Lin Xiao's first morning at the Jiang family was woken by the birds chirping outside the window and the soft footsteps of the servants. When she opened her eyes, the sky was just dawning, and the electronic clock by the bed showed 5:30 a.m.—earlier than any time she had woken up in the past twenty-odd years.
Hearing faint footsteps downstairs, Lin Xiao quickly got up to wash up. As soon as she changed her clothes, she saw Mama Zhang, the personal maid of Jiang Yu's mother, standing at the bedroom door, holding a neatly printed paper: "Young Mistress, Madam asked me to give this to you. It's the 'Daily Rules for Jiang Family's Daughter-in-Law'. You just need to follow it from today onwards."
Lin Xiao took the paper; it was filled with dense rules. The first one read: "Get up at 6 a.m. every day and personally prepare breakfast for the whole family. Mr. Jiang (Jiang Yu's father) needs low-sugar and salt-free food; President Jiang (Jiang Yu)'s coffee must be hand-brewed, with a concentration of 7.5 and half a cube of sugar added." She was stunned—she hadn't even figured out where the kitchen was, let alone how to make hand-brewed coffee.
"Mama Zhang, I…" Lin Xiao wanted to explain that she couldn't do it, but Mama Zhang interrupted her with a smile: "Madam said if you can't do it, you can learn. She asked me to teach you by your side. Hurry up, Madam will come to the dining room to check at 6:10 a.m."
Lin Xiao followed Mama Zhang into the kitchen. The huge open kitchen was even bigger than the apartment she used to rent, with a wide variety of kitchenware. She couldn't even find the switch of the coffee machine. Mama Zhang patiently taught her to grind coffee beans and control the water temperature, but the first cup of coffee she brewed was still too strong. When Jiang Yu's mother walked into the dining room, she took a sip and frowned: "The concentration is wrong. Yu'er will have a stomachache if he drinks this. Make it again. If you make a mistake next time, you won't have breakfast."
Lin Xiao's face turned red instantly, and she hurried to make it again. By the time she brought the qualified coffee to Jiang Yu's mother, Jiang Yu's father had already finished breakfast and was ready to go to the company. Jiang Yu hurried in, picked up his briefcase and left without even glancing at her. He only said to his mother, "Mom, I have an important meeting today, so I'll leave first."