Su Yun was thinking that she needed to be more careful once Su Yu came back — after all, she was the one who knew the original owner best in this household.
Suddenly, with a loud bang, the bedroom door was kicked open by Su’s father, slamming against the wall and sending dust raining down.
Su Yun’s heart leaped in fright. This cheap father of hers was truly terrifying — with that fierce, menacing look and all that ruckus every day, it was a miracle the kids hadn’t developed any psychological issues. They had to be incredibly resilient to survive this.
“Stupid girl! I told you to go get a shot and you didn’t go! If something really happens to you and you die in this house, how unlucky would that be!”
“People would think I mistreat you — as if I’m so poor I can’t even afford those two yuan!”
Su’s father hurled nasty words in the local dialect, his brows furrowed and eyes glaring viciously at Su Yun.
“I’ve already broken the fever today.”
“I’m fine now. I don’t need to go to the hospital…”
Su Yun quickly explained. Who knew if Su’s father was in a bad mood today? If he flew into a rage and landed a couple of punches on her, her frail body wouldn’t be able to take it! She’d just come back to life — she didn’t want to die again!
Thank goodness she’d be leaving soon. She couldn’t stay in this house — the atmosphere was too terrifying.
Having a manic lunatic ready to explode at any moment, living in constant dread with nerves on edge — it was enough to drive anyone crazy!
“If you’re better, then get out there and cook! You lazy bones — waiting for your mother to wait on you?”
Su’s father shot her another fierce glare and headed off to the bathroom.
On his way out, he spotted Su’s younger brother and — yet again — flew into a rage:
“Get over there and wipe my bicycle clean! You have no initiative at all! If it’s not spotless, just wait and see what I do to you!”
“Got it.”
Su’s younger brother turned around and rolled his eyes, but his body obediently hurried to draw water from the vat to clean the bike.
Good grief!
This cheap father of hers was practically the emperor of this household!
Su Yun left the bedroom and stepped into the kitchen to help Su’s mother.
Su’s mother was stir-frying at the stove. The Su family had two stoves — the one for stir-frying burned firewood underneath, with a large iron wok fixed onto it.
In the corner, there was also a coal stove with a large aluminum kettle on top.
Back then, the original owner would wash and chop the vegetables in advance, and Su’s mother would just toss them into the wok when she got home.
The reason the original owner wasn’t made to do the actual cooking was that both Su’s father and mother were extremely particular about food and knew good eating.
They often ate out at state-run restaurants — loyal customers, really — and bought snacks and pastries every day. Most of their money went to food, so after decades, they barely had any savings.
And the original owner’s cooking wasn’t good — well, it wasn’t terrible either, just average. But for the two of them, it was simply inedible.
Su’s mother herself was a decent cook. Interestingly enough, in an era where men rarely set foot in the kitchen, Su’s father could actually cook quite well!
He excelled at meat dishes. Whenever Su’s mother had a craving, he’d buy some meat himself and cook it just for her.
Of course, the kids could only catch a whiff. As Su’s father would say: “You little brats can go eat farts!”
Su Yun silently went to help tend the fire. Thankfully, she had the original owner’s memories — she’d never even seen a wood-burning stove before. In her childhood, they’d used LPG, and later natural gas. How was she supposed to know how to stoke a fire!
She glanced at the wok. They were stir-frying flat beans — a vegetable the Su family ate often, according to her memories.
Maybe it was because it wasn’t widely eaten in many places, but Su Yun had never even seen this kind of bean in her past life — let alone eaten it. She’d never spotted it in supermarkets or wet markets either.
The flat bean was long, flat, and very thin — about the length of a finger and two fingers wide. When young, it was a pale purple with a hint of green; when older, it turned deep purple.
Like green beans, you had to pull off the strings on both sides first. When cooking, you could toss them in whole, add a bit of water, and stew them until soft;
Or you could slice them into strips, toss in dried chili peppers and vinegar, and stir-fry until crisp — a great accompaniment to rice.
Su’s mother was now stir-frying the shredded flat beans and was just about to plate them.
Su Yun had just tossed another piece of firewood into the stove when a plate of these beans was suddenly shoved in front of her face. She looked up at Su’s mother in confusion.
“What are you staring at? Take it to the table. Dull and dimwitted — just looking at you annoys me!”
Su Yun took the plate and turned away without a word. What a despicable couple! Thank goodness she wasn’t the original owner — otherwise, being born into this kind of family would be truly tragic!
But for now, she’d just have to keep her head down and endure it for a few days.
She placed the dish on the table in the main room and, in a fit of indignation, pinched a strip of the flat bean into her mouth. It was tangy, spicy, and quite tasty!
Su Yun decided not to go back into the kitchen. Since she hadn’t prepped the vegetables today, Su’s mother wouldn’t go out of her way to make more. There’d probably be just this one dish — no second course.
Of course, if Su’s father specifically asked for something, that would be a different story.
Walking into the yard, she watched Su’s younger brother meticulously polishing the bicycle until it gleamed. An idea struck Su Yun — if she checked in here in the yard, would she get a bicycle?
Worth a try!
She decisively summoned the system interface and pressed the check-in button.
[Check-in successful! Location: Su Family Courtyard]
[Congratulations, host! You have received: 20 yellow apricots]
Su Yun was a bit surprised. Right now, a lush pine tree stood in the corner of the yard.
But from the original owner’s childhood memories, there used to be an apricot tree there!
So the check-in system could not only produce items currently present in a place, but also things that had once existed there!
Su Yun was so thrilled she nearly hopped up and down on the spot!
She had 4 check-in attempts left. She definitely needed to go out for a stroll tomorrow and figure out where best to use them.
In a few days, she’d be heading to the countryside. Su’s father and mother certainly wouldn’t be kind enough to prepare anything for her. She had no money and no ration coupons — she could only rely on the check-in system to save her.
Lost in thought, Su Yun entered her room. Craving a taste of the apricots, she decided to sneak one before Su Yu came back.
She locked the door, took an apricot out of the grid, and examined it. The skin was quite clean. The air back then was good, with little pollution — generally, fruit could be eaten straight off the tree without dusting it off.
The apricot was the size of an egg, golden-yellow with tiny ripe orange-red speckles. It was more sweet than tart and had an excellent flavor. Su Yun tried putting the bitten apricot back into the storage grid — and it actually went back into its original slot!
She experimented with other items from the room.
She found that anything obtained through check-in could be returned to its original storage grid, no matter what state it was in, and would stack with identical items.
As for things she picked up from outside, she could put several items together in one container, using up only a single grid slot.
That meant if she got a few baskets later, she wouldn’t have to worry about running out of grid space!
Her eyes sparkling, Su Yun quickly finished the apricot in two bites, stuffed the pit into the storage grid, and planned to toss it out later when she had the chance.
Speaking of apricots — that reminded her of the poor apricot tree that had once stood in that corner!
The Su family’s apricot tree had grown wonderfully. When the fruit ripened, the eldest brother would pick them for his younger siblings to eat. They were one of the few treats the kids ever had, and all four cherished them.
However, the tree grew so well that its branches spread beyond the courtyard wall, and the neighbor Wang family’s kid climbed up a ladder and stole a few to eat.
Normally, a child snatching a few fruits from outside wasn’t a big deal.
But when Su’s father found out, he flew into a rage!
The reason was that Wang’s father and Su’s father had a long-standing grudge — they’d been fighting since they were young.
And as it happened, Su’s father had just been chewed out by his boss that day. Blinded by fury, he grabbed an axe and went straight for the tree, hacking and cursing with every swing.
But Su’s father had never chopped down a tree before, and the axe was rusty to boot. It took him a full half-hour to bring down a tree as thick as a man’s thigh.
All the while, Wang’s father leaned over the wall, watching him rage impotently, occasionally bursting into laughter and taunting him for being useless, telling him to put more muscle into it.
Embarrassed and even angrier, Su’s father dragged the teenage eldest brother out and gave him a thrashing to vent his frustration.
It was only after that incident that the Su family’s wall was lined with shards of broken glass.
And the pine tree now standing in the yard wasn’t planted until several years later.