Chapter 782 --782

Chapter 782: Chapter-782

Besides, she had no intention of spending her hard-earned money on the entire nation, random strangers, or even people who considered themselves her family just because they shared a roof with her.

She had her own needs to take care of.

And if she wanted to fulfill the original owner’s wish and complete her mission, she needed to live long enough and comfortably enough to see it through.

That was all there was to it.

Heena picked up her chopsticks and finally prepared to enjoy the meal she had worked so hard to make.

Of course, Heena had no intention of serving everyone at the table. She wasn’t anyone’s servant, and if they wanted to eat, they could help themselves. She had already gone through the trouble of preparing the food. She wasn’t going to stand around and serve everyone like a personal maid.

Besides, she was hungry.

And when Heena was hungry, nothing else mattered.

Having traveled through numerous worlds, including several zombie apocalypse worlds, she had experienced more than her fair share of hardships. She had even lived as a poor, starving person in some of them, knowing exactly what it felt like to go to bed with an empty stomach and wonder when she would get her next meal.

Those experiences had left her with a rather bad habit.

She had developed what people commonly called food insecurity, along with a strong fear of going hungry. Even when she had food available, she couldn’t stand the thought of being unable to eat whenever she wanted. The memories of those difficult days had left their mark on her.

Honestly, even if she were on the verge of failing a mission, she would rather make sure she had eaten first!

So, at that moment, Heena had absolutely no intention of worrying about what her brother or Old Lady Lin might think of her eating habits.

It was her food, her house, and her stomach. She would eat as much as she wanted.

She had prepared chicken curry, after all, and there was no way she was going to let it go cold while worrying about other people’s opinions.

To make things easier, she had placed two ladles in the curry pot. That way, nobody would have to wait for her to pass the ladle around. If they wanted some, they could simply take it themselves.

Heena scooped some curry into her bowl, making sure to get a chicken leg along with it, and then began eating.

The moment she took her first bite, her eyes lit up.

"Oh my God! This is delicious!"

The chicken was tender, the curry rich and flavorful, and the combination of spices made the entire dish taste heavenly.

Heena couldn’t help but take another bite.

She had used onions, garlic, ginger, and other ingredients to prepare the curry, and the generous amount of oil had brought all those flavors together beautifully. The result was so satisfying that she almost wanted to close her eyes and savor every mouthful.

Ah, this is what living is all about!

As she continued eating, another thought suddenly crossed her mind.

If I want to eat food this delicious every day, I might need to buy another five gallons of oil.

Unfortunately, oil wasn’t cheap in this world.

Heena’s expression turned thoughtful for a moment. As much as she loved good food, she couldn’t ignore the cost of ingredients. She still had plenty of things to buy, and she couldn’t spend all her money on cooking oil alone.

Still, that wasn’t a problem she needed to worry about for too long.

She was about to start working on the orders crimson pavilion had given her. If she began today, she could gradually earn more money and improve her living conditions.

And once she had enough money, she could buy whatever she needed without having to think twice about every little expense.

With that comforting thought, Heena picked up another piece of chicken and continued eating happily.

After all, there was no point in working hard to earn money if she couldn’t use some of it to enjoy a decent meal!

On the other side of the table, the system looked increasingly worried.

Heena noticed it out of the corner of her eye. The little fellow had been acting strangely for a while now, and his unusual behavior was beginning to bother her.

However, she didn’t stop eating just to question him.

Three things were already running through her mind, and the first was that she needed to figure out what exactly was wrong with her system. He had been acting far too suspiciously lately, and Heena wasn’t the sort of person who would ignore something like that.

For now, though, she decided to finish her meal first.

After all, whatever secrets that little fellow was hiding could wait. Her chicken curry couldn’t!

Once they had finished eating, Heena was about to gather the dishes and take them to the kitchen when Ren hurriedly stood up.

"No, no! I’ll do it!" he said, almost snatching the dishes from her hands. "I’ll wash everything. Please, let me do it!"

Heena looked at him, slightly surprised by his enthusiasm.

Then she shrugged.

"Fine."

Honestly, she wasn’t particularly fond of washing dishes either. If Ren was willing to take care of that troublesome chore, she certainly wasn’t going to argue with him.

With that matter settled, Heena returned to her work.

She still had to prepare that damn powder, and the sooner she started, the sooner she could finish it and earn some money.

While she was busy arranging her ingredients, the system quietly approached her.

"Host..."

"Hmm?"

"Don’t you think this place looks a little... unattractive?"

Heena paused briefly before continuing her work.

"What about it?"

"Well, how about building a big wall around the house? A nice, tall wall! That way, the place would look better, and you’d feel more comfortable living here."

Heena slowly turned her head to look at him.

"A big wall? Around the house? At this point in time?"

She stared at him as though he had suddenly started speaking nonsense.

"And in the middle of a marketplace, no less? Do you even understand what you’re suggesting?"

The system shrank back a little.

"I-I mean, Host, I’m just saying that it doesn’t feel very safe here. What if you bought some food and stored it away? You know, in those big drums or something? I saw some laborers storing things that way, too!"

At that, Heena’s expression softened slightly.

"Now that’s actually a good idea."

The system’s eyes lit up.

"Right?"

"But I’ll need to buy several large storage drums, and that will take some time. Besides, I have other things to do first."

"Oh..."

The system lowered his head, looking rather disappointed.

Then, as though a sudden thought had struck him, he raised his head again.

"What about finding a partner?"

Heena’s hands stopped moving.

For a moment, she remained completely still, as though she wasn’t entirely sure she had heard him correctly.

Slowly, she turned toward the system.

"What did you just say?"

"A partner?" the system repeated, his voice growing noticeably smaller.

Heena stared at him.

"Little fellow, it hasn’t even been two weeks since we came to this world for the mission. It’s barely been ten days since we arrived, and you’re already getting so worked up about my marriage?"