Chapter 251: Chapter-251

Hearing that, the System looked at her and said quickly, “The villain isn’t dumb, but you are—”

Heena’s eyes immediately flashed with murderous aura as she glared at him.

The System backtracked frantically, shaking his head. “No, no! I mean, of course not, Host! I… I don’t understand what you mean by that question!”

Hearing that desperate correction, Heena swallowed her food and looked at him seriously as she explained:

“Listen carefully. What you’re describing—the ’bringing food to the young master’ scenario—it’s a common trope in novels, yes. For noble households it’s quite normal. Even though this household is literally like beggars compared to what I’m used to, it’s still considered a respectable merchant family by local standards.”

She gestured with her chopsticks.

“And yes, everybody has seen that particular story play out: the beautiful young servant girl brings food to the handsome young master, they start talking, he finds her interesting, romance blooms, blah blah blah.”

She shook her head firmly.

“But that’s NOVELS. It’s not going to happen like that in real life here. If I go and give him food unprompted, there’s a very high chance that I will be branded as a scheming seductress. He would think I have ulterior motives—which I do, but I don’t want him to know that yet. He might even punish me, make me kneel outside as punishment, or even recommend I be sold off to another household to ’protect his reputation.’”

She picked up another piece of meat.

“So no, thank you. I will eat this food myself, because he can get food anywhere he wants—he’s the young master, he can order the kitchen to prepare whatever he likes. But I can’t. Before that old woman comes back from recuperating, I need to finish eating all this good food while I have the chance. You understand?”

Hearing that logical explanation, the System nodded reluctantly. “I suppose that makes sense, but—”

Heena looked at him with a calculating smile and said, “How about this: I’ll go give him the food like you suggested, and tomorrow YOU can carry the 20-liter water pot on your head to the river and back. How does that sound?”

Hearing that threat, the System immediately shut up and said quickly, “No, no! You’re right! We should eat! Eating is much more important than romantic schemes!”

Hearing that immediate capitulation, Heena looked at him and said with satisfaction, “Yeah, yeah. Now that you’ve come to your senses, let’s finish this food.”

.

.

After finishing her meal, Heena went outside to wash the dishes.

Now, it wasn’t cold winter, so washing in the outdoor basin wasn’t terribly uncomfortable. And normally it wouldn’t be that hard a task if there were just a reasonable number of utensils.

The problem was that the utensils Heena had used for cooking weren’t that many—just a few bowls, a few chopsticks, a few plates, and some cooking pots and pans that she’d already cleaned while preparing the meal.

But that bitch Maya—clearly just to spite Heena—had deliberately used an absurd number of dishes during the meal.

She’d drink from one glass, then decide she didn’t like it and demand another glass. Then another. And another.

So now there were about FOURTEEN glasses that needed washing.

Not only that, there were multiple bowls, sets of chopsticks, and God knows how many plates and cups that didn’t even need to be used for serving food. It was clear that Maya had deliberately used as many dishes as possible, eating a few bites from one plate then switching to another, just to create more work for the servant who had to clean them all.

As Heena was squatting down beside the washing basin, scrubbing the utensils with a resigned expression, the System looked at her and asked curiously:

“Host, why does it look like you’re quite experienced at this kind of work?”

Hearing that observation, Heena’s hand froze mid-scrub.

She avoided his eyes, and for just a moment, something painful flickered across her face—a memory from before the contract had blurred her emotions, perhaps. A memory from her original life, before she became a transmigration agent.

She said quietly, still not meeting his eyes, “Of course I’ve traveled through so many worlds, so naturally I know how to cook and how to clean utensils properly.”

Hearing that explanation, the System looked at her avoidant body language and knew immediately that she wasn’t telling the complete truth.

But what could he do anyway?

He just looked at her with searching eyes, trying to understand what painful memory he’d accidentally triggered.

On the other hand, Heena directly changed the subject, her voice becoming businesslike again.

“Enough with this nonsense. System, I want you to find out about the original female lead’s parents. I want to see what type of parents would agree to let their daughter marry such an old man.”

The System said, “Oh, but she rebelled against them—”

’CLANG.’

The metal pot Heena had been washing fell from her hands into the basin with a loud crash.

Thank God it was the big metal pot, not one of the ceramic bowls or cups she’d already washed, or it would have shattered.

She looked at the System and said slowly, “Excuse me? What did you just say?”

The System looked at her and explained: “Ah, actually the female lead—Maya—originally belonged to a merchant family that was quite wealthy. And it’s said that they had four children total: two sons and two daughters. But they loved all of them equally, which was unusual for the time period.”

He continued: “Both the father and mother worked in the family business together, and it’s said that Maya’s father hired the current Master—that old man—as a tutor to teach Maya about proper etiquette and genteel behavior.”

Hearing that, Heena raised her hand to stop him. “Wait. Proper etiquette? But if it’s a merchant family, and from the way you’re describing it they treated all their children equally without favoring sons over daughters, why would they need to teach her ’proper etiquette’ specifically? That sounds like training for a noble household, not a merchant family.”

The System shook his head and said, “No, you see—Maya’s parents wanted ALL their children to learn about the merchant trade so they could stand on their own feet and contribute to the family business. But just like in all those terrible novels, the heroine wanted to be a mindless, delicate flower instead.”

He made a disgusted expression.

“She threw tantrums and insisted she wanted to learn only ’proper etiquette’ and ’refined behavior.’ In her words: ’A woman’s place is in the house managing the household. It is a man who needs to earn money and do business.’ She completely rejected her parents’ progressive values.”

Hearing that, Heena literally wanted to reach through dimensions and slap that stupid woman.

’What a fucking waste of good parents.’

She said slowly, “So you’re telling me that this idiotic female lead fell in love with her elderly tutor, and then threw tantrums to marry this old man, which her family naturally rejected. And then what? They eventually agreed to the marriage?”

The System shook his head. “It’s worse than that. It’s said that Maya threw such massive tantrums and caused such public scenes that it directly damaged the family’s business reputation. Even then, her parents didn’t give up on her. They kept trying to bring her back to the right path, to make her see reason.”

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