I Became the Eldest Daughter of a Fallen Family - Chapter 38

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 38. The Cooking Contest (1)
‘Has this Wi Ha-yun really lost his mind? First he gives silver coins and asks me to cook, and now he drags me away again, treating me like a criminal?’
Even as the servants of the Wi Household pulled her along toward their residence, So Yeon-hui couldn’t make sense of it.
Getting him to eat the silken tofu after he’d cast suspicion from all quarters about how one makes a banquet dish from beans had gone smoothly enough.
There had been the unseemly matter of her father, mother, and even her siblings mentioning his marriage prospects, but that had actually seemed like a good sign.
He must have treated the family so well for them to harbor such a misunderstanding.
But now that things had come to this, she wondered if every action he’d taken that morning had been a trap.
It was because the expression on Gyo’s face as she looked at So Yeon-hui was venomous beyond measure.
“Relying on a pretty face alone, you dare commit such impudence without knowing your station? Do you think I cannot dispose of a girl like you?”
Gyo opened her mouth the moment she saw So Yeon-hui. At that, So Yeon-hui blinked in bewilderment.
What—there wasn’t even a word about sitting down.
She wasn’t even acknowledged properly.
And now she was being picked on without warning?
‘Does the Wi Household teach manners as a self-service? Why does everyone lack basic courtesy?’
She was so exasperated she nearly gasped, but So Yeon-hui managed to hold onto her composure. Then, in the most respectful tone she could muster, she spoke to Gyo.
“I apologize, but I’m not sure what you’re saying. I don’t even understand why I was summoned in the first place.”
“Don’t play dumb, you cunning thing! You seduced my son and made the head cook look foolish, trying to ruin the Wi Household’s banquet—did you really think I wouldn’t know?”
At the sudden baseless accusation, So Yeon-hui’s neck tensed.
‘If I’d known it would come to this, I wouldn’t have taken those silver coins! I wouldn’t have given in to that uninvited guest’s whims from this morning!’
Though she had sworn to do anything to help her father, she had never dreamed she would suffer such injustice at the hands of the Wi Household’s lady—not some difficult customer she’d met through trade.
Now she understood why her grandmother had severed ties with the Wi Household after her grandfather’s death.
So Yeon-hui spoke, indignation rising in her chest.
“That was a legitimate commission. Moreover, I accepted the proposal with your health and the Wi Household’s honor in mind—there was truly no other intention.”
“Nonsense! If you didn’t seduce and manipulate my son, why would he give such authority to someone like you—a mere street peddler from the market? You can’t cover the sky with your palm! Don’t you dare mention the lady of the house!”
Wait—didn’t the person speak?
Then listen, will you?
“So what if I’m a street peddler? Just because someone sells food at the market doesn’t mean they’re necessarily inferior to the Wi Household’s head cook. Now I see that you hold a narrow-minded view that discriminates against people based on their station.”
“How presumptuous! Correct that tone at once!”
Gyo’s eyes narrowed, and she exchanged a look with the maidservant beside her.
The maidservant stepped forward eagerly, raising a whip.
Just as the whistling sound of the whip cut through the air and So Yeon-hui was about to receive a beating—
“Stop!”
A stern and sharp voice cut through the air.
The man, Wi Ha-yun, crossed the courtyard of the inner quarters with a stride bristling with killing intent, and promptly positioned himself in front of So Yeon-hui.
“To raise a whip against an innocent woman—what manner of outrage is this?”
At the cold warning, the maidservant holding the whip flinched and stumbled backward.
She hastily looked to Gyo for help, and though Gyo was somewhat taken aback, she calmly protected her own.
“This is a matter of the Wi Household, not something Your Highness should involve yourself in.”
But Wi Ha-yun paid no attention and addressed Gyo directly.
“It was I who entrusted this woman with the task. How can I not intervene when you are damaging my honor?”
“Then why did you bring an outsider into the Wi Household’s affair? And one from the market, no less, of lowly origin.”
“Because this lady saved the life of my grandmother, the lady of the house. Furthermore, her birth is not lowly in the slightest.”
Gyo’s eyes flickered with uncertainty.
At the same time, her gaze darted sharply toward Baek, the head cook.
It was a look of pointed reproach—as though asking why he had not verified the facts properly.
The frightened head cook Baek spoke in a trembling voice.
“But—surely we still need to verify whether this woman truly knows how to cook and possesses the necessary skill?”
Both So Yeon-hui and Gyo were taken aback.
He had made his plea with such confidence that they thought he had some strategy in mind.
This—was he really dodging responsibility like this?
All sympathy vanished from Gyo’s gaze toward the head cook Baek.
Yet for her to immediately take So Yeon-hui’s side would undermine her own dignity.
She wrapped her head in her hands as if it throbbed with pain.
In the meantime, So Yeon-hui’s irritation flared hot, and she raised her voice.
“Whether I succeed or fail, what difference does it make? You place the commission first, then hurl insults at me, and now you say you can’t trust my ability and need to verify it? Ha! The Wi Household truly does wield tremendous power.”
“It would be no worse than accepting your inferior cooking at the banquet!”
The head cook Baek shot back, his face flushed. Rather than reflecting on his own outrageous behavior, he seemed to believe it with absolute conviction, which only inflamed her further.
At this point, backing down would be a humiliation for So Yeon-hui.
She lifted her chin and continued.
“Fine, then. Let’s settle this fairly. We’ll see which of us—your cooking or mine—the lady of the house prefers!”
Though the head cook Baek’s skill would normally surpass hers, as long as she had silken tofu as her trump card, she had some chance of victory.
Moreover, frankly speaking, this contest was entirely in her favor.
To everyone’s eyes, she was just a peddler selling snacks at the market.
How much damage could come from her losing to a professional head cook? Her pride might suffer a bit, nothing more.
But him—it was different. Even if he won, he would be guilty of ingratitude toward his benefactor; if he lost, it would be his shame.
For someone as self-aware as So Yeon-hui, there was no better hand to play.
Fortunately, her opponent, confident in his own abilities, did not refuse her proposal.
Rather, he took the bait more eagerly and set the terms with rising momentum.
“Agreed! Since this concerns who will prepare the food for the banquet, the categories must be identical: one cold dish, two hot dishes, one soup, and one dessert. Whichever of us receives more votes from the Wi Household’s elders wins the right to oversee the banquet. Who could object to such fairness?”
Had it been a contest over a single unique dish, who knew what might happen.
But if five courses had to be prepared, the odds would certainly tip toward him, the professional head cook.
Before this naïve girl could raise any objection, the head cook Baek had hastily determined the categories and format of the contest.
So Yeon-hui realized too late and hesitated, but by then it was already done.
Gyo slowly nodded and spoke.
“That does seem fair. If you win, it proves you have the capacity for the task; if not, it exposes that you gained your position through illicit schemes. Surely you won’t refuse the contest?”
So Yeon-hui paused for a moment, looking back and forth between the head cook Baek and Gyo.
The fact that they pressed on even after he revealed her position as a benefactor to the lady of the house meant they were prepared to crush her with their power if necessary.
Refusing the proposal now would only amount to admitting guilt. There was no choice from the start.
Just as despair was clouding her face, Wi Ha-yun spoke softly.
“However, there is a condition.”
All eyes turned toward him.
“My grandmother observes a vegetarian diet and eats only soft-textured foods. That condition must apply equally to both of you for it to be fair.”
“Surely—surely you’re saying we cannot use meat in our cooking?”
“That’s right. After all, that was the very condition I originally gave to So Yeon-hui when I commissioned her, so if you’re going to preserve my honor, you should demonstrate that much capability.”
The head cook Baek’s face went pale.
It had been his own proposal for the contest. To refuse the condition now would make him appear cowardly.
“I—very well. We shall proceed with vegetarian cooking only.”
The head cook Baek answered reluctantly.
With matters having come this far, what choice did So Yeon-hui have? She, too, could only nod slowly in assent.
“I understand. I accept the condition.”
A brief silence fell. The head cook Baek shot So Yeon-hui one sharp look, then turned away.
Gyo also excused herself, pleading a headache.
Only then could So Yeon-hui straighten her knees and rise from where she’d knelt—
“My apologies. I’m sorry for putting you through this because of me.”
Wi Ha-yun helped her up, offering his apology first.
So Yeon-hui steadied herself on legs cramped from kneeling and shot him a sidelong glance.
Enemy or benefactor? If you give the poison, don’t also give the antidote. Why must everything be so tangled?
‘And what was that about? Your Highness? So you were the Sixth Prince Wi Ha-yun, the esteemed son of the beautiful Madam Wi?’
Now that she thought about it, there had been a connection between them in her previous life as well.
It was he who had saved her when she nearly got caught tailing Ju Ha-jin.
‘They say he left the Cheonha Group and took the civil service exam against his family’s wishes. As a result, Chairman Ju half-disowned him.’
She had never understood why someone whose face she’d never seen before had shown her such kindness, and she had died without ever learning the answer.
People’s fates were truly ironic.
So Yeon-hui felt both displeased with him and grateful. The two emotions tangled together and neither could find its way out of her mouth.
Noticing the complicated feelings in her gaze, Wi Ha-yun spoke more quietly.
“If you need anything, say the word. I will help you by any means necessary.”
Instead of nodding, So Yeon-hui looked ahead and repeated to herself silently.
One cold dish, two hot dishes, one soup, one dessert. All of it in soft vegetarian cooking?
‘Ah, I should have asked for a refund from the start!’
Regret, no matter how swift, always comes too late.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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