How Was He Supposed to Live Like This? He Quit!
When Jiang Xinxin saw the eggs, she immediately remembered how delicious the boiled egg from last night had been.
The egg white had been so soft, tender, and satisfyingly springy.
The yolk had been a little hard to swallow, but just as fragrant.
So she ignored what her mother had told her last night: she wasn't allowed to accept anything else from Brother Liang.
Besides, she hadn't accepted them.
Brother Liang had stuffed the eggs into her little pocket himself!
She hadn't reached out to take them.
"Thank you, Brother Liang."
The little girl's eyes curved into a smile.
"Mhm, go on and play. Same rule as always: don't let anyone else find out!"
"Okay, Brother Liang, I know. I won't tell a soul!" the little girl readily promised, then ran off with a face full of delight.
[You received Liang Xinxin's gratitude and gained 5 upgrade experience points]
Huh? What went wrong? Why did it drop to 5 points?
Wasn't it 10 points before?
Could it be that giving her too much lowered her expectations? So she wasn't as pleasantly surprised?
What should I do, then? Leave her hanging for two days before giving her more?
Having finished his experience-farming task for the day, Liang Xin went to work feeling thoroughly satisfied.
But the moment he thought of what he had to do at work, his newly risen good mood plunged straight to rock bottom.
Surely I won't have to load and unload carts again today?
Sure enough, when he arrived at work, the team leader gave him the same assignment as yesterday: go with Li Haiyang to the countryside to purchase supplies, then haul them back.
In an instant, he felt the whole world turn from bright colors to gray and black.
Despair!
It looked like he really did need to give quitting some serious thought!
What business does a seasoned big-tech workhorse like me have suffering like this?
However unwilling he was, he still set off with Li Haiyang.
Although his resignation was basically a nail already hammered into the board,
he decided to give himself another day to think carefully and seriously about the pros and cons.
Yesterday had been his first day out, and everything had felt new to him.
Today, sitting in the horse cart, he felt considerably less enthused.
It wasn't as novel anymore.
That novelty had a pretty short shelf life.
And when he remembered that he would soon have to load and unload the cart, he felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
Did I really have to quit?
Getting a job in this era must be pretty difficult, right?
Was I just going to give it up like that?
But I really can't stand this physical labor anymore.
I don't even know whether jobs are easy to find in this era.
There was definitely no Liepin in this era, nor even the 58.com that ordinary people used.
Would I have to look on utility poles?
He didn't know whether there would be job postings on the utility poles in this era, either.
Liang Xin spent a grueling morning letting his thoughts wander.
After all, quitting was a huge decision, one that could very well affect his entire life, so he had to be cautious.
That morning, he worked alongside Li Haiyang and the others, mechanically loading goods onto the cart over and over.
Fortunately, this body wasn't his own and could take a beating.
If it had been his old body,
he probably wouldn't have lasted half an hour before collapsing on the ground, unable to get back up.
Even half an hour might have been an overestimate of himself.
At lunchtime, Liang Xin dragged his exhausted body to the village cafeteria.
Li Haiyang spent two liang in grain coupons and five fen on a bowl of coarse-grain porridge.
Liang Xin, as he had yesterday, bought twice as much.
He might not have worked as much as Li Haiyang, but he ate a lot!
As the saying went, a growing boy could eat his father into the grave.
His body was only eighteen, so it barely still fell into that category.
His digestion was so strong that, although the two bowls of porridge added up to a full jin, they still wouldn't have been enough if he ate as much as he wanted!
But this stuff was a far cry from delicious. It couldn't even be called tasty.
Even if he were given more, he wouldn't be able to eat it.
Being sixty or seventy percent full was enough!
When they reached the table, Liang Xin took out the accompaniment he'd prepared for the meal: boiled eggs!
He had boiled eight last night.
He had given two to Jiang Xinxin and eaten two himself that morning.
That left four.
Seeing the astonished look on Little Li's face-oh, no, Brother Li's-
he felt too embarrassed to eat them by himself, so he took one out, cracked its base with a snap, and stood it in front of Brother Li.
"Brother Li, have one!"
"No, no, no, I won't. Xiao Liang, you eat it yourself."
"Brother Li, it's just an egg. You're being too distant with me. Isn't that a slap in my face?"
"Ah, it's not that serious, is it? All right, then. Thank you."
[You received Li Haiyang's gratitude and gained 3 experience points.]
Oh? An unexpected bonus?
Could I complete my great undertaking of upgrading even faster?
What if my benefits increased dramatically after I leveled up, and one yuan a day became ten yuan a day?
Then to hell with working!
Even if someone came asking questions, I wouldn't be afraid!
I can afford to eat without working. So what? Am I eating your rice?
What if some rich woman took a fancy to this worthless skin of mine and insisted on supporting me? Is that not allowed?
If you've got what it takes, why don't you look as young and handsome as me?
Let's see who dares come knocking to investigate!
Just see if I don't spit right in your face!
At that thought, Liang Xin's heart burned with excitement, and he broke into a perverted grin.
"Brother Li, as they say, share half with whoever's there. Here, have another!"
"Xiao Liang, don't. You're too generous."
"Brother Li, don't treat me like an outsider. From now on, we're brothers! We'll share our blessings and face hardships together!"
Snap!
Liang Xin stood another egg in front of Li Haiyang.