Newcomer Report

Douluo Calendar Year 2591, early spring.

Waterwood Principality, 160 li east of Mu Zhi City, Shan Hai Village.

Ling Xiaoshan shouldered his Hoe early in the morning and headed for the fields west of the village. Before he had even left the village, he heard a burst of shouting behind him:

"Xiaoshan! Xiaoshan—! Hurry back! Your wife's about to give birth—!"

"What—?" Ling Xiaoshan turned his head in a daze and looked at his childhood friend and brother-in-law, Zhang Dahe, hurrying over.

"What are you standing there for—!"

Zhang Dahe grabbed Ling Xiaoshan by the arm and ran back the way he had come. As he ran, he panted, "Hurry up. Your mother and my mother, and my wife too, are all tending to my sister. My father and your father are boiling water. They sent me to find you..." (Note 1)

The short dirt road through the village was covered in the time it took to exchange those few words, and the two arrived at the gate of Ling Xiaoshan's home.

Before he could enter, Ling Xiaoshan's father, Ling Changqing, spotted him, glared, and scolded:

"You little brat! Tell me, didn't we tell you not to go down to the fields these few days and to stay home to help? I can take care of the fields myself. You don't trust me, do you?"

"When I was farming, you damn well were still..."

"Uncle Changqing... Uncle Changqing! Xiaoshan was just afraid you'd wear yourself out..."

Zhang Dahe hurried forward to stop Ling Changqing, while at the same time signaling with his eyes to Ling Xiaoshan, who had his head tucked in. He spoke quickly, "Xiaoshan, hurry, go check the fire. See how the water's coming along—"

"Oh, oh~~" Ling Xiaoshan quickly nodded, then ran toward the kitchen.

Watching his son's flustered back, Ling Changqing shook his head helplessly. "That damned brat..."

"Uncle Changqing~" Zhang Dahe smiled at the side and said gently, "Xiaoshan is only seventeen, and it's his first time being a father. It's normal for him to be like this. Wasn't I the same two years ago—"

Nearly an hour later, with a clear, ringing cry, another perfectly ordinary little life was added to the perfectly ordinary village.

Inside a house built of earth and stone, with logs and thatch for a roof, the little life struggled to open his eyes. He was clearly a newborn, and by rights his eyesight should have been like that of someone severely nearsighted, yet he could clearly see everything before him.

His gaze swept over the stiff, awkward youth holding him, the middle-aged woman and young married woman leaning in beside him to stare, the middle-aged man and young man peering in from the doorway, and the weak, pale-faced girl on the bed. Then he gently clenched the tiny fist tucked inside his swaddling clothes, and a plain fact surfaced in his heart: A new life?

Somewhat tired, he closed his eyes and murmured softly in his heart, I've only just arrived. Please take care of me~

One month later, Shan Hai Village, Ling Xiaoshan's home.

The little life who had been named Ling Yi in this life slowly woke from deep sleep as the sun rose higher outside the house.

His clear black-and-white eyes shifted left and right, taking in the empty room at a glance. He listened closely. In the courtyard outside, there was the rhythmic sound of water, and other than that, no human voices. Ling Yi knew that his father, who had yet to turn eighteen, had probably gone to work in the fields with his 38 Years Old grandfather.

As for the sound of water outside, that should have been his mother in this life washing clothes. (Note 2)

Feeling the urge in his lower abdomen, as well as the hunger in his stomach, Ling Yi skillfully closed his eyes and opened his mouth. The next second, a full-throated "Waaah" carried toward the outside of the house.

The sound lasted only a few breaths before stopping, but his mother, Zhang Xiaoyu, pushed open the wooden door at once. As she walked toward Ling Yi on the bed, she wiped her hands, pale from being soaked in water, at her waist.

After his diaper had been changed, Ling Yi lay in his mother's arms, suckling his exclusive drink while pondering what kind of world this was.

For the past month, Ling Yi had spent the vast majority of his time sleeping. During the occasional moments when he was awake, he was either eating or having his diaper changed.

During this time, through scattered bits of conversation between his father and mother in this life, his grandfather and grandmother, and even his uncle's family next door, Ling Yi had confirmed that this was a world that used the Yan Huang Common Language. But as for exactly what kind of worldview it had, that still required investigation.

A baby's time passed slowly, because there was nothing to do but stare blankly.

A baby's time passed quickly, because drowsiness came easily, and after waking from a nap, dusk had arrived.

With the evening glow in the sky, Ling Xiaoshan shouldered his Hoe and returned home. The first thing he did was wash his hands and face. Then he poked his head in to look at his young wife busy in the kitchen before running into the room to look at his son on the bed, Ling Yi.

Their eyes met. Ling Yi looked at this father whose face was still somewhat youthful. His complexion was slightly dark, his skin a little rough, and only his mouthful of white teeth and his fairly clear eyes revealed the qualities someone his age ought to have.

As for Ling Xiaoshan, when he saw his son staring at him with bright eyes, he immediately grinned, baring his teeth and smiling until his eyes curved. The fatigue brought by a day's labor seemed to vanish.

Suddenly, Ling Yi's gaze paused, and he looked rather amusedly at the hair on his father's head. More precisely, at a blade of grass among that hair.

As if noticing Ling Yi's attention, Ling Xiaoshan raised a hand to touch the top of his head, pulled down a blue leaf, shook it in front of Ling Yi, and said happily, "Was Little Treasure reminding Daddy that there was this Blue Silver Grass leaf on my head?"

Good thing it isn't green grass...

Ling Yi silently rolled his eyes, but immediately after, he felt as though he had overlooked something.

After that, Ling Xiaoshan clumsily teased Ling Yi, while Ling Yi cooperatively opened his mouth, shifted his eyes, and grinned, teasing Ling Xiaoshan back and making him happy. Father and son both laughed happily, until Zhang Xiaoyu's call of "Time to eat!" ended this interaction.

During dinner, Ling Yi lay on the bed with his eyes closed, resting and recovering the energy he had spent playing with Ling Xiaoshan earlier.

At the table, the married couple, Ling Xiaoshan and Zhang Xiaoyu, each had a bowl of white rice and were eating with relish along with a dish of boiled greens.

In front of Zhang Xiaoyu was also a small bowl containing fish soup with a few flecks of oil floating on it. This fish had been caught by Ling Yi's uncle, Zhang Dahe, in a river several li outside the village and specially brought over to supplement the nursing Zhang Xiaoyu's nutrition.

Over the past month, as far as Ling Yi knew, Zhang Dahe had only successfully caught fish twice. The first time was two small fish the size of a palm, and the second time was only one fish, two fingers wide, which Zhang Xiaoyu had already stewed and reboiled repeatedly for three days.

Ling Yi was somewhat puzzled. In an era that clearly had iron tools like Hoes, why did catching a few fish still seem so difficult?

Although his brain was somewhat tired, Ling Yi's mind was rather active, and his thoughts were wandering freely when he heard his father, Ling Xiaoshan, recounting every detail of his earlier interaction with Ling Yi as if presenting treasures.

"Oh, right!"

Ling Xiaoshan took a blue blade of grass from his clothes, held it out in front of Zhang Xiaoyu, waved it, and said with a chuckle, "Look, just now Little Treasure saw this hanging on my head and kept staring at it, reminding me..."

Looking at the swaying blue in front of her, Zhang Xiaoyu put down the bowl she had emptied of fish soup, pursed her lips, and said in a soft, delicate voice, "Blue Silver Grass? You, honestly, when you're working..."

On the bed, Ling Yi suddenly opened both eyes, then narrowed them again and turned his head toward the dining table.

Note 1: The character relationships are relatively complex, so forms of address follow the habits the characters have had since childhood.

Note 2: Strictly speaking, after giving birth, women should observe postpartum confinement, but this is a supernatural world, so even the physical constitutions and recovery ability of Ordinary Persons should be a tiny bit better than in an ordinary real-world setting. (Probably. Let's happily set it that way.)

PS: I once heard the elders at home say that back when conditions were harsh, how could anyone properly observe postpartum confinement? They just went straight back to the fields to work. However, doing that really could cause a series of health problems for the mother later on, and it was very painful.