The System Wanted Me to Be a Landlady (GL) - Chapter 22: Silly System

Chapter 22: Silly System

Song Yuyan had been here for a month, but Tang Zhi had never praised her. She didn’t usually seek compliments, but people like hearing nice words, so Tang Zhi’s praise sounded very pleasant to her.

“Then if Miss Tang likes it, take it?”

Tang Zhi rolled her eyes and pushed the basket back: “Do you have too much money or are your days too good? You just made this basket and instead of thinking how to sell it for money, you’re thinking of giving it away!”

Song Yuyan laughed silently. She was just being polite, and seeing Tang Zhi storm off, she said no more.

Meng Shuituan squeezed over and nudged her shoulder with his elbow, his smile meaningful: “Song Da, you’re something, solving your lifelong matter by yourself?”

Song Yuyan was confused: “What lifelong matter did I solve by myself?”

Meng Shuituan gestured with his mouth: “The little lady hinted at you, and you didn’t even notice?”

“What does this have to do with Miss Tang?”

Meng Shuituan thought Song Yuyan was too slow. He shook his head and sighed: “You’re so dense! The little lady said your basket is good, good enough to be part of her dowry. She’s almost of marriageable age, isn’t she? Isn’t she hinting at something?”

Song Yuyan finally understood Meng Shuituan’s implication. This time, she rolled her eyes: “She’s still just a young girl, what are you thinking? Beast!”

“She’s not that young. When she reaches marriageable age and starts preparing her dowry, then gets betrothed, consults the calendar, and sets a date, it’ll take until she’s sixteen or seventeen to marry. By then, you’ll be eighteen, just right!”

Song Yuyan gave a fake smile. Not to mention waiting for Tang Zhi to turn eighteen, even if she waited until Tang Zhi was seventy or eighty, they would never have a day to marry. After all, she was a genuine woman!

Thinking of her identity, she felt a slight unease. The original body wasn’t stunningly beautiful, but it definitely wouldn’t be mistaken for a man’s. When she was younger, people didn’t pay much attention to her appearance, but since she started caring about her looks, why did no one notice her true identity?

Of course, she wasn’t trying to let others discover she was a woman. Although the original body’s wish was “to gain a happy life,” the system’s tasks didn’t require her to act as a man. But she wasn’t about to make a fuss over her identity either.

The system, which only knew how to chat, appeared in what it thought was a mysterious way: “I sensed a call. Are you summoning me, dear Little Song?”

Song Yuyan: No, I didn’t. Don’t talk nonsense!

System: “You have doubts and confusion in your heart. I can guide you to the light in place of God.”

Song Yuyan: “Did you go study to become a pastor at a church?”

The system, as if addicted to chanting scriptures, continued in the same tone: “I sense Little Song is very confused about her gender issue right now. Don’t worry, Little Song, you’re at the age of puberty, so it’s normal to have doubts about gender and relationships…”

Song Yuyan wanted to block the system. It hurriedly got to the point: “Cough, cough, don’t worry, no one will discover you’re a woman!”

“What do you mean? What did you do to my body?” Song Yuyan’s heart sank, almost checking her body in front of Meng Shuituan.

The system quickly explained: “Of course not! Our Happy Life System only provides a platform for wishers and hosts to connect. We don’t interfere with the host’s body or mind.”

Song Yuyan felt slightly relieved: “Then why won’t anyone discover I’m a woman?”

“Because… have you ever been confused by novels where the female lead dresses as a man and gets treated as a brother by the male lead or secretly admired by the female supporting character? Or in dramas where the female lead casually wears men’s clothes, has a bigger chest than the supporting female, yet is still seen as a man?

It’s not your fault—it’s a cheat! Yes, it’s called the ‘Literature and Film Double Bloom: No Matter How Obvious Female Traits Are, Once You Wear Men’s Clothes, No One Recognizes You. The Author Says You’re Blind, So You Must Be Blind. The Director and Scriptwriter Say You Can’t Recognize, So You Can’t’ super cheat!”

Song Yuyan: “…”

She was speechless! Was this silly system here to make jokes? And being brought here by such a system made her life a complete joke!

The system sensed Song Yuyan’s frustration and said concisely: “It’s called ‘cognitive obstruction.’”

Song Yuyan: “…”

What the heck was cognitive obstruction? Did she miss nine years of compulsory education or something?

The system explained further: “It just means people’s impression of your gender is dulled. Normally, they won’t think about your gender unless you do something reckless like wearing revealing summer clothes. Otherwise, their impression of your gender stays at ‘Song Yuyan seems to be a man.’”

Song Yuyan didn’t bother arguing with the system. Whether others saw her as a man or a woman made no difference to her. She wouldn’t change her principles or personality because of her gender.

Pulling her thoughts back from the system, she didn’t forget the tragedy that would happen two years later. After thinking for a moment, she had an idea: “Shuituan, do you know who that Miss Tang was just now?”

“I heard you say her brother is a clerk. Is it a clerk at the yamen or the administrative office?”

“A clerk at the yamen,” Song Yuyan said. “Don’t interrupt. There’s something you need to know. The court issued a decree to set a quota on the liquor tax, and it will soon be enforced.”

Meng Shuituan was puzzled: “What does that have to do with me?”

In his mind, the government allowed people to brew and sell liquor outside twenty li from the state city. Cixi County was over twenty li from the state city, wasn’t it? And only liquor households and official shops paid taxes, so it didn’t concern him.

In fact, the dynasty’s laws strictly punished private brewing, but if the government didn’t enforce it, people got away with it. Meng Shuituan, not from a prominent family, couldn’t grasp what this decree meant.

Song Yuyan explained plainly: “How much is a liter of liquor at the liquor office now?”

“Low-grade liquor is five to eight wen per liter, high-grade is twenty to thirty wen per liter,” Meng Shuituan answered.

“What if the court sets low-grade liquor at six wen per liter and high-grade at twenty-five wen per liter?”

Meng Shuituan rubbed his chin: “Isn’t that a good thing?”

Song Yuyan sighed. Why couldn’t Meng Shuituan get it?

She tapped the table: “If you were the liquor office supervisor, and a liquor price that could be set at eight wen was fixed at six wen, what would you think?”

The liquor office was both a department managing monopoly sales and a shop selling liquor yeast. It produced liquor and managed the liquor market. All liquor-related transactions involved the liquor office.

Some liquor offices didn’t produce, so they contracted to liquor workshops. Some liquor households, like official shops, didn’t want to contract, so they bought yeast to brew. Smaller shops and taverns bought liquor directly from workshops or official shops to sell.

No matter the method, the liquor office set the price, took seventy percent to submit to the court, and used the rest as capital for brewing.

If someone wanted to profit, they targeted the “capital.” After paying the liquor tax, with costs unchanged, they raised the price. The more capital left, the more money they pocketed.

For example, if the liquor office earned a million from selling liquor and paid seven hundred thousand, the remaining three hundred thousand was capital. But if the cost was three hundred thousand, they made no profit. If they earned two million, paid one million four hundred thousand, and deducted three hundred thousand for costs, they’d have three hundred thousand in profit to take.

This was why the court kept banning liquor tax increases but couldn’t stop it. With such tempting profits, who would give up?

So, after the court set a liquor tax quota, the liquor office’s profits were affected. They had to take profits from people brewing and selling privately to make up for their lost “cheese.”

Meng Shuituan, jolted by Song Yuyan’s explanation, felt like a bucket of cold water was poured over him, chilling him from head to toe.

Author’s Note:

Mini Scene 1:

Yam: We’ll never have a day to marry!

Later, one day, Yam was shocked to find Tang Mei wasn’t “blind”…

Yam: What happened to the ‘Literature and Film Double Bloom: No Matter How Obvious Female Traits Are, Once You Wear Men’s Clothes, No One Recognizes You. The Author Says You’re Blind, So You Must Be Blind. The Director and Scriptwriter Say You Can’t Recognize, So You Can’t’ super cheat?

System: That cheat can’t alter others’ memories… and you brought it with you, it’s not from our platform.

Yam: So, before I came, she already…?

Tang Mei: Should I slap you, or do you want to do it yourself?

Yam: I’ll do it myself…

Mini Scene 2:

Yam: Literature and Film Double Bloom: No Matter How Obvious Female Traits Are, Once You Wear Men’s Clothes, No One Recognizes You. The Author Says You’re Blind, So You Must Be Blind. The Director and Scriptwriter Say You Can’t Recognize, So You Can’t… that’s you, right?

Instant Noodle (puffing smoke.jpg): Never thought I’d be mocked in my own story by my daughter. This is the retribution of a writer who loves writing women disguised as men!

Note on Liquor Tax:

The liquor tax is complex. Generally, the government’s monopoly could sell liquor or yeast, since brewing required yeast, and a certain amount of yeast produced a certain amount of liquor. The government could tax based on yeast purchases. But this explanation is lengthy and not Yam’s job, so I’ll keep it simple.