Squeezing onto the bus, Lu Yinghan rode until she reached the bus stop closest to home.
From there, it took another half-hour walk on foot to finally arrive.
Straining on tiptoe, she pressed the doorbell at the entrance.
“Hello, who is it?”
“Grandpa Butler, it’s me, Lu Yinghan. I’m home from school.”
“...Miss?!”
Butler Liu stood frozen on the spot for several seconds.
His voice pitched up into a sharp squeak.
He was clearly utterly shocked.
Immediately after, the sound of his flustered footsteps echoed closer.
A moment later, Butler Liu’s startled, worried face suddenly appeared before Lu Yinghan.
“Miss! Did the driver not pick you up?”
“Mm, I took the bus back by myself.”
Seeing Butler Liu’s face brought instant relief to Lu Yinghan. She offered him a bright, sunny smile—a brilliant expression that only made Butler Liu’s heart ache even more.
Hastily unlocking the front door, he pulled out a handkerchief and gently wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead.
“Miss, do you know how far that bus stop is from home?! You took the bus and walked all the way back by yourself?”
“Yeah.”
Butler Liu pressed his lips tightly together, a sharp pang of sympathy pricking his heart. His eyebrows knitted, drooping at the outer corners.
In all his years working as a butler, he had seen countless children of wealthy families, all of whom led lives of total pampering, having everything handed to them.
Even after growing up and entering the workforce, many had never set foot on a public bus once in their lives.
They had zero concept of money when it came to everyday items.
Deep down, they looked down on things used by common folk.
Yet Miss, at such a young age, had been forced to master these basic life skills.
Butler Liu’s lips trembled slightly. Taking Lu Yinghan’s small hand, he turned toward Lu Xiong’s study, intending to march over.
In all his decades of service, this was the rare, first time he had felt a surge of genuine anger toward his master.
“Grandpa Butler?”
Feeling her tiny hand held firmly by Butler Liu and seeing him leading her toward Lu Xiong’s study, Lu Yinghan was startled.
Terrified, she immediately dropped to a crouch on the ground.
That brought Butler Liu to a sudden halt.
“Miss? Are you not going to tell Master? Coming home alone on a bus after school is far too dangerous!”
The uniform of an elite school was already eye-catching enough. If someone with malicious intent spotted her, kidnapping her wasn't out of the realm of possibility!
Butler Liu was so furious that his usual reserved form of address had vanished entirely.
Lu Yinghan hurried to soothe him.
“It’s okay, Grandpa Butler. Besides me, there were older students from my school on the bus too.”
Butler Liu’s brows remained tightly furrowed.
Those who rode the bus were top students sponsored by the elite academy.
They weren't like Miss.
If street hooligans ever found out she was a member of the Lu family...
...some of them really would do something reckless and dangerous.
“Grandpa Butler~ It’s really fine~ Look, didn’t I come back completely safe today?”
Lu Yinghan wrapped her arms around Butler Liu’s hand and gave it an affectionate tug.
She stood up and twirled around in front of him.
Her large eyes darted around cutely, gazing up at Butler Liu without blinking.
“Sigh, Miss, please carry your phone with you. Call me if anything happens.”
Ultimately, Butler Liu gave in.
He let out a long sigh, took Lu Yinghan’s hand once more, and led her toward her room.
Once inside her room, Butler Liu reached into his own pocket and pulled out some loose change and cash.
“Miss, I’ll help you apply for a bus card tomorrow. Since your living allowance hasn't been issued yet, take this for now to pay for tomorrow’s bus fare.”
Holding a small stack of ten- and twenty-yuan bills, Butler Liu pressed them into Lu Yinghan’s hand.
The thick stack consisted of money Butler Liu usually saved to buy little trinkets for himself or pay for meals when he ate out on his days off.
He liked buying succulents, and this cash was what he had set aside bit by bit for them; the rest of his savings was kept in his bank account.
That bank money was meant as savings for his grandson's future marriage.
It was impossible for her not to be moved.
Lu Yinghan immediately pushed the money back to Butler Liu.
“Grandpa Butler! This is too much! It’d be awful if I lost all of this! I only need a single ten-yuan bill. Once my allowance comes in, I’ll pay you back!”
In the Lu family, monthly allowances were calculated and then issued to each member.
Everyone else received theirs via bank transfer—even five-year-old Lu Xuanyao had a bank card set up by her parents.
She was the only one in the entire family who received hers in cash.
In her past life, she had spent all her previous allowance buying things back for the Lu family members.
How stupid she had been back then.
This time, she would save every bit of it properly and treat it as seed money for investment.
She would record every sum in a notebook and pay Butler Liu back little by little in the future.
Butler Liu saw that Lu Yinghan insisted on taking only that single ten-yuan bill.
She even gave her reasoned explanation in such a serious, childlike voice.
How could anyone not adore such a sensible, sweet child?
“Alright, Miss. If you need anything else, just tell me.”
Lu Yinghan nodded, and Butler Liu felt reassured enough to go prepare dinner.
For dinner that night, Butler Liu brought her meal straight to her room on his own initiative.
In the past, he would have tried to persuade her to go down to the dining room to eat with the rest of the family.
“Miss, if dinner isn't enough, just text me on your phone. I’ll leave you to eat now.”
After setting up the food for Lu Yinghan, Butler Liu excused himself to attend to his duties.
Munching on her food, Lu Yinghan pulled out the phone hidden under her pillow.
She scrolled through the short-video app to see what kind of work she might be able to do.
But the content was genuinely addictive.
Lu Yinghan had originally intended to look for ideas, but before she knew it, she was completely distracted watching other random videos.
“Tsk, so addictive... I shouldn't be watching this.”
Short video apps hadn't even become universally popular yet, and she was already getting hooked—wouldn't she be totally doomed in the future?
She gnawed on her chopsticks in dismay.
Then, her eyes fell on the needle and thread left on the nightstand.
A sudden flash of inspiration struck her mind.
Later in her past life, embroidered sachet designs had become extremely varied and trendy; she had loved almost every pattern she saw.
Back then, to save money instead of buying finished ones, she had bought raw materials and learned embroidery herself.
She had actually made a decent profit selling them—until she got cancer later on.
Lu Yinghan’s mood brightened instantly.
She opened the Peach app to browse basic crafting supplies.
She could record videos of herself crafting sachets and post them on the platform.
She could also handcraft peace amulets and sell them at a street stall.
Yes, exactly!
Lu Yinghan realized that at her current age, setting up a street stall was the only viable way for her to earn money.
Plus, she had to find a location where nobody knew her.
The plaza near her former public elementary school seemed like a good spot.
A comprehensive plan formed rapidly in her mind; all she needed now was for the materials to arrive so she could start crafting and setting up stall.
Scarfing down her dinner quickly, she pulled out plain paper and a pen from her backpack. Lost in deep thought, she covered the sheet with notes.
“Miss, are you full?”
“Mm, very full! Thank you, Grandpa Butler.”
Butler Liu smiled warmly, looking at the sheet of paper on the desk filled with Lu Yinghan’s tight handwriting, and felt a surge of admiration.
As expected of our Miss, studying so conscientiously.
But just as he picked up the empty dishes and turned to walk out, his brain suddenly registered something.
Wait... when did Miss learn so many words?!
Rate on N.U.
