“Where is this? Hiss…” Jiang He didn’t understand why his whole body had become extremely stiff after his nap. The bed beneath him wasn’t the soft and springy kind he was used to. Opening his eyes, he saw an old-fashioned ceiling lamp — the kind that reminded him of the ones he saw when he stayed at his grandparents’ house in the countryside as a child.

The memories in his mind began to merge and blend. Following those memories, he found a few written letters under the bed. “A letter of severing family ties?” As soon as he read it, a flood of images surged into his mind, almost overwhelming him.

“Jiang He, it’s settled —you’re going to the countryside. Don’t try any tricks. I’ve already submitted your name.”

Just as Jiang He’s mind was still in a daze, the door was shoved open forcefully. A face appeared before him, and from the expression on that person’s face, it was clear that the original owner of this body wasn’t well-liked at home.

And in those memories, all he saw were beatings and scoldings, while the original body’s cousin had been showered with endless affection since childhood. He couldn’t help but wonder if these two parents had been kicked in the head by a donkey.

“Mom, there’s something I’ve always been curious about — is my cousin your real son, or am I?” Jiang He suddenly blurted out, as if he couldn’t control himself.

The middle-aged woman in front of him immediately showed displeasure, then anger. “What kind of nonsense are you saying, child? Your uncle and aunt have helped our family so many times! Your cousin had that accident at four or five years old; what’s wrong with me treating him better? How can you be so ungrateful?”

As her words fell, a middle-aged man walked out from the inner room, wearing the exact same expression as the woman. “Have you ever gone without food? Without clothes? Since you were little, hasn’t your cousin always given in to you? Ungrateful little brat; raising you is like raising a dog that doesn’t recognize its owner.”

For some reason, their accusations filled Jiang He’s heart with a deep sense of grievance. That emotion pushed him to speak again.

“Yeah, right — all the leftovers you got tired of eating were tossed to me, the worn-out clothes too. Even the schoolbag and books I used were all hand-me-downs from him. I just want to ask: are you sure I’m actually your biological child? Probably not, huh? Otherwise, why does calling me a ‘dog’ roll off your tongue so easily?”

When Jiang He said those words, the frustration in his heart vanished completely. From the memories of this body, it was clear what kind of life the original owner had lived since childhood.

“Uncle, Auntie, please don’t argue because of me. It’s understandable that my cousin… feels upset. I’ll move into my parents’ old house — it’s just a bit leaky, but I can manage. If my cousin doesn’t want to go to the countryside, then I’ll go instead.”

“Although my health hasn’t been great these past couple of years, I can still manage.”

Just then, a well-groomed young man walked in.

This was Jiang Bao — the very person whom the original body’s parents treated as their real son, using their own child as free labor because of him. At that moment, his face showed a look of guilt. But the subtle meaning hidden in his words made Jiang He marvel at the boy’s talent for speaking with such calculated finesse.

“Good child, your health isn’t well — how could we possibly let you go? Auntie won’t let you suffer,” the middle-aged woman said gently, her tone full of affection as she comforted the young man.

But when she turned to look at her own biological son, her face was twisted with anger. “Are you only going to be satisfied when this family falls apart? Why are you so immature? Are you trying to drive your father and me to our graves?”

“Still not coming over to apologize to your brother? I must have had the worst luck in eight generations to give birth to such a worthless beast like you!” The middle-aged man cursed mercilessly.

“Heh.” Jiang He finally understood just how much the original owner of this body had been wronged. Not wanting to deal with the two of them any longer, he placed the items that the original body had already prepared in front of the group and said, “Sign it.”

Actually, the original owner had wanted to do this for a long time, but lacked the courage. However, he wasn’t the original owner, so he didn’t feel the need to consider all those things.

The middle-aged man took the document, glanced at it, and his pupils instantly dilated. “You ungrateful son, how dare you…!”

The middle-aged woman saw her husband’s expression and quickly snatched the paper from his hand. She was also furious. “Jiang He, you really have grown some nerve, huh? Severing the father-son relationship? Where did you get the guts to do this?”

“If you don’t sign, I’ll go to the government building and report you, accusing you of shady dealings. At worst, the whole family will be sent to a rural labor camp. Do you think I won’t follow through?” Jiang He couldn’t help but smile, one that sent a chill down the spines of the three people present. However, deep inside, he secretly felt satisfied. He should have done this a long time ago.

“Heh, do you think that just because I sign this, you can escape your responsibility of supporting us in our old age? Dream on!” The middle-aged man tore the paper into pieces.

But Jiang He calmly took out another identical document. “No worries, I still have another one here. I’ll keep offering it until you sign. Oh, by the way, don’t forget to make a statement as well. As for me, I’ll handle things separately. That way, you won’t have to worry about me fighting with my dear cousin over the inheritance, right?”

“Xiao He, how can you be like this? Uncle and Aunt have been so…” The young man, who was embraced by the middle-aged woman, secretly curled the corner of his mouth, but quickly put on an expression of great hurt.

“Stop—,” Jiang He cut off the woman’s words and turned to the middle-aged man. “Sign it. If you don’t, I might just let your precious nephew suffer.”

“Hmph, I’ve raised you for so many years, you’ve eaten my food, drank my drink, and now you want to walk away so cleanly? No way!” The middle-aged man’s eyes showed some hesitation. He looked at the cold expression on his son’s face, then at his wife holding his nephew in her arms, and a voice inside him told him not to sign.

“Heh…” A bitter feeling suddenly surged in Jiang He’s heart. He knew that the original owner had finally given up and left. “Speak up, how much?”

“500 yuan! Give me 500 yuan, and I’ll sign this severance document. We’ll never bother you when we get old, even if we die,” the middle-aged man seemed to have gained some confidence. He thought his son definitely wouldn’t be able to come up with that much money. 500 yuan was practically a fortune for most families at the moment.

Jiang He furrowed his brows. He knew that the original owner didn’t have much savings. In the 1960s, workers with stable jobs—those with an “iron rice bowl”—only earned about thirty yuan a month.

Although the original owner was also a worker, most of his wages were taken by his parents under various pretexts. Strictly speaking, he had no money at all. Trying to gather 500 yuan in such a short time was simply a pipe dream.

As for Jiang He, he did have a space of his own, where the supplies were so abundant that they could make anyone envious. However, he couldn’t take anything from there now; doing so would be risking his life.

In his past life, he was the owner of a small company that specialized in cosmetics. Due to the high quality of the products, the business had been growing steadily over the years.

But just when he thought his success would continue to rise, a series of natural disasters made him wary—volcanic eruptions, tectonic shifts, and melting snow-capped mountains. All these signs pointed to impending doom.

Due to a fortunate coincidence, he had obtained a jade ring; he accidentally activated it, which opened a small world. Using the space storage ability, he disbanded his company and spent all his savings purchasing resources.

When everything was ready, the apocalypse never came—but instead, he found himself traveling through time. Realizing this, he quickly got up and looked at his finger. It was empty, but the one difference from his previous life was that on his ring finger, there was now a tattoo-like mark. The pattern on it was clearly identical to the jade ring he had purchased before.

As for the division of the family, it was merely following the original owner’s intentions, so from now, he would simply act according to his true feelings.

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TN:

a newwww one, I love novels set in the 60s-90s and it’s a bl 😍