He piled a large mound of snow in the backyard and buried the sack of bones needed for tomorrow. Five of them had to be stewed this very afternoon.
After finishing these chores, he looked up at the gathering dusk outside and decided to spend the night here. Anticipating occasional severe weather, Liu Wenyu and Liu Wensheng had made up a bed with sheets and quilts for him in the small backyard shed yesterday.
Even if he did not return to the village tonight, Liu Wensheng would surely explain the situation to the village chief.
That night, Liu Yu tossed and turned in bed. Accustomed to his bed at home, sleeping away from it for the first time felt a little unfamiliar.
The consequence of sleeping restlessly was that he had the exact same dream as a few months ago.
Enveloped once more by intangible, warm water, he was swept back to his former residence.
Unlike last time, a slightly plump young man sat at the desk, his head bowed as he flipped through a novel.
What is going on? Where is Liu Heqing? Could his workplace have transferred him somewhere else?
Sensing something, the young man raised his head and looked in Liu Yu’s direction.
Liu Yu’s heart skipped a beat. Could I have been discovered? Am I not in a soul state right now? How could he see me?
Fortunately, the young man merely stared for a moment before shifting his gaze back and plunging once more into the novel.
Liu Yu let out a heavy sigh of relief.
Wait!
Who is this person? Why does he look so much like me?
He tried his best to propel his body closer to the desk, peering closely at the other’s face from a short distance.
“Oh, crap!” Liu Yu muttered to himself.
Liu Heqing, what kind of heaven-defying things have you been doing with my body? When I died, I was clearly a slim and tall person! How on earth did I turn into a chubby otaku in just a few short months?
Liu Yu could not help wanting to scream in dismay.
“This Zhou Yu is quite unlucky, too,” the person at the desk muttered to himself.
What?
This sudden remark interrupted Liu Yu’s anger. He focused his attention on the novel being flipped through, which was covered in dense annotations and lines. Evidently, the reader had already mastered the script and no longer needed a dictionary.
He vaguely caught sight of the words “Zhou Yu,” “cruise ship,” and “returning to the country.” Combined with the remark he had just heard, it took no thought at all to break him out in a cold sweat.
The entire reading process lasted only a few seconds. Before he could draw closer to take a closer look, the sphere of water violently dragged him away, casting him out of the room despite all his struggling.
Liu Yu sat up abruptly and reached for his forehead, which was genuinely covered in a cold sweat. His whole body felt clammy and extremely uncomfortable.
Previously, he had always suspected that his soul swap with the original owner was connected to this novel titled Commercial Overlord.
Now, he understood: he had most likely transmigrated into the novel and become a minor background character.
As for Zhou Yu, he was very likely a cannon-fodder character.
The name of the Dragon-Pride protagonist in that novel also seemed to start with the surname Zhou; it was probably his cousin’s family who was hunting him down.
Quite unlucky… He turned this phrase over and over in his mind, wondering just how unlucky it could get. His Brother Zhou had not heard from him since; could he already be in danger?
He had only skimmed the novel roughly, failing to remember even the protagonist’s name, let alone a minor supporting character. Even if he racked his brains, he could not dredge up any plot details.
Since he had transmigrated anyway, why couldn’t they at least give him a cheat code, or some foreknowledge? Otherwise, what was the point of his transmigration?
Clutching the edge of the quilt and squeezing his hands tightly, Liu Yu felt sullen and glum.
Once awake, Liu Yu could no longer fall back asleep. He lay with his eyes closed, feigning sleep until the sky grew pale.
Today’s customer traffic was about the same as yesterday’s, and the shop remained packed to capacity. The only difference was that the large-bone soup sold out more than twice as fast as yesterday.
It seemed that some people who had caught wind of things during yesterday’s opening specifically brought their families to the shop for a bowl today.
“Big Brother Heqing!”
While Liu Yu was cleaning the shop in the back kitchen, he heard someone calling out as they entered and immediately looked up.
“Wensheng, what brings you to town today?”
Liu Wensheng shifted aside to reveal a large military-green parcel strapped behind him, explaining, “A courier delivered a parcel to your house yesterday. Seeing that you weren’t home, they left it at the village committee. My dad waited and waited for you to return last night, and wanted to come to town to look for you, but I talked him out of it. As soon as school let out at noon, I volunteered to come to town to check on you for my dad, and to bring you the parcel to take a look.”
“I am so sorry. The snow was too heavy yesterday, so I didn’t return to the village. I am sorry to have troubled the village chief,” Liu Yu said apologetically.
“It is nothing!” Liu Wensheng asked, puzzled. “The parcel is said to be from J City, and it is pretty heavy. Big Brother, do you have relatives in a place as far away as J City?”
Liu Yu’s brow instantly unfurled; it seemed Brother Zhou had made it home safely. “J City is Brother Zhou’s home. The parcel must be from him.”
“Oh!” Liu Wensheng realized with a start. He had not expected that Brother Zhou was from J City; he had heard that everyone living in J City was either wealthy or noble—why would he come to work in their town? Scratching his head, he stopped asking questions.
Since it was now noon and every household was cooking, Liu Wensheng must have skipped lunch by rushing over right after school.
Liu Yu went next door to buy a few ounces of meat and made him a bowl of noodles topped with minced pork fat and lean meat.
Taking advantage of the boy burying his head in his food at the shop table, Liu Yu dragged the parcel into the back room and carefully opened it to inspect the contents.
The parcel was bulging, clearly stuffed with plenty of items. Unzipping it, two thick down jackets spilled out first.
He placed the down jackets on the bed and began pulling out the rest of the items one by one.
Two black down jackets, two sets of thin fleece-lined thermal underwear with unfamiliar text on the tags, presumably all imported from abroad.
The rest consisted of small trinkets: an adorable pair of pink earmuffs, a soft red scarf, and a pile of various cookies, candies, and powdered milk that could not be bought in town.
Where is the letter he promised? Could it have been mailed separately? Liu Yu wondered, feeling puzzled.
Clinging to a sliver of hope, he rummaged back and forth among the items until he finally found a letter tucked into the partition of the biscuit box. He eagerly tore it open, and a line of handwriting met his eyes:
Dear Xiao Yu:
As I read your words, I hope this finds you well.
It is winter, and mail delivery is very slow; by the time you receive this letter, I will have safely arrived home. I hope Xiao Yu is not worrying. I am doing very well here, and I think of you constantly.
The salted vegetables and braised meat you prepared for me on my departure were delicious, and the flavor is deeply nostalgic. Unfortunately, within two days of arriving in J City, the salted vegetables were ransacked and cleaned out by some unpleasant people.
I hear it is very cold in your winter, so I have prepared two sets of clothes; I hope you will stay warm. I do not know if you have hired someone else since I left, but in any case, you must take care of your health and look after yourself. The powdered milk I sent you can supplement calcium; your frame is far too slender, so you must be sure to drink it regularly, and I will send you more every month from now on.
Wishing you peace, joy, and all the best.
Zhou Yu was usually a man of few words, and even his letter was merely a thin single page. Liu Yu turned it over and over to read it several times before finally satisfyingly tucking the letter away into an iron box.
The anxiety that had plagued Liu Yu since waking from his dream last night gradually dissipated after receiving this letter of safety.
Future matters could be dealt with in the future; as long as he could confirm that Brother Zhou was not in immediate danger, that was enough. As for the days ahead, he had a hunch that he would eventually sort out that novel.
Emerging from the back room, Liu Wensheng had already finished his noodles and spontaneously washed his bowl clean.
Seeing Liu Yu come out, he called out a greeting and prepared to leave. He dared not be late; the village primary school bell rang at 2:00 PM, and tardiness would definitely earn him a scolding.
“Wait a moment,” Liu Yu said, stuffing a full box of candies into his hand. “Brother Zhou sent these over. You can’t buy them around here. Take them back to taste, and remember to share some with Erni.”
Seeing the candy made Liu Wensheng’s eyes curve into a smile, and he nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Liu Yu then added, “Right, it is the snowy season these days, and the ice and snow melting in a couple of days will make the roads difficult to walk. I might spend the night in town often during this period; go back and let the village chief and the others know so they do not worry.”
“Got it, I understand!” Liu Wensheng clutched the box and walked out.
With nothing much to do in the shop for the afternoon, Liu Yu set the big-bone soup to simmer and headed to the grain store to purchase a batch of flour and eggs while the daylight still held.
Now that he had opened a shop, in response to his customers’ repeated requests, the breakfast supply had increased significantly, and the demand for consumables like flour had correspondingly risen.
The grain store clerk beamed with enthusiasm upon seeing him, terrified of offending one of the few major clients in town.
After preparing the ingredients needed for the next day, Liu Yu brewed a cup of powdered milk for himself and picked out a few biscuits for dinner.
He had no idea where this powdered milk was bought from; its flavor was rich, mellow, and full of milky goodness, tasting even better than the student powdered milk he used to drink in his past life.
This was probably the single food item he had tasted so far since coming here that surpassed his previous life.
He picked up a biscuit and took a bite with full anticipation.
So choking… A heavy, overly sweet, raw-rice-flour taste.
He quickly took a sip of the milk to wash away that strange flavor.
He had no idea what the author of that novel was thinking, writing the food in the novel world as so impoverished. Leaving aside minor background characters like them, didn’t the Dragon-Pride protagonist even get to eat something good?
Liu Yu inwardly muttered complaints as he put the biscuits back into the box.
He unrolled a brand-new sheet of letter paper and began writing a reply to Brother Zhou. By the time the letter arrived, it would probably almost be New Year’s, so he could wish the other person a happy New Year in advance within the letter.
As for going to J City to visit him, Liu Yu decided to wait at least until spring when the weather warmed up a bit.
After Brother Zhou left, he immediately set about pickling another batch of salted vegetables, specifically intending to send them over once they were cured.
Liu Yu was indifferent to salted vegetables; if not for growing too many vegetables at home that he could not finish alone, he would never have thought of pickling them.
Zhou Yu was different; he was utterly infatuated with eating them. Whether eating noodles, rice, steamed buns, or drinking congee, he always looked like he simply could not live without salted vegetables.
Liu Yu could hardly imagine how unpalatable Zhou Yu’s meals must have been during those first few days after having his spiritual food snatched away.
Liu Yu could suddenly sympathize with just how genuine Zhou Yu felt when he wrote the words “unpleasant people” to complain to him.
He was instantly amused by his own thoughts and let out a laugh. He never expected that the outwardly stern Brother Zhou could also have such a childish side to his inner self.