“Huh?”

Chu Xia walked over and felt his forehead. “You don’t have a fever. What are you talking about? Why do you think you’re going to die?”

“I pulled out a long worm,” Cen Huai’an said, his face pale as he gestured how long it was.

The thought of such a long worm in his stomach was terrifying; he believed he wouldn’t survive.

“Mom, if I die, just bury me under the big tree outside.”

The more he thought about it, the sadder Cen Huai’an became, and he couldn’t help but want to cry.

Chu Xia was momentarily stunned, then burst into laughter, holding her stomach and laughing heartily.

Cen Huai’an felt even more desperate.

His mother didn’t comfort him and was laughing so happily.

He turned away, feeling both angry and distressed.

Indeed, he thought his mother didn’t really like him.

“Foolish child!” After laughing enough, Chu Xia patted Cen Huai’an’s back. “You took deworming medicine, and the worms died and were expelled. That means there are no more worms in your stomach. You’re not going to die. Hurry up and get up to eat!”

“Really?” Cen Huai’an was both surprised and delighted.

“Really.”

Cen Huai’an immediately jumped up happily and followed Chu Xia to the kitchen to get his food.

Today’s meal was simple: yam porridge and scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

The yam porridge was thick and fragrant, and the scrambled eggs with tomatoes were tangy and sweet.

Knowing he wasn’t going to die, Cen Huai’an enjoyed his meal especially.

When he finished eating, he even wanted to lick the plate, but Chu Xia stopped him.

However, while washing the plates, he secretly licked the plate clean before washing it.

Chu Xia couldn’t stay home all the time.

Until the internal factory examination schedule was released, she still had to go to work.

She really couldn’t handle the work in the workshop, but she couldn’t avoid it either. In the end, the team leader reluctantly assigned her the least technical job—moving fabric.

There was no choice; with the Chairperson having made a visit, if Luo Chuxia really got sick due to not taking care of her, this team leader’s position would also be at risk.

Moving fabric was different from technical work; it was auxiliary work, which meant Chu Xia had to take a pay cut.

Others might be unhappy about it, preferring to endure more work rather than a reduced salary.

But Chu Xia was willing; she had no complaints about working behind a production line, waiting for the fabric to be woven so she could take it away.

Previously, the person who moved the fabric was a temporary worker, always thinking about learning some technical skills to get a permanent position.

Now that Chu Xia had freed up the position, the temporary worker was thrilled and handed over the fabric-moving task to Chu Xia, eager to go learn new technical skills.

She thought Chu Xia was foolish.

Technical workers got salary increases based on years of service and rank, while moving fabric was a job that wouldn’t increase in pay no matter how long you did it.

She felt she was getting a great deal and wouldn’t remind Chu Xia.

Chu Xia knew what she was doing; if she continued with her previous work, she might have been in real danger.

Moreover, her future was not tied to this textile factory.

She didn’t care what work she did as long as it didn’t affect her health.

---

In the Textile Factory’s Class Yuhong:

“An’an, what are you playing with?”

The chubby Chen Chen saw Cen Huai’an flipping paper pieces back and forth and thought it looked very interesting.

Cen Huai’an ignored him.

He didn’t like these whiny kids in the class and focused on his character recognition game.

Chen Chen, seeing that Cen Huai’an wasn’t paying attention to him, wanted to play even more.

He scratched his ears and rummaged through his pocket for candy.

“An’an, tell me, and I’ll give you candy!” He pulled out a piece of candy and offered it to Cen Huai’an.

Hearing about candy, Cen Huai’an finally looked at him.

“Flipping chess pieces.” He took the candy.

In the end, Chen Chen traded five pieces of candy for a chance to play the game with Cen Huai’an.

The game was new to the kids in the Yuhong class, and gradually more children gathered around.

Cen Huai’an looked up in frustration, frowning and glaring at a boy who had come too close.

The boy, feeling nervous, quickly moved back to stand near Chen Chen, keeping a distance from Cen Huai’an.

“We agreed, the loser gives a piece of candy.”

“Okay!” Chenchen rubbed his chubby little hands together, excited and eager to win all of An An’s candies!

After a round, Chenchen slammed the candies on Cen Huai’an’s desk and said anxiously, “I wasn’t ready. Let’s play again! This time I’m sure I can win!”

“Give me the candy,” Cen Huai’an said, not interested in playing without it.

They started again, and Cen Huai’an kept flipping cards, matching one to another.

Each time he matched correctly, the other kids cheered.

Chenchen’s face turned red with frustration as he made several mistakes.

Each time he messed up, others sighed, which made him even more anxious and prone to errors.

“Let’s do it again!”

Cen Huai’an asked, “Do you still have candies?”

He remembered that Chenchen’s mom didn’t allow him to eat candy.

“Yes!” Chenchen proudly said, “My grandma gave me a whole bag today.”

Cen Huai’an felt relieved.

In the end, all of Chenchen’s candies ended up in Cen Huai’an’s pocket, and Chenchen owed him two more.

Chenchen was about to cry, watching Cen Huai’an eat one candy after another.

He felt so wronged that he burst into tears.

“My… my candies!”

Cen Huai’an furrowed his brows, annoyed by the crying, which soon attracted the teacher.

He quickly shoved a candy into Chenchen’s mouth, saying, “Be quiet, and remember you owe me three candies.”

Chenchen hesitated for a second between crying and eating the candy, then chose to eat it.

He didn’t want to attract the teacher and risk having his mom find out that his have bought candies again in class.

The next day was the weekend, and the factory was closed.

Now they have one day off a week, which Chuxia didn’t know before coming here, as she had never experienced a two-day weekend in her previous life.

Although she didn’t have weekends off in her past work.

In the morning, Chuxia was preparing to make potato and egg pancakes.

“An An, help me wash these two potatoes.”

Cen Huai’an, having just finished making his bed, jogged over and took the potatoes to the sink.

There were many people in the sink room at that time, mostly housewives preparing breakfast.

Seeing Cen Huai’an with the potatoes, they joked, “An An, your mom made you wash vegetables again.”

Cen Huai’an didn’t like their gaze and kept his head down, ignoring them.

“Boys shouldn’t do chores like washing vegetables. You should tell your mom that these are girl’s jobs.”

“And washing dishes too; you shouldn’t be doing that either.”

Sister Li splashed water from a basin into the sink and said with a smile, “Why can’t boys do chores? Who says men can’t work? An An, come wash here.”

“Okay.”

Only Sister Li had ever given him something to eat, so he didn’t dislike her. Cen Huai’an was annoyed by the others’ chatter and found them noisy.

“Mom.”

“Hmm?”

Chuxia was peeling potatoes while sitting on a small stool.

She didn’t have a proper peeler, but she was quick at peeling, just like she was at dissecting corpses back in her previous life.

He hesitated for a moment but decided to tell his mom, “They said boys shouldn’t do chores.”

“Who said that?”

“The people who wash vegetables.”

Chu Xia was slicing potatoes into strips, her head down. “Don’t you want to work?”

Cen Huai’an sensed the danger in her tone and immediately shook his head. “No.”

Chu Xia put the potato strips into a basin and said, “I don’t know how other people’s boys are, but in our family, if you don’t work, you don’t get to eat. It’s the same for both boys and girls. Go get four eggs.”

Cen Huai’an quickly went to the cupboard to get the eggs.

He wanted to eat the potato and egg pancakes his mother was making and didn’t want to miss out on his meal.

The potato and egg pancakes were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, with the potatoes and eggs blending perfectly.

Chu Xia’s favorite breakfast was this dish.

Cen Huai’an ate without looking up. After having a bowl of red date and millet porridge, it was perfect.

After finishing the meal, Chu Xia took Cen Huai’an to the market.

She planned to buy a crucian carp to make soup.

Crucian carp soup is good for strengthening the spleen and stomach and boosting vitality, which is ideal for someone with a weak constitution like Chu Xia and Cen Huai’an.

She didn’t want large crucian carp but four fish weighing less than half a pound each, and they had to be live fish to make the soup flavorful.

Cen Huai’an carried the four fish while Chu Xia carried the other vegetables.

They bought enough for two days and slowly made their way home.

As they arrived at the door, they ran into Wang Yulan(Chuxia’s Mother), who had come looking for Chu Xia.

Chu Xia frowned.

Wang Yulan’s arrival was never a good sign.

When Cen Huai’an saw Wang Yulan, his face fell, and he glared at her fiercely, like a wolf staring at its most hated enemy.

Neither Chu Xia nor Cen Huai’an spoke to Wang Yulan, clearly indicating their lack of welcome.

However, Wang Yulan, seeing the items in Cen Huai’an and Chu Xia’s hands, had a glint in her eyes.

She followed them into the house with a smile.

“Chu Xia, you bought fish. Just as your father mentioned wanting to eat fish these days. You and your father must be truly in sync.”

“What are you doing?”

Chu Xia grabbed Wang Yulan’s hand, which was reaching for the fish in Cen Huai’an’s hand, and instructed Cen Huai’an to put the fish away.

Hearing Chu Xia’s command, Cen Huai’an, not only put the fish but also the other items in her hand and the vegetables on the floor into the room.

“This is for An’an and me, not for your family,” Chu Xia said, shaking off Wang Yulan’s hand.

Wang Yulan raised her hand to smooth her hair and smiled, “I’m your mother. How can you be so guarded against me? If you don’t give it to me, I can just take it.”

“That’s not certain.”

Wang Yulan’s face darkened with hidden resentment. How had Chu Xia become so difficult?

“Chu Xia, what kind of person do you take me for?” She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, “I’ve raised you with such difficulty, and now you treat me this way. My heart is broken.”

“That’s just as well. My heart has long been broken.”

Wang Yulan’s crying ceased abruptly.

At that moment, Cen Huai’an had also come out, standing at the curtain of the room with a defensive posture, looking at Wang Yulan warily.

If she dared to come in, he would charge at her.

Wang Yulan fell silent.

Chu Xia also remained silent, walking straight to the table, sitting down, pouring herself a cup of tea to cool off, and gently fanning herself with a fan, while beckoning Cen Huai’an to sit.

Cen Huai’an hesitated but remained by the door of the room.

Food was important!

Not getting any attention from anyone, Wang Yulan couldn’t hold back and started complaining about family difficulties.

“Chu Xia, your brother has finally gotten a match, and they’re about to get married, but they want ‘three turns and one ring’.”

Wang Yulan sighed sadly, “You know how our family is, with so many mouths to feed, there’s no way to save money for ‘three turns and one ring’.”

“Then don’t buy it.”

“How can that work? Your brother must get married.”

“Oh.” Chu Xia didn’t engage with her, looking down at her fingernails, which were a bit long and needed trimming.

“Chu Xia, you care the most about your brother. The money sent by Zheng Nian, you haven’t spent it all…”

Chu Xia looked up with a half-smile and said, “It seems you’ve forgotten what happened a few days ago. The money won’t be given to you. The money you wanted before must be returned. I remember Chu Ming works at the tractor factory. It’s been a while since I’ve seen him. I’ll go visit him tomorrow.”

Wang Yulan’s heart skipped a beat at these words.

The last time Chu Xia cried, she had lost face at the textile factory.

If Chu Xia went to find Chu Ming, Wang Yulan stood up immediately. “I’ll think of another way for the money. Chu Ming is busy recently; don’t go visit him. You won’t find him.”

She hurriedly left.

Seeing Wang Yulan’s reaction, Chu Xia had an idea.

If she wanted “three turns and one ring,” she could use a watch herself.

“Chu Xia! Chu Xia! You have a letter!”