Chapter 1
Chapter 1: Rebirth
Chapter 1: Rebirth
"Grrr..."
Early in the morning, Lu Qing's grumbling stomach roused him from sleep.
Sighing at the gnawing hunger, he rubbed his belly.
"There's no point in growling, where am I supposed to find something to eat now?"
Glancing around the dilapidated house, barren and bereft of any furnishings, Lu Qing let out a bitter laugh.
How ironic that he, of all people, should end up in a world where even filling his stomach seemed like a challenge.
He had been bedridden for two days.
Two days ago, Lu Qing had opened his eyes to find himself in this unfamiliar world.
Clad in tattered clothing, his body was emaciated, and he had even transformed into a boy of ten or eleven years old.
It took him some time to piece together his situation.
He had transmigrated.
Reborn into the body of a young boy who had just lost both his parents and, after selling off their possessions to give them a proper burial, found himself alone and too weak and grief-stricken to survive a cold night.
Perhaps, for the original owner of this body, death was a release.
Having assimilated the memories stored in his mind, this was Lu Qing's first thought.
For a boy of this age, survival in such a harsh world would be exceedingly difficult.
Death might not necessarily be a bad thing.
But...
"Big brother, you're awake!"
Lu Qing's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a delighted shout.
He turned his head to see a little girl, five or six years old, standing at the door with a gray object in her hands, her face lit up with joy.
The little girl scurried over to Lu Qing, "Big brother, are you feeling better?"
"Yes, I'm fine now, Xiao Yan, you don't have to worry anymore," Lu Qing smiled gently.
"I'm so glad, big brother, you're finally better." Hearing Lu Qing's assurance, the little girl's eyes welled up with tears, "These past two days, your face has been so red and hot, and you kept saying you were cold. I didn't know what to do, no matter how much I called out to you, you didn't respond. I thought you were going to leave me like Father and Mother!"
Seeing the little girl's tears, Lu Qing's heart twisted with pain.
These past two days, he had been integrating the memories in his mind, causing him to appear comatose. Although he could faintly sense his surroundings, he couldn't maintain a conscious state.
Aside from briefly waking up a few times, he quickly fell back into a state of unconsciousness.
Somewhere in his hazy consciousness, he had heard the little girl's cries but couldn't muster a response.
Lu Qing reached out and gently ruffled the little girl's dry, yellow hair, "It's my fault, little Yan. I promise, from now on, I won't get sick again and worry you, okay?"
"Okay." Xiao Yan wiped away her tears and smiled, holding out her small hand, "Let's pinky promise."
Lu Qing extended his pinky finger and hooked it with Xiao Yan's.
"Pinky promise, a hundred years of unchanging friendship. Whoever breaks it first is a little dog!"
After their pinky promise, Xiao Yan's face lit up with happiness.
In her young mind, now that they had made a promise, things would never change, and her big brother would never fall ill again.
"Xiao Yan, what's that you're holding?"
Lu Qing's attention turned to the object in the little girl's hands.
"It's a mantou (steamed bun)! Big brother, you don't recognize it?" Xiao Yan held the gray object in both hands and brought it closer to Lu Qing, beaming with delight, "Old man Zhang from next door gave it to me. I couldn't bear to eat it alone, so I wanted to bring it back and share it with you, but I didn't expect you to wake up just now."
"Mantou?"
Lu Qing stared at the dull gray bun, which looked quite different from the mantou he remembered.
Chapter: Eating a Mantou
However, as he thought about it, Lu Qing suddenly understood that he was now in another world, and the mantou being different didn't seem so strange anymore.
As he pondered this, his gaze fell on the gray mantou for a few seconds, and suddenly, a line of text appeared.
【Scrap Mantou: Made from rice bran, wheat flour, and wild vegetables, with limited nutrition.】
At the same time, the mantou emitted a gray light.
What is this? Lu Qing was taken aback. He blinked and found that the line of text remained floating above the gray mantou, not disappearing.
It wasn't an illusion...
Before Lu Qing could ponder further, Xiaoyan held the gray mantou and brought it to his mouth.
"Brother, eat this. Old Chen said that people who have just recovered from an illness need to eat nutritious food."
Lu Qing, who was already very hungry, was overwhelmed by the smell of grain from the gray mantou. His hunger pangs returned with full force.
Without hesitation, he took the mantou, tore it in half, and gave one piece back to Xiaoyan.
"Mm, Xiaoyan, let's eat together."
He hadn't forgotten that the little one had mentioned earlier that this mantou was given to her by someone else, and she wanted to share it with him.
However, Xiaoyan shook her head and pushed the half-eaten mantou back into Lu Qing's hand. "Brother, eat it. I'm not hungry. You just recovered from your illness, so you should eat more to get better faster."
But despite her words, Lu Qing clearly saw Xiaoyan's mouth watering as she returned the mantou.
Looking at the little one's head of dry, yellow hair, Lu Qing felt a surge of compassion. He gave the half-eaten mantou back to her.
"I just recovered from my illness, so I can't eat too much at once, or my stomach won't be able to handle it. So, you should eat this half, Xiaoyan."
"Is that so?" Xiaoyan held the half-eaten mantou and tilted her head in curiosity. "But that's not what Old Chen said."
"It's not good to overeat after a serious illness. If you don't believe me, ask Old Chen next time, and see if he says the same thing." Lu Qing explained.
"Okay." Xiaoyan nodded, only partially understanding.
She didn't realize that a single scrap mantou had nothing to do with overeating.
Lu Qing took the opportunity to continue, "Since I can't finish it, let's eat together, Xiaoyan. Otherwise, the mantou will get cold and won't taste as good."
"Mm!" Xiaoyan nodded vigorously. "Since brother can't finish it, I'll help you eat it."
And so, the siblings each held half of the mantou and happily nibbled on it.
Soon, Lu Qing finished his half, and the emptiness in his stomach was filled with a warm feeling, lifting his spirits considerably.
To be fair, the mantou didn't taste that great, but it was substantial and not small in size.
Even half of it helped Lu Qing alleviate his hunger, and he no longer felt dizzy and weak as he had before eating.
Seeing Xiaoyan still nibbling on her half of the mantou, Lu Qing didn't disturb her. Instead, he shifted his attention to another matter.
He remembered the line of text that had appeared on the mantou earlier.
After thinking about it, Lu Qing stood up and walked to the table. He picked up a chipped bowl.
Holding it in front of him, he looked at it quietly.
After a few seconds, he saw the bowl emit a gray light, and a line of text appeared.
【Chipped Bowl: A broken ceramic bowl that doesn't seem very clean.】
Just as he had thought. Lu Qing's face broke into a smile.
(End of Chapter)
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