“I was forced to marry two wives this month, and now my legs feel weak every single day…”
“Stop bragging. Your legs are weak because you’re starving!”
“What a sin. These days we can’t even keep ourselves alive, and they’re still stuffing women down our throats.”
“Aren’t women always forced on us anyway?”
At the entrance of Dahe Village, several men gathered together, grumbling.
The men of the village, from old farmers in their fifties down to sixteen-year-old boys, had all been forced to “marry” in the past few days.
It had not even been a full month, and now the officials had come again to distribute wives.
“Xu Lang, hurry and pick one. After you choose, the officers still need to go to the next village,” the village chief Zhang Sihai said with a sigh, his eyes full of pity.
From within the crowd, a thin, sallow-faced young man staggered forward.
He looked so frail it seemed as if he might collapse and die at any moment in front of everyone.
This pitiful young man, who was on the verge of starving to death, was Xu Lang.
“Look at that boy from the Xu family. He’s as skinny as a monkey. Add one more mouth to feed, and he’ll probably meet King Yama tomorrow.”
“The child can barely survive on his own. Adding another mouth won’t that just make him die faster?”
The villagers stood around, pointing and whispering, their eyes filled with sympathy and a trace of schadenfreude.
“What are you all shouting about? This is an order from the court! After the war, there are too few men left. We must expand the family lines! Anyone who dares to disobey will be executed according to the law!” the lead officer Li Si barked impatiently, the blade at his waist glinting in the sunlight.
The villagers immediately fell silent, their faces full of bitterness.
Xu Lang licked his cracked lips, feeling the burning hunger twisting in his stomach.
It had been three months since he transmigrated here, and he had not eaten a single full meal.
The original owner of this body had lost his entire family to war and famine. Only he remained, a lone survivor guarding a dilapidated thatched hut with wind leaking in from all sides.
“Boy from the Xu family, you’re the only one in the village who hasn’t been assigned a wife yet. This time, you must choose one!” Li Si said coldly.
“Alright,” Xu Lang nodded weakly.
He lifted his gaze and looked at the women standing behind the officers.
His eyes suddenly brightened, because three of them were of astonishing quality.
The one on the left was tall, with a heroic air between her brows and undisguised disgust in her eyes.
The one in the middle had a slender figure and kept her head lowered. Her face could not be seen clearly, yet her gentle and refined temperament could not be hidden.
The one on the right was the youngest. Her hair was tied into twin buns, and her large eyes were filled with fear and unease, like a startled fawn.
The three women were beautiful in different ways.
If they shared one thing in common, it was that their chests were all very full, clearly capable of feeding children.
This was not distributing wives. This was handing out three death warrants.
Xu Lang smiled bitterly in his heart.
With his frail body, let alone supporting three, even supporting one would be difficult. I really wish I could be a child instead.
Of course, wives were not handed out casually.
The government’s rules were ruthless. Once assigned, the wives would be inspected every seven days. If any starved to death or ran away, the man and his entire family would be executed as well.
He was his entire family. That meant only himself.
But he did not want to die.
Just as Xu Lang was caught in a dilemma, an electronic voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
[Ding! Host detected facing a critical choice. The “Marry Wives and Become Stronger System” has officially activated!]
[Newbie mission issued: Choose your wives.]
[Mission description: The number and quality of your wives, including appearance, figure, and fortune, will determine the richness of the newbie reward pack. Please choose carefully.]
Xu Lang froze.
A system?
It had finally arrived. The golden finger of every transmigrator had been delivered at last.
Marrying wives could make him stronger?
A surge of wild joy rose in Xu Lang’s heart. This was incredible.
Suppressing his excitement, he asked inwardly, “How exactly do I become stronger? Can the system explain?”
[Food, money, peerless cultivation techniques, divine weapons. There is nothing you can’t imagine and nothing this system can’t draw! The more beautiful the wives you marry, the richer the rewards!]
The system’s voice was filled with temptation.
Xu Lang’s heart pounded violently.
This was too thrilling.
He lifted his head and looked at the three women again.
This time, there was no hesitation in his eyes, only burning heat.
These were not death warrants. They were clearly three tickets to the pinnacle of life.
Seeing that he was still not moving, Li Si grew impatient. “Xu Lang! What are you dawdling for? Hurry up and choose one! I still have to go to the next village!”
Zhang Sihai urged anxiously, “Lang boy, hurry up. Just pick one at random.”
A villager added with a laugh, “Remember to pick a stronger one. Maybe she can protect you and help you grab some tree bark to eat.”
Another villager laughed loudly. “That plump woman isn’t bad. Big hips mean she can bear children!”
The villagers looked at him with sympathy, as if they were already imagining his miserable death from hunger in a few days.
Xu Lang took a deep breath and slowly spoke under everyone’s gaze.
His voice was not loud, yet it was clear enough for every person to hear.
“Officer, I have a small request…”
“What? You want to defy orders?” Li Si’s brows shot up.
Zhang Sihai panicked and quickly said, “Lang boy, what nonsense are you talking about? This could cost you your head!”
“No, no…” Xu Lang smiled faintly and said something shocking. “What I mean is, this one, this one, and this one. I want all three.”
The entire place fell into dead silence.
Everyone stared at Xu Lang as if he were insane.
After a brief stillness, the crowd exploded.
“Did I hear that right? He wants three?”
“He’s gone mad! He must have starved himself crazy! What will he use to support them?”
“He can’t even support one and still wants three. Is he in such a hurry to die?”
Li Si was also stunned for a moment before letting out a scoff. “Boy, are you sure you’re not talking nonsense?”
“Of course not.” Xu Lang rubbed his hands eagerly and said, “This humble one is willing to go through fire and water for the Gan Empire, exhausting myself to death!”
“I think you’re just bewitched by their looks!” Li Si sneered.
However, his task today was simply to “sell” these women off.
If they were not assigned, the officials would have to provide some grain to keep them alive.
As for whom they followed and how they lived afterward, that was none of his concern. In a famine year, even the government had no surplus grain left.
“Lang boy, don’t be foolish! Hurry and apologize to the officer!” Zhang Sihai stomped his foot anxiously.
“If I say I’m marrying three, then I’m marrying three. No one stop me from loving my Empire!” Xu Lang declared righteously.
“Fine. These three young ladies are yours.” Li Si pulled out three marriage contracts from his robe and tossed them to Xu Lang. “That’s settled. Press your handprint. I’ll come back in seven days to inspect. If even one is missing, I’ll cut off your head!”
After speaking, he led his men away.
Zhang Sihai looked at the three still-warm marriage contracts in his trembling hands, then at Xu Lang, feeling both angry and anxious. “You child… what am I supposed to say about you?”
The villagers continued whispering and pointing at Xu Lang, their expressions full of ridicule and pity.
“Just wait. Within three days, there’ll be crying from his house.”
“Three days? I say he won’t even make it through tonight.”
“He’s definitely starved out of his mind!”
Yet Xu Lang ignored them all. His thoughts were entirely focused on the system in his mind.
Now that I’ve married wives, System should be able to carry me to glory, right?
And looking at these three flower-like beauties… tonight, I must soar.