Transmigrated Family C04
by MarineTLChapter 4: The Poverty Alleviation Platform Arrives Like a Blessing
“Well… it’s not impossible.” Father Yan hardened his heart. If worst came to worst, he’d just come clean. If he didn’t say anything, the debt collectors would come knocking in three days anyway.
It was better to hear bad news from family than from outsiders.
His eldest brother seemed decent—quiet, with few words and little trouble, and had a good temper.
Li Xuemei disagreed. “I’ve been asking around these past few days. Eldest Brother isn’t just a scholar; he also teaches at the town’s academy. He and our nephew live and eat at the academy, yet he never fails to send his monthly salary home. Meanwhile, we don’t earn a single coin and are living off him for free… Just thinking about it makes me feel ashamed. How can we bring this up?”
“I haven’t worked the fields in years. And that Second Yan too—just look at him. Sure, he’s young, but his skin is delicate, and he’s got no strength for labor.” Father Yan was full of complaints.
Second Yan was truly weak—an embarrassment to men everywhere.
“That Second Yan is useless—lazy, gluttonous, and a drunk. He’s bad at studying and won’t work. He’s just a bum.” Li Xuemei sighed. “Eldest Brother has it tough. Since we’re here, we have to be self-reliant. We can’t keep depending on him to live.”
Father Yan nodded. That was certain—no more leeching off Big Brother.
“Let’s eat first.” He took out the food from the basket.
Corn cakes, pickled vegetables, and wild vegetable egg soup.
Li Xuemei sighed. “Poor child.”
Indeed, the family’s hens laid only so many eggs. After giving some to Eldest Brother for nourishment, there were hardly any left.
Their money was managed by Madam Li, so they had no way to buy more.
They had to make do with what they had.
Fortunately, there was still some leftover grain from last year, along with Madam Li’s pickled vegetables. For the past few days, they had been eating nothing but corn cakes and pickles.
The little girl knew how hard harvesting wheat was, so she tried to make lunch better and more filling.
She racked her brains and added this bowl of soup—with eggs, greens, and water—all precious ingredients at the moment.
With the egg soup, even the dry corn cakes went down easier.
…
The two of them worked until the sun dipped behind the mountains.
Even though they were slow, they didn’t slack off. They had tied up quite a few bundles of wheat. Second Yan borrowed a cart from a neighbor and made two trips to haul the wheat back home.
They were utterly exhausted, their bodies aching all over, parched and drained.
Er Yatou felt heartbroken and quickly served them water and food. After her parents finished eating and drinking, she took their dirty clothes to the kitchen.
Second Yan hurried to the eastern room to check if his eldest brother needed anything.
Seeing that everything was fine and that Eldest Brother didn’t need him at the moment, he grabbed a carrying pole and buckets and went out the door.
Each household was allowed only four buckets of water per day, and they hadn’t collected theirs yet.
Li Xuemei, while enduring her soreness, massaged her aching muscles.
If she didn’t knead them out, the pain would be even worse tomorrow.
Feeling a little better, she once again mustered her energy and started another round of searching.
Er Yatou held her breath, only exhaling when she couldn’t bear it anymore.
Her parents’ clothes smelled too bad!
The drought had made water precious.
They couldn’t afford to use it for washing clothes, but ancient wisdom was boundless.
Today, while wandering through the village, she had seen an auntie rubbing dirty clothes with plant ash. After scrubbing, she shook them out, and the dust flew everywhere.
It wasn’t exactly clean, but at least the smell was gone!
Inspired, Er Yatou decided to copy the method.
She scraped together a small pile of plant ash from the stove and was just thinking about what to put it in when—
Suddenly, a gentle female voice rang in her ears.
【Dear citizen of the Xia Kingdom, ID number: 371312XXXXXXXXXXXX, hello! This is the Xia Kingdom Support and Trade Platform.】
【We have detected that you and your family have left your original dimension. The environment you are currently in suffers from low technological productivity, poverty, and harsh survival conditions. You meet the platform’s support criteria. Would you like to bind and activate the platform?】
Er Yatou stared blankly at the dialogue box that suddenly appeared in front of her.
【Would you like to bind and activate the platform?】
These words were clearly displayed on the glowing screen.
She moved her head left and right, and the screen followed her movements.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” Er Yatou was thrilled.
Wasn’t this the system she had been waiting for?
What kind of transmigration didn’t come with a system?
Nowadays, if a transmigrator didn’t have a system, could they even show their face?
【Binding initiated…】
【Binding successful!】
【Xia Kingdom Support and Trade Platform: Our mission is to assist compatriots who have left the embrace of the motherland due to uncontrollable circumstances (including but not limited to transmigration, rebirth, transmigration into books, apocalypse, heavenly calamities, spiritual energy revival, etc.), helping them overcome difficulties and weather the storm together.】
【This platform adheres to the Universal Equivalent Exchange Law, converting interdimensional transactions based on exchange rates.】
【This platform is not regularly accessible due to energy constraints. Please prepare in advance according to prompts.】
【The Xia Kingdom Support and Trade Platform assures you: Though we may be late, we will always arrive. The Xia Kingdom will never be absent!】
【Platform User 0037258258, hello! Your record: Transmigrated into a book. Would you like to claim your new user benefit: a retrieval of this dimension’s world setting?】
No need to ask—Er Yatou eagerly responded, “Yes! Claim it!”
【Buzz… Buzz…】
【Book Title: The Rise of the Humble Household】
【Protagonist’s Name: Yan Huaiwen.】
【Story Synopsis:
Yan Huaiwen’s early life was filled with tragedy—losing his parents, wife, son, and daughter.
But in the latter half of his life, he rose like a legend. Breaking into the political arena, he climbed the ranks through iron-fisted tactics. A princess married him, and he even had concubines, enjoying a life of luxury. He tirelessly pushed his brother-in-law to power, using every means necessary, ultimately rising to the rank of Prime Minister.
When he discovered that his most trusted ally had only been using him, hiding corruption beneath a righteous facade, he unhesitatingly aided Prince Ying in taking the throne—remaining undefeated in the imperial court.】
【Buzz…】
Oh my god!
She knew this synopsis! She had read this book!
It was an old-school, fictional historical political novel. The protagonist had gone through hell and back—his early struggles were truly miserable, and even as he climbed higher, he faced constant dilemmas and painful choices…
From a failed scholar to a ruthless Prime Minister, his journey was nothing short of grueling. The author had drenched the pages in drama and suffering.
His ultimate victory—the most famous scene in the book—was dismissing the emperor. She had first seen discussions in the comments before reading it herself. One comment stuck in her mind:
“In history, emperors have dismissed ministers. But this author flipped the script and had the minister kick the emperor off the throne…”
The replies were filled with:
“Serves him right!”
“If the emperor’s incompetent, replace him!”
“If he refuses, fight him!”
She had just read the beginning, where Old Yan was severely injured, a gambling house came to collect debts, and in a fit of anger, he split from Second Brother’s family.
And just her luck—Second Brother Yan’s name was Yan Huai’an.
Her father’s name was Yan An.
Her mother, Li Xuemei.
Her name was Yan Yu.
Yes, she had become Er Yatou!
Yes, this trading platform’s purpose was poverty alleviation!
A coalition of struggling souls across dimensions, helping each other survive and prosper.