Jiang Le opened his eyes to the sight of a worn earthen wall. Though he was lying on a padded mattress, it still felt uncomfortably hard. He sighed, reluctantly accepting that he might truly have to keep living in this era of material scarcity.  

After returning from the village clinic yesterday, he had fallen asleep—likely due to sheer exhaustion—and didn’t wake until the next day. Sunlight streamed in from outside, and in the distance, he could hear rhythmic grunts, probably villagers hard at work.  

In this era, diligence was a point of pride, and only the village’s laziest would sleep this late. Perhaps because Jiang Le was injured, the Jiang family hadn’t woken him. Feeling a bit embarrassed, he got up and left the room.  

Yesterday, he had figured out the layout of the Jiang family’s home. There were four rooms in total—two on each side, east and west—with a narrow courtyard in the middle. The courtyard had a sunken section, like a slender swimming pool, less than a meter wide, but completely dry, not a drop of water in it. Above it stretched the eaves of the flanking rooms.  

The design was strange to Jiang Le at first, but he later learned that since earthen houses lacked drainage pipes, rainwater from the eaves would flow down and collect in the sunken section of the courtyard. In this era, rainfall was much heavier than in his time, and without this drainage system, the house could easily flood.  

He couldn’t help but marvel at how people in every era had their own survival wisdom. Without the means for proper plumbing, they still found a way to manage.  

The courtyard divided the house into two sides. On the left, the room closest to the entrance was the kitchen, which adjoined his parents’—Jiang De and Zhao Meilian’s—bedroom.  

On the right side, opposite the kitchen, was his grandmother’s and older sister Jiang Huan’s room. Next to theirs was the room he shared with his second brother, Jiang Junqing. He hadn’t been to the other rooms, so he wasn’t sure about their arrangements.  

His and his brother’s room was divided by a cloth curtain. Since they were both grown, this at least gave them some semblance of privacy. Rural houses were built larger, so even with the curtain partition, it didn’t feel too cramped.  

Still, this was just how things were in this era. The Jiang family actually had it better—Jiang Le knew from the original owner’s memories that some families squeezed entire households onto a single kang (heated bed)…  

Aside from the four main rooms, the Jiang family also had two yards: a small front courtyard just outside the rooms and a larger one in the back. Though rural homes weren’t lavish, they did occupy sizable plots of land.  

Both the front and back yards had patches of vegetables planted in them. Everyone did the same—while private farming wasn’t officially allowed, growing a few vegetables for household use was generally overlooked.  

Jiang Le found some water, washed his face, and tidied himself up. Strangely, he still didn’t know what this body looked like. He hadn’t seen a mirror in the Jiang home yet and wasn’t even sure if they had one.  

As he mused absentmindedly, a loud, boisterous voice suddenly called out:  

“Jiang Le, you’re finally up! The sun’s practically roasting your backside!”

Jiang Le turned his head and saw Jiang Huan, her face sallow, holding a wooden bucket as if she had just finished watering the vegetables in the yard.  

“Elder sister,” Jiang Le called out, still unaccustomed to addressing a girl younger than himself as “sister.”  

Before Jiang Huan could react with another look of disbelief, Grandma Jiang, who had been watering the vegetables with her, hurried over. Her rough hands cupped Jiang Le’s as she fretted, “Oh, my dear grandson, you’re finally awake! You scared your grandma half to death!”  

Jiang Huan then remembered that her brother had suffered a head injury. A worried expression crossed her face—was his sudden politeness a sign that he’d knocked his brains loose?  

It’s all that Xu Youcai’s fault! she fumed inwardly. My brother wasn’t the sharpest to begin with, and now he’s even dumber!

Eyes blazing, Jiang Huan suddenly threw down the bucket and dashed out the door in a huff.  

Meanwhile, Grandma Jiang pulled Jiang Le toward the kitchen to eat. She retrieved a meal that had been kept warm in the pot. Feeling too guilty to just sit while an elderly woman served him, Jiang Le followed her to help carry the dishes.  

To his surprise, Grandma Jiang was instantly moved to tears. “Oh, my dear grandson has grown up! You know how to care for others now. You’ve suffered so much…”  

Jiang Le’s lips twitched. All I did was carry a plate—is this really such a big deal? Just how awful had the original owner been?  

Two dishes had been saved for him: one was stir-fried greens, likely picked fresh from their garden, and the other was sautéed wild mushrooms. Jiang Le recognized these mushrooms—kids in the village often foraged for them on the back hills of Kanzi Village. They were considered a delicacy, usually dried and saved for winter when fresh vegetables were scarce. Some families even traded them for extra grain.  

Alongside the dishes was a bowl of corn grits porridge—not made from fresh corn but from dried kernels ground into coarse meal. Unlike fresh corn, this could be stored for long periods and was a staple in their meals. There were also two coarse grain buns.  

To modern eyes, the meal might seem meager, but Jiang Le knew from the original owner’s memories that this was actually a generous spread. Most days, his family only had one dish of stir-fried greens, cooked with minimal oil because even that was a luxury. The mushrooms were likely reserved just for him.  

Today’s feast was probably their way of helping him recover.  

His heart heavy, Jiang Le glanced at Grandma Jiang and said sincerely, “Grandma, you should eat too.”  

His words delighted her. She waved him off. “I’ve already eaten. This is for you!”  

“But I can’t finish all this alone.”  

“Nonsense! A growing boy like you can easily polish this off.” She refused to take a single bite.  

As the food grew cold, Jiang Le had no choice but to start eating.  

At first, he truly doubted he could finish it all—back in the modern era, he’d only eat a little over one bun per meal, and that was without porridge. But this body, starved for nourishment, had other ideas.  

The moment he took a bite, his chopsticks couldn’t stop. Whether it was due to his body’s cravings or the fact that everything here was organic, the flavors were incredibly rich. Before he knew it, both buns and dishes were gone, and even the corn grits porridge had been scraped clean.  

Jiang Le rubbed his full belly, slightly embarrassed.  

Grandma Jiang, however, didn’t bat an eye. A young man should have a hearty appetite! She briskly cleared the dishes, heading off to wash them.  

When Jiang Le tried to help, she shooed him away. “Go on, go play with the other kids!”  

Jiang Le: “…”

At fifteen years old, in his original time, he would still be considered a child. But here, fifteen was already the age where one became a key laborer in the family.  

Unable to help, Jiang Le could only return to his room to familiarize himself with the original owner’s circumstances. He wanted to see what he looked like, but after searching the room for a while, he couldn’t find anything reflective.  

He had to give up.  

To his surprise, however, he discovered a few books in the room—middle school textbooks. Given the Jiang family’s financial situation, he had assumed the original owner had already dropped out of school.  

Unexpectedly, the original owner was still attending. Currently, he was the only one in the family still studying. Jiang Huan had dropped out last year—not because the family forced her, but because she had stubbornly refused to go. The Jiang family had suffered a series of devastating blows.  

Grandpa Jiang had gone up the mountain to gather firewood when he encountered a wolf. Chased relentlessly, he had tumbled down the slope in his attempt to escape, breaking his spine.  

The family had gritted their teeth and sent him to the hospital, exhausting their savings, but in the end, they couldn’t save him.  

What hit the family even harder was the disappearance of the eldest son, Jiang Guoqing, during a mission.  

Jiang Guoqing had enlisted in the army at a young age, rising to the rank of platoon leader. Because of him, the Jiang family had been the envy of Kanzi Village. 

But then, during a mission, he vanished without a trace. When Grandpa Jiang heard the news, he had been so distraught that he wandered deep into the mountains in a daze…  

One tragedy after another left the Jiang family broken. Their able-bodied laborers were now few—only Jiang De and Zhao Meilian could shoulder heavy work.  

Grandma Jiang was too old for strenuous labor. Jiang Huan, though fifteen, couldn’t match a boy’s strength. The second son, Jiang Junqing, had once injured his leg, and without proper treatment, he was now lame.  

Jiang Junqing still had some strength, but his bad leg couldn’t keep up—whenever he overexerted himself, he’d break out in cold sweat from the pain.  

As for the original Jiang Le? Utterly unreliable.  

School fees weren’t exorbitant in this era, but for the Jiang family, they were still a burden. Dropping out would mean one more pair of hands to help at home.  

That was why Jiang Huan had adamantly refused to continue her education.  

The original Jiang Le, however, hadn’t dropped out. Grandpa Jiang’s lifelong wish had been for the family to produce a scholar. So no matter what, Jiang De and Zhao Meilian vowed to support his schooling, even if it meant working themselves to the bone—as long as he was willing to study.  

But if the original owner had actually been diligent, it might have been worth it. The problem was, he only used school as an excuse to avoid labor. As long as he kept attending, he could shirk fieldwork.  

Jiang Le: …

Now that he had taken over, Jiang Le had no intention of dropping out either. If he remembered correctly, the national college entrance exams would resume in a few years. The education system might be in chaos now, but once reforms came, things would change fast.  

Jiang Le firmly believed that education was the only way to change one’s fate. Even in his past life, after losing both parents, he had refused to quit school—partly because of government subsidies, but mostly because he saw it as his only way up.  

That said, he couldn’t bear the thought of his family working themselves to death just to fund his studies. So he began considering ways to improve the Jiang family’s situation.  

First, he needed to figure out the “Melon-Eating System” he had just activated. But he couldn’t pin all his hopes on something so uncertain—he’d have to explore other options too.  

This wasn’t something to rush. In this era… one misstep could be disastrous. He’d have to proceed carefully, step by step.