Chapter 8: Explaining to Mom and Dad

“Big Brother, you rest well, I’m going back to my room!” Yan Lao’er was eager to return to his room and report the situation to his wife and child.

No need to harvest wheat tomorrow, what joy!

As for fleeing famine, it was definitely a plot point in the book, but he still needed to confirm with his daughter. Why did it feel a bit different?

“Stop right there!” How could Yan Huaiwen let him go so easily? He didn’t need to harvest the wheat in the fields anymore, but there were other things to do. In short, he couldn’t let him slack off anymore.

“Tomorrow, you go to Physician Cui’s house, borrow a donkey cart, and come with me to town.”

“To pick up Eldest Nephew? I can go by myself, no need for a donkey cart. Big Brother, just rest assured, I’ll leave early in the morning and bring Eldest Nephew back by noon.”

He still had a tab with Physician Cui.

He begged Big Brother not to move; he’d be too embarrassed to borrow a cart from someone when his previous debt wasn’t settled.

That would be too shameful!

Yan Huaiwen said, “Besides going to ask for leave, I also need to go to the academy myself to resign.”

Yan Lao’er: …

This reason was strong; he couldn’t argue against it. He could only brace himself and agree.

“Take this, pay for the medicine.” Yan Huaiwen laboriously pulled out a somewhat worn but not old money pouch. After thinking, he still didn’t trust giving it all away. He handed out half, then pulled it back, took out a small piece of broken silver from it, and handed it to his prodigal younger brother.

Yan Lao’er subconsciously weighed it in his hand.

It was very light, and he didn’t know how much it was.

Yan Huaiwen saw his action and immediately scowled. Was he complaining it was too little?

He turned his body away, refusing to look at him.

Yan Lao’er blinked. Was Big Brother worried about his younger brother losing face?

Reaching out to Big Brother for money… it was a bit shameful, but not insurmountable.

Old Yan, what a good person!

He quietly backed out and closed the door.

Pondering the tasks for tomorrow, and his troublesome younger brother, Yan Huaiwen, uncharacteristically, had a moment of clarity for quite a while.

Before his eyes, his second brother’s diligent care these past few days kept replaying, and the helpless panic when he, the head of the family, had collapsed…

To think he was a first-rank official in the imperial court, with so many officials under his jurisdiction.

He could manage officials full of schemes; how could he not manage this lazy, gluttonous, idle younger brother?!

Not only manage, but also teach!

Before, he was solely focused on his career, and truly didn’t pay much attention to this brother, raising him to be content with just getting by, only waiting for his big brother to pass the imperial exam and live a good life. Once separated from him, he wouldn’t be able to stand on his own, wouldn’t he…?

Since he had a chance to start over, he must properly guide this younger brother. If studying wasn’t for him, then he should put more effort into practical matters.

…

“Look, this is silver!” Yan Lao’er showed off the small piece of broken silver, letting his wife and daughter see for themselves. This was ancient money; its purity was far from that of silver ornaments in shopping malls.

Although the family of three had swapped bodies, their strong willpower overcame the body’s inertia.

Unaccustomed to early sleep, though very tired, they couldn’t sleep soundly.

The mother and daughter dozed for a while, and opened their eyes when they heard movement.

By the bright moonlight, they clearly saw what was in his hand.

Yan Yu grabbed it with her small hand, turning it over and over, asking her dad, “How much does this weigh?”

“I don’t know,” Yan Lao’er answered truthfully.

“Did you really ask Big Brother for money?” Li Xuemei asked him.

“How could I!” Yan Lao’er quickly denied it. “Big Brother gave it to me on his own initiative, telling me to pay for the medicine at Physician Cui’s tomorrow. He also said he’d borrow his donkey cart to go to town, resign from the academy, and then pick up Eldest Nephew to bring him home.”

“Oh, and daughter,” he repeated what Big Brother had told the village head, “Is it true that the village head’s youngest son is going to come and bully your eldest sister, Daya?”

This was where Yan Lao’er felt something was off. Was the timeline a bit confused?

According to Old Yan’s meaning, they would be leaving soon.

“That’s not right!” Yan Yu counted on her fingers. “First the family splits, then the escape… After the family split, Eldest Sister Daya was home alone, which gave the bad guys an opportunity.” She nodded seriously, confirming that this was indeed how it was written in the book.

“So what’s going on? It’s different from the book now!” Yan Lao’er muttered.

Li Xuemei thought for a moment and said, “Is it because our appearance has changed the plot?”

Yan Yu and her dad had identical expressions, looking utterly bewildered.

What did their appearance change? They were still poor, as they should be, and the debt collectors would definitely come knocking on time.

When Old Yan found out his good-for-nothing younger brother was lazy and gambling, he would still be so angry that he’d split the family with them.

“Could it be because we took such good care of Eldest Uncle that he recovered earlier than in the book, and so the escape plan was moved up?” Yan Yu speculated.

“Alright, stop guessing wildly.” Li Xuemei felt that if they kept thinking like this, the family of three wouldn’t get any sleep tonight. These two, going back and forth, could imagine a whole book on their own. “I see you two aren’t sleepy, so let’s discuss the poverty alleviation platform. This platform opens irregularly, and no one knows when the next time will be. We have to seize this opportunity, and during this time, try our best to get what we need most urgently!”

“Today is June 16th, after midnight tomorrow, it will be June 18th, which is 618!” Yan Yu cheered.

An exciting day! Happy shopping, no, happy exchanging!

“So we need to hurry and think what things we can offer for exchange,” Li Xuemei said calmly. “Then, while we still have a whole day tomorrow, we should try to collect as much as possible. It said ‘limited by energy’ and ‘prepare in advance,’ so it’s very likely that the opening time won’t be long, perhaps even very short.”

The father and daughter pondered it.

Makes sense! The probability is very high!

“Let’s analyze it point by point,” the meticulous Teacher Li Xuemei came online. “‘Aimed at helping compatriots who have left their homeland due to force majeure, to overcome difficulties and tide over hardships together.’ The meaning is simple: No matter where we are, our homeland will not forget us, and will help us settle down and live stable lives.”

“But the key is in the parentheses: transmigration, rebirth, transmigration into a book, apocalyptic natural disasters, spiritual energy resurgence, etc… Xiao Yu, first tell us what all these mean.”

Yan Yu looked at her serious mother, as if she was back in school, at the moment a teacher called on her to answer a question.

“You already know about transmigration into a book. Transmigration is time travel, from one world to another. Uh, that’s roughly how it’s understood.” Yan Yu found herself at a loss for words. She understood everything perfectly when reading novels, but when asked to summarize, she really didn’t know how to describe such complex situations in concise language.

“Rebirth is also simple; it just means living again.”

“Apocalyptic natural disasters correspond to the ‘end of the world’ mentioned in various prophecies: extreme environments, like extreme heat or extreme cold, collapse of order, rampant viruses, zombies, mutated beasts, invasion of alien species… In short, it means extremely harsh living conditions.”

“Spiritual energy resurgence… The applications of spiritual energy are too vast. Basically, it’s an ordinary world, and after spiritual energy resurges, either myths descend and immortals/deities appear, or species evolve, and eerie stories become reality. Oh, and it might also open up other-dimensional spaces, leading to wars with other worlds…”
(End of chapter)