"By the way, what are you doing now?"
While eating, Xu Tongdao casually chatted with Xu Changsheng.
Xu Changsheng replied, "Eating. Can't you see?"
Xu Tongdao: "..."
He laughed helplessly and was about to rephrase the question when Xu Changsheng suddenly understood.
"Oh—you mean whether I've gone out to earn money, right? Well, I'm working as a laborer under my uncle now. Heh, you could say I'm learning masonry."
He stuffed another piece of braised pork into his mouth, then turned to Xu Tongdao and smiled.
"What about you? You should've taken the high school entrance exam this year, right? I remember you were pretty good at studying when we were kids. How did it go? Think you'll get in?"
Xu Tongdao gave a self-mocking smile.
"You've heard about my family's situation, right? My dad ran off. So no matter how well I do on the exam, I can't keep studying."
…
The two chatted while eating, and as they talked, they began to comfort each other.
Xu Changsheng's life wasn't easy, and Xu Tongdao's prospects didn't look much better either. Before long, the conversation turned into mutual sympathy.
In his previous life, after his father disappeared, Xu Tongdao had grown increasingly withdrawn. He rarely took the initiative to talk to others, bottling everything up inside, determined to rely solely on himself to improve his family's situation. As a result, he had fewer and fewer friends, eventually becoming a loner.
It wasn't until much later that he realized—without education or powerful benefactors—having more friends might have made life easier.
But by the time he understood that, he was nearly thirty. Old friends had long drifted away, and for men nearing thirty, drinking buddies were easy to find, but true friends were rare.
Now that he had been reborn, his mindset was completely different.
Just like yesterday—when he saw Xu Tonglin, he wanted to change his fate. And today, seeing Xu Changsheng, he instinctively wanted to grow closer to him.
He didn't want to be a loner again.
He wanted real friends.
By the time the meal ended, he and Xu Changsheng were much closer.
After finishing, they were about to find a place to wash their lunch boxes when a villager who had just come down from the embankment shouted excitedly:
"Good news! Great news! The river level's dropped! In just this short while, it's gone down almost a foot! Fantastic! Captain—if it's dropped this much, we don't need to reinforce the embankment this afternoon, right?"
The news drew mixed reactions—mostly surprise and joy, along with some doubt.
…
Xu Tongdao and Xu Changsheng walked up to the embankment to check.
The water level had indeed dropped by more than a foot.
Xu Changsheng was overjoyed.
Xu Tongdao, however, felt conflicted.
A sudden drop like this likely meant a breach somewhere else.
A broken embankment meant disaster for another region—flooded fields, destroyed homes, displaced families.
He sighed inwardly.
In the end, he was just an ordinary man struggling to support his family. There was nothing he could do about disasters like this.
Later, the captain announced that work was canceled for the afternoon.
Everyone else was delighted.
Xu Tongdao remained calm.
With the afternoon free, people chatted, played cards, or did needlework.
Xu Tongdao and Xu Changsheng, however, felt restless.
"Are we really just going to sit around all afternoon?" Xu Changsheng complained.
Xu Tongdao stood up.
"Let's walk around the village. It's not raining."
Xu Changsheng immediately agreed.
As they wandered through Shandou Village, Xu Tongdao suddenly heard bleating.
Looking over, he saw a large courtyard ahead filled with dozens of sheep.
White sheep.
They were clearly sheep—not the goats some families in Xu Village kept.
Xu Tongdao narrowed his eyes slightly, deep in thought.
TL: If you want to read ahead by at least ten chapters, patreon.com/EdibleMapleSyrup