"The modern world really was better…"
Inside the dilapidated thatched hut, the seventeen-year-old Qin An lay wrapped only in a worn, coarse hemp trouser, his bony, skin-and-bones body curled up on the thin bed board as he let out a long sigh.
He had just had a long dream, in which he lived the brief life of a modern-day beast of burden.
Those memories of modern society were branded into his mind like a scar.
Whether it was transmigration or just a pipe dream, Qin An had no heart to sort it all out.
He only knew that the prosperity of modern society had made him feel as though he had glimpsed the immortal realm.
All because the world he now found himself in was a chaotic age where even wanting to be a beast of burden might not get you a way in, and human life was as cheap as grass.
While he was still savoring the beauty of the dream, an urging voice came from outside the door.
"Xiao An, are you up yet? Don't forget today's the day they hand out wives. If you dawdle any longer, all the good ones will be picked by others."
Before the words had even faded, a delicate youth whose features were so well-proportioned he faintly resembled a girl walked straight in.
This person was named Chen Han, and he was a fellow townsman of Qin An.
The words "hand out wives" struck like a thunderclap, instantly jolting Qin An awake from his sweet dream.
Because the Daxing Court had suffered two great defeats in its Eastern Campaigns, it urgently needed to conscript migrants to fill the frontier, to open wasteland and guard the border, and the terms it offered were actually fairly generous.
Qin An, who truly could no longer survive back in his hometown, thus became one of the migrants and came to Baishan Tun, a mountain village attached to this small border town.
"Handing out wives" was one of the benefits for migrants.
Years of continuous warfare had sharply reduced the male population, so the Imperial Court, to encourage childbirth, forcibly paired migrant men with local unmarried women and widowed women.
As for a wife, Qin An held not the slightest expectation.
In his current circumstances, he could barely keep himself fed—how could he have the mind to ponder anything else?
Chen Han, however, did not think so, and kept urging him: "Get up already! If you can get assigned one with property, life will be easier from now on!"
He reached out to pull Qin An, his tone full of excitement.
Qin An said no more, and rose along with the pull, bare-chested and about to head out with him.
It wasn't that he didn't want to wear clothes—he truly had none.
Looking at Qin An, who stood more than a head taller than himself, Chen Han sighed with feeling: "You, you're just too skinny. Otherwise, with that height, you'd be a hot commodity."
Unlike Chen Han's delicacy, Qin An was naturally big-boned, a proper born hero in the making, but unfortunately he was so thin he was unrecognizable.
"Right now I just want to eat my fill," Qin An said in a muffled voice.
Chen Han knew he was a taciturn sort and didn't try to persuade him further, just pulled him along toward the village drill ground.
When they arrived, quite a few people had already gathered on the drill ground, men and women split into two piles.
All the men and women of marriageable age in Baishan Tun had been dragged here.
Most of the men, like Qin An, were migrants who had moved in from the interior.
The women, on the other hand, were mostly local women who still had the ability to bear children, along with a small number of young girls of marriageable age.
As for the local able-bodied young men, they had long since been used up in the two Eastern Campaigns.
This was an almost fatal blow to Baishan Tun, which was why this method of forced pairing had come about.
"Xiao An, don't be stubborn later. It's fine if she's a bit older. If you can get assigned one with property, you'll have the capital to settle down and make a living," Chen Han lowered his voice and warned.
He knew this fellow townsman's temper all too well—stubborn to a fault, and utterly ignorant of the ways of the world.
On the way here he had already caused no small amount of trouble, offending quite a few people, even directly clashing with the escorting yamen runners, and suffering no small amount for it.
"We'll see," Qin An said, still wearing that same sullen-mute look.
As the two talked, the crowd gradually filled in.
The two piles of people sized each other up, their gazes carrying the scrutiny of one picking over goods.
Qin An noticed at a glance that among the pile of women there was one special presence.
Though the woman was dressed in rags and her face bore the marks of hardship, her bearing stood out incongruously among the crowd, giving off a sense of a crane standing among chickens.
The other women, intentionally or not, ostracized her, and what drew the eye even more was that she was holding the hands of a pair of eight- or nine-year-old twin girls.
"Stop looking, she won't do," Chen Han noticed his gaze and gave him a light nudge. "Anyone with eyes can tell—she's surely the family of an official who was convicted and exiled here. She has no property at all, and she's dragging along two burdens. You can't afford to keep them."
It wasn't just the two of them who had noticed that woman; quite a bit of discussion about her also rose from the crowd.
"Tsk tsk, she bore twins, so she's certainly good at childbearing, but just look at her—she's clearly never lifted a finger to do housework. How would she know how to work?"
"She looks like she's not young anymore, right? Probably past childbearing age. Are we supposed to take her home and enshrine her as an old lady?"
"If it were just her alone, that'd be one thing—getting a taste of a noble lady wouldn't be bad. But she's dragging along two burdens. Can't afford her, can't afford her…"
"…"
That woman was indeed eye-catching; the gazes of all the men were drawn to her, and many hearts were stirred.
But the cruel reality made every man shake his head.
Stripped bare by countless gazes and listening to those blunt remarks, the woman's face went white as paper, and her head nearly buried itself in her full bosom.
Her body trembling slightly, she subconsciously held her two daughters even tighter.
"Everyone quiet!" Amid the crowd's clamor, the Village Head of Baishan Tun came over with a yamen runner. "Everyone's here, so we'll go straight to drawing lots for pairing! Whoever you draw is whoever you get, and no one is allowed to argue!"
Chen Han caught sight of the yamen runner behind the Village Head, and his expression changed drastically, his lips turning white, his voice trembling: "This is bad, it's Zhao Erhu… now we're in trouble."
Qin An's expression also darkened.
This Zhao Erhu was one of the yamen runners who had escorted them here back then, and the two had clashed before.
Zhao Erhu's gaze first fell on the delicate Chen Han, and he revealed a meaningful smile.
But when he saw Qin An beside Chen Han, it was as if he recalled some unpleasantness, and his eyes instantly turned sinister.
This little interlude did not affect the main business.
The Village Head took out two wooden boxes and announced loudly: "Each person come up and draw a stone. There's a number on it. If the numbers match, the pair is made!"
Under his arrangement, the men and women came up one after another to draw lots.
Soon it was Chen Han's and Qin An's turn.
Chen Han was ahead in line, and reached into the jar to pull out a stone, on which were written the two characters "Jiazi."
The moment this number came out, a huge commotion immediately arose among the pile of women.
Right after, a "hero" with a tiger's back and a bear's waist charged straight over like a war chariot.
Looking at the big block of a person whose arm was thicker than his own thigh, Chen Han swallowed hard and felt a bad premonition rise in his heart.
"So you're my man, you bastard?" The woman flashed the stone in her hand, which also bore the words "Jiazi," and swept her eyes over Chen Han from top to bottom. "Your looks are decent enough, just a bit frail. No matter—my family has money. Feed you up and you'll get sturdy!"
With that, she tucked Chen Han under her arm in one motion, and the force nearly suffocated him.
Chen Han, who had originally wanted to struggle, heard the four words "my family has money" and instantly went limp all over, letting her carry him off.
Zhao Erhu watched Chen Han being taken away, and let out a reluctant sigh, his eyes full of disappointment.
Even a "hero" like that, he couldn't afford to provoke.
Qin An watched his fellow townsman being forcibly dragged away, unsure whether to feel glad for him that he had gotten his wish, or to worry on his behalf.
Before he could think it over, the Village Head was already urging him to come up and draw lots.
But just as Qin An's hand was about to reach into the wooden box, Zhao Erhu suddenly seized his wrist in a grip!