Chapter Summaries

Liang Xin wandered around the village while Li Haiyang negotiated, then handed candy to local children and gained Level-Up Experience. After word spread, more than twenty village children gathered around him for candy.

• Liang Xin explored the village while Li Haiyang negotiated with the villagers.
• Liang Xin gave candy to several children and gained seven to nine points of Level-Up Experience from each.
• Liang Xin turned back to give candy to more children after hearing them cry over missing out.
• Word spread through the village, and more than twenty children gathered around Liang Xin.

After handing candy to more village children, Liang Xin gained enough experience to raise his shop from level two to level four. He spent money sampling two newly stocked cigarette brands and was stunned when the expensive one seemed to offer health benefits.

• Liang Xin gave candy to more than twenty children and accumulated enough experience to level up twice, leaving him with thirty experience points.
• Liang Xin inspected the four products added after the upgrade and found two kinds of coarse grain and two kinds of cigarettes.
• Liang Xin bought a ten-cent pack labeled “export” and tried one of its cigarettes.
• Liang Xin bought a one-yuan pack labeled “special supply” and read that its crush bead could make smoking beneficial to health.
• Liang Xin bit the bead, lit the cigarette, took a deep drag, and froze.

Liang Xin enjoyed his easy day, counted his money, and reflected on the greater freedom city workers had compared with villagers. After eating at the village canteen and riding back on the ox cart, he returned to his workplace and put off going to the state-run restaurant.

• Liang Xin smoked the cigarettes he had bought and calculated that he still had twenty-six yuan, deciding to send his wages to his family and save for a courtyard house.
• Li Haiyang woke Liang Xin for lunch and asked whether he felt better, so Liang Xin pretended to still be sick while they ate at the village canteen.
• Liang Xin bought twice the porridge Li Haiyang did and thought about how villagers’ meals were restricted by communal rations while city residents had more freedom.
• Liang Xin climbed onto the ox cart for the return trip and relaxed as the others let him ride without working.
• Liang Xin returned to his workplace while Brother Li and the drivers unloaded the goods, then delayed going to the state-run restaurant.

Liang Xin stayed at work and helped his colleagues distribute tomatoes that Brother Zhou had brought in. After buying six jin for three mao, he headed home, planning to eat them despite not knowing how to cook.

• Brother Zhou asked Liang Xin to help carry a sack into the office, then said the team would share its contents.
• Zhou Aimin opened the sack and revealed eighty jin of tomatoes, disappointing Liang Xin, who had expected something more valuable.
• The workers haggled over their shares, and Lao Zhou settled on six jin per person, including a portion for the absent Xiao Wu.
• Liang Xin paid three mao for six jin, bit into a tomato, and found it tender and juicy.
• Liang Xin noticed a strange taste on his pants but could not remember what it was, then left work for home.

Liang Xin made a sweet tomato snack and waited for He Ting so he could ask her to cook scrambled eggs and tomatoes. Sister Xiao Zhu arrived with sweet stalks, and Liang Xin shared tomatoes with her.

• Liang Xin cut tomatoes into wedges, covered them with sugar, and ate until he was satisfied.
• Liang Xin decided to ask He Ting to cook scrambled eggs and tomatoes, since he did not know how to make the dish himself.
• While waiting at home, Liang Xin considered finding someone with whom he could share a household and meals.
• Sister Xiao Zhu came in with sweet stalks from her work unit and offered them to Liang Xin.
• Liang Xin accepted the sweet stalks, brought out tomatoes to share, and Sister Xiao Zhu began eating one.

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.