Babe in the woods.

  That was a term Jade had once searched for, purely out of curiosity, while trying to find English webnovels similar to the ones she used to read in Chinese.

  Reading, after all, was one of the best ways to learn a new language - especially if the material actually interested her. So back then, she had tried to hunt for English novels using the same tags she was familiar with on Chinese platforms. At the very beginning, she had been optimistic. She simply translated the tags directly into English using Google and threw them into search engines, hoping something would come up.

  What did come up, however, was nothing she was looking for.

  Language barriers and culture differences had led her to some truly baffling corners of the internet. She’d find herself scrolling through pages so bizarre she’d just sit there in silence, mouse wheel spinning, mind blank - before finally asking herself: What am I reading? Where the heck am I? What was the keyword again?

  Mind you, this was back in 201X, right after she’d graduated from the baking institute. The webnovel scene and its platform hadn’t blossomed into what they are today.

  Anyway.

  One time, she had been in the mood for a Cinderella-style story - but the low-effort kind. Something light. Something she didn’t have to think too hard about, especially after spending an entire day tense and exhausted in the bakery.

  So she searched using a direct translation of a very common Chinese web-novel tag: silly, innocent, sweetly naive.

  Google, in its infinite wisdom, suggested an English equivalent: Babe in the woods.

  Apparently, that was the “correct” term.

  In Chinese webnovels, this kind of character - usually a girl, sometimes a boy depending on the genre - is known for being easily tricked and simple-minded. They remain unfailingly kind despite being mistreated by life, and prone to make emotional decisions without much rational thought.

  Basically, she’s the “poor girl” trope: the one who gets bullied at school, only for rich boys to fall for her because she’s so “pure and innocent” and clearly in need of a tough guy to save her.

  However, because this trope was so overused, readers eventually grew to loathe it. The tag shifted from a neutral personality trait to a negative label, and the “babe in the woods” style slowly fell out of fashion.

  The newer version usually went like this: the girl was born into a wealthy family, raised with extreme care, so sheltered that she genuinely didn’t understand how cruel the outside world could be.

  Because her family was powerful, people flocked to her.

  They befriended her.

  They tricked her.

  They persuaded her to hand out money and resources because “this is how people make friends”, or convinced her to invest in shady schemes with lines like “this is a great opportunity” and “let’s keep it a secret, then surprise your parents when you make a profit”.

  Of course, when her family eventually went bankrupt, those “friends” vanished overnight. All her investments turned out to be scams. She was left friendless, penniless, burdened with debt - and eventually forced to marry a handsome, rich man to survive.

  Enter the male lead.

  Prince Charming on a white horse. Or Tyrant. Again, depending on the tropes.

  At first, he treated her coldly, assuming she was a gold digger who married him for money, even though she genuinely loved him. Then came hundreds of chapters of love, misunderstanding, betrayal, reconciliation, more misunderstanding, a scheming second female lead, a loyal second male lead, a miscarriage, another misunderstanding love again –

  Finally, a happy ending.

  A complete soap drama. Cheesy. Ridiculous.

  But hey. It worked. That was why it existed.

  Unfortunately, cultural differences made it nearly impossible for Jade - who had only just started to read English novels - to find stories matching those tropes using the same keywords. She was convinced such stories existed; she just didn’t know the right way to search for them.

  So she ended up reading something else.

  All that aside, Jade had always believed that “babe in the woods” didn’t exist in real life.

  I mean, seriously.

  Who would be stupid enough to make friends by throwing money around?

  Who would be naive enough to believe that investing in random nonsense they didn’t understand would magically bring massive returns?

  …

  Well.

  Lo and behold.

  She was staring at one right now.

  Jade fixed her gaze on the nobleman sitting across from her - still wearing that polite smile, still looking utterly confused.

  The handsome image shattered.

  Now, Jade was just looking at a doe - huge, watery eyes and all - utterly unaware of how dangerous his world was, or how many hunters were already fixing greedy gazes on the wealth he carried with him.

  That secretary? Almost certainly someone his father had sent to handle everything for him. A watchdog disguised as guardian, there to keep the cruelty of the outside world from intruding on the doe’s tiny, carefully preserved bubble.

  Lucky for him, he was interested in charity and happened to meet Father Rochester.

  Otherwise, Jade was fairly certain he would’ve been devoured by some shitty hunter by now.

  She continued staring at the poor doe with an intensity that bordered on rude.

  “Miss Jade?” The doe - ahem, the good-looking nobleman - spoke at last, snapping her out of her scattered train of thought.

  Jade blinked.

  She felt an unexpected urge to protect him.

  Not because she was particularly kind-hearted - definitely not in this era, where one wrong step could get her accused of witchcraft and possibly beheaded. And certainly not when she was still struggling just to keep herself fed.

  No. This doe had money. And power.

  The kind that could make a lot of things go smoothly and painlessly.

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  Rather than let him be tricked by scammers or chewed up by greedy hunters, she might as well take the opportunity to befriend him herself. At least she knew she wasn’t going to scam him or waste his investment. He’d earn a profit - not a huge one, but he definitely wouldn’t lose anything.

  “Sir, we need to talk.”

  The sudden shift in Jade’s tone startled the other three. Confused, they followed her into her classroom, sat down on a bench, and watched in silence as she began what she later referred to as a presentation.

  In reality, it looked like her aggressively attacking the blackboard with a piece of chalk.

  They watched in awe.

  “I don’t care why or how you chose to invest before today. Wipe all of that out of your mind, Sir.” Jade knocked sharply against the blackboard and fixed her gaze on the noble-doe sitting in the middle, “This, is what a proper investment proposal should look like.”

  She launched straight into it.

  Business planning.

  Market research.

  Target audience.

  Product design.

  Costs.

  Budgets.

  Graphs.

  Data.

  All the things Ashborne had never imagined hearing from a young woman of unknown background - yet every word made sense. His eyes practically sparkled as he listened, eagerly absorbing every point.

  “All in all,” Jade concluded, huffing slightly, “if anyone wants to persuade you to invest in their idea, they must provide solid proof that it’ll work. Not just talk - documents, data, something to show that it’s not some castle in the sky, but a structure with an actual foundation.”

  She paused to take a sip of water from her cup on the windowsill, brows still furrowed. “Otherwise, they’re scammers. I mean - cheaters. They lie to you.”

  Applause followed.

  Ashborne clapped enthusiastically, joined by Father Rochester. Mr. Trent clapped as well, though far more reluctantly. He was still bothered by her manner - but he couldn’t deny that her words were impressive.

  The applause, however, did nothing to loosen the knot between Jade’s brows.

  She stared directly at Ashborne, expression flat. “Sir, did you really understand what I just said?”

  “Yes! Absolutely, and inspiringly!” Ashborne nodded earnestly. “I’ll be far more careful with my future investments. In fact, I believe you should become my consultant!”

  “Absolutely not!” The rejection came without a second of hesitation.

  “Hm? But why?” Ashborne blinked. “Your presentation proved that you’re more than qualified.”

  “No means no.” Like hell I’m surrounding myself with a bunch of nobles and risking being accused of witchcraft, Jade thought flatly. Who knows what kind of stupid conclusions these people might jump to?

  Slowly poisoning themselves with lead and mercury was already stupid enough in her opinion.

  Slavery and colonization existed in this world as well.

  She had read about it in old newspapers. Nobles here were not synonymous with good or kind-hearted people. Jade suspected that a breed like the noble-doe sitting in front of her was rare - most were likely the cunning type.

  The kind she was terrible at dealing with.

  The kind she’d seen plenty of in historical C-dramas and webnovels: political strangulation disguised as etiquette, concubines sabotaging one another to eliminate rivals’ sons and secure their own child’s claim to power, commoners disappearing quietly simply because they had unknowingly offended a noble…

  All of it played through her mind as she firmly rejected Lord Ashborne’s invitation.

  I’d definitely die in episode one if I reincarnated into a noble household, She mused with a wry smile.

  “Well, if Miss Jade insists,” Ashborne said gently. He was the sort of gentleman who respected others’ decisions - a quality that likely made him a good master in the eyes of his servants. “I trust Miss Jade wouldn’t mind if I came here often to ask for her insight, then?”

  Jade tilted her head, cup still her hand, studying the noble-doe for a moment before nodding. “Seeking other people’s opinions is crucial when making investment decisions. I don’t think I’m particularly suitable - I mean, I don’t know the trends, or what you people like, or any of that - but if you ask, I’ll give my honest opinion.”

  She paused, then added flatly, “Just make sure your fragile heart won’t shatter if my words sound harsh. Sir.”

  Gosh, I keep forgetting the “Sir” part… Jade thought. Wait, is “Sir” even the correct way to address a Lord? J

  She decided to ignore the question entirely for the sake of her mental health.

  “Anyway,” she continued aloud, “the same goes for me. Don’t blindly invest in my iron oven project. What I told you earlier was a rough idea - even I’m not sure whether it’ll work. Gimme a month or two to conduct proper market research. The cost of experimenting with recipes is still manageable. Trial and error, with Father Rochester’s support, should be fine.”

  “I’m very much looking forward to your detailed proposal, Miss Jade,” Ashborne replied with a broad smile. “That reminds me - may I ask what you were grinding in the corridor earlier? Was it related to the biscuit recipe you mentioned?”

  Jade raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t expected a noble to care aout what she’d been doing moments ago. “That? Nah. I was experimenting with a facial cream recipe.”

  “You’re a chemist?” Father Rochester blurted out in surprise.

  “Huh? No, of course not!” Jade shook her head and produced a rustic jar she’d borrowed from the kitchen. “If I were a chemist, I wouldn’t be struggling this much with what I’m making.”

  “Well, it looks quite decent,” Ashborne commented as he examined the contents. “Rather like something my sister would use.”

  “Without preservatives, I’m not sure how long it’ll last before mold starts growing,” Jade said, scooping some onto her fingers and rubbing it onto the back of her hand. “I ground it for ages, but it still feels sandy. Too oily. Hard to spread. Very moisturizing, though… I wonder if it’ll melt off when I sweat, or flake once the oil dries…”

  She frowned slightly. “Hm. Feels more like lip gloss than actual facial cream, but white is definitely not suitable for putting on lips…”

  Ashborne watched her in silence for a moment before speaking.

  “Miss Jade,” he said thoughtfully, “you sound like a perfectionist.”

  “Huh?” Jade lifted her head, genuinely confused. “But that’s how a basic facial cream is supposed to feel. Basic, get it? This doesn’t even meet the most basic requirements!”

  She grunted, “I don’t remember the exact recipe. Probably got the ratios wrong. I’ll have to test it again and tweak it for a better version…”

  Ashborne asked, intrigue clear in his tone, “Miss Jade, I hope you don’t mind me asking - does this cream have anything to do with the lesson Father Rochester objected to? The one about hazards in everyday items?”

  “Yeah,” Jade nodded with a sigh. “I can get the children to boil water - they understand that there are worms in it because they can see them. But I can’t tell their mothers to stop using those cosmetic products. They saved up for ages to afford them; there’s no way they’d throw them away just because I said so. I have no solid proof to offer - how am I supposed to convince them that what they’re putting on their faces will cause long-term brain and nerve damage?”

  At first, the others didn’t quite grasp what she meant by cosmetic products. But the term was straightforward enough, and soon they connected it to the powders, creams, and perfumes ladies used to improve their complexion.

  Ashborne didn’t press her on why she believed current cosmetics could cause neurological damage - it was a very specific claim, and an unusual one. Instead, his curiosity shifted elsewhere. “And the cream you made just now - its purpose was…?”

  “To replace what their mothers are using,” Jade replied, sounding defeated. “If I can make something cheaper with the same effect, they’ll switch. The lower and middle class will seriously consider it. The upper class is out of my reach - I don’t think they’d ever touch something as cheap as mine anyway.”

  Ashborne rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Soon after, he bid both the maiden and the chief clergy farewell.

  Judging by the look on that noble-doe’s face, Jade suddenly felt uneasy. “Father,” she asked quietly, “he’s not going to do something stupid… right?”

  Normally, Father Rochester would have gently corrected her rustic wording. But today - after being thoroughly impressed by her impromptu investment lecture - he chose to ignore it. Just for today.

  “Although Lord Ashborne had indeed made many poor investment decisions,” he said calmly, “he is, in fact, a very clever man - cleverer that most people realise.”

  Jade suspected the White Robe was praising the patron mainly because the patron donated generously. Bias, she thought. Still, she voiced her concern, “Um… he looked really motivated when I mentioned cosmetics just now…”

  And if he actually went around telling people that most cosmetics were poisonous, he would attract a lot of very unpleasant attention - from the manufacturers, the nobles backing them, the people desperate for beauty, and the people who would very much prefer him to shut up. It would do him absolutely no good, especially in a society that values reputation above all else.

  “Ugh!” Jade buried her face in her hands as her mind conjured an image of the noble-doe bankrupt, dressed in ragged clothes, hair unkempt and eyes still wide and innocent.

  “Dang it. I should’ve kept my mouth shut!”