“It seems I really have transmigrated.”
Sitting on a broken wooden bed, Qiu Huang remained silent for a long time before reluctantly accepting reality.
He had originally been a person from modern society. After a car accident, he somehow ended up in this place.
This was a remote mountain village in the Tianfeng Kingdom. The kingdom was currently in turmoil, plagued by constant wars. People’s livelihoods had collapsed, starvation was widespread, corpses littered the land, and most homes stood empty. The original owner of this body had died from extreme hunger and severe malnutrition.
[Ding! System installation in progress: 1%, 2%, 3%…]
A system?
Hearing the sudden notification in his mind, Qiu Huang remained surprisingly calm.
“As expected, transmigrators all come with systems.”
Before arriving in this world, he had been a veteran web novel reader, spending years immersed in online fiction. Based on the countless novels he had read, transmigrators possessing systems was practically an undeniable fact.
[Ding! System installation complete. Scanning host information.]
A system interface immediately appeared before Qiu Huang’s eyes.
Host: Qiu Huang
Race: Human
Combat Power: So weak it can almost be ignored.
Basic Skills: None
Spouse: None
Evaluation: A kidney-deficient man, destined to drift through life doing nothing.
Kidney-deficient man???
Seeing the system’s evaluation, Qiu Huang felt terrible.
Although it was often joked that eight out of ten men suffered from kidney deficiency, it was a completely different matter when the label was attached to him personally. Anyone would be upset. After all, no man would willingly admit he was incapable.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
A loud pounding came from outside.
The force was so strong that the wooden door shook violently, like a piece of driftwood floating in a storm.
“Coming.”
Qiu Huang got off the bed and opened the door.
Standing outside was a woman in coarse linen clothes, around twenty-four or twenty-five years old. She had broad hips, a full chest, and thick calluses covering both hands—the very image of a rural woman.
According to the memories of the original owner, her name was Miao Cuihua, a widow who lived across the road. Her husband had died on the battlefield three years ago, leaving her alone. In this mountain village, widows like her were far from uncommon.
“Qiu Huang, what were you doing? I’ve been knocking forever, and you didn’t respond.”
Seeing him finally appear, Miao Cuihua let out a sigh of relief.
She had knocked for so long without hearing any response that she had begun to think something had happened to him. If he had remained silent any longer, she was prepared to break down the door.
Respond?
The original owner was already dead—starved to death. How could he respond?
“I fell asleep and didn’t hear you.”
Qiu Huang casually made up an excuse.
“You, honestly. Of all times to sleep, you chose now. You almost missed something important, you know?”
“What important matter?”
Miao Cuihua replied, “The government is distributing women today. Every man over eighteen is required to take at least one woman. Otherwise, his taxes will be increased.”
The Tianfeng Kingdom had been at war for many years. Most of its men had died in battle, resulting in a severe imbalance between women and men.
To increase the population, the government transported groups of young women from various regions every year and assigned them to unmarried adult men. As long as a man could support them, he could take as many as he wanted.
“Distributing women? Where?”
Qiu Huang wasn’t surprised at all.
After all, he had seen countless similar plots in the web novels he used to read.
“At the village entrance. The officials have already been waiting for a long time. Hurry up and go. If you upset them, you’ll be the one who suffers.”
“Alright, I’ll go right away.”
Without even bothering to close the door, Qiu Huang headed straight toward the village entrance.
His home was practically empty anyway. There was nothing worth stealing.
At the village entrance, several government officers sat on benches, visibly growing impatient.
“Why hasn’t this guy named Qiu Huang shown up yet? I still need to get home and spend time with my concubine.”
The village chief, Zeng Youde, stood nearby with a bowed posture.
“Sir, please wait a little longer. I’ve already sent Miao Cuihua to urge him.”
At this point, every other unmarried adult man in the village had already taken a woman home to start producing children.
Only Qiu Huang remained.
If he continued to keep the officials waiting and angered them, things would become difficult.
The officers said nothing more and simply continued examining the women standing before them.
These women were the ones they had brought for marriage assignments.
After everyone else’s selections, ten unwanted women remained.
“Qiu Huang is here!”
Someone suddenly shouted.
Everyone turned to look and saw a thin young man approaching.
“Thank heavens, he’s finally here.”
Seeing Qiu Huang arrive, Zeng Youde finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Under everyone’s gaze, Qiu Huang walked forward.
At first glance, he noticed the young women standing nearby.
“These must be the women the government is distributing. They’re actually quite attractive.”
Qiu Huang carefully examined them.
Each woman was petite and delicate. Their faces were pale and yellowish, and they were obviously malnourished. However, judging from their facial features and bone structure, they were all naturally attractive.
Compared to the so-called internet beauties from his previous world, they were far more beautiful.
If they were in modern society, marrying one of them would probably require a bride price worth hundreds of thousands.
The reason they looked thin and unhealthy was simple: hunger.
This era favored men over women. Daughters were often viewed as burdens. Most families were unwilling to provide them with proper food. The fact that these girls had survived to adulthood was already remarkable.
While Qiu Huang was observing them, they were also observing him.
Their eyes lit up.
Compared to the men who had come before, Qiu Huang was actually a decent choice.
At least he appeared physically healthy.
He still had all his limbs.
Many of the previous men had been missing arms or legs, while others were old men older than their own parents.
At that moment, one of the women could no longer hold back.
She hurried forward and said:
“Sir, please choose me. I eat very little, I can work, and I’m good at bearing children.”
Once someone took the lead, the others quickly followed.
“Sir, please take me. I know how to weave cloth.”
“Sir, I have wide hips and can give birth to many children.”
“Sir!”
“Sir!”
…
All the other men in the village had already left.
Qiu Huang was their last hope.
If he refused to take them, they would be sent to brothels.
At that point, their fate would become even more miserable.
Looking at the beautiful young women surrounding him, Qiu Huang thought to himself:
Adults don’t make choices.
I want all of them.
Just as he was about to speak, one of the officials suddenly said:
“Stop choosing. They’re all yours. Come over here and put down your handprint.”
“What?”
Hearing this, Zeng Youde’s eyes widened.
The officials didn’t know Qiu Huang’s situation, but he certainly did.
Qiu Huang’s home was completely empty.
He owned no farmland whatsoever.
Supporting himself was already difficult enough.
Adding one extra person would be a burden, let alone ten.
However, the officials gave him no chance to object.
They had already begun packing their belongings, preparing to leave.
As far as they were concerned, their task was simply to distribute all the women they had brought.
Whether the recipients could actually support them afterward was none of their concern.