“Brother Yan, you’ve finally woken up.”

Gu Qingyan stirred slightly, and Mama Liu, who had been standing guard by the bedside, immediately noticed and shouted excitedly.

The two sisters hurried over as well, looking at him nervously.

Meeting their concerned gazes, Gu Qingyan felt a pang of guilt in his heart.

He hadn’t expected that signing into the system would directly cause a level-up that would make his body lose consciousness, causing his family needless worry.

“Mother, Second Sister, Third Sister, I’m fine. I was just so tired from finishing the test papers that I fell asleep.”

Mama Liu’s eyes filled with tears: “You really scared us! How could you be that exhausted?”

Gu Qingyan couldn’t bear to see her cry and quickly said, “I’ll take better care of my health from now on. Mother, I’m hungry.”

Hearing that, Mama Liu didn’t say another word and quickly turned into the kitchen.

“Qingqing, Yanyan, were you both scared?” Gu Qingyan asked.

Gu Shuyan sniffled, “Brother, you slept for most of the day and wouldn’t wake up no matter what.”

“Big brother, are you really just tired? Maybe we should call a doctor to check,” Gu Wangqing said worriedly.

Gu Qingyan threw off the quilt and got out of bed, bouncing a couple of times. “I’m really fine. I just sleep too deeply. If this happens again, you don’t need to bother with me—I’ll wake up once I’m rested.”

“Again?” Gu Shuyan couldn’t hold back tears upon hearing that.

Gu Qingyan hurriedly promised, “Okay, okay, no more next time.”

Zhang Nian heard the voices and ran in. Seeing that he was awake, she couldn’t help but have tears welling in her eyes, full of excitement.

Mama Liu, worried he might be hungry, quickly made a big bowl of egg noodles.

Gu Qingyan held the bowl and ate heartily. He was truly hungry. Glancing at the time, the system upgrade had taken most of the day—it was already the next day.

“Eat slowly. There’s more in the kitchen. If it’s not enough, Mother will serve you more,” Mama Liu said gently.

Gu Qingyan gave a thumbs-up: “Mother, what you make tastes great.”

Seeing him full of life, Mama Liu finally relaxed her worried heart.

“If it’s good, then eat more. The county exams are really draining—you look like you’ve lost weight.”

Gu Qingyan smiled and immediately said, “Starting today, I’ll eat an extra bowl every meal and promise to gain the weight back quickly.”

That made all four of them laugh.

After eating his fill, Mama Liu asked, “Brother Yan, are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere? If you are, you must tell us. We’ll see a doctor.”

“Mother, don’t worry. I’m really fine.”

To prove it, Gu Qingyan even performed a set of martial arts forms in the yard.

“See? Nothing wrong, just slept too deeply.”

But Mama Liu still worried, “Are you sure it was just sleep? I thought it might be an old illness acting up.”

“Before you turned three, you probably don’t remember, but this kind of thing happened several times—suddenly falling asleep and not waking no matter what.”

Gu Qingyan really didn’t remember.

In the first few years after his transmigration, his body was trapped in a child’s form, and maybe because of the limited brain capacity of a child, his thoughts were fuzzy and unclear.

Only after turning three did his memories become clear.

“That happened before?” Gu Qingyan asked in surprise.

That was before he got the sign-in system from the hellish guards.

Mama Liu nodded: “I remember clearly. The first time was when you were three months old. You were drinking milk and suddenly just fell asleep. At first, we thought you were full and sleeping, but you slept for a whole day and night, which really scared us.”

“After that, it happened every three or four months. We took you to many doctors, but none could find a problem.”

“As you grew older, it stopped happening. I thought it was all gone, but now this again…”

Gu Qingyan had no memory of this.

When he woke, he was already at the Li family’s place. His memories before age three were only of drinking milk and playing indoors, barely even going outside to the yard.

Since this was before age three, it probably had nothing to do with the system.

Seeing Mama Liu’s worry, Gu Qingyan reassured her, “Then it means it’s healed. This time it was really just sleep, not a relapse.”

Mama Liu held his hand: “That’s good. But when we go to Qingzhou Prefecture, we still need to find a better doctor to check you. It’s better to be safe than sorry. If there’s a root cause, it’s best to discover and treat it early.”

Gu Qingyan readily agreed: “Okay. There aren’t good doctors in Qingzhou Prefecture anyway. When I go to the capital for exams, I can also visit the imperial medical hospital. Mother, don’t worry—I’ll definitely take care of my own health.”

Mama Liu finally felt at ease after hearing this.

Because of this incident, Mama Liu and the sisters were all scared and kept telling Gu Qingyan to rest, wishing he could eat medicinal supplements five times a day.

Gu Qingyan couldn’t argue with them, so he did nothing but sit under the eaves, cracking sunflower seeds and basking in the sun.

But he was worried too.

He wanted the heart system’s store to open, but the required points were too many.

One thousand points—how long would it take him to save up that many?

“Brother, here’s an orange.” Gu Shuyan saw he was bored, peeled one, and put it in his hand.

Gu Qingyan took a piece and tasted it—sweet and sour, very tasty.

“Delicious.”

Gu Shuyan giggled and sat beside him, beginning to embroider a handkerchief.

The little girl’s needlework was quite good. The flowers looked like flowers, and the ducks looked like ducks.

But Mama Liu wasn’t satisfied and pulled the two sisters aside to teach them: “When embroidering, you have to pay attention to color matching. If the colors don’t match well, no matter how good the embroidery, it will lose some points.”

The two girls nodded repeatedly.

Gu Qingyan said beside them, “Mother, once it’s learned well enough, that’s good. If we want handkerchiefs, we can just buy them. Embroidery wastes too much eyesight.”

Mama Liu sighed helplessly: “Which girl buys handkerchiefs these days? Don’t say silly things.”

“In the embroidery workshop, collecting handkerchiefs—they’re all taken out to be sold, so clearly there are many buyers,” Gu Qingyan said confidently.

“That’s not quite the case. If handkerchiefs can be bought, does that mean even underwear is bought?” Mama Liu asked.

Gu Qingyan was about to say more, but Gu Shuyan quickly reached out and covered his mouth.

The two little girls giggled nonstop.

Gu Wangqing smiled and said, “We know Big Brother worries about us, but at home, besides studying and cooking, we don’t have much to do. Unlike other girls in the village who have to work in the fields, it’s better for us to learn some needlework.”

Originally, the Gu family had farmland, but after Gu Tongsheng fell ill and Gu Fengmian went to study, the good fields were sold for money.

After Gu Qingyan arrived, he also felt he wasn’t cut out for farming, so he never brought up buying land again.

Besides their vegetable garden, the sisters really didn’t have to do fieldwork.

“Yes, yes, godmother’s embroidery is excellent. Others want to learn but don’t get the chance,” Gu Shuyan added.

That was true — rural women were skilled at mending and patching, but finer embroidery was less common. These days, learning embroidery had its barriers.

Gu Wangqing agreed warmly, “Cousins asked if they could come learn from godmother. They’re even willing to pay a token fee.”

Mama Liu laughed, “That’s nothing. They’re just idle anyway; let them come and learn as much as they want.”

Gu Qingyan raised his eyebrows and agreed with their words.

Suddenly, a thought flashed in Gu Qingyan’s mind.

To unlock the system shop, he either needed to raise his reputation or accumulate points.

The former required changing social status and improving fame. The county exam results weren’t out yet, so randomly doing charity at the city gate wasn’t feasible.

Only accumulating points remained.

To get points, relying on the natural daily increase of one point wasn’t enough; he needed to grind skills.

But Gu Qingyan’s medical skill had hit a bottleneck — it only improved 10% in three months. If he wanted 1000 points solely through medicine, it would take forever.

Besides medicine, he could learn other skills.

Beginner skills were easy to learn, perfect for grinding points.

His heart raced; it felt like he had found a system bug!

Eager to try, he jumped up suddenly, “Mom, second sister, third sister, I suddenly want to eat roast chicken from town. Let’s go buy some and eat it tonight.”

Then he grabbed Zhang Nian and ran off.

Mama Liu was dumbfounded, “You’re always coming up with these ideas, and your health isn’t fully recovered yet.”

“I’m all better now.”

Gu Qingyan quickly got into the carriage, urging, “A Nian, hurry up, let’s go.”

Zhang Nian instinctively drove. Only after trotting out of the village did she realize, “Big Brother Gu, if you want roast chicken, you could just have me buy it. Why the trouble of coming here?”

“Not just roast chicken. Staying home with bones around makes me lazy. I just want to get out and stretch my limbs,” Gu Qingyan smiled.

Zhang Nian hesitated, “But your health…”

“Recovered long ago.”

Gu Qingyan smiled, “Come on, let’s go to town and have a good walk.”

Seeing his radiant, energetic state, Zhang Nian could only obediently follow.

Gu Qingyan rubbed his hands eagerly — going to the county seat, signing in to gain skills, grinding skills to accumulate points.

A thousand points wasn’t a dream. Opening the shop could happen in minutes.

Small shop, got it!

[You have successfully signed in at Lingchuan County Food Stall Kitchen, obtained Cooking skill.]

[You have successfully signed in at the Slaughterhouse, obtained Butcher skill.]

[You have successfully signed in at the Blacksmith, obtained Blacksmith skill.]

[You have successfully signed in at the Carpenter Workshop, obtained Carpenter skill.]

[You have successfully signed in at the Tailor Shop, obtained Tailoring skill.]

[You have successfully signed in at the Embroidery Workshop, obtained Embroidery skill.]

Gu Qingyan signed in everywhere, growing more and more excited. These weren’t just skills, they were perfect tools for grinding points.

The craftsmen skills in Lingchuan County weren’t high level — each only required 2 points to obtain. Gu Qingyan guessed these skills were at most beginner level; after reaching intermediate, they’d likely stagnate like medicine.

Only six so far. If maxing a beginner skill to 100% progress earned 100 points, he’d need at least ten skills.

He wasn’t sure if every time he broke through beginner to intermediate level, points would be awarded.

So he planned to stockpile several skills just in case. He could foresee the shop, like the King Huai skill, being a money-consuming beast.

Unsatisfied, Gu Qingyan wandered all over Lingchuan County, looking for more sign-in points and trying to find more occupational skills.

To Zhang Nian, it looked like her brother was going crazy, happily wandering the streets for no reason.

Seeing him so happy, Zhang Nian couldn’t bear to stop him and obediently kept accompanying him.

Suddenly, Gu Qingyan saw a row of glowing sign-in points.

Just as he was about to go over, Zhang Nian hurriedly pulled him back, “Big Brother Gu, you can’t go here.”

“Why not?” The sign-in points were right there and he didn’t want to give up.

Blushing, Zhang Nian said, “Those are brothels and pleasure houses.”

Gu Qingyan paused. Since coming to Lingchuan County, this was his first time knowing there were brothels here, no wonder they kept their doors closed in broad daylight.

But seeing those flashy signs, he was reluctant to give up.

Lingchuan County was too small, and there weren’t many skills to learn.

“I’ll just look at the door, won’t go in.”

Zhang Nian looked conflicted, afraid Gu Qingyan would step in and get lost in lust, ruining his future.

But she couldn’t stop him, only followed with a stern face.

Gu Qingyan said he’d just look at the door—and truly didn’t plan to go inside.

Who would’ve thought that just stepping there, the brothel actually dropped a skill.

【You have successfully checked in at Yihong Courtyard and gained the Dance skill.】

【You have successfully checked in at Wenxiang Courtyard and gained the Musician skill.】

【You have successfully checked in at Zuisheng Tower and gained the Singing Girl skill.】

After circling around, among the rows of brothels and teahouses, only these three locations drop skills. He didn’t even bother trying the others that required spending 1 point.

After all, he wasn’t short on money, only short on points.

Glancing at his dwindling points, Gu Qingyan gritted his teeth and directly exchanged 1000 reputation points for 100 skill points.

“To take, one must first give”—he understood this principle well.

Zhang Nian followed cautiously and only relaxed after Gu Qingyan left the red-light district.

She thought to herself that she had misunderstood her big brother—he really wasn’t curious or planning to go inside and play.

But Gu Qingyan suddenly turned around and asked, “A Nian, since you know Lingchuan County well, where else haven’t we been?”

Zhang Nian immediately felt conflicted.

Gu Qingyan, usually considerate, just pretended not to see her hesitation and continued wandering and checking in.

【You have successfully checked in at Lingchuan County Painting and Calligraphy Pavilion, gaining the Painter skill.】

【You have successfully checked in at the Barber’s Stall, gaining the Barber skill.】

【You have successfully checked in at the Winery, gaining the Brewing skill.】

【You have successfully checked in at the Dyeing Workshop, gaining the Dyeing skill.】

【You have successfully checked in at the Paper Mache Shop, gaining the Paper Mache skill.】

【You have successfully checked in at the Market Entrance, gaining the Executioner skill.】

Pfft, pfft, pfft—he had no interest in the Executioner skill at all.

Gu Qingyan pinched the bridge of his nose, counted the number of skills, and felt it was about enough. He could stop for now and go home to grind points and open the mall.

“All right, let’s go home,” Gu Qingyan finally stopped.

Zhang Nian felt like a great pardon had been granted and quickly nodded, “Let’s hurry home then.”

Turning the ox cart around, they dashed toward the city gate.

Just as they were leaving, Gu Qingyan grabbed the reins, “What’s that place over there?”

He pointed to a spot not far away.

Zhang Nian whispered, “That’s the Charity Morgue.”

Gu Qingyan raised an eyebrow. Before they even approached, the system flashed a clear prompt:

【You have discovered the Lingchuan County Charity Morgue. Consume 5 points to check in?】

Since he started discovering skills, most only cost 2 points, and the county school horse-riding instructor’s level skill cost just 3 points.

But this small morgue required 5 points!

Could there be hidden masters here?

Gu Qingyan’s curiosity was instantly piqued: “Let’s go take a look.”

“Brother Gu, that’s not good. The morgue is where dead bodies are kept, full of yin energy. People say you shouldn’t go near or you’ll catch bad luck.”

Gu Qingyan pulled out a smooth line, “I won’t go in, just take a look at the entrance.”

Zhang Nian frowned but could only drive the ox cart closer.

The big black ox didn’t like the morgue either; it stopped a few meters away and refused to get any closer.

Gu Qingyan jumped down and took a few steps to the check-in point.

【You have successfully checked in at Lingchuan County Charity Morgue, gaining the Forensic Examiner skill.】

Forensic examiner?

He didn’t expect that such a small place like Lingchuan County not only had a forensic examiner skill but a highly skilled one.

“Where did this kid come from? This isn’t a place to play. Go away, quickly,” a person appeared inside, white-haired, face covered in age spots, looking quite frightening at first glance.

Gu Qingyan hurriedly said, “Sorry, I’ll leave now.”

Just as he was about to leave, the person behind called out, “Wait.”

Gu Qingyan turned around suspiciously and met a pair of sharp eyes.

Old eyes, cloudy but still incredibly piercing.

“Is your surname Gu?” the old man asked.

Gu Qingyan was surprised, “You know me?”

The old man scrutinized him for a moment, then chuckled strangely, “The great benefactor of Lingchuan County, the young hero, of course I know you. Wait here.”

With that, he left the two of them and walked into the morgue.

Gu Qingyan was even more curious and wanted to follow, but Zhang Nian pulled him back.

“Brother Gu, you can’t go in. The morgue is very unlucky. If you go in and catch the yin energy and get sick, Liu Mama and the others will definitely worry.”

Zhang Nian was almost in tears, “If you keep this up, I won’t keep it a secret anymore. I’ll tell them as soon as we get home.”

“Heh, A Nian, you’re getting bad, learning to tattle now.”

Gu Qingyan tapped Zhang Nian’s forehead but stopped walking.

He wasn’t afraid of the bad yin energy inside or catching bad luck. He just didn’t want to go in and then cause Liu Mama and the others to worry again.

After fainting all night and frightening them, Gu Qingyan held back his impulsiveness.

“Brother Gu, let’s hurry and leave. That person looks spooky and scary,” Zhang Nian said.

Gu Qingyan whispered, “He told me to wait. Maybe there’s something. We won’t go in, but we’ll wait a bit longer.”

Zhang Nian could only wear a bitter expression and wait, but he refused to walk far, staying right by his side.

After quite a while, the old man finally came out. Though he was old, his movements were still quite agile.

“Here.” The old man tossed something over.

Gu Qingyan caught it in one hand. “Sir, what is this?”

The old man’s gaze scanned his face. “This is a relic your father left for you.”

“Huh? Something my father left behind?”

Gu Qingyan was even more surprised to hear that.

He had once seen in Gu Tongsheng’s obsession that Gu’s mother had caught a cold and, unwilling to take medicine at first, her condition worsened until she passed away.

After Gu’s mother died, Gu Tongsheng grieved so deeply he became ill and soon died too.

But he died at home, holding Li Jingtin’s hand and urging him to study hard, bring honor to the Gu family, and carry on their legacy.

If it was truly an obligation, why would Gu Tongsheng leave something to a mortician instead of to his own older brother, Gu Cunzhang?

“Believe it or not.” The old man snorted coldly. “Anyway, the thing is yours now. Don’t bother me again in the future.”

Gu Qingyan frowned and wanted to ask more, but the old man slammed the door shut with a bang.

He knocked hard on the door. “Sir, did my father leave any message?”

“What did he tell you back then?”

“Why…”

Unfortunately, the person inside refused to open the door, and from the sounds, he had gone back into the room.

Gu Qingyan held the object in his hand, puzzled and worried.

Zhang Nian whispered, “Gu big brother, let’s leave quickly. That old man is weird, maybe even crazy, probably lying and deceiving us.”

Gu Qingyan shook his head. “That can’t be.”

But he really couldn’t explain why Gu Tongsheng would leave something with a mortician.

This matter was never mentioned in Gu Tongsheng’s obsession either.

Filled with doubts, Gu Qingyan got on the ox cart and opened the small package in his hands.

The old man had wrapped it in common oiled paper, one layer over another, three layers total.

When Gu Qingyan peeled off the last layer, he was suddenly shocked.

“Ah!”

He threw the object away.

Zhang Nian instinctively reached out to catch it. When he saw what it was, he shivered all over.

“Gu, Gu big brother, what is this?”

In his hand was a sticky lump emitting a strange, foul smell.

Gu Qingyan pinched his nose and held out the oiled paper. “Put it back.”

Zhang Nian hurriedly put it back. “This can’t be a dead rat, can it? Gu big brother, throw it away quickly.”

“I knew that old man wasn’t a good person. He used Gu old master’s name to scare you.”

“Maybe that guy’s connected to bandits and was trying to frighten you to do their dirty work.”

Gu Qingyan, however, felt something was off.

Suppressing his nausea, he carefully examined the object.

“No, I think I’ve seen this before.”

Not in real life, but in the system tutorial — yes, in the medical tutorial.

“This… this is a placenta from childbirth!”

Zhang Nian covered his mouth. “Placenta? How disgusting. That guy really is a pervert.”

Gu Qingyan shook his head. “Placenta is also called ‘Zi Che He.’ In the clinic, it’s a medicinal herb. After proper processing, it should be fresh and yellow. But this placenta reeks and is obviously unprocessed, bundled up inside and left to ferment.”

“But why would he give me ‘Zi Che He’ like this? Clearly, it’s unusable as medicine.”

If Gu Tongsheng had given it, it was even more unreasonable. Although there was an old custom of using placenta as medicine, no father would preserve the placenta to leave it to his son.

Unable to figure it out, Gu Qingyan returned to the village and first asked his eldest uncle.

The village chief uncle said that Gu Tongsheng was a scholar and had no relationship with morticians, never mentioning any connection.

“I know the mortician you’re talking about. Unless the county officials summon him for a dead body, he usually stays at the mortuary and never goes out. Your father couldn’t have known that mortician.”

“Yanchao, now that you’re famous, maybe that old man heard rumors and deliberately scared you.”

“He’s always with the dead, full of evil energy. Don’t believe anything he says and don’t get close to him.”

Gu Qingyan’s confusion deepened even more.

As soon as Zhang Nian got home, he told Madam Liu all about Gu Qingyan running all over town and even sneaking into the mortuary.

That was trouble. Madam Liu started watching him like a hawk and forbade him from leaving the house until the county exam results came out.

She even said, “There are monsters in the mortuary that love to eat kids with soft, tender skin like you.”

Gu Qingyan couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. “Mom, I’m not a three-year-old. How could I believe that?”

“Whether you believe it or not, you have to listen. Anyway, you’re not allowed to go to places like that. An Nian already said that old man was acting all weird. Even the village chief said Gu Tongsheng couldn’t have known him at all. He’s definitely lying to you. You’re not allowed to go anymore,” Madam Liu insisted.

She even got Gu Wangqing and Gu Shuyan to come over to keep an eye on him.

“Qingqing, Yanyan, you two make sure he doesn’t slip away to the mortuary and catch bad luck.”

Gu Wangqing, being older, behaved a little better.

But Gu Shuyan just stuck right behind their big brother, following him everywhere, afraid he might go to the mortuary.

Gu Qingyan had no choice but to suppress his urge to visit the old man at the mortuary and focus on grinding points at home.

Diving deep into the sea of points, Gu Qingyan put that whole matter out of his mind.

The beginner skill lessons, done one-on-one, were too easy, and Gu Qingyan became completely obsessed with learning.

But as he kept studying, Gu Qingyan started to feel something was off.

They were all system skills, so why was the difference so huge?