Chapter 17: Five Years

“Grandma!” A girl wearing a thick dark-blue padded jacket and sporting two braided pigtails stepped inside and called toward the kitchen.

She looked about thirteen or fourteen, small and slender, with a slightly sallow complexion and delicate features. Her little face was flushed bright red from the cold wind outside, and her breath turned into puffs of white fog. She stomped the snow off her shoes, slung off her patched shoulder bag, gently touched the younger siblings snuggled in the quilt on the kang bed, and turned toward the kitchen.

That girl was none other than Jiang Dani. Time flew—five years had passed in the blink of an eye, and it had been five full years since Jiang Yiliu was reborn into this era.

Jiang Yiliu and Jiang Sini were already awake but unwilling to crawl out from the warm kang. The five-year-old Jiang Yiliu was no longer that red, wrinkly monkey from before.

Maybe it was the warmth of the kang, but his little face was now rosy, fair, and soft, with delicate features. Apart from his nose, which resembled his father Jiang Dahai, the rest of his looks took after his uncle Gu Xiashi—and even surpassed him. He was a perfect example of the saying: “A nephew takes after his maternal uncle.”

The Jiang family didn’t mind at all. After all, the men in their family were only “okay” in appearance. Now that their grandson was this handsome, they couldn’t be more pleased. In fact, none of the kids in the village looked as delicate and refined as their precious grandson. According to Grandma Miao, a child who looked like that was destined to become a city person one day. No one knew where she got this logic, but she repeated it often.

Much had changed in the Jiang household over these five years.

Jiang Dani was now in fifth grade. Jiang Erni, who started school two years later, was in third grade. Jiang Sanni turned ten this year. Grandma Miao had never been happy about spending money to send a bunch of girls to school. With Dani and Erni already attending, she wanted to keep Sanni home to help with housework. But it was only after Jiang Yiliu wore her down with persistent pleading that she finally agreed to let Sanni go to school too. That year alone, the family spent six yuan on tuition, which made the old woman’s heart ache terribly.

The school was in the neighboring village's Hongqi Commune, a round-trip walk of two to three hours. Dani came home every day after her morning classes to help Grandma Miao with housework, while Erni and Sanni brought dry rations and stayed at school in the afternoons.

Jiang Yiliu had tried more than once to persuade his big sister that walking so far every day just to do chores wasn’t worth it. Besides, he was home with their grandmother now—there was no need for her to overwork herself.

But Dani insisted on coming home every noon. She felt uneasy if she didn’t do her part. Now that all three girls were in school, and the family had so many mouths to feed, she figured if she worked a bit more, Grandma Miao wouldn’t try to pull one of them out of school.

Dani cherished her hard-won opportunity to study. Jiang Yiliu understood her feelings well, and aside from feeling even more compassion for his big sister, he dared not try to stop her again.

It was late autumn now, and the climate in the northeast had already turned bitterly cold. Jiang Dahai and Gu Dongmei were both core members of the production team, and there was no time for rest. The team needed to harvest the sweet potatoes from the fields before winter arrived. These sweet potatoes would be the villagers’ main food source for the next six months. Some would be steamed and dried to make sweet potato starch, which stored well. If they ate frugally, the starch allocated to each household would be enough to last a family half a year. That way, any remaining grain could be traded for industrial coupons—tickets needed to buy goods that the village didn’t produce.

Even the smallest items, like screws, or large ones like bicycles, required industrial coupons. Only those working in factories could obtain these rare tickets. So families with city relatives working in factories would secretly trade food for them.

In recent years, the government has tightened its control over such private trades. If caught, it could lead to public denunciation or even harsher consequences. Villagers were now extremely cautious, only daring to trade discreetly with trusted acquaintances. If discovered, they could claim it was just a normal exchange between relatives.

Despite all that, the Jiang family had been doing fairly well. Jiang Dahai and Gu Dongmei were both diligent workers, earning a decent number of work points. Plus, Grandpa Jiang received a monthly veteran’s subsidy.

As for Second Uncle Jiang Dachuan’s family, after that dramatic falling-out, they never returned to the old house. Even during holidays, they went straight to Fan Xiaojun’s maternal home. It seemed they truly intended to cut ties. Still, Jiang Yiliu knew in his heart that his second uncle would never let them off that easily. He remained alert and wary.

Now that the weather had turned cold, Jiang Yiliu’s hands and feet were often freezing. Probably due to lacking proper prenatal nourishment, he had poor circulation. He spent most of his time curled up under thick quilts on the warm kang bed.

Things like corn stalks, wheat straw, cotton roots, bean stems, and sweet potato vines were all rationed as firewood. But because of Jiang Yiliu’s health, their household never received enough to keep the kang heated all winter. Eventually, they had to rely on Meng Chuoping in the city to pull some strings and buy coal briquettes. These burned longer than stalks, but they were also much more expensive.

“Brother, let me help you get dressed.” Sini burrowed under the covers, her little head peeking out from the thick quilt, speaking to her brother reluctantly.

Big Sister’s return always meant it was almost lunchtime, which also meant they had to get out of bed. Thanks to her closeness in age with her brother, Sini had been assigned the job of keeping an eye on him. Grandma Miao was too busy with chores to constantly watch over her precious little grandson, so she tasked the fourth granddaughter, who was closest in age to him, with the job. As a result, Sini earned the special right to stay in bed with her brother each morning.

Sini was naturally slow and laid-back, always reacting a beat behind. Possibly due to being weaned too early, she was small and skinny, about the same size as Jiang Yiliu, who was two years younger. Outsiders often mistook them for twins.

Despite her small frame, she took her role as an older sister seriously and always wanted to help her brother dress. But Jiang Yiliu, a grown soul in a child’s body, wasn’t about to let his seven-year-old sister help him get dressed. He refused her every time.

He had to wear a lot of clothes—his body was prone to catching cold as soon as the season changed. With the village clinic poorly stocked with medicine, a simple fever could mean a trip to the county hospital, which was costly and time-consuming. So Jiang Yiliu made it a point to bundle up carefully to avoid getting sick.

His innermost shirt had been tailored from one of his father’s old tops. The knitted sweater over it was unraveled from an old wool sweater and re-knitted—a common practice in those days. His clothes were considered decent, since the fabric was still in relatively good shape. Many people had no choice but to wear garments patched so many times they were more stitch than cloth—thanks to how rare cloth coupons were.

After putting on four tops and three pairs of pants, Jiang Yiliu pulled on a long padded jacket. It had been refashioned from one of Grandpa Jiang’s old coats. He’d even asked his mother to tailor it to reach all the way to his ankles. Though it looked utterly bizarre by today’s standards, at least it was incredibly warm.

Once dressed, he looked like a walking ball. The layers of clothing propped his armpits up so high that his arms couldn’t rest at his sides. With his arms spread slightly apart, he waddled like a little penguin.

Thankfully, no one in this era knew what a penguin looked like, so there was no chance of being teased for it. Looking down at his stiff, awkward movements, he sighed. He’d have to build up his strength and start exercising soon. He couldn’t let his health drag him down in this life too.

“Xiaobao, Grandma made you some steamed egg custard. It’s just for you—don’t go sneaking any to Sini again, understand? Your body is still weak and needs the extra nutrition.”

Grandma Miao had just come out of the kitchen and spotted her precious grandson. Her wrinkled face bloomed into a smile as she took his hand lovingly. Her grandson was perfect in every way—except he was far too fond of his sisters. Anytime he got something nice, he’d try to share it with those girls, much to her disapproval.

Still, she chalked it up to his kind heart. She was just afraid that if she wasn’t watching, her precious Xiaobao would get the short end of the stick.

Jiang Yiliu smiled and nodded, though what he’d do later was a different matter.

Faced with grandparents who doted on him unconditionally, he felt conflicted. Over the past five years, he’d gradually grown used to their affection—and to the love from his parents. But deep down, he knew all this kindness was based on the fact that he was born a boy in this life. If he were still the Jiang Laidi of his past life, he’d likely be living that same painful fate all over again.

That was why he couldn’t fully accept this love. He couldn’t truly embrace them from the bottom of his heart. All he could do was smile and play along—trying to curry favor with the real power holders in this family: his grandparents. In doing so, he hoped to make life better for his sisters.

And it had worked, at least somewhat. Grandma Miao, who adored him beyond reason, practically hung on his every word. Under his persuasion, she’d softened her attitude toward his sisters. Aside from the occasional grumbling, she no longer objected to them going to school. Their meals had improved as well.

While Grandma Miao wasn’t looking, Jiang Yiliu quickly scooped up a spoonful of egg custard and slipped it into Sini’s mouth. They’d done this countless times before—so many that they moved in perfect sync.

He also took a spoonful himself. As the warm, smooth custard melted on his tongue, he exchanged a smile with his little sister.

He truly believed that with his efforts, the five of them—these siblings—would live a different life in this lifetime.

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Chapter 17: Five Years