Outside the pavilion, a chubby boy with fair skin waved his plump hand and ran towards Su Jin. Nestling within his mother’s embrace while panting for breath, he looked at his mother with sparkling eyes and said: “Dabao just found this on the ground. Mom taught us that if we pick up something valuable, we should return it to the original owner and not claim it as our own. Please take a look, mom.”
Having finished speaking, he stretched his chubby little hand forward, revealing the item he was holding.
Su Jin smiled and hugged the child, gently wiping away his perspiration with a handkerchief. She couldn’t help but knead the meaty little face, enjoying the extremely addictive feeling of the doughy sensation.
Completely immersed in joy of interacting with her child, Su Jin did not pay attention to the content of his words. But a notification from the System interrupted her happy moment of nourishing her mind and body with vitamin-D(abao).
“Beep… toxic substance has been detected. Please be careful, host…”
“Huh??” Su Jin was surprised. She quickly turned her attention to the item in Dabao’s hand.
It was a delicate flower-shaped hairpin, carved from white jade and decorated with golden threads. Even the tassels hanging from it were made from crimson jade pearls. With just a glance, one could easily realize that this hairpin was extremely valuable.
But this was within expectations. Whenever Dabao’s luck was activated, he would always find items of great value. The main problem this time was that the item contained poison.
“System, analyze the hairpin and locate the poison.”
“Host, there is a secret mechanism behind the small groove in the middle of the flower petals.”
Su Jin let out a sigh of relief upon hearing this. It was fortunate that Dabao had not activated it by accident, but she couldn’t help but worry. She held his hand and wiped it several times with a serious expression, asking the System to confirm that her son had not been exposed to the toxic substances before releasing his hand.
Although Dabao’s supernatural luck would also protect him from all dangers, it was a natural reaction for a mother to be worried about her child.
“Mom, did Dabao do anything bad?” The small figure, shaped like a rice ball, asked with a confused expression when he noticed something strange.
Su Jin crouched down and kissed, squishing his chubby cheeks which jiggled back into its original shape after Su Jin released him.
She smiled and praised Dabao. “Our Dabao is always so obedient that there is no possibility of you committing something bad. Same for today! You even handed over the item that you have picked up to mother. Dabao is my kind and capable darling, who also happens to be very cute! Dabao is a little angel who blessed this world with your existence…”
Su Jin bombarded Dabao with a barrage of positive compliments, praising him to the sky. With his eyes spinning and his hands covering his face in embarrassment, he was intoxicated with joy, causing him to feel lightheaded from the sudden increase in blood circulation. His body squirmed as he whispered with a slight blush: “I… I’m not that great…”
After speaking, he buried his head in Su Jin’s embrace, feeling shy.
The system, overwhelmed by his adorable reaction, held both hands on its chest as it screamed wildly in Su Jin’s mind like a fan fawning over a famous celebrity. “Kyaaah~ Please look over here! Uncle System will support you forever. Spread your wings and soar freely in the sky! Uncle System will always be around to watch over you~”
A perfect showcase of a crazy, ardent fan.
Su Jin: “…”
(What a nutjob!)
……
Hua Lian, who had just borrowed a tattered set of clothes from the old mute granny, was lying motionless on a stack of hay with deadpan eyes, evidently exhausted from the antagonizing situation just now.
After a while, she suddenly burst out laughing maniacally, placing her hands on her head with an ominous atmosphere as if she had just come up with a plan. The end was nearing. Tonight, she would make minced meat out of everyone and feed them to the stray dogs!
A malicious glint flashed in her eyes, but in the next moment, her face immediately stiffened and she began to panic.
Where did her white jade hairpin go?
How did she misplace or lose something of that size?
After a series of consecutive setbacks, Hua Lian’s faint heart had finally reached its limits and she fainted on the spot.
Meanwhile, under the guidance of the system, Su Jin pried open the hidden compartment of the hairpin. It was ingeniously designed, layering four tiny hallowed areas in the middle of the flower petal together, to create the perfect little vacuum compartment for hiding the poison.
There was no doubt that this definitely belonged to the woman whom they brought back last night.
Oh, how considerate of them. Poison, was it? It seemed that their objective now was no longer just her life, but the lives of her entire family.
Great! Challenge accepted!
It had been a long time since Su Jin felt her blood boil to such an extent. An ominous aura formed around her as she stared at the distant straw shed.
She beckoned housekeeper Xiao to accompany her on the trip to the straw shed, which was originally used to raise livestock, but now seemed perfectly suited for the current tenant.
Glancing at the woman huddling herself asleep in the corner, a smug smile appeared on Su Jin’s face. She casually took a step forward, pretending not to notice, and viciously stepped on the woman’s exposed hand, exerting all her weight and grinding it forcefully.
“Ahhh!”
A scream pierced the sky.
Su Jin pretended not to understand the situation, feigning to be surprised as she asked, “What’s wrong? Oh… whoops. My foot seems to have wandered off on its own. My bad. I will make sure to discipline it properly when I return later.”
Pretending to just notice the hand under her foot, Su Jin paused for a moment before taking a step back with a smile.
Hua Lian felt her veins pop. Her limbs trembled as she hugged her swollen hand. This was the first time she had to endure such humiliation, in addition to losing her secret weapon. Losing her sanity, she yelled in anger, “Enough is enough, Su Jin! Are you really human? I wish you die a miserable death!”
Su Jin was taken aback. Did she intend to end this charade now?
Paying no heed to the woman’s furious cursing, Su Jin bent down and leaned over as if evaluating a prime cut of meat, before discussing with housekeeper Xiao, “This woman seems to have no value. I heard that she even wasted a bucket of dung today. Tsk… How about selling her away to a new owner?”
Housekeeper Xiao frowned and seriously thought about it. “Given her ugly appearance, I highly doubt if we could recoup the cost of that bucket of dung by selling her.”
(Ugly… Appearance… You mean me!??)
Hua Lian, whose pride had been trampled all over the place from the endless verbal abuses and insults, felt a strong impulse to rush forward and beat the life out of the b*stard in front of her.
But she suddenly realized something. Without the poison in her possession, wasn’t her life at the mercy of the people in this household? Her combat prowess was mediocre at best, and the probability of her being able to escape from this place was abysmally low, unless… As soon as she realized this fact, Hua Lian’s clouded mind instantly cleared up.
“Please forgive me…” Hua Lian bowed her head, gritting her teeth as she pleaded while shedding crocodile tears. “I… I wasn’t thinking straight because of the sudden intense pain. Since Milady saved my life, I had vowed to repay this favor by becoming your servant. How could I renegade on my promises? Please don’t abandon me, Milady. I have nowhere to go…”
Hua Lian slowly raised her head, revealing a pitiful expression, as tears continuously streamed down from the edges of her eyes.
“Ugh…” The System took out its handkerchief and imitated the gesture of puking, not forgetting to wipe its mouth before criticizing her act. “Is she trying to get an award at the Oscars?”
On the contrary, Su Jin had a smile on her face. Exuding a holy and noble aura like the incarnation of a saint, she responded in a gentle and caring tone as if she was interacting with a mentally disabled person. “I hear your extenuating circumstances. Do not worry. I won’t hold it to heart. You can continue to stay here.”
Hua Lian felt a sense of delight because one thing was finally going her way. Sure enough, women are compassionate creatures, easily expressing sympathy just from a simple performance of acting pitiful. She had deceived many noble ladies with this act in the past.
Recalling the victims who found themselves in ruins or dead, their faces filled with disbelief and resentment when they found out that they had been deceived, Hua Lian felt a sense of satisfaction. She was certain that Su Jin would end up in a similar fashion.
However, now that she had lost her poison, her only option was to contact her boss as quickly as possible…
While Hua Lian was still lost in her thoughts, Su Jin had already walked towards the door. With an amiable smile, she gently gave instructions to Hua Lian. “Remember to retrieve two buckets of dung later. Be careful not to spill them this time, especially since you can’t afford to pay for them.”
Hua Lian clenched her fists tightly and nodded obediently.
Right after exiting the shed, the smile on Su Jin’s face disappeared, replaced with a cold expression. She quietly instructed, “Arrange someone to closely monitor her every move. If she makes any attempt to contact anyone outside this household, do not intercept it.”
Although housekeeper Xiao did not know what Su Jin was planning, he understood that she had always acted with careful consideration. Without questioning her commands, he promptly responded to carry out his tasks.
TL Corner: I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Do let me know in the comments or discord if there are any errors or mistakes.
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