Phoenix Revenge System-Chapter 110: PRS 13 Liona

Before the dawn call to prayer sounded, Lura was already awake and had started lighting the fire in the stove, boiling water to make hot coffee and tea for her husband and children. The morning air was still very cold, with dew dampening the leaves around the house.

"May our efforts be more successful today," she murmured softly as she blew on the fire to get it going.

While waiting for the water to boil, she carefully cooked white rice and tiwul. Now that the family’s finances had improved, they had started consuming white rice mixed with tiwul in a 50:50 ratio.

"Thanks God, now the children can eat rice every day. Unlike before, when it was only tiwul," Lura said to herself with a grateful smile.

With rice for breakfast, her two children’s stomachs stay full longer, and this also has a significant impact on Leo and Lan’s education. They can focus better on what the teacher is saying because their stomachs are calm until noon, unlike before, when their stomachs would start to rumble after ten in the morning, causing them to lose focus on the lessons taught by the teacher in the last hours of school.

Lura, who wanted to wake her husband, saw that the blanket covering Liona was open and there were many strange items inside. Her eyes widened instantly. Her heart pounded at the unusual sight.

"Oh my God! What is this? Where did these strange items come from?" she muttered in confusion as she picked up several packages she had never seen before. "Oh my God, these are definitely not ordinary items."

Laus, who was awakened by his wife’s movements and sounds, frowned deeply, observing the strange items in his wife’s hands with a questioning look.

"What are those things, honey? I’ve never seen them before. Where did they come from?" asked Laus, rubbing his sleepy eyes.

"I don’t know, honey. It’s the first time I’ve seen them too. They were next to Liona, they just appeared out of nowhere," replied Lura with a worried yet curious tone. "They come in so many colors, they don’t look like they’re from our village." 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Liona, who had been awakened by her parents’ noisy conversation, lazily explained in her mind while yawning, "The colorful one is sprinkles for cassava chips. Mom can try it later to see how it tastes. The yellow package with a picture of a cow is beef broth, and the one with a picture of mushrooms is mushroom broth. They are used in the same way as the chicken broth you made before. It’s very tasty when added to dishes or used to marinate fish and tofu before frying."

Hearing Liona’s explanation—even though it only felt like a soft whisper in her heart—Lura immediately took the strange spices she had never seen before and hugged them tightly, as if they were priceless treasures.

"Sir, this must be a blessing from God! These items will definitely be useful for our business!" said Lura enthusiastically. "Sir, hurry up and take a shower, then pray. I’m going to the back to try these spices. I’m really curious about how they taste."

"But ma’am, be careful. We don’t know if these items are safe or not," Laus reminded her worriedly.

"Don’t worry, Sir. I’m sure it’s safe. For some reason, my heart feels at ease," Lura replied before disappearing behind the curtain with quick steps.

Laus, who wanted to follow his wife, changed his mind when he heard the call to dawn prayer echoing from the mosque not far from his house. The melodious sound of the call broke the silence of the morning.

"Okay, I’ll ask Mrs. Lura later. Now it’s time to pray first," Laus muttered as he got out of bed.

After gently waking up his three children, Laus went to the bathroom to clean himself and perform wudu.

"Leo, Lan, Lano! Wake up, let’s go to the mosque. The call to prayer has sounded," Laus called out as he shook his children’s shoulders.

"Yes, sir. Just a minute," Leo replied as he stretched.

When Laus’s children passed through the kitchen and were curious about the colorful chips in their mother’s hand, they changed their minds about approaching her after Laus told them to hurry up and take a shower and perform wudu so they could leave together for the mosque for dawn prayers.

"Come on, don’t take too long! You’ll be late!" Laus called from outside.

"Yes, sir!" replied her three children in unison.

Meanwhile, Lura had tried mixing the powdered seasoning into some of the remaining original chips in the jar. As soon as she tasted them, her eyes lit up brightly, and she couldn’t stop chewing.

"Oh my goodness! This is so delicious! Crispy, savory, and just the right amount of sweetness!" she exclaimed in disbelief. "What flavor is this? It’s like cheese but different. And this one is sweet and spicy, so refreshing!"

So far, the original flavor, which is synonymous with saltiness and the aroma of garlic, as well as the spicy flavor with the refreshing aroma of kaffir lime, has been quite popular in the market.

"If we add new flavors, this will definitely sell like hotcakes," she muttered as she continued to chew heartily.

With the addition of the three new flavors provided by Liona, Lura felt that the sales of her cassava chips this time would definitely skyrocket.

With great enthusiasm, she packed the newly made assorted-flavor chips into plastic packaging and stored them carefully.

"I think I’ll send these chips this afternoon because it would be a shame if the new flavor wasn’t included in today’s shipment," said Lura enthusiastically as she counted the number of packages. "The presentation must be perfect!"

Every two days, Laus sent five hundred pieces to the canteen lady. For now, there were only two flavors, so they divided them into two batches: two hundred and fifty pieces of onion/original flavor and two hundred and fifty pieces of spicy flavor.

After storing twenty chips that had been successfully packaged in three different flavors—since that was all that was left of the cassava chips fried the previous day—Lura immediately began cooking breakfast with great enthusiasm.

"Today has to be special! The children have to try this new flavor," she decided as she began frying the cassava.

When her husband and three children returned from the mosque with refreshed faces, warm drinks and a plate of fried cassava were ready on the table, emitting a warm, appetizing smoke.

"It smells so good, Mom! What kind of cassava is this? It’s different from usual," asked Lan, inhaling the delicious aroma.

This time, the fried cassava was also sprinkled with seasoning so that her husband and children could taste it and not open the packaged cassava chips.

The boys, seeing the colorful snacks on the table, were very excited and immediately grabbed a slice of cassava that had been cut lengthwise and sprinkled with seasoning to eat.

"Hmm, Mom! This is all so delicious!" Leo exclaimed after his first bite. "The orange one is sweet and savory, and the green one is so fresh!"

"It’s so good, Mom! What flavor is this? I’ve never tasted anything this delicious before!" added Lano with sparkling eyes.

"Mom, you can sell them like before so we can take them with us this morning," said Lan enthusiastically as he grabbed another piece. "They’ll definitely sell like hotcakes at school!"

Seeing how easy it was to make money by selling things, Lan was the most enthusiastic. Every time she tasted a delicious cake or snack, she wanted to sell it.

"Yes, I’ve made a lot. You can put them in plastic bags and pack them to take to school later," said Lura with a satisfied smile as she watched her children’s reactions. "Bring some fried cassava with different flavors, as well as grilled corn and boiled corn as usual."

"Yes, Mom! We’ll pack everything neatly!" Leo replied enthusiastically.

Hearing their mother’s words, Lan and Leo quickly finished the snacks on their plates and rushed to the kitchen to help their mother pack the food they would leave at the canteen.

"Be careful when packing, don’t let anything open," Lura told her children.

Meanwhile, Liona, who had just woken up from her deep sleep, was immediately carried by Laus to take her outside to enjoy the refreshing morning dew. The cool morning air made Liona smile slightly.

"Honey, the morning air is so fresh. Let’s go look at the backyard," said Laus as he kissed his daughter’s forehead.

"Now, with the addition of flavored seasonings, cassava chip sales will definitely increase. It’s best if mom and dad prepare a place and hire more workers so that production can be done more comfortably and freely," said Liona to herself as she looked at the area behind the house.

Laus, who heard—or rather felt—his baby’s words, also felt that this was very necessary, considering that their kitchen was not very large, so if they added workers, it would feel cramped and crowded.

"That’s right. Our kitchen is getting cramped. We need a special production area," Laus muttered as he looked around.

He deliberately took Liona for a walk to the back of the house to find out Liona’s opinion—which somehow always felt clear in his mind—about where would be a suitable location for a production area.

"There! Dad can build a production house there. Around the coconut tree," Liona’s voice whispered clearly in Laus’s mind. "Besides the land being spacious, the area is also close to the well, so the workers won’t have to go too far to get clean water for washing the cassava, sweet potatoes, and corn that will be used for production."

Seeing the designated spot—or rather, the one that came to mind—Laus decided to clear it later. At the same time, today he would climb the mountain to cut down some trees so he could use the wood to build a wooden house as his production facility.

"Yes, that place is perfect. It’s strategic and spacious," said Laus, nodding his head. "I have to start work today!"

Seeing that the sun was already high in the sky, Laus handed Liona to his wife to breastfeed while he began clearing the land where he would build his production house and moved several chicken coops to be placed near the corn field.

"Mom, I’m going to start clearing the land in the back. I’ve brought Liona to you," said Laus as he handed his daughter over.

"Yes, sir. Be careful at work. Don’t overexert yourself," said Lura as she took Lani.

Leo and Lan, who had just arrived at school and left some snacks to be sold today, immediately went to see the canteen lady to collect the money from yesterday’s sales and deliver a message from their mother.

"Good morning, ma’am!" Leo and Lan greeted her in unison.

"Oh, good morning, kids! Wow, you brought a lot of stuff again today?" greeted the canteen lady warmly.

"Oh, there are three new flavors for the ketel sticks. So, there are a total of three hundred and fifty pieces," said the canteen lady as she counted carefully. "Wow, there are more and more varieties!"

"Yes, ma’am, that’s right," replied both of them in unison with a smile.

"Wow, what are the new flavors? They must be delicious, right?" asked the canteen lady curiously as she looked at the colorful packaging.

"Oh, ma’am, my mother said that the cassava chips will be delivered this afternoon because there are three new flavors that will also be included," said Leo, clearly conveying his mother’s message.

"Are these the same flavors as the three new flavors in your cassava sticks?" asked the canteen lady, even more curious, holding one of the packages.

"Yes, ma’am, they’re the same flavors. Coincidentally, my father just got them yesterday afternoon, so they’ll be used for production this morning," Leo explained. "I tried them this morning, and they’re really delicious!"

"Wow, now I’m curious! This must be a big hit," said the canteen lady enthusiastically.

"Yes, ma’am. We tried it this morning, and it tastes different from the others. It’s better!" added Lan excitedly.

It was fine with the canteen lady to have it delivered in the afternoon because her sister would pick it up tomorrow morning to sell at the main market along with her other goods.

"It’s okay to deliver it in the afternoon. The important thing is that it’s ready for my sister to pick up tomorrow," said the canteen lady as she wrote down the order.

Because Lura’s cassava chips are very tasty and sell well in the market, she always asks for them to be delivered every two days so that customers who come don’t leave empty-handed.

"Because yesterday we ran out, ma’am. Many were disappointed because they didn’t get any," said the canteen lady. "The buyers kept asking when there would be more."

This was also to keep the regular customers buying from her, because at the central market, only her younger sister sold these cassava chips, no one else, so they had no competition.

"Ma’am. You’re like our partner. Thank you so much for helping us sell," Leo said sincerely.

"You’re welcome, son. This is mutually beneficial. May your family’s business run smoothly!" the canteen lady prayed sincerely.

"Aamiin, ma’am. Thank you for your prayers," Leo and Lan replied in unison before leaving to return to their class.

At home, Laus had already started clearing the land with enthusiasm, envisioning the production house that would stand there. Meanwhile, Lura was busy frying chips, occasionally smiling as she thought about their family’s brighter future.