The Spoiled Heiress Who Wasn't Spoiled

Forget-Your-Sorrow Tavern

In Shangshui Town, there is a place called the Forget-Me-Not Tavern. Its operation is similar to that of an ordinary inn. The tavern is divided into two floors: the lower floor serves meals and drinks to guests, while the upper floor accommodates overnight stays.

Upon entering the tavern, guests are greeted by two attendants: one fat and one thin.

The fat man is named Dunlu. He is bald with double chins and has a layer of fat accumulated on the back of his neck. His eyes are very small and he has to squint to see clearly. His large belly makes it impossible for him to see his toes when he looks down. He likes to smile with his eyes squinted, giving him a simple and honest appearance.

The thin man is named Pitiao. His long hair is pinned up with a bamboo stick. He has a long face with a fierce look. He is very tall, about 1.9 meters. Because his face looks so frightening when he smiles, he seldom does so. Pitiao is extremely thin, with visible veins under his skin.

The tavern's accountant is called Dwarf. He is a gnome, about 1.2 meters tall. He sits at the counter all day and rarely steps out. The counter has a specially made chair for Dwarf, which allows him to handle accounting just like a regular person. Dwarf has a naturally cunning appearance, giving people the impression that they are about to be deceived by him.

Apart from the regular accountant and attendants, there is often a man with a scar on his left cheek present. No one knows his real name, so they simply call him Scar. Scar is very fierce and rarely smiles. He always carries two shiny curved knives at his waist. Whenever someone passes by him, he immediately reaches for his knives to intimidate them into leaving.

On the second floor of the tavern, at the corner, there is a room with a "No Entry" sign. This room is strictly off-limits to outsiders. It has no windows, and through the gap in the door, the inside is always pitch black and nothing can be seen.

No one knows who the owner of the tavern is or has ever seen him. He never appears at the tavern. However, it is known that Dwarf, Dunlu, Pitiao, and Scar are all under the tavern owner’s command.

"Forget-Me-Not Tavern? What a strange name," said a girl in red, about fifteen or sixteen years old. She had skin as smooth as cream, eyebrows like light smoke, and a smile that curved into crescent-shaped eyes. Her lips were red, her lashes long and thick, and her eyes were lively and expressive.

She was petite with an elegant figure, wearing a wolf tooth necklace around her neck and a silver bell anklet on her foot. She also carried a bag with ethnic features slung across her shoulder.

Though her appearance couldn’t be described as stunningly beautiful, she was charming in her own way, becoming more captivating the longer one looked.

She stood at the tavern's entrance, examining the inscription on the plaque. Dunlu, with his large belly, waddled over with a smile and asked, "Do you need a room?"

The girl in red looked at Dunlu’s squinted eyes with curiosity and asked, "Why are your eyes so small? Can you even see me?"

She waved her hand in front of Dunlu's face. Dunlu’s eyes followed her hand movements. The girl was instantly amused by Dunlu’s comical expression.

"You’re really interesting," she laughed, clutching her stomach. Dunlu scratched his head and grinned but didn’t respond.

"Do you want a room or not?"

As Pitiao approached the girl in red, he asked, "Do you need a room?"

The girl looked at Pitiao, amazed by his height. "I didn’t expect anyone to be this tall!"

"Hey! Little girl, I’m talking to you! Do you want a room or not?" Pitiao asked impatiently. The girl in red frowned and put her hands on her hips, retorting, "Listen here, big guy! Don’t call me ‘hey’! My name is Yueya. And I’m already an adult, not just a little girl. You’d better be polite when talking to me, or I won’t be nice!"

After saying this, Yueya clenched her fists and made a fierce expression

If someone else had made such a face, Pitiao would have likely given them a good beating. However, seeing such an adorable little person make that face, Pitiao had no temper left to speak of.

Seeing Pitiao speechless, Yueya felt secretly pleased.

He’s dumbfounded! I knew that if I didn’t show my fierceness, he wouldn’t understand my strength. No wonder Uncle Drunk always says that people outside like to bully the weak and flatter the strong. It really is true.

Yueya thought and nodded in agreement.

Dunlu asked again, "Do you need a room?"

Yueya came back to her senses and looked at Dunlu. "You seem quite honest and straightforward. Alright then, I’ll give you a chance and stay here."

Dunlu grinned and led the way. "This way, please."

As Yueya followed Dunlu upstairs, she glanced back and made a funny face at Pitiao.

Pitiao was unsure how to respond to Yueya’s behavior.

At this moment, a man walked over. Pitiao composed himself and asked the man, "Do you need a room?"

The man was startled by Pitiao’s fierce demeanor and shivered slightly. "I... I want to drink."

The man gathered his courage to say this, swallowing nervously. He wasn’t sure whether to go in or leave.

He stared at Pitiao, trying to figure out his intentions.

Pitiao gestured for him to enter. "Please, this way."

Seeing Pitiao’s respectful demeanor, the man finally relaxed. "What’s going on? You scared me to death."

The man complained, and Pitiao looked at him. Pitiao’s intimidating gaze was so effective that it made the man immediately meek and submissive without a word.

Yueya followed Dunlu to the counter. Dwarf was focused, moving the abacus beads rapidly while flipping through a ledger.

"Staying the night?" Dwarf glanced up at Yueya briefly, his hands not stopping.

Yueya nodded in response.

Dwarf used the hand that was flipping through the ledger to retrieve a key from the counter and tossed it onto the counter. "Room number 1."

Dwarf then continued flipping through the ledger, ignoring the two.

Yueya observed Dwarf and noticed his gnome-like stature. "A little person? I didn’t expect to meet a gnome here. How interesting."

Yueya smiled slightly, finding it very intriguing.

Dunlu picked up the key from the counter and led Yueya. "Please follow me upstairs."

"Oh," Yueya responded casually, following Dunlu up the stairs.

Halfway up the stairs, Scar came down. Dunlu looked at Scar as if seeing a fierce deity, stepping aside and lowering his head, looking like he wanted to tumble down the stairs.

Yueya examined Scar and thought, "This man looks so fierce! It’s really unpleasant!"

Scar glared at Dunlu and suddenly roared, "Fatty! How many times have I told you? There’s no room for both of us on this staircase! What, don’t you want those ten extra pounds of fat, huh? Ah!"

Scar’s final "ah" thoroughly terrified Dunlu. Dunlu turned in panic and clumsily hurried down the stairs. Yueya was startled by Scar’s sudden shouting and thought, "What the heck! So jumpy. Scared me to death."

Yueya lightly patted her chest to calm herself.

Seeing Yueya still standing there, Scar growled, "Hey! Little girl! Are you deaf? Why aren’t you moving? Ah!" Scar yelled again, spitting saliva. Yueya frowned in disgust and covered her mouth. Scar reached for his curved knives.

Yueya saw Scar’s intentions and quickly said, "Sorry! Sorry! I’m going downstairs right now."

Yueya pretended to be frightened, flipping her long hair and quickly turning around.

Scar’s face was hit by Yueya’s flowing hair, and he became instantly enraged.

Yueya sneaked a smile as she went downstairs, while Scar clenched his fists, ready to curse. Suddenly, he felt a cool sensation on his tongue, as if mist or cold air had entered his mouth. Scar was perplexed, smacking his lips and licking his lips, but he couldn’t figure out where the cool feeling came from.

While Scar was pondering, he suddenly felt his body become numb and stiff, as if he had been anesthetized. Besides his eyeballs, his body was unresponsive.

Scar stood like a statue in the middle of the stairs. People upstairs and downstairs looked curiously and whispered among themselves. Yueya stood among the crowd, stroking her chin and observing Scar with a smug smile.