Zhou Lang frowned. “Transmigrating into a book? The Kingdom of Dayu?”
Lin Shiqi saw how calm he was. “You know about transmigrating too?”
Zhou Lang gave her a look as if she were an idiot. With transmigration and rebirth short dramas everywhere, how could he not have seen them?
“Tell me about the contents of the book…”
Lin Shiqi said, “The situation is bad. It felt satisfying when I was reading it, but thinking about it now, it’s all a trap…”
She blurted out everything she knew.
This was the Kingdom of Dayu, a fictional dynasty in history. The nation was weak, the people lived in misery, and to make matters worse, they were in a year of famine, with people starving to death everywhere.
The book began in Taohua Village, starting with the Zhou family.
The Zhou family was considered a relatively wealthy and respectable household among the villagers. They had many sons and a large population, and the family had not yet split. Dayu emphasized filial piety—as long as the parents were alive, the family remained together. The current heads of the Zhou family were naturally Old Man Zhou and Granny Zhou.
Old Man Zhou was a traditional man who believed that the man should handle external affairs while the woman handled the internal ones. Thus, all matters within the household were managed by Granny Zhou. Granny Zhou was Old Man Zhou’s second wife. His first wife had left behind a son and a daughter: Zhou Eldest and Eldest Aunt Zhou.
Later, Granny Zhou gave birth to Zhou Second, Zhou Third, Zhou Lao Si, Zhou Fifth, and Youngest Aunt Zhou.
The male lead of the book, Zhou Qinan, was the eldest son of Zhou Eldest and his wife. Within the Zhou family, everyone called him Da Lang.
The book stated that because Zhou Eldest was not Granny Zhou’s biological son, she constantly made life difficult for him. Zhou Eldest’s branch of the family lived a particularly miserable life in the Zhou household. The rest of the Zhou family sided with Granny Zhou and looked down on Zhou Eldest’s family…
The male lead, Zhou Qinan, eventually schemed to split from the Zhou family, leading to the rest of the family members being separated, their homes destroyed, and their lives lost. In the end, Granny Zhou did not meet a good end either…
“We are the fourth branch, the one destined for ruin. You, this ‘foolish fourth uncle,’ were an eyesore to the male lead. He brought in a fake miracle doctor from outside who treated you to death, and then he sold me—your child bride and fourth aunt!”
Lin Shiqi finished her explanation.
Both she and Zhou Lang fell silent.
What kind of disastrous start was this?!
They had actually transmigrated into a male-oriented power fantasy novel?
In those novels, the protagonists were ruthless and vengeful, comparable to great demons.
Finally, Zhou Lang spoke up. “We’ll take it one step at a time. No matter how formidable he becomes, right now he’s just a kid—a twelve-year-old scholar. It’s not decided yet who will win.”
“Good, you’re quite good at comforting people.”
Both had died once already. Now that they could be reborn, no matter how difficult the situation, the most important thing was to stay alive.
The desire to survive allowed the two to temporarily set aside their past grievances.
They would face this crisis together.
Once the historical background was clear, Zhou Lang couldn’t hold back anymore. “Bring it here. This young master is eating first!”
Back to reality.
The reality was that he was starving.
“Scram! Dream on! I’ll eat my fill before you get any.” Lin Shiqi’s throat was dry from talking, and she hadn’t managed to eat yet.
The food was already cold.
She started devouring the meal.
In both her past and present life, Lin Shiqi was never afraid of Zhou Lang.
Zhou Lang hadn’t had a full meal for days, eating only her leftover scraps. He had been unhappy for a long time.
“Are you going to give it to me or not?”
“No! If you have the guts, go ahead and cry. Go complain to your cheap mother…” Lin Shiqi provoked him.
The two had never gotten along.
They bickered whenever they met—this was a habit that probably wouldn’t change. It was ingrained in their bones.
Zhou Lang was a CEO; words like “crying” or “complaining” weren’t in his dictionary. His eyelid twitched just hearing them.
He got straight out of bed and moved to snatch the rice bowl from Lin Shiqi’s hands.
Lin Shiqi protected it fiercely! She wouldn’t let him have his way, and the two began to fight over a bowl of coarse grains.
Just then, an object suddenly fell from each of them.
With two crisp clangs, the two stopped fighting.
Looking closely, it was a pair of ancient-looking Tongxin Locks.
These were the wedding gifts Zhou Lang’s grandfather had given them when they married on their elders’ orders.
The Tongxin Locks were made of stone. Each of them had one half, which could be joined together to form a whole.
They looked ordinary, even chipped and broken.
At the time, Lin Shiqi thought Grandpa Zhou had given them some valuable antique. She had even taken her half of the Tongxin Lock to an expert for appraisal…
The conclusion was that it was just a Tongxin Lock carved from an ordinary stone.
She hadn’t taken it to heart.
However, the old man had repeatedly instructed them to wear the stone locks, saying they were Zhou family heirlooms, a blessing for the newlyweds, and so on.
The two had no choice but to keep wearing them to save face for the old man.
…
The two stopped their fight for the food.
Lin Shiqi asked Zhou Lang, “Did the half of the Tongxin Lock you had transmigrate with you too?”
Zhou Lang nodded.
A flash of inspiration hit Lin Shiqi. “Me too! Could it be these two Tongxin Locks that brought our souls here when we were in trouble? Your grandfather said they were Zhou family heirlooms; there must be something extraordinary about them.”
Zhou Lang had already suspected there must have been a catalyst.
He hadn’t expected it to be the Tongxin Locks Grandpa had given them.
They each picked up their respective locks and studied them closely.
“Let’s try putting them together,” Zhou Lang suggested.
“Okay,” Lin Shiqi agreed.
Previously, since they didn’t get along, they had each taken their half after Grandpa gave them the locks, having no desire to interact.
Now, Lin Shiqi had a premonition. Since these two Tongxin Locks had transmigrated with them, they might actually be a huge help.
After all, their current situation left them feeling very uneasy.
They joined the Tongxin Locks together.
They fit perfectly, though there was a large empty gap in the middle. It was as if they were joined, yet not fully.
“Home… I want to go home. Let us go home!”
Lin Shiqi instinctively muttered under her breath.
Suddenly,
Their vision blurred, and they both appeared in a different scene.
Lin Shiqi looked around and cried out in surprise, “No way! I’m really back? Hahahaha…”
She couldn’t hold back her laughter.
This was her home, her house!
She wasn’t as rich as Zhou Lang’s family, but she had bought this house herself!
She was a capable person who had made food videos for years and earned enough money to buy this penthouse.
Three bedrooms, two living rooms, and an additional two-hundred-square-meter terrace.
She had bought the penthouse specifically for that terrace.
Living on the top floor was quiet, outsiders couldn’t come up, and the view was great. With the large terrace, she had planted many flowers, plants, fruits, and vegetables.
These were all excellent materials for making her food videos.
As soon as Zhou Lang entered the room, he looked around.
He said disdainfully, “This is your home? Is this a pigsty?”
Clothes and miscellaneous items were piled everywhere on the sofa. On the balcony outside, there were all sorts of strange farm tools—hoes, watering cans, small shovels…
This was the first time he had ever been to Lin Shiqi’s home.
After they married, they lived separate lives. Zhou Lang always sent his secretary to contact Lin Shiqi. He didn’t know her phone number, nor did he know where she lived.
He simply didn’t care.