‘Kneel… kneel and apologize?’
I don’t actually have any deep grudge against that Bai girl—it’s just a task from the system!
Still, with the current atmosphere, Su Wanli couldn’t come up with anything else to say.
In the end, she simply nodded slightly to Meng Wange standing in front of her.
“…Heh. Of course you have to do this for me. If you can’t even manage something this small, then you don’t deserve to step through the gates of the Su family.”
As she spoke, Su Wanli pulled her hand out of Meng Wange’s grasp and flicked it away, pretending to be disgusted.
Cough.
Although her heart had started beating faster when Meng Wange took her hand just now… the longer it went on, the more likely the system would deduct points from her Villainess Score.
She had just gone through that incident during the lunch break.
Even though she’d been doing her best to keep up the persona, her Villainess Score was still hovering around 85.
Not exactly good news with the upcoming cooking showdown.
She had to keep pushing it!
When she saw Su Wanli pull her hand away, Meng Wange also straightened up.
No longer bowing, she smiled and said gently—
“If, at that time, you’re still willing to give me that hair clip, I will gladly accept it, Miss Su.”
“…We’ll see what mood I’m in then. You’d better pray for a good outcome.”
Su Wanli rolled her eyes at her.
She hadn’t noticed it before, but this Meng Wange was seriously a handful.
On the surface, she seemed agreeable—say yes to this, yes to that—but in reality, she had her own opinions and ways of doing everything.
That troublesome girl herself had no idea, though.
She calmly tidied up the desk, set her notebook filled with practice problems back in place, and laid the two pens she had brought beside it.
“Well then, it’s getting late. About time for lunch. Miss Su, would you like me to guide you again?”
Looking into those smiling, squinted eyes, Su Wanli sighed and stood up with her.
“From now on, unless I say otherwise, just assume the routine stays the same. Don’t ask stupid questions like that again.”
“Understood. Whatever you say.”
Meng Wange nodded with a smile and opened the door for Su Wanli.
***
On the first floor of the Su residence, beside the old-fashioned telephone near the staircase—
“What? You’re saying Wanli not only came down to eat breakfast this morning, but she’s also asking you to teach her how to cook now?”
The deep voice on the other end of the phone had never sounded so shocked before.
“That’s right, President Su. It started as just casual talk between me and Miss Meng during breakfast, but Miss Su overheard us and immediately scheduled the cooking lesson for lunch. By now, they’re probably just about to come downstairs. What do you think I should do?”
Zhang Ma spoke in a hushed voice as she leaned over the phone in the foyer, nervously glancing up the stairs, alert for any sound of footsteps.
“Do exactly as they said. Teach them whatever they want to learn. Just do your best to teach them well.”
“Understood, President Su. I’ll give it everything I’ve got—use every skill I’ve gained over a lifetime and train them until they’re on a professional chef’s level!”
Just as she was about to hang up after making that bold promise, she heard a hesitant voice from the other end—
“…Actually, I think for Wanli… maybe don’t start with anything too difficult. Keep it simple at first. Let them build some confidence.”
“Got it!”
***
After finishing the report, Zhang Ma placed the receiver back onto the telephone, then quickly made her way to the kitchen and wiped her palms on her apron.
Hisss… start simple, huh? But with the young lady’s kind of personality, she’d never allow me to teach her something like tomato scrambled eggs.
That just sounds too low-class…
‘What should I teach her later?’
If it’s cooking, I’m afraid she might get burned.
But if I let her use the machines, I worry she’ll mess something up…
After thinking for a while, Auntie Zhang slapped her forehead and pulled out a cookbook from the back of the storage cabinet—the one that came as a free gift with a cookware purchase and hadn’t been opened since it arrived at home.
‘Sigh, why am I overthinking this? Let those two girls choose whatever they want to make themselves. Even if the food turns out bad, at least it won’t be my fault.’
‘No, wait. I should still intervene as much as I can. If the food tastes bad, that’s fine. But if something happens to their bodies while cooking, that would be a disaster…’
Auntie Zhang opened the cook book and began flipping through the pages.
‘This one needs very precise control of the heat—not suitable. This one requires five hours of stewing. Miss Su definitely doesn’t have that kind of patience—not this one either. This one even needs ingredients that cost thousands. Even if Miss Su doesn’t mind the waste, my heart couldn’t take it. Absolutely not…’
Auntie Zhang’s brows furrowed tightly.
She gritted her teeth and started tearing out the pages with particularly difficult recipes, tossing them aside.
So focused was she that she didn’t even notice the footsteps approaching steadily from behind.
***
“…Auntie Zhang, what are you doing?”
Right as she was mid-rip, Su Wanli’s lazy yet sharp-edged voice rang out behind her.
Startled, Auntie Zhang’s hand trembled.
She quickly hid the paper behind her back, stood up, and turned to face the two girls.
“Ahem, M-Miss Su, good afternoon. You… um, are you… feeling better?”
She had originally meant to politely ask how Su Wanli had slept, but on second thought, realized the girl probably didn’t want anyone to bring up how she fell asleep in Meng Wange’s arms.
So she swiftly changed the subject.
“……”
‘Tsk, is she asking about my studying? With how badly I just did, that definitely doesn’t count as “better.”’
Su Wanli silently glared at her, choosing to ignore the question that would only bring down her “villainess value.”
“Pretty sure I was the one who asked first. What were you just doing?”
“Oh, that…”
Auntie Zhang quietly swept the shredded cookbook pages on the counter into the trash bin.
“This is a special kind of mental exercise for people our age. Tearing paper like this helps keep the brain active—it’s supposed to prevent dementia.”
“Huh?”
Su Wanli frowned in confusion.
“But aren’t you only in your forties or fifties? You’re already trying to prevent something like that?”
“Uh…”
Auntie Zhang swallowed hard and looked desperately at the brown-haired girl standing silently behind Su Wanli.
Meng Wange gave a gentle smile and spoke softly from behind Su Wanli.
“Miss Su, Auntie Zhang probably just saw some Alzheimer’s cases on TV and got worried. Maybe she’s been trying out some folk remedies?”
“Yes, yes, exactly! I got so anxious watching those cases on television, my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. That’s why I’ve started doing this. These days I go through two books a day!”
Having found her excuse, Auntie Zhang immediately nodded along enthusiastically.
“Oh, really? Well, I think that remedy’s pretty useless—not to mention a waste of money.”
Su Wanli thought for a moment, then looked at Auntie Zhang and said sincerely—
“If you’re that worried, how about you come study flashcards with me later? I think that would be way more effective than tearing paper.”
She had only said it out of concern for Auntie Zhang’s mental agility, but the older woman reacted like she’d just been sentenced to a nightmare.
She shook her head furiously and clasped her hands together.
“Please, Miss Su, I’m begging you! Have mercy on me! I swear I’ll work even harder for the Su family from now on!”
[Villainess Value +90]
“…Huh?”