Ning Qing Xue, who understood about the misunderstanding, didn't bother to correct her. The fewer people knew, the better. This conclusion was also good to get rid of others' suspicion. She just wanted people to know that she was basically here just to earn money. Otherwise, if others knew that she had an unexplainable closeness to Yao Ling, it would attract the enemies' attention far too early. They weren't ready for it and it would also ruin their whole plan.

"I will send her back after we are finished talking about her employment," Yao Ling explained. She didn't want to undermine Xiao Qian's authority. Before she worked at 'Fu Rong', Xiao Qian was the one who managed all the embroiderers and still was, although some of her jobs also landed on Yao Ling's shoulder -- for example, every time Xiao Qian want to do something, she had to consult it to Yao Ling. After she got Yao Ling's approval, then she was allowed to do so.

Previously, Yao Ling was actually working under her too. Fortunately, Xiao Qian didn't feel envy at all, after knowing that suddenly Yao Ling became her boss. She was a reasonable person and could adapt to change quite easily. To be exact, she felt relieved that she could share some of the burdens from her overload jobs.

Yao Ling took charge of the salary and it was not a part of Xiao Qian's authority, to begin with, so it wasn't a problem to take Ning jie away by using this reason.

No one would suspect them.

"Follow me!" Yao Ling said to Ning Jie. After that, she turned around while being followed by Xiao Yu and Ning jie. They went to the second floor without saying another word.

After they arrived at the second floor, Yao Ling gave an order to Xiao Yu, "Xiao Yu, I need you to guard the stairs. If anyone comes up, just let me know! I have an important matter to discuss with Ning jie."

"Okay, Young Mistress." Xiao Yu didn't ask too many questions and she obeyed Yao Ling's order without a second thought.

Yao Ling was at ease when she had Xiao Yu helping her by her side. It was easier for her to work on secret things like this with people that she could fully trust. It also reduced her anxiety in doing things with Xiao Yu standing guard.

"So, tell me… why exactly do you change your mind?" Yao Ling asked with a smiling face. She was beyond happy!

"I talked about it with the children. I gave them a choice while laying out the pros and cons of helping you and becoming your subordinate. The children seemed didn't know what they were going to do -- accept it or not. Their gaze was blank in confusion. However, it seemed like that you've already wormed your way in into Xiao Xia and Xiao Li's heart. They were the one who convinced me the most," Ning jie explained briefly about yesterday's event.

"Oh? How so?" Yao Ling looked at Ning jie with wide curious eyes which made her look oh-so-adorable. Even Ning jie felt blinded by her charming expression. Sometimes, due to Yao Ling's clever mind, she forgot that the girl was younger than her.

"They kneeled down and said that what you'd said about them being lazy was actually correct. Except for the bigger ones, the little ones were practically useless. They vowed that they wanted to help and urged me to work together with you. They cleverly said that they had accidentally heard about our conversation and felt your offer back then was really good," Ning jie said.

"They are very clever!" Yao Ling felt proud for the both of them. At least, they had a mind of their own and willing to listen to advice -- though they had accidentally heard what she had said.

"Indeed!"

"Have you told them about the risks?"

"Yes, I have. I told them in a harsh way," Ning jie said. She remembered how last night she felt so agitated and told them in a loud voice that sometimes they could die while doing their mission. However, their answer really shut all of her arguments up.

"It's fine, Ning jie. After all, we are currently living without any purpose but staying alive. To tell Ning jie the truth, we seek for adventure and new purpose. With Yao gong zi's offer, we are able to learn new things and skills, also broaden our experiences. It's not a bad thing. Currently, we can also die because of hunger. We know that Ning jie is barely holding on because of us, so why don't you let us help you by sharing your burden?" Xiao Yang – who was sick – heard about the whole things and he was the one who said these mature sentences.

Xiao Yang was the oldest of the bunch, so his way of thinking was also quite grown-up. He always wanted to give something in return for Ning jie's kindness and yesterday's Yao gong zi gave a good offer to them. Beggars can't be choosers [1].

The sentences came out from a ten-something years old kid and it made Ning jie feel so ashamed. "I'm sorry for not being able to give you all the perfect childhood." She had tried to do the best, but she still failed them. However, she also knew they did this because they wanted to help her and it brought tears to her eyes. All of them are good kids.

Xiao Li who was usually aloof also spoke up his thought, "Why are you saying sorry to us? We should be the ones who suppose to say thank you to you, Ning jie. If you didn't pick us up back then, we wouldn't be able to live."

"Yes, Ning jie. This is good enough for us. We probably can die by doing a mission or something like that, but it's only the worst case scenario, right? Why should we think all of the negative things first? All of us will die someday. If it was time for us to go, then it was time. There will be no regret if we do something that we voluntarily do," Xiao Er said.

"Ning jie, I agree with everyone!" Xiao Xia said excitedly. Although she didn't know for sure about what it was all about, she already took a liking to the pretty jie jie. She believed that she's not a bad person and she was very willing to follow pretty jie jie.

The other kids murmured in agreement. Some of them were only the followers' type, but after listening to the explanation, the felt that it was making sense. Probably with the new arrangement, they could get a better future.

Ning jie sighed, feeling defeated. All of them wanted to follow Yao Ling's plan and she should probably accept their decisions. "If all of you agree, then tomorrow I'll go to 'Fu Rong'. About what you will do later, it will depend on Young Mistress, okay?"

"Young Mistress?" Xiao Xia asked.

"We will be working for the pretty lady that you love so much, Xiao Xia. We have to be polite and call her Young Mistress," Ning jie explained patiently.

"Oh… I see," Xiao Xia nodded understandingly. "Young Mistress, it is."

Ning jie told Yao Ling those conversations in details one by one. When Yao Ling heard what the children said, it made her feel really touched.

"Don't you think they have grown up by saying those things?" Yao Ling asked.

Ning jie blinked back her tears. "Indeed, Young Mistress."

"I already told you… I take you as my sworn sister. In private, you can just call me Yao Ling," Yao Ling took her words seriously. Even if Ning jie pledged her loyalty, she would treat her as her real sister – not as a subordinate.

"Yao Ling…" Ning jie hesitantly called her with her name.

"Good!"

"So, will you tell me about your plan for the kids?"

"Hmmm... Are the children literate?"

"No. They have various backgrounds, but all of them are from poor families. They didn't have the luxury to learn how to read and write," Ning jie explained.

---

[1]. Beggars can't be choosers: It was said when you recognize that you must accept an offer or a situation because it is the only one available to you.