Chapter Summaries

After transmigrating into a young supply-and-marketing cooperative procurement agent, Liang Xin discovered that his daily check-in system gave him only one yuan, though its shop sold unusually cheap food. He brought eggs bought through the system to Auntie He’s home for a meal, where the family considered them too valuable to accept.

• Liang Xin complained about the system’s one-yuan reward, then decided to enjoy his new life after realizing he had transmigrated.
• Liang Xin checked the system shop and was shocked by its low prices for staple foods and pork.
• A little girl from Auntie He Ting’s family invited Liang Xin to eat, and he recalled that He Ting was a colleague assigned to help look after him.
• Liang Xin bought two jin of eggs from the system shop and carried them to Auntie He’s home as a gift.
• Auntie He’s family refused the eggs because they thought they were too valuable.

Liang Xin realized he had been reborn into a time of scarcity and learned about his large family as he brought eggs to He Ting’s household. He accepted money and egg coupons for the gift, then heard that He Ting’s gratitude had earned his system five experience points.

• Liang Xin noticed the patched clothes in He Ting’s home and realized he had arrived in a poor era, though his system reassured him he could earn money.
• Liang Xin recalled that he had two living parents, four younger siblings, and many grandparents and relatives.
• He Ting urged Liang Xin to be frugal and tried to return the eggs, but Jiang Mingjun told her to accept them and pay him.
• He Ting gave Liang Xin one yuan and coupons for two jin of eggs, then offered to steam egg custard.
• Liang Xin heard the system announce that He Ting’s gratitude had earned him five Level-Up Experience and wondered how the system leveled up.

Liang Xin ate with He Ting’s family, then returned home still hungry and searched the system mall for food. He discovered 26 yuan hidden in his underwear, which the system offered to add to his mall balance.

• He Ting steamed egg custard and invited Liang Xin to eat with her family.
• Liang Xin ate three bowls of sorghum rice before realizing he had taken more than his share, then left so the family would not have to cook extra.
• At home, Liang Xin found he lacked supplies and could not use the mall because his balance was zero.
• The system detected 26 yuan on Liang Xin, and he found the money in a hidden pocket sewn inside his underwear.

Liang Xin used the system to buy fatty pork and dried noodles, cooked a filling meal, and found that it cost only eighty-two fen. He calculated his income and system balance, then decided he would prioritize eating well and enjoying life rather than working himself to exhaustion.

• Liang Xin recharged the system with his money and bought a jin of fatty pork and half a jin of dried noodles.
• Liang Xin boiled the pork and noodles, then ate them with soy sauce and mashed garlic.
• Liang Xin finished the meal, which cost eighty-two fen, and poured away the fatty broth.
• Liang Xin noted that he had twenty-five yuan and eighteen fen left and wondered whether the experience he earned would let the system level up.
• Liang Xin compared his apprentice wages with Aunt He's income and resolved not to work himself to death for low pay.

Liang Xin made a filling breakfast at home, then recalled his job as a collection agent for the supply and marketing cooperative. After arriving early, he inspected the shared cafeteria and decided its meager breakfast was no bargain.

• Liang Xin cooked noodles with eggs and baby bok choy, spending three mao and lowering his balance to twenty-four yuan and thirty-eight fen.
• Liang Xin remembered that he collected assigned goods from villages for the supply and marketing cooperative and could sometimes buy unplanned goods as well.
• Liang Xin recalled that the collection department stood behind the district supply and marketing cooperative and shared its cafeteria.
• Liang Xin visited the cafeteria and found its thin porridge and small steamed buns too poor to justify eating there.

Liang Xin began work in the procurement department and spent his first day traveling to a village with Li Haiyang to collect agricultural goods. After loading, hauling, and unloading the supplies, he returned home exhausted and wondered whether he could keep the job, but decided to eat first.

• Liang Xin joined the third purchasing team, where Zhou Aimin assigned him to accompany Li Haiyang and learn the surrounding towns and villages.
• Liang Xin and Li Haiyang took horse-drawn carts to a designated village and collected agricultural goods according to set requirements.
• Liang Xin bought thin congee and pickled vegetables at the village canteen, then walked back because the carts were full.
• Liang Xin helped unload the carts at work and returned home exhausted.
• Liang Xin considered quitting but put off the decision and went to find food.

Liang Xin cooked meat and noodles at home, then shared a piece of pork with Jiang Xinxin and told her to keep it secret. After she left, he gained 10 Level-Up Experience points and considered giving her food again to earn more.

• Liang Xin bought dried noodles and pork, cooked them at home, and began eating.
• Jiang Xinxin came to call Liang Xin and noticed the meat he was eating.
• Liang Xin gave Jiang Xinxin a piece of pork and told her to eat it there and keep it secret.
• Jiang Xinxin ate the pork, thanked Liang Xin, and left.
• Liang Xin gained 10 Level-Up Experience points and compared the reward with what he had earned from Aunt He.
• Liang Xin considered giving Jiang Xinxin food again to farm experience.

Liang Xin tried to earn system upgrade experience by giving Jiang Xinxin a boiled egg. She secretly took it home to He Ting, leaving Liang Xin unsure whether he could gain experience from her later.

• Liang Xin decided to focus on upgrading his system and boiled eight eggs to take to work.
• Liang Xin spotted Jiang Xinxin playing in the courtyard and beckoned her to his room.
• Liang Xin gave Jiang Xinxin a boiled egg, but she hurried away before he could ask whether he had gained upgrade experience.
• Jiang Xinxin took the egg to He Ting and admitted that Big Brother Liang had given it to her.
• He Ting told Jiang Xinxin to eat the egg in secret so her eldest and second brothers would not see.

Liang Xin enjoyed his meal but found his cooking unsatisfying and considered finding someone to cook in exchange for grain. The next morning, he gave Xinxin another boiled egg and told her to keep it secret.

• He Ting learned that Liang Xin had given her youngest daughter meat and decided to remember the favor while warning the girl not to accept more food.
• Liang Xin went to bed early after a satisfying dinner and woke the next morning to make shredded pork noodles.
• Liang Xin ate the noodles but missed the flavors of his former takeout and wondered whether he could find someone to cook for him.
• Xinxin came outside with her washbasin, and Liang Xin slipped a boiled egg into her pocket and told her not to let anyone find out.

Liang Xin struggled with the physical labor at work and considered quitting, but he continued another day while wondering whether his gratitude-based upgrade system could eventually support him. At lunch, he shared boiled eggs with Li Haiyang and gained experience, leaving him excited about the possibility of earning a living without working.

• Jiang Xinxin accepted the eggs Liang Xin had put in her pocket, thanked him, and promised to keep them secret; her gratitude earned him 5 experience points.
• Liang Xin went with Li Haiyang to purchase supplies and haul them back, while continuing to weigh the difficulty of quitting and finding another job.
• At lunch, Liang Xin bought two bowls of porridge and offered Li Haiyang a boiled egg, gaining 3 experience points from Li Haiyang's gratitude.
• Imagining that leveling up might let him earn enough to quit work, Liang Xin offered Li Haiyang a second egg and declared they would share their blessings and hardships.

Liang Xin realized that small gifts could earn him favors as well as experience, after Li Haiyang let him rest and ride back on the ox cart. Back at the work unit, he went to the supply and marketing cooperative and bought an expensive pack of Lotus cigarettes.

• Liang Xin discovered that giving the same person food twice in one day only earned experience once.
• Li Haiyang let Liang Xin rest while the others finished loading the carts.
• Li Haiyang arranged for Liang Xin to ride back to the city on the ox cart.
• Liang Xin concluded that cultivating relationships could spare him work and effort.
• Liang Xin went to the supply and marketing cooperative and asked Aunt He for a pack of Lotus cigarettes.

Liang Xin used cigarettes to get out of unloading work, then realized that small gifts could help him navigate social obligations and earn system experience. He returned to the compound and began giving candy to children to grind experience more efficiently.

• He Ting gave Liang Xin Economy cigarettes and matches, teaching him that modest gifts were better for exchanging favors than expensive ones.
• Liang Xin handed cigarettes to Li Haiyang and the two cart drivers, then claimed he had to go home and left them to finish unloading.
• Liang Xin concluded that favors depended on having money and hurried back to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy twenty pieces of candy with his last two jiao.
• Liang Xin gave a child a piece of candy and gained three system upgrade experience points from the child's gratitude.
• Liang Xin decided that giving candy to children was a cost-effective way to grind experience, despite wondering whether people would laugh at him.

Liang Xin handed out candy to the children in his courtyard, earning experience and goodwill from his neighbors. He ended the day with more than eighty experience points, spent money from the System Shop on food, and planned to reach one hundred points the next day to test the system’s leveling requirement.

• Liang Xin gave one piece of candy to each of seventeen children and warned them not to take extra.
• The children thanked him, and the neighbors praised his generosity as relations in the compound grew warmer.
• Liang Xin counted the experience he gained, noted that his total had passed eighty points, and decided to reach one hundred the next day.
• Liang Xin bought pork belly and eggs from the System Shop and boiled them for dinner.
• Liang Xin spent most of his remaining System Shop balance and reflected on how coupons controlled access to scarce goods.

Liang Xin sought a way to make money after realizing he had no cash left, and offered eggs he had bought in the countryside to He Ting. He Ting agreed to buy three jin, leaving Liang Xin with the rest to sell.

• Liang Xin complained that the system would not refund him money, then decided to rely on it and sell eggs for cash.
• Liang Xin went to He Ting and privately explained that he had bought ten jin of eggs from a village chicken farm without using coupons.
• He Ting eagerly agreed to buy eggs, saying they were cheaper than the one yuan and twenty fen per jin she had heard others paid.
• Liang Xin offered to keep one jin for himself, and He Ting settled on buying three jin because five would be too many for her family.

Liang Xin offered eggs for sale and asked He Ting to find buyers among the courtyard residents. After Grandma Zhou tested the weight of her chosen cartons on a scale, the neighbors bought nine jin between them, leaving Liang Xin one jin.

• Liang Xin asked Aunt He to find courtyard residents who wanted eggs, then bought ten jin from the system store.
• He Ting brought several women to Liang Xin's home, and Grandma Zhou chose three cartons before questioning whether each weighed a jin.
• Liang Xin asked He Ting to bring a scale so the buyers could verify the cartons' weight.
• Grandma Zhou weighed her chosen cartons, found they were exactly three jin, and showed disappointment that she had gained no extra eggs.
• He Ting arranged for Grandma Zhou to buy three jin, herself to buy three, Aunt Song to buy two, and Sister Xiao Zhu to buy one.

Liang Xin sold eggs to Grandma Zhou, Aunt Song, and Sister Xiao Zhu, then offered Sister Xiao Zhu an extra box after learning she was short on milk for her baby. He Ting reassured him about Grandma Zhou and explained the courtyard’s layout, leaving Liang Xin with a clearer picture of his neighbors and their living conditions.

• Liang Xin sold eggs to Grandma Zhou and Aunt Song, who praised his ability and paid for their shares.
• He Ting asked Liang Xin to serve Sister Xiao Zhu, who explained that she needed eggs because she had recently given birth and lacked enough milk for her baby.
• He Ting and Sister Xiao Zhu marveled that Liang Xin’s egg boxes each weighed exactly the right amount, making him realize he should leave a few extra grams in future sales to avoid suspicion.
• Liang Xin offered Sister Xiao Zhu another box of eggs, and she gladly paid for it and left with both boxes.
• He Ting told Liang Xin not to resent Grandma Zhou because her husband, Uncle Zhou, had helped the neighbors over the years.
• He Ting explained that eight households shared the large courtyard compound, which had several hundred square meters overall but only around two hundred square meters of living space.

Liang Xin understood why He Ting had arranged for him to sell eggs to four households in need, and he earned experience for helping them. After reaching 106 experience points, he unlocked an upgrade and was prompted to make a wish, so he wished to go back.

• Liang Xin reflected on the cramped living conditions and learned that Grandpa Zhou, Aunt Song, and Sister Xiao Zhu needed eggs because of their health and family circumstances.
• Liang Xin accepted He Ting's advice to help people in need when he could and let go of his annoyance with Grandma Zhou.
• Liang Xin checked his system notifications and found that four women had given him a total of twenty-four experience points, bringing his total to 106.
• Liang Xin accepted the system's upgrade prompt, which asked him to make a wish.
• Liang Xin asked whether the system could grant his wish and said he wanted to go back.

Liang Xin used his wish to add two products to the beginner shop and discovered that its wares were better quality than those sold by the supply and marketing cooperative. He planned to use the sweeter candy to gain experience from children, but the shop offered no increase to his check-in amount.

• Liang Xin asked the system to add a cell phone, learned it was unavailable in the beginner shop, and chose two random products instead.
• The system added fruit hard candy and roasted sunflower seeds, and Liang Xin considered how useful each might be.
• Liang Xin bought a handful of sunflower seeds and praised their size and flavor.
• Liang Xin tasted a piece of fruit hard candy, found it sweeter than the cooperative's candy, and planned to give it to children for experience.
• Liang Xin complained that the system had added products without increasing his check-in amount.

Liang Xin celebrated the higher check-in reward, then used a candy trick to gain experience from the children before heading to work. There, he pretended to be sick so team leader Zhou Aimin would offer him leave, but the chapter ended as he insisted he could endure it.

• Liang Xin checked in at midnight and received 1.2 yuan, a 20 percent increase, then dreamed of becoming a wealthy boss in the modern era.
• Liang Xin ate sunflower seeds and planned to try a state-run restaurant, while keeping his spending secret to avoid attracting suspicion.
• Liang Xin gathered the children, teased them by withholding candy, then gave each one a piece and gained more than sixty experience points.
• Liang Xin arrived at work looking troubled and told Brother Li that he had caught a chill.
• Zhou Aimin offered Liang Xin leave, but Liang Xin refused and began saying, “When things get tough, think of the twenty thousand...”

Liang Xin convinced his team leader that he should keep working despite being sick, then used cigarettes to smooth things over with his coworkers on the trip. He rode in the cart instead of helping and relaxed with a cigarette and candy.

• Liang Xin told Zhou Aimin he wanted to keep learning from Brother Li, so Zhou Aimin asked Xiao Li to look after him and keep him from doing unnecessary work.
• Li Haiyang took Liang Xin and two regular coworkers to logistics to get a horse cart, and they set off again.
• Liang Xin gave the two coworkers and Li Haiyang packs of Economy cigarettes to make up for their extra work.
• Liang Xin handed out cigarettes and smoked one before lying back in the cart and secretly eating candy.