Lin Yan woke up to the smell of smoke and damp earth.
His head throbbed like it had been split open by an axe. When he tried to sit up, a sharp pain shot through his chest, forcing him to gasp.
"…Where am I?"
The ceiling above him was low and dark, wooden beams blackened by years of smoke. Straw poked out from a mud wall riddled with cracks. There was no hospital bed, no white sheets—only a hard wooden plank covered by a thin, patched quilt.
This wasn't his rented apartment.
The last thing Lin Yan remembered was collapsing at his office desk after three straight nights of overtime. His screen had still been glowing with unfinished spreadsheets.
So why did his hands look thinner? Rougher?
Before he could think further, a flood of memories crashed into his mind.
—Great Zhou Dynasty.
—Qingshui Village.
—Original body: Lin Yan, age 17, weak, sickly, the eldest son of a farming family.
Lin Yan clenched his fists.
"I… transmigrated?"
The memories were painfully clear. His family owned three mu of poor land, barely enough to survive. His father had injured his leg last winter and could no longer do heavy labor. His mother worked herself to exhaustion weaving cloth. His younger sister was only nine, thin as a reed.
This morning, the original Lin Yan had fainted from hunger.
At that moment, the wooden door creaked open.
A woman with a tired face hurried in, holding a cracked bowl. Her clothes were patched so many times the original color was impossible to tell.
"Yan'er!" she cried softly. "You're awake?"
Mother.
Lin Yan swallowed. "Mother…"
The word slipped out naturally.
Relief flooded her face. "Thank the heavens. You scared me half to death."
She brought the bowl closer. Inside was thin millet porridge—so watery the grains barely floated.
"This is all we have for today," she said apologetically. "Your father will try to borrow some grain tomorrow."
Lin Yan felt a tight ache in his chest.
This wasn't dramatic poverty. This was the kind that quietly killed people.
Just as he took the bowl—
Ding.
A clear, mechanical voice sounded in his mind.
Ranch Development System binding…
Host detected: Lin Yan
Binding complete.
Lin Yan froze.
You have inherited a beginner ranch.
Initial land unlocked: 1 mu (barren)
Starter livestock: None
Starter crops: None
A translucent panel appeared before his eyes.
This was real.
Beginner Task Issued:
Improve family food situation
Requirement: Produce any edible food through the system
Reward: Chicken Coop (Basic) + 5 Chicks
Lin Yan's breath caught.
A ranch system. In an ancient world.
Not a god-tier cheat—but a path.
He looked at the bowl of porridge in his hands, then at his mother's exhausted face.
"I'll make things better," he said quietly.
She smiled gently, clearly thinking it was just a weak son comforting her.
But Lin Yan's eyes were steady.
In the distance, beyond the mud walls and empty fields, a future was beginning to take shape—one field, one animal, one harvest at a time.
And this time…
He would build everything with his own hands.