Chapter 64: Um, I think We Broke Him!

Chapter 64: Um, I think We Broke Him!

Sunday officially came, and the three of us awakened to the rich, savory smell of breakfast drifting up the stairs, giving me a sudden, sharp reminder that the dangerous woman who had shown up on my doorstep out of the blue was officially here to stay.

Mei Xia did not waste any time making herself indispensable, immediately getting me to map out a comprehensive breakdown of my daily routine, food preferences, clothing choices, entertainment habits, and specific shopping choices so she could execute her duties as smoothly as possible. She was terrifyingly efficient at her job, to the point where we barely even noticed her physical presence in the house during our private moments.

Unlike the traditional setup you might expect, she absolutely refused to eat her meals alongside us, maintaining the strict professional boundary of a dedicated servant inside a noble lineage house by purposefully making herself scarce to ensure Hana, Mary, and I enjoyed our unfiltered alone time.

By the time noon rolled around, I was down in the garage working under the hood of Hana's sports car, using my basic Auto-Mechanics skills to fine-tune the engine blocks when I finally brought up the petty prank Nichole had suggested over the phone.

Mei leaned against the adjacent tool rack, tracking my movements with analytical precision before she shook her head and said, "Nichole is not entirely wrong, but if you get that young lady from the Lang family directly involved in this petty setup and someone eventually tracks the source, finding out she was intentionally toying with her own future fiancee would ruin her standing. As for Scott being incredibly stupid, well, you should know his predictable behavioral patterns better than anyone else at this point. There is simply no need for a convoluted proxy setup since both you and I already possess the practical capabilities and weapons to defend ourselves if he snaps, so do not shy away from this conflict, Rick, and stop treating this situation as a manifestation of your own lingering insecurities."

I paused, wiping a thick smear of grease off my forearm as I looked up from the exposed engine block. "What exactly do you mean by insecurities?"

She reached into her uniform pocket, handing me a clean workshop towel to wipe the remaining residue from my palms as she answered with complete honesty, "Wanting Scott to suffer a visceral downfall is a perfectly normal response, and it is a necessary emotional outlet for you to vent the years of physical and mental abuse he inflicted on you. But you cannot let that petty desire consume your entire focus and accidentally turn you into a mirror image of him. You have already systematically claimed his assets, his status, and his pride at this point, so while pursuing further retaliation is completely acceptable, you must not obsess over it or make it your primary objective in life. Just let his downfall happen organically through your everyday success, and you will find actual peace in your heart, I promise."

Her words hit me like a physical punch, forcing me to stare at the wrench in my hand as I realized this was exactly what had been missing from my life these past few months—someone smart enough to break down my toxic impulses without sugarcoating the reality. I had been expending a ridiculous amount of mental energy planning intricate traps for a total clown, putting way more effort into the guy than Scott actually deserved.

I tossed the dirty towel aside and nodded. "You are completely right. If I kept pushing down that path, I was going to end up just like Scott, constantly hunting for a cheap high from watching his misery and turning into the exact same kind of monster that put you through hell, right?"

A bright, genuine smile broke across her face, softening her intense gaze completely. "It is an incredibly slippery slope, Rick. In your frantic attempt to top your previous prank, you would eventually find yourself trying to force me into staging explicit encounters for photographs to mail to his estate, or escalating into sending vulgar pictures of your own body just to break his mind, and at that point, you would just be Scott. I am definitely not telling you to stop making him suffer because God knows the bastard deserves to lose everything, but you should do it effortlessly. Just tastefully flaunt my presence by your side whenever he happens to look, and let his own toxic jealousy do the heavy lifting. That will be more than enough to break him, I promise."

I lowered the heavy hood of the sports car, listening to the solid latch click into place before I began gathering up my stray sockets and tools to clear the floor. The vehicle was perfectly tuned and ready for Hana's upcoming race night, allowing me to finally close the loop on the conversation as I looked back at my maid. "Alright, we will stick strictly to your plan. From now on, you will handle the driving to and from Star University, and on the specific days I do not have pre-arranged lunch plans with the girls, you can pick me up directly from the courtyard."

The rest of the weekend progressed smoothly without any chaotic surprises, culminating in the usual high-speed adrenaline rush of race night followed by a long, intense make-out session in the quiet corners of the track with Hana. Before I knew it, Monday morning arrived, bringing the inevitable return to campus.

Mei parked the car in the main lot of Star University, and the two of us immediately climbed out, marching shoulder-to-shoulder toward the grand entrance of the main administration building so I could secure the official plate registration tags required to park freely inside the student sections. I had already used my phone to call Dean Chang, my father-in-law, requesting him to drop off the necessary clearance forms ahead of time to avoid a bureaucratic headache.

As we navigated through the bustling courtyard of students, I glanced back over my shoulder, a strange sensation creeping up my spine as I noticed her positioning. "Mei, why exactly are you following a few paces behind me like that? It feels completely weird."

A soft, melodic giggle escaped her lips at my obvious discomfort, but she quickly recovered her composure, gesturing toward the surrounding walkways as she explained, "Have you ever actually paid attention to how Jennifer Han moves whenever she is accompanying Tina Feng? Every single professional servant across the upper class maintains that exact distance to show respect. You might not legally exist on the official Tang family registry anymore, Rick, but you are rapidly building your own empire, which means you need to start carrying yourself with real dignity and accepting this small boundary as a natural extension of your authority. Oh, and by the way, your execution regarding Debby Tang was absolutely masterful. I was incredibly impressed by how ruthlessly you handled her since that woman used to be a massive pain in my ass back at the estate."

We reached the central office a moment later, meeting up briefly with my father-in-law to exchange greetings and collect the physical parking permits. I made sure to formally introduce Mei to him since she would be a constant presence on the campus grounds moving forward, ensuring there would be zero confusion if security spotted her waiting near the facilities.

Once the brief meeting concluded, I walked out to the vehicle, carefully peeling the adhesive backing off the parking stickers he gave me and smoothing them directly onto her plates while she stood by, watching me finish the task before she formally bowed and saw me off to my morning class.

As I walked through the door of my business Micro/Macroeconomics classroom, I genuinely thought I had outsmarted the let's wear white crowd.

My eye twitched the second I looked around the room. Linda, Tina, and Victoria were all sitting in their respective spots wearing dark, almost black clothing that perfectly matched my own dark-grey suit. I glanced over at the desks and spotted my buddy James sitting there with a completely miserable expression, stuck wearing bright white. I couldn't help but smirk at the sight.

Moving past the first row of tables, I waved to both James and Linda to let them know I was heading up to grab the daily attendance sheet. As I crossed through the middle area of the lecture hall, I threw another wave toward Tina and Jennifer, who was sitting right beside her wearing a charcoal-black outfit that matched her lady's style perfectly.

A sneaking suspicion crept into my mind that these girls were actively coordinating their outfits behind my back, but I shook my head, telling myself I was being a tad narcissistic for even thinking like that. I made a mental note right then and there that next Monday I would wear bright green just to test my theory.

When I passed the front table, I found both Ashley and Scott sitting in their usual spots, watching my approach with completely different levels of emotion. I gave a brief, standard classmate nod to Ashley and completely ignored the sullen-looking Scott, who actually looked like he had finally managed to get a decent night of sleep. Ashley looked visibly surprised that I even acknowledged her existence, but to be completely honest with myself, I only did it for Victoria's sake.

Victoria greeted me smoothly the moment I reached her desk to collect the attendance form. She had clearly caught me acknowledging her niece, and she looked up with a calm expression. "Mr. Lee, good to see you this morning. I hope your weekend was fine?"

I offered a polite smile as I took the paper from her hand. "My weekend was a bit crazy, actually. I seem to attract trouble wherever I go, so let me take care of this sheet for you."

Just as I turned around to head back, she pushed up her glasses and spoke in a completely casual tone, acting like it was nothing. "Not sure if your wives mentioned it to you yet, but I bumped into them on Saturday afternoon and we had a brief chat. I upgraded their one-year facility passes to the Black Level for the normal price, if that is fine with you. Also, I explained our specific class agreement regarding our Fridays together, and they are completely fine with the arrangement."

I stared at her serious face, completely frozen for a second as I tried to figure out how to even respond to that. Hana and Mary hadn't dropped a single hint about meeting her, but they didn't exactly need to report every single detail of their day to me. I quickly recovered my composure and nodded.

"Teacher Long, thank you for the upgrade. They really love your business."

As I walked away toward the aisle, I completely missed the way one side of her mouth curled into the slightest of smiles, clearly satisfied with how easily I accepted her words.

I started making my way back down the rows, but as I walked past Tina's table, she suddenly reached out and pulled me toward the edge of her desk, leaning in close to whisper directly into my ear. "Wednesday night, I need to travel north to North City to inspect the Fire Birds headquarters up there.

It was the specific location belonging to that guy I killed during our meeting. Can you act as my guard that night? It would be after our university classes finish, of course."

I leaned down slightly, mirroring her posture as I whispered right back into her ear. "You can completely count on me for that. Also, I need to give you a heads-up about a new maid I just hired, but the details are way too complicated to talk about right now."

Her golden eyes widened in genuine surprise, a look of intense intrigue flashing across her features as she caught my strange smile. I ignored her growing curiosity, breaking away from the desk to finally slide into my own seat. It looked like Wednesday was already shaping up to be busy, so I would just have to wait and see what that trip brought.

The moment I sat down, Linda leaned over and spoke softly. "Good morning, Rick. How was your weekend?"

Before I could even open my mouth to answer her, James aggressively patted my shoulder from the side, his voice bursting with excitement. "Fuck man, did you see the new substitute computer teacher who is temporarily covering our class?"

I shoved the horn-dog's arm directly off my shoulder, using the edge of my attendance sheet to point at the desk. "I actually have to finish this work, James, and you completely interrupted Linda. Sorry about that, Linda. Yes, my weekend was okay, I guess, but literally the exact moment I left your house, my entire weekend erupted into absolute chaos, sigh."

James blinked, his voice booming a bit too loud for the quiet room. "Wait! You went to Linda's house?!"

Linda immediately noticed several nearby classmates shifting in their seats to look over at my idiot best friend, causing a soft blush to creep ever so slightly onto her cheeks.

Smack!

I brought the attendance sheet down hard over the top of James's head, cutting him off before he could cause any more issues while Teacher Long was actively getting ready to start the lecture. He stuck out his tongue, completely aware that he had goofed up, but the bastard just gave me a knowing wink anyway.

I stood back up to drop off the completed list of attending students, but before I could step out into the aisle, Cat Woo blocked my path and looked at me intently. "Rick Lee, do you happen to know anything about the recent vandalism done to Steve's car?"

My analytical mind immediately cataloged two critical facts. First, I had explicitly worn thick gloves when I let the air out of his tires, and second, my basic Acting skill needed to go on absolute full blast right now. I adopted a perfectly clueless expression, tilting my head in confusion. "Cat Woo, I don't even know what kind of car your husband drives. Did someone scratch his windshield or something?"

The hardwired execution of my skill worked flawlessly on her. I watched her eyes track my expression, visibly considering the fact that there was no logical reason I should have ever seen his vehicle in the first place, concluding that her husband must have just blindly blamed me for his bad luck. She simply shook her head at my performance and moved aside, completely buying the act. Deep down in my chest, my heart skipped a beat as I realized I had completely forgotten I even did that to his car.

I walked down to the front desk, dropped off the paperwork, and turned back around to head toward my seat. But just as I was about to reach my desk, a loud woman's voice echoed clearly from the main exit of the lecture hall.

Speaking with a charming, distinct foreign accent, my newly hired maid stood right in the doorway with absolute mischief dancing in her eyes, waving her hand frantically to call me over like I had forgotten something incredibly important.

"My Master Lee!" Mei called out loudly, making sure her voice carried across the entire room. "You dropped your wallet inside my car, Ufufu! You are so incredibly lucky I noticed it and brought it right up to you. Oh, has your class started already? Oops, sorry, sorry!"

Damn it! My mind raced as my eye twitched violently at her grinning face. She had completely picked my pocket. Her Thief capabilities had to be at an advanced professional tier to cleanly lift my wallet right out of my front-left pocket without me sensing a single thing.

Victoria, who was just about to open her mouth to begin the morning lecture, froze mid-breath and stared blankly at the woman in the spotless maid uniform who was happily waving a leather wallet with a bright smile on her face, her features clouding over in sheer confusion.

The reaction across the rest of the lecture hall was an absolute nuclear blast for the few people in the room who actually knew Mei Xia. Linda, Tina, Jennifer, and especially Scott all looked like they were staring directly at a literal ghost in the middle of the day. Scott's jaw slacked so low it looked ready to detach from his face, his eyes bulging as his brain completely short-circuited.

Mei glided right up to my side, smoothly sliding my stolen wallet back into my palm before leaning in to whisper directly against my ear. "Don't thank me, Rick. I told you I was going to help you deal with him, right? Now I have to vanish before he snaps. See you at lunch."

She broke away with a cheerful wave, raising her voice to a completely normal conversational volume as she looked over at the other desks. "I will pick you up later, Master Rick, fufu! Oh, and hello Miss Lang and Miss Feng! Bye!"

Catching the immediate shift in Scott's posture as his muscles tensed, she spun on her heel and slipped through the exit doors with terrifying speed.

"MEI XIA, WAIT!" Scott roared.

Bang!

Scott's chair slammed violently against the floorboards as he shot up from his desk, his legs moving in a desperate sprint as he tore out into the hallway after the woman he had spent months longing for. It was pathetic, honestly. Even though she had given him the ultimate shaft, his twisted, obsessive infatuation was still the only version of love a guy like him could comprehend.

I stepped smoothly into the clearance of the aisle, letting the raging bull pass right by me as he chased a red cape. Watching how flawlessly Mei controlled the entire room made me realize exactly why she had shot down Nichole's photo idea. Staging a picture ahead of time would never have delivered a psychological strike this brutal. The most brilliant part of the entire stunt was that I didn't even look like the bad guy here. The spy completely manipulated the environment, and I made a mental note that I needed to study her methods to learn how to dominate a room like that.

I slid back into my seat as Linda turned her head to look at me, her usual mask of indifference completely shattering into a profound expression of utter disbelief. "W-Was that really Mei Xia? She actually seemed... happy?"

Tina stared at me from across the gap, her mind clearly racing as she tried to calculate exactly how I had pulled off a miracle of this scale. When she woke up this morning, a resurrected maid showing up to deliver my wallet was the absolute last scenario she ever expected to witness...

Out in the hallway, Scott burst through the exit doors and skidded to a halt, his head whipping left and right as he scanned the empty space. It was physically impossible for her to have left the floor already. The main stairwell was located all the way down at the far end of the corridor, and the elevator banks were positioned on the exact opposite side. Every single classroom door along the hallway was tightly shut, and aside from a couple of plastic trash receptacles and standard vending machines, there was absolutely nothing breaking his line of sight.

"Mei! Mei, stop fucking hiding, damn it!" Scott screamed into the empty corridor, his voice echoing off the concrete walls. "I saw you! I demand you show your face right now, damn it!"

When the silence of the hall offered zero response, his warped logic immediately locked onto the fact that she had been talking directly to me before she vanished...

Back inside the classroom, Linda was still looking at me with wide eyes. "W-Was that really Mei Xia? She seemed happy?"

"Yes," I replied smoothly, adopting a perfectly relaxed posture. "She needed steady employment, so I brought her on. I hired her."

"No, that makes no sense," Linda stammered, her voice shaking slightly. "She was explicitly deported as a foreign spy! I am not crazy, Rick, I know for a fact she was thrown out of the country."

I secretly savored every single bit of the shock coloring her features. I hadn't seen her express a genuine, unfiltered emotion like this since the period before my parents passed away. It was a shame the look wasn't one of pure joy or a smile, but watching her lose her composure was still an incredible victory.

The entire classroom sat in absolute silence, listening to the muffled sounds of Scott still screaming his head off for his ex-maid out in the corridor. A second later, the heavy doors swung open and Scott marched back into the room, his face twisted in pure rage as he stomped straight toward my desk.

He took three aggressive strides before stopping dead in his tracks, his eyes locking onto my posture as I casually slid my hand inside the breast pocket of my jacket, projecting a cold, unmistakable look that screamed for him to try his luck.

"What the hell are you doing, Rick Lee?" Scott spat, his fists trembling at his sides as he kept his distance from my hidden hand. "How the hell is Mei back in this country? God damn it, you tricked me! You set this whole thing up! Make her come back to this room right now! No, wait... she was legally deported. Did you fake the entire arrest? That's it, it's all a fake! You absolute bastard, you stole my maid, now give her back to me!"

While Scott completely lost his mind in front of the entire class, I simply relied on my basic Acting capabilities to project a flawless aura of pure innocence, behaving as if I had absolutely nothing to do with the drama. I offered a lazy shrug, keeping my voice loud enough to carry across the desks so every student could hear the reasonable explanation. "No, she is strictly my maid now. She approached me looking for work, so I gave her a job. And for the record, she is a fantastic maid."

Before Scott could launch into another unhinged tirade, Victoria slammed her textbook onto the podium, her voice ringing out with absolute authority. "Rick Lee and Scott Tang, both of you are dismissed from my lecture for the rest of the day. I will not tolerate this childish, disruptive behavior inside my classroom. Come back tomorrow morning when you are actually prepared to learn! And Mr. Lee, step up to my desk before you leave this room."

Scott let out a furious growl, stomping over to his desk to violently cram his notebooks into his bag. I could have sworn his eyes were actually watering as he packed—the guy was a complete, emotional wreck. I calmly slung my bag over my shoulder and walked down to the front of the room, approaching Victoria's desk. The furious expression she was projecting for the class faded slightly as I drew near, and she leaned forward to whisper under her breath, "I am sorry, Mr. Lee. I genuinely do not want to kick you out of this lecture, but I must remain entirely impartial as the instructor. Plus, you already know this material inside and out anyway. I am sorry."

I shook my head, offering a quiet, respectful response. "No, I am definitely the one at fault here, Teacher Long. My maid caused a massive ruckus in your doorway, so I am fully responsible for the distraction. See you tomorrow morning."

Looking into her deep purple eyes, I could tell she hated the idea of sending me away over Scott's unhinged behavior, but if she only kicked Scott out of the room, the Tang family would have leveraged their influence to create a massive administrative headache for her.

Scott had already sprinted back out into the hallway like a total idiot, undoubtedly planning to search the lower floors for Mei. He was too stupid to realize that she could track his position using her phone and navigate around him with ease.

As I finished gathering my things, James flashed me a massive thumbs-up from the back row, Linda watched me leave with a deeply sad expression, and Tina looked at me with a perfect blend of confusion and dark amusement. I offered a final nod, stepped out into the corridor, and let the heavy door click shut behind me.

I looked up and down the hallway, noting the complete lack of screaming. It looked like Scott had already sprinted down the stairwell to search the courtyard.

"Well, crap," I muttered to myself, adjusting the strap of my bag. "Now I am officially kicked out of class for the morning and I don't even have my car keys. I guess I'll just go find a tree to sit under."

A sudden, sharp giggle echoed through the empty space. From the narrow gap directly behind the Coca-Cola vending machine, the unmistakable sound of devious female laughter answered my complaint. With that distinct foreign accent, it couldn't be anyone else.

Mei smoothly squeezed her way out of the tight clearance between the machine and the concrete wall, pausing to casually brush a few specks of dust off the fabric of her uniform. She looked over at me with a sharp smirk. "That exact hiding method allowed me to get the drop on several highly trained killers who were actively hunting me in the past. It is the distinct advantage of having a smaller physical frame."

Mei wasn't exactly short—she stood at a solid five foot six inches by my estimate—but women originating from the China Empire generally tended to be a bit shorter in height compared to the locals. I offered her a dry smile, but she simply stepped closer, her eyes flashing with pure excitement.

"My Master~," she cooed, her tone dripping with playful mischief. "Do you happen to need a ride? I am so efficient at my job that I explicitly predicted this exact outcome would happen. Let's go utilize this free time to practice your trailing techniques!"

She held up her smartphone, displaying the active tracking interface. "We are going to follow Scott across the campus grounds. The objective is to let him catch occasional glimpses of my uniform in the distance to make him run in circles chasing a ghost, while the real game is for you to utilize your Stealth skills to trail him without ever letting him spot you. Let's move. This is officially a part of your advanced field training baseline. Hurry up before he moves out of range, come on!"

For the next two solid hours, Scott spent his morning catching brief, agonizing flashes of a maid uniform fluttering around corners in the distance, only for the target to completely vanish the moment he arrived, while I maintained a tight trail directly behind his position, successfully remaining hidden from his line of sight the entire time. A few passing students noticed our high-stakes game of tag across the quadrants, looking thoroughly amused by the bizarre spectacle.

By the time the training run finally concluded, Scott was slumped over a wooden campus bench, his head buried in his hands as he literally cried out of pure, unadulterated frustration.

Mei and I were crouched side-by-side on a thick, sturdy tree branch directly overlooking the square, a peerless tracking position allowing us to watch his breakdown in absolute comfort. I glanced over at my maid, taking in his weeping form before I muttered, "Um... I think we completely broke him."