Lin Yue had transmigrated. She had just finished typing out a block of code and ordered an egg fried rice delivery. Before she could even shovel down two bites, her vision went black, and she transmigrated.
Thinking it over, she felt the egg fried rice was definitely to blame.
However, the vendor was truly conscientious, compensating her with a sign-in system. Though its function was singular, as long as she signed in, she had an inexhaustible lifespan. This should have been something to celebrate, but now she was trapped in this remote mountain ravine, selling eggs.
Lin Yue squatted by the dirt roadside, hugging her knees and staring at the impoverished common folk passing by in coarse cloth short-jackets. Beside her was her eight-year-old guardian, her younger cousin Siya, who was staring right at her.
To her left was an egg seller, to her right was an egg seller, and in front of her was also a basket of eggs waiting to be sold.
With competitors crammed together, even without speaking or making eye contact, the atmosphere was tense and stifling.
Seeing an auntie carrying a basket glance over, Lin Yue just opened her mouth when the competitors on both sides swiftly stuck out their beckoning hands, whipping up gusts of wind.
“Eldest Sister, look here! My eggs are absolutely fresh! The yolks are bright and huge…”
“Eldest Sister, check mine! Some of my eggs have double yolks! Freshness guaranteed, and if they aren't fresh, you don't pay a coin…”
Lin Yue's ears buzzed. The momentum and sheer volume of her competitors rivaled scumbags swearing sacred vows.
In the end, the auntie bought the eggs from the woman on the left. Smirking, the woman stood up, swayed her hips, and successfully packed up her stall.
Another glance turned their way. Lin Yue stuck out her hand to beckon, but after only waving a couple of times, she felt a hot breeze brush her cheek. Turning her head, she saw her competitor was already waving their hand like an electric fan…
Waiting for another shichen, she finally managed to sell that basket of eggs.
Having received the money, Lin Yue was in no rush to head back. She slung the basket from the ground onto her back, took Siya by the hand, and began strolling through town. She had not signed in today, and the faint blue system interface popped up to remind her.
System Name: Sign In and Receive Life System
Host: Lin Yue
Lifespan: 13/73
The system's name felt like it was of the exact same nature as “Leave a good review to get a two-dollar coupon”—very merchant-like.
Lin Yue silently chanted "sign in" in her mind. Her status updated, adding one year to her lifespan.
Seeing her remaining retirement lifespan, she nodded in satisfaction and led Siya on a stroll through the town.
This was an extremely poor small town. Most of the structures on either side were mud huts selling rice, oil, salt, cloth, and a few other basic necessities. There was no inn. The lives of the common folk were as monotonous and dull as yellow dirt, yet peaceful and serene.
The only trail leading to the outside world was overgrown with waist-high weeds. Rumor had it that it took at least five days on foot to walk out of the mountains.
The people here rarely left the mountains; ninety-nine percent spent their entire lives within them. In a given year, grain haulers and merchants made only four or five round trips. Because the mountains harbored tigers, Asian black bears, venomous snakes, and the like, and the wind often carried the roars of tigers and howls of wolves, the mountain forests were perilous.
Word was that the year before last, some mountain goods collectors ran into a tiger blocking their path. With no Wu Song leaping out to save them, several people died.
During her first month after transmigrating, the village beauty, Cuihua, eloped with a poor peddler from the town. It was two days before anyone realized they were gone. Lin Cuihua's father mobilized the entire village for a carpet search, stirring up a massive commotion. Lin Yue's father and two uncles all went to help. They returned two days later, saying the pair had been found.
They were found on the mountain trail leading out. The man had led her toward the mountains, but unfortunately encountered a rustling in the bushes. Terrified, he bolted backward desperately, took a bad fall, and ended up crippled for life. In reality, it had only been a pheasant. Afterwards, Cuihua was locked at home, washing her face with tears all day long, not allowed out until her wedding day.
This incident made Lin Yue temporarily shelve the idea of running away.
In truth, not leaving the mountains wasn't bad either. There were no human traffickers here, and hardly any thieves. But children in this impoverished countryside shared an inescapable destiny: getting married off early.
And she was nearly fourteen, which in ancient times was precisely the age of marriageability.
The person Lin Yue transmigrated into was named Xiaya. She had drowned after falling into a river. Perhaps because her brain had been starved of oxygen, Lin Yue inherited none of her memories. As a result, when she woke up, listening to the villagers speak sounded like birds chirping to her, so she had no choice but to act like a dull-eyed, mute idiot.
She secretly learned the village dialect, taking over a month to basically master this tongue-twisting language.
Only then did she learn that Xiaya was already betrothed.
Unfortunately, the wedding was in just over two months.
The original Xiaya had been hardworking, capable, lively, sensible, and filial. It was precisely these qualities that family had valued, having spent a hefty sum to secure the engagement.
The one betrothed to Xiaya was the only son of Scholar Wu from neighboring Wu Family Village, Wu Yang. Four years her senior, he was frail from birth, rumored to be an invalid who would topple at a gust of wind, and suffered from intermittent mania and violent rages.
Speaking of which, it was quite tragic. Scholar Wu had taught in the village. While traveling to the prefectural city to sit for the scholar examination, he encountered a landslide and was buried alive. When his elderly mother heard the news, she couldn't catch her breath and followed him to the grave.
Their only relatives had died early. The Scholar's wife, Madame Su, possessed a gentle, reserved temperament and spoke little. The funeral, from the banquet to the encoffinment, was managed with the help of the village chief and his wife. Scholar Wu had been the only Scholar among the surrounding villages and had cared deeply about face all his life. The funeral was held with great lavishness, thus consuming more than half of their savings.
The remaining mother and son survived on a few mu of poor farmland. With the family savings dwindling daily, she thought of finding a daughter-in-law first so they could support each other.
Country folk weren't fools. The family was sick to the point of selling land; marrying a daughter off there meant enduring hardship, not to mention having to pour their own money into treating the son-in-law later on. Rather than having relatives like that, it was better to find a poor family—who knew if they might strike it rich someday?
When the matchmaker came knocking, the original host's parents had initially refused. But the other party had truly gone all out to secure a bride. Betrothal gifts in the village usually consisted of supplies and money worth about six liang; Madame Su added two more liang.
Her cheapskate parents agreed on the spot, settling Xiaya's betrothal just like that. With this, combined with Chunya's betrothal gift, they had enough money for their two sons to take wives, with a slight surplus left over.
Now that the original host had fallen into the river and become an idiot, the Wu family rushed over to break off the engagement. Her cheapskate parents naturally refused, and so the two families had remained at an impasse until now.
Lin Yue did have ways to sabotage this marriage, but the issue was that after rejecting this one, there would be a next one. Running away was the only true way.
Lin Yue glanced once more at the exit of the town, turned around, and led Siya further down the street. As they neared a pharmacy, she scanned the surroundings. Seeing no acquaintances, Lin Yue bought Siya a hush-money meat bun, found a secluded spot for her to wait, and headed toward the pharmacy.
“Doctor Chen, I'm here to sell herbs.”
Lin Yue placed the basket on the ground. Inside was half a basket of thin, dried vines with pointed leaves and dark purple patterns.
She hadn't recognized this plant originally, but by chance had seen someone carrying it into the clinic—a large, featherlight bundle of herbs had weighed ten jin and fetched half a liang of silver, making her eyes pop.
Half a liang of silver! After an entire year of hard labor, paying court taxes, and deducting food and clothing, a rural peasant was lucky to end up with one liang in hand.
Xiaya's parents had saved up private money for several years just to scrape together half a liang. Spending four qian of silver to treat her illness had left the money-managing grandfather sulking for days.
The old physician glanced up, scanned the dried reddish-blue vines in her basket, and weighed them in his hand.
“Ordinary quality. Weighs five liang. Ten copper coins in total.”
“Ten coins?”
Lin Yue wondered if her ears were playing tricks on her. This price was more than half less than last time!
“The shop has plenty of this herb, so we aren't buying any more for now,” the old physician said as he counted out ten copper coins.
Not buying? An anxious expression surfaced on Lin Yue's face, and she hurriedly asked.
“Doctor Chen, what other medicinal herbs does the shop need?”
“The shop's commonly used herbs are supplied by dedicated herb farmers, and daily consumption is limited, so we have enough,” the old physician said, adding another remark.
“We live in a remote place with treacherous roads and mountains crawling with wild beasts. Even if you gathered herbs and hauled them outside to sell, it wouldn't cover travel expenses, and you might lose your life for nothing. It's not worth it! Not worth it!”
Lin Yue could not help feeling crestfallen. Not even the stock market plummeted this hard.
She pocketed the money, spent two copper coins on brown sugar and an egg, and hid in a corner to eat them, replenishing nourishment for this board-flat body.
The moment the sweet brown sugar water hit her mouth, Lin Yue felt considerably more energized.
After finishing, she went to the general store to buy a fire striker, which she hid alongside her remaining few copper coins beside the trail leading out of the mountains.
Besides the fire striker, she had also prepared two pairs of straw sandals, insect-repelling mugwort, a rope half a zhang long, and a sharpened wooden stick.
When it was time to make her escape, she would only need to buy dry rations and salt, grab a bamboo tube of water, and set out.
Her gear was exceptionally shabby, and if she truly crossed paths with a tiger, she could only leave her fate to heaven. Still, another preparation meant another path.
If only she had a spatial pocket.
Lin Yue let out a sigh, called Siya, and walked home under the scorching midday sun.
The moment she stepped across the courtyard gate, her younger sister Sanya rushed over in a panic.
“Second Sister! People from Wu Family Village are here! Mother couldn't find you and threw a huge fit! Go over there right away!”
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