Chapter 1: Reborn and Awakening

"Gurgle..."

Early in the morning, Lu Qing woke up to the sound of his stomach growling.

Feeling the hunger in his gut, he sighed and rubbed his belly.

"It’s no use crying out; where am I supposed to get food right now?"

Looking around at the dilapidated house that could truly be described as having nothing but four bare walls, Lu Qing gave a bitter smile.

Others transmigrate and get everything, yet he couldn't even fill his own stomach. What kind of situation was this?

He had been lying in bed for two days.

Two days ago, when Lu Qing opened his eyes, he discovered he had arrived in this strange world.

His clothes were rags, his body was skin and bones, and even his physical form had changed into that of a teenager in his early teens.

After spending some time, Lu Qing figured out his situation.

He had transmigrated.

He was reborn into the body of a boy whose parents had just passed away. After selling off the family property to bury them, the boy had been unable to survive a cold night due to physical weakness and overwhelming grief.

Perhaps, for the original owner, this was actually a form of release.

After receiving the memories in his mind, this was Lu Qing's first thought.

For a teenager, surviving in this world was too difficult.

Death was not necessarily a bad thing.

It was just that...

"Brother, you're awake!"

Lu Qing's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by a joyful shout.

He turned his head to see a little girl of five or six years old standing at the door, holding a grey object in her hands, looking at him with a face full of surprise.

The little girl scurried over to Lu Qing's side. "Brother, is your sickness gone?"

"Mm, it's gone. Xiao Yan doesn't need to worry anymore," Lu Qing smiled.

"That's great, Brother, you're finally better." Hearing that Lu Qing was fine, the little girl's eyes immediately turned red, and tears began to fall. "For the past two days, your face was so red and hot, and you kept saying you were cold. I didn't know what to do. No matter how much I called you, you wouldn't respond. I thought you were going to be like Father and Mother and leave Xiao Yan all alone!"

Seeing the little girl crying, Lu Qing felt a pang of heartache.

For the past two days, he had been busy integrating the memories in his mind. His body had been in a comatose state; although he could barely perceive the movements outside, his consciousness could not remain clear.

Apart from waking up briefly a few times, he had quickly fallen back into a coma.

Vaguely, he had heard the little girl's crying, but he had been unable to respond.

Lu Qing reached out and ruffled the little girl's dry, yellow hair. "It's Brother's fault. Brother promises you, I won't get sick again and make Xiao Yan worry, okay?"

"Okay." Xiao Yan wiped her tears and smiled, holding out her small hand. "Then let's pinky swear."

Lu Qing extended his pinky and hooked it with Xiao Yan's.

"Pinky swear, a hundred years no changing, whoever changes is a little puppy!"

After the pinky swear, Xiao Yan became happy immediately.

In her little mind, since they had pinky sworn, things wouldn't change anymore, and Brother would never get sick again.

"Xiao Yan, what are you holding in your hand?"

At this moment, Lu Qing noticed what the little girl was holding.

"It's a mantou, Brother, don't you recognize it?" Xiao Yan held the grey object with both hands, offering it to Lu Qing, and said happily, "Grandpa Zhang next door gave it to me. I couldn't bear to eat it alone, so I wanted to bring it back to share with you. I didn't expect that as soon as I got back, I'd see that Brother was better."

"A mantou?"

Lu Qing looked at the grey, dull object; it was quite different from the mantou he remembered.

However, thinking that he was in another world, he felt relieved.

Since the world itself was different, it was no surprise that a mantou looked different.

As he thought this, Lu Qing's gaze lingered on the grey mantou for a few seconds, and suddenly, a line of text appeared.

【Mixed-grain mantou: Made from a mixture of rice bran, wheat flour, and wild vegetables; nutritional value is limited.】

At the same time, the mantou emitted a faint grey light.

What was this?

Lu Qing was stunned. He blinked, discovering that the text was still floating above the grey mantou and had not disappeared.

It didn't seem to be a hallucination...

Before Lu Qing could investigate further, Xiao Yan held the grey mantou and brought it to his lips.

"Brother, eat it. Your sickness just got better. Grandpa Chen said that after a sick person recovers, they need to eat to nourish their body."

Lu Qing smelled the scent of grain emanating from the grey mantou. Having been starving, the hunger swept over him once again.

He didn't stand on ceremony. After taking it, he tore off half and placed it back into Xiao Yan's hand.

"Mm, Xiao Yan should eat too."

He hadn't forgotten that the little one had said someone gave it to her, and she wanted to share it with him.

Unexpectedly, the little one shook her head and stuffed the half-mantou back into Lu Qing's hand. "Brother eat. Xiao Yan isn't hungry. Brother just got better, you need to eat more so your body can recover quickly."

Although she said that, Lu Qing clearly saw the little one swallow her saliva involuntarily as she handed the mantou back.

He looked at the dry, yellow hair on the little one's head, felt a wave of pity in his heart, and placed the half-mantou back into her hand again.

"Brother's sickness just got better, I can't eat too much at once, or my stomach won't be able to handle it. So Xiao Yan should eat this half."

"Is that so?" The little one held the half-mantou, tilting her head as she asked, "But this doesn't seem like what Grandpa Chen said."

"People who have just recovered from a serious illness shouldn't overeat. If you don't believe me, ask Grandpa Chen next time and see if that's the case," Lu Qing said.

"Okay." The little one nodded, half-understanding.

She didn't realize that a mere mixed-grain mantou had absolutely nothing to do with overeating.

Lu Qing took the opportunity to continue the ruse. "Since Brother can't finish it, Xiao Yan should eat with Brother. Otherwise, the mantou will get cold and won't taste good."

"Mm!" Xiao Yan nodded heavily. "Since Brother can't finish it, Xiao Yan will help Brother eat it."

The two siblings sat there, each holding half a mantou, happily nibbling away.

Soon, Lu Qing finished his half. His empty stomach finally had something in it, and a trace of warmth rose from his belly, making him feel much more energetic.

In all honesty, the taste of the mantou wasn't great, but it was solid and quite large.

So, even though it was only half, it reduced Lu Qing's hunger, and he no longer felt as dizzy or weak as he had before.

Seeing Xiao Yan still working hard on her mantou, Lu Qing didn't disturb her and began to focus on something else.

He remembered the line of text that had appeared on the mantou earlier.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Qing stood up, walked to the table, and picked up a chipped bowl.

He placed it in front of him and watched it quietly.

Then, after a few seconds, he saw a layer of grey light emerge on the bowl, and a line of text appeared.

【Broken ceramic bowl: A broken ceramic bowl; it doesn't look very clean.】

Just as expected. A smile appeared on Lu Qing's face.