Chapter 70: Late night snack

The chaos had left the Lin family facing a financial gap. To get the company back on track, they needed more investors, beyond those they had managed to win back.

In times of financial turmoil, money was the greatest help.

Lin Feng did not plan to ask for forgiveness; he just wanted to offer some compensation.

Inside the Bai family’s study, Grandpa Bai frowned at Lin Feng’s words.

"Are you sure? That’s a considerable sum. Paying it would consume most of the money your mother left you. The prenuptial agreement clearly stated that her dowry, including all the money and properties it contained, was excluded from the couple’s joint assets. Those assets now belong to you alone and have nothing to do with the Lin family. The Bai and Tang families don’t need it either."

"I’m the one who caused the problems. I don’t plan to cover everything, but I want to help at least a little."

Lin Feng did not care if it seemed hypocritical to others after everything that had happened. He just wanted to clear his conscience as someone who had taken over the body’s mess.

Seeing that Lin Feng had already made up his mind, Grandpa Bai finally nodded, picked up the phone, and dialed a number.

"Good evening, this is Bai Jian of the Bai family..."

The current Lin family patriarch, Lin Wei, the younger brother of Lin Dong, ended the call and set his phone on the table with a sigh.

He stared out the window, recalling their earlier conversation.

His nephew, Lin Feng, was back.

He actually dared to return. It seemed the boy wasn’t as cowardly as he’d thought. Or perhaps it was because his hiding place had been discovered?

Lin Wei naturally held no affection for his nephew after everything that had happened. The boy had nearly driven the already declining Lin family to bankruptcy.

After assuming the position of family head and joining forces with the elders of the other family branches, Lin Wei had decisively removed his elder brother from the family registry.

Although it wasn’t an official record, everyone in the Lin family and their social circle understood what it meant. The family had already cast Lin Dong out and no longer acknowledged him as one of their own.

That fool of an older brother, Lin Dong.

Even after losing the position of heir to Lin Wei, he had still managed to cause trouble in the end.

Lin Wei shouldn’t have shown mercy during their secret rivalry in their youth.

He should have at least disfigured that bastard’s face. If Lin Dong hadn’t possessed such a handsome face, perhaps that affair wouldn’t have escalated to this point.

.....

Lin Feng had just moved into the Bai family mansion and was finding it difficult to sleep. He tossed and turned until he finally sat up and sighed.

All that tossing and turning made him hungry. Earlier, during dinner, he hadn’t actually eaten much. Although his body looked thin and slender, his appetite was actually quite large.

As a result of not eating enough, he was now hungry.

Looking at the clock, he saw that it was already past midnight. After a brief hesitation, Lin Feng decided to quietly go to the kitchen and find something to eat.

He opened the door to his room and saw the empty hallway, with low night-lights lining the corners of the walls at regular intervals, faintly illuminating the way.

Lin Feng liked to wear robes as sleepwear, and that hadn’t changed. Wearing a white robe, he quietly walked down the stairs and approached the kitchen.

"Mmph—! Pfft. Cough, cough, cough!"

A muffled scream sounded, followed by a splash of water and a series of loud coughs.

Lin Feng almost slipped on the last flight of stairs, but thankfully, he managed to grab the railing in time.

Looking up, he faintly saw a shadow in the living room.

The voice sounded familiar, so Lin Feng tentatively asked, "Who’s there?"

The coughing finally subsided. "Third brother, you almost killed me!"

It was a young girl’s voice.

"So it’s fourth sister," Lin Feng sighed in relief. "It’s late at night. What are you doing here? Are you all right?"

Bai Jianning moved toward the kitchen, where the night-light was on.

She was holding a glass of water and a chocolate bar. She raised the chocolate bar in her hand. "I’m fine. I just got hungry while playing games, so I went downstairs to find something to eat. I was just surprised when I saw you."

Who would have thought that a white figure would suddenly appear at the corner of her vision, gliding down the stairs? For a moment, Bai Jianning thought she had seen a ghost lady in a white dress.

She looked doubtfully at her third brother’s white robes. Why was he wearing white robes in the middle of the night instead of pajamas?

Lin Feng was already inside the kitchen when he heard the girl say this. Only then did he realize that his appearance must have frightened her.

"Oh, dear." He covered his mouth in surprise and apologized. "I’m sorry. I must have scared you."

"Well, it’s not your fault. Are you hungry too?"

Lin Feng nodded gently before turning around to open the refrigerator. "Yes, so I also came down. Why are you eating chocolate? Is there nothing else to eat?"

Inside the refrigerator were plenty of ingredients, including vegetables, meat, deli cuts, and fermented products.

Bai Jianning helplessly said, "Mom doesn’t like keeping leftovers. She says they’re unhealthy. So there’s nothing to eat."

Lin Feng agreed, and then tilted his head. "Leftovers indeed aren’t healthy to eat. But there’s still plenty of food here."

The refrigerator was one of Lin Feng’s favorite appliances. With it, preserving food ingredients was much easier, whether in winter or summer, helping to reduce waste.

This was simply a household matriarch’s dream!

Behind him, Bai Jianning coughed embarrassedly. "I don’t know how to cook. Mom doesn’t like keeping instant noodles in the house. I only know how to make those."

Lin Feng paused.

Instant noodles?

An image of a cup of noodles with its lid open, steaming hot and releasing a tantalizing aroma, appeared in his mind.

Since coming to this world, Lin Feng hadn’t encountered instant noodles. He wondered if they were indeed as delicious as the ones in his memory.

He straightened up and looked back at his fourth sister. "Then you must still be hungry."

The little girl nodded. The chocolate bar had just been opened, and she hadn’t even taken a bite yet.

Lin Feng blinked. Thinking that this might be a way to start mending the relationship between the cousins, he smiled gently at the girl and asked, "Then I’ll quickly cook something. Let’s eat together."

Bai Jianning paused.

Third brother knew how to cook?

Later, she witnessed what people on the forums called a snail bride in an apron, someone capable of entering the kitchen, yet whose beauty was fit for the grand halls, so radiant that merely watching him could fill one’s stomach.