Chapter 2: Everyone Goes to Work

Lin Chaoyu had a long face. “Big Brother, I’m only nine! How can I go work in the fields?”

Lin Chaoyang gave him an impatient glance. “Aunt Zhang’s second daughter is a year younger than you, and she’s already up in the mountains cutting pigweed to earn work points.”

Thinking of that made Lin Chaoyang feel just how laughably stupid he’d been in his past life.

Kids from other families—even those with both parents—still went out to work to help support their households. Yet his own siblings just sat at home eating for free.

Having been shut down by his big brother, Lin Chaoyu didn’t know what else he could say to avoid going to work. He could only sulk and squat in the corner silently.

The two younger sisters, seeing Lin Chaoyang’s firm attitude, had no choice but to shut up and obediently agree.

In their minds, Big Brother had always been softhearted. He was just saying all this now because he was angry.

Once they started working and Big Brother saw how much they were suffering, he surely wouldn’t have the heart to make them keep at it.

And just like that, the matter of going to work was settled. Lin Chaoyang didn’t want to waste more words on them and simply brought his little brother back to the room.

Before heading back, he didn’t forget to take the two remaining pieces of flatbread with him.

He had no intention of eating them himself. He gave one to Lin Chaoxing and saved the other.

Even though he had access to his supermarket, he still needed to put on appearances and keep some food visible in the house.

Judging from the temperature and the clothes people were wearing, he estimated that it was springtime now—a season when food was typically scarce.

The family likely didn’t have much food left. Otherwise, Lin Chaoyu wouldn’t have come asking him for something to eat.

It would still be a while until the summer harvest.

He wouldn’t be going hungry, of course, but those ungrateful siblings of his were probably in for some real hardship.

If this were his past life, Lin Chaoyang would be panicking like an ant on a hot pan by now.

But this time, he wasn’t even a little worried. He had lived through it once already—was he really going to let them starve to death in this life?

If they got hungry enough, they’d go up the mountains to look for food themselves.

Dig up some wild vegetables, make some wild vegetable soup—enough to get by. They wouldn’t starve to death.

Looking down at little Lin Chaoxing quietly nibbling at his flatbread, Lin Chaoyang sighed again.

The things in his supermarket were for himself. Whatever was in the house, he’d try to reserve for his little brother as much as possible.

As for those three ungrateful ones—who cared whether they ate or not?

After downing two pieces of flatbread, little Lin Chaoxing was full and contentedly fell asleep in Lin Chaoyang’s arms.

While he slept, Lin Chaoyang slipped into the supermarket again, filled up his stomach in secret, and then lay down to sleep with his little brother.

The next morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, Lin Chaoyang dragged all three siblings out of bed.

“Get up, all of you. Clean up and get to work!”

Seeing that his tone hadn’t softened since yesterday, the three siblings dared not protest and got up, aggrieved and miserable.

After settling little Lin Chaoxing, Lin Chaoyang set off with the other three.

There was no food left at home, so they didn’t even get a bite of porridge in the morning—just a couple of sips of cold water before heading out.

Of course, that was their situation. Lin Chaoyang would never let himself go hungry.

He had eaten his fill before waking them up and had saved the last piece of flatbread for his little brother.

Along the way, the three siblings were sluggish and dull-eyed, occasionally rubbing their stomachs, looking rather pitiful.

When they arrived at the work site, their second uncle from the Lin family spotted them immediately.

He walked over and gave the younger ones a glance. “Yangzi, why did you bring them here today?”

Lin Chaoyang wore a helpless expression. “Second Uncle, they’re growing up now, and with the state our family’s in, every work point we can earn counts. We can’t just sit around and starve.”

The three younger siblings had been looking at their uncle with hopeful eyes, thinking he might speak up for them and send them back home.

But instead, Uncle Lin nodded in approval at Lin Chaoyang’s words.

“Yangzi, it’s good you’ve figured it out,” Second Uncle said. “I’ve been meaning to bring it up. Times are tough now. Relying on just yourself to feed so many mouths—it’s no easy task.”

Lin Chaoyang glanced at his younger siblings, who had wilted again, and a faint smile curved his lips.

“Luckily they’re old enough now. A day spent gathering pigweed can earn two work points, and they can also find wild vegetables on the mountain. They won’t starve, don’t worry, Second Uncle.”

Just as Second Uncle was about to say something else, Lin Chaoyang cut him off, speaking quickly, “Second Uncle, your household’s struggling too. You don’t need to bring us food anymore—we can take care of ourselves.”

Hearing that, Second Uncle felt both comforted and a little sad.

This kid Yangzi really was something. He even considered how hard things were for his second uncle.

If only his older brother and sister-in-law were still alive, Yangzi and the others wouldn’t be suffering like this.

But to Lin Chaoyun and the others, this was like a thunderclap. Their hearts were in turmoil.

Was Big Brother an idiot? He turned down the food Second Uncle brought them?

They were already going hungry, and now he was refusing food from their own uncle?

The three of them were still young and couldn’t hide their emotions. Their thoughts were written all over their faces.

Out of the corner of his eye, Lin Chaoyang caught their expressions and sneered inwardly.

Three little leeches—still dreaming of sucking more out of Second Uncle?

Keep dreaming.

Before long, the brigade leader arrived. After a brief speech, he began assigning tasks.

Lin Chaoyang was eighteen this year. He’d started working in the fields as a young teenager and now counted as a proper laborer.

Considering that he still didn’t look especially sturdy, the brigade leader assigned him to weeding duty.

Lin Chaoyun and Lin Chaoxia, the two girls, were sent to gather pigweed.

The youngest, Lin Chaoyu, got the easiest job—herding cattle.

Weeding was detail-oriented and earned the most—seven work points a day. Gathering pigweed earned two, and herding cattle earned one and a half.

Altogether, the Lin family could earn ten and a half work points per day—half a point more than a full-strength adult laborer.

Before they went off to work, Lin Chaoyang reminded the two girls, “Don’t forget to dig up more wild vegetables while you’re in the mountains. We’re having wild veggie soup for lunch.”

Hearing that, the two girls—already starving and with their stomachs growling—looked even more miserable.

But Lin Chaoyang didn’t care. He picked up his hoe and headed straight to the fields.

In his past life, he’d gotten used to farm work. Picking it up again now didn’t feel unfamiliar at all. He handled it with practiced ease.

Feeling the strength of his young, healthy body, Lin Chaoyang felt a sense of happiness.

With a full belly and energy in his limbs, even hard labor didn’t feel all that tiring.

After working in the fields all morning, Lin Chaoyang used a bathroom break as an excuse to sneak into the woods and grab another meal from his supermarket.

Once he finished eating and worked for a while longer, it was finally time for the midday break.

He put away his hoe and walked home at a leisurely pace.

By the time he got home, the wild vegetable soup was already cooked.

His three siblings were starving and couldn’t wait for him. Each of them had already gulped down a bowl.

Lin Chaoyang didn’t argue. He ladled out a big bowl for himself, scooped up lots of greens, and turned to leave.

Looking at the bowl of bright green soup, Lin Chaoyang still couldn’t help but feel a bit softhearted. He secretly added some rice noodles from his supermarket into the soup.

Little Lin Chaoxing, being so young, didn’t suspect anything. Seeing that his big brother had some too, he happily dug in.

After finishing the wild veggie rice soup, Lin Chaoyang took his bowl into the kitchen and tossed it in front of Lin Chaoyun.

“Wash it up quickly. Don’t waste water. Once it’s clean, it’s time to get back to work.”

Lin Chaoyun immediately felt wronged. How did Big Brother turn into this kind of person?