6 Planing for the future
Li Chang returned to his room and collapsed onto the bed with his forearm across his face. He was both exhausted and happy. His lips curled into a smile that spread across his face changing it from its previous tired look.
He had never experienced a meal quite like that before. There was joy and laughter. There was no pretense or pressure no right or wrong way to behave.
He felt a genuine sense of belonging and acceptance that was all but unknown to him. What was even more surprising to him was that he could tell that this kind of meal and atmosphere was completely normal for everyone else.
"Thank you." Li Chang said these words quietly to himself but he was not who these words were meant for.
He had been unsure and hesitant before. He had truly doubted gods judgement. He didn't believe something so good would ever come his way so he had been suspicious and on guard the whole time. On guard against this "new family" and suspicious about that "god".
All of his previous thoughts just seemed laughable now.
Li Chang sat up in bed with resolution written on his face. He had decided that he would do all he could for this new family of his. Even if the sky were to fall tomorrow he would support it for them. This would be his thank you for them giving him this unbelievable feeling of warmth he never knew even existed.
"Great sentiment. Now how do I accomplish it?" Li Chang was at a loss about what he could do. The only things he knew about this life came from the previous Alexander's memories. And the main thing these memories consisted of was, "do good in school, get a good job, make money".
"It seems all Alexander thought about was school, school, school, get a job and make money for his family. I guess that school is even more important in this new world than I could have imagined. Though to be honest, even if his ideas aren't very detailed, I must admit that I quite agree with Alexanders thoughts in this."
Li Chang really needed to take some time and organize his thoughts on this world.
In order to accomplish his new most important life goal, he would need to form a plan. In order to form a plan, he would need to organize, analyze and understand all he knew about this world.
"The best way for me to understand this world better would be to see it for myself". Li Chang stood up from his bed and decided to go for a walk.
He believed that seeing this world with his own eyes would clear up any questions he had about his new memories. Also he needed time to go over all of those memories anyway so like this he would kill two birds with one stone.
Li Chang decided to leave the house without alerting anyone to his movements. It wasn't because he was still feeling uncertain about his family, because most of those feelings were alleviated after just one meal.
It was because he didn't want to be asked any questions about what he was doing. Or more accurately, due to his lack of knowledge, he didn't think he would be able answer those questions, if they were asked.
Sneaking out seemed safer.
Li Chang quietly opened the his door and stealthily looked around. The coast was clear.
He creeped slowly down the stairs and looked toward the kitchen and living room and saw no one.
With the coast still clear he quickly made his move. He silently opened the door and with a hurried movement he stepped out of the house sneakily closing the door behind him.
"Are you heading out?"
Li Chang froze as he heard the voice of his mother coming from his left. He turned his head and look at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face then he nodded his head stupidly.
His mother was outside, hanging up the clothes she had just hand washed. All of his sneaky movements were completely wasted. He felt nervous and hesitant but mostly he felt stupid.
"Great, I was going to go to the store after I finished up but now you can go for me." It felt like it could have been a question, but a question that she knew he would answer yes too. This kind of familiarity was everywhere in this family.
Li Chang could only once again dumbly nod his head.
"I'll make a list of what we need, and get you the money." his mother said as she wiped her hands on her apron and went inside to house.
Li Changs nodding head finally became still.
"If they all know how each other thinks and behave will there be any privacy here?" Li Chang thought to himself.
Even though he thought this, it still made him feel happy.
How much investment and how much caring would people need to have, to become this in tune with another person. Li Chang didn't know what the answer was, but whatever it was, he knew this family had it.
Maybe it wasn't that uncommon for others but to LI Chang it was unheard of.
"I really need to work on my social skills. The sooner the better" Li thought and made a decision about another important thing that he needed to work on.
When his mother returned she handed him several pieces of paper, one white with handwriting on it and the rest were colored with numbers and pictures on them that he recognized as this worlds money.
"Okay mom ill be back in a while." Li Chang said calmly with a smile. However on the inside he was thinking panickily "please don't ask any questions, please don't ask any questions."
Luckily she didn't ask any questions and he was able to bid goodbye and head out for his walk.
He paused for a moment as he closed the front gate and looked back towards the house he had just left.
The gate was rusted and the wall was weather worn and had some damage here and there along its surface. However, it was clean, and the flowers that grew along the wall were neat and taken care of.
The house its self was in a state of minor disrepair and the paint was old and faded. It looked a little conspicuous on this street where the other houses were in a much more pristine condition. But again, it was clean. It looked as though whoever lived there took care of it with pride but lacked money or ability to maintain it to a greater degree.
This was exactly the case.
Li Chang let out a sigh.
In his past world before he lost everything he had, he was only a child, and a officials child at that. So he had no knowledge of what to do in regards to maintenance or fixing things himself.
He knew from Alexander memories that his family was poor. They would normally never be able to afford a house like this. Even one in a state of disrepair like theirs, in a neighborhood like this one, would be well out of their price range.
Alexander's mother and father had moved here before they had their first child. Later, his father died in an accident while his mother was still pregnant with their last. It had been a struggle ever since. There were obvious signs of poverty in and around their house.
He shook his head, he was now even more resolute in his decision to make all of their lives better.
He turned away and began his walk.
----------
He strolled down the street taking in the sights of this new world.
It was vastly different from the world he knew. Cars, electricity, plastics and everywhere he looked he saw things that would amaze the people in his previous world.
Every house had glass windows, a material that was only for the wealthy was now a mundane common place thing. Colors were everywhere and they were numerous and vibrant. It truly was a different world.
But all of these things paled in comparison to the biggest difference between the two worlds which was that this world had no [World Energy]!
It should be said that it had "almost" no [World Energy]. What [World Energy it had was weak, thin and not very abundant. This world it seemed was incompatible with cultivation.
Li Chang had first noticed this when god had implanted him with his new memories. When he had felt the pain he raised his energy and circulated his qi automatically to try to alleviate some of the pain. When he awoke after the second time he realized that his body was unable to replenish its energy.
He had used quite a bit trying to protect himself and it was just gone.
It wasnt that he was unable to replenish it, it was just that it was happening slowly and the energy was weak.
The only positive thig he gained from this realization was that his physique and cultivation level seemed to be the same as in his previous world. Li Chang suspected that god had gifted this to him when he was unconscious. As a way to silence his complaints. Of course this was only his conjecture.
But honestly what could he really do with his cultivation while he was in a world where he couldn't refill his energy. His cultivation was so low that he didn't have that much to begin with.
Maybe he could save it as a trump card, if him or his family was in danger. That was the only conclusion he could come to.
However, that wouldn't fix the problem with his family's situation, and he needed to work on one problem at a time right now.
His mother and sister both worked long hours at their jobs just to maintain what little they had. they would both take a day off each week to spend with family and they worked the other six. So the problem of their finances became the first one he needed to solve.
Li Chang had walked all the way to (and even entered) the store, all while contemplating these issues and what he could do to improve their situation.
Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks with a realization.
