When Yang Yuan finally woke up, her eyes were still sore.
After dropping that bombshell the night before, she’d run straight back to her room and buried herself under the blankets. The more she cried, the more wronged she felt. She’d cried until her pillow was soaked, and she had no idea when she’d eventually fallen asleep.
Her stomach growled loudly.
She was starving.
The house was unusually quiet.
Neither her father nor her mother was home. Hearing movement in the courtyard, Yang Yuan walked outside and found Yang Wenping washing clothes, pouring hot water from a kettle into a large wooden washbasin.
“Fourth Brother.”
Her footsteps were so light that Yang Wenping didn’t notice her until she spoke.
“You’re up?”
He looked up at her. His face was expressionless, and his tone was calm, but Yang Yuan immediately noticed the dark circles under his eyes.
Yang Wenping brought over the family’s only washbasin, mixed warm water for her, then set out a toothbrush and tooth powder.
He took care of everything for her.
He was so attentive that even someone as thick-skinned as Yang Yuan felt embarrassed.
After all, he’d just gone through one of the biggest crises of his life.
In this era, broken engagements were extremely rare. Divorce was almost unheard of. Once an engagement was arranged, the woman was essentially considered part of the family already.
What Zheng Yuyin had done was, by the standards of the time, no different from cheating on her fiancé.
Smacking her lips awkwardly, Yang Yuan asked,
“Fourth Brother, why didn’t you go to the neighborhood committee today?”
“I’m taking a few days off.”
“I’ll go back after your job is settled.”
“Oh.”
So he planned to stay by her side every step of the way until everything was resolved.
After a pause, he continued,
“Mom took half a day off this morning to borrow money for you. She’ll be back soon.”
“…She wasn’t really angry with you yesterday.”
Putting down the laundry in his hands, he looked at her seriously.
“Second Brother-in-law told her you’ve been working on this for several days already—that all that’s left is the paperwork. You hadn’t even planned on telling the family and intended to come up with the money yourself.”
“She didn’t believe him at first. She thought you weren’t bold enough to do something like that.”
“Then she brought Dad home and asked him about it. He didn’t know anything either.”
“When the two of you still hadn’t come home after a long time, she started imagining the worst… She thought you’d done something… improper.”
“That’s why she got so angry.”
Yang Yuan quietly listened.
“Dad told me to explain it to you properly.”
“Mom isn’t against you buying the job.”
“And it’s not that she doesn’t want to spend money on you.”
“We’re a family with six children.”
“Out of all of us… you’re the one she loves the most.”
“So when she suddenly heard what Brother-in-law said, she felt like you’d started keeping secrets from her.”
He pointed toward the kitchen.
“Breakfast was made by Mom.”
“She even cooked your favorite chive and egg pancakes.”
“When she comes back… don’t stay mad at her.”
His voice was unusually gentle.
Yang Yuan felt her throat tighten.
In a muffled voice, she said,
“I’m not distant from Mom.”
She hadn’t expected Yang’s mother to notice.
Even though she’d been doing everything she could to adapt to this world and imitate the original Yang Yuan’s personality while interacting with the family…
Calling a complete stranger “Mom” still felt awkward.
Then again…
It made perfect sense.
Yang Yuan had been Yang Mother’s favorite child.
If her behavior hadn’t changed at all after someone else took over her body, that would’ve been the strange thing.
Fortunately, the most anyone would assume was that she’d matured or was going through a rebellious phase.
No one would ever think of something as fantastical as transmigration.
“Good.”
Yang Wenping smiled.
“I thought maybe you’d been upset ever since you fell during the New Year and Mom couldn’t get justice for you.”
“She’ll be very happy to hear this.”
After a while, Yang Yuan peeked over the rim of her oversized bowl.
“Fourth Brother…”
“What about Zheng Yuyin?”
Yang Wenping froze for a moment.
“We’ll pretend we don’t know anything for now.”
“Once your job is settled…”
“We’ll go to the Zheng family.”
Yang Yuan hesitated before speaking again.
“If anything comes up…”
“Tell me.”
“I might not be able to help much…”
“…but I can at least think of ideas.”
Yang Wenping looked at her.
Then he suddenly understood.
She was worried about him.
Warmth spread through his heart.
His little sister had finally grown up.
She knew how to care about other people now.
“Yang Yuan! Yang Yuan!”
Someone suddenly called from outside.
Setting down her bowl and chopsticks, Yang Yuan walked out.
It was Song Can.
She stood inside the Song family’s courtyard rather than coming over, only poking her head above the wall.
“Yang Yuan.”
“I asked around this morning.”
“My position is an office job. I won’t have to work on the factory floor.”
“So it’ll definitely cost a little more.”
“Other people are asking eight or nine hundred yuan.”
“We’ve grown up together, though.”
“I won’t overcharge you.”
“Give me seven hundred yuan in cash, plus some ration coupons and a little cotton.”
“And if anything happens to my family after I leave…”
“Help look after them for me.”
“Can you do that?”
Yang Yuan beamed.
What’s not to like?
That was a full one hundred yuan cheaper than in the original novel.
As for ration coupons…
If she really couldn’t get enough, she’d just visit the black market and find some for the heroine.
The two quickly agreed.
To avoid any unexpected changes, they’d complete the transfer paperwork that very afternoon once the offices reopened.
After thinking for a moment, Yang Yuan added,
“Can, I borrowed some money from my classmates.”
“I don’t want my mom to know.”
“If anyone asks… could you just say you sold the job to me for four hundred yuan?”
“Don’t worry.”
“I won’t shortchange you.”
“Seven hundred means seven hundred.”
“We’ll just tell everyone else it was four hundred.”
Song Can remembered that Yang Yuan often hung around wealthier classmates.
Thinking about the commotion at the Yang household the previous night, she chose not to ask any questions.
She simply nodded.
“All right.”
Yang Yuan hurriedly thanked her.
She was about to say something else when Song Can’s stepmother returned.
The two girls immediately stepped away from the courtyard wall.
Yang Yuan knew her own mother and Song Can’s stepmother couldn’t stand each other.
She had no intention of lingering there and becoming a target for insults.
Soon, curses from the Song family’s courtyard rang out, accompanied by the cries of Song Can’s younger half-brother.
The little boy, born to the stepmother, cried so loudly that it grated on Yang Yuan’s nerves.
Covering her ears, she ran back inside.
Yesterday she’d been too angry to count the money.
She pulled the cloth bundle from beneath her pillow.
It turned out to be several layers of handkerchiefs wrapped around each other.
Inside was a small embroidered money pouch.
Opening it…
She froze.
It was packed with thick stacks of banknotes.
This was the first time since arriving in this world that she’d ever seen so much money.
They were blue ten-yuan notes—the famous “Great Unity” bills.
She counted them carefully.
Fifty notes.
Exactly five hundred yuan.
Not one was missing.
The tiny bit of guilt she’d still felt yesterday vanished completely the moment she learned the owner was Zheng Yuyin.
“Hmph.”
“Serves her right.”
“I’m glad I took it.”
Curled beneath the blankets, Yang Yuan happily justified herself.
Just then, Yang Mother rushed home carrying several bags.
“Fourth! Yuanyuan!”
“Come quickly!”
“I bought egg cakes for you two.”
“They’re still warm.”
“Hurry and eat them!”
Yang Yuan immediately hid the money again, patted the hiding place several times to make sure it was secure, then skipped outside with an excited smile.
“Mom! I want one!”
She picked up an egg cake and took a huge bite.
Although it tasted fairly ordinary…
She deliberately put on a blissfully satisfied expression.
“Mmm! It’s delicious!”
“Mom, you have one too.”
She held a piece up to Yang Mother’s mouth.
But Yang Mother turned her head away.
“I don’t like sweet things.”
Yang Yuan had never liked this kind of self-sacrificing parental behavior.
Without another word, she stuffed a piece into Yang Mother’s hand and another into Yang Wenping’s.
“You both have to eat.”
“And save one for Dad.”
Yang Mother was so happy her eyes crinkled.
“My daughter’s become so thoughtful.”
She ate slowly…
Smiling the entire time.
Yang Mother had gotten up before dawn.
She’d gone from one relative’s house to another, borrowing money from everyone equally.
Bills of every denomination, along with various ration coupons, now covered the table.
When she heard Song Can only wanted four hundred yuan, her expression visibly relaxed.
She clearly didn’t think the price was unreasonable.
The family could manage it.
Since she still had to hurry back to the kindergarten where she cooked lunch, she didn’t stay long.
Before leaving, she only reminded Yang Wenping to accompany Yang Yuan to the factory that afternoon.
The brother and sister sorted through all the cash and coupons together.
There were fifty-cent notes…
One-yuan…
Two-yuan…
Three-yuan…
Five-yuan…
Ten-yuan bills…
It looked like quite a lot.
But after counting everything, the total came to only 123.5 yuan.
Yang Wenping then took out his own savings.
As a junior college student, he’d received a monthly government stipend while studying.
Since the family had also given him living expenses, he’d managed to save quite a bit over the years.
He still had 95 yuan left.
Keeping only five yuan for himself, he handed the remaining 90 yuan to Yang Yuan.
Adding that to the 300 yuan Yang Mother had borrowed that morning…
They now had a total of 518.5 yuan.