Me, Trying My Best to Be a Salted Fish, Chose... Check-in

Xiao Family Back Mountain

Dawn was just breaking. Pale mist shrouded the view below the mountain, making the small house down there seem hidden among white clouds in the heavens.

"Chang'e in the Moon has her home in the moon, Phoenix spreads its wings and roams to the ends of the world.

At the ends of the earth and the corners of the sea, we often think of one another, and beneath the universe, Conjoined Blossoms bloom with joy."

"Weeping Willows on all sides, lotus flowers for ten miles; I ask the clouds where the blossoms are most plentiful, south of the painted tower, the evening sun is gentle.

The weather has just turned cool and people grow lonely; time must be worn away with wine, so come among the flowers and listen to Sheng and Song."

On the grassy mountaintop, a soft, clear chant drifted over with the wind.

"Ah, another miserable day!" the young man muttered, though with a foxtail grass stem between his teeth, his words came out a little muffled.

Beside the young man was another youth dressed in black. At that moment, he sat cross-legged on a protruding rock. His chest rose and fell slightly, carrying a faint rhythm, and with each breath in and out, a hint of unusual airflow could vaguely be seen.

Perhaps it was the young man's sigh that startled the black-clothed youth awake. He turned his head to look at him and could not help grumbling, "Brother Yun, I don't mean to criticize you, but you get up so early every day. Can't you put in a little proper effort?"

"Xiao Yanzi, I don't mean to criticize you, but people can only live an easy and carefree life if they don't fight or compete."

The young man lying on the grass narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke indifferently.

"Tch. Say that to a ghost, and even the ghost wouldn't believe you, right?" The black-clothed youth curled his lip, then gave a soft snort and said, "Also... how many times have I told you? Don't call me Xiao Yanzi!"

A trace of helplessness hung on Xiao Yan's face.

Brother Yun's full name was Lin Qingyun.

He was a few months older than him. Though he was only an outsider clan member, everyone in the Xiao family acknowledged him.

Brother Yun was very smart, with an outrageously sharp mind. In the eight years since he had come to the Xiao family, he had brought earth-shaking changes to the entire clan.

Putting aside overall strength, in economic power alone, they crushed the other two major clans.

That made Xiao Yan, who was also a transmigrator, feel rather ashamed of his own inferiority.

The only pity was that Brother Yun had been born with blocked meridians and could not cultivate.

"If Brother Yun's meridians weren't blocked, with his talent, he'd definitely be able to surpass me!" Looking at Lin Qingyun's lazy appearance, Xiao Yan sighed inwardly.

"Not call you Xiao Yanzi..." Lin Qingyun thought about it, then suddenly looked surprised. "Could it be I should call you Yan'er?"

"..." Xiao Yan was utterly speechless. "Forget it. Just call me Xiao Yanzi."

"Brother Yun, I'll go practice that Fighting Skill I just learned yesterday first. Later, we'll go to the training ground together."

As he spoke, Xiao Yan waved a hand, jumped down from the rock, found a relatively flat spot, and assumed a stance.

These movements were very strange, somewhat slow and stiff, but if one looked carefully, the transitions had quite a bit of a smooth, flowing feel.

"As the saying goes, thirty percent is decided by heaven, seventy percent relies on hard work... ninety percent relies on a Golden Finger... one hundred percent relies on cheats... as expected of the protagonist of Dou Qi Continent. He's different... he has two of them. No, he has all of them."

Turning his head and watching Xiao Yan seriously practice the Fighting Skill, Lin Qingyun's face looked a little sour.

And not just a little—it was the kind of sour that came from eating a whole basketful.

They were both transmigrators, so why was the treatment so much worse for him?

Born into a great clan, Dou Di bloodline, and he even had an Old Grandpa in the Ring!

Although this Old Grandpa had made Xiao Yan bear the title of trash right now, still... that was better than having nothing!

"Ah, comparing yourself to others really can make you die of anger!"

Lin Qingyun let out a long, faint sigh.

He and Xiao Yan were both transmigrators, but their two Earths were different, and their histories were different too.

Of course, the outcomes they brought were different as well.

He had been born with blocked meridians and could not cultivate.

Before he was seven, in the first few months after he transmigrated, he had still been a beggar. If not for being taken in by the Xiao family's Fourth Elder, he would probably be, at most, a beggar boss by now!

Xiao Yan, however, was a genius.

"I'd believe you, my ass, you lousy old bastard, wicked as hell!" Lin Qingyun suddenly cursed loudly at the sky.

In his previous life, as an upstanding young man of the twenty-first century who worshiped science, he naturally did not believe in something as mysterious as fortune-telling.

Until the moment before he transmigrated, when a Strange Old Man grabbed him and, without allowing any explanation, told his fortune.

He said that good luck would come today.

In the end...

With one careless moment...

He transmigrated.

Wasn't that bizarre? But that was how it was.

After venting loudly and recklessly for a bit, Lin Qingyun finally quieted down and sighed faintly. "They didn't even give me a Golden Finger. How am I supposed to play this?"

They were both transmigrators, but compared to the protagonist Xiao Yan, he was far behind.

He was still very unwilling to accept it. He did not ask for some awesome background; he only hoped that he could cultivate too.

But... he had none of that!

So, Lin Qingyun had been a salted fish for eight years, relying only on the wisdom from his previous life to barely multiply the Xiao family's economic strength several times over.

Although this had also given him a very high status in the Xiao family, and he had even been practically appointed as the next Fourth Elder,

In a world where the strong were respected, if you had no strength, what damn use was wisdom alone?

"In a few more days, the official plot of Dou Qi Continent will begin, and Old Grandpa in the Ring should just about come online too... sigh!"

Lin Qingyun chewed on the foxtail grass and looked at Xiao Yan, who was working hard on cultivating the Fighting Skill.

The envy in his eyes was truly something else.

Xiao Yan was a genius. For some Huang-rank Fighting Skills, he could basically learn them and display them after watching only two or three times.

As for him, just looking at those words was like reading a heavenly book. He could not understand them at all, let alone learn anything.

"Those Battle Through the Heavens fanfics I read in my previous life—what Ancient Sacred Body? What extraordinary talent? What absolute nonsense?... They were just writing complete bullshit!"

At that thought, Lin Qingyun immediately cursed those hateful, idiotic authors inwardly.

What transmigration!

There was no Golden Finger at all, okay!

"I really want to go back... sigh. No phone, no computer, can't scroll through PiPiXia, can't play games. I don't even know what season Honor of Kings has updated to, or whether Ag won the championship."

Lin Qingyun sighed.

Over the past eight years, there were times when he had quite wanted to go back too.

If he had a Golden Finger, Lin Qingyun felt he would definitely be filled with grand ambition, roaming all over Dou Qi Continent, fighting fierce battles in every direction, marrying a few pretty girls, carving out a resounding reputation, and leaving behind a legendary tale...

None?

Forget it. He would honestly be a salted fish.

"I wonder how Yu Ke is doing. It's been eight years. Maybe she's already married and has her own family by now."

Gazing up at the Sky Dome, Lin Qingyun suddenly sighed again.

The drifting clouds in the sky seemed to turn into a lovely figure that haunted his dreams. Lin Qingyun stretched out his hand and grabbed, wanting to catch her.

Before long, as the morning sun rose over the horizon, ten thousand zhang of purple clouds scattered across the land, dispersing the morning mist and clothing everything in a fresh, bright layer once more.

In early spring, Lin Qingyun also felt a faint trace of warmth.

"Xiao Yanzi should be nearly done over there."

Lin Qingyun did not turn his head to look. Just as he finished muttering, after a few footsteps, Xiao Yan sat down beside him.

"Brother Yun, why are you still holding that foxtail grass in your mouth?"

Xiao Yan looked at Lin Qingyun, who was lying on the grass with a foxtail grass stem casually between his teeth, and said helplessly.

Brother Yun was good in every way, except that he had a whole pile of strange habits. Not only did he always like holding a foxtail grass stem in his mouth, he also liked acting all refined and scholarly. On ordinary days, when he walked down the street, he would shake a fan and randomly recite a few lines of poetry, always drawing over some women. At some unknown point, women had started sending letters to the Xiao family every day.

"What? Got a problem?"

Lin Qingyun raised an eyebrow.

"Uh... I wouldn't dare!"

Xiao Yan quickly shook his head. This great god before him was the future holder of the Xiao family's financial power, and sometimes Xiao Yan still had to rely on him for support.

The wind blew lightly, and the early spring morning still carried a bit of chill.

Xiao Yan lay down as well!

After a moment of silence, Xiao Yan suddenly spoke. "Brother Yun, you're knowledgeable and experienced. Can you tell why the Dou Qi I cultivate disappears for no reason?"

Even Xiao Yan himself could no longer count how many times he had asked this question.

"I don't know either. The Dou Qi you absorb disappears for no reason. This situation is very strange. At least, I've never heard of it." Lin Qingyun shook his head.

Of course, as someone who knew the truth, he naturally would not expose it at this time.

"There are still seven days. In the test seven days from now, if I'm still like this..." Xiao Yan did not continue. He clenched his hand tightly, deeply unwilling.

Once, he had been so high-spirited. Until three years ago, when the Dou Qi in his body had vanished without cause, causing him to fall from the altar in an instant and sink into failure ever since.

He had been furious, and he had been unwilling, but... none of it helped.

"Take it one step at a time. Keep a good mindset. What if a miracle happens?" Lin Qingyun smiled.

"A miracle... is that really possible?" Xiao Yan shook his head.

After saying that, he stood up and walked toward the small woods behind the mountain. But when he was about to leave, he still did not forget to turn back and say, "Brother Yun, don't stay here too long. You still have to eat breakfast."

Lin Qingyun sat up and watched Xiao Yan leave. He gave a long, faint sigh, and for a moment, his heart soured again.

Just as he lay back down.

"Ding! The plot of Dou Qi Continent has officially begun... Congratulations, host, for successfully binding the Myriad Worlds Check-in System. Congratulations, host, for completing your first check-in. Check-in location: Xiao Family Back Mountain. Reward: Dragonless Heart Method (Note: incomplete improved version)!"

"Note: Items will appear in physical form for the host's inspection.

Note: The reward will be issued in one shichen."

"Ding! Next check-in location: Xiao Family Hall."

Boom!

As that voice rang out in his mind, Lin Qingyun was like a cat with all its fur standing on end, flipping upright with a carp leap.

His face flushed scarlet with excitement...

This author is also an old hand. Nothing else to say—new book just opened, asking for recommendation tickets.

Also, updates will be stable at two to three chapters. The plot will absolutely be satisfying.

Mm, also, although both of them are transmigrators, this author already mentioned in the first part of the first chapter that the two of them are not from the same Earth. This also avoids creating any toxic points.

Mm, also, excluding the author's note written below, this chapter only has 2,832 words, but starting from the next chapter, every chapter will be over 3,000 words.