Chapter 5: Pregnant with a Cub

In the book, Yan Huaian not only incurred gambling debts that nearly wiped out the family fortune, but even after the family split, he showed no remorse, instead becoming even more reckless.

The small amount of silver Old Yan gave him for the split was all gambled away. Furthermore, when Da Ya—Old Yan’s daughter—was bullied and humiliated, he had a chance to intervene, but out of resentment toward his brother, he chose to ignore it, which led to the subsequent tragedy.

After that incident, as the only female elder among their close relatives, Li-shi should have visited to offer comfort, and perhaps Da Ya wouldn't have hanged herself. But Yan Huaian wouldn't allow it; fueled by alcohol, he beat Li-shi, causing her to miscarry...

Right, the miscarriage!

Yan Yu shuddered. Ignoring everything else, she ran back to their room in one breath.

At that moment, Li Xuemei was standing on a cabinet, using a bamboo pole to poke around the ceiling beams.

"Don't move!" Cold sweat nearly broke out on Yan Yu. Seeing Li Xuemei look back at her in surprise, she softened her voice and said gently, "Mom, come down first."

Li Xuemei swept the pole a few more times in frustration. Seeing there was truly nothing there, she leaned on the pole, sat down, and shifted her body, preparing to jump down.

The cabinet wasn't high; it was easy to climb up or jump down.

Yan Yu didn't dare let her jump. If there really was a baby in her belly, what if something happened? It was better to be safe than sorry!

"Mom, sit still. Stay steady and listen to me." Yan Yu ran over, her small arms only able to reach her mother's calves.

Li Xuemei was exhausted and simply sat back down. Something occurred to her, and her eyes lit up. She asked, "Good daughter, did you find something?"

Without hesitation, Yan Yu hugged her leg, looked up, and grinned, her eyes crinkling as if stars were twinkling within them.

"We have a system! Hahaha!"

"What?" "Huh?" Li Xuemei and Yan Huaian, who had just pushed the door open, asked in unison.

She explained everything: the sudden appearance of the Xia Kingdom’s support trading platform and the fact that they were living inside a book.

Seeing them both looking dazed, she even used the bamboo pole to draw the shape of the light screen on the floor.

After a long while, the couple looked at each other.

Li Xuemei was the first to react, immediately covering her stomach.

She asked with a trembling voice, "So, am I pregnant now?"

She felt nothing at all. Was all of this real?

Was the transmigration real? Was the pregnancy real? Was the platform real?

Was it just a hallucination caused by the "system" her daughter was so obsessed with?

Papa Yan was incredibly excited. "Oh, my leader, take it slow. Come, I'll catch you. Move just a little bit—yes, like that."

He carefully helped her down and watched as his wife sat comfortably.

Papa Yan went over what his daughter had just said in his mind.

He asked, "And then? What happened later in the book?"

Da Bao had read this book; it was truly amazing! The sickly eldest brother turned out to be so capable, eventually even replacing the Emperor. He was full of admiration!

Yan Yu sighed. "I didn't keep up with the rest. Yan Lao'er was such a piece of work, and his name was so similar to yours, I couldn't bear to keep reading..."

So, she had only read the beginning.

The book was written a long time ago, and she didn't remember much of that short opening.

"This is already good enough. It's much better than knowing nothing at all," Li Xuemei comforted her.

"Right. At least we know that Big Brother's illness isn't a big deal; he'll definitely recover and even become a high-ranking official. But losing his son and daughter..." Yan Huaian frowned, unable to continue.

In his career, Old Yan was successful, but in other aspects, he was truly pitiful.

"We know now, so of course, we have to prevent those tragedies from happening," Yan Yu said as if it were obvious. "The village head's son didn't target Big Sister for no reason. He wanted to force her to marry him because he wanted our family's ten mu of land."

"What's going on? Tell us in detail," Li Xuemei said seriously.

"I remember a bit more now. Our land is at the entrance of the village. Except for ours, all the surrounding land was bought by people from outside the village. They wanted to connect it all to build a small farm for easier management."

It was that simple.

Some influential person had taken a fancy to the Yan brothers' land—or perhaps it wasn't the person themselves, but a steward below them who wanted convenience and gave a hint to the village head. The village head then cooked up this malicious scheme.

Because, logically, the Yan brothers would never sell those ten mu of land.

Yan Huaiwen was already a *xiucai* scholar. While teaching, he hadn't given up on the imperial examinations. His eldest son had inherited his talent for study and had good grades at the academy; he was set to take the *tongsheng* exam this year.

Once he passed, there would be two scholars in one family.

This was a sign of a rising family; they would only want more land, never less.

"Right, Dad, your twenty taels of gambling debt was also a setup!"

Those who read the book had a god's-eye view; the author had left clues about certain things early on.

"Twenty taels? Gambling debt!" Li Xuemei stared at the father and daughter, recalling how Yan Lao'er had been called away from the fields during the day.

She hadn't thought much of it at the time, but now that she thought about it, the way those people were dressed really did look like the debt-collecting thugs of ancient times.

Yan Lao'er gave a sheepish smile.

"Xuemei! Listen to me, let me explain."

Li Xuemei glared at him. "Explain what? The plot has already laid it out clearly for you. That's exactly why our Big Brother split the family from us."

Yan Lao'er slapped his thigh. "You're right! Those people are so evil! How could they do something so heartless! By the way, Da Bao, do you think the system the country arranged for us can lend us twenty taels of silver?"

"Dad, it's a platform, not a system," Yan Yu corrected him.

A system and a platform were two different things by definition.

A platform, a platform—it meant it provided a space for trading.

It operated on the principle of equivalent exchange.

They had to have something of sufficient value to exchange for what they wanted on this platform.

"Haha, whatever it is, the country is truly great!" For the sake of losers like them, Motherland-papa really worried his heart out. The word "support" was especially good; they were exactly the kind of people who needed poverty alleviation. Absolutely correct.

"It's just a pity that the platform's trading time isn't fixed. The next opening time is May 20th. Converted to the Gregorian calendar, that is..." Yan Yu hadn't paid much attention to the small print under the lunar date earlier, but now she looked closely.

"June 18th?"

Li Xuemei raised an eyebrow in surprise, and Yan Yu's little eyes lit up as well. Mother and daughter exchanged a look, understanding each other perfectly.

Yan Lao'er remained calm, seeing through the restlessness of his leader and his dear daughter. As the man who paid the bills, he knew every holiday by heart, and the dates that had caused him heavy losses in recent years were etched into his memory.

He closed his eyes slightly, tears streaming down his face internally.

He didn't expect that even after transmigrating into a book, he still couldn't escape these troublesome days.

Fine! Might as well go check on Old Yan!

When this book was being conceived, it happened to be around 618. He had bought a lot of things—useful or useless—and felt so happy while clicking "buy, buy, buy." But when it came time to pay the credit card bill, it was all over. He wanted to chop his hands off.