Chapter 2 of 100

Chapter 2

18 min read4,567 words

On his way home, Kim Hyun-tae passed by a Chinese-owned "Da Hua 99" supermarket and bought a box of ten chicken legs and a can of infant formula.

The box of ten chicken legs cost 2.99 yuan, and the infant formula cost 9.99 yuan. This price was genuinely not expensive, at least in Kim Hyun-tae's mind, compared to the prices in his original timeline in China, this was not expensive at all.

Originally, Kim Hyun-tae wanted to buy a few boxes of discounted beef, but he ultimately gave up. Although he was very hungry, and the beef at the supermarket was not expensive, he still did not allow himself to spend more money.

Twenty minutes after leaving the supermarket, Kim Hyun-tae returned to his rented place with his daughter.

Kim Hyun-tae's rented place was located on the outskirts of the Chinese community in the eastern suburbs of Los Angeles, bordering the African American and Mexican American poor communities. The three areas were separated by just a road, and this place was where the Chinese poor would live, so the security was not good.

The houses in this community were not row houses, standalone buildings, or independent-style villas. They were all simple flat houses built with basic materials.

The main reason for choosing this place was that Kim Hyun-tae was not financially well-off. If he could, he would not have brought his daughter to live here. He also hoped to live in so-called white communities or good communities like Monica Beach, or even Beverly Hills.

But his economic conditions did not allow him to do these things.

Within this community, after nightfall, drug dealers from the African American and Mexican American communities, along with various types of criminals, would start to appear.

Gunfights! Robberies! Brawls! These were common scenes here. Even some of Kim Hyun-tae's neighbors had encountered such incidents, being robbed by African Americans or Mexicans at night, and some had even been stabbed or shot...

So Kim Hyun-tae knew that in this place, killing someone for five dollars was not a strange thing.

Therefore, Kim Hyun-tae deeply hated and despised this place, but he did not have enough economic conditions to take his daughter away from this chaotic community, so he could only grit his teeth and continue living here.

The house Kim Hyun-tae rented was on the landlord's land, a one-bedroom, one-living room, one-bathroom flat house built with simple materials. The monthly rent was 600 dollars, which was relatively cheap, and this was why Kim Hyun-tae initially chose this place, although he had to ignore the community's security issues.

But at the time, Kim Hyun-tae had no choice. If he did not rent here, he would have to live on the streets with his daughter, and obviously, he could not let his daughter sleep on the streets, so he had to live here.

Back at home, the busy Kim Hyun-tae opened the new formula, prepared a bottle for his daughter, and handed it to her, who had become restless after seeing him prepare the formula. This allowed her to focus on the bottle, giving him time to start preparing dinner for himself.

Being both a father and a mother was truly exhausting, both mentally and physically.

Fortunately, his daughter, perhaps due to the mysterious energy fields in the time tunnel, had been in excellent health since coming to this timeline, never getting sick and always in good spirits.

This was the main reason why he could carry her on his back and work under the scorching sun.

This could be considered one of the advantages of his "transmigration" that Kim Hyun-tae was satisfied with.

Kim Hyun-tae's dinner was simple: two chicken legs boiled in water with salt, a pot of white rice, and some Laoganma chili sauce. That was it.

In this timeline's Chinese supermarket in the United States, Laoganma chili sauce was available, which was a form of comfort for Kim Hyun-tae.

He quickly finished his simple dinner, cleaned up, and saw that his daughter still had half a bottle of milk left. So, Kim Hyun-tae went to the bathroom for a quick wash.

Before his daughter finished her milk, she was very quiet, so Kim Hyun-tae had to make good use of this time.

He quickly took a shower, washing away the sweat from a hard day's work. Kim Hyun-tae came to the living room and looked at the old wall clock. It was already 6:05 PM.

He walked to the crib where his daughter was, and at that moment, she had just finished her milk. Kim Hyun-tae gently picked her up and started patting her back to help her burp.

It had to be said, with his daughter becoming a baby again, everything had to start over.

The little one in Kim Hyun-tae's arms seemed very happy, constantly raising her little arms to hug her father.

Unfortunately, as a baby, now only half a year old, she could no longer do the things she could at one and a half years old.

The little one, unable to understand this change, became frustrated and started kicking her legs to express her dissatisfaction.

"You're lucky, being so young and not understanding anything, you can live carefree. Poor me, I have to be both a father and a mother, taking care of you while also earning money."

Seeing his daughter getting upset, Kim Hyun-tae sighed and complained to her.

Unfortunately, the little one could not understand and only looked at him with a puzzled expression when he finished speaking.

It was already late, and Kim Hyun-tae could not delay any longer. He had to take his daughter and leave home quickly to go to his second job.

Kim Hyun-tae's second job was at a Chinese restaurant in Rowland Heights, a fifteen-minute bike ride away. His main task was to wash dishes, working from 7 PM to midnight, a total of five hours, earning 8.5 yuan per hour, which was much higher than the 5 yuan per hour at the car wash.

In these five hours, Kim Hyun-tae could earn 42.5 yuan, and over a month, he could earn more than a thousand yuan. Adding the 48 yuan he earned from the car wash for eight hours a day, Kim Hyun-tae's two jobs could earn him about 2,500 to 2,600 yuan a month, which was enough to cover the rent, utilities, and various expenses for himself and his daughter, and even save some if planned well.

Therefore, Kim Hyun-tae was very serious about these two jobs.

After calming his daughter and making her stop throwing a tantrum, Kim Hyun-tae changed her diaper, prepared a black backpack, and put it on his chest. He then placed his daughter in a baby carrier on his back.

The black backpack contained mostly his daughter's items, such as diapers, prepared milk bottles, and wet wipes.

Since he had to work with his daughter, there might be some unexpected situations, and these items would be useful in case of emergencies.

Everything prepared, Kim Hyun-tae left home with his daughter, heading to his second job, using the second-hand bicycle he had bought.

When they left, night had already fallen, and the darkness enveloped Los Angeles. Under the dim streetlights, Kim Hyun-tae's figure, riding his bicycle with his daughter on his back, looked somewhat thin, evoking a sense of pity.

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It was past midnight, and with a tired body, Kim Hyun-tae rode his second-hand bicycle, with his daughter asleep on his back, appearing at the street corner.

Another day of work had ended, and his daughter was now sound asleep on his back.

Under the dim streetlights, a few African American women dressed provocatively stood there, and when Kim Hyun-tae rode by, one of them made a seductive gesture and called out to him in a sweet voice.

Kim Hyun-tae had no interest in these women.

It's not that Kim Hyun-tae was a saint who avoided all temptation. As a normal man, he certainly had his needs.

But these women, he genuinely did not find attractive.

For heaven's sake, they were in their forties, and no matter how provocatively they dressed, what kind of taste would it take to patronize them?

It had to be said, the tastes of "foreigners" were truly heavy, and Kim Hyun-tae was extremely impressed by this.

He had seen many people patronize these middle-aged African American women.

Kim Hyun-tae, living in an unsafe community with his child, dealing with such women was unwise. What if he got into trouble?

Moreover, his financial situation did not allow him to do such things. It would be better to save the money for emergencies or use it for his daughter.

Most importantly, he often recalled his wife's appearance and the happy family life they had when she was alive. So, even though he was a normal man with normal physiological reactions, he would not go out and act recklessly but would handle it himself.

As for how he handled it, for a man with the soul of a thirty-year-old, it was not a difficult matter...

Kim Hyun-tae always felt that even in this parallel timeline, acting recklessly would be a betrayal to his wife.

To put it bluntly, Kim Hyun-tae had not forgotten his deceased wife, which was why he remained "chaste."

But this also showed that Kim Hyun-tae was not a heartless man.

Riding his bicycle, Kim Hyun-tae ignored the streetwalkers and rode past them.

On the sides of the street, the walls were covered in graffiti, and in the dim, poorly lit shadows, a few large, muscular men stood. These men were all African American, with huge builds, like large animals, and most were bald. They looked at Kim Hyun-tae with unfriendly and wary eyes as he rode by.

These types of men were often seen on the streets of the community on his way home.

There were African American men, bald Mexican men, and they all stood in groups on the street, divided by their ethnic groups.

Kim Hyun-tae knew these were drug dealers, and they all carried guns.

Besides selling drugs, they also managed their territories. If they found someone from another gang crossing the line, it would definitely lead to a gunfight. Just like in the original timeline, American gang members took their territory boundaries very seriously, and crossing the line was an unforgivable provocation.

If such a thing happened, the only solution was... killing!

A street was clearly divided into two gang territories by African Americans and Mexicans, which made Kim Hyun-tae very uncomfortable.

For heaven's sake!

This was a Chinese community!

Even in the poor part of the Chinese community, it was unacceptable that it was controlled by African American and Mexican gangs.

Riding his bicycle, Kim Hyun-tae felt a thousand horses galloping in his mind.

After living here for half a year and understanding the situation, he was extremely dissatisfied.

It had to be said, the Chinese here were... really... sigh!

But this was not his concern, so Kim Hyun-tae thought about it in his mind and then put it aside.

After all, he was not a gangster, so he could not do much about the state of the community, even if he wanted to.

Back at home, he locked the door, placed his sleeping daughter in the crib, and gently covered her with a blanket. He then went to the window, drew the curtains, and observed the outside through the gaps.

Recently, due to the frequent appearance of gang members and the worsening security, there had been several cases of home invasions.

Kim Hyun-tae had to be careful.

After a careful observation, Kim Hyun-tae confirmed that no one was following him and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Every day, I have to be on edge when I come home. How long can this life go on? If it were just me, I wouldn't worry about this, but now I have my daughter, so I have to be cautious."

Relaxing, Kim Hyun-tae, with a tired body, walked to the living room, sat on the sofa, and sighed deeply, muttering to himself.

"Regardless, I have to find a way to move out of here, especially for my daughter's sake," he said, sitting on the sofa, took a few deep breaths, and then raised his right hand and slapped his thigh, making a decision.

His daughter was still asleep. Kim Hyun-tae took off his clothes, took a hot shower, and washed away his fatigue. Checking the time, it was already past 1 AM.

Well, there was still some time to do his own things. The car wash work started at 8 AM.

With the time confirmed, Kim Hyun-tae took an old laptop from the bedroom, sat back on the sofa, and placed the laptop on the coffee table in front of him.

"Daughter, daughter, your father is working very hard to give you a good growing environment and better living conditions. If it were in the original timeline, I might not have such ambition, but in this timeline... hehe..."

Kim Hyun-tae turned on the computer, waiting for it to boot up, and kept muttering to himself. The reflection of the computer screen on his face made his expression look strangely eerie...

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