Shi Zhen suppressed his complicated emotions and looked at Guan Baiyu from a close distance.
Fifteen-year-old Guan Baiyu was a head shorter than him. He was only about 1.6 meters tall. He was very thin from top to bottom. His withered and yellow hair showed that he was malnourished.
This child was still very young.
After Shi Zhen was reborn, he was eager to see Guan Baiyu. Once he saw the person and felt at ease, he began to think about how to get along with Guan Baiyu.
In his previous life, Guan Baiyu was very kind to him, helping him manage the company, washing and cooking for him and taking care of his life.
His family had been poor since he was a child, and there were many people in his family, so he didn’t really experience that feeling of familial warmth growing up, but he felt it with Guan Baiyu.
Guan Baiyu was a gentle and kind person.
Such a person… he had harmed the other enough in his previous life. It was not good for him to harm the other again.
What was more, he liked the adult Guan Baiyu, not… the child in front of him.
With such a big mental age, how could he pursue a minor?
In this life, he hoped that Guan Baiyu would stop taking detours, study hard, get into a good university, get married and have children, and be happy.
Guan Baiyu looked at Shi Zhen with suspicion, and Shi Zhen said, “Your mother is my aunt. She told me about you before she died, so I came to find you.”
When Guan Baiyu was alive in his previous life, he never thought of going to his grandfather to recognize his relatives.
Later, Guan Baiyu died, and he accidentally came into contact with Guan Baiyu’s paternal relatives.
Guan Baiyu’s grandfather was just an ordinary civil servant in Anshan Town in the 1950s, but later he rose step by step and was already one of the deputy mayors of Changxi City when he retired. His second wife also gave him children who were very promising.
Shi Zhen had a big career at that time, and he stayed in Changxi City, so he naturally had contact with the other party and even talked to him several times.
But that man never mentioned Guan Baiyu’s biological father, and he never found out who Guan Baiyu’s biological mother was.
Obviously, Guan Baiyu’s mother was determined not to recognize Guan Baiyu, and Guan Baiyu’s grandfather had no feelings for his grandson at all.
In this case, he could naturally give himself a false identity and treat Guan Baiyu openly and honestly.
Guan Baiyu looked at Shi Zhen blankly.
Shi Zhen smiled. “Let me come in and sit down?”
Guan Baiyu gave way and Shi Zhen walked in.
Guan Jianguo’s house had cement floors, but Guan Baiyu’s house still had dirt floors, making the room a little damp.
There were very few things here, and the few things that were there were all old things. For example, the table was obviously old. The tabletop was full of holes and there was a cardboard box on it.
Guan Baiyu kept looking at Shi Zhen warily, but Shi Zhen felt that he was still not vigilant enough – this kid actually let him in…
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
A wire hung from the roof of Guan Baiyu’s house, and a lightbulb hung under the wire, emitting a dim yellow light.
Guan Baiyu’s face was tinged with a halo under the light. “Are you really my cousin?”
”Of course,” Shi Zhen said, “What’s the benefit of lying to you? You can’t possibly give me money.”
Guan Baiyu looked straight at Shi Zhen with his clear black eyes.
Shi Zhen took out 30 yuan and gave it to Guan Baiyu. “Although you are my cousin, I don’t have much money now, and I can’t help you with anything. You can take this money and buy some delicious food.”
Guan Baiyu didn’t take the money, so Shi Zhen put the money on the table, sat down at the table, and talked to Guan Baiyu about Guan Baiyu’s mother.
”My mother and your mother both married far away. My mother married into the mountains, and my aunt married your father. Both of them had a hard life…” Shi Zhen’s made up nonsense sounded extremely believable. Of course, there was also some truth mixed in, like his mother’s experience.
He said that his mother died young. After Guan Baiyu’s father passed away, Guan Baiyu’s mother really couldn’t afford to support Guan Baiyu, so she gave Guan Baiyu to someone else to raise. Guan Baiyu’s mother also died of illness in the past two years.
He also said that Guan Baiyu’s mother had always been thinking about Guan Baiyu, but her parents’ home was too far away to visit Guan Baiyu.
Guan Baiyu was stunned and looked at Shi Zhen with a complicated expression.
Shi Zhen knew that he needed time to digest all this, so he stood up and said goodbye. “It’s getting late. You have a good rest. I’ll come see you tomorrow night.”
Shi Zhen left the thirty yuan and left.
Today, he and Shi Xinghuo made a total of fifteen yuan, but even so, his total net worth now was less than twenty yuan.
He was really… very poor.
Shi Zhen told Guan Baiyu that it was getting late, but in fact it was still early.
Shi Xinghuo was not a person who ran around, and it was still very safe to stay at home. Shi Zhen simply walked to town.
After digging mud for a day, his whole body should be exhausted, but he was still full of energy.
There were few people in town at this time. Only a few shops were open. Shi Zhen walked along the largest street. When he saw people, he shamelessly went up and asked if there was any place recruiting workers nearby.
He knew that casting a wide net was not necessarily reliable, but for him now, that was all he could do.
Most people were willing to answer questions when faced with a smiling person. Unfortunately, most of them didn’t know any places recruiting workers. Only a few people mentioned some places, and most of them were for small jobs.
Recently, Anshan Town was building roads, which required many small laborers. In fact, the first job many migrant workers found after entering the city was on a construction site.
The job of a small worker was unstable and hard, and no one would compete for it. In comparison, for a stable job like a factory worker, any openings would quickly be filled by the relatives and friends of the existing factory workers.
Shi Zhen wrote down this information one by one.
He didn’t really want to work on a construction site, but he needed to make money first and couldn’t be picky about work.
When Shi Zhen went back, it was about 9 p.m. in the evening.
Many people in the countryside had gone to bed by this time, but many people were still awake. On the way back, he could still hear the sound of the TV playing in some houses.
The next morning, Shi Zhen and Shi Xinghuo ate with Guan Jianguo’s family, and he gave Guan Jianguo’s mother one yuan.
The old lady immediately beamed with joy, and cut a salted duck egg and gave half to each of Shi Xinghuo and Shi Zhen to eat with congee.
The salted duck eggs were pickled by the old lady herself. When they started eating them, they were still bland, but the more they ate them, the saltier they became… These duck eggs were very salty, but they were suitable for people like them who sweated a lot from physical labor.
After Shi Zhen finished eating, he and Shi Xinghuo went to find the person who led them to dig mud yesterday.
Knowing that they were still digging at the same place today, Shi Zhen thought for a while and did not follow. Instead, he told Shi Xinghuo to work hard with this man.
Shi Xinghuo didn’t speak the local dialect here, but he spent a day digging mud yesterday, so he wouldn’t make any mistakes if he worked again today.
The tractor driver only needed one person to help him anyway, and Shi Xinghuo was older than Shi Zhen and worked harder, so he was happy with this.
But there was only Shi Xinghuo, so he would only give them ten yuan today.
Shi Zhen had no objection. After Shi Xinghuo and the tractor driver went to dig mud, Shi Zhen went to town again.
There were many rivers in Anshan Town. In recent years, various domestic sewage had been poured into the rivers, as well as sewage discharged from various factories. Some rivers were not so clear, and there was accumulation of silt.
The government planned to dredge up the river that ran through Anshan Town. After the dredging was completed, they would build a riverbank next to the river and plant some trees.
Recently, the town was mainly in need of small workers, so Shi Zhen went directly to them and asked if they wanted anyone.
”We have enough people,” said a man dredging in the river.
Shi Zhen didn’t leave after hearing this. He talked to him with a smile and asked him how much they earned working here for a day.
This was not a secret, so the man didn’t hide it – dredging in the river was very tiring, and they also stipulated that the work must be completed within half a month, so the salary was fifteen yuan a day, including food.
Compared with the more than 200 yuan a month working in a factory, this was a high income, but it was unstable. After half a month, they might not have a job.
Shi Zhen wanted this job. After all, food was included. He had no other way now, so he might as well earn a few dozen to a hundred yuan first.
He asked who was in charge of the workers here and went straight to him.
The person in charge of these workers was a middle-aged man in his forties. He himself was not idle, and was helping others shovel the excavated mud into a tractor.
Shi Zhen waited until he was free and there was no one around. Then he walked over and said, “Uncle, are you still hiring here?”
”No more,” the man said.
”Uncle, I only need ten yuan a day.” Shi Zhen said, “I will give you five yuan a day.”
This man was the leader of the workers, but he was not the one who paid. He was stunned and told Shi Zhen to wait.
He used the excuse that time was tight and he might not be able to finish the work on time, and asked the boss if he could hire an extra worker, which the boss agreed to.
Shi Zhen breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt helpless.
There were really too many twists and turns on construction sites, and workers at the bottom were often squeezed.
In the next ten years, so many people came to the city to work, and the laws were not perfect, so too many migrant workers suffered.
But as time went on, things gradually got better.
However, this kind of worksite was undoubtedly the best. This kind of work was paid for by the government, so there would be no such thing as wage arrears, and the working hours were often fixed.
It was just a little bit harder.
In a few years, when someone dredged up silt, they would always be given a chest-high waterproof jumpsuit with rain boots to wear.
But now there were no such good conditions. Shi Zhen and the others only had one pair of rubber rain boots.
A lot of water had been drained from the river. The areas with shallow water were fine. But if they stepped into areas with deep water, water would pour into their boots accidentally.
But even if their feet were soaked in water, they still had to work.
At noon, Shi Zhen climbed ashore, poured out the water from his shoes, and washed his feet in the nearby river before going to get his lunch box.
The meals here were filling. Although there was only one dish, it was roasted pork with fried tofu. Although there were not many pieces of meat in the lunch box, at least it was full of oil and water.
Shi Zhen was indescribably satisfied with this job.
Xiaqiu Junior High School, Class 1, Year 3.
Xiaqiu Junior High School provided meals at noon. Of course, students didn’t have to eat at school.
If they wanted to eat at school, they had to pay ten catties* of rice every month, plus fifteen yuan.
The school meals were very average. Meat was served once a week, and vegetables were served at other times, with some shredded pork at most.
Guan Baiyu didn’t have spare rice or money. He brought food to school in an enamel food container every day.
As soon as the school bell rang at noon, he took out his enamel food container.
This food container was quite old and showed signs of wear and tear in many places. The enamel on the outside was missing and it looked dark. The food inside waa simple, including white rice and steamed garlic leaves, and had long since gone cold.
He took a spoon and ate slowly.
At the same time, Yan Jiangtao, who had returned from lunch, also started to take out his lunch box from his bag. Yan Jiangtao ate at school, but his parents would prepare meat or scrambled eggs for him every day and ask him to take it to school to eat with hot rice.
But today, when he opened his schoolbag, he suddenly found a dead inchworm inside.
The locals called this kind of bug an inchworm. There were a lot of them on the trees here. Sometimes when doing exercises in school, this kind of bug would fall from a nearby tree and land on people’s heads.
Most children were not afraid of this insect, but after it died, it was sticky and disgusting. Yan Jiangtao immediately cursed.
Guan Baiyu was probably afraid of being implicated, so he stood on the side with the food container in his hands, lowering his eyelids and not looking at Yan Jiangtao.
***
T/N: I love how Shi Zhen wants the best for Guan Baiyu in this life, even if that means they won’t be together (e.g. he wants him to live a “normal” life, including getting married and having children). Obviously we all know that they’ll get together anyway, but it’s the thought that counts!
*Catty (斤, jin). This is sometimes left untranslated in webnovels as “jin” and is a Chinese unit of mass. Traditionally, a catty is equal to about 1.33 pounds or 600 grams. However, in modern China, they have standardized the catty to 500 grams.
No wonder he pretended to be cousins with guan baiyu. Hopefully he takes care of him better in this lifetime ♥