to come to an end after Ah Xue and the others knocked on the door and came in.

Liao Ji looked at the three people in the room, who could be considered his small team. He had them stand in a row and then handed them three handwritten contract documents.

After Ah Xue took it without knowing what to do, she looked at the clauses written on it. Although she didn't recognize many of the words, she could roughly tell from some of the words that these were the requirements for their work.

Irene and the maid quickly signed their names, but seeing that A-Xue was still not moving, Liao Ji walked up to the cat girl.

"What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"I...I can't write."

Liao Ji rubbed his face in exasperation, his expression of utter disappointment almost overflowing. If he couldn't even write, he certainly couldn't recognize many characters.

"Listen carefully, because I'll most likely be staying here temporarily, so these are the requirements for you. First, you must work at least four and a half days a week, starting at 9:00 AM and continuing until 5:00 PM. Second, your salary will be settled weekly, with overtime pay calculated separately at 200%. Finally, you will have five days off per month; exceeding that number will result in a deduction from your pay. Of course, special circumstances such as illness are excluded; you can come to me for reimbursement of medical expenses. In case of emergency, you can also request humanitarian assistance from me. That's about it. Do you have any objections?"

"Wages?" Ah Xue's head was spinning. In fact, she had already crashed when she heard the word "wages" and didn't listen to anything after that because she didn't understand why slaves would have wages.

However, the noble youth opposite did not explain "why," but rather how much.

"Two thousand Ash Coins a week, plus bonuses and overtime pay, that's about ten thousand a month. Any questions?"

Ah Xue stared wide-eyed at the numbers she could hardly believe. Although Yi Lin next to her was winking at the cat girl, hoping that the cat girl would take the opportunity to protest again, saying that the amount was too small and that Liao Jineng could give them more pocket money, Ah Xue was clearly not in the mood for that now.

Ten thousand a month! Ten thousand!?

You have to understand that a monthly salary of 10,000 is definitely an enviable salary in the Dragon Kingdom. Countless people would work themselves to the bone to earn that amount. In comparison, their revolutionary army can only raise tens of thousands of Ash Coins each month.

"No problem, I'm fine!"

Ah Xue nodded repeatedly. She was so anxious that she even pricked her finger and used the blood to press her fingerprint onto the contract.

Liao Ji glanced at it, said nothing, but then took all three contracts and took out three wrapped money pouches from his pocket. After distributing them to the three men, he explained:

"This is your first month's salary in advance, which is ten thousand yuan."

"Yay!" Irene cheered. At least she hadn't worked for nothing and now had her own little bit of money.

The maid didn't care; after all, her money was her master's money.

As for catgirl

As if in a dream, Ah Xue carefully tucked the purse into the innermost layer of her clothes, feeling its heavy weight. For a moment, she even forgot why she had come here in the first place.

This made Ah Xue shake her head in her heart. No, she couldn't forget her mission. She had to find a way to get close to the noble young man, gain his trust, extract information, and then act as an inside agent to provide news to her fellow revolutionaries outside. Finally, she had to rob this corrupt rich young master clean!

Unfortunately, after everyone dispersed, Ah Xue waited for a long time but Liao Ji didn't come to find her. Later, she learned from 86 that after the meeting, Liao Ji took Yi Lin out again.

This left Ah Xue with countless questions. Could it be that the young man sold her back really just to clean the house?!