Sang Jingyun stood at the door of his house, looking at the old Shanghai slums just across the river.

It was crowded there, with many "rolling dragons" built.

The so-called rolling dragon is a shed with bamboo frame and thatched roof. This shed is only one meter high, and people can't stand up straight in the house, so they can only sleep on the floor.

The living conditions in the shanty towns are extremely poor, with no security at all and no protection against theft.

However, people living in shanties either do hard labor or pull rickshaws during the day, working from early morning to dark, and it is only enough to make ends meet. They have nothing for others to steal, and they don't have the energy to complain about their living environment.

This is the slum of this era. The environment here is even worse than the slums in underdeveloped areas that Sang Jingyun saw in the videos in his previous life.

The houses in the slums of later generations at least had a tin roof, but the shanties on the other side of the river had thatched roofs.

Looking at all this and thinking about his current situation, Sang Jingyun felt as if a huge rock had fallen on his chest.

Her heart felt heavy and her lungs were squeezed, making it hard for her to breathe.

She was lucky and did not end up in the slums, but the situation she faced was just as bad.

This is the suburbs of Shanghai County in 1916, but Sang Jingyun was not a native of this era; she came from the 21st century.

She was born in the 1990s. Because she was born in the countryside, her family was not well off when she was young, but her parents were both hardworking and by the time she was in elementary school, the family was no longer short of money.

Her parents were busy with their business and had no time to take care of her, so they just gave her money.

By the time she was in junior high school, her parents' business was doing better and better. They divorced and started new families. They gave her more money and ignored her studies.

Fortunately, she didn't learn bad things, she just likes to read various novels and comics.

She read a lot of books when she was in elementary school, and when she reached junior high school, she couldn't stop. In addition to reading, she began to write her own novels.

Fortunately, her first novel was published, and after that, her creative journey continued.

Out of guilt towards her, her parents bought her a house and gave her a sum of money when she became an adult. After graduation, without any financial pressure, it was natural for her to become a full-time author.

Before she traveled through time, she was in her early thirties and was already a well-known online novelist.

She was very satisfied with her wealthy and leisurely life, but she never expected that when she went out to travel during the summer vacation to escape the heat, she would get into a car accident.

When she woke up again, she had become the daughter of a poor merchant family in the early Republic of China.

The word "poor" is not enough to describe her family. Now she has nothing but four walls and is in debt. The reason is that she has a father who gambles and smokes opium.

It has been two days since Sang Jingyun came here. After receiving the original owner's memories, she has figured out the situation of the original owner and the Sang family.

The Sang family's ancestral home was in Jiaxing. They were originally considered a wealthy family, making a living by collecting silk from the countryside and shipping it to Shanghai.

In 1860, the Taiping Army reached Jiaxing, and the Sang family's ancestral home and silk shop were burned down, and many members of the Sang family died.

That year, Sang Jingyun's grandfather Sang Yuanshan was 24 years old. He had married his cousin and had a daughter.

Sang Yuanshan's parents, siblings, and young daughter all died in the disaster. Only he and his wife escaped and went to Shanghai to make a living.

In the following two years, the Taiping Army fought several battles near Shanghai, with the Qing Army and the foreign powers entrenched in Shanghai, making the surrounding people miserable and causing Sang Yuanshan a lot of suffering.

When Sang Yuanshan was 28 years old, his life began to take a turn for the better.

That year, the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was defeated. Sang Yuanshan's uncle sent people to find Sang Yuanshan, who was working in a silk shop in Shanghai. He took Sang Yuanshan and the rest of the Sang family members and dug out several jars of silver from the Sang family's ancestral home and divided them up.

After dividing the money, most of the Sang family members continued to live in Jiaxing, but Sang Yuanshan returned to Shanghai with his wife and the money.

At that time, the concession was not as prosperous as it is later, but the county town of Shanghai was bustling with people. Sang Yuanshan opened a silk shop in Dadongmen and his business was very good.

Unfortunately, his wife gave birth to several children, but none of them survived. When he was in his forties, his wife died early.

Sang Yuanshan was alone and very lonely, so he asked a matchmaker to find a peasant girl to be his second wife.

This peasant girl was Sang Jingyun’s grandmother, Sang Qian.

Sang Qian was the eldest daughter in the family. After her parents died early, she raised her younger siblings alone. She was still unmarried at the age of 24. She originally wanted her younger brother to take care of her in her old age, but her sister-in-law couldn't stand her and they had arguments several times, so she married herself off.

When Sang Yuanshan remarried, he deliberately looked for a lower-class woman. In fact, he wanted to find a capable and healthy wife to take care of him. However, he never expected that Sang Qian became pregnant just a few months after marrying him and gave birth to Sang Yuanshan's only son, Sang Xuewen, the original owner's father.

Sang Yuanshan was 46 years old at this time, or 48 in age. He had a child at this age, so he had to hold the child in his hands for fear of dropping it, and hold the child in his mouth for fear of it melting.

He was in poor health and often fell ill. He originally thought that he would not live to be sixty. However, since he had children, his health has been getting better and better. Even in his seventies, he can still manage the family business.

Unfortunately, the son who was raised by him with love did not live up to his expectations.

Sang Xuewen grew up in a pampered state. He was lazy and idle. Even though Sang Yuanshan taught him step by step, he still didn't understand business. He had already married and had children, but he was like a child, only knowing how to play all day long.

But Sang Yuanshan didn't care. He had bought a large piece of land in the countryside early on. Even if Sang Xuewen couldn't do business, he could still make a living by collecting rent.

While Sang Yuanshan was taking care of his business and taking care of Sun Nongyi, he felt that his life was perfect. How could he have imagined that the Sang family would suddenly fall into decline?

As time entered the Republic of China, the concession became more and more prosperous, while the county town of Nanshi became increasingly depressed, and Sang Yuanshan's silk shop business became worse and worse.

At this time, Sang Xuewen was led by someone to become addicted to gambling and opium. These are both money-consuming and life-threatening things!

Even though the elderly Sang Yuanshan tried his best to hold on by adjusting his excess and deficiency, the Sang family was still completely bankrupt.

In just a few years, the Sang family's silk shop went bankrupt, the land that Sang Yuanshan had bought was sold, and the Sang family's house in the county town was taken away...

The family could only rent a small house in the southern suburbs of Shanghai, across the river from the slums.

Sang Xuewen still had some conscience. After squandering his family fortune, he stopped gambling.

But he couldn't quit smoking opium.

Not long ago, Sang Xuewen was addicted to smoking and snatched the silver locket that the original owner's mother had worn since childhood. He also beat the original owner who tried to stop him, and was seen by Sang Yuanshan.

Sang Yuanshan, who had just turned 80, was already elderly when he saw this scene. He regretted not raising his son well and died without catching his breath.

The original owner witnessed her grandfather being angered to death by her father and was shocked. She also felt that if she had not had a conflict with her father, her grandfather would not have died. She regretted it so much that she fell ill.

The original owner had a very good relationship with her grandfather. She dragged her sick body to attend her grandfather's funeral and cried day and night. Finally, after her grandfather's funeral, she had a high fever and burned herself to death.

Afterwards, Sang Jingyun woke up in this body.

Sang Jingyun knew that he could not go back.

From now on, she will live in this era.

Turning back, Sang Jingyun went to see the small house rented by the Sang family.

This house is much better than those shanties on the other side of the river.

A two-meter-high wall encloses an area of ​​about 120 square meters. Inside the wall, there is a yard of about 50 square meters on the south side, and two large south-facing houses on the north side. There is an attic above each house.

Of the two large houses, one was used for entertaining guests and dining, and the other was divided into two rooms, one for Sang Xuewen and his wife and Sang Qianshi. As for the children, including Sang Jingyun, they lived in the attic.

Today happens to be the seventh day since Sang Yuanshan’s death.

There are seven people in the Sang family now.

The oldest one is Sang Jingyun’s grandmother, Sang Qian. Sang Qian is 59 years old this year and is a strong old lady.

Sang Xuewen is thirty-four years old this year. He is a middle-aged man with a smokey face and a emaciated figure.

Sang Xuewen's wife Lu Ying is 33 years old this year. She is a petite woman with bound feet and pretty features.

The couple has two sons and two daughters. Sang Jingyun is the eldest daughter, who is sixteen years old this year. She also has her thirteen-year-old second brother Sang Jingying, ten-year-old third brother Sang Jingxiong, and five-year-old sister Sang Jingli.

Sang Jingyun walked back slowly and entered the main room used for entertaining guests and eating. At a glance, he saw an old mahogany table facing south, with one leg lame and the corners of the table supported by tiles. On it was a portrait of Sang Yuanshan and a bowl of white rice.

In this era, funerals of wealthy people were extremely grand.

When the original owner was a child, Sang Yuanshan once took the original owner to attend the funeral of his good friend. The funeral was decorated with several spirit doors with white silk. During the day, a band from an orphanage was invited to play music non-stop, and at night a Yue Opera troupe was invited to perform. The funeral was to be lively and festive until the seventh day.

At that time, the Sang family had not yet fallen. Sang Yuanshan pointed at the funeral and said to the original owner: "Ayun, when I die in the future, I will do the same."

Sang Yuanshan attached great importance to his funeral. He took a portrait of his deceased father in advance and made a coffin for himself with fine wood. The brass alone weighed 20 kilograms.

Unfortunately, in order to help Sang Xuewen pay off his debts, the coffin was pawned by Sang Yuanshan.

Sang Yuanshan passed away seven days ago. He was hastily buried in a thin coffin. If it weren't for the help of Sang Yuanshan's business friends, Sang Yuanshan might not even have a grave.

Sang Qian came in from outside and saw her granddaughter staring blankly at Sang Yuanshan's portrait.

"Ayun, you are not well yet, go sit inside." Sang Qian's voice sounded.

Sang Qian is not young. She has an ordinary appearance but a very strong body. In terms of strength, she is even stronger than Sang Xuewen, a man who smokes opium all day long. Since moving here, she has been doing all the physical work at home and outside.

"Grandma, I'll be in right away." Sang Jingyun replied in dialect and walked into the house.

In the main room, her mother Lu Ying was doing needlework with a needle and thread basket, and her sister Sang Jingli was beside her, fiddling with a piece of scrap cloth.

Sang Jingyun sat down on the bamboo chair in the corner, feeling weak.

The original owner of this body had been weak since childhood and had a serious illness a few days ago, so when she first came here, she couldn't get out of bed. Today, she finally got up, but she was panting every three steps.

This body needs to be well taken care of.

As Sang Jingyun was thinking this, he suddenly saw a fat and big-eared man coming in from outside with two servants.

After entering the door, the man first looked at the yard and then kicked the wall with his foot.

His leather shoes scraped off a layer of mud from the rammed earth courtyard wall. He raised his foot and rubbed the mud onto the trouser legs of the servant behind him, saying with disdain: "Young Master Sang, I'm afraid you have never lived in a courtyard like this in your life? You really suffered a great injustice."

(End of this chapter)

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