Chapter 2: Ability

"Hey, don't run!"

In a small courtyard enclosed by a simple wooden fence, Xiao Yan was trotting along on her short legs, chasing after a butterfly.

Lu Qing sat on a stone stool, holding a plant with small red flowers, observing it.

At this moment, within his field of vision, the plant with the small red flowers was emitting a faint white light, and two lines of text appeared above it.

【Ox-Bone Grass: Average quality, can be used medicinally.】

【Seems to have significant efficacy for bone injuries; might be useful when injured.】

After spending some time, Lu Qing had barely managed to figure out what was going on with the text before his eyes.

Simply put, perhaps due to his transmigration, he possessed a supernatural ability.

Currently, the main manifestation of this ability was that as long as he focused his gaze on an object for a certain amount of time, a layer of light and a simple text description would appear on it.

Moreover, the longer he stared, the more information he would obtain. However, this information was not infinite; it seemed to follow a certain standard.

Lu Qing tentatively guessed that this standard was related to the light emanating from the object.

For objects with a gray light, no matter how long he looked, there was only one line of description.

For objects with a white light, there were two or more lines of description.

And this Ox-Bone Grass in Lu Qing's hand was the only plant he had found around the small courtyard that emitted a white light.

What is this, a game interface?

Lu Qing recalled some exploration games he had occasionally played in his past life.

After thinking for a moment, he waved his hand: "Xiao Yan, come here for a second."

"Brother, what is it?"

The little one ran over, bouncing happily.

"Brother wants to take a look at you."

Lu Qing helped the little one remove some dead grass stuck to her hair and fixed his gaze on her face.

After a while, a faint white light appeared on Xiao Yan, and a line of text emerged above her.

【Lu Xiao Yan: A human cub, female.】

What kind of lousy description is this!

A few black lines appeared on Lu Qing's head.

However, he continued to watch.

After another moment, another line of text appeared.

【A pitiful human cub; she seems to be a bit malnourished.】

Lu Qing paused. He looked at the yellowish, withered hair on the little one's head and fell silent.

"Brother, are you done looking?"

Xiao Yan tilted her head, asking with an innocent expression.

"Mm, done. When Xiao Yan grows up, you will definitely be a great beauty."

Lu Qing rubbed the little one's hair, feeling a sense of pity.

Xiao Yan tilted her head: "What is a great beauty?"

"Haha, you'll know when you grow up."

Hearing the little one's childish words, Lu Qing's mood improved quite a bit.

No matter what the future held, the most important thing right now was to take good care of this little one who was his only companion.

This could be considered the greatest lingering obsession left behind by the original owner before he died.

And if he wanted to live well in this strange world, he would have to rely on this inexplicable ability of his.

Thinking of this, Lu Qing picked up the Ox-Bone Grass and held it in front of Xiao Yan.

"Xiao Yan, do you know what this grass is, or what it's used for?"

Xiao Yan looked at the plant with the small red flowers, frowned, and thought hard for a moment, then shook her head.

"I don't know, but Grandpa Zhang's big cow seems to really like eating this kind of grass."

Seeing that Xiao Yan didn't know, Lu Qing couldn't help but laugh at himself; he had been muddled.

Even the original owner's memories contained no information about Ox-Bone Grass; he had actually expected a child of only a few years old to know.

However, Xiao Yan's next sentence made him pause.

"Brother, if you want to know what kind of grass this is, you can go ask Grandpa Chen. Grandpa Chen loves these flowers and plants the most, and he also likes to boil those flowers and plants into bitter water for us to drink."

Speaking of this, Xiao Yan didn't know what she thought of, but her whole face scrunched up.

Grandpa Chen?

Lu Qing searched his memories, and soon, the image of a kind-faced, thin old man appeared in his mind.

Oh, it was that old doctor respected by the villagers.

A doctor?

Lu Qing's heart stirred.

According to the text description, the Ox-Bone Grass was undoubtedly a medicinal herb. He wondered if Old Doctor Chen knew how to use it.

"Xiao Yan, when Brother was sick, did Grandpa Chen come over?"

"He did! Brother was sleeping the whole time back then. No matter how much Xiao Yan called you, you wouldn't wake up. I was scared and kept crying. Later, Grandpa Chen came, looked at Brother, and said you were sick—something about a cold. He boiled bitter medicine for Brother, and after you drank it, you woke up a day later."

Xiao Yan exclaimed suddenly: "Grandpa Chen is so amazing! Brother only drank one bowl of bitter water and got better!"

Lu Qing was silent.

Only he knew that the medicine Old Doctor Chen prescribed had not saved the original boy's life.

However, he now remembered that when his consciousness was unclear, he had indeed vaguely felt someone pouring something down his throat, giving his cold body a trace of warmth to protect his heart, helping him survive that difficult period of consciousness fusion.

Otherwise, with his frail body, it was uncertain whether he would have been able to wake up at all.

In that case, this Old Doctor Chen truly had real skills and was a benefactor to him.

Just as Lu Qing was pondering, he felt a gaze. He looked down and saw Xiao Yan looking at him.

"What's wrong, Xiao Yan?"

"Brother, Xiao Yan is hungry."

Lu Qing also felt hungry.

He hadn't been full to begin with, and the half-bun he had eaten earlier had long since been digested.

However, he had checked earlier; there was absolutely no food left in the house.

The rice jar was so clean that even mice wouldn't bother visiting. If it weren't for the help from Grandpa Zhang next door, Xiao Yan would likely have starved during the two days he was unconscious.

Thinking of this, Lu Qing remembered that he should thank Grandpa Zhang and Old Doctor Chen. Without their care, the two siblings might not have survived.

But the family was truly too poor now; the house was bare, and he couldn't even scrape together a small gift of gratitude.

He had to find a way to fill their stomachs first; he would deal with the thanks later.

But where could he get food?

Most of the family's fields had been sold by the original owner to bury his parents.

The little that remained had been neglected and yielded almost nothing.

So, trying to dig for food in the fields was hopeless for the time being.

Distant water cannot quench a near fire; even if he planted something now, it would be too late. They would starve to death before the crops grew.

After thinking for a while, Lu Qing walked into the room where the original owner's parents had lived, rummaged around for a while, and finally found an iron needle and some hemp thread in a small box.

The iron needle was much thicker than the embroidery needles of his past life and looked quite sturdy.

Lu Qing took the iron needle, heated it over a fire a few times, used wooden chopsticks to bend it into a hook shape, and then took several strands of hemp thread, carefully twisting them into a slightly thicker, sturdy cord, before tying the iron hook tightly.

Next, he cut a piece of resilient bamboo from the bamboo grove behind the house and tied the other end of the hemp thread to it.

Finally, he tied a piece of dead wood onto the hemp thread just above the iron hook to act as a float.

A simple fishing rod was thus created by Lu Qing.

(End of chapter)