My Life Skill Proficiency

When Zhou An woke, a huge iron saber hung at his waist.

Black uniform.

Black cap.

Black boots.

Chaotic memories flooded into his mind, and Zhou An knew he had transmigrated.

It was now the tenth year of Great Chu.

His current identity was that of a black-clad constable in An Ding County, Great Chu.

His parents were both dead—the standard transmigration package.

"Before transmigrating, I had no father or mother. After transmigrating, I still have no father or mother. Brilliant."

Zhou An rubbed his dizzy head and struggled to his feet.

Yesterday, he had gone out drinking heavily with several colleagues. Today, he had come in still drunk to answer roll call, planning to catch a quick nap—only to nap himself to death.

Beside him, several colleagues lay sprawled across the tables, sleeping like dead pigs.

After sorting through the memories in his head for a while, Zhou An discovered that this world he had transmigrated into was far from simple.

In the tenth year of Great Chu, strange horrors had risen everywhere.

They were unspeakable, taking bizarre and unnatural forms.

The Xingwu Emperor had established the Demon Suppression Division to oversee the martial world and these strange horrors.

In short, it seemed very dangerous.

"I wanted to be a constable, collect my salary, marry a wife, and have children. Why does this feel so dangerous?"

Combining it with the memories in his mind, Zhou An found that these strange horrors were much like the ghosts from novels in his previous life.

And his current situation could be summed up in five words.

No money, no strength.

He had nothing at all; his little life was like duckweed with no roots.

Zhou An sat down expressionlessly and called out in his heart.

"System?"

There was no response.

"System Daddy?"

Still no response.

"System Son?"

Silence.

After repeatedly confirming it, Zhou An finally became certain that aside from the standard transmigration package, he had nothing else.

No, at least he had an official post, even if it was the lowest rank.

Put simply, he was a wage slave.

"Whatever."

Zhou An's head was still a little foggy. The dizziness after a hangover was the worst.

A whole circle of constables was still sprawled around him.

Zhou An folded his arms, laid his head on the table, and soon began to snore.

He slept until the afternoon.

When he woke groggily, his colleagues had risen before him and were busy with their own affairs.

—Chatting and drinking tea.

Patrol Constables worked in shifts. When it was not their turn, this place was simply a room for drinking tea and idly chatting.

"Old Zhou, you were bragging yesterday that you could drink a thousand cups without falling. Today, you slept later than anyone."

A young constable brought over some tea and set it beside Zhou An.

Zhou An picked it up and drank. It tasted mediocre, a little bitter. "Lao Yu, the lot of you took turns forcing drinks on me. Even the reincarnation of the God of Wine couldn't withstand that."

The young constable was named Yu Hang. He had grown up with Zhou An; they had played together since they wore crotchless pants, and they even lived next door to each other.

"Enough, enough. As if I don't know your drinking capacity. Go home first today—I still need to see the Private Tutor." Yu Hang waved a hand.

"You've been taking the Imperial Examination for three years, and you're still going to take it?" Zhou An refilled his cup.

As for Yu Hang, being a constable was only his side job. His real ambition was to pass the Imperial Examination and become an official.

Under the rules of the previous dynasty, constables could not take the Imperial Examination. Not only constables—many special professions were barred from it.

But the sword of the previous dynasty could not strike down the officials of the present one.

Ten years into his reign, the Xingwu Emperor had abolished the previous dynasty's rules. Anyone from Great Chu could take the Imperial Examination, and it had been changed into an annual event.

He had also abolished the cumbersome examination process. One only needed to take the annual unified examination, after which the emperor personally assigned posts according to the results.

This move stirred the hearts of countless people.

For a time, literary pursuits flourished.

Yu Hang used his salary to grease connections, living in extreme hardship. Most of his earnings went to the Private Tutor.

After every shift, he would secretly go cram.

As time passed, it had become a habit.

"I'd take it even if I had to do so for ten years. Enough talk—drink some tea to sober up. Since you're fine, I'm relieved. I'll go read for a while."

Yu Hang patted Zhou An on the shoulder, walked to a corner seat, took a worn book from his robes, and began reading with great interest.

Zhou An still felt a little headache, so he continued sleeping on the table.

This nap lasted until the end of the shift.

"I'm off, Old Zhou. We'll drink again next time."

"Quit bragging, Old Li. Who was it that collapsed after two cups yesterday?"

"I'd caught a chill. Normally, I could drink all ten of you under the table."

The end of a shift was always a happy thing.

Just like for wage slaves, the happiest time was always the weekend.

The colleagues bade each other farewell, and soon the building stood empty.

Zhou An and Yu Hang walked to the county office gates. Only then did Yu Hang clutch his book and leave alone.

"I'll buy some things and go home to cook."

Zhou An headed toward his house.

As the saying went, people were iron and food was steel; skip one meal and hunger would set in.

With Zhou An's current salary, going out for a small meal now and then was fine, but he could not afford to eat at restaurants every day.

On his way home, he passed through a small alley lined with all kinds of vendors.

Some sold vegetables, some rice, some oil.

Their cries rose and fell one after another.

The clamor of conversation surged like dust in the air.

The breath of the marketplace washed over him.

Zhou An bought half a jin of pork belly from a butcher's stall. He did not ask the vendor to mince it finely for filling, nor did he put on a performance of uprooting a weeping willow backwards.

He then bought some rice from a rice shop, haggled with a vegetable vendor for quite a while, and only then carried the vegetables, meat, and rice home.

Zhou An's house stood in a secluded lane, where very few people lived.

It was remote, but at least it was a nest.

His parents had left it to him, though he had not always lived there alone.

His aunt had lived with him.

His aunt was five chi tall, and her waist was five chi around as well, her face full of coarse flesh.

Having nowhere to live, she shamelessly moved into Zhou An's house.

Living there would have been one thing, but she also pointed fingers at everything and loafed around all day.

Zhou An's former self had been driven to splitting headaches by her. Every time he told his aunt to move out, she would cry, make a scene, and threaten to hang herself.

Of course, Zhou An had eventually succeeded in living alone.

His aunt had died. While pretending to hang herself one time, she accidentally kicked away the stool and was gone.

Her neck had fractured, and her spine had snapped.

It was a death so dramatic that even television dramas would not dare film it that way.

Zhou An had still done his duty. After arranging his aunt's funeral, he was the only one left in the house.

"Creeeak—"

The wooden door was pushed open, its sound hoarse and unpleasant.

The sun had set, and dusk had fallen.

Zhou An lit an oil lamp. After washing the vegetables, meat, and rice in the kitchen, he set the meat on the chopping board.

He had lived alone in his previous life too, so cooking came naturally to him.

He casually drew the kitchen knife standing nearby, intending to make some stir-fried meat.

The knife was a little dull. He could not cut off a single piece after trying for quite some time, so Zhou An picked up the whetstone and began sharpening it with water.

After grinding for a good while, he returned to the chopping board only once the blade reflected the light.

Many people did not know how to slice meat. The meat they cut was not only unattractive, but difficult to cut as well.

When slicing meat, one had to follow the grain. That made it easier to cut and less likely to fall apart.

Zhou An raised the kitchen knife and brought it down on the pork.

The sharpened blade was somewhat keener. With only a little effort, he sliced off a piece of pork.

Just as he was about to continue, a line of text appeared before his eyes, leaving him frozen on the spot.

Knife Skills lv.1: 1/10000