Chapter 3: First Meeting with Pei Chi

“Auntie, can I learn to cook?”

Her house looks quite nice, and the chef must be quite skilled. It would be even better if I could learn from her.

[What do you think? Just study etiquette diligently. Once you’ve mastered it, we can talk about to cookg cooking.]

The system spoke in a ruthless tone, rejecting Song Yuejiao outright.

Song Yuejiao said dejectedly, “Oh.”

This kind of life is simply unbearable!

With a weary heart, Song Yuejiao didn’t recognize her bed. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she fell asleep in a moment.

The next day, she slept until she woke naturally. When she opened her eyes, she saw Caifu standing by her bed.

Seeing her awake, Caifu asked kindly, “Miss, are you ready to get up and wash now?”

Song Yuejiao nodded dazedly. “Caifu, what time is it now?”

“Miss, it’s already 9:00 AM. Madam told you to get some rest, so she didn’t wake you up this morning,” Caifu said as she picked up clothes and prepared to put them on Song Yuejiao.

Song Yuejiao quickly took the clothes from Caifu’s hands. “Caifu, I can put them on myself. You don’t need my help. Just help me with my bun later.”

She wasn’t a precious person, and she wasn’t used to being waited on. She was just a little clumsy. Braiding her hair was fine, but she really didn’t know how to do a bun like this.

Her mother had taught her, but she could do it for her mother, not herself.

After packing, Song Yuejiao went to Qiao Shuang to express her determination to learn music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and embroidery, and to gather the materials to learn these skills.

Damn, she was completely forced into this.

She didn’t want to learn at all.

Qiao Shuang naturally granted her daughter’s requests. She sent Nanny Ren and several maids to the warehouse to pick out materials. After a while, Qiao Shuang remembered she hadn’t found a teacher for her daughter yet, so she hurried back to the warehouse, intending to prepare gifts and invite a female teacher to teach her the next day.

In an instant, only Song Yuejiao, Caifu, and a few maids were left in the room.

Song Yuejiao felt that her mother had a rather impulsive temper.

Quite adorable.

“Ah Jiao!” An elderly woman with graying hair burst through the door and, before Song Yuejiao could react, embraced her.

Song Yuejiao tried to break free from the old woman’s embrace, but she was too strong, and she was as helpless as a chicken.

Who… who is this? Why did another old woman suddenly appear?

Before Song Yuejiao could ask, the old man continued, “Let Grandma take a good look at you!”

The old man looked her up and down, pleased, “Good! You’re just a little too thin. I’ll give you more nutrition later.”

Grandma?

Besides, she’s not thin! Her adoptive mother always said she secretly cooked and ate until she was almost as fat as a pig!

“Okay, don’t scare Ajiao.” Another old man came over. “You’re so old, and you’re not steady at all.”

The old man’s steps were hurried, completely different from the slowness of his words.

“Grandma,” Song Yuejiao called out obediently from the old man’s embrace. The other one should be Grandpa, right?

Song Yuejiao called out to the other old man as well.

“Auntie! Are these two my grandparents?”

[Yes, they are General Qiao and Madam Qiao. Also rushing here are your uncle Qiao Shang, your aunt Liang Siyi, and your cousin Qiao Yu. Suddenly faced with so many unfamiliar faces, Song Yuejiao felt a little flustered, and she instinctively searched for Qiao Shuang.

Although she felt the Qiao family bore her no ill will, she felt a bit overwhelmed by herself.

She even felt the atmosphere was a bit awkward, and she longed to break free from her grandmother’s embrace and slip through the crack in the door.

Perhaps having heard Song Yuejiao’s inner call, Qiao Shuang returned with her belongings just moments after Qiao Shang and the others entered.

“Father, Mother, why didn’t you tell me you were coming so I could be prepared?” Qiao Shuang said, putting her belongings down and chastising.

“Didn’t you send someone to tell us early this morning that Ajiao had returned? We rushed here before we even finished breakfast,” Old Madam Qiao said angrily. “Xiaoshuang, why didn’t you tell us when you found Ajiao? We only learned the news today.”

“I wanted to wait until Ajiao was back and settled before telling you, fearing any accidents.”

The Qiao family members were very friendly. Spending time with them, and with Qiao Shuang mediating, made Song Yuejiao feel particularly at ease.

This made Old Madam Qiao reluctant to leave, and the group stayed at the Song residence for a while after dinner before leaving.

When they were about to leave, Aunt Liang Siyi was reluctant to leave. As she was about to leave, she took off the jade bracelet from her wrist and handed it to Song Yuejiao: “I came in such a hurry that I didn’t prepare a gift. I promised to give you this bracelet when you were little, but I didn’t have time back then, so I’m giving it to you now.”

“Thank you, Aunt!” Song Yuejiao happily accepted the bracelet.

After they left, Song Yuejiao, overjoyed, felt as if she had forgotten something.

It wasn’t until Song Yuejiao returned to her courtyard and saw Qiao Shuang had sent a pile of things by her maid that she remembered she hadn’t learned anything today.

“Damn…” Song Yuejiao realized something was wrong and immediately said, “That grass-green fabric is so pretty! I love grass-green so much.”

“Auntie! Considering it’s my first offense, please give me some leniency this time! I’ll make up for it tomorrow!”

Song Yuejiao frantically called out to the system in her mind, but received no response.

Song Yuejiao called out a few more times tentatively, but still no response.

Could it be… that the system has left?

Song Yuejiao felt a small surge of joy at the thought, but then a wave of sadness washed over her.

After all, she had spent some time with the system, and what would become of her memories of her mother?

Song Yuejiao decided to solve the immediate problem first. She would return all the items tomorrow morning. She had no desire to learn anything like this; she wanted to learn to cook from a master chef.

She would try to recall it slowly.

Song Yuejiao went to sleep with mixed feelings.

The next day, Song Yuejiao was suddenly awakened by the system’s voice.

[Host’s learning progress yesterday was detected to be zero. Bad luck mode will begin in a quarter of an hour. One hour countdown.]

[Host’s use of impolite language yesterday was detected. Water will be poured on your head in ten seconds.]

Song Yuejiao heard this voice and opened her eyes in despair while lying on her bed.

Then, without struggling, she watched helplessly as a basin of water emerged from above her head and poured down on her.

The quilt and pillow remained dry, but only her hair.

Then, after being doused with water, Song Yuejiao no longer felt sleepy. She got up and wiped her hair with a towel on the washstand.

Caifu heard the noise and entered the room, only to see the young lady wiping her hair. She asked in confusion, “Young lady, what are you doing…”

Song Yuejiao lowered her head and waved her hand nonchalantly, “Nothing. I’m just too sleepy and need to wake up.”

[Warning! The host’s image doesn’t fit a ladylike persona. You should tidy your appearance, then smile and softly say, “It’s okay.”

Song Yuejiao nearly cursed, “Why are you going into so much detail again? A few days ago, it wasn’t a big deal, so a simple move wouldn’t have been enough.”

Yesterday, I had nothing better to do, so I upgraded. It was System 1.0, now it’s System 2.0. Some tasks and features have been improved, and it’s even more user-friendly.

Shit.

Song Yuejiao asked weakly, “Can we go back to the old 1.0?”

[No.]

It’s even more user-friendly! It’s simply infernal.

Song Yuejiao cursed inwardly again, then, thinking about the bad luck she was about to face for an hour, her appetite instantly vanished.

Song Yuejiao put down her chopsticks after just a few bites. A moment later, Qiao Shuang sent someone to call Song Yuejiao to go visit the female teacher with her.

An hour had passed since the visit with the Master. The Master glanced at Song Yuejiao, then accepted her gift with satisfaction and accepted her as his disciple.

She had barely eaten breakfast, but as the carriage passed a restaurant, the aroma of food made her stomach growl.

The carriage was cramped, so the rumbling of her stomach was particularly noticeable.

Qiao Shuang had obviously heard it and asked hesitantly, “Jiao, how about we stop at the Jade Building to eat something in our stomach?”

Song Yuejiao sniffed the aroma and nodded without hesitation.

It smelled so good! If only I could cook my own meal.

However, just as they entered the private room and ordered their food, Song Yuejiao was rubbing her hands inwardly, anxiously awaiting the food’s arrival, when the system’s depressing voice echoed in her head.

[Because the host hasn’t completed yesterday’s mission, bad luck mode has been activated. This will last for one hour, and no further prompts will be given during this time.]

Song Yuejiao looked at Qiao Shuang beside her and suppressed the curse words that were about to come.

She just didn’t believe anything bad could happen to her just sitting there all this time.

Just as Song Yuejiao finished her thought, there was a clang as the door was kicked open from the outside.

“This private room is mine. All of you get out!” The visitor, dressed in opulent attire, spoke with a contemptuous demeanor.

Song Yuejiao thought his only flaws were his ugliness and his arrogance.

“Master Qi, we were the first to arrive at this private room. You should find another one available,” Qiao Shuang said to Qi Tang.

Qiao Shuang sighed inwardly. How could she have encountered this little bully on her way out?

“Just get out when I told you to. Why are you talking so much nonsense? Now that you know who I am, get out!” Qi Tang waved his hand impatiently behind him, urging the servants to follow him.

“You! You…” Song Yuejiao had just stood up and taken a step, trying to argue with him, when her left leg twitched and cramped.

With a thud, Song Yuejiao fell to the ground, clutching her left leg, wincing in pain.

Damn, damn, damn, it hurts so badly.

This bad luck couldn’t have come earlier or later, but now.

Qiao Shuang, looking at Song Yuejiao’s condition, looked anxious. She had the maid quickly help her onto a stool and give her a leg massage.

“Stop stalling! Can you please get out of here right now? Otherwise, I’ll kick you out.” Qi Tang assumed they were stalling for time because they didn’t want to leave.

Qi Tang glanced at Song Yuejiao. With her head lowered, his features were invisible, but he could only tell she was a girl of about fifteen.

Could she be trying to attract his attention?

“CCanyou… can you please be reasonable!” Song Yuejiao, hearing this, also became furious.

She endured the pain, stood up, grabbed a nearby stool, and threw it at Qi Tang: “Do you believe I’ll beat you up, you bastard?”

“Get out of here or not? If not, I’ll keep hitting you!” Song Yuejiao rolled up her sleeves.

She hated being threatened the most. How dare he, a piece of shit, threaten her?

Qi Tang dodged the stool that was thrown at him.

Looking at this arrogant woman, Qi Tang was furious: “Okay, okay, since that’s the case, don’t blame me for being rude.”

He was still fuming at having misjudged their intentions.

“Come on!” Qi Tang waved his hand and ordered the servants.

Song Yuejiao picked up another nearby stool and waited for them to come.

Suddenly, a young man stood in front of Qi Tang and his group, blocking their way.

“Young Master Qi Tang, please stop.”

Song Yuejiao felt his voice was like the clear and cool water of a lake.

It had a particularly soothing effect, and the anger within her instantly dissipated at the mere mention of his voice.

Curious, Song Yuejiao glanced at his face.

One glance and she was stunned. She couldn’t think of a word to describe him, only that this young man was more handsome than anyone she had ever seen.

She wondered who he was. He could be so striking.

Song Yuejiao only regretted not studying hard enough; ack then, otherwise she would have had to come up with several verses to describe this young man.

The system’s screen flickered when it saw the newcomer.

The Child of Fortune had appeared.

He was Song Yuejiao wanted Yuejiao to approach.

But it couldn’t tell Song Yuejiao too directly right now; there were too many variables, and it feared it would mess everything up.

“Nephew Pei,” Qiao Shuang called out to him, and the system’s introduction to him cleared up Song Yuejiao’s confusion.

[Pei Chi, grandson of Grand Tutor Pei, learned to read at the age of three, recited at the age of five, and composed poetry at the age of seven. Winning two first prizes in a row, waiting only for next year’s imperial examination—a rare talent.

After hearing this, Song Yuejiao looked at Pei Chi with awe.

She had a deep admiration for scholars, especially such a formidable figure.

Those boring, flowery things, he learned so quickly.

If there ever came a day, she would definitely ask for his advice, so she could quickly become a lady of noble birth, free from the system’s control.

“Madam Song,” Pei Chi nodded in agreement, then said to Qi Tang, “Young Master Qi, you know that Madam Song is the daughter of General Qiao. General Qiao has fought countless battles to protect the country. He would be disheartened to see you like this.”

Qi Tang, hearing Pei Chi’s words, had a tinge of retreat in his heart. Although his aunt was the emperor’s favorite concubine, and he relied on her to call the shots in the capital, there was still that person standing above him.

He knew exactly who he shouldn’t mess with.

It’s just that Madam Song isn’t very sociable, and I’ve never seen her before.

Qi Tang thought, but still said stubbornly, “I’ll let you off today, but I won’t let you off so easily if I see you again!”

“Bah! Get out of here!” Song Yuejiao swung the stool at him.

Qi Tang, surprisingly, didn’t argue and left with his men without a backward glance.

Pei Chi, however, dodged to the side as the stool was hurled his way.

After the incident subsided, some servants from the Jade Building came over to clean up the mess. The owner quickly came over, smiling and apologizing, and waived their meal.

Seeing this, Qiao Shuang didn’t pursue the matter and warmly invited Pei Chi to sit down and eat with them.

Pei Chi was about to open his mouth to refuse when Qiao Shuang saw through his thoughts and said, “Thank you, nephew, for helping us out just now. This meal is just our token of gratitude.”

Unable to refuse, Pei Chi sat down, but mindful of gender differences, he took a seat across from them, farthest away.

Song Yuejiao stole a few glances at Pei Chi and saw that he was very polite while eating, only taking what was in front of him.

This made Song Yuejiao too embarrassed to stretch her arms to reach for other dishes, and she quickly ate what was in front of her.

Looking at the delicacies she hadn’t touched, Song Yuejiao made up her mind that she would never eat with this Pei Chi again.

As she was thinking, cilantro suddenly appeared in her soup bowl.

Song Yuejiao’s eyes widened as she stared at the cilantro she hated so much.

She was sure it had just appeared out of nowhere.

And what about that huge chicken drumstick in her bowl? How did it become a carrot?

Damn, even the worst luck wouldn’t be to poison the food.

Song Yuejiao used chopsticks to mash the carrot like it was a system.