Chapter 10: A New Morning’s Reality

The next morning, as the sun just began to peek over the horizon, the family residential building already buzzed with activity. The sounds of daily life crackled through the air, signaling that those heading to work and school were now awake.

Xiang Chen, still half-asleep, heard the murmur of voices—adults and children alike.

He rubbed his eyes, his mind still foggy. ‘Why are there people in my house?’ he wondered, ‘I live alone. It must be a dream.’

Xiang Chen rolled over, intending to drift back to sleep. Yet, the coarse fabric of the pillowcase against his cheek was distinctly unlike the soft pillows he had at home.

With a jolt, Xiang Chen sat upright, his gaze sweeping blankly across the cramped room. His bed was pressed against a cold, concrete wall.

After a moment of bewildered silence, the stark reality crashed over him: he had transmigrated.

The Chen family was already awake. Cai Zhen had prepared a thin porridge, and now she, Chen Guoliang, and the children—Chen Fen and Chen Fang, who were off to school—gathered around the small square table to eat.

Today, their breakfast was not the usual sweet corn porridge. Instead, wild vegetables mixed with a little sorghum rice resulted in a gruel that was bluish-black and, unlike corn porridge, rather astringent.

Chen Fen’s face was a mask of displeasure as she ate her porridge; the reason was obvious. However, having missed dinner the previous night, she was ravenously hungry now, forcing herself to gulp down spoonfuls despite her irritation.

“Little brother is awake,” Chen Xiaohua announced to Cai Zhen, having spotted Xiang Chen still sitting dazedly on the bed.

Chen Fen shot her a sharp glare, muttering under her breath, ‘Who’s your little brother…?’

Cai Zhen, pretending not to hear, smiled warmly at Xiang Chen. “I wanted you to sleep in a little longer,” she said. “Shall Mama hold you while you eat your porridge?”

Xiang Chen shook his head, then carefully climbed off the bed. He put on his shoes and walked over to the table.

The shoes he wore were the same old cloth pair Cai Zhen had found for him yesterday, originally belonging to Chen Xiaohua.

They had first been Chen Fen’s, then passed to Chen Fang. Long before they could be worn out, they had become too small, eventually landing with Chen Xiaohua.

When Xiang Chen first received the shoes, he stared at the red fabric adorned with embroidered flowers. After a moment of silent contemplation, he conceded, ‘Well, at least I won’t have to go barefoot.’

He walked over to Cai Zhen. Chen Guoliang was finishing his last bite of momo.

Xiang Chen observed that only Chen Guoliang, his wife, and Chen Fen had received one momo each; even Chen Fang was without. The other children were only given porridge, leading him to believe his share would be the same.

Sure enough, Cai Zhen filled his bowl with barely half a serving of the thin, watery porridge—even less than the thick gruel he had devoured the night before. ‘Surely,’ he thought, ‘she must know my appetite after seeing me finish that.’

“Is that little bit enough?” Chen Guoliang asked casually, wiping his mouth.

“Plenty, plenty, of course it’s enough,” Cai Zhen interjected. “He’s so young; children don’t understand hunger or fullness. If you give them too much, they’ll eat it all and burst their stomachs.”

Hearing this, Chen Guoliang said nothing further. He rose to put on his jacket, and Cai Zhen promptly handed him his lunchbox. He took it and departed.

Xiang Chen held his bowl in silence. ‘When beneath another’s eaves, one must bow one’s head,’ he thought. Last night, Old Lady Chen had been there to advocate for him, but today, if he dared to complain about the meager portion, Cai Zhen had already preemptively stifled any protest.

The sorghum and wild vegetable porridge was truly unappetizing; Xiang Chen nearly gagged on his first mouthful. He forced himself to swallow, a profound sense of injustice welling within him.

‘I was a carefree young master with five properties,’ he thought, ‘how did my life devolve into this? The transmigration god has been far too cruel to me. If only I could go back…’

Before Xiang Chen could even finish his melancholy thoughts, the meager porridge he’d only taken two sips from was suddenly snatched away.

He looked up to see Chen Fen giving him a cold smirk before she tilted her head back and gulped down the rest of his porridge in a few quick swallows.

Xiang Chen was dumbfounded. ‘This kind of thing actually happens?’ he thought. ‘I’ve already drunk from it. Doesn’t she find it unhygienic?’

Chen Fen, of course, had no such qualms. In these times, simply having food was a blessing; there was no room for picky behavior.

After draining the bowl, she set it before Xiang Chen, murmured something to Cai Zhen, and then turned to leave for school.

Chen Fang quickly scurried out, trailing right behind her. Both sisters attended the same school, with one in sixth grade and the other in second.

Chen Fang should have been in third grade, but her abysmal grades had prevented her promotion, forcing her to repeat the year. Chen Fen, finding her a source of embarrassment, typically pretended not to know her at school.

Cai Zhen had witnessed Chen Fen snatching Xiang Chen’s porridge from start to finish, yet she behaved as though she hadn’t seen a thing.

Still smiling, she told Xiang Chen, “You’ve eaten your fill, so go play. Mama has to go to work now.” With that, she began collecting the bowls and basins from the table.

After Cai Zhen finished washing the dishes, Old Zhang’s wife from downstairs called out for her, asking if she wanted to walk to work together.

Cai Zhen responded, then instructed Chen Xiaohua to watch over her little brother and take care of her little sister. She then stepped outside, locked the door, and departed.

Cai Zhen and Chen Guoliang did not work at the same factory. Qingjiang City, a significant industrial hub, boasted its largest factory not in the Iron Foundry, but in the Machine Manufacturing Plant located directly opposite it.

This Machine Manufacturing Plant, formally known as Hua Province First Machine Manufacturing Plant, was clearly a major provincial enterprise. Consequently, its salaries and benefits were considerably superior.

Thus, while Chen Guoliang labored at the Iron Foundry, Cai Zhen’s family had leveraged their connections early on to secure her a position at the Machine Manufacturing Plant.

However, gaining entry into influential or lucrative departments like the factory committee, union, logistics, or procurement proved impossible for her.

It was only after her father, Cai Hongzhi, pleaded countless times that she was finally placed in the relatively leisurely printing room, a department with no significant perks but offering decent pay and light work.

Given the vast number of workers across both factories, along with their families—easily numbering over one hundred thousand—the area boasted comprehensive amenities, including ample schools and hospitals.

The Machine Manufacturing Plant’s affiliated school was renowned for having the best educational quality in the city, admitting only the children of its employees.

It was here, at the Machine Manufacturing Plant Affiliated Primary School, that Chen Fen and Chen Fang received their education.

Furthermore, strictly speaking, the apartment Chen Guoliang now occupied was not part of the Iron Foundry’s residential complex, but rather the Machine Manufacturing Plant’s.

The small bungalow they had lived in previously had been the actual allocation from Chen Guoliang’s unit.

When the Machine Manufacturing Plant constructed new apartment buildings, all the employees eagerly yearned for a unit; who wouldn’t want to live in a modern apartment?

By rights, even though Cai Zhen was an employee of the plant, she would not have been allocated this particular flat.

Instead, she exchanged her own larger bungalow for this apartment with the family to whom it had been allocated, paying a substantial amount in both cash and grain. This costly exchange was one of the primary reasons the Chen family now found themselves in such strained financial circumstances.

The other family, burdened by a large household of over ten members, from elderly to infants, simply could not fit into their allocated apartment. It was only out of sheer necessity that they reluctantly agreed to the exchange.

Despite acquiring the apartment through such a direct exchange, Cai Zhen presented it to the Chen family as a result of her father’s significant efforts.

She wished for them to remember his benevolence and influence, thereby discouraging any disrespect towards her. Chen Guoliang, deeming it a minor detail, was simply content with the prestige of living in an apartment and largely disregarded the rest.

Consequently, the building was predominantly occupied by Machine Manufacturing Plant employees. There were, however, two or three other households, similar to Cai Zhen’s, where the spouses worked at different factories.

These families had either been allocated their units directly or acquired them through an exchange.

This morning’s caller, Mrs. Zhang from downstairs, had a husband who also worked at the Iron Foundry alongside Chen Guoliang. Their families shared a decent friendship, which was why she had called for Cai Zhen to walk to work together.

When Cai Zhen departed, she locked the door. Ordinarily, she wouldn’t confine Chen Xiaohua indoors, but her sole concern was preventing Xiang Chen from escaping.

Xiang Chen stood on tiptoes, peering outside, but the window was too high for him to see anything. With a soft patter, he returned to his small bed and retrieved the dried sweet potatoes he had hidden beneath his pillow.

Unfolding the newspaper that wrapped them, Xiang Chen picked up a piece of dried sweet potato and promptly popped it into his mouth. He never imagined a day would come when he craved such a simple snack so intensely.

His small teeth worked laboriously to finish one piece of dried sweet potato. Xiang Chen rubbed his slightly aching jaw, then lowered his gaze to the two remaining pieces in his hand, a furrow of worry appearing on his brow.

‘Even if I eat one a day,’ he mused, ‘they’ll only last three days. How am I supposed to survive the rest of the time?’

As he pondered his predicament, the sleeping infant suddenly stirred, beginning to whimper and cry. Chen Xiaohua immediately approached, skillfully checked the child’s diaper, and then gently patted her. In no time at all, she had successfully calmed the baby.

Xiang Chen stared, dumbfounded. ‘This little girl is incredibly capable!’ he thought.

After successfully soothing her little sister, Chen Xiaohua turned her head and, noticing Xiang Chen staring, offered him a shy smile.

Xiang Chen paused, then, assuming she was hungry, he took one of his dried sweet potatoes and offered it to her.

This time, however, Chen Xiaohua didn’t take it. Instead, she gently pushed his hand back. “Little brother, you eat,” she insisted.

She knew her older sister had taken his porridge, and he must be hungrier than she was. There was no way she could eat his dried sweet potato.

Understanding the little girl’s intentions, Xiang Chen couldn’t help but break into a wide smile. Since his transmigration, she was, without a doubt, the kindest and most adorable person he had encountered.

Xiang Chen gently placed the dried sweet potato into Chen Xiaohua’s hand, then held up his own remaining piece. “I still have this one,” he assured her, “you eat.” With that, he took a bite of his own, thinking, ‘Just eat it all. Chen Fen will only snatch it anyway, so it’s better to get it into my stomach.’

Seeing this, Chen Xiaohua proceeded to eat the dried sweet potato in her hand. The thin broth from breakfast had done little to satiate their hunger, and both children were still ravenous.

With the dried sweet potatoes gone and nothing else to occupy them, Xiang Chen wandered around the room a few times, searching for a suitable hiding spot.

His small pouch, perpetually hanging on him, felt far too precarious. Should his clothes get wet or someone attempt to remove them, the pouch—and its precious contents—would be lost.

Xiang Chen was, after all, depending on that large gold ring to ensure he could eat his fill.

After circling the room several times, he found no suitable place to conceal anything. In this tiny, palm-sized space, every corner seemed exposed. Xiang Chen frowned and gave up, deciding he would wait until he could go outside to look again.

After spending the morning playing cat’s cradle with Chen Xiaohua, Cai Zhen returned first at noon to prepare lunch. It was once again porridge with black momo.

This time, Xiang Chen and Chen Xiaohua shared one between them, while Chen Fen and Chen Fang each received a whole one.

This time, Xiang Chen learned his lesson. The moment he received his food, he quickly crammed it into his mouth, making sure to hold onto it tightly, regardless of whether he could finish it all.

He had decided that if Chen Fen tried to snatch his food again, he would simply cry. Otherwise, he feared he might starve to death.

Thankfully, Chen Fen seemed to sense his determination this time. She merely snorted, ignoring him.

After lunch, Cai Zhen left to discuss Xiang Chen’s situation with her parents. Chen Fen and Chen Fang, meanwhile, quickly grabbed their school bags and ran off, leaving Xiang Chen and Chen Xiaohua locked inside the room once more.

That evening, Chen Guoliang returned, looking utterly exhausted. Cai Zhen handed him his meal, then began to recount her day’s findings.

Cai Zhen explained that she had pleaded with her father for a long time, but he said that since the child wasn’t born in the city and lacked a birth certificate, getting a household registration would be difficult and require finding more connections.

Chen Guoliang frowned, yet he dared not say much, for he still needed to rely on his father-in-law. He simply nodded, remaining silent.

Another day passed. Xiang Chen lay on the hard wooden bed, listening to Chen Guoliang’s usual loud snoring. He clutched his rumbling stomach, eventually drifting off to sleep.