I secretly sold grain at age 60

Chapter 2 Recognizing the Situation

In the dead of night, the mud-brick house was completely quiet.

Gao Huaiyi lay alone on the cold, rough earthen bed, his mind still reeling. He was still in shock at the unexpected awakening of his personal space, his mind replaying his current situation over and over again, slowly sorting out the new life that belonged to this body.

His name is now Gao Huaiyi, and he is just eighteen years old this year.

In his past life, he was just a hardworking car mechanic, dealing with engine oil, wrenches, and spare parts every day. He lived an ordinary life, supporting his family with his physical strength. He never lacked food, and could buy meat whenever he wanted. His life wasn't wealthy, but it was stable and comfortable, free from the torment of hunger. But a sudden accident took him away from the familiar modern world forever, and his soul returned to another world, arriving in this harsh and difficult old era.

It is now 1960, a special and difficult time.

Resources were extremely scarce, food was in short supply, and the whole country was struggling to make ends meet. Every household tightened their belts to survive, and refined grains and white flour were extremely precious. Meat and oil were a rare treat throughout the year, and wild vegetables, coarse grains, and thin soups and porridges became the most common foods on every household's table.

He was in a small village in a remote rural area of ​​Northeast China, a village called Gaozhangzi Village.

The reason for this name is very simple and pure: the village has the most people with the surname Gao, and the clan has lived here for generations. Over time, outsiders have become accustomed to calling it Gaozhangzi Village. Most of the houses in the village are mud houses and thatched huts. The roads are muddy and difficult to travel. The villagers spend their whole lives working in the fields, earning work points to make a living. Life is poor and hard, and everyone is struggling to make ends meet.

Gao Huaiyi slowly closed his eyes, receiving the complete memories left behind by the original owner.

His family wasn't small; he had an older sister who was gentle, sensible, and helped with chores at a young age, a well-behaved and quiet younger sister, and a younger brother who was still young and innocent. The six of them lived in this dilapidated mud-brick house. There weren't many able-bodied people in the family, but there were many mouths to feed, so food was always scarce, and they were constantly in a state of hunger and hunger.

The original owner shared the same name as himself, Gao Huaiyi, and was also eighteen years old. As the only grown son in his family, he carried a heavy burden. Unfortunately, he had suffered from malnutrition since childhood, was thin and frail, and often went hungry. A few days ago, he was so hungry that he craved meat that he decided to try his luck on the mountain to dig up some wild game and find some wild fruit to fill his stomach. However, due to hunger and weakness, he slipped and fell from a high slope, sustaining serious injuries and falling into a coma. That's how his modern self took over this body and was given a second chance at life.

The thought of the personal space he had discovered during the day still filled Gao Huaiyi with excitement.

That fertile five-acre patch of black soil, and the large, fifty-meter-diameter water pit with its ever-flowing spring, were opportunities that others could only dream of. He had already planned in his mind that when the time was right, he would secretly sow grains and vegetables in the space, quietly accumulate resources, and then secretly exchange them for coarse and fine grains, oil, salt, cloth, and cured meat. However, he had not yet figured out the pattern of the space's peculiar changes in the flow of time, so he could only keep it to himself, intending to slowly enter the space to repeatedly experiment and explore, little by little uncovering its hidden secrets.

But no amount of surprises can outweigh the current predicament.

At this moment, his family was dirt poor. Every meal consisted of thin porridge and vegetables, devoid of any oil or fat, and certainly not the meat he longed for. He had been starving for too long and had long suffered the bitterness of hunger. He knew all too well how hard it was to obtain a mouthful of food and how rare and precious a piece of fatty meat was in those times.

The room was dimly lit, with only a small kerosene lamp casting a faint glow. The flickering light cast the shadow of the earthen house, making it appear larger and smaller. The light was weak and dim, and it didn't burn for long before the flame gradually dwindled and the oil burned out. Before long, the lamp flickered gently and went out completely into the pitch-black night.

The entire house was instantly plunged into deep darkness and silence, with only the occasional sound of the wind coming from outside.

Gao Huaiyi suppressed all his thoughts, ceasing his reverie about the regrets of his past life and his endless contemplation of the secrets of the space. He gently lay down, covering himself with the old, patched, thin, and stiff quilt, quietly closing his eyes and slowly drifting into sleep. At night, he would still occasionally think of his modern life, longing for the days when he never had to go hungry or worry about food and clothing, and missing his family and friends from his past life whom he could never see again. A sense of reluctance and melancholy inevitably arose in his heart. But no matter how much he longed for it, there was no going back; he could never return to the past.

As the night passed quietly, the sky gradually turned a pale white, and the cool morning mist enveloped the entire Gaozhangzi Village.

Not long after dawn, the door was gently pushed open.

The group that came in included not only their worried parents, but also their sensible older sister, shy younger sister, and youngest brother.

"elder brother!"

As soon as the older and younger sisters entered the door, they softly called him "Brother," their voices gentle and full of worry.

The youngest brother leaned forward, looking up at him with concern, and asked softly, "Brother, little brother, you're awake? Are you feeling better now? Are you still in pain?"

The whole family was extremely careful, walking very quietly, afraid of disturbing him who was still recovering. He had been unconscious from the fall for days, which had worried the whole family greatly. They were constantly concerned about his condition, worrying about him night after night.

When the parents got closer and took a look, their faces instantly lit up with joy.

Their eldest son finally woke up, his eyes clear and his complexion much better. He was no longer as unconscious and weak as before, and their hearts finally eased a little. The two of them quickly stepped forward and gently asked him if he felt unwell anywhere, if his head still hurt, and if his injuries were painful. Their tone was gentle and sincere, and every word came from their heartfelt concern.

Immediately afterwards, his mother carefully took two things out of her bosom and quietly handed them to him.

It turned out to be two warm, freshwater eggs.

In the rural countryside of 1968, when food was scarce and everyone was starving, eggs were already considered an extremely rare and precious tonic. Ordinary families couldn't bear to eat them themselves, nor could they save them for their siblings; they would all save them to exchange for salt, needles and thread, or coarse grains in town. But his parents, even though they and their three children went hungry every day, would save the most precious and best things, secretly warm them up, and use them specifically to nourish their eldest son, because they were worried about his weak body after falling down the mountain.

Gao Huaiyi looked at the two still-warm eggs in front of him, then at his parents' rough, dark, calloused, and cracked hands, weathered by years of hard work, and then at his thin, sensible older sister, younger sister, and younger brother beside him, who never fought over the food, though his younger brother and sister kept staring at the eggs and swallowing their saliva. A sudden pang of sadness welled up in his heart, and a warm current surged through him.

He took over the original owner's body and enjoyed this unreserved and all-encompassing favoritism and affection.

Despite their family's meager food supplies and incredibly difficult circumstances, despite the couple struggling to make ends meet with four children, and despite their own lifelong selflessness and hardship, they selflessly prioritized keeping all the good things in the family for themselves. They would rather their entire family suffer hunger and cold than let their son grow up safe and healthy.

Gao Huaiyi slowly propped himself up and got off the earthen bed.

As he walked out of the inner room and came to the dining table in the main room, the scene before him filled him with mixed feelings.

The table was simple, with no eggs, no dry food, and not a single decent dish.

His parents, along with his older sister, younger sister, and younger brother, were silently eating their breakfast, each bowl filled with a thin porridge of mostly water and sparse rice. It was bland and tasteless, with no vegetables or side dishes, and not a trace of oil or meat. The whole family was drinking the most unpalatable and barely filling thin porridge, saving the only precious egg for him to enjoy alone.

At this moment, most of Gao Huaiyi's resentment, resistance, confusion, and obsession with the past world slowly dissipated.

In his past life, he worked as a car mechanic, leading a simple and ordinary life, struggling and working hard. Yet, no one had ever loved him unconditionally, cared for him so much, or put him first in everything. No one treated him like this in his past life. In this life, living in the difficult 1960s, alone in a strange world, it is this family of simple, kind, and ordinary relatives who have given him the warmest support and the most reliable haven of family affection in this chaotic world.

He finally understood.

The past cannot be retrieved, and the past life cannot be returned to. No matter how much we yearn for the past, no matter how much regret and resentment we feel, it cannot change the fact that we have traveled through time. Rather than spending our days in despair, longing for the past that can never be returned to, and resisting the difficult life we ​​face now, we should live well in the present and cherish the hard-won family bonds we have now.

Since fate has given him a second chance at life, granting him the incredible opportunity to have a portable space, and allowing him to meet a family who are devoted to him and willing to suffer for him, he will no longer complain about the unfairness of fate or live a negative and decadent life.

Gao Huaiyi silently made up his mind.

From now on, let go of past obsessions and settle down to live a good life on this land.

Protect your loving parents, take good care of your sensible sisters and younger brother, and wholeheartedly honor all your family members who are truly devoted to you in this life. Utilize your vision and knowledge from your past life that surpassed your time, as well as the unique advantage of your personal space, to quietly accumulate resources and gradually change your family's impoverished and hungry situation, so that your family will no longer suffer from hunger, toil, and grievances for the rest of their lives.

He will shoulder the responsibilities of the eldest son in the family, act steadily and modestly, and strive hard and live earnestly during the difficult years of 1960, so as not to let down the second chance at life and the dearest family members who have given him everything.