Chapter 1: A World-Shattering Situation

“Yao… Niu…”

An old, weak woman’s voice drifted in from the other side of the wall.

Yu Nuan held her forehead and gave a wry smile…

She had transmigrated into this world less than half an hour ago and was still feeling dazed and overwhelmed.

Then she found out that the original body’s elderly mother might be going into labor!

Nearly sixty years old—old enough to be her grandmother!

This was just absurd—like playing the erhu with your pants down. Complete nonsense…

She touched the rag tied around her forehead; the blood had already clotted.

Her head was still spinning, likely due to blood loss.

Another broken groan came from beyond the wall.

Yu Nuan sighed and dragged her weak and trembling legs over to check on her.

The door was made from a few planks of wood pieced together, with gaps at the top and bottom that let in the wind.

Creak—

A few tufts of straw stuffed in the doorway tumbled to the ground.

Yu Nuan pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The mud-brick house was tightly enclosed, with no light able to shine through. Even the last rays of dusk couldn’t make it in.

The floor was uneven and full of pits and holes.

Yu Nuan crept toward the sound of the woman’s heavy breathing.

“Yao Niu~”

The woman’s voice rang out again!

“I’m here!”

Just as Yu Nuan reached the bedside, a rough, branch-like hand grabbed her hard.

“Ah!!” She jumped in fright and quickly patted her chest to calm herself down.

Newly arrived in this completely unfamiliar world with unfamiliar people, the panic in her heart easily outweighed the joy of coming back to life.

“Where’s your father gone? Your mother can’t bear this pain anymore… hisss…”

The woman gasped heavily, her grip tightening in pain.

Yu Nuan winced from the pressure.

From common sense, this was clearly the start of labor contractions.

To be giving birth at her age—it was terrifying to think something might go wrong with this old mother.

Peh, peh, peh—she spat metaphorically, scolding herself for cursing someone like that in her heart.

She quickly knocked a few imaginary little wooden fish in her mind to ward off bad thoughts.

“Hang in there. Where’s the candle?”

She tried to pull her wrist free but was gripped tightly, forcing her to grit her teeth and ask through the pain.

The old woman, Yu Mother, was in such pain she could only moan incoherently: “Aiya~ aiya~”

Seeing this,

Yu Nuan had no choice but to forcefully pry open her fingers.

She groped around the bedside and found a piece of metal and a hard stone.

It wasn’t fully dark outside yet, so she ran out to examine them.

She held a palm-sized, sickle-shaped piece of iron, with one end wrapped in cloth.

Inside the cloth was something that smelled like mugwort—mugwort fluff, most likely.

There was also a small, worn piece of stone.

Wait a minute…

Did they expect her to make fire by striking stones together?!

Just then, a louder cry of pain from inside interrupted her thoughts.

She put away the metal piece and, following her memory, ran to the stove room at the corner on the right.

The stove room had gaps on all sides, letting in a bit of light.

She picked up a few sticks of firewood and some pine needles, then rushed back to Yu Mother’s room.

The room was empty and bare.

Thinking fast, she decided to make fire on the spot.

She placed the mugwort fluff on the stone and struck it with the iron piece. After a few hits, sparks flew.

Marvelling at the ancient wisdom of survival, she quickly tossed the kindling into the pine needles and firewood.

Whoosh whoosh—the fire roared to life.

“Ahhh!!!”

Yu Mother’s shrill cry echoed at the same time.

Maybe because the room was small and dark, the fire rose up high like a serpent.

In the flickering light, Yu Nuan saw the old woman on the bed, drenched in sweat and with her legs bent.

And then, a scene she’d never witnessed in her life—a bluish, sticky lump of flesh still attached to the placenta!

Stunned,

She watched as Yu Mother’s shriveled, blackened hand grabbed the umbilical cord and, with her thick, hard brown fingernails, snapped it off!

Yu Nuan shuddered in fear and nearly dropped the fire starter in her hand.

“This…”

Good lord…

Still dazed, she stepped forward with trembling hands and tore open the membrane covering the newborn.

She remembered their family’s old dog used to lick off this membrane when giving birth.

Logically, it needed to be removed.

Once she peeled it off, the baby’s bluish face lightened a bit.

But the mouth remained tightly shut. She reached out carefully to check—thankfully, he was still breathing!

She glanced at the terribly ugly and soft-as-mush little baby boy.

She hesitated to pick him up, afraid he might fall apart in her hands.

So she simply reached out and lightly patted his little butt.

“Wuu~” A faint whimper finally came from him.

She wrapped the baby in the swaddle cloth that Yu Mother had set aside earlier. Her hands were clumsy, so the wrap was loose and saggy.

When she looked down, the baby had already slid down to the bottom. Startled, she quickly used a few fingers to hoist him back up.

Then, she carefully placed the bundle into Yu Mother’s arms and tucked the quilt corners around her.

Yu Mother’s eyes were unfocused, her pupils clouded over with a milky-white film.

Her graying hair was drenched in sweat and stuck to her cheeks.

Her trembling hands reached out to feel the baby in her arms, and she sighed softly, “Such a sin…”

Isn’t it just…

Yu Nuan didn’t even have the strength to comment anymore.

Yu Mother’s breathing was faint.

The baby’s mouth was still tightly shut.

He was wrapped in only a thin layer of swaddle—thankfully, the weather was warm.

Otherwise, after just stepping out of the Hall of Angels, he’d be headed straight for the gates of hell!

“Yao Niu…”

At that moment, Yu Father finally stumbled in.

His cheeks were sunken, his eyes deeply set and clouded.

The lines around his mouth drooped down; his hair was entirely gray.

His face was dotted with age spots.

He looked just as old and frail as Yu Mother.

His clothes were a dull, ashen gray, patched here and there with mismatched fabric.

In the flickering firelight, Yu Father’s emaciated form looked slightly eerie.

Nothing like the kindly, amiable grandparents from her past life.

He looked more like a poor, cruel man from deep in the mountains buying a child bride. Yu Nuan’s sense of dread spiked instantly.

She saw he was leaning heavily on a wooden stick for support, and in his other hand, he held a torn cloth bag.

From her angle, Yu Nuan spotted a piece of brown sugar inside.

“Was it born?”

The next moment,

His eyes, taut with anxiety, flicked between Yu Mother on the bed and the small, blanket-wrapped bundle.

There was a flicker of bitterness in his gaze, and the corner of his mouth twisted into a pained smile, deepening the wrinkles on his face.

Watching the old man in the firelight, Yu Nuan sighed inwardly: hair gone white, teeth nearly all fallen out, and still able to have children…

Truly… life finds a way.

She said nothing, just stepped forward and took the piece of brown sugar from his hand, quickly turning to leave.

She headed toward the thatched kitchen.

She glanced back—

Seeing that Yu Father didn’t follow, she pulled out the firestarter and lit a torch.

“Sigh… this house is bare to the bones.”

The kitchen had only a cracked pot…

A mud-built stove…

A wooden bucket and a wooden ladle beside it.

And a stack of firewood.

The walls were blackened with soot and smoke; the original color of the dirt couldn’t even be seen anymore…

Several wooden pegs were hammered into the walls, with a few dusty burlap sacks hanging from them.

The kitchen was so cramped it could barely fit two people turning around.

She walked to a corner, felt one of the cloth bags, and took it down.

Grabbing a handful—

It was a mix of coarse grains.

Brown rice, wheat, and just a few grains of white rice. All of it was already hulled.

That small bag probably held the best food the family had.

She used the wooden ladle to scoop half a ladle of water.

Grabbed two handfuls of the mixed grains, gave them a quick rinse in the ladle, and dumped them into the pot.

Time to start a fire and cook some porridge!

Yu Mother’s body needed quick nourishment.

And that baby, just born and already hungry.

She didn’t know if Yu Mother would even have milk to feed the child.

Sigh…

Once steam began to rise from the pot, her hand paused over the sugar.

Looking around, she saw no oil or salt on the stove—it seemed the brown sugar was the only flavorful thing in the house.

She stared at the palm-sized piece of brown sugar, not daring to use too much.

She found a vegetable knife and chopped off a small bit to toss into the pot.

Just then, the limping old man entered the kitchen.

“Yao Niu.”

“Hey, make a bowl of brown sugar water first and give it to the little one. That child’s so hungry he’s about to stop breathing…”

Yu Father’s face was full of worry. Having a child at such an old age in a family this poor was truly a life-and-death matter…

In the past, war and famine had reduced their family line.

Now, he was the last remaining descendant.

He’d always believed in the idea that more children meant a stronger family. If he just kept trying, at least one would survive…

But now…

Even with the child born, there was no telling if it would live…

“Alright, give me a bowl.”

Yu Nuan skimmed off the floating husks and sugarcane residue, carefully scooped out half a small bowl of sugar water, and handed it to Yu Father.

Then she added another bowl of water to the pot to keep it simmering.

“Add a little more sugar. You drink some too.”

Yu Father held the bowl in one hand and leaned on his bad leg, turning his head to look at her as he spoke.