Dongxi Village.
On the path at the village entrance, Xu Chuan walked toward the village wearing a straw hat and a coarse hemp vest with his trouser legs rolled up, carrying a hoe on his shoulder and dangling two large black carps tied with straw from his hand.
The afterglow of the sunset stretched his shadow long, and his bronzed skin shone with vitality.
"San Shu, heading home?"
Under the large locust tree ahead, an old man with greying temples gently waved a cattail leaf fan.
Upon seeing Xu Chuan, he greeted him warmly.
Spotting the large black carps in his hand, the old man smiled slightly. "Quite a good harvest today."
"Uncle Chen, cooling off outside again?"
"It's all this damn weather playing tricks on us. On such a hot day, only a sturdy body like yours could endure under that scorching sun for so long."
Xu Chuan grinned.
Standing over 1.8 meters tall with a well-proportioned build, he was not particularly burly compared to the other men in Dongxi Village—in fact, some might even consider him slightly lean.
Yet Xu Chuan had never fallen ill since childhood.
Everyone in the village said Xu Chuan was blessed and favored by the heavens.
In truth, that was not the case.
Xu Chuan was a Transmigrator.
He had some Talent in him.
He was born into an ordinary commoner family; his father, Xu Ping, was a long-term laborer for the Xu Family, one of the prominent households in Dongxi Village.
When he was an ignorant three-year-old, his mother passed away.
At age fifteen, Xu Ping also passed away from overwork.
Blessed with wisdom from his past life, Xu Chuan was a fast learner and a deft hand at farm work.
The Xu Family also thought highly of him. After his father passed, they doubled his wages in an effort to retain him.
Yet Xu Chuan resolutely quit his work with the Xu Family.
Using nearly all his savings, he bought ten mu of paddy fields.
The villagers all called Xu Chuan short-sighted. The Xu Family was a well-known prominent clan across the surrounding townships, and becoming a long-term laborer for them was no easy feat.
Xu Ping had worked for the Xu Family his entire life, and Xu Chuan had initially landed the position of long-term laborer only because of his father.
Yet now he had resigned for nothing, yielding the spot to someone else.
Xu Chuan, however, did not see it that way.
How could working for others ever spark the same drive as working for oneself?
Of course, he also felt that after developing quietly in low profile for fifteen years, it was time to establish his own household.
As a Transmigrator, Xu Chuan was born with a 【Bloodline Genealogy】. For now, however, the genealogy only had a single page, and on that first page was only Xu Chuan's name.
To appear on the genealogy, one had to drip blood onto it for the name to manifest.
Xu Chuan had stumbled upon this discovery by trial and error when he was six years old, back when he was still a 【young man with nothing to his name】.
【Xu Chuan: Xu family First Generation】
【Spiritual Root: Incomplete Five Elements, No Aptitude for Immortal Cultivation】
【Talent: None】
【bloodline: None】
Afterward, the 【Bloodline Genealogy】 birthed three Talents: 【Dragon-Spirited and Tiger-Fierce】, 【Daily Divination】, and 【Heaven Rewards Diligence】.
All of them were applied to himself.
【Dragon-Spirited and Tiger-Fierce】 kept him full of energy and brimming with Qi and Blood every single day.
Naturally, he remained free of illness and misfortune.
【Daily Divination】 allowed him to divine his fortune and luck once per day.
The vast majority were neutral divinations, neither auspicious nor ominous.
This was also related to Xu Chuan's low-key nature and habit of never courting trouble.
With 【Heaven Rewards Diligence】, any endeavor pursued with perseverance would yield rewards.
Even if the enhancement was modest, through the passing of seasons year after year, it placed him far beyond ordinary mortals.
In terms of agriculture, for instance, he was now a master in the field, and many commoners in Dongxi Village had sought his advice.
Farmland was the lifeblood of commoners, so he was on good terms with everyone.
In addition, Xu Chuan was adept at carpentry, cultivating fruit trees and herbs, and even possessed some skill with archery.
Through his own efforts, Xu Chuan married at the age of twenty. His bride was the eldest daughter of an ordinary commoner family, named Bai Jing.
She was three years younger than him, fair-featured, hardworking, and kind-hearted.
They were well-matched in social standing.
Not long after their marriage, Xu Chuan bought another ten mu of mountain woodland and planted the rare Azure Jade Pear.
The villagers all said that the Azure Jade Pear was delicate and no ordinary mortal variety, insisting it could never survive and urging Xu Chuan not to waste his effort.
Xu Chuan had merely smiled in response.
Six years had passed, and Bai Jing had borne him two sons. She was now pregnant with their third child, due to give birth in just two more months.
"Uncle Chen, I won't chat any longer. I have to get home to see my wife."
"Go on, go on. Just remember to invite me for drinks when the baby's full-month celebration comes."
"Then be sure to bring a gift."
"Never willing to take a loss, haha!"
Xu Chuan then made his way toward his home, arriving shortly after.
Whitish-gray walls, dark teal tiles, and a square courtyard; in the northeast corner of the courtyard stood a tall pear tree, laden with large green pears that bent its branches.
Just as he reached the gate, he saw two children crouching with their rear ends in the air at the courtyard corner, their pairs of dark, lively eyes staring at something unknown.
Hearing footsteps, both of them turned around.
Seeing Xu Chuan, bright smiles broke across their faces, and they ran over, shouting, "Dad, you're back!"
"Dad, big black carps! I want to eat big black carps!"
"No problem, but the first sip of fish soup must go to your mother, understand?"
The slightly older boy nodded sensibly. "Mother is carrying little brother and working so hard, so of course Mother eats first."
"Shitou is such a good boy."
"What about me, Dad?"
The younger boy tilted his head up and asked, his eyes blinking with bright anticipation.
"You're good too."
The older one was named Xu Mingwei, five years old this year, with the childhood name Shitou.
The younger was Xu Mingyuan, three years old, called Ayuan for short.
"By the way, what were you two crouching on the ground looking at just now?"
Xu Mingwei pointed to the corner of the wall. "There are lots of little ants crawling on the ground in neat rows."
"Ants moving their home? Looks like it's going to rain tonight."
"Dad, what does it mean when ants move? Will it really rain tonight? How do you know?" Xu Mingwei tugged on Xu Chuan's clothes, peppering him with questions.
Xu Chuan smiled and chuckled. "Do you still want to have fish soup tonight?"
"Keep blocking Dad, and you won't get any."
Hearing that, both boys acted as if the sky were falling and scrambled out of the way.
Then they pushed Xu Chuan toward the kitchen, urging anxiously, "Dad, hurry, hurry!"
At that moment, Bai Jing emerged supporting her swollen belly with a hand against the doorframe, faint red marks from her nap still on her face. "Husband, you're back. I overslept—I'll go cook right away."
"No need. Rest, wife. I'll make dinner tonight."
Xu Chuan smiled gently and stepped into the kitchen.
First, he washed the rice and built the fire to cook it, then used a kitchen knife to scrape the fish scales and clean the entrails.
Once finished, he scored each side seven or eight times so the fish meat would absorb more flavor while cooking.
Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan stood nearby watching quietly, drool dripping "pat-pat" onto the floor from the corners of their mouths.
"Shitou, go check the coop to see if there are any eggs."
"Okay, Dad."
Xu Mingwei scurried over cheerfully, felt around inside the coop with his little hands, pulled out two eggs, and dashed back excitedly to Xu Chuan's side.
"Dad, here!"
Xu Chuan took them and set them aside, preparing to scramble them with green onions later.
"Also, go with Ayuan and herd all the chickens in the yard back into the coop."
Xu Mingwei took Xu Mingyuan's little hand and went to herd the chickens.
A moment later.
Xu Mingyuan's crying could be heard.
Xu Chuan paused what he was doing and hurried over to check. Bai Jing was holding Xu Mingyuan, gently patting his back to comfort him.
"What happened?" Xu Chuan asked.
Xu Mingwei said, "Dad, Ayuan got knocked down by a rooster flapping its wings. He tumbled to the ground and then started crying."
"Ayuan, you're a little man, how can you cry? In a few days, Dad will avenge you."
Xu Mingyuan sniffled twice and indeed stopped crying. "Dad, keep your word!"
"When has Dad ever made a promise he didn't keep?"
"Come on, pinky promise."
"Mhm."
Xu Chuan returned to continue cooking.
More than an hour later, the family happily ate together around an eight-immortals table.
The two little ones kept Xu Chuan's words firmly in mind, offering the first spoonfuls of fish soup to their mother, which touched Bai Jing deeply.
Night fell.
A torrential downpour began.
Inside the bedroom, Bai Jing suddenly said, "Husband, before long, our third child will be born. Could you add another tier to that bunk bed?"
"No rush for that," Xu Chuan said with a gentle smile. "The third child can sleep in the crib first."
"As for later, I plan to expand the house in a few years, adding at least three more rooms. The courtyard is a bit cramped as well; once our family grows, the children won't have enough room to play."
"I'll follow your lead, Husband." Bai Jing nodded, then thought of something. "Then shouldn't we rent a few mu of land? After all, there will be another mouth to feed, and Shitou and Ayuan are eating more and more."
"You've thought things through thoroughly, wife." Xu Chuan looked at Bai Jing and smiled again. "But renting won't be necessary. Starting last year, after all these years of effort, the Azure Jade Pears on those ten mu of mountain woodland have begun bearing fruit, and this year's harvest will only be greater."
Bai Jing said no more.
A married woman defers to her husband; everything in the Xu family was naturally Xu Chuan's decision.
Moreover, she knew Xu Chuan was exceptionally capable; ever since she married into the household, life in the Xu family had been visibly improving with each passing year.
Of course, what mattered even more was that Xu Chuan cherished and cared for her deeply.
She had married the right man.
"Husband, let me lend you a hand tonight."
"I'll trouble you then, wife."