“What on earth are you doing!”
Manager Pyo, who had barely regained his senses, approached Yeo Reum.
Still seemingly immersed in the music and dancing, Yeo Reum merely shrugged her shoulders slightly.
It was a reaction as if to say ‘What’s the problem?’
“Turn off that music right now!”
Manager Pyo gestured wildly, but Yeo Reum ignored her and threw a plate onto the floor.
It was like throwing water balloons at an amusement park.
The employees were each dumbfounded by the scene unfolding before their eyes.
Manager Pyo approached and reached out her hand, but Yeo Reum stepped back, refusing to let go of the bowl in her hand.
“You, really!”
Finally, Manager Pyo’s right hand rose, anger reaching its peak.
Her intention was to slap Yeo Reum’s cheek.
Everyone watching involuntarily opened their mouths at what was about to happen next.
“……Ah.”
The employees who had been anxiously watching the confrontation barely let out a sigh of relief.
The butler had grabbed Manager Pyo’s wrist as it approached Yeo Reum’s cheek.
She shook off the hand and faced Manager Pyo.
“Manager Pyo, what do you think you’re doing?”
“Butler, don’t interfere!”
Her eyes glared at Yeo Reum as if to kill.
“Don’t interfere? When you’re cornering someone like this and using violence?”
“Did you not hear what the elder lady said yesterday? She said she delegated all matters related to Jung Yeo Reum to me. I’m carrying out that task now! So butler, stay out of this!”
The butler’s brow furrowed slightly, but Manager Pyo shouted regardless.
“This child’s manners have been terribly spoiled. From now on, I’m going to properly educate that child!”
Looking at her rage, the butler said,
“From what I see, it’s Manager Pyo’s manners that are lacking. You need to be re-educated.”
“What did you say?”
“Control your own anger. No one here deserves to be subjected to your violent emotions.”
“I clearly said it was the elder lady’s orders, didn’t I?”
“Of course you did. But I take orders from Chairwoman Kang Ju Hwa.”
Though her tone was calm, there was strength in the butler’s voice.
And the name ‘Kang Ju Hwa’ immediately overwhelmed Song Jeong Mi.
“The chairwoman gave me the right and responsibility to oversee this house. I have a duty to correct things when this household is falling into chaos. Of course, I also have the authority to calm disturbances. Don’t you agree?”
Though her expression was indignant, Manager Pyo couldn’t retort.
The butler’s words were true, and she was also the chairwoman’s longest-serving confidant.
“As the butler of this house, I absolutely cannot tolerate the uncouth language and violence of Blue House staff.”
Manager Pyo exhaled roughly and said to Butler Park,
“Then should we overlook Jung Yeo Reum breaking all those dishes like that?”
The butler replied,
“This is her first time, so she might make mistakes.”
“Mistakes? She deliberately threw the dishes on the floor, how is that a mistake?”
At Manager Pyo’s raised voice, Butler Park turned around and asked Yeo Reum,
“It was a mistake, right?”
Yeo Reum answered,
“Of course. Naturally, it was a mistake.”
Quickly placing the bowl she was holding in the sink, Yeo Reum smiled brightly.
The butler said,
“I understand. Our kitchen detergent is very slippery.”
“That’s right. It’s so slippery. It was like a loach.”
“That’s an apt expression. Kitchen detergent is like a loach.”
Manager Pyo was flabbergasted.
It felt like the two of them were conspiring to mock her.
Just then, Butler Park, noticing the rubber gloves on Yeo Reum’s hands, said,
“Take those off. This job doesn’t seem to suit you, young lady Yeo Reum.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. It doesn’t suit you. Not at all.”
She answered seriously.
Yeo Reum smirked as she took off the rubber gloves and was about to put them in the sink.
“Give me those gloves.”
Yeo Reum didn’t quite understand but handed the rubber gloves to the butler as requested.
She approached Manager Pyo and placed the rubber gloves in her hand.
Everyone was even more surprised.
Manager Pyo was equally bewildered.
“What are you doing now?”
She tried to discard the rubber gloves, but the butler pressed them more firmly, preventing her from dropping them.
“……Butler!”
“Seeing these rubber gloves suddenly reminds me of the old days. When Manager Pyo first came to this house, you were terrible at washing dishes. You kept chipping and breaking dishes, and got scolded a lot by the retired head chef. That’s why I eventually assigned you to the cleaning team, which is now your exclusive domain. Do you remember?”
The younger employees were surprised and all turned to look at Manager Pyo at once.
They couldn’t have imagined that her past involved being moved to the cleaning team because she couldn’t even wash dishes properly, when she was always at the top, treating the employees condescendingly and admonishing their rights and wrongs.
Seeing her flushed face, it seemed those words were true.
The butler gripped Manager Pyo’s hand even tighter as she tried to pull away, and said,
“Manager Pyo, people grow by learning. Whether it’s for better or worse. I’ll caution young lady Yeo Reum about today’s incident, so let’s leave it at that. And young lady Yeo Reum, come see me.”
The butler patted her hand firmly and then left the kitchen.
Yeo Reum looked at Manager Pyo, who was trembling with anger, but quickly followed after the butler.
*
“Please, have some.”
The butler poured and offered a fine orange-hued tea.
It was in the garden terrace overlooking the garden.
Although it was still cold and desolate outside, the space filled with green plants made one’s heart feel warm.
“Thank you.”
Taking a sip of the warm tea made her feel even better.
Sitting on the sofa opposite, Butler Park said,
“It may be presumptuous, but I called you because I have something to say to young lady Yeo Reum.”
“Go ahead.”
She took a short breath and said,
“Manager Pyo is the elder lady Song Jeong Mi’s right hand. Clashing with her head-on like that won’t do you any good.”
“Is that so?”
“If the elder lady gets involved, it will be even harder for you. At that point, I won’t be able to step in either.”
“I’m already grateful enough to you for today’s incident.”
“I’m not saying this to hear those words. How about taking it slow and steady? A head-on collision is difficult. You’re alone, and they are many. They also have much more than you in every aspect.”
Yeo Reum lifted her teacup and took a sip.
It was Darjeeling, her mother’s favorite.
And it was also a tea that Yeo Reum liked.
“Butler, they say keeping pus for a long time doesn’t turn it into flesh, right?”
“Pardon?”
“Kim Se Jin endured in this house for 6 years. But did anything change?”
After a moment of silence, she replied,
“No.”
“That’s right. It didn’t. Rather, the more I bow down, the more those people will trample on me. Because Kim Se Jin and I are invaders trying to take away what they’ve been enjoying all this time.”
“But the chairwoman’s will is firm. She will absolutely not take your side.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m just living Jung Yeo Reum’s life.”
Looking at the mature butler with a pitiful expression, Yeo Reum said,
“Wherever I am, Jung Yeo Reum is Jung Yeo Reum. And my life is always mine. Not Chairwoman Kang Ju Hwa’s.”
She replied,
“I see.”
“Anyway, thank you for today. And the tea was good.”
Yeo Reum rose from her seat, bowed her head to the butler, and went outside.
She looked out at the garden, now tinted brown.
A smirk appeared on her face.
“Now, the real owner of Blue House has finally returned.”
*
Team Leader Yang and Lawyer Jo let out deep sighs in front of the gate of Yeo Reum’s house in Busan.
For some reason, Jung Yeo Reum’s phone number had become disconnected, and the gate was firmly locked.
The school they had managed to find through inquiries said she had submitted her resignation letter just a day after her appointment.
Where should they look for Jung Yeo Reum now?
After two days without any results, the two lawyers finally turned away from the gate.
They were already exhausted at the thought of being harassed by Ha Eun.
Just then, Lawyer Jo’s phone rang.
“It’s Lee Byun.”
He started chatting via text message with a colleague from the legal team.
Team Leader Yang waited for a moment.
“Team Leader, apparently the chairwoman’s son was in a serious car accident over the weekend? The legal team is in an uproar because of it.”
“Really?”
Team Leader Yang gave an indifferent reply while looking straight ahead.
“His condition is serious, so they rushed him to a hospital in the U.S. His life is in critical danger. Because of that, the chairwoman yelled at her daughter-in-law and even made her granddaughter sign a strange contract.”
“A strange contract?”
“Apparently it’s a contract that prevents her from seeing her parents for 20 years and makes her do everything the chairwoman orders while staying by her side.”
“What?”
“She hated her daughter-in-law so much, and now she’s finally getting revenge by trying to use her granddaughter as a slave with this contract. Anyway, our chairwoman’s eccentric personality never changes, does it?”
Lawyer Jo shook his head.
Just then, his busy fingers stopped.
His eyes seemed to be glued to the phone screen.
“What is it?”
“The granddaughter is 25 years old and from Busan. And her name is Jung Yeo Reum……”
Team Leader Yang looked at Lawyer Jo.
“It’s really Jung Yeo Reum.”
As if on cue, the two lawyers turned to look at the nameplate on the house gate.
The well-engraved wooden nameplate read ‘Jung Jung Hyun’.
The faces of the two lawyers were filled with bewilderment.
*
“Since you have no talent for dishwashing, do the cleaning. Of course, given that Jung Yeo Reum’s hands are very slippery, don’t touch anything else and just mop the floor with this rag.”
Manager Pyo held out a rag to Yeo Reum.
Four members of the cleaning team stood by, watching nervously.
Even though they had a steam mop, making her crouch down and clean was clearly meant to harass Yeo Reum, as anyone could see.
But none of them dared to speak up.
“Well, sure.”
Instead, Yeo Reum readily agreed.
The cleaning team went up to the second floor.
From the rooms used by Gi Taek’s family to the study and movie theater, there was nothing missing.
Manager Pyo followed behind, seemingly to keep an eye on Yeo Reum.
Yeo Reum approached an employee preparing to clean the study and quietly asked,
“I don’t see Kang Ha Eun?”
“The young lady is getting a massage. She said she’d come to work late today.”
“How long does that usually take?”
“About an hour, give or take. She’s been in there for a while, so it should be ending soon.”
“I see.”
Just then, Manager Pyo said from behind,
“Stop chatting and clean properly.”
“Yes!”
The employees quickly started opening the windows.
“What is it?”
Manager Pyo glared at Yeo Reum as she approached.
“I need to use the bathroom urgently. Can I go?”
Though her expression showed she didn’t like it, she answered as if she had no choice,
“Come back quickly.”
“Yes.”
Yeo Reum went out into the hallway.
She took out her phone and quickly typed a text message.
When she returned to the study, Manager Pyo was standing with her arms crossed and nagged,
“Why did you take so long? Get to work quickly.”
“No matter how I think about it, this job doesn’t suit me.”
At Yeo Reum’s words, the nearby employees all pricked up their ears.
Manager Pyo said with a mocking expression,
“Jung Yeo Reum consistently fails to understand her place.”
“Is that so?”
“If you want to live comfortably in this house, you’d better listen to me. So pick up that rag and mop the floor right now. You’re not leaving until you finish cleaning everything here.”
“I don’t want to.”
“What did you…!”
Just as Manager Pyo was about to argue, the study door burst open.
“Hey!”
It was Ha Eun who came in.
She must have run here while getting a massage, as she still had a hair turban on her head.
“You, talk to me for a bit!”
“Sorry, but that won’t work.”
“What?”
“I have to clean the floor here, so I don’t have time to talk to you.”
“Is this trivial thing more important right now?”
“Manager Pyo said I absolutely can’t leave until I finish cleaning the floor here. So what can I do? Unless someone mops the floor with this rag instead of me?”
Ha Eun spoke as if it was obvious,
“Manager Pyo, you do it.”
“……Young lady!”
A dumbfounded Manager Pyo barely managed to protest.
“This is Jung Yeo Reum’s job!”
“Are you daring to talk back to me right now?”
“That’s not it.”
“Are you trying to piss me off? Where do you get off talking back, not knowing your place?”
“Young lady, that’s not what I meant.”
“This is ridiculous! Hey, from now on, you do all of this. Got it?”
“M-Me?”
“Yes! You do it all! And Jung Yeo Reum, come with me. To my room!”
An irritated Ha Eun went outside.
Yeo Reum said to the stunned Manager Pyo,
“You heard what the young lady said, right? From now on, mopping the floor is Manager Pyo’s job. Well then, good luck.”
Yeo Reum left the study with a grin.
__________
“Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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