The Beifong family had gathered for their usual mealtime — except this time, absence was strictly forbidden!
In addition to having a distinguished guest who was seated in the chair reserved for the grandmother — making it perfectly clear to everyone who he was — the family couldn't help but cast curious glances his way.
"Suyin, you have an excellent chef. I can tell he put a lot of effort into this meal," Jin said as the tattooed cook served his plate. "From the smell, I'd say it's wild koi elephant steak with ginger stuffing, pea sprouts, and hibiscus root salad."
Suyin looked to the chef for confirmation. After all, they didn't have a fixed menu — every dish was created by the former pirate to keep the diet varied, healthy, and rich.
"H-He's right," stammered the large man, rubbing his hands nervously, impressed that Jin had been able to identify his creation so precisely just by scent.
Jin took a bite and, after a few moments, nodded in satisfaction.
"You're skilled. Here, take this." Jin unzipped his backpack from across the room with a flick of his finger, and a thick scroll flew toward the chef. "It contains every dish (and its corresponding recipe) from my old home seventy years ago. I trust it'll serve as useful inspiration and reference. From what I know, some of them have even been lost to time."
It was one of the ways he had improvised to pass the time on the train.
The chef held the scroll carefully after hearing that, immediately eager to start studying it.
"Thank you! Please, enjoy the meal," he said with a quick bow before running off, cradling the scroll like a baby.
"Even at his age, he's eager to learn more. I'd have made him head chef back in my day," Jin laughed as he began to eat, unfazed by the many eyes watching him. "I imagine you all have questions, but it would be a shame to let such a well-prepared meal go cold. Why don't we start after dessert? Sounds fair?"
Suyin and Baatar nodded, followed by their children, and they began eating in silence.
Once the meal was over, everyone moved to the living room.
"Well then, who wants to start?" Jin asked, clapping his hands. "Huan? Maybe Opal?"
He was sure Lin had already filled Suyin in on the reasons behind his long confinement.
"Me?" Opal pointed at herself. "Uh… I heard you went to see Grandma on Ember Island. How is she?"
Not the question he expected, but he accepted it.
"As strong as a saber-tooth moose. My little sister still has plenty of fight left in her," Jin assured her. "Yes, Wing?"
"I'm Wei!" the twin said, pointing at his brother. "That's Wing."
"No, I'm quite sure you're Wing."
"How do you know?"
"You may look identical, but your chi feels different."
"Oh…"
So much for swapping identities to mess with their great-uncle.
"What did you want to ask me?"
"We know you created Pro-Bending. Could you give us your opinion on the game we made?" Wing asked.
"We call it Power Disk!" Wei added proudly.
"I assume the metal court with two nets on opposite sides and four pillars in the center is the field of play?"
"You figured it out! The rules are—"
"It reminds me of Airball from the Air Temples," Jin nodded — it was practically identical. "The game has potential, but limiting it to metalbenders will make it hard to popularize."
The twins rubbed their chins thoughtfully — that was a point they hadn't considered. Pro-Bending, in contrast, encouraged diversity, allowing all sorts of team combinations (except Airbenders, though they could borrow Firebender rules).
"You don't look a day over ninety," Huan commented softly.
"Huan!" Suyin scolded him.
"I'll take that as a compliment," Jin replied good-naturedly. Huan truly embodied the misunderstood emo artist. "Yes, Baatar?"
"Sorry, I've been thinking about what you said earlier about the model," Suyin's husband finally spoke. "You said it was a 'decent job.' Did I get something wrong? I thought I had replicated it perfectly."
For a perfectionist architect with mild OCD tendencies, those words scratched at his heart like a saber-cat.
"Oh, no, no — don't worry about that," Jin waved his hands. "Your work is good. The differences are probably due to our differing visions of the project. I also understand you made adjustments during construction as needed, right?" When Baatar nodded, Jin didn't press further. "We can discuss the finer details later if you'd like."
That seemed to ease Baatar's worries.
"Thank you."
The conversation with the new generation was pleasant — even Baatar Jr. hadn't yet awakened his rebellious streak and behaved sensibly. Contrary to Jin's expectations, he wasn't sarcastic or demanding.
After getting a sense of their personalities and interests, Jin found it easy to connect with everyone. It wasn't until nighttime that he and Suyin met alone in her office.
"I assume you have a general idea of why I came, besides meeting the family."
"I do," Suyin nodded seriously as she pulled a stack of papers from her drawer — clearly prepared long ago. "But first, take a look."
Jin placed his hand over them and used inkbending to read through them rapidly.
"These numbers make no sense!" His eyes widened. "Even accounting for the amount of metal, the cost of Zaofu's construction, supplies, personnel, and maintenance, the figures should be completely different — much higher!"
He was reviewing the family's core accounting records, estimating their current value, income, and expenses — but the numbers were strange.
"You're right. Originally, the family should have much more," Suyin sighed, rubbing her forehead. "But the Earth Queen seized several of our businesses and lands. What you see there is what we've managed to keep without her interference."
"The royal family has no reason to meddle in private business," Jin said carefully — he always paid attention to fine print.
"She issued new decrees, new taxes, and increased the existing ones," his niece explained. "The current Queen is ruthless and greedy — very greedy. The only reason Zaofu hasn't expanded further is because I fear she'd take action against us. Mother's reputation has kept her at bay… for now."
Jin's thoughts raced.
"Do we still have the wasabi business?"
That, along with sugar and golden jasmine tea, had once made him a titan among merchants.
"It's one of our main sources of income," Suyin said, pulling another document from her third drawer. "But the wasabi tax is through the roof — it's nowhere near as profitable as it used to be."
Jin took the paper and nearly choked when he saw the tax rate.
"You haven't taken any measures?"
"What could we do?" Suyin groaned, feeling a headache coming on. "It's the damn Queen!"
Ah, so Suyin was trying to play by the rules.
"Seems I'm a little out of the loop," Jin said, resting his elbow on the desk. "Tell me about this Earth Queen."
If Hou-Ting had done something to his family that he didn't yet know about…
perhaps he wouldn't wait for Zaheer to do his part.