Zhao Family Village.
"Er Dan! Er Dan!"
A slightly anxious voice faintly reached Lu Chang'sheng's ears.
Where am I?
Why does it feel so sticky?
Why is it so stuffy?
Lu Chang'sheng tried hard to open his mouth, but the next moment, a rush of liquid flooded into his nostrils, making him almost pass out.
He snapped his eyes open, only to see a blur—his vision twisted and warped by the flowing river water, stinging his eyes and making them hurt like hell.
"Er Dan! Er Dan!"
He heard the shouts again and kicked his legs, struggling toward the water's surface.
Splash!
The moment he broke through the surface, cheers erupted from the riverbank.
A bunch of kids, their skin so tanned it looked like they'd rubbed charcoal over themselves, jumped up clapping.
Plop, plop!
Several of them dove straight into the water and swam over to Lu Chang'sheng, yanking him up onto the shore.
"What the hell happened to you? We almost thought the River Monkey took you!"
One of the kids, dark as pitch, said gruffly.
Lu Chang'sheng shook his head, feeling something swirling around in his brain. He wondered if he'd gotten water up there, but it didn't quite feel like that.
It was more like flashes of memory sliding by in front of his eyes, and bits and pieces started coming back to him.
"I'm fine, Black Monkey!"
This was the river just outside Zhao Family Village.
For kids around seven or eight like them, it wasn't just a place to play, but also somewhere to add a little protein to the family's table.
Even though the fish in the river would get scooped absolutely clean during the drought, once the rainy season came, plenty more would show up.
Big turtles, fat carp, longtail fish...
If you could catch even one, you could treat your family to a little meat for dinner.
In this ancient world of hard times, getting a bit of meat to eat was a real stroke of luck.
But because of the lay of the land, this stretch of river had a hell of a current.
There were always kids who went in and never came back up.
The grownups didn't ban the kids from fishing, but they'd tell them—if a kid didn't come back out, nobody else should go in searching.
Otherwise, you might get pulled under too.
That's why Wang Heihou and the others only jumped in after they saw Lu Chang'sheng come up.
What they didn't know was, the original Lu Erdan really had died. Now, there was a transmigrator's soul in this body.
"This world—"
Digging through the host's memories, Lu Chang'sheng's scalp tingled.
This body's background was way rougher than he'd thought.
He actually kinda missed his previous life. Sure, he'd been just another overworked 996 wage slave, but at least there was always food and a bed, right?
"Ah! I got it! I got one!"
A cheer went up.
The other kids looked over, envy written all over their faces.
Wang Heihou popped up in the water, holding out a hand with a palm-sized longtail fish flapping in his grasp.
That kid was skinny as a twig but sharp as a whip. He deftly slipped a few fingers through the fish's gills and hooked its mouth—no matter how it struggled, it wasn't getting away.
With all their years fishing, these kids had a kind of skill most grown men couldn't match.
This was the first catch of the day, and it set off the rest—splash after splash, heads bobbing up and down all over the river.
Too bad, though—catching a fish in this river wasn't easy.
By the time they were headed home, Wang Heihou was still the only one with a fish!
······
A bunch of kids swarmed around Wang Heihou as they headed back toward the village.
Only Lu Chang'sheng felt exhausted by all of it.
All for one fish!
"Hey~ Monkey caught a fish!"
"Yeah! Pretty awesome, right?"
"Awesome, awesome!"
People they passed would shower them with praise, their eyes full of envy and hunger as they eyed the fish in Wang Heihou's hand.
Wang Heihou proudly held his fish up high, strutting around the village in circles, showing off.
Lu Chang'sheng figured if he made a couple more laps, that fish would start to spoil.
"This world really sucks."
"Who knows how we'll keep on living after this."
He was about to head home, but suddenly the world in front of him lurched.
Then, a faint virtual panel appeared right before his eyes.
"Name: Lu Chang'sheng"
"Age: 9/55"
"Root Bone: 1/10 [Superior (Replaceable · Locked)] (Note: Visible talent grades: Inferior, Average, Common, Intermediate, Superior, Genius [Replaceable · Locked!])"
???
And then?
Lu Chang'sheng kept reading and saw another line below—
"You achieved the five-year-old milestone, and your Root Bone increased by 1 point!"
······
???
And then?
That's it?
The golden finger arrived and Lu Chang'sheng felt a joy rising up inside—but when he read these simple lines, he was chilled instead.
"This is my golden finger? A single Root Bone point every five years?"
He glanced at his age again.
Alright then!
His lifespan capped at 55!
Something was seriously off about this body!
Normally, barring disaster or accidents, no one's life should be so short.
Something was wrong!
"What, is it because this body's foundation is lousy, so the life span is cut short?"
Lu Chang'sheng muttered inwardly.
Most of the panel was taken up by 'locked' stats and options.
Lu Chang'sheng could only sigh—he'd just have to treat this as a mystery to look forward to.
The only thing that comforted him was—the Root Bone rating was actually marked as Superior!
"Even with all that stuff still locked, just going by my current Root Bone level, that means my talent isn't half-bad!"
Definitely has potential!
······
Lost in thought, he arrived at his house.
A simple courtyard built from piled stone—push open the gate, and you'd see some scattered farming tools.
His scrawny little sister, swimming in clothes meant for adults, heard a noise and came running out to ask if he'd caught any fish.
Lu Chang'sheng shook his head.
His sister's name was Lu Heitu.
Rumor had it, their mother was working in the fields when this girl just popped out, covered in mud from top to toe. Folks said no way she'd survive, but against all odds, she pulled through.
A lot of people figured Heitu was bad luck, saying she'd shown up to take revenge on the Lu Family.
Times like these, boys were valued way more than girls.
Boys grow up to work, marry, and bring in labor.
Girls just eat for more than a decade before they get married off, and then they're someone else's problem.
So when Lu Heitu survived, it didn't thrill their parents—in fact, it left them a little spooked.
At least the old folks had some kind of conscience—they didn't dump newborn Heitu in the river like some said they should.
And after a while, as Heitu grew up a bit, the family just kinda got used to having her around, life and death as it came.
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