Chapter 2: The Old Madam’s a Real Tough Cookie

Tang Jin slipped out the door and circled around to the back of the house. Seeing no one nearby, she reached out and felt along the goods shelf, pulling out a corn bun and a pickled radish.

Just last night, she had been gorging on hotpot back in the modern world. Now here she was, a corn bun clutched in her left hand and a pickled radish in her right, standing disheveled in the autumn breeze.

The contrast was stark. It wasn’t quite worlds apart—it was more like no free lunch in the sky, just massive pitfalls waiting to swallow her whole. She might as well have been buried alive and done with it.

Life was so unpredictable, utterly beyond anyone’s control.

Her stomach was rumbling fiercely now, and she couldn’t worry about anything else.

Whatever. Since she was here, she might as well make the best of it. Fill the belly first and think later.

Huh?

Tang Jin swallowed a mouthful of corn bun, then crunched into the pickled radish. Her eyes lit up.

She gazed at the food in delight and dove in with gusto.

It was delicious!

The corn bun was soft with a subtle sweetness, and the pickled radish was crisp and refreshing, perfectly seasoned—not too salty, not too bland.

Prime corn bun! Prime pickled radish!

Suddenly, Tang Jin felt the pit she had fallen into wasn’t all that deep. If she took it slow, she could still climb her way out.

“Tang Jin?”

A somewhat muffled voice rang out, startling Tang Jin into swallowing her last bite of radish before turning around.

The newcomer was an elderly woman leaning on a cane, her face etched with deep wrinkles. She looked to be in her fifties or sixties—the original host’s grandmother, Old Madam Tang.

“Grandmother,” Tang Jin said obediently, mimicking the original host’s usual demeanor with a polite greeting.

In the original host’s memories, the old madam was a ruthless woman.

Old Madam Tang had been widowed young and raised two sons single-handedly. Her personality was strong and fierce; she was Tang Village’s number one tough granny.

Legend had it that in her youth, Old Madam Tang had been the village beauty, gentle and praised by all.

The reason for her changed temperament and her reputation as the top fierce woman stemmed from an incident not long after she was widowed. A lonely old bachelor had come knocking at her window late one night.

No one expected the usually soft-spoken woman to grab a kitchen knife and charge out, yelling murder as she chased him. She pursued the man right out of Tang Village.

But Old Madam Tang wasn’t satisfied. She stormed into the old man’s house and smashed everything she could lay hands on. At dawn, she returned with her two young sons and tore the roof off his home, demolishing the walls.

The terrified old man never dared return to the village. No one knew if he had died out there somewhere all these years later.

From then on, Old Madam Tang’s name struck fear into hearts, and no one dared provoke her again.

The original host had grown up hearing tales of her grandmother’s ferocity and had always harbored a fear of the old woman deep inside.

But to Tang Jin, the old madam wasn’t scary at all. She was a role model for women like her!

“What are you hiding back here for? Where’s your wife?” Old Madam Tang frowned, not bothering to hide her disdain for her granddaughter.

“She’s resting at home. I’ll head back right now,” Tang Jin replied meekly, head bowed in the timid posture the original host always adopted around her grandmother. Playing the coward was the right move.

“Stop wandering around like an idiot. If you don’t straighten up, this old lady will send you down to join your father—believe it or not.” Old Madam Tang raised her cane threateningly, as if ready to make good on the threat.

Tang Jin nodded silently, thinking to herself that this level of threat ought to count as a lie, but the System showed no reaction?

Her eyes widened in disbelief. So the old madam meant it for real!

If she acted out like the original host, the old woman would truly beat her to death!

What a grandmother—ruthless to the core!

Mention of the original host’s father brought to mind just how much tragedy the old madam had endured.

It had taken everything to raise her two sons. The eldest, ambitious to make a name for himself, had left home as a youth and never returned—no word since.

The younger son had been steady and hardworking, a master at farming. He married, had a daughter, and life was looking up—until a sudden chill took him young.

Then his widow, fickle-hearted, couldn’t wait even a year before abandoning ten-year-old Tang Jin to remarry.

Old Madam Tang, having just finished raising her sons, turned to raising her granddaughter. The original host took after the old madam’s youthful looks—clear brows, bright eyes, quite endearing. But her personality was nothing like her grandmother’s; she took entirely after that flighty daughter-in-law.

Not only useless, but always chasing after men.

So Old Madam Tang kept a close watch, fearing the unlucky granddaughter would stray further down the wrong path.

Seeing her granddaughter in that same cowering state, Old Madam Tang sighed. “You refused to marry and insisted on taking a wife. Now that you’re married, live properly. Don’t give the neighbors something to laugh about.”

What kind of fate was this? Both sons were here to torment her, and now this troublesome granddaughter. Life was utterly joyless.

“Don’t worry, Grandmother. I’ll live properly from now on,” Tang Jin said, seizing the chance to roll with it. No more worrying about breaking character—this was her attentively heeding grandmother’s wisdom, the prodigal granddaughter turning over a new leaf.

The key was, she didn’t dare do otherwise. The System hadn’t flagged it as a lie, meaning the old madam really would go lethal!

Just then, a soft, glutinous voice piped up.

“Grandmother, don’t blame A-Jin. It’s all my fault—I’ve held her back.” Chu Lingyue had overheard at some point and come to the back of the house, immediately defending Tang Jin.

Old Madam Tang, fed up with Chu Lingyue’s meek submissiveness, furrowed her brows into twisted knots.

She glanced at her quail-like granddaughter, then at the frail Chu Lingyue, lost the will to lecture, and decided out of sight, out of mind. With that, she turned and walked away.

One big dope after another—none of them worth propping up. She must have committed some great sin in her past life to be saddled with such pits.

Once the old madam was gone, Tang Jin looked at Chu Lingyue, a spark lighting in her mind. She raised her hand in a solemn vow. “Darling, I’ll treat you right from now on. Believe me.”

The original host had always called Chu Lingyue “darling,” so it slipped out easily enough, though it felt a bit awkward inwardly. But for the sake of character consistency, she’d said it.

With that, Tang Jin stared at Chu Lingyue expectantly.

That prime corn bun had been so good—she could go for three more.

Chu Lingyue didn’t disappoint. She said softly, “A-Jin, you don’t need to do this. I believe you.”

【Ding! Reward: One bowl of multigrain porridge】

Tang Jin gave Chu Lingyue a deep look. “I knew you’d believe me. Head home first—I’ll wander a bit more.”

Chu Lingyue lowered her head without a word.

Tang Jin watched her until she was far off, then turned to the bowl of porridge.

It brimmed with colorful beans and slivers of vibrant green vegetables—mouthwatering at a glance.

No chopsticks, no spoon, but that didn’t stop Tang Jin’s hungry stomach.

She gulped it down in one go and let out a satisfied belch.

Burp. Delicious as expected—everything from the System was top-tier!

Full and content, Tang Jin wandered the village a bit more, sorting through her thoughts. Best to lay low for now.

As dusk fell, she strolled leisurely back home. First order of business: take stock of the original host’s belongings. Good grief—flat broke.

Unwilling to accept it, she checked the kitchen. The rice jar was cleaner than her face; nothing but water.

Chu Lingyue watched her darting about and asked gently, “A-Jin, what are you looking for?”

Tang Jin turned to her with sincere curiosity. “We’re out of food. What do we eat tonight?”