Two Ways to Treat Family

Economy cigarettes cost eight fen a pack, so three packs came to twenty-four fen. It looked as though they were being bought for twenty-four fen a pack.

In reality, it couldn't be calculated that way, because cigarette coupons were involved too.

A cigarette coupon was a purchase voucher, but it didn't restrict what kind of cigarettes could be bought.

One coupon could buy one pack of cigarettes. Whether it was an eight-fen pack of Economy or a forty-five-fen pack of Lotus, a coupon was required.

So trading three packs for one actually included two extra cigarette coupons.

The supply of cigarettes had also fallen.

As a result, people had started buying and selling cigarette coupons.

They went for about five fen each, so two extra coupons meant another ten fen. That made the sale price thirty-four fen a pack!

That brought it closer to the value of Lotus, the highest-grade cigarette on the market.

And Li Haiyang wasn't doing this because he liked smoking them himself.

Even if he did like them, he couldn't afford to do that. He was just an ordinary employee and didn't dare indulge in such luxury.

He was doing it at someone else's request.

That someone was Team Leader Xiang from the logistics department!

Of all the people Liang Xin had dealt with, Director Xiang was the most eager to get ahead.

As a result, he had a very sharp eye, much sharper than Lao Zhou's.

He had immediately spotted the advantages of the cigarettes Liang Xin had brought out.

He thought they were no worse than the truly top-grade cigarettes, the one-yuan-a-pack Chunghwa that only senior leaders could smoke and that weren't sold in ordinary department stores!

In fact, his intuition told him these were even better!

If he got his hands on them, they might prove unexpectedly useful.

So when he saw that Liang Xin and Li Haiyang seemed close,

He tried contacting Li Haiyang and offered to buy them at a high price.

Yes, the price he offered was five packs of Economy for one!

He thought it was well worth it!

Then Li Haiyang's eyes turned, and the five packs on his lips became three.

When he saw that the two rickshaw-puller brothers he had worked with for a long time readily agreed, he said no more.

He just grinned from ear to ear.

Well, well, that black-hearted Brother Li had pocketed a difference of two packs!

If Liang Xin found out, he'd probably laugh until his stomach hurt!

As for why Li Haiyang didn't go directly to Liang Xin to buy them,

It was because, in his mind, Liang Xin, who seemed to have quite a few impressive relatives, was more important than he was.

If a leader had something good, would you dare go up and ask whether he was willing to sell it to you?

Did you still want to get ahead or not?

Liang Xin naturally knew nothing about any of this.

But even if he had known, he wouldn't have cared.

At most, he would have gone to Team Leader Xiang himself and asked how much he could buy!

After all, Team Leader Xiang's price wasn't low. Selling him cigarettes would earn several times the purchase price.

That was a much better deal than selling food to the neighbors, where he could only make double his money.

By now, Liang Xin had reached the door of his home, carrying an empty cardboard box.

He had picked up the empty box at work.

At least, it was still empty for the moment.

Once he got home, before he went inside, a few things would appear in it.

The reason it was still empty was that he was hesitating. He hadn't fully decided how much would be appropriate to bring home.

It really was a question worth thinking about.

More wasn't necessarily better!

Liang Xin had been reborn. He possessed the original owner's memories, but not the feelings the original owner had for his family members.

Although, since he had inherited everything from the original owner, it was only right that he take care of the man's family,

How much care he gave them was another matter.

Would he take care of them out of duty, or out of affection?

The results would naturally be different.

If he was only fulfilling his duty, then Liang Xin could give his family the entire eighteen-yuan monthly wage he received from the supply and marketing cooperative.

Wouldn't that already be more than decent of him?

Wouldn't that make him an exceptionally filial son?

There probably wasn't a second person in the world who would give his entire wage to his family.

After all, he had to live and eat too!

So, if he was only fulfilling his duty, giving them ten yuan a month would already be quite generous.

Nobody would be able to say a bad word about Liang Xin.

Whenever they mentioned him, they would give him a thumbs-up.

Ten yuan was no small sum! In fact, it was already a lot!

It was equivalent to adding the income of a strong rural laborer to the household.

And a strong laborer who didn't need money spent on clothes or food, at that!

It was enough to raise the original owner's family's circumstances by a large margin.

But their standard of living would still only be that of an ordinary family!

If, however, he planned to keep spending time with this family and visiting them regularly,

Leaving everything else aside, how much would it cost each month just to bring his family some meat to eat every day?

Would a mere eighteen yuan cover it?

That was why he was still torn.

Although he had memories of every member of the family,

He had changed, after all.

He thought differently from the original Liang Xin, and his living habits were different too.

He didn't know whether he could continue getting along well with the original owner's family as the original owner had.

Or rather, whether he himself would feel comfortable around these people!

If he felt comfortable, then there was nothing more to say. He would bring them all along to eat fragrant food and drink the finest wine!

If he felt uncomfortable and awkward,

Then he would simply fulfill his duty and leave it at that.

That would be enough to do right by the original owner.

If he hadn't come, the original owner could only have improved his family's circumstances so much!

It definitely wouldn't have been more than what Liang Xin would give them!

No matter how slowly he walked, he had to reach his destination eventually.

He looked at the courtyard before him, at the little dilapidated earthen house standing in it, and more memories welled up in his mind.

His predecessor's family wasn't well-off.

To be precise, they were among the worse-off families in the village!