Chenchen's wide eyes blinked up at her as he slowly began to chew, as if he had seen a holy figure descend to silence him.
"Come, everyone! Sit down and eat!" Father Bai said heartily. "Yinyin, your sister, made breakfast. If you're slow, there'll be nothing left."
Father Bai had to emphasize her name. Seeing how dumbfounded his foolish sons are and with Chenchen almost dropping his bun, the man can only shook his head.
These idiots.
After hearing their father, Fengyu and Yifan stared intently and had to make second glance. And still, no matter how much they look, they couldn't just see any resemblance.
That's really their sister? That Bai Feiyin?
Did she somehow undergo metamorphosis after being possess by a howling banshee every night during the past days?
The brothers, still confused, obediently grabbed their bowls and chopsticks and began digging in.
Bai Feiyin sat at the table, watching them with calm eyes, her expression unreadable. All of them, except Bai Yehan—who was quietly observing her—stole glances at her now and then.
"Is it good?" she asked casually.
Her brothers nodded with full mouths, too busy devouring the meal to answer properly.
The food was too delicious.
Bai Yifan continued to devour the food, not wanting to get a meat less than his older brother. He had not been this focused in his life. His fighting spirit ignited and became even more determined than he was whenever he flips the bamboo scrolls to read every night.
The eldest Bang Fengyun, undeterred, is in his third bowl.
Even the stoic Bai Yehan, who usually said little, had already returned for seconds.
During this moment, among her brothers, the youngster was the only person who could accommodate her question, seeing no one bothered to answer with their mouths full.
"The seasoning is perfect. The skin is crispy, and the inside is still juicy," he commented with quiet appreciation as he bit into a golden fried wing.
"The buns are pack with meat and the dumplings with chives are equally tasty."
Even the grains of rice were very fragrant. They could eat white rice because they farm but he knew it wasn't this smooth and fragnant. Even so, Bai Yehan didn't want to sullen the mood by trying to inquire where she got the food she served everyone.
'Nevermind. She looks happy.'
Seeing the rare look of satisfaction on her twin's face, Bai Feiyin's lips curled into a gentle smile.
Good. He likes it.
In her first life, Bai Yehan had been her closest sibling. Though they had always argued because of her stubborn character, he had never truly been angry with her. He had always indulged her and protected her in quiet ways.
She could still remember how he had been crippled in the army, all for the sake of earning her dowry. He had died young and poor.
But now… she was back.
Brother, this time, it will be my turn to dote on you.
After awakening the Hong's serpent eyes in this life, Bai Feiyin had also unexpectedly gained access to her previous life's spiritual authority, a spatial skill with a system bound to her vast business empire.
Though she had died young in that life, the companies she had built continued to operate and expand. The system connected to her now granted her a fixed monthly return: 0.0001% of the current value of her former empire.
Her food business alone had grown into a massive chain worth 590 billion dollars.
That meant she was now passively earning $590,000 a month—an absurd amount for someone living in the countryside.
This very morning, she had tested her ability by summoning several plates of fried chicken and other dishes from one of her affiliated restaurants. The result had been perfect.
Bai family had a scrumptious meal and she only paid a little over a hundred.
No one had to know she had not cooked it herself. In fact, she had tried last night, but… she decided to leave that memory buried along with the charred poor sacrifice that she had to utilize.
Her original companies were no longer important. As long as they remained operational, she could convert their value into spiritual stones—precious items in this world that could strengthen her and protect her family.
It was an incredible advantage. An unexpected blessing born out of a tragic past life.
Last night, however, when Nam Haejin had tested the feature, she had nearly passed out and coughed out blood in anger.
"So, the currency conversion from dollar to Mezo is 10:1. That's doesn't actually sound so bad but what's this?"
Bai Feiyin scrolled the holographic screen that keeps blinking, "A conversion fee of a low-grade stone each trade capped at 100 Mezos? Then how much is..." her jaws dropped like heavy dumbbells.
"What the hell?!"
Does this fraudulent System think she's a pushover?
"Why don't you just rob a bank?!"
A single low-grade shard of spiritual stone was worth $1,000.
A total of twelve shards are needed to be refined for a single low-grade spiritual stone. And the refining costs doesn't come cheaply either because refiners use large amount of mental energy in refining.
The higher their level, the higher the capacity of their mental spirit.
She doesn't know how skilled the refiners in Lower Realm but for this pitiful world akin to a normal society even at elementary level they ought to have a very high position and hold great authority.
As long as they can create pills regardless of it's purity, they'd be regarded as some divine healers by ignorant people. So that makes them basically higher than some local bosses.
Those important people are already tied in the Capital. Not to mention, with their arrogant characters, they will not go to the backwater place. This tiny village would have no such esteem characters.
Sigh.
The stench of poverty and helplessness is starting plague her.
Even if she still had her riches, buying anything so riduculously expensive would make her spleen and kidney bleed!
She was a refiner in her second life. If she had better resources and equiments right now, she could produce any pill below level 5. But with her current wallet, producing anything useful right now is next to zero.
Right now, besides finding that damn Hong, her priority is to improve the living condition of her family.
Upon seeing the satisfied look of her family with the meal just now, Bai Feiyin just had the most feasible idea how to legitimately earn money without paying that extremely high currency conversion.
Meanwhile, at the dining table, everything had already been devoured.
Little Chenchen looked at the empty plates, his eyes beginning to fill with tears.
"Chenchen only ate one piece of that yummy chicken. Big brothers are so mean. You didn't left Chenchen the last piece. Boohoo!"
Hearing this, all three brothers, even father Bai pretended to cough and look away. Well, it seems that they forgot about him and got distracted because of the unique taste of the dishes. How could they remember him when they, themselves, are trying to get more dish on their plate and fill their stomachs before everything is eaten away.
This is quite embarrassing. The brothers' cheeks are flushed red. Particularly Fengyu who always dotes on the youngest but seemed to have lost focused today.
"Xiao Chen..." Fengyun bashfully wiped his oil-smeared lips.
But before he could say something to coax the crying boy, a melodious voice chimed in.
"Chenchen? Here, have sister's chicken. Don't cry, okay? Sister will make more later."
"Sister Yinyin..." The boy sniffled and nodded.
Bai Feiyin reached out to place her last piece of meat into Chenchen's bowl.
But then her mother suddenly asked, "By the way, has anyone seen the old rooster today? I didn't hear it crow this morning…"
Wait—rooster?
Chicken...
Golden fried chicken...
Everyone froze.
Ah!
Their eyes slowly moved to the bones in their bowls.
Then to the meat in Chenchen's bowl.
Then to Bai Feiyin.
Her hand stopped mid-air.
She blinked slowly, then smiled innocently.
"… Should I cook again for lunch, Mother?"
"…"
Ah, the family's precious old hen is now widowed.