Once Yuan Si figured out what she needed to do next, she wasted no time. She took a Level 0 Spiritual Pearl from her space, held it in her hand, and began to cultivate.
Spiritual power was notoriously difficult to cultivate. In her previous life, she had reached Level 9 in her thirties, a feat accomplished through a combination of hard work, diligence, and natural aptitude.
The moment she focused her mind to begin, Yuan Si felt trickles of energy flowing from her palm into her body. Having cultivated countless times in her past life, she was an old hand at this. She expertly guided the energy to circulate through every corner of her body before it finally settled in her mind.
Once she started cultivating, Yuan Si became completely absorbed. The session lasted the entire night, and she was so focused that she didn't even notice when Li Aiping returned to sleep beside her on the kang bed.
Only when she emerged from her cultivation in the morning did she sense someone beside her. She was about to lash out instantly, but thankfully, she remembered just in time that she had transmigrated and stopped herself, narrowly averting a disaster.
Yuan Si searched her new memories. 'Sharing a bed is quite common in this world,' she mused. 'It seems people's inner worlds are so barren that couples have nothing better to do than engage in… physical activities. This leads to them popping out one kid after another, making housing a serious issue.'
After getting up, Yuan Si didn't bother washing up. The routine simply didn't exist in the original owner's memories—the girl had reached the age of six without ever having brushed her teeth. With no other options, Yuan Si simply splashed some water on her face, then sat down at the table to wait for breakfast.
Yuan Si felt ravenous. After a full night of cultivation, she felt like she could eat an entire cow.
Li Aiping entered with a stack of bowls and saw her little aunt already sitting at the table. A flicker of annoyance went through her.
'Before, when my aunt visited, she at least knew to help with the cooking,' she thought. 'But now that she's recovered from her illness, she's acting like some young lady, just waiting to be served.'
Full of resentment, she set the bowls down with a loud THUD. However, Yuan Si, the target of this ire, had no idea what it meant. In the apocalypse, there were plenty of people who acted strangely for no reason; if she had tried to analyze every one of them, she would never have survived. So, she acted as if she hadn't noticed, her eyes fixed eagerly on the doorway, waiting for the food basin to appear.
Finally, just as she was getting antsy with hunger, she saw Li Yuan'ai enter the room with the basin. Yuan Si was still polite enough—despite being famished—to wait for her second sister and brother-in-law to serve themselves. The moment they were done, however, her hand shot out, snatching the ladle and filling her bowl to the brim.
Breakfast was a coarse cornmeal porridge. Since several family members had to go to work or school and needed energy, the morning meal was always made with filling cornmeal to stave off hunger.
Yuan Si lifted her bowl and SLURP, SLURP, the whole thing was gone. A single bowl would have been enough for her yesterday, but today it was far from it. Seeing her nephews go back for a second serving, she shamelessly went to get one herself.
Li Yuan'ai was already annoyed after her daughter had complained that morning about her little aunt just waiting to be fed instead of helping. Still, she was her younger sister, and she couldn't scold her over something so small. But now, seeing her going for more porridge, she couldn't hold back her anger.
'When did Little Si get so clueless?' she fumed inwardly. 'She's not a man, she doesn't have to go out and do heavy labor. Why does she need to eat so much in the morning?'
"Little Si," Li Yuan'ai began, "we didn't make that much porridge this morning. Your brother-in-law and nephews have to work and go to school; they need an extra bowl for energy. We women don't need to eat so much. Since we aren't doing any heavy work, let's save the grain." The words were tactful, but the meaning was perfectly clear: she was being criticized for eating too much.
Yuan Si frowned in dissatisfaction. But, remembering she was still living in their home, she obediently pulled her hand back. Before Li Yuan'ai's smile of satisfaction could fully form, Yuan Si spoke up. "Alright, then. I won't eat any more porridge. Second Sister, how about you make me some dough drop soup?"
"What? More dough drop soup? Didn't you just have some last night?" The request for more dough drops made Li Yuan'ai explode. Old grievances and new resentments came flooding back.
Now Yuan Si was annoyed too. "That was for last night," she retorted. "You said you'd make me something delicious this morning to help me recover. You made a promise, so you have to keep it. Besides, you ate dinner last night, didn't you? How come you get to eat again today?"
Li Yuan'ai was struck speechless by the comeback.
"Mom, if you're making dough drop soup for Little Aunt, I want some too! Count me in!" Li Aijun slammed down his bowl and started to howl.
"Oh, get lost!" Li Yuan'ai snapped. "Where would I get the flour to make you two dough drop soup? Just eat your porridge quietly. If you won't eat, then get out!" Though she was yelling at her son, her words were clearly aimed at Yuan Si as well.
Yuan Si paid her no mind. She was firm in her belief that promises must be kept. To her, it was a fundamental principle, a simple matter of personal integrity.
But Li Yuan'ai, still smarting from the loss of half a bowl of flour yesterday, absolutely refused. Yesterday, she could console herself with the thought that her little sister was sick and she hadn't paid for a doctor, so the white flour was compensation. But she was fine today, so what was there to eat? She hadn't even been willing to spare a single bite for her own son.
Yuan Si saw her sister's firm resolve and decided a direct confrontation would be unwise. She opted for a more roundabout strategy. Once everyone had left for work and school, she climbed onto the kang bed and went straight for the cabinet where Li Yuan'ai kept the grain.
She pulled out a small bag of white flour. There really wasn't much left—two bowls' worth at the very most.
Carrying the bag of flour, Yuan Si went to the main room. She boiled some water and, using the same amount of flour as the night before, made herself just under half a pot of dough drops. She intentionally added extra water to make the portion seem larger. She had her principles, after all. Even though she was starving, she only took the same amount as she'd had last night.
"Little Aunt, what are you doing?" Li Aiping had smelled the fragrant aroma from her room. When she came out, she found her aunt secretly eating—she'd even brought out her mother's entire bag of flour! she cried, aghast.
"Making dough drop soup. Your mom promised," Yuan Si replied without looking up. She filled a bowl, sat on a small stool, and started slurping it down.
'Sigh. It's not like I have a choice,' she thought. 'To get enough food, I need to raise my power level. But to raise my power level, I need enough food. If there were any other way, I wouldn't be targeting my sister's tiny stash of flour. I'll remember this, though. Once I can get my own food, I'll pay her back double.'
"But… Mom said you already had your share last night." Li Aiping's eyes were practically glued to the pot, her mouth watering.
"That was for last night. This is the portion your mom promised me for this morning," Yuan Si insisted. 'I'm not stealing. Li Yuan'ai promised me.' As for whether her logic was twisted, she couldn't care less. Filling her stomach was her top priority.
Yuan Si heard a quiet gulp from above. It was faint, but with her powerful senses, she couldn't miss it. She lifted her little face from the bowl and asked tentatively, "You want some?"
"I… I don't think so. Mom would kill me if she came back and saw." Li Aiping looked torn. "Ah, screw it. I'm going to get yelled at no matter what. Might as well be on a full stomach." With that, she grabbed an empty bowl and began scooping soup from the pot.
'Even if she didn't eat any, her mom would come back, see that flour was missing, and scold her for not keeping a better watch. She was doomed to a scolding no matter what, so she might as well get a full stomach out of it.'
Yuan Si didn't mind. There was still a bit of flour in the bag, so it was fine if her niece had some. What she hadn't expected was that her niece would be even more ruthless than she was, polishing off the entire remaining bowl-and-a-half's worth of flour in the bag.