Chapter 3

Chapter 3

The bran porridge didn't take long to make—just boil the water, stir in the paste, and let it cook for a moment.

Shen Dong noticed that the bran Village Head Liu had given them didn't have much actual flour in it, so it certainly wouldn't taste good. But right now, this was life-saving food; having anything to eat at all was a blessing.

Having gone hungry for so long, Shen Dong didn't have much strength left. He asked Shen Xi to help prop Shen Yuan up. "Lift Big Brother's head a little so I can feed him the porridge."

Shen Xi followed the instruction, sobbing quietly as he cradled Shen Yuan's head with his grimy little hands, not daring to look at the porridge in the cracked clay bowl.

Grumble—

Grumble—

Two hungry stomachs rumbled. Shen Dong used a wooden spoon to scoop the porridge into Shen Yuan's mouth, his little smudged face serious. "Third Brother, this is Big Brother's food. We can't eat it."

Shen Xi lowered his head, swallowing hard. "I won't eat it. I want Big Brother to live."

He knew that if Big Brother didn't eat, he would die, and then he'd have no Big Brother anymore.

Just like he no longer had grandparents, a father, or a mother.

His body's survival instinct took over, and he swallowed reflexively. After finishing two bowls of bran porridge, Shen Yuan finally felt like he was coming back to life.

He opened his eyes just as he swallowed the last mouthful. Now fully conscious, his awareness became sharper, and Shen Yuan felt as if his throat had been scraped by something—the porridge was so coarse it was hard to swallow.

"Big Brother, you're awake!" Shen Dong cried out in delight. He gently set the empty clay bowl on the ground, his bright, clear eyes fixed on Shen Yuan with worry and urgency. "Does anything hurt? Are you still hungry?"

Now that he had the original body's memories, Shen Yuan seemed to have also adopted its feelings for family.

His gaze fell on Shen Dong's forehead, where the blood had crusted over, and his breath hitched.

He reached out, wanting to touch it but afraid of causing pain, his voice hoarse. "Our Dongdong has suffered."

There was no food at home, and the grain jar hadn't been moved. The child had left with his forehead fine but returned with a bloody wound. Shen Yuan knew that the food he'd just eaten was what Shen Dong had begged for, desperately.

His own life had been bought back by Shen Dong, one kowtow at a time.

Shen Yuan gently stroked the back of the child's head and softly promised, "Big Brother won't let Dongdong get hurt again."

Shen Dong was dumbstruck.

Looking at his big brother, he felt that something was different.

Before, his big brother had always carried an air of lifelessness, as if he might vanish at any moment. But now, even though Big Brother was still weak, Shen Dong could sense a strong life force in him.

Moreover, Big Brother seemed much closer to him.

Before, Big Brother rarely spoke and certainly never called him so affectionately.

Shen Dong forgot all his aches and pains. He wasn't struggling alone anymore; he had Big Brother to rely on. When he was tired or hurt, Big Brother would care for him.

He was completely satisfied.

Shen Dong was actually quite shy about having his head patted, but he truly loved this warm feeling of being cared for. Torn between discomfort and delight, he could only stiffen his little body, staying perfectly still, and speak with feigned composure. "There's still some bran left. I'll make more porridge for you tonight."

No matter what, Big Brother must not go hungry again.

After eating two large bowls of bran porridge, Shen Yuan, though still weak, was able to get up and move around.

Having regained some strength in his hands gave him a greater sense of reality.

Drawing from the original body's memories, he moved the grain jar to search for millet.

Every household's grain and water jars were large earthenware vats, glazed inside and out—they were notoriously heavy.

Seeing Shen Yuan struggle to move it, Shen Dong and Shen Xi, though unsure why, came over to help.

Both children were also emaciated and weak. Shen Yuan was thankful for their help but secretly exerted more force himself.

The ground beneath the grain jar clearly looked like it had been dug up. Shen Yuan crouched down and started digging with his hands.

Soon, a small pit appeared, containing a small burlap sack covered in dirt.

Shen Yuan took out the sack and opened it. The yellow millet inside had turned black in parts; it had gone moldy.

Mixed with gray soil, it wasn't really fit to eat.

But Shen Dong and Shen Xi's eyes lit up—millet!

To them, even moldy, soil-mixed millet was better than bran.

Though they wouldn't get to eat this millet, their little sister would have food!

Shen Yuan looked inside the sack. In the world he came from, such grain would have been considered inedible.

But in this place, people were accustomed to eating food like this.

Their bodies had built up resistance; at worst, it would cause diarrhea, but it wouldn't kill anyone.

Having just been starved and with the original body's memories feeling so vivid—as if he had lived through them himself—Shen Yuan couldn't bring himself to throw the millet away.

The sack was small. If they ate their fill, the millet inside would only last the Shen brothers for two meals.

Listening to the non-stop rumbling of Shen Dong and Shen Xi's stomachs, and glancing at Shen Nan, who was huddled outside holding their little sister, too scared to come inside because he might want the porridge, Shen Yuan refilled the pit and moved the grain jar back.

He poured all the millet from the sack into a large earthenware basin.

Shen Dong thought it was for making food for their little sister. At home, millet was usually cooked into porridge for her.

They themselves ate bran meal and ground tree bark, paired with wild vegetables.

Looking at the amount of millet in the basin, Shen Dong felt puzzled.

Their little sister's meals were cooked every two days, with just one handful of millet each time. Although he had been the one preparing her meals for the past month, Big Brother had done it before and shouldn't have forgotten the portion.

Seeing Shen Yuan about to fetch water, Shen Dong tugged on his sleeve to remind him. "Big Brother, you've put in too much millet. Little Sister can't eat this much."

"It's not just for Little Sister. Everyone will eat."

Shen Yuan could sense that the children's bodies had also reached their limits—each one was skin and bones, barely recognizable as human.

If they went hungry any longer, serious problems would arise.

Not just the children, but he himself needed to eat something nutritious to recover quickly.

The original body had just landed a porter job two days ago—carrying five large bundles for one copper coin. It was a stroke of luck, encountering the Xie family's cargo ship. The owner was kind-hearted and willing to pay double for the labor.

The most anyone else paid was one copper coin for every ten large bags carried; if you found the pay too low, you could refuse to work, as there were plenty of others willing to take the job.

The previous soul had died because he hadn't eaten his fill for a long time and was so desperate to seize this opportunity to earn money that he overexerted himself.

Now that he had just taken over this body, whether he could find other work was a long shot, but he definitely had to show up for this job tomorrow. Tomorrow would be the final day, and he needed to collect his wages for the past few days.

Manual labor required a full stomach, and having finally gained a second chance at life, Shen Yuan valued his life too much to be reckless.

When Shen Dong heard that everyone would be eating, his eyes widened in shock.

Shen Xi, who had a more outgoing personality, looked up and asked, "Big Brother, if we eat it all, how will we survive the coming days?"

He was genuinely curious.

Shen Yuan was amused by his words and his wide-eyed expression. "You need a full stomach if you're going to have the strength to work."

Seeing that the children's faces showed deep worry instead of joy at being able to fill their bellies, he could only comfort them, saying, "It's fine to eat one meal. Big Brother will get his wages tomorrow. Then I'll go to the grain shop and exchange them for more coarse flour. It'll be enough to last us a while, so don't be afraid."

Knowing that life could go on, the three children let out a collective sigh of relief.

Shen Dong nimbly went to light the stove, while Shen Xi squatted at Shen Yuan's feet, looking up again with his large, blinking eyes.

As Shen Yuan skimmed off the spoiled millet floating in the water, he looked down at him. "What is it?"

Shen Xi gave a silly grin, revealing a row of small white teeth on his dirty face, and said with great anticipation, "Big Brother, Big Brother, can you call me Xixi?"

He had heard it—Big Brother called Second Brother 'Dongdong', and it sounded so nice.

He also wanted to be called a nice name by Big Brother.

Shen Yuan realized it was just a child acting spoiled, which was quite adorable.

He smiled and said, "Xixi, go help Big Brother fetch another ladle of water."

Shen Xi gave a loud response, stood up in a flash, and skipped away to fetch the water.

Shen Yuan watched the child's lively figure and chuckled again.

When he turned around, he saw Shen Nan holding Shen Bei, squatting at the door like a little mushroom. He kept his head down without saying a word, not looking at anyone.

Shen Bei was sucking on her little finger and giggling happily; the four children had four distinct personalities.

A large clay pot was set into the earthen stove.

The millet porridge took some time to cook. There were no clocks here, and the time of day couldn't be judged precisely by the sky, so he could only estimate the hour.

The sun was about to set, and darkness was falling.

The aroma of grain wafted through the kitchen, and the children couldn't stop their mouths from watering.

Shen Yuan didn't make them wait long, directly filling a large bowl for each of them.

He let Dongdong, Xixi, and Nannan eat first, while he filled a small bowl with the thickest part of the porridge from the top layer to feed Little Beibei in his arms.

Shen Yuan had lived in an orphanage since he was a child, where the older ones looked after the younger ones, so he had extensive experience in childcare.

Feeding a baby was a piece of cake.

Not to mention Little Beibei was incredibly well-behaved; she didn't cry or fuss, opening her mouth to eat whenever fed, and staring at her big brother with giggles afterward.

No matter how much they wanted to make it last by drinking slowly, the bowls were soon empty.

The children cherished every drop, licking their bowls clean. Shen Yuan felt pained seeing this and told them to have another helping from the pot once they were done.

The three children's eyes were full of longing for food, but not one of them moved.

There was only so much millet porridge to begin with; it was already good enough that they could have one bowl. The rest had to be saved for Big Brother and Little Sister; they couldn't eat any more.

Shen Dong shook his head. "Big Brother, you have to heave heavy sacks tomorrow, so you should eat more. Digging for wild vegetables doesn't take much strength; one bowl is enough for us."

Shen Xi and Shen Nan nodded in agreement. No matter what Shen Yuan said, the three children refused to take another bite.

Shen Yuan knew that they weren't refusing because they didn't want to eat, but rather because they wanted to very much.

It was just that the children were too obedient and sensible, fearing that if they ate too much, he would have nothing left.

Money—he had to find a way to earn more money.

He wanted to eat his fill and make sure his younger siblings ate their fill as well.

After finishing his meal, Shen Nan took the sleeping Shen Bei and timidly told Shen Yuan he was taking his sister to sleep.

Shen Yuan nodded. "Thank you, Nannan."

Shen Nan pursed his lips and blushed slightly, his voice tiny. "It's... it's no trouble."

Shen Yuan watched the little sprout carry the even smaller baby away. It wasn't until Shen Xi pulled his hand to remind him to eat that he withdrew his gaze.

Shen Yuan stopped after eating two bowls of millet porridge, covering the remaining half-pot with a straw lid to serve as tomorrow's meal.

Here, people went to sleep when the sun set and woke up at the crack of dawn.

The Shen family didn't even have lamp oil; as soon as it grew dim, the house was plunged into total darkness.

Shen Yuan felt his way to the bedside in the dark, where the four children were already sleeping in a row.

Like the original owner, Shen Yuan slept on the outermost side.

It was currently spring, and the mornings and evenings were very cold. Several people huddled together on a wooden board that wasn't very large to insulate themselves from the dampness rising from the ground. They were covered by a tattered quilt stuffed with reed fluff and willow down, which was also quite small.

It was still very cold, with little warmth to be felt.

Shen Yuan's hands and feet were freezing, yet he still nudged the tattered quilt further toward the children.

In his previous life, he had volunteered in a country in Africa where development was extremely backward and resources were scarce. Consequently, the children there suffered from long-term shortages of food and clothing, and their daily diet even included mud cakes made of soil.

Soil is indigestible and simply accumulates in the stomach. The children's bellies would be round and swollen, yet their limbs were as thin as matchsticks.

They looked like matchsticks stuck into a balloon—eerie and pitiful.

Because they ate so little and lacked nutrition, the children's resistance was very weak. A minor chill could trigger a series of infections; once the immune system was compromised, it could easily claim their lives.

The child mortality rate was extremely high.

The children's situation here was only slightly better than those he had seen before, and Shen Yuan didn't dare to gamble.

After tucking his younger siblings in, Shen Yuan sighed in the darkness. Filling their bellies wasn't enough; he had to keep them warm, too.