Chapter 2
Chapter 2
As Xiao Jingting pours some cooked porridge for himself, he notices the little guy’s eyes are already fixated on the bowl.
Xiao Jingting goes on and pours another bowl of porridge before waving at Xiao Xiaofan, asking him to come inside.
The man’s invitation, however, make the little boy recoil in fear.
Xiao Jingting shakes his head after seeing the boy’s reaction. Although Xiao Xiaofan is mentally challenged from that fever, he still possesses the instinct for self-protection. The realization that the previous owner must have frequently beaten the boy frustrates Xiao Jingting for traveling back to become someone who used to mistreat his own son.
The man puts the bowl on the table and starts eating. The door cracks open once again and there runs into Xiao Xiaofan who obviously has succumbed to his hunger.
Seeing the small boy’s expecting look, Xiao Jingting holds him up and puts him on a chair by the table.
The sight of the boy’s old and patched clothes brings a bit of pity and regret to Xiao Jingting’s heart. Xiaofan is just a little boy who is too young to care about anything else than fill his empty stomach.
After moving to this place, the previous Xiao would often come back home from outside with food and Xiao Xiaofan would run over to ask for something to eat. If the father was in a good mood that day, he would spare a part of the food to the boy, but if he happened to be in a foul mood, he would beat the boy instead. And most of the times, it was the second situation.
Xiao Xiaofan wolfs down his food and while doing so, he keeps holding his bowl tightly with one hand, as if someone would snatch it away from him anytime.
Xiao Jingting pushes a bowl of steamed egg to the skinny boy.
Xiao Xiaofan eyes sideways at the man with suspicion, and after making sure he means no harm, the boy tentatively pulls the bowl of egg to himself. Seeing Xiao Jingting acting normal, he immediately eats the whole thing up.
The door stirs again and Xiao Jingting notices someone else is studying him behind it.
Xiao Jingting lowers his head. That boy behind the door is Xiao Xiaodong, the young yet very smart older son. Xiao Jingting keeps his head lowered, trying to act as normally as he can. The memory of the previous Xiao tells him that this world is very special, so he decides to try not to be seen as an alien and risk getting burned to death.
After finishing eating, Xiao Xiaofan seems to have remembered something, so he bolts out of the room. A moment later, Xiao Jingting hears the sound of the door across him being locked back up.
“Why on earth did you go to him again?” Xiao Xiaodong bristles at his little brother.
Xiao Xiaofan raises his small head and answers with an innocent grin, “Because he got something delicious.”
Xiao Xiaodong fumes, “Food, food! What else do you know? Dad left us bread when he went outside.”
“But I don’t like bread,” Xiao Xiaofan replies with an upset look, holding his chin with his hands.
Xiao Xiaodong bites his lips as he finds himself agree with his brother. Although there is enough bread to fill their stomachs, it is indeed unpleasant to eat or swallow because it tastes just like sand.
“We’re lucky enough to have food,” Xiao Xiaodong sulks.
Realizing his brother is angry, Xiao Xiaofan lowers his head and pulls at his clothes nervously.
“Don’t ever open this door without my permission. What if he barges in and takes things from us again?” Xiao Xiaodong warns the younger boy.
“I’ll remember that,” Xiao Xiaofan answers, nodding his head.
Since the two young boys shut their door, Xiao Jingting has been listening to them talking the whole time outside. After traveling back to the previous Xiao’s body, the man suddenly realizes his hearing has become a lot sharper because he has managed to hear every word the two boys said.
After being expelled to this place, the previous Xiao had, at one point, wished that his family would let him go back. So he kept spending hand over foot and after he wasted all his money, he thought of Xu Mu’an and started looting his room. Eventually, he robbed all the money his male wife had taken great pains to accumulate.
Xiao Jingting rubs his forehead. Although none of those things was done by him per se, he still feels it is part of his life due to the fact that he now owns the body and memory of the previous man.
“Big bother, the steamed egg he made was really good,” Xiao Xiaofan smacks his mouth, saying.
“A big spender like him will lose everything he has sooner or later. When that day comes, we will all be in trouble,” Xiao Xiaodong snaps.
“So, we will be left with no food?” Xiao Xiaofan asks, trying to understand what his brother said.
The older boy responds with a nod, “Yes. We will be left with no food and no place to live. We will be on the streets.”
The boy’s answer immediately frightens Xiao Xiaofan to tears, “I don’t want that!”
The younger boy’s crying instantly fills Xiao Jingting’s heart with guilt and sadness all at once.
After returning to his own room, Xiao Jingting starts checking whatever has been left of his belongings. When he first arrived here, he had twenty mu (1.33 hectares) of farmland on the account book, including five mu of first-rate land, six mu of medium-rate land and nine mu of lower-rate land. Now, he only has five mu of lower-rate farmland left.
Xiao Jingting scratches his head, condemning the loser of a man for squandering nearly all his property and at the same time, lamenting the fact that fate seems to have let him travel back through time at the worst possible time.