Unbelievable!

Tang Family Village had originally been nothing more than an ordinary village.

Its only distinguishing feature was that it lay on the edge of Iron Mountain Forest, close enough to the newly developed Iron Mountain Mining Area.

As more and more workers flooded into the mining area, the families of convicts, traveling merchants, and passersby coming and going through this place gradually increased as well.

In just a few years, people from every trade and walk of life had, for all sorts of reasons, willingly or unwillingly chosen to settle here.

By now, though the place was still called "Tang Family Village,"

it had in truth long since developed into a fairly sizable town!

Leaving aside the vast stretches of farmland, even the residential district within Tang Family Village had become so bustling that it was nearly comparable to a proper county town!

Present-day Tang Family Village could roughly be divided into two areas: east and west.

Those living in the western part were mostly relatives of convicts with neither strength nor connections, along with lowly laborers scraping by with their belts pulled tight.

On top of that, their status as "convicts' relatives" meant that every move they made was watched through the colored glasses of prejudice.

Should they show the slightest hint of anything strange, the villagers would immediately report them to the authorities and have them arrested!

Thus, the families of mining slaves in the western village almost all lived with utmost caution, as though treading on thin ice.

By comparison, those living in the eastern part were mostly relatively well-off. Even the poorest among them were small merchants and peddlers who could at least fill their bellies.

The families of overseers and stewards, in particular, lived quite comfortably.

These people were regular patrons of the newly opened taverns, singing houses, and even the gambling dens and brothels hidden in dark alleys.

"Finally, we're here!"

The moment they stepped through the village gates, the mining slaves all heaved sighs of relief.

"Hiss, my feet... I can barely feel them anymore!"

"If it weren't to get another look at my nearly hundred-day-old baby, I wouldn't suffer through walking around in these shackles."

"Tch, what are you showing off for? Who knows whether that baby is even your seed?"

"Hahaha! If you ask me, even if the baby is yours, your wife has probably already climbed into someone else's bed!"

"Spouting your mother's dog-shit nonsense!"

The man grew furious, red-eyed as he rolled up his sleeves.

"What, you want to hit someone? Come on, come on! So long as you're not afraid of the whip, I'll let you hit me to your heart's content!"

For the mining slaves, the rules of Iron Mountain Mining Area applied just the same outside it.

"You... Hmph, I won't stoop to your level!"

"Tch, coward!"

After the dispute, for some reason, both sides tacitly turned to look at a youth in the group.

That youth was Qin Yao!

After all, Qin Yao had truly dared to fight for his pride. He would rather suffer the whip himself than stop before beating Zhao Jian until he vomited!

Before long, Captain Yang ordered several subordinates to untie the hemp ropes that had linked the mining slaves together.

But the shackles on the mining slaves' feet had to remain on.

Once ordinary people wore these things, escaping was about as impossible as growing wings and flying away.

After all, those pure iron shackles were thick and heavy. Without a key, removing them without causing a disturbance was absolutely impossible...

Captain Yang drew his breath down to his dantian and bellowed, "Listen up, all of you! By the third sounding of the gong tomorrow, you must all gather here.

"Anyone late by a single breath gets five lashes!

"Anyone more than ten breaths late will be treated as an escaped prisoner, and their family will share the guilt!

"Dismissed."

Based on the address his younger sister had described during her visit, Qin Yao headed toward a ramshackle little courtyard.

The so-called "courtyard wall" was nothing more than a few old, broken wooden fences, while the gate was the kind crudely tied together from bamboo poles.

Three small sticks of roughly equal length had been stuck into the thatched roof over the entrance—this was the "marker" his younger sister Qin Lan had mentioned.

Night had already fallen. Qin Yao feared that knocking rashly on the courtyard gate would disturb his grandfather and sister at rest.

So he walked up to the entrance himself. "Eh? The gate isn't locked?

"Then again, even if a thief came to this house now, he'd probably walk around once and leave in tears.

"It's too poor!

"'Bare walls on every side' is absolutely the most fitting description for us, now that we've just settled down in Tang Village!"

After laughing at himself, Qin Yao gave a gentle push, and the bamboo gate opened.

He had only taken a few steps when he heard voices from inside.

"Grandpa, have another couple of bites. You've been tired all day!"

It was his younger sister Qin Lan's anxious voice, tinged with tears.

"No, Grandpa is old. My appetite is small, and I never eat much to begin with."

This time, it was his grandfather Qin Dashan's voice. "Be good, Lan'er. Eat half the remaining porridge, then save the other half to bring to your brother tomorrow.

"Your brother does the heaviest work in the mines. If he eats too little, his body won't be able to endure it..."

"Mhm, mhm, Lan'er knows. Lan'er will only eat fi... four bites. The rest will all go to Brother."

Qin Lan nodded obediently, then said, "Then tomorrow, I'll still go into the mining area with Auntie Liu and the others."

Suddenly, with a creak, the door flew open.

"Grandpa, Lan'er, I'm back!"

"Yao'er? You... you came back?!"

Qin Dashan was overwhelmed with joyful surprise.

"Brother?" His younger sister Qin Lan rubbed her eyes in disbelief, then stared again.

Her brother was still there.

And he seemed to have grown a little taller than when she had seen him in the mine shack that morning?

"Brother! It really is you!"

After freezing for a moment, Qin Lan happily stepped forward and pushed her little hands, still holding a bowl of porridge, toward Qin Yao. "Brother, you came back at just the right time. Hurry and eat—it's still hot!"

Qin Yao looked at the distinct grains floating in the watery porridge. Then he remembered the conversation between his grandfather Qin Dashan and younger sister Qin Lan before he had entered, and his nose could not help stinging.

Ever since his soul had crossed into this body three years ago, his grandfather and younger sister had always saved the best things for him.

For three years, they had never eaten their fill, nor had they ever been willing to buy even a single new garment.

Almost all their money had been spent supporting his studies.

And now, for his sake, they had come to this hellish place to suffer...

Seeing Qin Yao's eyes suddenly moisten, Qin Dashan thought his grandson had suffered in the mine pit and immediately came over to comfort him. "Good child, you've suffered.

"Come, sit down and eat! Lan'er told me everything when she came back.

"Ah, Grandpa is old and useless. It would have been one thing if I couldn't get you easier work, but you had to go down into the mine on your very first day!

"That Steward Wang is no good. He took the money and didn't do the job..."

By the end, the old man's voice was filled with self-reproach and helplessness.

"Grandpa, don't say any more. It's not your fault."

Qin Yao tightly gripped his grandfather's cold, rough hand. "It's this grandson who is useless, dragging you and Lanlan down with me."

"I awakened... Ahem, I mean, things will definitely get better for us from now on!"

Qin Yao swallowed the words that had risen to his lips.

The matter of the system cannot be revealed.

My sister is still young, and Grandpa is far too honest.

If the two of them accidentally let someone pry the information out of them, the consequences would be unthinkable!

So Qin Yao took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the bitterness and fury in his heart. He tried his best to put on an easy smile and said, "Don't worry, Grandpa. After going down into the mine, I found the work came naturally to hand. It actually felt pretty good!"

"Nonsense!"

Qin Dashan shot Qin Yao an indulgent glare. "Grandpa may be old, but I'm not stupid!

"Anyone doing hard labor in the mine for the first time loses half their life to exhaustion. How could it possibly 'feel pretty good'?

"Child, don't say such foolish things again in the future just to comfort this old man!"

"It's true, Grandpa!"

Qin Yao set the bowl aside and took two large coarse cakes from his robe.

One was larger, while the other was a little smaller.

"Look, Grandpa. This is the extra food I got because I worked well!

"This piece is for you, and this one is for Lan'er."

"Ah? This..."

Qin Dashan and Qin Lan both froze, their eyes gleaming with an unbelievable light.