After transmigrating, he supported his family by working at a garbage dump.

Inside the thatched hut, Zhang He was sitting on a pile of straw, disassembling a large doll she had found in the junkyard. She planned to make it into a quilt. The doll was as tall and big as her, so it would be no problem to lay it flat and make a new quilt.

Xu An and Xu Zhuzhu squatted by the fire, warming themselves while watching to see if the porridge in the pot had boiled.

As soon as the porridge in the pot started bubbling, Xu Zhuzhu and Xu An started calling out.

"Mother! Mother! The porridge is cooked!"

Zhang He, who was standing to the side, calmly put down what she was doing, chopped up the vegetable leaves she had picked up and prepared, and put them into the porridge.

The sweet aroma of radish leaves instantly filled the entire dilapidated thatched hut.

For Xu Zhuzhu and the others who had been starving for a long time, the taste of this vegetable porridge was simply delightful.

Xu An touched his flat stomach and looked out into the yard.

When will Father come back?

Xu Zhuzhu, who was squatting in front of the fire, touched her belly and looked out the door. She didn't know either.

After returning from the garbage dump, Xu Wenjie went out again. According to yesterday's plan, he went to inquire about the Liang family's whereabouts and said he would be back before noon.

It didn't snow today. The clouds dispersed, revealing a brilliant sun that shone on the snow in the yard, making it sparkle like scattered silver.

Zhang He is in a great mood now.

Since her youngest daughter was able to freely lead the family through the future to a place called "garbage dump" to find some food, and confirmed that there was no danger during the journey, she finally felt relieved. As for the words her daughter occasionally uttered that she couldn't understand, her husband explained to her that perhaps they were told by an old deity, so she had nothing to worry about.

Seeing how much the two children were craving it, he smiled and said, "Why don't you two eat first? We'll save some for Daddy."

As she was about to serve porridge to the two children, Xu Zhuzhu agreed, since there was plenty of porridge anyway. Just as she was about to get up to get a bowl, Xu An got up before her.

She quickly stopped Zhang He, saying, "Mother, you mustn't! Father is out traveling and is hungry. How can we eat first when we haven't done any work?"

Xu Zhuzhu asked in surprise, "Is it possible that we caught fire, and that the child was starving for several days?"

But Zhang He was deeply moved by how sensible her eldest son was. She hugged both children, including Xu Zhuzhu who was reaching for the bowl, and praised them lavishly.

Xu Zhuzhu sighed, then patted her belly and comforted herself, "Just bear with it a little longer. I'm a filial daughter, so I can only ask you to put up with this!"

My stomach started growling uncontrollably.

Xu Zhuzhu: "..."

Around noon, Xu Wenjie finally returned, trudging through the thick snow, but his face was gloomy, and he didn't seem to have any good news.

Xu Zhuzhu felt uneasy, thinking that things were probably not going well with the Liang family.

Sure enough, after drinking the hot vegetable porridge, Xu Wenjie announced some news to his wife and children.

------

"Father, are we really going to live here forever?" Xu An looked at his father, Xu Wenjie, who smiled helplessly, rubbed his head, and nodded.

But how could he not miss his homeland when he was a stranger in a foreign land?

"Aren't you going home?" Xu An grew up in Qingzhou Prefecture and his memories of growing up were all in Anding County. Suddenly saying that he wanted to settle down here would definitely make him resistant to the new place. This is a thought that every child would have.

There's a war going on, how do we get back?

Xu Zhuzhu understood this idea, but she wasn't a child, so it didn't matter where they settled down. They weren't starving for the time being, but if they were to settle down, what would happen to the house? Even if the village head agreed to sell the house to them, they didn't have the money to buy it.

Zhang He had the same concerns, and she looked at her husband.

“We only said we were asking for lodging, not settling down. If we stay here, do you think the village head will agree? Besides… besides, my jewelry has already been sold off, and I have no money to buy land and register my household.”

All that remained were the longevity locks for the two children, left to them by her mother-in-law, something she would never sell under any circumstances.

To everyone's surprise, Xu Wenjie smiled slightly upon hearing this, took off his shoes, pried open the lining of the soles, and several crumpled silver notes fell out.

Sitting by the fire, Xu Zhuzhu stared wide-eyed, inwardly giving her father a thumbs up. Her father was so patient; there had been so many expenses along the way, yet he hadn't taken out any money.

Xu An was completely stunned.

My parents are so loving, yet my father still has a secret stash of money hidden away?!

Compared to the two children's reactions, Zhang He's reaction was more normal. She had always known that her husband was thoughtful and considerate; if he could speak up, he must have a solution. It was just that the solution was somewhat unexpected...

My husband has been oblivious to everything else these past few years and has never interfered with household affairs. This amount of money is not small, but I don't know where it came from.

"When was this placed? I didn't even know?" Zhang He asked.

Xu Wenjie felt embarrassed yet somewhat proud, and pretended to be relaxed as he said, "Last year, I wanted to buy some ancient books, but you wouldn't allow it, so I helped people make copies of a few paintings and earned a little money, which I had to save slowly. Later, when we fled from war, I thought that if we couldn't go back, we would need some money to stay put, so I kept this in case of emergency. Fortunately, I didn't tell you..."

It turns out it was a fake painting.

Xu Zhuzhu chuckled to herself, thinking how surprisingly open-minded her father was.

The world is in a bad state now, and it's a year of famine. They look like refugees now, so it's very difficult for them to register their household registration in another place. But her father is a minor scholar, so it should be easier for him.

Now that everything was ready and Xu Wenjie, as the head of the family, had made his decision, Zhang He had no objections. The two children, Xu Zhuzhu and Xu An, did not have the right to express their opinions.

The rest is a matter for adults, and Xu Zhuzhu can't get involved even if she wants to.

After making his decision, Xu Wenjie finished his porridge and took the money to the village head. In ancient times, transferring household registration required an introducer, and the village head was a kind and helpful person, so it was the perfect person to ask him.

She was easygoing, but Xu An was sullen, so Xu Zhuzhu decided to take him to the garbage dump to play and see some new and interesting things to distract him.

"Mother, should we go? Maybe we can find something useful."

Zhang He was busy making blankets for the night, so she said she wouldn't go and told the two children to be careful not to hurt themselves.

Xu Zhuzhu held Xu An's hand, closed her eyes, and said, "Open Sesame!"

When I opened my eyes again, I was at the garbage dump.

"Is this a mnemonic?" Xu An had been wanting to ask.

No, going to the garbage station is just a matter of thinking about it in your mind. It's just that the time it takes for the effect to occur after reciting "Open Sesame" is the same. Xu Zhuzhu decided to make up a mnemonic for it.

"Yes, brother, but it only works for Zhuzhu Nian!"

Children are easily fooled, and Xu An nodded without suspicion.

In the morning, the family of four brought back food and a door panel that looked relatively intact. Their dilapidated hut was still drafty and had no door at all.

Xu Zhuzhu's purpose in this trip was to find some plastic sheeting, which is a good material for blocking the wind and keeping warm. Although thick plastic sheeting is hard to find, this is modern times, right? Just grabbing a couple of garbage bags would be enough for a while, but why do garbage bags seem to be so...thin these days?

Xu Zhuzhu stared blankly at the two garbage bags that she had torn apart with a gentle tug.

"Zhuzhu, what are you looking for? I'll help you find it. Sit still and don't move, or you'll hurt yourself."

Xu An was still immersed in the sadness of not being able to go home, but when he saw his younger sister squatting in front of a pile of trash cans sighing, he had no choice but to put his sadness aside.

"I'm looking for something called plastic that can block the wind and keep out the cold."

"plastic?"

"It looks like cloth, but it's smoother and stronger."

Xu An nodded and began searching thoughtfully.

Xu Zhuzhu felt hopeless. The garbage piled up here was just dumped randomly without any specific sorting, and few people in the residential area would buy transparent plastic sheets. She wished she could go to other places to look.

Not knowing how to get out, Xu Zhuzhu fell into deep thought as she stared at the impenetrable transparent wall.

Just as he was lost in thought, Xu An, who was rummaging through the trash, ran over excitedly!

"Zhuzhu, there's a bunch of things down here that look a lot like the ones you described, but I don't know if they are the same."

"Where?"

Xu Zhuzhu excitedly followed Xu An and saw a pile of express delivery bags.

"Wow! Brother, you're amazing!" Xu Zhuzhu hugged Xu An and gave him several kisses. "This is it!"

During express delivery, it is inevitable that the bags will be bumped and dropped, so they are made to be more sturdy than other bags, making them perfect for covering windows!

Having found a replacement for the delivery bag, the plastic became less important. However, Xu Zhuzhu and Xu An then staked out near the trash cans to see if anyone had thrown away any new useful trash.

After squatting for a long time, they only found one half-rotten white radish, and nothing else. Xu Zhuzhu was afraid that Zhang He would worry, so she prepared to go back. However, Xu An remained squatting there, motionless.

Xu Zhuzhu poked him several times before Xu An came to his senses: "What's wrong, Zhuzhu?"

Having lived for over twenty years, how could Xu Zhuzhu not see through a little kid with something on his mind? She sighed knowingly and squatted down next to Xu An again.

"Brother, I think Father and Mother are so good. With them around, anywhere is our home. What do you think?"

With parents around, anywhere can be home.

After feeling depressed for half a day, Xu An finally saw the light and smiled.