“Do I have to die today?”
The scarlet wedding dress clung tightly to Zhuang Yubai’s body, dragging him down into the depths of the river like a piece of iron. In the suffocating despair, the murky waters of the Jiao River came crashing down over him.
A delicate face and a cascade of amber hair vanished in the spring dusk of the Jiao River.
Zhuang Yubai had transmigrated.
The “agricultural science prodigy” found himself in an ancient agrarian society. Upon arrival, he was carried to the riverbank in a flower sedan chair and offered as a sacrifice to the river.
Perhaps fate had other plans, as he managed to grab onto a tree root and drag his heavy body to the shore. The stench of the riverbank’s mud, mixed with the bitterness of grass roots, filled his lungs.
Zhuang Yubai shook his head vigorously, like a little dog drenched in rain, but the blaring sound of the suona horn echoed in his ears, refusing to be shaken off.
The faces of his stepmother and the clan leader’s second son, those who had sacrificed him, flashed before his eyes frame by frame. He vowed to remember them all, to carve them into his heart. One day, he would repay blood with blood!
The embroidered and silver-threaded wedding dress still clung to him, cumbersome and unsightly. He tore it off and kicked it into the river. The scarlet mass rolled in the muddy water and quickly disappeared.
The forest on the shore was dense with leaves and tangled branches. Before the sun set, he needed to find a place to rest.
The ancient ecosystem was thriving. If he encountered wolves, tigers, or leopards, it would be a shame to have escaped the river god only to be eaten by wild beasts.
Zhuang Yubai walked on this unfamiliar land in an unfamiliar era, his steps uneven. He didn’t know what awaited him ahead. But his stomach knew that his energy was running low.
As the forest grew darker, he felt like Sisyphus pushing a boulder up a hill, coaxing himself to take just one more step to reach the top.
“Rustle, rustle…”
Something was darting towards him from not far behind. Judging by the sound, it was coming for him. He stood still, biting his lip in tension.
Before he could decide which direction to dodge, a black shadow shot out from behind his shoulder.
The leaves rustled. A sleek, long black… leopard?! It stopped firmly in front of him.
The black leopard was shiny and agile, its leg muscles taut, and its golden-brown eyes bloodshot. Its tail was pressed to the ground, growling lowly as a warning. Judging by its stance, it could easily kill three Zhuang Yubais.
If begging for mercy would work, Zhuang Yubai would have knelt before the leopard, pleading for its compassion.
Fortunately, the leopard only intended to drive him away and didn’t come to tear him apart.
There was still hope! Run!
Fueled by adrenaline, Zhuang Yubai’s previously weak legs gained strength. He sprinted in the opposite direction of the leopard, leaving behind a trail of barking, “Woof, woof, woof…”
“Woof, woof, woof?!” That sound…
He didn’t know how long he ran or how far he went, but before he collapsed from exhaustion, a small thatched courtyard appeared before him like a gift from the heavens.
The wooden gate was slightly ajar. Zhuang Yubai rushed in with inertia, hurriedly closed the door behind him, and only relaxed when he confirmed that the leopard… or rather, the black dog, hadn’t followed him.
Wasn’t this a place to rest for the night? In a way, wasn’t this a blessing in disguise?
“Is anyone here?”
He tried to steady his breathing, bent down to pick up the sign he had knocked over in his panic.
Zhuang Yubai called out again, straightening his remaining inner garment, thinking about how to introduce himself to the house’s owner.
There was no one in the courtyard, and no response from inside the house.
“Is anyone…” Zhuang Yubai stopped mid-sentence. There were words on the sign.
“Rice in the kitchen, books on the shelf. Take what you need, close the door when you leave.”
It seemed the owner wasn’t home. As a guest, he would follow the host’s instructions.
“Rice in the kitchen. Kitchen… rice!” The fear of being chased by a dog faded, and Zhuang Yubai, now starving, could only think of “rice.”
The courtyard was spotless, and Zhuang Yubai’s gaze landed on a pavilion-like structure next to the thatched house, supported by a wooden post and open to the wind on all sides.
Hmm, this must be the “kitchen.”
Zhuang Yubai hurried over, lifted the lid, and found several white, round cakes in the pot! The sweet and charred aroma of the food hit him with full force.
Zhuang Yubai’s throat tightened, tears of gratitude welling up in his eyes.
On his first day of transmigration, ending with gnawing on a few dry cakes was both thrilling and bittersweet.
Where was the promised ability to summon wind and rain, to be wealthy beyond measure, to craft atomic bombs with bare hands?
Why was he left with nothing, not even a roof over his head or a penny to his name? Was his transmigration mission to experience the hardships of life with empty hands?
“Burp—”
Filled with resentment and anger, Zhuang Yubai chewed the cakes one bite at a time. They were soft, slightly sweet, and a bit cool.
Reaching for more, he found the pot empty.
“Forget it. No more.”
With food in his belly, his heart was at ease. The sense of fullness and security brought by the wheat aroma suppressed his grievances, and Zhuang Yubai even felt a bit happy after his meal.
Since he had nothing to bring with him in this transmigration, he would start from scratch!
The kitchen had no doors or windows, or rather, it was a 360° panoramic skylight. Inside were two waist-high ceramic jars, one filled with water, the other with rice. The water was full, but the rice was only half a jar. A black ceramic oil jar sat on the stove, and a neat pile of firewood was stacked beside it. Simple, clean, and tidy.
Zhuang Yubai glanced at the main house and decided to push the door open.
The main room was a large, unobstructed space, even simpler, cleaner, and tidier. On the right side against the wall was a bed, with a cabinet at the head. On the left side by the window was a desk, with an oil lamp, an inkstone, and a few pens standing upright, nothing else.
Just as Zhuang Yubai was about to turn and leave, the wall behind the desk caught his attention.
Books, an entire wall of books!
In the dim light, the neatly arranged books looked like a wall.
Besides the usual Four Books and Five Classics, the shelves were organized with works from Legalists, Yin-Yang scholars, and other writings, as well as medical books, agricultural books, and reference books like “Qi Min Yao Shu,” “Tai Ping Sheng Hui Fang,” and “Yang Sheng Lei Zuan.”
…
Could this be a book merchant? The more Zhuang Yubai thought about it, the more it made sense. “Otherwise, where would all these books come from?”
Books were scarce resources in ancient times. If someone was in the book business, their life wouldn’t be as… clean as this.
*
As dusk deepened, the owner still hadn’t returned.
Zhuang Yubai sat on the edge of the bed, his long, slender legs dangling idly. The coarse cloth bedding and pillow were neatly arranged on the inside.
Without the owner’s permission, it wouldn’t be right to lie on the bed…
Zhuang Yubai’s eyes rolled, glancing back at the pillow and bedding. His legs, already sore and swollen, swung quickly a couple more times.
Sleeping for a bit wouldn’t hurt. He could tidy up before the owner returned and sweetly thank them. Zhuang Yubai kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed.
The bed wasn’t wide, enough for one person, cramped for two. The pillow was just the right height, perfectly supporting his neck, like lying on a soft cloud.
He pulled a corner of the quilt over his stomach, thinking about how to win the sympathy of the house’s “kind-hearted poor” owner to let him stay for a while.
The feeling of lying down after a full meal and drink was wonderful. The fresh scent of soap was unfamiliar but not unpleasant, even somewhat pleasant. But after just a couple of sniffs, Zhuang Yubai fell asleep.
When he opened his eyes again, the room was completely dark.
The original owner’s memories were becoming increasingly blurred, and Zhuang Yubai could hardly remember why the original owner was sacrificed to the river. Let it be, if he couldn’t remember, he would forget. He refused to waste mental energy, starting with himself, Zhuang Yubai.
Wrapped in the oversized clothes, Zhuang Yubai twisted his soft body like a carefree little dog, stretching lazily.
The clothes were something Zhuang Yubai had put together from the cabinet, loosely draped over him.
Moonlight spilled over, painting abstract geometric shapes on the ground, the desk, and the wall of books.
“Clatter—”
The courtyard’s wooden gate seemed to creak.
The owner was back?! Zhuang Yubai scrambled off the bed. But when he peeked through the crack in the door, his heart leaped into his throat.
The person was tall, yes, towering, like a mountain reaching into the clouds. This figure… uninvited, entering at midnight, who else could it be but a thief?
Though he was also uninvited, Zhuang Yubai was different.
He had come during the day.
In the moonlit courtyard, the person cast a long, dark shadow, inching forward with a heavy presence.
The thief seemed to notice the wooden sign, glanced at it, and then moved his shadow towards the kitchen.
Good thing he had come early, or those cakes would have been wasted on this guy.
Zhuang Yubai thought again, no, wait. People are most prone to anger when hungry. If this thief was also starving and found nothing to eat or steal, he might get angry and kill him.
He took a deep breath, but quickly straightened his back. Rather than sitting and waiting for death, he would meet the threat head-on.
Zhuang Yubai was convinced the owner was a good person and believed that helping to subdue the thief would earn him enough favor to “morally coerce” the owner into letting him stay for a while.
However, the person was towering… never mind, he would take a chance. At worst, he would die. If he died, he would transmigrate back, and it wouldn’t be a loss.
Zhuang Yubai looked around, grabbed a wooden stick, and quickly hid behind the door, assuming a baseball batting stance.
Sure enough, the thief found nothing valuable in the kitchen and moved his shadow towards the main house.
“Tap, tap, tap.”
Each step was steady and powerful, each sound stepping on Zhuang Yubai’s heart.
Zhuang Yubai adjusted his stance, tightened his grip on the stick, and silently chanted a self-made spell to boost his courage.
“Creak—”
The door opened, and the person, draped in moonlight, had broad shoulders and a wide back.
Now was the time!
With a fierce determination, Zhuang Yubai swung his arm, aiming the stick at the back of the intruder’s head with all his might.
“Thief, take this!”
The person, though tall, was agile. Hearing the wind behind him, he quickly dodged to the side, but being so close, he couldn’t completely avoid it. The stick veered off course, landing solidly on his left shoulder.
“Ugh.” The person grunted, jumped back a few steps, and quickly turned to face Zhuang Yubai.
“Who are you?”
The stick clattered to the ground, and Zhuang Yubai hurriedly bent to pick it up, retreating two steps. His heart was filled with panic and regret.
The person was even more formidable than he had imagined. Failing to subdue him in one move, he had walked into a trap, seeking his own doom. However, evil couldn’t triumph over good. Standing on the side of justice, he believed the heavens would have eyes.
“Thief! You dare ask who I am after breaking into my home at night! Take another hit!”
Righteousness made his blood boil. Overwhelmed, Zhuang Yubai swung the stick wildly with his eyes closed.
He thought he was locked in a fierce struggle with the intruder, bravely fighting back. But when he came to his senses, he found himself already tied up like a bundle and tossed onto the bed.
…
How could he, a grown man over six feet tall, armed with a weapon, be captured so easily, like a chick, and tied up?
A flame flickered, casting the room in a swaying light and shadow.
Meng Zhizhang sat upright, observing Zhuang Yubai on the bed from across the desk.
“You ate all my cakes, messed up my bed, and instead of being grateful, you tried to kill me. What do you have to say for yourself?” Meng Zhizhang’s gaze subtly shifted, “The clothes you’re wearing are also mine.”
Author’s Note: