Power Up, Artist Yang!

For a few moments, Yujia gathered her thoughts, which were now flying all over the place, back to herself. She forced them on one specific task, one that had been drilled into her the entire day.

She was not Yang Yujia. She was Shen Yuling. She was just supposed to be some maid. And if she wasn't Shen Yuling, if she really was Yang Yujia— then she was a full grown woman, not the hormonal nineteen-year-old teenage girl that Zixu probably thought of herself as. She wouldn't allow herself to be flustered by someone like him.

Heck, she swore that she didn't even like him in the sense of more than friends. They were just supposed to be fellow disciples. And there was nothing more than that, so there was no point in getting stirred up over any of this. Period.

Yu Zixu was definitely just testing her.

Just like that, Yujia controlled her demeanor in a manner that Yu Zixu certainly would've been proud of. She stepped back, bowed, and informed with a steady voice, "Young Master, you really shouldn't make fun of this maid like that."

Not daring to look up since she was following the rules of a maid, Yujia waited for Zixu to say something.

Instead, the sound of applause was what made her raise her head.

Zixu was applauding her, his lips curled up in amusement. Yet with his eyebrows lifted, he looked pleased. Proud.

"You passed the final test. Congratulations, Junior Sister," he stated.

At this, it was a sign that all the tests were finally over.

Yujia bit her lip, exhaling deeply. Her hands were clenched by her side, and she practically jumped up to say, "Senior Brother, what kind of psychopath are you? Who tests people with— with love confessions?"

Zixu spread his hands open in something that looked like half a shrug."I was thinking all day about what I could do for a final test, since I really wanted to put you in a situation that would test your composure. I thought of many different tests, but I settled on this one, the easiest one."

"The easiest one?" Yujia repeated in disbelief. 

She was about to roll up her sleeves and beat Yu Zixu up for attempting to play with her feelings like that. Or at least, she wanted to.

"What other tests did you think of, hm?" she continued to push.

"Well," Zixu stated, "I considered calling my father over to the courtyard, and looking at your reaction to seeing him for the first time." 

Yujia had flashbacks to how she was technically supposed to be married to the Yu's Old Master right now. If he called his father over… that definitely would've made Yujia much more panicked than how she was with this love confession test. 

He was right. It would be harder and even riskier.

"Senior Brother, you're really messed up," Yujia said, shaking her head.

Yujia crossed her arms. "Alright. You can say that all you want. But I know that you just like to mess with me, and this is your perfect opportunity and excuse."

Zixu replied, "Didn't I say before that I found you entertaining? Now, consider the debts between us cleared."

"... Alright." Yujia wasn't sure what else to say after that. All she knew was that Yu Zixu was seriously crazy. He definitely wasn't any normal person. "Your acting skills are too good," she ended up muttering.

"You think so?" Zixu's expression lit up. "Though, how did you know that my 'confession' before was just a test?"

Recalling her reasoning, she realized that it was rather simple. Yujia sighed, then explained, "You give me trust issues. Of course I'm going to think that anything out of the blue like that is a test, especially considering the context of the situation. It's just too unrealistic to think that out of all people, you, Senior Brother, would confess to me."

"Is that so? Then, how do you know that the conversation right now is not the actual, final test? I could still be tricking you, yet you switched to your old self quickly," Zixu suggested, his eyebrows lifted. 

"You have a point, but—" Yujia paused, looking him straight in the eye, "You told me before that the confession was the final test. So I trusted you. Plus, what's the point of still testing me now? I think that I've proven myself capable."

"I thought you have trust issues with me?" The corners of his lips twitched upwards.

Yujia retorted, "I might have trust issues with you, but at least I still have basic trust for things like these. I betted that you would not be so demented as to continue testing me, even after you declared the final test complete."

"Ah. I see." Zixu sighed.

About to say something more, Yujia paused when she heard barking noises in the courtyard. 

The next moment, a friendly, golden-coated dog— Mimi— burst into the room, leaping towards her and Zixu at boundless speed.