CH 21

Jiang Wan became aware that she was being neglected and her neck began to feel stiff due to the awkward posture.

(Something is wrong. Why is the technique not showing effects on this particular woman? Why has she not exhibited the expected response outlined in the guidebook?)

With a gesture of her eyes, the lady signalled to her maid, Qing He, who promptly moved forward to admonish Su Jin, “Where are your manners? My lady is awaiting your reply.”

Qiu Shui found pleasure at the sight of Su Jin being picked on by the second young lady of the Jiang family, who was notorious for causing trouble for others. This should be a well-deserved lesson for the unruly girl of low status. It was obvious that she had no intention to offer any assistance to Su Jin.

With a gentle tap of her fingers on her mouth, Su Jin swept her eyes around her surroundings. In a sudden motion, she swung her hands backward and flung the remnants of the melon seed shells, which ‘coincidentally’ scattered all over Qiu Shui.

“Ah… Miss Su, you… this is outrageous! “exclaimed Qiu Shui in a loud outcry, taken aback by this unforeseen turn of events.

(This peasant girl is obviously lacking in intelligence. Why else would she target me instead of the person harassing her!)

Despite the maid’s hostile curses, Su Jin ignored her and focused on studying the posture of the young lady standing before her. She imitated her s-curve pose, lifted her chin and returned a smile. “How is it? Do you think I have talent in this?”

“You…” Jiang Wan was at a loss for words. The woman’s conduct baffled her and she could not read her at all. Did the woman see through her farce which she had trained diligently to portray? Even her mother had been fooled by her act. How could the woman before her discern her facade?

On the other side, Qiu Shui glared at Su Jin in rage when she realized she had been ignored. She interjected into the conversation, “Second young lady, Miss Su over here had come from a rural village and lacked proper understanding of social customs and etiquette. On her behalf, I’ll …”

Before Qiu Shui could complete her words, Su Jin abruptly struck her face with ample force, causing her to lose her balance and stumble.

“I am sure I had warned you before that I will hit you if you interrupted me without a proper reason. Your memory appears to be quite bad as well.”

Ever since Qiu Shui had been designated as the young lady’s personal attendant by the late madam, she had earned the admiration of those with similar or lower status. This was the first time she had been directed with contempt. She had never expected that the peasant woman had the audacity to humiliate her like this. Her eyes seethed red with anger. “How… how dare you!”

Su Jin had no second thoughts before slapping the maid once again with a swift motion of her hand. “Under whose authority were you granted the permission to speak? Do you think that you are the only person who has a mouth?”

Qiu Shui caressed the swell on her face and stared at Su Jin with hatred, but she had lost the courage to open her mouth.

Jiang Wan felt her heart quiver at the sight. She quickly dropped her haughty demeanour, straightened her posture, slightly lifted the hem of her skirt and smiled at Su Jin with a gentle and gracious appearance. The earlier display of arrogance had completely vanished.

She took smaller steps as she departed with her entourage, without forgetting to pay Su Jin a slight nod when she passed by her. She increased her pace thereafter, until her silhouette was gone without a trace.

(That lady is bad news… She is way too ferocious and beyond my league. Under no circumstances should I ever try to provoke her. Let’s pick on an easier opponent next time. Leave to fight another day1TL Note: pun on the original saying – Live to fight another day…)

Su Jin: “Why do I continuously encounter individuals who are mentally challenged in one way or another? It’s taking a toll on my mental wellbeing.”

System#2250 showed an uncharacteristic level of solemnity as it brushed its chin before replying, “Honestly, that young lady seems quite adorable. A good natured person pretending to be a bad person is always better than a bad person pretending like a good one.”

Su Jin was taken aback. When did her foolish companion begin to express profound thoughts with words?

“Are you really System#2250 …? Did you secretly consume walnuts without my knowledge?”2TL note: walnuts are proclaimed to have positive effects in enhancing cognitive abilities

System: “…”

(Hmph! The better person tolerates!)

……

After departing from the county magistrate’s manor, Su Jin had initially planned to return home directly. However, upon further consideration, she decided to take a look around since she was already in the city. She roamed around aimlessly while bickering with the system, occasionally stopping whenever she stumbled upon fascinating items that grabbed her attention.

“Oh, might this possibly be chilli?”

Su Jin looked at the long, crimson tapered-shaped fruit laid out on a straw mat at the bazaar and immediately recognized the object. It had been ages since she last came across chilli that the flavour had almost slipped out of her memory.

In her previous life, she had seen something similar to chilli in her tribe, but it had a remarkably bitter taste and lacked the characteristic spiciness to it. Su Jin greatly disliked that taste.

In her current world, the flavourings she had come across predominantly consisted of ginger, garlic, salt and sugar. Her taste buds had almost turned dull from the lack of spicy flavour in her life.

Su Jin’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction as she curbed the impulse to gloat with her fists on both hips. It was remarkable that she stumbled upon such a life-changing discovery while on a business trip. She wouldn’t doubt it if one were to attribute that to a stroke of divine luck. What a delightful and marvellous finding!

“Excuse me, Ma’am. How much does this red fruit go for?”

“Hoh~ You are interested in these wild fruits? They aren’t worth much. How about I give them to you as complimentary gifts  if you purchase something else from me?  These red fruits cause great discomfort when consumed, so no one would consider eating them. Their vibrant appearance made them perfect as decorations, especially during festive occasions. Weren’t you attracted here because of its appeal too?”

After concluding her speech, the stall lady pushed a bamboo basket towards Su Jin as a cue.

Su Jin paid no heed to the basket. Despite its small size, the stall offered a wide selection of goods. She noticed that the eggs at this stall were bigger than what she normally saw, and decided to purchase a basket full of them.

Fortunately, her mother had handed her some smaller denomination of silver pieces obtained from selling the wild boar just before she departed. Requesting a change with a banknote of one hundred taels of silver for a basket of eggs would have been embarrassing.

Hurray for her mother’s omniscience!

Upon seeing Su Jin buy an entire basket of eggs, the stall lady beamed with joy. With a polite grin, she advised Su Jin to hold the basket firmly. “Missy, auntie will pack these red fruits up for you!”

The stall lady deftly maneuvered her limbs and within moments, she had transferred the heap of unwanted chillies into Su Jin’s basket.

“Thank you!”

Su Jin expressed her gratitude before inquiring further, “Ma’am, do you perhaps know where I can get more of these wild fruits? Truth to be told, the mule in my home is a strange one. It refuses to eat anything except this red fruit, so I would like to stock up as much as I can.”

Once again, Su Jin spouted random nonsense without a blink of an eye.

“Wow, to think that such a bizarre situation could actually exist… That livestock in your family must possess peculiar taste buds. Nobody wants this fruit anyway. You can obtain them from…”

Su Jin thanked the store lady once again and left with the fresh knowledge she had acquired. She decided that she would find some time to make a journey to Shang Yang village, which coincidentally was also the village where her grandmother Zhang Shi and her family resided.

Out of a sudden, she hit herself on the head upon realizing that she had just insulted herself at the stall. Since she procured the fruit for her personal consumption, then she had effectively referred to herself as a livestock.

Somehow, she felt as though her brain had not been functioning well lately. Even her body became tired quickly. Could this have been an aftereffect from her transmigration?

Su Jin furrowed her eyebrows, but her anxiety dissipated when she looked at the red chillies. It was a needless concern since her physical condition was optimal and there were no issues with her appetite. Her mood improved when she imagined how these chillies would elevate her food experience to new heights.

Her craving for delicious food intensified. Su Jin went to a meat store to purchase some quality cuts. Despite her request to reserve some of the wild boar meat for the family’s own consumption, her mother ended up selling everything during her absence.

(Sigh…)

Su Jin hummed a tune on the way to the butcher’s shop. She bought several catties of pork belly meat, and tossed a few calf bones that no one wanted into her basket as they were inexpensively priced at just three casted coins. When used for broth, this ingredient provided more nourishment than meat.

After she was done shopping, Su Jin rented a mule cart from the corner of the street and headed home.

(Hmm, did I overlook something again? Whatever, if I can’t remember it, it must be of no importance.)

Meanwhile, Sanye and the gang from the gambling house had been living in fear for the past few days.

……

“Mom, I have cravings for meatballs. Teehee.”

“Okay, I’ll cook that dish today. But didn’t we have meat just a few days ago? Why did you buy more again?”

In an attempt to ignore her mother’s nagging, Su Jin averted her eyes towards the sky and feigned obliviousness. Meat is an essential component of her daily dietary needs and she could not live without it!

“You see… It is not fair to my eldest nephew since he wasn’t around when we ate meat the last time. In addition, eldest brother needs adequate nutrition for his body to recover! These soup bones are for sister-in-law to prepare nourishing broth for him.”

“Alright, alright… Go spend your time outside while I prepare the meal.”

“Aye, roger that.” Su Jin said as she playfully winked at the trio of young children peeking into the kitchen.

She took out a hemp parcel which was tucked in her inner pouch in secret.

“Aunt brought these back for you. Try it and have a taste of the cakes and pastries served in a luxurious household. There’s some for little brother as well, here you go.”

System#2250 blinked its eyes in astonishment. “When did you take these? How did I miss it?”

Su Jin responded with a provocative look to the system. “What fun is there if everything is out in plain sight?”

The system chewed its handkerchief as it felt a sense of defeat.

It was already unfortunate that an excellent system like itself who graduated with a degree in palace conflicts had to work in the unrelated farming industry. And now, there was even a defect in its visual abilities. Haunted by gloomy thoughts, the system clenched its fists tightly and opted to do some light workout to alleviate stress…

TL Corner: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. If you liked my translation and wish to support me, you could leave a comment below or in novelupdates, or send me a Ko-Fi. Thank you!