Lu Yinghan squeezed onto the bus and rode to the stop closest to home.
She then walked another half hour before arriving.
Straining on her tiptoes, she pressed the doorbell.
“Hello, who is it?”
“Butler Grandpa, it’s me, Lu Yinghan. I’m back from school.”
“…Miss??”
Butler Liu stood frozen in place for a good several seconds.
His voice pitched upward to a sharp, shrill tone.
That was pure shock.
Then came the sound of his flustered footsteps.
A moment later, Butler Liu’s startled and worried face suddenly appeared before Lu Yinghan.
“Miss! Didn’t the driver go to pick you up?”
“Mm, I took the bus back by myself.”
Lu Yinghan felt at ease the moment she saw Butler Liu’s face. She smiled at him brightly, and that radiant smile only made Butler Liu’s heart ache more.
He quickly opened the front door and took out a handkerchief to wipe the fine beads of sweat from Lu Yinghan’s forehead.
“Miss, do you know how far this place is from home?! You took the bus back? And then walked the rest of the way yourself?”
“Yeah.”
Butler Liu pressed his lips together tightly, a faint sting in his chest. He furrowed his brows, the ends drooping downward.
In all his years working as a butler, he had seen so many children of wealthy families—all of them waited on hand and foot, never lifting a finger.
Even after they grew up and started working, not one of them had ever taken a bus by themselves.
They had no concept of money for ordinary things.
Because deep down, they looked down on the everyday items used by common folk.
But this young miss, at such a tender age, had been forced to learn these basic things on her own.
Butler Liu’s lips trembled slightly as he took Lu Yinghan’s hand and began walking toward Lu Xiong’s study.
This was the first time in all his years serving as butler that he felt a rare flicker of anger toward his master.
“Butler Grandpa?”
Lu Yinghan’s small hand was gently grasped by Butler Liu, and she watched as he pulled her toward Lu Xiong’s study.
Startled, she immediately crouched down on the ground.
Stopping Butler Liu in his tracks.
“Miss? Won’t you tell the master about this? Coming home from school alone on the bus—how dangerous is that!”
The uniform from the aristocratic school was already eye-catching enough. If someone with ill intentions spotted her, being kidnapped wasn’t out of the question!
Look how angry Butler Liu was—even his usual respectful address had disappeared.
Lu Yinghan quickly spoke up to soothe him.
“It’s fine, Butler Grandpa. On that bus, besides me, there were also some senior schoolmates from the same school riding along.”
Butler Liu’s brows remained furrowed.
Those who rode the bus were all top students sponsored by the school.
They were different from the young miss.
If anyone found out that the young miss was a member of the Lu family…
Some people would really do dangerous things.
“Butler Grandpa~ It’s fine~ See, I made it home safely today, didn’t I!”
Lu Yinghan hugged Butler Liu’s arm and shook it affectionately.
She stood up and spun around in front of him.
Her big eyes twinkled as she stared at Butler Liu without blinking.
“Ah, miss. Please carry your phone with you, and if anything happens, call me.”
In the end, Butler Liu conceded.
He let out a deep sigh and once again took Lu Yinghan’s hand.
Leading her to her room.
After they arrived at the room, Butler Liu pulled some loose change and cash from his own pocket.
“Miss, I’ll get your bus card sorted tomorrow. Your living allowance hasn’t been distributed yet, so take this for now, and use it to pay for the bus fare tomorrow.”
In his hand was a stack of twenty-yuan and ten-yuan bills.
Butler Liu pressed them into Lu Yinghan’s hands.
A thick stack—money Butler Liu had saved up from buying little trinkets for himself, or from eating out when he had free time.
He liked collecting succulents, and this cash was what he’d slowly saved for that. The rest of his money was kept in his bank account.
He said he was saving up for his grandson to get married.
It would be a lie to say she wasn’t moved.
Lu Yinghan immediately pushed the money back to Butler Liu.
“Butler Grandpa! This is too much! If I carry this much and lose it, it’ll be trouble! I only need one ten-yuan bill. When my allowance comes through, I’ll pay you back!”
The Lu family’s living allowances were arranged and then distributed to each person.
Everyone else had theirs in bank cards—even five-year-old Lu Xuanyao had a card her parents had opened for her.
She was the only one in the whole family who got cash.
The allowance from before had all been spent back on the Lu family members.
How foolishly naive.
This time, she would save it properly, treating it as an initial investment.
She’d also keep track of this money in her little notebook and pay it back slowly over time.
Seeing that Lu Yinghan insisted on taking only that single ten-yuan bill.
And even answered him seriously in her young, tender voice.
Who wouldn’t love such an obedient and sensible child!
“Alright, miss. Just let me know if you need anything.”
Lu Yinghan nodded, and Butler Liu went off to prepare dinner at ease.
That evening, Butler Liu took the initiative to bring Lu Yinghan’s meal up to her room.
In the past, he would have tried to persuade Lu Yinghan to go to the dining room and eat with the family.
“Miss, if dinner isn’t enough, just send me a message on your phone. I’ll go attend to my other duties now.”
After setting out the meal for Lu Yinghan, Butler Liu went off to attend to his work.
Chewing on the food in her mouth, Lu Yinghan pulled out her phone from under the pillow.
She scrolled through that video app, seeing what she could do.
But this thing was truly addictive.
Lu Yinghan had only meant to look at what she could do, but before she knew it, she was watching other things instead.
“Tsk, this is addictive. I shouldn’t be watching this.”
If it wasn’t even fully popular yet and she was already hooked, wouldn’t she be completely done for later?
She bit her chopsticks in frustration.
Lu Yinghan noticed the needle and thread still left on the nightstand.
A flash of inspiration struck her.
In the later period, sachet embroidery had become diverse, and she liked every one she saw.
To avoid spending money on buying them, she had bought materials and learned to do embroidery herself.
Back then, she had earned quite a bit from it, until she got cancer later.
Lu Yinghan’s mood suddenly brightened.
She started browsing the Peach app to look at some basic materials.
Then she could record videos while making sachets and post them up there.
And she could make some peace charms to sell at a stall.
Yes, that’s right.
Lu Yinghan realized that if she wanted to make money, her only option now was to set up a stall and sell.
And she needed to find a place where no one knew her.
The plaza near her old public elementary school seemed like a good option.
Lu Yinghan had already mapped out a whole series of plans in her head—she just needed the materials to arrive, and then she could start making and selling.
She quickly wolfed down her dinner, then took out a blank sheet of paper and a pen from her schoolbag. She thought carefully, filling the paper with notes.
“Miss, are you full?”
“Mm, I’m very full. Thank you, Grandpa Butler.”
Butler Liu smiled, then looked at the white paper on the table covered in Lu Yinghan’s dense handwriting. He sighed inwardly.
This is our young miss for you—so diligent.
But the moment he carried the tray out, a thought struck him.
When did Miss learn to recognize so many characters??