Running a Food Stall to Support My Deceptive Omega - Chapter 13

Mu Jinyu’s upper and lower teeth grazed her tongue. Wincing in pain, she asked, “W-what?”

Before she could even process the shock of Rong Heng actually speaking, her emotions were instantly seized by a wave of chilling dread.

Kill who?

Kill her, or kill the cat?

Kill the cat?

Rong Heng’s first reaction upon seeing an injured kitten was actually to kill it?

Mu Jinyu unconsciously took a step back. The hand holding the scruff of the kitten’s neck pulled the small animal closer to her chest, while her other hand instinctively moved to shield its frail body.

It was a defensive posture, a clear sign she was protecting the kitten.

Rong Heng tilted her head slightly, seemingly unaware that there was anything wrong with what she had said.

She simply felt that the cat wouldn’t survive. Since it was doomed to die, it was better to end its suffering early. This thought surfaced naturally in her mind, though she didn’t know why.

Rong Heng remained silent, standing where she was and staring at Mu Jinyu.

Her jet-black hair spilled down to her thighs; her narrow eyes were like two blades thrust into stone; her pupils were so deep and dark they seemed to reflect a haunting light.

In the dead of the silent night, she looked eerily ghostly.

Mu Jinyu took another step back and swallowed hard. Whether she was comforting herself or explaining things to Rong Heng, she spoke up:

“No killing, no killing. We have medicine at home. I’ll go apply some to the kitten, and it will get better once it’s treated.”

Having said that, she clung to the edge of the wall, keeping her distance from Rong Heng as she awkwardly shuffled toward her own bedroom door.

She darted inside and slammed the door shut, not allowing Rong Heng to follow.

The luck and joy of the day were completely dissipated by that sudden chill. Mu Jinyu shuddered, warning herself in her heart to be extra, extra cautious around Rong Heng.

She was still too prone to assuming people were good.

She had only been with Rong Heng for two days. She clearly knew that Rong Heng was an extremely dangerous person, yet simply because the woman had lost her memory, Mu Jinyu had easily fallen into the trap of thinking she had become a better person.

In reality, Rong Heng had only lost her memories. Her fundamental nature hadn’t changed at all.

The words used to describe Rong Heng in the original book weren’t written just for fun.

Mu Jinyu struggled to control the fear inside her. She adjusted her breathing, forcing herself to calm down.

As long as I’m careful and don’t provoke her into holding a grudge, it’ll be fine. Everything will be fine.

She set the kitten down inside the room and began rummaging around the dressing table for something to provide light. She remembered that her two mothers had something in the room.

After searching for a while, she pulled an oil lamp out of the dressing table drawer.

The lamp was shaped like a bowl, but the base and the walls were thicker. The base was heavy to ensure stability and prevent it from tipping over, while the walls were thick because there was a hollow interlayer inside.

Oil would be poured into the center of the lamp, while water was poured into the interlayer. This way, when the lamp was lit, the oil wouldn’t evaporate as quickly due to high temperatures, thus achieving the goal of saving oil.

Everyone called this a “Provident Lamp” (also known as a “money-saving lamp”).

It was currently the most popular type of oil lamp among commoners.

Mu Jinyu held the provident lamp in her hands, turning it over a few times. A blackened wick was stuck inside, but there was no oil, so it couldn’t be lit.

Her mothers usually used very cheap soybean oil for the lamps, but there was none in this room. She would have to go to the storage room to find some.

But… the moment she stepped out, she would face Rong Heng…

Mu Jinyu hesitated at the door for a long time. She kept encouraging herself, trying to summon the courage she had when she chased after Rong Heng or when she treated Rong Heng’s wounds. She told herself to just walk out that door and get the soybean oil.

Anyway, Rong Heng can’t beat me. Be confident.

Just as she was psyching herself up, placing her hands on the door and preparing to pull it open in one go, a sentence began to play on a loop in her mind.

“Should I kill her?”

At this moment, those words didn’t seem to be about the cat anymore—they seemed to be about her.

In her mind, Mu Jinyu immediately imagined a version of Rong Heng who had regained her memories: fierce and sinister, the corners of her eyes and brows slanting up into her hairline, the two red moles beneath her eyes flashing with bloodlust, and four long beastly fangs protruding from her mouth.

Mu Jinyu’s hand shook, and she completely lost the courage to go out.

Forget it, forget it. To prevent Rong Heng from committing a sin, it’s better if I don’t go out.

She turned around and picked up the kitten, placing it on the dressing table. She whispered to it, “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you.”

Faint moonlight filtered through the window. Using that meager light, she examined the wound on the kitten’s leg. Fortunately, the kitten was very small, and she could easily handle it without getting scratched.

The wound on its leg looked like a deep hole that had been torn open; Mu Jinyu guessed someone had hit it with something.

She took out the medicinal salve and carefully bandaged the kitten. she even wrapped it several times to prevent the kitten from licking it.

After finishing the bandages, she scratched the top of the kitten’s head with one finger and comforted it, “You’ll be okay. You’ll be just fine.”

The only response she got was a shrill cry.

Mu Jinyu sighed and placed the kitten on the floor. With a “whoosh,” the little thing scurried away and hid under the bed.

In the courtyard, Rong Heng stood blankly for a long time. Only when she realized Mu Jinyu wasn’t coming back out did she react.

She tried hard to think: Why was today’s Mu Jinyu different from yesterday’s?

But she couldn’t figure it out.

She only knew she didn’t want to go to the other room, and she felt like there was still something she hadn’t finished doing today.

She could only walk to Mu Jinyu’s door and sit down on the ground, waiting quietly.

Inside the room, Mu Jinyu poured out all the copper coins she had earned today onto the dressing table with a loud clink. She counted them one by one.

“One, two… two hundred.”

A total of two hundred copper coins—the fruit of her hard work today.

Mu Jinyu felt wonderful. She strung the two hundred coins into two separate strings and mixed them with her remaining dozens of coins. She began calculating in her head what she needed to buy tomorrow.

She had to buy more fish—enough to sell until midnight—and she needed more seasonal vegetables.

As for the bowls, she had about twenty, which was currently enough. However, she had heard several customers mention that the portions were a bit too large; since they had already eaten dinner, they couldn’t finish it all.

Other customers said the noodles were too expensive. They would buy them for breakfast or dinner, but it wasn’t worth it as a late-night snack.

Mu Jinyu thought: Should I buy some smaller bowls? I can differentiate between “large portions” and “small portions” like the ones at home.

The large portion would still be ten coins per bowl, but the small portion could be cheaper—maybe six or eight coins?

As she pondered, Mu Jinyu nodded, thinking this was a viable plan. If she were selling a main meal on a regular street, her current portion size would be perfect. But since she was selling snacks at a night market, it was impossible to have the same portion and price as a full meal; otherwise, it would be a burden for the passersby.

After settling on this, she counted the copper coins on the table once more, calculating how much she could spend on fish, vegetables, and bowls.

She still had very little silver; she had to calculate every purchase carefully, or she would end up penniless in an instant.

Once her planning was done, Mu Jinyu stood up and put her hands on her hips, stretching her stiff and aching body from the day’s labor.

Her stomach let out an ill-timed growl, and she suddenly realized she hadn’t eaten dinner yet.

“Sss!”

Mu Jinyu froze. It suddenly hit her—Rong Heng hadn’t eaten anything either!