The Su family lived a hard life. For lunch, everyone ate cornbread and stir-fried cucumbers. Only Hailee got a bowl of millet porridge and two eggs.
This made Hailee feel embarrassed and a bit guilty.
Looking at the golden porridge and the two snow-white eggs in her bowl, Hailee instinctively pressed her lips together.
If they knew that the beloved daughter (granddaughter) they had raised for nineteen years was gone, and the one sitting in front of them now was a lost soul from the apocalypse, how would they react?
Taking a deep breath, she divided the two eggs into four pieces and gave one to each of her parents, grandparents, and two older brothers.
Although the original Hailee had become obsessed with Mike, she still treated her family well. Before she met Mike, whenever the family made something tasty, she never kept it all to herself and would share it with everyone.
Now that she did the same, she wasn't afraid of breaking character or raising suspicion.
The Su family didn't take the eggs. When she reached out with her chopsticks, they stopped her.
Grandpa Su still wore a stern expression and rarely smiled, but his gentle gaze and the love deep in his eyes showed his care for his granddaughter.
"Eat, girl. Grandpa doesn't like eggs."
The others agreed. "Yeah, just eat. We're fine with the cornbread."
Hailee's eyes became teary. She stubbornly placed the eggs into their bowls. "Lies. Who doesn't like eating eggs?"
This was the time of the collective economy. People weren't allowed to privately own land or plant freely. Even raising animals was strictly limited.
Take raising chickens for example. Each household could only keep as many chickens as the number of family members, and they couldn't privately breed them. There were also many other rules and tasks.
Excluding her older brother Chase, who was in the army, there were seven people in the Su family. They raised six chickens.
These chickens were mostly cared for by Grandma Su. Other than giving one egg to Hailee every day without fail, the rest were saved up and sent to the commune to exchange for money.
The elders, her parents, and her brothers only ate eggs during busy farming seasons, harvest time, or on holidays. Most of the time, they didn't eat any.
Did they really not like eating eggs?
Even Hailee, someone who came from outside this world, clearly knew the answer.
They didn't eat them because the family was too poor to afford it.
Even with such difficult conditions, they still made sure all the kids went to school. Hailee and Callan even studied all the way through high school.
Hailee, especially as a girl, had never suffered. The family even took their savings to buy her a job position.
The original Hailee remembered it clearly. Before they spent the money to buy her a job, Grandpa Su held a family meeting, and everyone agreed to give the money for her future.
And that money came from her brother Chase.
Chase joined the army at eighteen, and seven years had passed since. Every year, he sent his military allowance home without spending a single penny on himself.
Thanks to that, Hailee and Callan could go to high school. Besides Grandpa Su's retirement fund, the rest of the money for their education came from Chase's salary and allowances.
And the original Hailee? Though she felt some guilt toward her family, it didn't compare to her love for Mike. She knew how hard it was for the family to support all the kids, yet she still lied and asked for money to buy things for Mike.
Mike lied to the young girl about his feelings; he was a terrible person. In Hailee's opinion, the original version of herself, obsessed with love, wasn't much better.
The original Hailee jumped into the river and was unconscious for a whole day and night. Her body was weak and in urgent need of nutrition. After forcing everyone to accept the eggs she shared, Hailee ate the remaining two small halves herself. That thick bowl of millet porridge, she drank it all down.
After finishing the porridge, she even reached out and grabbed a piece of cornbread, tore it open, and stuffed it into her mouth.
Grandma Su looked overjoyed. "Slow down when you eat. There's more if it's not enough. It's good that you can eat, really good."
Heaven knows how she felt when she saw her little granddaughter lying there pale and lifeless. The old woman hadn't relaxed even for a moment during the whole day and night.
With her granddaughter unconscious and unable to eat, she and her daughter-in-law had worked so hard to feed her millet porridge, but it all came back up.
Now, seeing her granddaughter able to eat and eating with such appetite made her happier than anything.
The cornbread was rough and dry. Hailee's body had been pampered and weak. It took her a great deal of effort to swallow just one piece of it.
And even then, it choked her so badly she nearly rolled her eyes.
But she had just come from the apocalypse. In that world, not only did she have to face zombies and mutated beasts, food was also incredibly scarce. Rough food like this? People would fight over expired bread and old grains, never mind a fresh cornbread.
Even though Hailee was strong and never lacked food in the apocalypse, she would never waste any.
So what if it was rough cornbread? She'd eaten worse.
Hailee ate with difficulty, but also with satisfaction. Seeing her like this made others feel uncomfortable. Cohen was the first to speak. "Mom, do we still have any white flour at home? How about making some dough-drop soup for Hailee?"
Watching his sister struggle to swallow the cornbread made Cohen's heart ache. He blamed himself for being useless and not being able to give his sister a better life.
Callan didn't say anything, but he made up his mind to go into the mountains after work that evening to see if he could catch a wild rabbit or chicken to help his sister regain her strength.
After all, she wasn't the original person, so Hailee couldn't bring herself to accept the Su Family's care with a clear conscience. After swallowing the bread, she quickly said, "No need. I'm actually pretty full. I just saw you all eating cornbread, and it looked so good that I couldn't help but want to try a bite."
What she said was half true. The original body was small and cute with a small appetite. One bowl of porridge really was almost enough. But she herself was a big eater.
In the apocalypse, only if you were full could you have strength. With strength, even if you couldn't fight the zombies or mutated beasts, you could at least run away.
So, in the apocalypse, even ordinary people would try every way to fill their stomachs if they had the chance.
Hailee hadn't fully adjusted yet and subconsciously brought her habits from the apocalypse with her.
She was still injured. If she didn't eat enough, how could she recover quickly?
After eating and drinking her fill, Hailee wanted to help the Su Family clear the dishes. But every single person in the house refused to let her move. Their reason was that she was still sick, and with so many people at home, there was no need for a sick person to do chores.
Hailee really did feel weak all over. After thinking for a moment, she didn't insist. She sat a little longer, then went back to her room to rest.
Lying in bed, she couldn't help thinking about her past life.
"I remember reading novels where people got some kind of cheat when they transmigrated. Now I've transmigrated too, so where's mine?"
Just as she finished speaking, her vision blurred and her head felt dizzy. When she came back to her senses, she found herself in a different place.