Chapter 785: Pisses me off

"Me, me! I did it! Why? Did they like it?!"

"Didn’t she hear that there’s a problem with it?" the young lady in Penny’s group earlier crossed her arms under her chest, shaking her head. They had already peeled all the potatoes and were currently taking a break.

The man beside her sighed. "I didn’t touch that food."

"Good thing I stayed far away from that dish since it was Auntie Mildred’s," the other guy remarked, and the three of them nodded in agreement.

The rest of the people in the kitchen slowly turned their attention from Mildred to the enthusiastic Penny. They watched as Penny quickly removed her gloves and draped them over the kitchen sink before taking off her apron.

Everyone would probably think Penny was trying to take credit, if not for the fact that the person who came in had mentioned a problem with the dish. That only meant trouble. Thus, their opinions quickly divided: some thought Penny was taking the fall, while others believed she simply missed the part about the problem.

"What is this brat saying?" Mildred huffed, shaking her head as she gazed at the server. "I made it — what seems to be the problem?"

"You are being summoned to the dinner hall," the server said sternly. "At once."

Deep lines appeared on Mildred’s slightly wrinkled face as she tried to understand what the problem could be. When she stepped forward, the young lady near her held her arm.

"Auntie..." the woman, Ashley, shook her head, her lips pressed into a thin line. "I don’t feel good about this."

Mildred sighed heavily, peeling the woman’s hand from her arm. Without a word, she marched toward the entrance, facing the server sternly.

"Just in case you don’t know, I am part of the fifth branch of the family," Aunt Mildred said to the server. "Watch your tone with me. Not because I am — we are in the kitchen, you can think you’re above us. Outside of this event, and the rest of the year except tonight, you won’t even be able to hold a candle to anyone in this kitchen."

Despite her short stature and evident age, Mildred carried herself with dignity and pride. She looked at the staff who had entered the kitchen, talking as if they were above her.

The staff cleared his throat and nodded. "This way."

"Hmp!" Mildred harrumphed before following the staff to the dining hall.

"I’m done —" Penny started, only to stop when she saw Mildred walking out with the staff. "Auntie, wait for me!"

Penny was about to run after her when the woman who had originally stopped Mildred from leaving grabbed her arm. Penny stopped, gazing down at the hand holding her arm, before meeting the other woman’s eyes.

"Don’t," Ashley said. "I don’t know why you’re claiming to have prepared the food, but don’t make things worse than they already are."

Penny raised an eyebrow in confusion. "But didn’t they say that anyone who came near it needs to come too?"

"No one else came close to it aside from Aunt Mildred," Ashley asserted as if that were the story everyone should stick to. "Do you understand?"

"But..."

"No buts," the woman stressed. "Just listen to me, will you?"

Penny pursed her lips, darting her eyes between everyone’s faces. She immediately sensed the heavy, ominous atmosphere in the kitchen, not to mention the bitter looks on their faces.

"What’s going on?" Penny asked quietly, but with the silence in the kitchen, her clueless inquiry was heard clearly by everyone. "Is something bad going to happen?"

"Penny, how can you be so clueless?" the young woman from Penny’s original group — before Penny went solo under Mildred’s supervision — couldn’t help but express her dismay. "Didn’t you hear what that staff said? There’s something wrong with the food."

The other guy (the man who lied to his mother) sighed heavily. "Everyone at the family gathering is an important person in this family. No matter how faint it was, they had a voice in the family."

"In other words, if anyone in there thinks the food is unpleasant, it could cause a problem for us," the depressed guy added knowingly. "Aunt Mildred going in there saves us from any trouble. Goodness. How could you be so dense about this? Cluelessness is one thing, but you should learn how to read the room."

"That’s right," another one chimed in. "Aunt Mildred already saved you from any problems with the first branch of the family. If not for her, you would’ve been kicked out of here and faced a lot of trouble the next day."

"It wouldn’t be a surprise if your husband divorced you!"

"You’re lucky Aunt Mildred helped you. After all, the person you offended is none other than Dean Pierson. Although he has a good reputation and is known for his leniency, you can never tell."

The woman holding Penny’s arm released her and sighed. "That’s why just stay still and be quiet," she continued. "You might think Aunt Mildred hates you, and I won’t blame you for that. But trust me, she has always protected everyone here from the people at the gathering. It’s nothing personal. It’s just her duty... that’s what she says."

"..." Penny was quiet, observing the look on everyone’s faces. Although they all had given Penny a piece of their mind and appeared frustrated, she could tell it was all rooted in worry.

"But I take it personally when the people who are kind to me get in trouble because of me." After a while, Penny broke her silence. Her expression was plain and almost naïve, but her eyes were clear, without a trace of guilt or fear. "You guys said it yourselves. Aunt Mildred has always protected the people in the kitchen for whatever reason."

She tilted her head to the side a little, blinking innocently. "If that’s the case, how can we just stay here while she faces the family alone? The person who has looked after us — you for years might face the family’s wrath over one dish. Considering we’ve all been working ourselves to the bone, only to get whiny feedback just because it didn’t suit their taste... haha. It pisses me off. Don’t it piss you off too?"