The first winter snow had passed, giving way to a rare sunny day. The warm sun hung on the horizon, its gentle rays seeming to dispel the chill in people’s bones.

In Qinghe Village, several women took advantage of the uncommon pleasant weather to bask in the sun outside their courtyards. They sat together, engaged in lively gossip while working on their chores. 

“Have you heard? The Xia family’s little fool is probably done for!” exclaimed a slightly plump woman, her voice filled with excitement as she pinched a needle and rubbed it on the sleeves of her well-worn, shiny with oil cotton-padded jacket.

Another woman quickly patted her, cautioning, “Lower your voice. The Xia family treats that young master like a treasure. There will be trouble if they hear you.”

The plump woman persisted, though more quietly, “He’s just a fool. I’m not talking nonsense. Falling into the river in the middle of winter and not even knowing how to call for help? If it wasn’t for that old Taoist priest from the mountain who passed by and pulled him out, the Xia family would be holding a funeral now.”

She glanced around nervously, fearing someone from the Xia family might pass by and overhear.

A third woman, who seemed to have inside information, interjected, “Don’t bother looking. The Xia family doesn’t have the heart to go out now. Their golden boy has been burning with fever for a day and a night now. During the snowstorm yesterday, their eldest son rushed an ox cart to the county to fetch a doctor from Bao’an Hall. They spent a fortune in silver, but the boy hasn’t improved. The whole family is at home watching over him.”

The women gasped in unison. “A doctor from Bao’an Hall? How much silver does a consultation cost?”

For these rural families, headaches or fevers were treated with folk remedies or, at most, a few copper coins’ worth of herbal medicine from the village’s barefoot doctors. Inviting a doctor from the prestigious medicine hall was simply unheard of.

The plump woman shook her head indignant and said, “The Xia family spends so much silver treating their little fool’s illness. They could’ve bought land with that amount of money instead. Even if they save him this time, after burning for two days, he’ll still be a fool.”

A round-faced woman laughed. “You’re mistaken. He was already a fool. The fever can’t burn his brain and make him sane, can it?”

She sighed, “I knew the Xia family’s young master couldn’t be kept long ago. What child could be born with his appearance? Even a celestial child from heaven would struggle to survive with Master Xia…”

The women nodded in agreement, recalling the young master’s delicate features. Even the malicious plump woman couldn’t find a word of rebuttal. 

“His appearance is truly remarkable. I went to the county fair and saw the magistrate’s young lady. She couldn’t compare to the young master’s beauty.”

“It’s strange. Despite being a fool, he looks like a good person and is obedient. Perhaps he was reincarnated into the wrong body. The Heavenly Lord must want to take him back.”

“Indeed…”

The women’s gossip continued, but the little fool they spoke of didn’t feel like he was about to be summoned back by the Heavenly Lord. In fact, he was so excited that he wanted to go out and run a few laps.  

Of course, this was impossible to achieve. Although his consciousness was clear, his body lay in bed with a high fever. By the bedside, his mother in this life cried with red and swollen eyes.

That’s right. In this life, Young Master Xia was a transmigrator. 

Transmigration was no longer a rare occurrence. While not as common as being on every street, the probability had increased significantly. Everyone could look forward to it and hope that one day they might transmigrate as well.

In his previous life, Young Master Xia was also surnamed Xia, with the given name Chen. According to the dictionary, “Chen” meant treasure, judging from the name alone, his parents must have still been in love when they had him. They wouldn’t have given their child such a name otherwise.

Unfortunately, by the time Xia Chen could remember, his parents were already in the midst of a divorce. It wasn’t until he was in junior high that the resentful couple, who had been fighting over property for years, finally succeeded in kicking each other out, and Xia Chen was kicked out as well. 

By that time, Xia Chen’s younger half-brother and half-sister were both in elementary school. The parental love that should have belonged to him had long been divided between the two favored younger siblings. The only thing his parents could give him was probably endless money.

Alright, having money was enough.

Perhaps it was because he had witnessed his parents’ prolonged divorce, but the emotions that should have been there—bewilderment, fear, anger, sadness, and sorrow—were gradually worn away by time. Xia Chen calmly accepted the money his parents gave him, even though his father, who was his guardian, probably didn’t see him once a month.

His parents were still in love at that time when Xia Chen was born, and had set up a fund for him. When they were fighting for divorce, they were too embarrassed to fight over this small amount of money for the sake of face.

By the time he turned eighteen, with the addition of some real estate that was difficult to divide which he inherited during the divorce, he was already a veritable young millionaire.

The young millionaire Xia Chen didn’t want to transmigrate at all. He had money and looks, and his life was incredibly comfortable.

However, the god of transmigration was unreasonable and never consulted the person concerned when sending them to transmigrate, so he transmigrated just like that.

Young Master Xia had a very good attitude ever since he had transmigrated. What could he do if it wasn’t good? It wasn’t like he could transmigrate back. No one missed him there anyway. At the very least, he hoped for a golden finger. What was the point of transmigrating without one?  

When Young Master Xia was still in his mother’s womb, he was already thinking about what his golden finger would be like.

When he first came to, he found himself trapped in a narrow, dark space, unable to control his body. He thought he had been kidnapped and taken on a black ship to have his organs harvested. Later, when he could hear sounds, Xia Chen finally understood from the conversations of the people outside that he had transmigrated, and it was a fetal transmigration into an ancient dynasty he had never heard of.  

The ancient times were fine too, he thought.

Before transmigrating, Xia Chen was reading a novel about the imperial examinations. As he read the protagonist level up all the way to achieve the “Three Yuan”^[1]Three Yuan: Top three scholarly ranks, and finally attaining the top scholar, parading through the streets, and even marrying a beautiful young wife—just imagining it was simply too awesome. 

Although he found the content about exams and studying too boring when reading the novel and usually skipped over it directly, if he was given a golden finger that could browse through memories, wouldn’t that be perfect?

When Xia Chen was in his mother’s womb, he began trying to recall the contents of the books he had read, as well as the poems, songs, ancient texts, and history he had learned during his student days. He wanted to create a genius achievement and enjoy the feeling of being a child prodigy. 

Gan Luo became a minister at the age of twelve. As a transmigrator, Xia Chen didn’t aim to surpass Gan Luo in rank, but he should at least become the top scholar.

Although the recollection in his mother’s womb was not very successful, and he basically couldn’t remember anything useful, Xia Chen figured that it might be because he was an underdeveloped fetus, and the golden finger should be in place once he was born.

Longing for the stars and the moon, Xia Chen was so bored that he almost took out his placenta to play with. Then finally came the day he was born.

However, at the moment of his birth, before he could even open his eyes to see this time and space, what awaited him was not a golden finger, but being ejected.

To clarify, his soul was ejected. Young Master Xia didn’t become a child prodigy but became a fool.

Xia Chen: “……”

If language could materialize, the god of transmigration would probably be stabbed into a sieve by now.

Xia Chen had cried, cursed, and broken down. In the end, he could only accept reality. He was a ghost, and he didn’t even have tears. It was his own body, but he could only watch and not use it.

Without a soul, the body was just a fool, but the family of this life treated this little fool like a treasure, protecting and pampering him, just hoping that the youngest son could be safe and happy.

Xia Chen’s resentment gradually subsided. At the very least, he knew that his parents and siblings loved him.

He couldn’t leave his body too far so he guarded his family every day. Except for not being able to respond, this was the family he had dreamed of.

Seven years as a fool, Xia Chen had almost gotten used to being a ghost, but suddenly there was a turning point. 

When the snow had just cleared in the winter of that year, the cooped-up kids ran out to play. The little fool Xia Chen, who was let out by his family to get some fresh air, was tricked by a few village children to the riverside and stepped on the ice that wasn’t frozen solid.

The ghost Xia Chen was frantic. He knew how destructive the naughty kids could be. Perhaps their original intention was just to play a prank, but the consequences were something they couldn’t bear. 

Sure enough, things took a turn for the worst. The ice under the little fool Xia Chen’s feet cracked, and the cold river water instantly swallowed this child who didn’t even know how to call for help. 

The naughty kids who caused the trouble scattered. The ghost Xia Chen shouted for help with all his might, but couldn’t make a sound.

He couldn’t leave his body for more than five meters and could only watch helplessly as the other children ran away while the little fool Xia Chen struggled and sank in the river, his face gradually turning pale.

The ghost Xia Chen rushed over, trying in vain to pull up the little fool. He knew he was doing something futile, but he had no choice. 

However, in the next second, Xia Chen suddenly heard a burst of electronic music in his ears, just like the sound of electronic products like cell phones or computers starting up, followed by a cold, mechanical voice:

[Host’s body detected to be in extreme danger, vital signs about to disappear, suspending energy absorption and forcing boot-up.]

[Insufficient energy! Unable to open the system space independently, please try your best to save yourself, host.]

Xia Chen: “……”

Before Xia Chen could even feel happy, he was almost angered into a coma by the golden finger that had finally awakened. Let me save myself, at least give me back my body!

Just as he finished complaining, Xia Chen felt as if he was pulled by something and his entire soul sank uncontrollably.

The feeling of piercing cold came, and Xia Chen was stunned for a moment before immediately reacting. He struggled and called for help.

However, the little fool’s body hadn’t spoken for too long, and he had used too much energy struggling in the icy water.

Even with all his strength, the “help” Xia Chen shouted out was completely incoherent, and his voice was so weak that it was barely audible.

Xia Chen felt desperate, but fortunately, his scam of a golden finger hadn’t scammed him to the extreme and helped him out in the end.

[Host detected to be in a life-threatening situation, system emergency assistance mode activated. Host’s current account balance is zero, temporarily on credit, interest will be recorded. Please bind as soon as possible and pay off the debt early.]

[Beep, insufficient energy, system entering standby mode.]

Xia Chen: “……”

Xia Chen didn’t even want to struggle anymore. What was the point of having such a golden finger? Just let him drown.

Xia Chen’s tiny wish wasn’t fulfilled either. The system said it would save him, and it really did.

An old Taoist priest descended from the sky and directly fished Xia Chen, who was almost frozen into an ice cube, out of the river.

🌻🌻🌻

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