Eating thin porridge with pickled vegetables, Xu Tongdao didn't even frown, even though before his rebirth his meals had been far better than this.
That was because he had lived through too many days like this in the past. Life had long since forced him to adapt.
In the original timeline, after his father disappeared, he had done all kinds of work.
Construction laborer, restaurant errand boy, security guard, prep cook, head cook, bricklayer, plumbing and electrical work, packaging worker, real estate agent, food delivery…
Almost none of it was easy. The easiest was probably the half-year he spent as a security guard.
He had eaten delicacies, but coarse meals like this were nothing to him.
"Big brother, where do you think Dad went? Will he come back someday?"
Ge Yuzhu asked softly, sitting on the bench across the Eight Immortals Table.
Xu Tongdao didn't even lift his head. He casually replied, "Just think of him as dead. Don't ask about him again. Remember that."
Ge Yuzhu looked at him and quietly replied, "Oh."
Xu Tongdao drank his porridge quickly. After a few mouthfuls, half the bowl was gone. When he reached out again with his chopsticks to pick up some pickled vegetables, he glanced at the silent Ge Yuzhu beside him and asked, "Do you still remember who those people were who came to our house a couple days ago to collect debts and take things?"
Ge Yuzhu frowned and blinked, looking puzzled. "Big brother, why are you asking this? Mom said once those things were taken, they were taken. We won't be able to get them back."
Xu Tongdao didn't argue with her. He only frowned and pressed, "Don't worry about that. Just tell me—how many of the people who came that day do you remember? Tell me all of them."
"Big brother…"
Ge Yuzhu called out softly, clearly wanting to persuade him further.
But under Xu Tongdao's gaze, she didn't dare continue. She lowered her head slightly and quietly listed several names.
For Xu Tongdao, this was far too long ago—over twenty years had passed. He only remembered a few people who had left a deep impression; the rest were vague.
Ge Yuzhu didn't remember everyone either. Some of those people might have been strangers to her.
Xu Tongdao listened in silence as she finished naming them. His expression remained calm. He only nodded slightly, then quickly finished the remaining half bowl of porridge.
Afterward, he set down his chopsticks, stood up, and went to the wall by the front door to change into rubber boots. It was still raining outside, and the village roads were muddy and slick.
Seeing him preparing to go out—clearly intending to settle accounts with those people—Ge Yuzhu's face turned pale. She hurried after him, anxiously trying to stop him.
"Big brother, big brother! W-where are you going? You really shouldn't go! Mom said to let it go…"
Let it go?
Xu Tongdao was unmoved.
In the original timeline, he and his brother had listened to their mother and let it go. But what happened afterward?
When the grain was finally harvested and brought home that year, those so-called "creditors" came again to take things from their house.
If he and his brother Xu Tonglu hadn't fought them desperately—one holding a kitchen knife, the other an axe—their home would have been stripped bare a second time.
They were practically being forced onto a dead end.
So just now, Xu Tongdao had already made up his mind. Since this matter wasn't over yet, he would end it as soon as possible. Whether by words or by force, he would see it through.
Fearlessness was a trait he had developed long before his rebirth.
After his father disappeared in the original timeline, life had been so hard that he and his brother had gotten into plenty of fights.
Fight enough times, and there's nothing left to fear.
Everyone has one head and two shoulders—who is there to be afraid of?
"Stay home, wash the pots and bowls, and get lunch ready. Don't worry about anything else. Be good."
After putting on his rubber boots, Xu Tongdao took an old umbrella off the wall, gave his sister a final instruction, and stepped outside.
Behind him came his sister's worried cries.
"Big brother! Big brother, don't go! Big brother, come back!"
Xu Tongdao heard the sobbing tone in her voice.
But he didn't turn around. Holding the umbrella, his face cold, he walked toward the village entrance.
His father had left—disappeared in disgrace. People in several nearby villages were already spreading rumors that his father had run off with his uncle's widow, leaving behind a pile of gambling debts for his wife and children.
If he didn't change things in this life, Xu Tongdao knew better than anyone how hard the days ahead would be.
In his memory, not only did the creditors come again when the grain was harvested this year, but for many years afterward, his entire family could barely hold their heads up in the village.
People not only mocked them behind their backs, but even did so to their faces. Some of the village's old bachelors and hooligans even set their sights on his mother and sister.
They didn't take him or his brother seriously at all.
In their eyes, the Xu family had no men left—just two half-grown boys—easy targets for bullying.
Back then, he and his brother had gotten into countless fights over these matters.
Fighting wasn't good—he knew that.
But the truth was, every time they fought over these things, life for their family in the village became just a little easier afterward.
At the very least, fewer people dared to bully them, their mother, or their sister. Gradually, it stopped altogether.
As for calling the police?
They had tried.
But the police couldn't protect their family twenty-four hours a day. Xu Family Village was, after all, just a small mountain village under a minor county. Some things had to be faced on their own.
The kind are bullied; the meek are ridden.
Xu Tongdao had understood that long ago.
Maybe things were better in the cities, but in the countryside—especially in this era—if a family didn't want to be bullied, there had to be at least one man in the household who inspired fear.
…
Xu Family Village lay between two hills, one large and one small.
A long drainage channel ran through the middle of the village. On rainy days like this, runoff from the hills would cause the water to surge, rushing noisily toward the village entrance.
Eventually, it flowed into the West River about a li away.
As for the West River?
It flowed into the Yangtze River.
Holding his umbrella, Xu Tongdao walked along the dirt path beside the channel, listening to the rushing water. His expression was cold, yet calm, as he steadily made his way to the small convenience shop at the village entrance.
At this moment, a group of women, children, and several elderly men and women were sitting outside the shop chatting. The shop owner, Wang Cuihua, sat behind the counter, smiling as she cracked sunflower seeds.
When they saw Xu Tongdao approaching with a cold expression, all eyes turned toward him. The chatter gradually died down.
An old woman asked curiously, "Xiao Dao, are you here to buy something? Does your family still have money to buy things?"
Xu Tongdao ignored her. Without looking aside, he walked straight up to the counter and said to Wang Cuihua inside, "Where's Jinshan from your family? Tell him to come out!"
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup