Reborn and Awake

Reborn and Awake "Grrr..."

Early in the morning, Lu Qing woke to the rumbling of his stomach.

Feeling the hunger in his belly, he sighed and rubbed it.

"Growling won't help. Where am I supposed to find food now?"

Looking around at the dilapidated house that could only be described as bare to the four walls, Lu Qing gave a bitter smile.

Others transmigrated, and so did he, yet he could not even fill his stomach. What kind of situation was this?

He had already been lying in bed for two days.

Two days ago, when Lu Qing opened his eyes, he discovered that he had arrived in this strange world.

His clothes were tattered, he was skin and bones, and even his body had changed, becoming that of a boy around ten years old.

After spending some time figuring things out, Lu Qing understood his circumstances.

He had transmigrated.

He had been reborn into the body of a boy whose parents had just died. After selling off the family property to bury them, the boy, weakened by grief and hardship, had failed to endure a cold night.

Perhaps, for the original owner of this body, it had been a release instead.

After receiving the memories in his mind, that was Lu Qing's first thought.

For a boy barely in his teens, surviving in this world was far too difficult.

Death was not necessarily a bad thing.

Only...

"Big Brother, you're awake!"

Lu Qing's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a delighted cry.

He turned his head and saw a little girl of five or six standing in the doorway, holding a gray object in her hands and staring at him with a face full of joy.

The little girl scampered over to Lu Qing. "Big Brother, is your illness better?"

"Yes, it's better. Xiao Yan doesn't need to worry anymore." Lu Qing smiled.

"That's wonderful, Big Brother, you're finally better." Hearing that Lu Qing was fine, the little girl's eyes immediately reddened, and tears rolled down her cheeks. "For the past two days, your face was always red and burning hot, and you kept saying you were cold. I didn't know what to do. No matter how I called you, you wouldn't answer. I thought you were going to be like Father and Mother, leaving Xiao Yan behind too!"

Seeing the little girl cry, Lu Qing's heart ached.

For the past two days, he had been continuously merging with the memories in his mind. He appeared to be unconscious the entire time. Though he could barely sense the movements outside, his consciousness could not remain awake.

Other than waking briefly a few times in between, he had quickly fallen unconscious again.

Vaguely, he had heard the little girl crying and calling for him, but he had been unable to respond.

Lu Qing reached out and rubbed the little girl's dry, yellowing hair. "It's Big Brother's fault. Big Brother promises you that I won't get sick again and make Xiao Yan worry, all right?"

"All right." Xiao Yan smiled through her tears and held out her little hand. "Then let's pinky promise."

Lu Qing held out his little finger and linked it with Xiao Yan's.

"Pinky promise, pinky promise, never change for a hundred years. Whoever changes is a little dog!"

Once they had made the promise, Xiao Yan immediately became happy.

In her little head, once they had pinky promised, things would never change. From now on, Big Brother would never get sick again.

"Xiao Yan, what are you holding?"

Only then did Lu Qing notice the item in the little girl's hands.

"It's a bun. Big Brother doesn't recognize it anymore?" Xiao Yan held the gray object out to him with both hands and said happily, "Grandpa Zhang next door gave it to me. Xiao Yan didn't want to eat it all by herself, so I wanted to bring it back and share it with Big Brother. I didn't expect that as soon as I came back, I'd see that Big Brother was better."

"A bun?"

Lu Qing looked at the grayish thing. It was rather different from the buns in his memory.

But then he remembered that he was in another world and felt relieved.

Even the world was different, so what was strange about buns looking different?

As he pondered this, Lu Qing's gaze rested on the gray bun for a few seconds. Suddenly, a line of words appeared.

Mixed Grain Bun: Made by kneading together rice bran, wheat flour, and wild vegetables. Limited nutrition.

At the same time, the bun gave off a layer of gray light.

What was this? Lu Qing froze. He blinked, only to find that the line of words still hovered over the gray bun and had not disappeared.

So it wasn't an illusion...

Before Lu Qing could investigate further, Xiao Yan held the gray bun up to his mouth.

"Big Brother, eat it. You've only just recovered. Grandpa Chen said that after sick people get better, they need to eat to nourish their bodies."

Smelling the scent of grain coming from the gray bun, Lu Qing, who had long been starving, was once more swept through by hunger.

He did not stand on ceremony. After taking it, he tore off half and placed it back in Xiao Yan's hands.

"Yes, Xiao Yan should eat too."

He had not forgotten what the little girl had just said. Someone else had given her this bun, and she had wanted to bring it back to share with him.

Yet the little girl shook her head and stuffed the half bun back into Lu Qing's hand. "Big Brother should eat. Xiao Yan isn't hungry. Big Brother just got better, so you need to eat more for your body to recover quickly."

Though that was what she said, Lu Qing clearly saw her unconsciously swallow when she handed the bun back.

Looking at the dry, yellow hair on her head, his heart softened. He put the half bun back into her hands once again.

"Big Brother has only just recovered, so I can't eat too much at once, or my stomach won't be able to take it. So Xiao Yan should eat this half."

"Is that so?" Holding the half bun, the little girl tilted her head. "But that seems different from what Grandpa Chen said."

"Those recovering from a serious illness should not gorge themselves. If you don't believe me, ask Grandpa Chen next time and see whether that's true." Lu Qing said.

"All right." The little girl nodded, half understanding.

Yet she had not realized that a mere Mixed Grain Bun had nothing whatsoever to do with gorging oneself.

Lu Qing seized the chance to keep coaxing her. "Since Big Brother can't finish it, Xiao Yan can eat with Big Brother. Otherwise, the bun will get cold and won't taste good."

"Mhm!" Xiao Yan nodded heavily. "Since Big Brother can't finish it, Xiao Yan will help Big Brother eat it."

And so the brother and sister each held half a bun, happily gnawing away.

Before long, Lu Qing finished his half. At last, there was something to cushion his empty stomach, and a trace of warmth rose from his belly, lifting his spirits considerably.

To be fair, the bun did not taste very good, but it was solid and quite large.

Thus, even half of one eased Lu Qing's hunger somewhat. He was no longer so hungry that his head spun and his limbs went weak.

Seeing Xiao Yan still diligently nibbling at her bun, Lu Qing did not disturb her. Instead, he turned his attention to something else.

He recalled the line of words that had appeared over the bun earlier.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Qing stood up, walked to the table, and picked up a chipped bowl.

He held it before his eyes and stared at it quietly.

Then, a few seconds later, he saw a layer of gray light appear over the bowl, along with a line of words.

Broken Pottery Bowl: A broken pottery bowl. It appears to be rather unclean.

Just as I thought, a faint smile appeared on Lu Qing's face.