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    Chapter 8: Explaining to Mom and Dad

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

    No need to harvest wheat tomorrow—what a relief!

    As for fleeing from famine, that part was indeed in the book, but he still needed to confirm with his daughter. Why did it feel a bit different?

    “Stop right there!” Yan Huaiwen wouldn’t let him leave so easily. If the wheat in the fields didn’t need harvesting, there were still other tasks. In any case, he couldn’t allow his brother to slack off any longer.

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

    “To pick up our nephew? I can do it myself, no need for the donkey cart. Don’t worry, Big Brother, I’ll leave early in the morning and bring him back by noon.”

    There was still an outstanding bill with Physician Cui.

    He really hoped his brother wouldn’t go himself—how embarrassing would it be to borrow a cart when they hadn’t settled their previous debt?

    Too shameful!

    Yan Huaiwen said, “Besides asking Xiang Heng for leave, I also need to resign from the academy in person.”

    Yan Lao’er: …

    That was a solid reason. He had no choice but to nod reluctantly.

    “Here, take this and settle the medical bill.” Yan Huaiwen struggled to take out an old, somewhat worn money pouch. After some thought, he hesitated to give the entire amount, so he handed over half and kept the rest. Finally, he fished out a small piece of silver and handed it to his spendthrift younger brother.

    Yan Lao’er instinctively weighed it in his hand.

    It felt light—how much was this even worth?

    Seeing this, Yan Huaiwen’s face immediately darkened. Was he complaining it wasn’t enough?

    He turned his back and refused to look at him.

    Yan Lao’er blinked. Was Big Brother worried that giving him too little would make him lose face?

    Taking money from his big brother did feel a bit shameful… but he could overcome that.

    Old Yan, such a good man!

    He tiptoed out and closed the door gently behind him.

    Thinking about the tasks for tomorrow and his unreliable younger brother, Yan Huaiwen remained unusually clear-headed for a while.

    Images of his brother’s recent attentive care flashed before his eyes—the unease of being the head of the household yet suddenly rendered helpless…

    To think that in his previous life, he was a high-ranking official overseeing many subordinates.

    He could manage cunning bureaucrats, yet he couldn’t handle his lazy, loafing younger brother?!

    Not only did he have to manage him, but he also had to teach him!

    Before, he had been entirely focused on his scholarly pursuits and neglected his brother, letting him idle away, simply waiting for the day he passed the imperial examination so they could all live a good life. But if he were to leave, and his brother couldn’t stand on his own, wouldn’t that be…

    Since he had been given a second chance, he must properly educate his brother. If studying wasn’t an option, then he had to learn practical skills.

    “Look, this is silver!” Yan Lao’er displayed the small silver piece, letting his wife and daughter see what ancient currency looked like. The purity was far inferior to the silver jewelry in modern malls.

    Even though the three of them had new bodies, their strong willpower overcame the body’s habits.

    Not used to sleeping early, they were tired but still couldn’t sleep well.

    Mother and daughter dozed for a while, but at the sound of movement, they opened their eyes.

    Under the bright moonlight, they saw the silver in his hand clearly.

    Yan Yu grabbed it with her small hands, flipping it over and examining it. “How much does this weigh?”

    “No idea,” Yan Lao’er admitted.

    “You actually asked Big Brother for money?” Li Xuemei questioned.

    “Of course not!” Yan Lao’er quickly denied it. “Big Brother gave it to me voluntarily so I could settle the bill with Physician Cui tomorrow. He also said to borrow the donkey cart, resign from the academy, and bring our nephew home.”

    “Oh, right, daughter,” he recounted what his brother had asked the village chief, “Is it true that Li Zheng’s youngest son tried to bully Big Sister Da Ya?”

    This was the part that felt off to Yan Lao’er—was the timeline a bit messed up?

    According to Old Yan, they would be leaving soon.

    “That’s not right!” Yan Yu counted on her fingers. “First comes the family split, then the famine escape… After the family split, Big Sister Da Ya was home alone, which gave the bad guys a chance.” She nodded seriously, certain that’s how it was written in the book.

    “Then what’s going on? This isn’t matching the book!” Yan Lao’er muttered.

    Li Xuemei thought for a moment and said, “Could it be that our presence changed the storyline?”

    Yan Yu and her father had identical dumbfounded expressions.

    What had they changed? They were still poor, and the debt collectors would surely come on time.

    Once Old Yan found out his good-for-nothing brother was gambling and slacking off, he would still be furious enough to split the family.

    “Maybe it’s because we took good care of Big Uncle, so he recovered earlier than in the book, and that’s why the famine escape plan got moved up?” Yan Yu guessed.

    “Enough with the speculation,” Li Xuemei interrupted. “If we keep this up, none of us will get any sleep tonight. You two could probably come up with an entire novel on your own! Since you’re both wide awake, let’s discuss the aid platform instead. The platform opens irregularly, and no one knows when the next opportunity will come. We must seize this chance and use it to solve our most urgent needs!”

    “Today is May 18th, and after midnight tomorrow, it will be May 20th—618!” Yan Yu cheered.

    A thrilling day! Time to shop—no, trade!

    “So, we must think carefully about what we can offer in exchange.” Li Xuemei remained calm. “Tomorrow, we still have a full day to gather things. Since the platform mentioned ‘energy restrictions’ and ‘preparing in advance,’ the available time is likely very limited, maybe even brief.”

    Father and daughter pondered.

    Makes sense! Highly likely!

    “Let’s analyze it step by step,” Li Xuemei switched to teacher mode. “‘Designed to assist compatriots forced to leave their homeland due to uncontrollable circumstances, helping them overcome difficulties and settle down.’ The meaning is clear: no matter where we are, our country hasn’t forgotten us and will help us live stably.”

    “But the key part is in the parentheses: transmigration, rebirth, transmigrating into books, apocalypse, spiritual energy revival, etc… Xiao Yu, explain to us what all these mean.”

    Yan Yu, staring at her serious mother, felt like she was back in school, suddenly called on by the teacher.

    “You already know about transmigrating into books. Transmigration itself means traveling through time and space, moving from one world to another—uh, something like that.” Yan Yu realized she was struggling with words. When reading, everything made sense, but summarizing it concisely was hard.

    “Rebirth is simple—it means living a second life.”

    “Apocalypse refers to catastrophic doomsday scenarios, like extreme weather conditions, total societal collapse, rampant viruses, zombies, mutated beasts, alien invasions… basically, a terrible environment where survival is extremely difficult.”

    “As for spiritual energy revival… well, it covers a lot. Generally, it means a regular world suddenly experiences a resurgence of spiritual energy, leading to things like mythology becoming real, immortals and deities appearing, species evolving, supernatural occurrences manifesting in reality… Oh, and it could also mean interdimensional rifts opening, leading to wars with other worlds!”

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