Chapter 1

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

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

"No use in growling. Where am I supposed to get food now?"

He looked around at the dilapidated house, which could barely be called home, and gave a wry smile.

Others who transmigrate end up well-fed; why is it that he can’t even fill his stomach? What a situation.

He had been lying in bed for two days.

Two days ago, when Lu Qing opened his eyes, he found himself in this strange world.

Wearing tattered clothes, emaciated, and even his body had changed, becoming that of a boy around ten years old.

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

He had transmigrated.

Reborn into the body of a boy who had just lost his parents, and after selling off the family property to bury them, he couldn’t survive a cold night due to his frail health and excessive grief.

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

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

It’s too difficult for a teenage boy to survive in this world.

Death might not be such a bad thing.

But...

"Brother, you’re awake!"

Lu Qing's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a joyful shout.

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

The little girl ran to Lu Qing's side. "Brother, are you feeling better?"

"Yes, I’m better now. Xiao Yan doesn’t need to worry anymore," Lu Qing smiled.

"That’s great, brother! You’re finally better." Hearing that Lu Qing was alright, the little girl’s eyes turned red, and tears started to fall. "You were so hot and kept saying you were cold for the past two days. I didn’t know what to do. No matter how I called you, you wouldn’t respond. I thought you were going to leave me like Daddy and Mommy."

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

In the past two days, he had been merging the memories in his mind, appearing to be in a coma. Although he could barely sense the surroundings, his consciousness couldn’t stay awake.

Except for waking up briefly a few times, he soon fell back into a coma.

He vaguely heard the little girl’s cries but couldn’t respond.

Lu Qing reached out to rub the little girl’s yellowish hair. "It’s my fault. I promise you, I won’t get sick again and make you worry, okay?"

"Okay," Xiao Yan smiled through her tears and extended her small hand. "Let’s pinky promise."

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

"Pinky promise, a hundred years without change. Whoever breaks it is a puppy!"

After the pinky promise, Xiao Yan immediately became happy.

In her little mind, once they made a pinky promise, things would not change. Her brother would never get sick again.

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

At this moment, Lu Qing noticed the object in the little girl’s hand.

"It’s a mantou, brother. Don’t you recognize it?" Xiao Yan held the gray object with both hands and handed it to Lu Qing, delighted. "Grandpa Zhang next door gave it to me. I didn’t want to eat it alone, so I brought it back to share with you. I didn’t expect to see you recovered when I got back."

"Mantou?"

Lu Qing looked at the grayish thing, which was quite different from the mantou he remembered.

But then he thought about being in another world and felt relieved.

The world itself was different, so it wasn’t strange for mantou to look different.

As he pondered, his gaze lingered on the gray mantou for a few seconds, and suddenly, a line of text appeared.

【Mantou: Made from rice bran, wheat flour, and wild vegetables, with limited nutritional value.】

At the same time, the mantou emitted a layer of gray light.

What is this?

Lu Qing was stunned. He blinked and found the text still floating above the gray mantou, not disappearing.

It wasn’t an illusion...

Before Lu Qing could delve further, Xiao Yan brought the gray mantou to his mouth.

"Brother, eat this. Grandpa Chen said that sick people need to eat to recover."

Smelling the grainy scent from the gray mantou, Lu Qing, who was already starving, felt the hunger surge again.

Without hesitation, he took it, tore it in half, and handed one half back to Xiao Yan.

"Yes, Xiao Yan should eat too." Sᴇaʀᴄh the NovᴇlFɪre .ɴᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

He hadn’t forgotten that the little one had said this mantou was given by someone else and she wanted to share it with him.

Unexpectedly, the little one shook her head and pushed the half mantou back into Lu Qing's hand. "Brother, eat. Xiao Yan is not hungry. Brother needs to eat more to recover quickly."

However, Lu Qing clearly saw the little one swallow unconsciously when handing the mantou back.

Looking at the little one's yellowish hair, he felt a pang of pity and put the half mantou back into her hand.

"Brother just recovered and can’t eat too much at once, or his stomach will hurt. So, Xiao Yan should eat this half."

"Is that so?" The little one tilted her head, holding the half mantou. "But Grandpa Chen didn’t say that."

"People who have just recovered shouldn’t overeat. Ask Grandpa Chen next time and see if it’s true," Lu Qing said.

"Okay." The little one nodded, somewhat understanding.

She didn’t realize that a mere mantou couldn’t be considered overeating.

Lu Qing took the opportunity to continue coaxing her. "Since brother can’t finish it, Xiao Yan should help brother eat it, or it will get cold and not taste good."

"Mm!" Xiao Yan nodded vigorously. "Since brother can’t finish it, Xiao Yan will help."

The siblings then each held half a mantou and happily gnawed on it.

Soon, Lu Qing finished his half mantou. The empty stomach finally had something to fill it, and a warmth spread from his belly, making him feel much better.

Truth be told, the mantou didn’t taste great, but it was substantial and quite large.

Even half of it slightly alleviated his hunger, preventing the dizziness and weakness he had felt earlier.

Seeing Xiao Yan still gnawing on her mantou, Lu Qing didn’t disturb her and shifted his focus to another matter.

He recalled the text that appeared on the mantou earlier.

Thinking about it, Lu Qing stood up, walked to the table, and picked up a chipped bowl.

He held it in front of him, staring at it quietly.

After a few seconds, a layer of gray light appeared on the bowl, followed by a line of text.

【Damaged ceramic bowl: A chipped pottery bowl, seemingly not very clean.】

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