Song Kingdom, Ping'an County, Xu Family Village.
Beneath the old banyan tree at the village entrance, several farmwives sat chatting.
It was already the eleventh month of the year, and the last batch of late-ripening radishes had been stored in the cellar.
The fields were resting, and the farmers had some free time too.
Jiang Fu'an, however, hadn't let himself sit idle.
He reckoned the first snow of the year was just around the corner, so he needed to head into the mountains a few more times before it fell and hunt some game to stock up.
The three children at home were growing like weeds. Their little mouths were calling for food all day long, and he couldn't let them go hungry.
That afternoon, he had just reached the village entrance with two brightly feathered pheasants in hand when he heard a commotion coming from the threshing ground.
"Big geese! Big chickens! Peck them hard! Don't let them get away!"
He recognized one of the shrill, bright voices loud and clear.
It belonged to his second daughter, Yue'er.
Jiang Fu'an furrowed his brow and quickened his pace.
He rounded a haystack, and the sight before him made him stop in surprise.
A full-blown "battle" was unfolding on his family's threshing ground.
On one side were six boys around seven or eight years old. They looked familiar, like they were from the neighboring village.
On the other were more than a dozen white geese, necks outstretched and looking fierce, along with two glossy-feathered roosters.
The boys were being chased all over the place, each of them hunching over and covering his head as he yelped.
Most of the commotion he'd heard had come from them.
Three small figures stood in a row beside the threshing ground.
One boy, around seven or eight, and two girls, around five or six.
They were Jiang Fu'an's three children.
His second daughter, Yue'er, was waving her little fists and loudly directing the geese and roosters in "battle."
Seeing the scene, Jiang Fu'an's anger flared. He barked, "Yue'er! Who told you to egg the geese on to bite people?"
Yue'er turned at the sound of his voice. When she saw her father, she pouted and pointed at the bedraggled boys to tattle.
"Dad! They teamed up to bully my little brother first! I only told the geese to help!"
His eldest daughter, Seedling, who was a little taller, hurried to intervene.
"Stop talking. Look, Dad's angry. Hurry and call the geese back."
Yue'er glanced at her father's darkening face. Though reluctant, she turned and ran after the geese.
Watching his daughter's back, Jiang Fu'an sighed inwardly.
Kids were fun when they were little. Once they grew up, they really knew how to give you a headache.
He turned and handed the pheasants to the hunched old man who had accompanied him.
"Uncle Xu, sorry for the trouble. Take this game home and ask Wanqing to stew it. I need to give these handful a proper scolding."
Uncle Xu took the pheasants and smiled warmly.
"Master, children are always lively at that age. It's a good thing they've got energy. Don't get too angry."
With that, he carried the game toward a nearby courtyard with blue-brick walls.
Jiang Fu'an turned his gaze to Seedling. She was usually the most sensible and levelheaded one, yet today she had joined in too.
His voice carried a note of displeasure.
"Seedling, you usually know better. Why didn't you stop Yue'er from making trouble this time?"
Seedling explained without the slightest panic.
"Dad, I did try. Yue'er wanted to send Big Yellow to bite them, but I stopped her.
"The roosters and geese can hurt when they peck, but they won't leave anyone badly injured.
"I just wanted those boys to learn their lesson, so they wouldn't keep bullying Stone."
Jiang Fu'an glanced at the sturdy dog at his feet, wagging its tail at him, and couldn't help the corner of his mouth twitching.
Yue'er was getting more and more unruly.
If she'd really sent the dog after them, someone might have died today.
He decided he would give the girl a proper scolding later.
Then Jiang Fu'an looked at his youngest son. Though sturdy for his age, the boy was the youngest of the three. Jiang Fu'an softened his voice.
"Stone, why did they hit you?"
His youngest son was always honest and the least likely to give him trouble.
Jiang Fu'an didn't believe he'd started anything, so he spoke gently.
Stone lifted his little face, looking aggrieved.
"At school today, Second Dog argued with me. He insisted people only eat two meals a day.
"I said our family eats three meals, but he didn't believe me. He said I was bragging and hit me first.
"Then he couldn't beat me, so he called those other boys and ambushed me on the way home..."
Jiang Fu'an's expression turned strange as he listened.
He hadn't expected that to be the cause.
Come to think of it, he was partly responsible.
Jiang Fu'an was a transmigrator. He had already spent a full eight years in this world, which was much like the ancient world of his previous life.
Grain yields were low here, so farm families generally ate only two meals a day, breakfast and dinner, to save money.
But Jiang Fu'an had never gotten used to it. If he skipped lunch, he felt faint with hunger.
Once he had established himself and built up some savings, he had gone back to eating three meals a day.
Stone had been raised on three meals a day ever since he was born.
In the little boy's mind, everyone in the world naturally ought to eat three meals a day.
Though Stone was honest, he was stubborn to the core and stuck to what he believed.
It was no surprise that he'd argue with someone over "how many meals people eat a day."
"Dad! What tasty things did you prepare for tonight's birthday feast?"
A bright voice came closer. Yue'er ran back, leading a whole "army of victors" at a brisk trot.
She was grinning from ear to ear, completely unaware that she had nearly caused a disaster.
Jiang Fu'an put on a stern face and pretended to scold her.
"All you think about is food! Do you know how much trouble you nearly caused today? Just wait till I tell your mother!"
The radiant smile on Yue'er's face froze at once.
She sprang forward, grabbed Jiang Fu'an's arm, and shook it hard.
"Dad! I was wrong! Please don't tell Mom! I promise I'll listen from now on. If you tell me to go east, I won't go west!"
When Jiang Fu'an had transmigrated, he had been only twenty-two years old.
By the standards of his previous life, he was still a "baby."
Even after starting a family and having children here, he hadn't been ready to be a father.
Most of the time, he acted more like a playmate, fooling around with the children. He rarely put on a stern face to lecture them.
As a result, all three children were close to him, but they weren't all that afraid of him.
But today's incident touched on the biggest secret he carried in his heart—his golden finger, which had come with his transmigration.
He reckoned it was time to sit the children down, talk things through, and lay down some rules.
"Come with me!"
Still wearing a stern expression, he clasped his hands behind his back and headed out of the village.
The three children glanced at one another. None dared ask a question. With their heads hanging, they obediently followed behind him.
Jiang Fu'an chose the path that led to the fields.
The crops had all been harvested by this time of year. The field paths were empty, with no one in sight.
He was afraid someone might overhear what he was about to say if they stayed in the village.
As for his golden finger, it was actually a white ball of light in his mind.
When he had first transmigrated, the light ball had contained a stretch of barren land, utterly empty.
Only a few lines of Chinese characters from his previous life floated across its surface:
[Ancestral Home Lv. 0]
[Upgrade requirement: Marry a wife]
His original body's family wasn't especially well-off. They had eighty mu of poor farmland, just enough to get by, with hardly any money left over.
Fortunately, getting married in this world didn't require a new house, a set of wedding gifts, or an exorbitant bride price.
Jiang Fu'an was hardworking and handsome, and in little more than a month, he had married a kind, hardworking wife from the neighboring village.
On their wedding night, the ball of light in his mind gave a slight tremor and successfully advanced to level one.
The upgraded golden finger filled him with hope for the future.
[Ancestral Home Lv. 1]
[Inherited for: 1 year]
[Buildings owned]
[Bedroom (Selective Breeding): Offspring conceived in the bedroom have a greatly increased chance of possessing a Spiritual Root, a destiny, or a special constitution]
[Personal rewards]
[Lifespan: +10 years]
[Copy charges: +1 (used to copy an offspring's destiny or special constitution)]
[Upgrade requirement: Have a child with a Spiritual Root of three or more attributes and raise them to the age of seven]
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