Chapter 1 Tomato and Egg Stir-fry
Tang Yiyi woke up because she was hungry.
My whole body is screaming with hunger, it's so uncomfortable!
The woman lay on the hard bed, with a straw mat beneath her. An old-fashioned fan creaked and groaned beside her, offering no relief from the heat and hunger.
Before she could figure out what was going on, a little boy opened the door and ran in. Seeing that Tang Yiyi was barely breathing and not alive, he cried out, "Sister, sister!"
He cried louder and louder, tears falling like beads from a broken string.
Her mind went blank; hunger left her with no energy to think about who the strange little boy was.
Tang Yiyi spoke with difficulty, her voice hoarse, "Food, food..."
"Sister, is it time for dinner?" the child asked, recognizing her voice.
As she watched the little boy run away, many images flashed through her mind, all related to this body.
The original owner shared the same name as her, and the little boy was her younger brother, Tang Xiaoyu. Six months ago, the original owner's parents went on a trip and were caught in a mudslide, dying in the disaster. Upon hearing the tragic news, the original owner's grandfather, whose health was already poor, passed away not long after.
Under the double blow, the original owner became depressed and eventually starved to death in the rented room.
Xiaoyu quickly brought over the rice and handed her the chopsticks.
Tang Yiyi's vision went black, and she struggled to move her body. She ate with difficulty; the rice had no flavor and was dry and hard, but she stuffed it into her mouth as much as she could to fill her stomach!
After eating rice, she leaned against the bed, panting heavily.
"Sister, have some water~" Xiaoyu quickly brought her water cup over.
After drinking some water and resting for a while, Tang Yiyi felt better and regained her energy.
She got out of bed and put on her shoes; this time, at least she wasn't feeling dizzy.
Xiaoyu feels very insecure. Now that the siblings depend on each other, he worries that his sister will abandon him, so he quietly follows behind her.
Upon entering the bathroom and looking in the mirror, Tang Yiyi was astonished. The original owner of the body bore at least seven or eight parts resemblance to her. By merging with the original owner's memories, she discovered that the original owner lived in roughly the same era as her.
Just then, the phone rang in the room.
She moved to reach for it, but Xiaoyu took the phone and gave it to her instead.
"Yiyi, the living expenses you gave me are used up. If Xiaoyu still wants my family to take care of him, don't you think it's time to give him the living expenses for next month?"
The caller was Guo Xiaoyun, the original owner's aunt. After the successive deaths of her relatives, the original owner's mood gradually declined, eventually leading to depression. Fearing that her emotions would affect her younger brother, she asked her aunt to take care of Xiaoyu, promising to send her living expenses regularly each month.
Tang Yiyi glanced at the child and was shocked to see that he was wearing tattered clothes covered in patches, thin and dark-skinned, with sunken cheeks. He was nothing like the fair and adorable child she had just sent to Guo Xiaoyun.
“No need, Aunt,” she refused.
Guo Xiaoyun was a little unhappy. Tang Yiyi gave her two thousand yuan a month for living expenses, which was a lot of money for her family in the countryside. "Yiyi, you're so young and just graduated. Do you know how to take care of a child?"
“My Yaozong still misses Xiaoyu. He said he wants to go down to the river to catch shrimp, go up the mountain to pick fruit, and there’s still rice in the fields that hasn’t been harvested yet…”
The more she listened, the angrier she became. The original owner had paid Guo Xiaoyun to take care of Xiaoyu, but Guo Xiaoyun made Xiaoyu go out to work!
Even though she wasn't the original owner of this body, her chest heaving violently at that moment, she was somewhat angry.
"Xiaoyu will have me, his older sister, to take care of him from now on!"
Guo Xiaoyun knew she had said the wrong thing and tried to salvage the situation, but then she heard the phone beep as it was hung up.
"..."
Tang Yiyi was furious when she saw the child with red eyes say, "Sister, don't abandon Xiaoyu. Take Xiaoyu to Aunt's house. Xiaoyu can help you with chores!"
As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes again.
She felt strangely sad, perhaps it was the emotions of this body acting up. "Don't cry, I won't send you to your aunt's house. I'll take care of you from now on."
There are two beds in the room, one larger and one smaller, as well as a small wardrobe.
People tend to feel sleepy after eating and drinking their fill, and children especially need to sleep a lot.
After comforting the child, a short while later, the sound of the child's soft breathing could be heard in the room.
My eyelids are heavy, but my mind is clear.
Before drifting off to sleep, Tang Yiyi felt something was off; the name Tang Xiaoyu sounded so familiar…
After waking up from a good night's sleep, Tang Yiyi felt refreshed and full of energy, except for a slight dizziness.
I felt a bit hungry again; a bowl of white rice was hardly enough to satisfy someone who had been fasting for a long time.
She got out of bed, opened the refrigerator door, and saw that both the refrigerator and freezer were empty, except for two eggs on the refrigerator shelf.
It seems the original owner grew vegetables on the rooftop.
According to the original owner's memories, Tang Yiyi came to the rooftop. Among the three or four potted plants, bright red tomatoes hung from the lush green branches. The fruits were plump and looked fresh and juicy.
Tang Yiyi picked four tomatoes and also plucked a handful of scallions from the potted plant next to her.
She washed the knives and cutting board and began chopping tomatoes. Half of the tomatoes were used to make scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and the other half were used to make a cold tomato salad.
Suddenly, a white light flashed through her mind.
Tang Xiaoyu... isn't that the name of a male supporting character in a novel she read a long time ago?
She was deeply impressed when she watched it many years ago. First, she saw the sister of the male supporting character, who shared the same name as her, starve to death after losing her relatives one after another. Then, the male supporting character, having no relatives, was adopted by a children's welfare home.
Later, when they discovered that the orphanage director was a pervert who frequently groped the cute children, the male supporting character naturally couldn't escape being groped, and then he turned evil!
The male supporting character is powerful yet cold as an adult. He takes revenge on everyone who bullied him when he was a child, but the warm and healing female lead is the only one who is willing to stay by his side!
Later on, even the female lead abandoned him, and the male supporting character, in endless loneliness, committed suicide by shooting himself.
At this moment, Tang Yiyi's fist hardened, and she almost wanted to send the author a razor blade.
What heinous things did this child, who is only a few years old, do that caused his loved ones to die one after another, to feel despair amidst hope, and to taste betrayal in loneliness?
Since we're here, let's make the best of it.
Now that she has become the original owner of this body, she will take good care of the child and treat her like her own younger brother.
Sprinkle white sugar directly onto a bowl of tomatoes, and you can eat it after a while. The sugar will cause the tomatoes to release water, making them more juicy and giving them a sweet and sour taste.
Pour the beaten eggs into the oil pan, then add the tomatoes. Once the eggs are set and fluffy, and the tomato juice is released, stir-fry quickly, add salt, and finally sprinkle with chopped green onions.
Xiaoyu was awakened by the aroma. It smelled so good! He followed the scent and found his sister wearing an apron and cooking.
He stood at the kitchen doorway and sniffed.
Stir-fried tomatoes and eggs is a great dish to eat with rice. It's cooked to perfection in color, aroma, and taste. Tang Yiyi hasn't tried it yet, but she's confident that it won't be a disaster.
Tang Yiyi saw Xiaoyu standing at the door and smiled, "Go wash your hands and eat!"
She was an orphan in her past life and was adopted by kind parents. Her parents ran a restaurant, which was always very popular, making the surrounding restaurants envious.
Before she came in, the restaurant suddenly caught fire, and the fire grew stronger and stronger. She caught a glimpse of her parents' anxious faces. This was their life savings. The fire department was slow to arrive, and Tang Yiyi couldn't wait any longer. Ignoring her parents' advice and obstruction, she rushed in to try to put out the fire.
Little did I expect that we would be separated forever. I wonder how my parents are doing in my past life.
"Sister, have some vegetables~" Xiaoyu didn't eat, but first put a tomato into her bowl.
Tang Yiyi's mood lightened, and she smiled, "Thank you, Xiaoyu. Xiaoyu, eat more food and grow tall."
Stir-fried tomatoes and eggs are fragrant and delicious, with the red sauce coating the soft egg pieces, making them incredibly appetizing. Tomato salad, on the other hand, is simple to make but delicious, sweet and juicy, with the juices soaking into the bottom being especially refreshing—even more delicious and refreshing than summer milk tea or fruit juice.
The fried rice was leftovers from the refrigerator, so it didn't taste very good, but the side dishes were tasty enough to make the rice more palatable.
Xiaoyu ate one bowl, then went to the stove to get another bowl of rice.
Tang Yiyi was very happy to see that he enjoyed the food she cooked.
She learned cooking from her father for over ten years in her past life, participated in numerous cooking competitions, and won countless awards. Her father even said he was going to hand over the restaurant to her, so as not to disgrace the restaurant's name.
Tang Yiyi tasted a piece of egg; it was fragrant, had no eggy smell at all, and was golden and soft without any burnt bits.
She still has the culinary skills from her past life.
After dinner, Tang Xiaoyu took his homework to the living room to do it.
When Tang Yiyi returned after washing the dishes, she saw Xiaoyu's shiny black head as he bent over doing his homework.
I suddenly remembered that Xiaoyu is in elementary school. After the summer vacation, he will be in the third grade.
Seeing that there was nothing to do, Tang Yiyi moved a chair and sat down next to him.
Tang Xiaoyu is very attentive in class and has good grades. When faced with a difficult problem assigned by the teacher, he can't help but bite his fingers and frown.
Just then, he saw Tang Yiyi beside him, "Sister, this question..."
Tang Yiyi explained patiently and gently.
After she finished speaking, she went to get a drink of water and discovered that the chat group for Class 1, Grade 2 had exploded with activity.
[It's only been a year, and the tuition has gone up again. The school must be obsessed with making money!]
If the teachers were responsible and dedicated, the school facilities were good, and the rate of students entering top-tier junior high schools in the city was high, my child would have been transferred to another elementary school long ago, given how terrible the school cafeteria food is!
Tuition has increased from 4,000 last year to 6,000 now, and living expenses have increased by 500, from 1,500 to 2,000. Has the school considered us parents? Parents' lives matter too!
...
A short while later, the homeroom teacher came out to explain and act as a peacemaker.
Tang Yiyi was too lazy to read any further; Xiaoyu's tuition and living expenses were due soon.
She ran to her room and calculated how much money the original owner had left.
She had three thousand yuan left in her bank card and one thousand yuan in her phone. After searching around, she found eight hundred yuan in cash in the cabinet. Four thousand eight hundred yuan wasn't even enough to pay Xiaoyu's tuition, but it was all she had.
The original owner had only recently graduated and had been working for six months with a low salary. She was also subjected to empty promises from her boss, and the relentless overtime work left her physically and mentally exhausted. Her parents, who also owned a restaurant, couldn't bear to see their daughter suffer like this, so they persuaded her to quit her job and come help out at the restaurant, with her parents paying her wages.
The original owner quit her job more than half a year ago. After a six-month gap period, she was no longer suitable to return to the workplace, especially since her education was average and her major was not very good.
A note from the author:
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I've started a new story! I have plenty of drafts. If you like this story, please add it to your favorites! [Rabbit head with upright ears][Kiss]
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