Teacher by day, Farmer by passion
Chapter 273 - 273: Backstab [10]

Betty stared ahead blankly, her tea cup slowly tilting in her fingers.

Her expression looked like someone who had spiritually flatlined.

Inside, her thoughts were far more chaotic.

She's only sixteen yet she's already Peak Legend Rank. Sixteen!

And I'm eighteen…

Eighteen, with a literal Phoenix soul nesting in my chest, guiding me and I'm still crawling in Major Legend like a cursed turtle!!!! Ahhhhhh.

She sighed into her tea, already rethinking every life decision that brought her here.

Suddenly, Liu Mei leaned forward and waved a hand in front of her face.

"Betty. Betty~ Wake up."

Betty jolted. "Huh? Wha—what happened?"

Liu Mei plopped herself back onto the rock, chewing the last invisible crumb in her mouth.

"It's nothing," she mumbled casually.

A soft silence followed.

Then Liu Mei tilted her head and asked with innocent expectation, "Don't you have anything else to eat? I'm still very hungry, you know."

Betty let out a long, patient sigh, the kind one lets out when mentoring a chaotic younger sibling with a bottomless stomach.

"…Alright," she said, rising. "Let's go pay a visit to my tent. Everyone's already run off anyway. You can eat all the leftovers at this point."

The two tidied their robes, brushing off the crumbs and ash from earlier chaos.

Liu Mei practically skipped beside her, eyes wandering over the landscape like a child in a candy shop.

"Wow… wow… wow…" she whispered to herself, grinning with each step. "It's all so fancy~"

They reached Betty's tent, a large pavilion of red and gold silk, regal but not ostentatious.

But before Betty could enter, she paused.

Her eyes narrowed. She sensed movement inside.

"Max?" she called.

A moment later, the old butler stumbled out, his face pale, lips trembling.

Upon seeing her, he immediately dropped to his knees.

"Master Betty, please—!" he cried, pressing his forehead to the ground. "Please, this has nothing to do with Alice. It was me. All me. Please… spare her!"

His voice cracked. The old man was weeping, trembling like a man seconds from execution.

Liu Mei blinked, confused. She tugged on Betty's sleeve.

"Betty… are you going to kill the old man?"

Betty tilted her head and smiled sweetly. "Should I?"

Liu Mei shrugged. "It's up to you. I'm just an outsider."

Her eyes drifted to the corner, to the small, silent girl peeking out from behind the tent curtain.

Alice. Crying. But not making a sound.

"She's mute," Betty said softly, noticing the gaze.

A long silence fell.

Then, without warning, Betty pulled a small pouch from her sleeve, heavy, embroidered with the fire lotus patterns, and tossed it gently into Max's trembling hands.

"Get up," she said, voice calm. "You've been with me for years. You deserve to live… and so does she."

Max's eyes widened as he stared at the gold in disbelief. His mouth trembled.

"Thank you… Thank you…" he wept, bowing repeatedly. "I never imagined—thank you…"

He turned to Alice, kneeling beside her and taking her small hand into his.

"Alice… come. We can go now. We can get your treatment. We can live."

But Alice didn't move.

Instead, she looked down at her feet for a heartbeat. Then, slowly, as if afraid of being misunderstood, she stepped forward…

Her hands rose, movements deliberate, quiet, practiced motions forming shapes in the air.

Liu Mei tilted her head, puzzled as she looked up at Betty.

"…What's she doing?"

Betty squinted, then gasped.

"She's using sign language."

She leaned closer, reading the motion of Alice's fingers.

"She's asking… Can I come with you?"

Liu Mei blinked, stunned. "With… me?"

Betty turned to Alice, about to say something, but then she blinked.

"Wait—she's mute, she can't—"

Betty stopped, eyes flickering.

"…Right. Mute. Not deaf."

She gave herself a light forehead smack. "Gods, Betty. Think before speaking."

Alice signed again, this time a little faster:

Yes, Master. Can you allow me to follow her?

Betty turned to Liu Mei, grinning wickedly.

"She says if you don't take her in, you'll be cursed with bad luck for seven lifetimes. Not only that, you'll starve in all those lifetimes."

"Hoeh?!" Liu Mei spun around, panicking slightly. "W-What kind of cursed logic is that? Are you threatening me?!"

Betty shrugged with exaggerated nonchalance.

"Also," she added slyly, "she's the one who baked those cookies."

Liu Mei's jaw dropped.

"Really?!"

This time, instead of signing, Alice nodded so hard her hair bounced.

Liu Mei crouched to eye level with her, face softening.

"Then… alright. You can come."

Alice's expression didn't change much, but her eyes shimmered with relief.

Meanwhile, Max stood nearby, quietly wiping his eyes.

"Old man, will you be fine going… alone?" Betty asked softly.

He nodded. "I'm grateful you spared us at all, Master Betty. That's more than enough."

He bent down, hugged Alice tightly.

"Alice… I love you, alright? Live well. Eat lots. Be strong."

Alice hugged him back tightly, wordless, tearless but she buried her face in his chest like she wanted to stay there forever.

Then, with one final pat on her head, Max turned and walked away, slow but steady.

Alice stood there, still watching.

When his figure vanished behind the trees, she raised one hand high and waved.

Just once.

Now, Betty crossed her arms, eyeing Liu Mei with suspicion.

"So… what exactly are you planning to do with that girl now? Work tirelessly in the kitchen baking cookies for you?"

Liu Mei didn't respond.

Instead, she casually strolled up to Alice, who blinked curiously and without warning, reached out and squished her cheeks between both hands like dough.

Alice flinched slightly, her face scrunched into an awkward puff.

"Hey! Hey! What are you doing?!" Betty rushed over, waving her hands like she was trying to swat flies. "Stop manhandling the mute girl!"

Liu Mei finally released Alice's cheeks, looking completely unbothered.

Alice, meanwhile, was frozen in place, lightly rubbing her face.

She tilted her head to the side with a puzzled expression, as if silently asking, Was that… a ritual? A test? A greeting?

Then she gave a little pop of her head, still confused but apparently accepting her fate.

Liu Mei pouted and turned to Betty.

"What's so fun about squeezing cheeks anyway? Everyone keeps doing it to me, y'know."

And before Betty could react—smush—Liu Mei clamped both palms onto Betty's cheeks with a mischievous grin.

Betty froze, wide-eyed.

Then she slapped Liu Mei's hands away with precision honed by years of discipline and general sass.

"Touch my face again and I'll throw you to the nearest pit I see."

Just then, A shimmer cracked through the air like heat bending reality.

A soft whum echoed, and a tear in space twisted open.

Out stepped Yuu, dragging a completely thrashed Icehart behind her like a broken sack of potatoes.

She planted her foot dramatically on Icehart's back and announced,

"Little Mei'er~ I've secured our golden meal ticket."

Icehart groaned beneath her foot, one eye swollen shut, the other filled with pure existential regret.

Liu Mei blinked, then tilted her head like a curious cat.

"You definitely took your sweet time with this one, huh?"

Yuu didn't deny it but she simply laughed it away.

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