“Ugh, it’s so high… If I just push a little harder…”
The petite black-haired girl stood on tiptoe, pressing her whole body against the door.
Her left hand clung to the doorframe while her right tried desperately to lift the aromatherapy bottle high enough to place it on top of the door.
Nope.
Her face was already getting squished, and she still couldn’t reach.
‘Damn it, ever since I became a girl, this body’s barely 160 cm tall. Even if I stretched my arms and jumped, I might not reach the top of the door. And that’s without holding this water-filled bottle!’
Just a few attempts had already splashed some of the tap water from the bottle onto Su Wanli’s wrist and hair.
The lingering fragrance from the bottle made her nose itch.
“Aaah… ahhh…”
Right as the sneeze hovered at the edge of release, footsteps started echoing down the staircase outside.
Now wasn’t the time to hesitate.
She needed to drag a sofa over and get it done—
[Host, based on system calculations, given your height and arm span, placing the bottle on the door without a tool is nearly impossible. It is recommended that you use the nearby sofa as a step.]
“…System, are you aware that humans have something called a rebellious streak?”
Su Wanli rubbed her nose and rolled her wrist.
“If those two weren’t about to come down any second now, just because you said that, I swear I’d get it up there myself even if it killed me.”
Of course, being the reasonable one here, Su Wanli still grabbed the closest small sofa in the sitting room and dragged it over to the door, trembling slightly as she climbed on top.
The height problem was solved—only to be replaced with a new one.
If she were holding a basin of water, the wide base would actually make it more stable.
As long as it was balanced, it wouldn’t fall off from a slight nudge.
But the bottle in her hand wasn’t like that.
Its base wasn’t even as big as her palm, and no matter how she positioned it, it just didn’t feel stable.
‘Okay… open the door just enough for me to slip out… then carefully place the bottle on top…’
The footsteps outside were getting closer.
Su Wanli fought down her nerves and gently placed the bottle up top, cautiously testing her grip before letting go.
The base wasn’t perfectly flat, and it did wobble a little, but after a moment, the bottle settled into place.
‘Phew. That was close.’
Su Wanli let out a soft sigh of relief and fought the urge to sneeze.
She tiptoed down from the sofa and quietly pushed it back to its original spot.
Right as she finished, voices came from outside the sitting room.
“Wange, after we come down the stairs, the bathroom is to the left, and the banquet hall is to the right. This row of rooms in front of us are the sitting rooms.”
“Normally, we entertain guests about once every two weeks, but otherwise, these rooms aren’t used. As for the banquet hall—you saw it during dinner.”
“Why don’t I take you to the Su family collection room next? Show you something truly impressive?”
Meng Wange’s voice replied sweetly, reaching Su Wanli’s ears with perfect timing.
“Mm, that sounds good. Thank you so much.”
“Not at all, it’s no trouble at all…”
‘Tch. What kind of charm does this girl even have? They’ve barely been walking around together for that long, and already it’s all “Wange” this, “Wange” that.’
‘But your time as a lovely, obedient little guest ends here. It’s showtime for me—Su Wanli, the ultimate villainess!’
Su Wanli smirked wickedly, flicking her fingers through her hair with practiced flair.
Then, with all the confidence in the world, she stepped out the door.
“—Oh dear, Aunt Zhang, this won’t do. How could you skip rooms while showing a guest around the house? That’s just plain rude to our visitors—”
The moment she stepped out the door, Su Wanli saw Aunt Zhang pointing straight at her with her calloused hand, chatting away to Meng Wange.
“I’m telling you, once, Miss Su scolded a guest right here for a full twenty minutes—just because she was in a bad mood that day!”
“…Aunt Zhang…”
Meng Wange cast a subtle glance at Su Wanli, then gently patted Aunt Zhang on the shoulder.
“Hm? What is it, Wange? Throat sore? Oh, speaking of throats—Miss Su didn’t stop scolding that guest because she didn’t want to, you know.”
“She stopped because her throat went dry! And guess what? She turned around, walked into the banquet hall, poured herself a glass of water, and was going to come right back to continue scolding—”
“Ahem. Aunt Zhang.”
“Of course, by the time she got back, the guest had already run off, left all their luggage behind too. I’m telling you, Miss Su really is something else. Completely uneducated, unruly, and honestly—”
Finally sensing something was off, Aunt Zhang turned around mid-sentence and locked eyes with Su Wanli.
“…Honestly, it was like watching the reincarnation of a literary deity. She had a different insult every time, didn’t repeat a single word! What’s the word for that again? Eloquent! That’s right, eloquent! Don’t you think so, Miss Meng?”
“…”
With that, she slapped her forehead as if just now noticing Su Wanli, and exclaimed loudly—
“Ah! Miss Su! I didn’t even see you there! I was just telling Miss Meng about your glorious deeds—what a coincidence!”
Su Wanli maintained her wicked smile, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.
“Aunt Zhang.”
“Yes, Miss Su? Do you have any instructions?”
“Repeat what you just said.”
“Eloquent! You are truly eloquent!”
Su Wanli shook her head.
“Wrong.”
“Haha… ha…” Aunt Zhang wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“Oh! Then maybe it was the part where you bravely stood up to a rude guest and lectured them for twenty whole minutes?”
Su Wanli shook her head again.
“Still wrong.”
“…Could it be the part where I said you’re diligent, hardworking, and talented beyond your years?”
At her limit, Su Wanli ground her teeth and said—
“…It was the part where you said where you were going to take Meng Wange.”
“Oh, right! Now I remember! Miss Meng, let me show you to our family’s collection room. We’ve got all sorts of rare and powerful items there—”
Just as Aunt Zhang turned away to make a run for it, Su Wanli placed her hands on the woman’s shoulders with a dark expression and repeated her original words—
“…Oh dear, Aunt Zhang, this won’t do. How could you skip rooms while showing a guest around the house? That’s just plain rude.”
Aunt Zhang nodded awkwardly.
“…You’re absolutely right, Miss Su…”
“Good. Then you can take the rest of the day off. I’ll personally show Wange around our home.”
“But…”
“Hmm?”
Just one syllable was enough to silence Aunt Zhang, who had been so talkative earlier.
She didn’t dare say another word, only nodded rapidly before dashing off toward the main gate of the Su residence.
—And that swift, agile figure looked nothing like a woman in her forties or fifties.