The System Wanted Me to Be a Landlady (GL) - Chapter 6: Finding Work

Chapter 6: Finding Work

When Song Yuyan returned home, Song Yuban was busy in the kitchen, while Song Yuzhuan squatted by the stove, constantly blowing air. She was about to praise these two little radish heads for being obedient and knowing how to start a fire, but when she entered the kitchen, she saw them sticking two fish on branches and shoving them directly into the stove to burn.

Song Yuyan: “…”

“What are you doing?” Song Yuyan asked.

Song Yuzhuan’s hand trembled in fright, and the fish fell into the firewood.

Song Yuyan felt her heart ache. Could the fish still be eaten?

“Roasting fish!” Song Yuban said seriously, not scared by her.

Wow, quite trendy.

Song Yuzhuan added, “Big Brother used to eat like this too!”

Song Yuyan was speechless again. So, it was the original host’s teaching!

She had no time to educate the two little radish heads and quickly took the fish out. Luckily, only the scales were burnt, and it could still be saved by cooking.

Song Yuban was initially unwilling, but Song Yuyan said, “These fish aren’t enough. They’re perfect for soup!”

Song Yuban said, “Me and Bing’er get one each. It’s not too little!”

Song Yuyan: “…”

Fine, this showed how bad the relationship was between these three siblings.

Song Yuyan decided to use force to control them for now, took the fish back, and started preparing them. She didn’t know what the original host had taught them, but the fish weren’t scaled or gutted. Eating them like that would turn vitamins into poison.

After the two little radish heads were kicked out of the kitchen, Song Yuban looked quite upset, while Song Yuzhuan watched Song Yuyan clean the fish and rub them with nearly dried ginger slices. Then, she ground the salt from the oiled paper package with a stone and sprinkled some on top.

Song Yuzhuan was very happy, pulling Song Yuban to whisper, “Second Brother, there’s salt. It should taste good!”

Song Yuban looked at his sister fondly and said earnestly, “We shouldn’t have too much hope for her cooking skills.”

Song Yuyan: This little brat is so sharp-tongued!

She decided she had to break these two little radish heads of their bad habit of talking behind her back in front of her!

____

Song Yuyan hadn’t studied cooking at New Oriental, but she wasn’t someone who never touched a kitchen. She occasionally cooked, so she thought her food was at least edible.

After throwing the two fish into the clay pot, she looked at the extinguished fire in the stove and dragged the two little radish heads back to start it again. While Song Yuban worked with a grumpy attitude, the fish soup slowly simmered, and a familiar aroma spread, making the three siblings’ stomachs rumble even louder.

A sip of hot, flavorful fish soup went down, and even Song Yuban, who doubted Song Yuyan’s cooking skills, couldn’t help but squint his eyes. Then, he gulped down several mouthfuls without caring about his image, only to burn his tongue.

Song Yuyan hurriedly said, “Drink slowly. No one’s fighting you for it.”

She didn’t know if Song Yuban listened, but Song Yuzhuan obediently slowed down. Though her face was dirty, Song Yuyan still found her somewhat cute. She held the hot soup for her, blowing on it until it wasn’t so hot before bringing it to her mouth.

Song Yuzhuan’s eyes sparkled. Big Brother had never been this nice to her!

“Drink the soup when it’s not so hot,” Song Yuyan taught patiently, and Song Yuzhuan nodded happily.

This little radish head was quite obedient. Song Yuyan thought to herself.

She turned her head and saw Song Yuban glaring at her. When their eyes met, he huffed and turned away.

Song Yuyan deboned one fish, confirmed it had no hidden bones, and split the meat into the two little radish heads’ bowls.

Song Yuban stared at the whole fish in her bowl, his eyes greedy.

Song Yuyan wouldn’t be so kind as to give each of them a whole fish and just drink soup herself because they were kids. If she did that, she’d probably faint from hunger while working later.

Yes, she planned to go find work soon. There happened to be two fish today, and the Tang family was willing to lend her some salt, so the food problem was temporarily solved. But after eating these two fish, there’d be no food left at home. What about tonight? What about tomorrow?

Since she didn’t plan to keep stealing vegetables from the Tang family, she had to find a way to earn money.

Though she had the original host’s memories, she still wanted to check the streets and alleys to see if there was any work she could do.

One fish wasn’t very filling, but Song Yuyan didn’t know if this body’s stomach was too small. After one fish and two bowls of soup, she felt full. Of course, her mouth still craved some rice or noodles.

After finishing the soup, Song Yuyan went out. Before leaving, she reminded the two kids to stay home obediently and not follow strangers.

The original host had lived in the streets for nearly five years and had seen all sorts of dirty things. Though Cixi wasn’t a big county, there were still human traffickers around.

The two little radish heads had heard the original host nag about this a lot, so they didn’t think Song Yuyan’s reminder was odd. Once she left, Song Yuban took out a small bundle of mat grass from under the bed and sat on the threshold to weave, while Song Yuzhuan watched beside him.

____

Cixi’s county town was just as the original host remembered, but for Song Yuyan, it was a new experience. Though it was a county town, there were no city walls, making it seem no different from a village with more households.

That said, Cixi County was divided into areas: Xingxian Ward, Zhuangyuan Ward, Zhengxian Ward, and Chongxiao Ward. Of course, there were no walls between the wards. The only way to tell them apart was by the archways at the street entrances.

Song Yuyan walked through the uneven streets, watching all sorts of people: vendors carrying loads and shouting along the streets, seven- or eight-year-old kids playing together, young men pushing carts in a hurry, women sitting at doorways weaving mats and chatting…

Just as Song Yuyan was about to get lost in artistic thoughts, a familiar figure walked out from an alley and came face-to-face with her.

Seeing Tang Zhi, Song Yuyan remembered her current situation, and all thoughts of art vanished. Only one thought remained—find work!

Tang Zhi: “…”

Though she often saw Song Yuyan wandering aimlessly on the streets, this time she felt especially angry. Just half an hour ago, Song Yuyan had borrowed salt from her, promising to return it. She thought she could trust Song Yuyan a bit this time, but this person was still hopeless!

Then she thought, she and Song Yuyan weren’t related. Why bother caring so much?

So, she turned to leave.

Song Yuyan was about to greet her when she saw the girl walk away with a cold face. She chased after her and said, “Miss Tang, thank you for lending me some salt earlier.”

Tang Zhi stopped abruptly, stared at her, and said loudly, “What did you call me?”

“Miss Tang?” Song Yuyan recalled from the original host’s memories that others called Tang Zhi this way.

But she forgot that others might call her that, but the original host didn’t!

“You never know how to address people properly and always call me by my name. You—”

Song Yuyan finally remembered how the original host used to carelessly call Tang Zhi by her name, making her angry and scolding her for being rude.

It wasn’t her fault she didn’t recall right away. The original host had over ten years of memories, and Song Yuyan had her own too. If they were forcibly merged, she might go crazy, so the system kindly used a gentle method, letting Song Yuyan keep her own consciousness while slowly digesting the original host’s memories.

This way, her own memories wouldn’t be harmed, and she wouldn’t be clueless about the environment or customs. But some memories, if not deliberately recalled, she wouldn’t think of.

Since she remembered now, Song Yuyan realized her actions might easily make Tang Zhi notice something off. Her heart tightened, but she saw Tang Zhi become even more wary:

“You’re suddenly so polite. You’re not trying to borrow something again, are you?!”

Song Yuyan: ???

Tang Zhi’s brows shot up as she scolded, “Don’t even think about it. I won’t be fooled by you!”

With that, she turned and walked away, as if a ghost were chasing her, her steps quick.