“Mommy, Mommy, it smells so good! Tuantuan wants some, Tuantuan wants it too…” A child’s milky voice drifted from the neighboring yard, followed by exaggerated sniffing sounds.

“Tuantuan be good, Mommy will get you a pancake.”

Li Shi comforted Tuantuan helplessly. She had no idea what the two Lin girls next door were eating, but the aroma was incredibly enticing. Not only was her Tuantuan captivated, but even she, after smelling it for a while in the yard, was practically drooling.

“No… I don’t want it! I want to eat that yummy-smelling thing!”

Tuantuan didn’t understand where this delicious smell was coming from, but he really, really wanted to eat it. Tears welled up in his eyes like little pearls, ready to fall.

Li Shi bent down to pick him up, comforting him, “How about Mommy boils an egg for you?”

Usually, getting an egg was a rare treat, and the little one loved it dearly. But today was different. Even the egg couldn’t calm him down. Tuantuan cried even harder.

Next door, Lin Zhi and Lin Yutang naturally heard the commotion. Lin Yutang looked at Lin Zhi, waiting for her decision.

Lin Zhi said hesitantly, “Uncle Li and Aunt Li usually take good care of us. Sometimes when I go out to work, they often bring you food. But this noodle… the packaging… it looks…”

Lin Yutang understood her sister’s concern. “No problem, I have an idea!”

She slipped into her space and came out a moment later with three packs of bagged instant noodles. She removed the packaging, placed the noodle blocks in a basket, put the seasoning packets in a small jar, and left out the vegetable packet.

Then, Lin Zhi carried the items and went to knock on the door of the Li family next door.

Hearing the knock, Li Shi, still holding Tuantuan, came to open the door. She saw Lin Zhi standing there with a basket, looking slightly embarrassed. The little one’s crying must have been heard by the two girls.

“Aunt Li, these are the noodles we were eating just now. We made too much, so we brought some for you.”

“Oh, you kids… You two don’t have it easy yourselves. Keep it for yourselves!” Aunt Li hurriedly refused.

“Aunt Li, please take it. Thank you for always looking after Xiaotang. It’s just some noodles, not worth much.”

As she spoke, Lin Zhi opened the basket and explained to Aunt Li, “This is a new food I came up with. You boil these noodles in water, and you can add some vegetables too. Finally, just put this seasoning in the bowl.”

Seeing Lin Zhi’s insistence, Li Shi reluctantly accepted it. “Well then, thank you, Lin girl! I’ll return the basket to you later.”

“No rush, Auntie. Hurry up and make it for little Tuantuan.” She had already seen Tuantuan’s drool dripping down to his chin—hahahaha!

Returning home, she sat down with Lin Yutang in the inner room to discuss their business plans. With her cheat-like spatial ability, Lin Yutang naturally wouldn’t let her sister go out to do odd jobs anymore.

Before they could say much, a sharp, shrill voice sounded from outside:

“You two little sluts, how dare you rebel! Eating meat at home and not even thinking to share some with your aunt? Open this door now!”

“Oh no, it’s Auntie!” Lin Zhi jumped up as if facing a great enemy.

Lin Yutang: Of course. Nightmare relatives exist in every era, huh!

“Stay inside for now. Don’t let Auntie’s family know you’ve recovered yet, or who knows how they’ll try to boss us around,” Lin Zhi said as she walked out to open the door.

“You dead girl, why did you take so long to open the door? Hiding the meat?”

Liu Shi pushed Lin Zhi aside as soon as she entered and marched straight toward the kitchen. She had heard from Granny Zhao that she’d smelled meat while passing by their house, so she had dropped her bowl and rushed over.

“Auntie, we didn’t eat any meat,” Lin Zhi said helplessly, following behind her.

“Stop lying! I can still smell the delicious aroma since I entered. Hand it over now, or you’ll regret it!”

“Really, we didn’t. We just ate noodles. See for yourself if you don’t believe me.” Lin Zhi pointed to the leftover instant noodles in the bowl. Fortunately, she had found the cup awkward to hold earlier, so she had transferred the noodles to a bowl and eaten them with chopsticks.

Liu Shi scrutinized the bowl carefully. It really did only contain noodles, and the enticing aroma was indeed coming from that very bowl.

“It must have been cooked in meat broth, then! Where did you get the money to eat so well?”

Just as Liu Shi was about to continue her tirade, she suddenly heard a noise from the inner room. She pushed past Lin Zhi and hurried inside, leaving Lin Zhi flustered and unable to stop her. Please, let my sister play the fool convincingly!

As soon as Liu Shi entered, she saw Lin Yutang, her head swathed in bandages, slowly rising from the bed.

Then, moving in a bizarre manner—left hand forming a six, right hand a seven, legs turned inward, mouth and eyes crooked—she began shuffling toward them.

Liu Shi was stunned. Lin Zhi was even more stunned. My sister is really going for it!

Taking advantage of Liu Shi’s confusion, Lin Yutang shuffled right up to her. With slurred speech and drool spraying, she yelled at Liu Shi, “Ugly monster! Ugly monster!”

Liu Shi shrieked and dodged away. She was going mad! This idiot actually called her an ugly monster!

Lin Zhi quickly caught on to her sister’s act. Weeping, she said to Liu Shi:

“Auntie, please have some mercy! We really have no money. The neighbor just gave us some noodles today, that’s all. Xiaotang took a fall and is even worse than before. I didn’t even go out to work today. How could we possibly have any money? Wuwuwu…”

Hearing the commotion, Aunt Li next door rushed to fetch the village chief.

By the time the village chief arrived, Liu Shi was pointing at Lin Zhi’s nose and screaming, “You little slut! If you don’t hand over some money today, just see how I deal with you!”

Lin Zhi, after all, was only in her teens. Faced with such a vicious woman, she was genuinely terrified and cried pitifully.

Suddenly noticing the village chief and a few curious neighbors gathering outside, she knew the timing was perfect!

“Auntie, we really have no money. And as you can see, Xiaotang’s condition has gotten much worse after her fall. How about this—lend me 20 taels of silver first? I urgently need to get Xiaotang medical treatment. I’ll work hard and pay you back slowly in the future!”

Liu Shi spat on the ground. “What wishful thinking! Selling both of you wouldn’t even fetch 20 taels! Don’t even think about borrowing a single coin from me!”

Lin Zhi cried even louder, dropping to her knees and clutching Liu Shi’s leg. “Auntie, we’re family! You can’t just stand by and watch us die!”

“To hell with family! I am NOT family with you!” Liu Shi tried to kick Lin Zhi away, but fortunately, the village chief stepped in and stopped her.

“Liu Shi, what are you doing?” the village chief asked sternly, helping Lin Zhi up.

“Village Chief, it’s nothing serious. I was just visiting,” Liu Shi said with an ingratiating smile.

“Wuwuwu… Village Chief Grandpa, we urgently need money, but Auntie refuses to lend us any,” Lin Zhi sobbed.

“Liu Shi, as their aunt, by reason and by heart, you cannot abandon these children!” the village chief said solemnly.

These two deadweights will never pay me back if I lend them money. And that idiot Lin Yutang will probably stay a fool for life. Such bad luck! I mustn’t get entangled with them! Liu Shi thought to herself.

“Auntie, you can’t just abandon us! Do you… do you want to sever all family ties with us?” Lin Zhi, sensing Liu Shi’s intention, decided to pour oil on the fire.

“You said it yourself! Village Chief, you heard her! This girl herself said she wants to cut ties with our family!” Shamelessness makes one invincible!

Ignoring the disdainful looks from everyone, Liu Shi pressed on: “Let the village chief bear witness today! From now on, our family has nothing to do with these two girls!” Having said that, she turned and fled in a flash.

The village chief could only shake his head helplessly. These two girls have no other relatives left. How will they survive from now on?

Little did he know, the Lin sisters were inwardly overjoyed. They could hardly wait to celebrate with some fried chicken!