The corner of his eye twitched for a while. Under the proprietress's unwavering gaze, Yang Kai picked up the wine pot and poured a cup. The proprietress, lounging languidly on the fragrant couch, extended one slender jade hand in invitation.
Yang Kai stared blankly for a moment, then laughed out of sheer exasperation: "Are you really that lazy?"
This was clearly just tormenting him. But with the arm unable to twist the thigh, he could only hand the cup over. The proprietress was quite bold about it — she drained it in one gulp, then rolled the empty cup between her fingers and glanced at him sidelong. "Not happy about it?"
Yang Kai looked up at the roof beam. "Wouldn't dare! I'm in your hands now. Kill me, flay me — do as you please."
The proprietress chuckled softly. "If you're unhappy, just say so. What's there to be embarrassed about?"
Yang Kai couldn't be bothered with her. This woman was the definition of easy for her to talk when it wasn't her back aching — the more attention he gave her, the smugger she got.
The proprietress drawled lazily, "My First Inn has a sterling reputation. Countless people are practically begging for a chance to join but can't find the door. You should be grateful you've got this opportunity — you have no idea how many people would kill for it. Don't be an ingrate, brat!"
Yang Kai turned to look at her and let out a hollow laugh.
The proprietress regarded him and said, "From now on you'll be working under me. Is this the attitude you plan to bring to the table?"
Yang Kai said with poor grace, "Then what kind of attitude do you want?"
The proprietress replied, "I'm not asking for groveling, but a basic show of respect wouldn't hurt, would it? If the others see you acting like this, how am I supposed to manage them?"
"I was born this way."
The proprietress let out a soft hmph, clearly dissatisfied with his attitude as well. But she didn't press the matter. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Where are you from?"
"No comment."
"Who's in your family?"
"No comment!"
After several questions that yielded nothing remotely useful, the proprietress seemed to gradually lose patience. She waved her hand. "You're dismissed."
Yang Kai cupped his fists, turned, and walked out.
Behind him came the proprietress's voice: "From now on, my three daily meals, laundry, and all the miscellaneous chores are your responsibility."
Yang Kai whipped his head around to stare at her, but the proprietress had already lowered her gaze, staring absently at the cup in her hand, lost in thought. Whether it was his imagination or not, she looked oddly vulnerable like this — a far cry from the Sixth-Order Open Heaven powerhouse she had seemed before.
Yang Kai clenched his teeth and muttered, "Understood."
Back in his room, he hadn't even sat down before Bai Qi slipped through the door, closing it behind him with the stealth of a thief. "The proprietress didn't give you a hard time, did she?"
Yang Kai slammed his palm on the table and fumed, "It's absolutely outrageous!"
Bai Qi flinched and grabbed his arm. "What are you doing — keep your voice down!" Seeing Yang Kai practically burning with rage, he asked, bewildered, "What happened? What's got you this worked up?"
Yang Kai said, "You have no idea — that wretched woman actually made me responsible for her three daily meals, her clothes, her bathing, all of it! She's a Sixth-Order Open Heaven — she could go a thousand years without eating and not starve. And now she wants three meals a day? What a joke! I've never served a woman a single day in my life. She's just tormenting me — getting back at me!"
"Calm down, calm down!" Bai Qi tried to placate him. "There's no grudge between you. Why would the proprietress get back at you? She's really just sharp-tongued but soft-hearted. You'll figure that out once you get to know her."
Yang Kai let out a cold laugh. "I'm just worried I won't survive long enough under her to find out."
Bai Qi chuckled. "That's not going to happen…"
"Forget it, never mind." Yang Kai raised a hand to cut him off, then said through gritted teeth, "If she wants to play games, then I'll play along. We'll see who breaks first."
The days that followed passed quietly. Though the space beyond the Great Domain was fraught with danger at every turn, the First Inn's flying ship was a banner so imposing that few in the Three Thousand Worlds would dare cross it.
Yang Kai kept himself busy each day, preparing the proprietress's three meals and delivering them punctually on time, then collecting the dishes a while later. He never knew whether she actually ate any of it — the amount he brought back was always roughly the same as what he'd delivered.
Nursing his grievance, he simply did his work in silence each time, with little conversation between him and the proprietress.
Several days passed in this manner. On this particular day, Yang Kai was sitting in meditation in his room when Bai Qi once again invited himself in, this time thrusting a delicate bamboo basket into his hands.
"What's this?" Yang Kai asked.