Daliushu Village

Wei State.

Xiahe County, Daliushu Village.

The morning light was faint.

In front of and behind the village, willow trees grew with wild abandon.

Fang Yue reclined against a Big Blue Stone by the river, a strip of willow leaf between his teeth and a lotus leaf covering his head.

Not far from him, a water buffalo with gleaming fur grazed with its head lowered.

Farther away, the rushing river rolled with waves, and fish occasionally leaped from the surface.

A youth, a water buffalo, river water, and fish.

What a fine waterside scene.

"Although I ran a livestock farm in my previous life, this is really my first time herding cattle."

Fang Yue lay sprawled there. He had already been in this world for three months.

He still could not get used to it. No matter what, hard rock was nowhere near as comfortable as the recliner he had just bought.

He sighed and instinctively reached for a cigarette, only to discover that these trousers his older sister had outgrown did not even have pockets.

Well then. The nicotine addiction he had failed to quit despite making up his mind more than a dozen times in his previous life looked like it would finally be truly gone this time.

Green mountains and clear waters, blue skies and white clouds, fresh air, a natural ecology.

This was exactly the pastoral life he had longed for in his past life.

But this was an ancient world, where productivity was abysmally low.

The Imperial Court levied crushing taxes, harsh rule was fiercer than tigers, and there were all manner of additional exactions. Life for those at the bottom was extraordinarily bitter.

They faced the yellow earth with their backs to the sky. After a year of hard toil, they could barely maintain food and clothing.

If disaster struck, selling sons and daughters was nothing out of the ordinary.

Especially since they only ate twice a day—thin gruel and dry flatbread, never enough to fill their stomachs.

They spent more than half of every day hungry.

"Ah, I really want to eat meat."

In his previous life, he could not enjoy a meal without meat. Now, after three months without it, he was nearly forgetting what meat tasted like.

Could this be what Confucius meant by not knowing the taste of meat for three months?

Fang Yue's eyes turned toward the water buffalo ahead of him—no, toward the Xiahe River in front of the buffalo.

He had no intention of eating that buffalo. After all, his family had scrimped and saved for five years to buy it. It was an important source of labor.

When the farming season came each year, it had to do the heavy work.

Without this ox, their family alone could not cultivate those dozen-odd mu of land.

Besides, the Imperial Court strictly prohibited the slaughter of draft cattle.

Anyone who slaughtered a draft ox in secret would be arrested and thrown into prison.

Fang Yue stood up, stepped past the Old Water Buffalo that was grazing, and came to the riverbank.

This happened to be where the river bent, and the current was relatively gentle.

"There should be quite a few fish in this river bend, right?"

Drawing on his rich fishing experience from his previous life, when he had never come back empty-handed, Fang Yue could not help thinking as he looked at the water beneath his feet.

Although Daliushu Village sat beside the Xiahe River, which nourished eight villages and nine hamlets along both banks, few people in this era actually went fishing.

For one thing, the able-bodied men were basically tied down by the fields. They had to keep planting and harvesting all year round just to barely pay their taxes, leaving them with virtually no free time.

More importantly, fishing itself was extremely time-consuming. Catching a little now and then was fine.

But if one fished every day and made a living from it, there was simply no way to turn the catch into money.

After all, the nearest Xiahe County Town was more than two hundred li away. There was no way to transport the fish there for sale.

"When I get back today, I'll figure out a way to make a fishing rod and come try it tomorrow."

Fang Yue silently pondered this. As a seasoned angler, he naturally knew how to make some fishing tools as well.

Still, considering his family's circumstances, he could only start by trying to make a fishing rod.

"Brother Zhi is going to jump into the river! Somebody, come quick!"

"Brother Zhi, don't do anything foolish! Don't jump!"

At that moment, a burst of clamor rose from afar.

The instant Fang Yue heard that someone wanted to jump into the river, he raised his eyes and looked around.

He thought, I didn't see anyone around just now.

With both suspicion and a desire to watch the commotion, Fang Yue looked around.

Nobody. There was not a soul to be seen up or down the riverbank!

But in the next instant, Fang Yue suddenly came to his senses.

Brother Zhi!

Wasn't that his childhood name?

He knew that people in ancient times gave children lowly names because their elders loved and cherished them, fearing their children would not grow up safely and healthily, so they deliberately marked them as humble.

But would names like Stone or Huzi not have been fine?

At the very least, they could have called him Doggie or Second Egg.

What was with Zhi'er? Where did he look like a pig?

Still, Fang Yue had no intention of correcting how those children addressed him. After all, he did not want to drink boys' urine.

In times like these, one had to blend in with the dust and light; one had to be the same as everyone else.

If his behavior was too unrestrained, if he stood out even slightly, he would invite criticism.

He remembered that when he had just transmigrated, he had thought of copying down poems and essays in this ancient society, then passing the Imperial Examination.

But right around then, Chen Mazi from the same village had somehow picked up a few lines and showed off some literary airs in the village. The Village Elder had people pin him down and force several large bowls of boys' urine down his throat.

They said it was to ward off evil and dispel baleful intent. Chen Mazi vomited and had diarrhea, and in the end, he actually lost his life.

And if a rural youth who could not read a single character like him revealed anything unusual, he would probably be treated as if possessed by evil too.

Seeing this, Fang Yue could only honestly wait for an opportunity.

One person could not fight the entire world.

Since he was here, he might as well make the best of it.

"Brother Zhi, don't move."

"A real man has nothing he can't get past. If you jump into the river, what will your father and mother do?"

The shouts were already right beside him. Fang Yue had just turned around, ready to see who was slandering his good name.

At that very moment, he felt a Shadow Figure come lunging toward him.

"Damn it! Don't come over here—"

Seeing the person's diving pounce, Fang Yue could not help swearing. He hurriedly dodged to the side.

The instant Fang Yue moved aside, the Shadow Figure plunged headfirst into the calm river bend.

"Achoo! Brother Zhi, thank you for saving me just now."

Er Gou sniffled loudly and looked at Fang Yue with a face full of suspicion.

Looking at the brawny youth before him, who carried a bow and arrows on his back, Fang Yue could not help feeling speechless.

This was his neighbor, and also a junior clansman. His family were Hunters, and he and Fang Yue's father, Fang Dahu, were the finest hunters within thirty li of Daliushu Village.

They often hunted prey, so although their family did not farm, they lived quite well and were considered an upper household in the village.

Therefore, although Fang Ergou was three years younger than him, he was a full head taller.

His arms were thick and sturdy, nearly as thick as Fang Yue's thighs.

"Brother Zhi, you really weren't planning to jump into the river?"

Fang Ergou scratched his head. Even though Fang Yue had already explained himself, he still asked doubtfully.

A rough man had muscles where his brains should be, and he was a simple country fellow to boot, so naturally he was stubborn as an ox.

Seeing Fang Ergou's utterly earnest, single-minded expression, Fang Yue was annoyed into laughter and was just about to explain again.

At that moment, the sun rose high overhead, and golden light flashed across his eyes.

Fang Yue could not help blinking. When he opened them again, he froze.

A line of text flashed before him.

Talent: God-Tier Aptitude

Time flies, Heaven rewards diligence. With each passing day, aptitude +1

Current aptitude: 1 (Mediocre talent)

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