Recaps

Liang Xin visited Sister Xiao Zhu and, after she invited him to dinner, supplied sugar and rice so she could make tomato and egg stir-fry. He hinted that a powerful relative provided the goods, and Sister Xiao Zhu stopped asking questions.

• Liang Xin shared sweet cane with Sister Xiao Zhu and asked about her cooking.
• Sister Xiao Zhu invited Liang Xin to her home for dinner, and he asked if she could make scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
• Liang Xin brought out white sugar, which Sister Xiao Zhu tasted and praised.
• When Sister Xiao Zhu asked for white rice, Liang Xin bought three jin and brought it over.
• Sister Xiao Zhu admired the rice and asked where Liang Xin got it, so he blamed a powerful relative and she dropped the subject.

Liang Xin watched Sister Xiao Zhu cook muxu tomatoes, then insisted that she and her husband, Brother Chen, stay to eat. As Sister Xiao Zhu began making more food, Liang Xin brought out sunflower seeds from the system to share with Brother Chen.

• Liang Xin urged Sister Xiao Zhu to use plenty of ingredients while she cooked muxu tomatoes at his home.
• Sister Xiao Zhu finished cooking and tried to leave, but Liang Xin insisted she stay and invited Brother Chen over.
• Liang Xin went to fetch Brother Chen, who was holding their baby, and persuaded him to come eat despite his reluctance.
• Sister Xiao Zhu scolded Brother Chen for coming, while Liang Xin asked her to make more food and settled in with the couple.
• Liang Xin pretended to rummage through a battered cabinet, bought a jin of sunflower seeds from the system, and offered them to Brother Chen.

Liang Xin shared a lavish meal of tomato and egg stir-fry with Brother Chen and Sister Xiao Zhu, delighting in her cooking. After dinner, Sister Xiao Zhu invited him to her home for another meal the next night, and he eagerly accepted.

• Liang Xin guessed that the oversized sunflower seeds were Xinjiang giant sunflower seeds, and Brother Chen tried some.
• Liang Xin praised Sister Xiao Zhu's cooking as he ate several bowls of rice topped with tomato and egg stir-fry.
• Liang Xin, Brother Chen, and Sister Xiao Zhu enjoyed the generous meal, which had cost nearly one yuan to make.
• Sister Xiao Zhu cleaned up and invited Liang Xin to dinner at her home the following night.
• Liang Xin accepted eagerly and promised to come even if his department head asked him to work overtime.

Liang Xin enjoyed Sister Xiao Zhu’s cooking and eagerly agreed to eat at her home again, deciding to bring ingredients as a gift. The next morning, he earned experience from the village children and the couple’s gratitude, then signed in for one yuan and nine jiao, leaving him pleased with his growing income.

• Liang Xin accepted Sister Xiao Zhu’s invitation to dinner and planned to bring food ingredients so the couple would have something good to cook.
• After dinner, Liang Xin noticed Brother Chen had left most of the sunflower seeds untouched, then insisted the couple take the remainder home.
• The next morning, Liang Xin gathered village children and used system candy to gain more than fifty experience points.
• Liang Xin counted the ten experience points Sister Xiao Zhu and Brother Chen had each given him, bringing his total experience above one hundred.
• Liang Xin signed in and received one yuan and nine jiao, then calculated that his monthly income could approach that of a senior worker.

Liang Xin enjoyed Sister Xiao Zhu’s egg fried rice and continued pretending to be sick so he could avoid returning to loading and unloading work. At the company gate, he handed out unusual cigarettes, which his coworkers eagerly accepted and praised.

• Liang Xin used the eggs he had secretly bought to have Sister Xiao Zhu make him a generous bowl of egg fried rice.
• Sister Xiao Zhu questioned how Liang Xin still had eggs, and he told her he had kept some because he was greedy.
• After eating, Liang Xin went to work and changed his cheerful expression to maintain his pretense of being sick.
• Liang Xin gave Li Haiyang and the other men cigarettes, and they readily accepted them while hoping he would stay sick.
• Li Haiyang and another coworker praised the smooth, filtered cigarettes Liang Xin claimed had come from a relative.

Liang Xin leveled up after handing out candy to village children and unlocked persimmons and eggplants. Lao Zhou then told him he would start handling procurement assignments near his hometown, leaving Liang Xin panicked about meeting the family of the body he had inherited.

• Liang Xin swapped his export cigarette for a special-supply cigarette and avoided work by giving cigarettes to his companions.
• Liang Xin handed candy to more than twenty village children, but their surprise earned him less experience than the day before.
• Liang Xin leveled up and unlocked persimmons and eggplants as new system products.
• Liang Xin ate two bowls of coarse-grain porridge at the canteen before returning to the office.
• Lao Zhou told Liang Xin that he would handle procurement near his hometown starting the next day.
• Liang Xin panicked when he realized the assignment would make him meet his inherited body's family.

Liang Xin prepared to return to his family the next day and brought Sister Xiao Zhu ingredients for a lavish dinner. Sister Xiao Zhu cooked stuffed eggplant fritters, red-braised pork, and sugared tomatoes, despite her shock at seeing so much scarce pork.

• Liang Xin learned he had to return to his family the next day and tried to distract himself by planning dinner.
• Liang Xin brought Sister Xiao Zhu two jin of pork, eggplant, tomatoes, rice, and white sugar, asking her to cook three dishes.
• Sister Xiao Zhu was shocked by the two jin of pork and offered to render it into oil, but Liang Xin insisted he wanted to eat the meat.
• Sister Xiao Zhu minced some pork for stuffed eggplant fritters and used the rest to make red-braised pork, then prepared tomatoes with white sugar.

Liang Xin brought ingredients to Sister Xiao Zhu’s home, and the meal she prepared became a rare feast for her family. After they ate, he noticed their baby staring hungrily at the food while Sister Xiao Zhu and Brother Chen continued eating.

• Sister Xiao Zhu added stewed green beans to the meal, hoping to return Liang Xin’s hospitality despite feeling indebted to him for bringing ingredients.
• Liang Xin refused to eat before Sister Xiao Zhu’s husband, Brother Chen, arrived home with their child.
• Brother Chen saw the four dishes and white rice and realized Liang Xin had likely supplied the meat, but joined them at the table.
• Liang Xin and the couple eagerly ate the meal, and Liang Xin stopped only when he was completely full.
• Liang Xin noticed the baby staring at the table and saw that Sister Xiao Zhu and Brother Chen were still eating hungrily.

After sharing an unusually lavish meal with Sister Xiao Zhu and her husband, Liang Xin told them that Lao Zhou had arranged for him to lead a team on a medium-haul route to his hometown. Though Liang Xin dreaded the trip, he recognized that Lao Zhou had arranged the assignment to help him.

• Liang Xin, Sister Xiao Zhu, and her husband ate so much red-braised pork that they could barely move, then laughed together over the meal.
• Sister Xiao Zhu considered inviting Liang Xin over again, but hesitated because she feared she and her husband could never repay his generosity.
• Liang Xin told Sister Xiao Zhu that his team leader had changed his assignment and that he would lead a team starting the next day.
• Liang Xin explained that Lao Zhou had coordinated with the director to assign him a medium-haul transport route to his hometown.
• Liang Xin worried that the trip would take two days and disrupt his plans, but acknowledged that Lao Zhou had arranged the favorable assignment without asking for anything in return.

After reaching level five, Liang Xin celebrated his increased check-in income by handing out candy and working out how close he was to earning more than a hundred yuan a month. Before heading to work, he remembered that he had wanted to find some books and called the neighborhood children back outside.

• Liang Xin accepted Sister Xiao Zhu's leftover food and received 2.4 yuan for completing his check-in, an increase of fifty cents from level four.
• Liang Xin calculated that his monthly income was nearly ninety yuan and privately celebrated being close to breaking the workers' wage ceiling.
• Liang Xin gave candy to the neighborhood children and explained that he would return with more the following evening.
• Liang Xin realized he needed another 140 experience points to reach the next level and expected his daily reward to rise to three yuan.
• Liang Xin heated and ate the leftover dishes, then remembered he had wanted to find books and called the children outside again.

Liang Xin noticed that the children had begun treating his candy as an entitlement, but a father's quick discipline reassured him. He exchanged candy for books to relieve his boredom and ended up with a large stack to read.

• A child asked Liang Xin for tomorrow's candy early, making him realize the children might take his generosity for granted.
• An adult apologized for the boy, then took him home and beat him; Liang Xin approved of the father's response.
• Liang Xin offered one piece of candy for each book the children lent him.
• The children brought books, picture books, and an old textbook, and Liang Xin exchanged candy for forty or fifty books while ensuring each child received at least one piece.

Liang Xin tried to escape the neighbors’ teasing about his picture books, but Auntie Liu approached him to ask whether he could sell her eggs and meat. He considered helping her and earning extra money, partly because he hoped to buy a small courtyard house.

• Liang Xin packed five picture books into his old schoolbag and prepared to leave for work in his hometown.
• Auntie Liu visited Liang Xin and said neighbors had guessed he had been eating eggs and meat.
• Auntie Liu asked Liang Xin to spare her some food for her children and offered to pay a higher price.
• Liang Xin considered selling food to help his neighbors and supplement his income.

Liang Xin sold Auntie Liu his remaining persimmons and accepted a few extra fen from her. On his way to work, he found a way to avoid the foul public toilet and left with two paper parcels.

• Liang Xin told Auntie Liu he would bring food to share after work the next day.
• Liang Xin offered Auntie Liu his remaining persimmons at the price he had paid for them.
• Auntie Liu weighed the persimmons and paid Liang Xin fifteen fen, more than his asking price.
• Liang Xin went to work and, disgusted by the public toilet, relieved himself behind a tree near the workplace gate.
• Liang Xin left with two paper parcels and was relieved that no red-armband inspectors had caught him.

Liang Xin offered Lao Zhou pork fat and eggs to repay a favor, insisting that Lao Zhou pay for them rather than accept them as a bribe. Lao Zhou bought the food and hurried off to hide it, while Liang Xin received ten experience points and judged him an honest man.

• Liang Xin arrived early and offered Lao Zhou a jin of fatty pork and two jin of eggs.
• Lao Zhou initially refused the food, but accepted it after Liang Xin said he would cook the pork himself.
• Liang Xin charged Lao Zhou three yuan fifty for the meat and eggs, and Lao Zhou paid him.
• Lao Zhou rushed away with the food to hide it from his colleagues and take it home later.
• Liang Xin checked the system and received ten experience points from Lao Zhou.

Liang Xin began leading his own team on assignments, with Lao Zhou accompanying him for support. He used premium cigarettes from the system to imply he had influential relatives, leaving Lao Zhou and Team Leader Xiang with a higher opinion of him as he prepared to work with them.

• Liang Xin guessed that ten experience points was the maximum reward he could receive for an action.
• Lao Zhou returned empty-handed, then assigned the team their work and took Liang Xin to logistics for his first assignment as team leader.
• Lao Zhou asked Team Leader Xiang to give Liang Xin reliable workers and not make things difficult for him.
• Liang Xin shared export cigarettes with Lao Zhou and Team Leader Xiang, who were impressed by their packaging and taste.
• Liang Xin claimed that a relative in the tobacco industry had given him several cartons, and Team Leader Xiang began treating him with greater respect.
• Liang Xin told Lao Zhou that a different relative had supplied the pork, leading Lao Zhou to reconsider how he treated Liang Xin.

Liang Xin used his influence and promises of meat to choose Li Haiyang and two familiar cart drivers for his team, then settled comfortably into their ox cart. They reached his home village near the end of lunchtime and went straight to the village committee.

• Liang Xin took Li Haiyang aside and offered him meat, persuading him to let Liang Xin discuss team assignments with the two cart drivers.
• Liang Xin asked the two drivers to switch from short-distance to medium-distance routes, and they eagerly agreed.
• Team Leader Xiang approved Liang Xin's choices, and the team arrangements were settled.
• The ox cart set off with Liang Xin resting on hay and reading a picture book during the slow journey.
• Liang Xin and the two drivers reached his home village near lunchtime and headed to the village committee.

Liang Xin visited the village committee on a supply and marketing cooperative assignment to purchase supplies, and the village chief welcomed him and agreed to sign and stamp his paperwork. After reporting in, Liang Xin was ready to go home and begin the purchase.

• Liang Xin arrived at the village committee, where the officials warmly welcomed him back from the capital.
• Liang Xin told Uncle Song he had come on behalf of the supply and marketing cooperative and asked him to guide him through the assignment.
• Uncle Song praised Liang Xin’s improved appearance and offered to sign and stamp his paperwork before he went home.
• The chapter explained that the village’s planned quotas and year-end payments determined how supplies were purchased and how villagers were compensated.

Liang Xin finished handing over the goods and arranged for the village chief to oversee the weighing and loading. He left the two cart drivers with cigarettes and headed home to see his worried family.

• The village chief told Liang Xin that the villagers would handle his goods carefully and urged him to go home to his family.
• Liang Xin completed the handover and left after the village chief promised to arrange everything.
• Liang Xin found the two men caring for the oxen and apologized for leaving them to load the carts while he recovered.
• The two men accepted Liang Xin's cigarettes and encouraged him to go home and rest.
• Li Haiyang had secretly offered the men three packs of Economy cigarettes for each pack of Liang Xin's high-grade export cigarettes.

Liang Xin weighed how much money and food to bring his poor family, unsure whether he would care for them out of duty or affection. As he reached their dilapidated home, he remained uncertain how comfortably he could live alongside them.

• Li Haiyang traded three packs of Economy cigarettes for one at Team Leader Xiang's request, keeping two packs from the five-pack offer for himself.
• Liang Xin reached home carrying an empty cardboard box and considered how much to bring his family.
• Liang Xin weighed giving his family money out of duty against supporting them more generously if he grew close to them.
• Liang Xin looked at his family's dilapidated earthen house and remembered that they were among the poorest families in the village.

Liang Xin returned to his cramped family home and met his three-year-old younger brother, Liang Yong, and two neighborhood children. He gave them candy, then sent Liang Yong to call their parents and siblings home.

• Liang Xin stopped Liang Yong from hugging him because the boy was covered in dirt.
• Liang Xin gave Liang Yong and his two playmates candy, earning experience points from their delight.
• Liang Xin asked Liang Yong to call their parents back from work and say that he had returned.
• Liang Xin gave Liang Yong extra candy for himself and his second, third, and fourth siblings.

Liang Xin brought an empty cardboard box into his poor family’s house and reflected on the family’s history and hardship. The chapter ended with his memories explaining why the Liang family was poorer than most villagers.

• Liang Yong cheered when Liang Xin told him he could ask for more candy after the pieces were gone, then ran off pretending to ride a horse.
• Liang Xin entered the courtyard, ate several tiny cucumbers, and carried his empty cardboard box into the house.
• Liang Xin noticed that the kang was unusually clean, a sign of his mother’s diligence.
• Liang Xin recalled that his grandfather had studied for years but never passed the xiucai exam before the imperial examinations were abolished.
• Liang Xin remembered that the Liang family had been classified as landlords and had their property confiscated, leaving his grandfather to earn few work points through manual labor.

Liang Xin remembered his family’s hopes for him and worried they would discover he was an impostor when they returned. He successfully greeted his parents and learned he would be able to visit home every two days, then met his younger siblings.

• Liang Xin recalled that his grandfather doted on him because he had done well in school and seemed likely to improve the family’s fortunes.
• Liang Xin heard his family approaching and reminded himself to call the adults Mom and Dad so they would not notice anything amiss.
• Liang Xin greeted his parents, and his mother excitedly checked on him after his month away in the capital.
• Liang Xin told his parents that his work unit had assigned him a route through the village and nearby towns, allowing him to come home every two days.
• Liang Xin introduced his four younger siblings and remembered that Liang Yong had been an unplanned fifth child.

Liang Xin returned home with candy, five jin of fatty pork, and half a jin of pork belly, then asked his mother to cook the pork belly for him. His mother agreed after he insisted that his new job would bring the family more food and oil.

• Liang Xin gave Liang Jia candy and told her he would give her more when she finished it.
• Liang Xin told his mother he was hungry and asked her to make him something to eat.
• Liang Xin showed his family five jin of fatty pork, and his mother opened the parcel in astonishment.
• Liang Xin took out half a jin of pork belly and asked his mother to stir-fry it for him.
• His mother wanted to render the pork belly into lard, but Liang Xin insisted she cook it and promised the family would have plenty in the future.
• His mother agreed to make Liang Xin the meal.

Liang Xin brought home rice and meat and persuaded his family to prepare a celebratory meal, while warning them to keep his benefits from the supply and marketing cooperative secret. The family gathered around their first rice meal in months, and Dad asked Liang Xin to invite his grandparents over.

• Liang Xin gave Mom five more jin of rice and urged her to use the food he brought to make a reunion meal.
• Dad agreed that the family should celebrate Liang Xin's new job, and Mom took Second and Fourth to help cook.
• Dad asked Liang Xin whether the city supply and marketing cooperative provided such good benefits, and Liang Xin warned him and Third not to reveal the food's source.
• The family ate rice and stewed green beans with meat, and Dad sent Liang Xin to invite his grandparents over.

Liang Xin brought two jin of pork to his eldest uncle’s family and invited his grandparents to eat with his family. His grandmother was surprised by the meat and urged him to keep some for himself, while the family prepared to spend time together.

• Liang Xin agreed to fetch his grandparents and his mother gave him two jin of meat to take to his eldest uncle’s family.
• Liang Xin went to his grandparents’ house, where they eagerly welcomed him and he invited them to dinner.
• Liang Xin’s grandfather’s choice of the name Xin was explained as a wish for him to become wealthy.
• Liang Xin’s grandmother uncovered the pork, was astonished by its size, and told him to keep some to eat.