Chapter 1: 1.第1章 夜半时分

Chapter 1: At Midnight

[Special Note: The female lead has no romantic interest/CP in this story!]

Lying on the jarring grass, Li Shiyue had been dozing off fitfully until a piercing female voice jolted her awake—a scream that also woke many of the villagers from Li Family Village nearby.

The hundred or so members of Li Family Village had been fleeing famine on the road for over half a month. It was only at dusk today that they finally found this shallow stream with a bit of a foundation, allowing everyone to settle down by the water.

Never mind the people; even the donkeys and mules pulling the carts were exhausted. After drinking their fill of water, everyone had gathered in small groups by their households and fallen asleep once darkness fell.

Li Shiyue had bad luck. The moment she closed her eyes after dying from overwork on Earth, she opened them to find her entire extended family driving their donkey carts behind fellow villagers on a famine-relief migration route.

Starting a new life in the middle of a famine migration—talk about a rough start.

At this moment, Li Shiyue propped herself up, pressing her hand against her still-dizzy forehead. She rubbed her numb eyelids repeatedly and took two deep breaths, exhaling the stale air from her lungs until she felt truly awake.

Only then did Li Shiyue lift her head to look for her original body's mother, meeting Mother Li's worried gaze just as she looked over.

"Shiyue, is your head still aching?"

Li Shiyue touched the large bump on the back of her head and shook her head at Mother Li. "Mother, I'm fine. I only woke up because I heard someone screaming."

Why was Li Shiyue's luck so poor?

The large bump on the back of her head was from a fall a few days ago on the migration route; the original owner of this body had tripped on flat ground and hit a roadside stone. Although the skin hadn't broken, it had resulted in this massive swelling.

The original owner had died from this very fall, leaving the opportunity for the modern soul named Li Shiyue to take over.

On her very first day of waking up, Li Shiyue had acquired what could be considered a "cheat" system. She didn't know what it was called yet, as she had only heard the words: "System loading..."

That unreliable cheat had gone silent, and seven days had passed, yet the system still hadn't finished loading.

Seeing that Li Shiyue was fine, Mother Li hurried to get up to look for her dim-witted eldest son, Shitou.

"Shitou? Shitou? Shitou, where are you?"

Mother Li called out a few times, but received no response from Shitou, causing her heart to sink.

"Sister-in-law, has Shitou gone missing?"

Li Wangming approached, supporting the Li family matriarch with one hand and holding a flickering fire starter in the other. He hurried forward to ask Mother Li.

Li Shiyue also quickly approached Mother Li. "Mother, I just looked around our area by the moonlight. Not only is Brother missing, but Father is gone too!"

Hearing that her eldest son was also missing, the Li matriarch became even more anxious. One had to know that although Li Shiyue's foolish brother was a bit slow, he was a very obedient person.

If nothing were wrong, why would he wander off aimlessly in the middle of a life-or-death flight for the whole clan?

"Perhaps while we were all asleep, Wangguang realized Shitou was missing and went out to look for him himself, which is why he isn't here either."

The matriarch's words temporarily calmed the anxious and worried crowd. Li Shiyue grabbed a torch that had been used on the road over the past few days from her family's cart and lit it using the fire starter in Li Wangming's hand. She then said to her younger uncle, Li Wangming, "Second Uncle, light the torches. Mother and I will go look for Brother and Father.

Second Uncle and Grandma, please stay here and watch our things. We don't want anything stolen in the dark.

It might be that Father and Brother return before we do."

Li Wangming thought her plan was sound, but he added, "If you can't find them on the outskirts, go toward the center to find Fifth Grandpa and ask the villagers to help look."

"Yes, I understand."

While the Li family members were speaking, many of the surrounding villagers had also woken up, some lighting torches like Li Shiyue to illuminate the area.

Among the clusters of Li Family villagers, some with short tempers shouted toward the outside, "Which woman is screaming nonsense in the middle of the night?"

Li Shiyue and Mother Li nodded to the matriarch and Li Wangming, then held hands and carried their torches, shouting "Shitou!" and "Wangguang!" as they headed toward the outskirts.

After walking barely a hundred paces, Li Shiyue and Mother Li noticed a crowd gathering about a dozen steps ahead, near the outskirts where the Li clan had set up camp.

Mother Li and Li Shiyue exchanged a look and began to jog toward the gathering.

When Li Shiyue pushed aside the arm of a villager standing on the outskirts, the person turned around. Seeing Li Shiyue's face in the torchlight, the man let out a shout: "Wangguang's wife and child are here!"

This shout caused a dozen or so pairs of eyes to turn toward her, and the gazes were filled with a mixture of sympathy and a hint of schadenfreude.

Li Shiyue felt a very bad sensation rising in her chest. "Something bad has happened!"

The onlookers automatically parted to make a path for Li Shiyue and Mother Li. Mother Li held Li Shiyue's hand and walked into the crowd under everyone's gaze.

After walking only a dozen steps, the scene before them became clear. Li Shiyue thought that if this weren't happening to her father and brother, she might have been just like the surrounding villagers, standing on the sidelines to watch the spectacle.

What kind of scene was it that provoked such a thought from Li Shiyue?

In the bright light surrounded by a dozen torches, Father Li stood to the left of a large rock, his robe partially open to reveal much of his chest, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Behind Father Li, a woman with a loose bun and disheveled clothing was partially hiding. From Li Shiyue's angle, she couldn't see the woman's face clearly, but given the situation, there was no need to see exactly who it was to guess what had just occurred.

As for her brother?

At this moment, the tall and sturdy Shitou was standing to the right of the large rock, staring at Father Li with a very aggrieved expression.

"Shitou!"

Mother Li's cry made the aggrieved Shitou snap his head up. Seeing his mother and sister, he looked as if he had finally found his kin. His mouth trembled, and the tears he had been holding back burst forth like a landslide, and he began to wail loudly like a three-year-old child.

As he cried, he kept calling for "Mother," looking as though he had suffered a great injustice.

Li Shiyue and Mother Li stepped forward, and Mother Li pulled Shitou into an embrace. The six-foot-tall man bent his knees and hunched his back, resting his head on Mother Li's shoulder, weeping uncontrollably.

Seeing her brother crying so intensely, Li Shiyue did not disturb him. Instead, she raised her torch to look at her father and the woman hiding behind her scummy father.

Seeing Li Shiyue's behavior, Father Li grew anxious. "Shiyue, what are you doing?"

"Father, what could I be doing?

I'm just looking to see who this woman is.

What? Can you do this but not show your face?"

"Shiyue!"

Li Shiyue was not intimidated by Father Li's reprimand. Just as she was about to step forward, the woman suddenly jumped out from behind Father Li.

"What is there not to see? Look! Come, look! I'll show you!

Do you think I'm afraid of a little girl like you!"

Staring at Qin Tao—whose hair was messy but whose beauty was still unmistakable—Li Shiyue had a moment of sudden realization: "So that's how it is."

Meanwhile, after finishing his crying, Shitou was led by Mother Li to explain the whole story.

Because they had found this shallow stream today, Shitou, who had been thirsty for several days, had drunk his fill by the stream.

Consequently, when he felt the urge to urinate in the middle of the night, Shitou got up to go to the outskirts of the camp. Shitou was dim-witted, but he was truly obedient; since he was a child, Mother Li had taught him not to urinate anywhere.

But as luck would have it, Shitou had walked quietly to the outskirts to urinate behind a large rock. This spot was secluded and downwind, and not far from where the Li villagers had camped—it was a perfect spot to ensure privacy while not polluting the water or the air.

However, as soon as Shitou approached, he heard the moans and groans of Father Li and Qin Tao in the midst of their tryst.

Although Shitou was eighteen, how could he understand such things?

He only recognized the voices of people he knew, so Shitou walked straight toward them, only to see Father Li, with most of his buttocks exposed, leaning heavily against the large rock with Qin Tao. Father Li was even saying, "You little slut, haven't you wanted this for a long time?"

***

*This work is dedicated to my mother, Ms. Chen, and my friend, another Ms. Chen, and to every reader who faces the pressures and challenges of life with positivity and courage.*

*Theme of this work: A woman should be strong, spreading her wings to fly high in the heavens!*

*Special Note: The female lead has no romantic interest/CP in this story.*