Morning light squeezed through the wooden lattice window, spilling onto the ground and bringing brightness to the dim room. She lay on her back on the earthen floor paved with green bricks. Her left arm was bent awkwardly at the elbow, resting beside her ear. Cradled in her right arm was a lump of mud—no, a dirt-covered baby. Its mouth and the area around its eyes were ringed with grime, still suckling, clearly full and exhausted from crying.
Cao Jie wanted to get up, but her left arm had no strength. After struggling for a long while, she finally managed to pull the baby off her breast. The skin there was bruised an alarming purple. She had just loosened her hold, intending to sit up, when a sudden ache tightened her chest and stung her eyes. Only after using the last of her strength to move the baby onto the nearby bed did that sour, aching feeling subside.
Fortunately, the child didn’t wake—
Before her eyes appeared a triangular light screen. As a newly graduated maternity nanny who had only worked for less than a day, she had no idea what was happening.
It felt like the house was spinning. Was the ground about to flip upside down? Could this be a cultivation world, where one ascends to heaven and lives forever? If so, she would absolutely work herself to the bone to succeed!
When she woke again, it was from hunger, from noise, and from the little mud baby pecking at her.
“Baby, be good, shhh…” Cao Jie instinctively held the child and fumbled for a bottle. Had she dozed off again? That wouldn’t do. She wasn’t some heartless nanny—she had resolved to dedicate thirty years to this job, pay off her social insurance, and retire early into a peaceful life.
Once she saved enough money, she planned to rent an orchard on a small mountain in her hometown and live like a low-profile Li Ziqi. She might not compare to others, but whether retreating in poverty or striving in success, her mindset could still match Li Ziqi’s—after all, everyone has one nose and two eyes.
But being a nanny meant staying up all night!
You only got paid after a month, and she needed that salary urgently to pay off her credit card!
Endure it then… but where was the bottle?
Cao Jie blinked in confusion. Where was this place?
She was lying inside a gray cloth canopy. Beneath her was a low, table-like bed covered with a straw mat that had rough splinters. When she picked up the muddy baby, a protruding splinter pierced her hand, making her hiss in pain. She shifted the crying baby around like a hot potato before instinctively offering her breast again. The baby quieted down.
After a long while, she finally pulled out the splinter with her teeth and regained her senses. Three ultimate questions surged into her mind—
Who was she? Where was she? What time was it?!
She had once fantasized about winning the grand lottery of transmigration—an opportunity to ride the wave of fate. She didn’t ask for much, just two million. Others could enjoy the benefits of transmigration, but—
“Oh my heavens, I didn’t ask for much! Even ten years earlier would’ve been enough—I don’t need a whole century!”
Her stomach burned even more from breastfeeding. In the midday sunlight, she finally saw the room clearly. It was about twenty square meters, with a wooden roof tiled above and rammed-earth walls.
Facing the door was a low table. On it sat a white, pot-bellied water jug that looked like a chamber pot, with a small spout and another little hole tied with hemp rope. Beside it was a white flat plate covering two bowls.
Cao Jie carefully set down the muddy little monkey and couldn’t help but kiss it. What a cute little thing. She quietly moved to the table. With one hand still inconvenient, the jug felt heavy and the cup unsteady. Annoyed, she tipped the jug and drank directly from the spout. It was plain boiled water—not milk tea—but it tasted sweet to her.
“Mother, I’ll pour you some water—”
“Bang! Glug, glug—” The jug fell off the table and rolled across the floor. Cao Jie trembled and let out a shrill scream, “Oh my—who—”
At her age, who hadn’t at least heard of horror stories like Sadako? No, she didn’t watch them—just hearing about them was enough. She didn’t like that kind of thrill, but at least she could still speak.
“Mother! I thought you were dead!” A child with double buns and big eyes rushed in from behind the door, carefully throwing himself into her arms, trembling all over and crying like a kitten.
The voice was hoarse and barely audible.
Well, there wouldn’t be much useful information from this one.
No—there was still some information. The body she had transmigrated into had two children, one about five years old and one no more than one year old. The body seemed injured, perhaps disabled. As for money, food, or other family members—she knew nothing.
What had happened?
Robbed by bandits? No—if it were bandits, she’d likely be dead. And the children would have suffered too.
Could it be…
A widow—
“Qiniang.”
A brown container tied with six ropes floated into the doorway. A domineering aroma of chicken filled the small room. On the table was also an oil-paper package.
The hemp ropes blossomed open like a flower, revealing three large sesame-covered flatbreads. Cao Jie swallowed and unceremoniously grabbed one, handing it to the child beside her, then took another and began eating. Her stomach had been burning with hunger.
She said nothing, and the man said nothing either. He simply watched them eat, then walked over to Cao Jie, suddenly grabbed her hand, and with a crack—her arm could move again. So she wasn’t disabled after all!
She picked up a chicken leg and gave it to the yellow-haired child, then continued eating in big bites, as if she had done this countless times before. Meat and soup warmed her body at last.
Soon, milk returned, and it no longer hurt to nurse.
Her natural cleverness kept her silent.
Lying on the ground, covered in dirt, injured, with neglected children—the more she thought about it, the more familiar it seemed. Not robbery—this was clearly domestic violence!
Damn it!
An abuser deserves no forgiveness. Once an abuser, always an abuser. Stay away from such men. Don’t talk to strangers—
Right, don’t talk. Don’t anger him. Was she in some remote mountain region?
No, trafficked victims wouldn’t be in such a quiet place.
More likely somewhere suited for singing mountain songs. And this table, this bed, this doorway god, this hairstyle—this was more likely transmigration.
Silence. If not erupting in silence, then remaining silent within it.
The man ultimately said nothing. After finishing the last flatbread and gnawing the leftover bones Cao Jie had discarded, he took out a porcelain bottle and applied medicine to her wounds. The guilt on his face was palpable—like a wax mask, unpleasant and clearly insincere.
This was not the first time.
His acting was poor.
Silence spread through the room like ink bleeding across cheap paper.
First the child, then the man—this unusual silence disrupted everyone’s expectations, leaving the man’s actions feeling like punching cotton.
As if following a script, he obediently left again. Before leaving, he fetched another pot of water, bathed the little muddy baby in a basin, poured out the dirty water in the yard, brought in fresh water, hung the door curtain, and went out.
Cao Jie sat at the bedside, holding the baby girl who was sucking her fingers. From the corner of her eye, she saw the man leave, then let her gaze wander freely. Through the open window, she could see two trees in the yard—one with rows of tender green leaves she didn’t recognize, and the other a sweet osmanthus tree.
The osmanthus tree was old. Beneath it was a wooden cage, empty. To the left of a half-man-high wooden gate was a doghouse, where a large yellow dog was tied with hemp rope.
It barked at a black tabby cat on the wall. The cat crouched there licking its paw, clearly well-fed and mocking the dog.
“Bang!” Cao Jie casually threw a leather shoe at it.
“Mother, what’s wrong?”
The cat didn’t move, but the child feeding the dog was startled and quickly ran back into Cao Jie’s arms. She awkwardly touched her nose, kissed the child’s forehead, and smoothed his hair. “I saw that cat carrying something shiny and thought it stole from us, but it was just a mouse tail. My hand hurts—go check if anything’s missing.”
For some reason, she felt the child would know. If it were her own child, living with an abuser, they would definitely know where the money was hidden.
“Okay.” The child was clever. He checked a hidden compartment under the bed, then the cracks behind a bronze mirror, and finally a small wooden box.
Inside were a few copper coins, a small piece of silver, and a pair of brass bracelets. Truly poor—just like her.
“Nothing’s missing!” The child looked up, smiling proudly.
Cao Jie ruffled his hair—it felt nice. “Good. Go chase the cat away. I’ll wash up. Don’t leave the yard.”
She bathed as quickly as possible and opened the window to let sunlight fill the room.
With a hairstyle resembling a mourning look, she walked to the table by the window and sat for a long time before finally looking into the bronze mirror.
Her eyes were swollen like purple grapes. Heaven—this ugly face looked like her own plain features had been beaten and puffed up!
Still, it was better than facing a stranger’s face like seeing a ghost. That must be the reason for her transmigration.
Who would’ve thought—even an ordinary-looking woman could transmigrate? Then again, even top beauties nowadays were considered average—it wasn’t so strange.
But she wasn’t born into privilege. Looking at the bruised finger marks on her neck, she deeply understood—her story began in absolute disaster.
This wasn’t just injury transmigration—it was death transmigration!
Heavens above, if transmigration was real, where was her cheat ability?
Just as her head throbbed, a mechanical voice came from above:
“Welcome to the Red Chamber Neural System. Data generation in progress. Please wait—”
“Thank heavens!” Cao Jie let out a long breath of relief.