Chapter 1: Transmigrating to the Big Stone Village

"Hey, look how weak and sickly he is, is he all right?"

"I don't think Chen Xiao Mi will care how he looks like as long as he is still breathing."

"Look at him, such a good-for-nothing, I doubt he is able to do any farm work now, let's send him to the Chen's as soon as possible. We can't get a penny if he dis before he marries into the Chen's."

"He brings us such bad luck, let's send him to the Chen's, he will be trouble if he dies in our house."

Lu Lin who was lying in bed permitted a dry smile on hearing how the host of his soul's First Aunt (his father's brother's wife) and Third Aunt (his father's sister) talked about this poor host.

Lu Lin was an average Joe in C Country, he quit his job in the big city and returned to his hometown, he had inherited Lu's Convenience from his parents.

However, he found himself transmigrating into this dynasty on a stormy night, what was more bizarre was he had a mole on his forearm that was connected to Lu's Convenience.

He had also found time didn't exist in Lu's Convenience, he sneaked back into the store and found the bowl of noodles he had put on the counter before he transmigrated was still warm, therefore he didn't need to worry about the food in the store would go bad.

Lu Lin figured he better keep his story and his convenience store a secret for he knew how superstitious those villagers could be, he didn't want to draw the fire upon himself.

Lu Lin had obtained the host's memory, this was a time and space that was similar to the ancient times in C Country. What was different was there were not only men and women in this time and space, but there was also a group of people called Bios. Bios usually had manly features with a birthmark shaped like a flower on the forehead, they were not as tall as men and they were able to bear children, however, they would endure a harder labor than women.

The host was indeed ill-stared, his grandparents had three sons and one daughter, and his father ranked the second, his father was his grandparents' least favorite, so his grandparents asked his father to perform military service.

The thing was his grandparents could have paid some money to exempt his father from military service, but they were such misers that they would rather send their second son to the army. What infuriated Lu Lin was the host's grandparents had sent his cousin to school, which was a luxury in that time and space. How unfair was that!

The host's father, however, carried filial piety to the letter. He listened to the host's grandparents and went to the army, leaving the host and his mother at home.

The host's father was the least favorite son at home, his mother and him of course would have an even harder time after he left.

The host's mother was a woman of humble birth, she was quiet and reserved by nature, a hard worker she was, but she never showed off her cleverness and she would just endure all the unfairness.

The tedious farm work fell on the host's mother and the host after the host's father joined the army, the host's mother's health went steadily downhill due to the hardship and toil.

What had supported the host mother was the faith that the host's father would return in glory one day soon, but as the saying went, calamities come in succession, soon there came the news that the host's father had laid down his life on the battlefield.

The host's mother who had already overtaxed herself had succumbed to grief after hearing the news.

The villagers started to talk about how the host's grandparents had been ill-treating the host's parents. The host's grandmother went to the length of slandering the host, she said the host was the culprit all the tragedies, the host was ill-starred, and he would only bring bad luck to his family.

People back then were unreasonably superstitious about luck and fate, the villagers started to cast sidelong glance at the host since his grandmother cooked up the story.

The host was ineloquent by nature, he became even more quiet and grim since people had been calling him 'ill-starred'.

The host was eighteen years old, he had passed the ideal marriageable age already, but no one in his family cared about him or his marriage, all they wanted was to keep him at home for the farm work.

The government, however, had enacted a law that year all men and Bios must get married before eighteen, all women must get married before seventeen otherwise a three-tael-silver would be imposed due to the warfare and population decline.

The law had provoked an uproar in the host's family, three taels was no small amount, especially for a miser like the host's grandmother. She would kill to save that money. Plus, the whole family was counting on the host to do the farm work, so they discussed this matter and decided to look for a girl for the host.

Unfortunately, none of the fellow villagers wanted to marry their daughter to the ill-starred host even though it was a well-known fact that the host's family was pretty well-off, and they could even afford to send a boy to school. Plus, the villagers knew the host was in disfavor in the family, so they didn't see him as an ideal son-in-law.

The host's grandparents had been so upset, but they blamed the host instead of themselves for cooking up the ridiculous story about the host's fate.

As luck would have it, there came the news that a Bio named Chen Xiao Mi was looking for a husband when the host's grandparents were at a loss what to do. This Chen Xiao Mi was a well-known figure in the Big Stone Village, he was a Bio, but he was endowed with mighty strength.

Chen Xiao Mi and Lu Lin shared similar life stories, his grandmother disliked his father as well, and Chen family was pretty well-off in the village.

In Big Stone Village, some villagers would go hunting in the mountains in a lean year, dangerous it was, but the reward could be handsome. A group of villagers hunted a bear and sold it to a landlord by twenty taels of silver, all the other villagers wished to follow suit.

Chen Xiao Mi's grandmother egged Chen Xiao Mi's father Chen Shou Ren on hunting, but Chen Shou Ren rejected the idea for he was well aware of the risks involved, there were so many villagers had never come back alive. And it was usually the struggling villagers who were willing to take the risk and try their luck in the mountains, but they were doing just fine.

Chen Xiao Mi's mother was about to give birth, so Chen Shou Ren wanted to stay with his wife instead of venturing into the mountains. But Chen Xiao Mi's grandmother made such a scene and scolded Chen Shou Ren harshly until Chen Shou Ren yielded. Unfortunately, Chen Shou Ren and his friends were attacked by wolves, only one of them survived.

Chen Xiao Mi's mother did a premature delivery on hearing the grievous news, and just like that Chen Xiao Mi had a second little brother named Chen Xiao Mai who was also a Bio, Chen Xiao Mi's first younger brother's name was Chen Xiao Cai.

What was strikingly similar was Chen Xiao Mi's grandmother's reaction after she heard her son's death, she blamed Chen Xiao Mi's mother for that, she kept saying her son died because of Chen Xiao Mi's mother's bad luck. Chen Xiao Mi's mother died of grief two years ago.

Chen Xiao Mi's First Uncle meant to sell Chen Xiao Cai to a wealthy family as a servant thus he could gain a few pennies per month.

In that time and space, servants were completely at the mercy of their masters, the masters could beat the servants as they wished once they signed the indenture.

Chen Xiao Mi's grandmother thought that was an excellent idea, Chen Xiao Cai was a young boy who couldn't be of much help on the farm work after all.

Chen Xiao Mi had captured his First Uncle's son Chen Jing after he heard that, and he threatened the First Uncle that he would castrate Chen Jing if Chen Xiao Cai became a servant.

Chen Jing was the old woman's favorite grandson, her heart would ache for days on seeing a slight wound on Chen Jing.

Chen Xiao Mi had been pretending to be ignorant of the fact that it was his grandmother who had forced his father to go hunting, and he had completely lost it on hearing that they were planning on selling one of his little brothers.

Chen Xiao Mi put up a good fight on people who tried to force him on releasing Chen Jing, he was so determined that he would protect his brothers. He had inquired about the family which had their eyes on Chen Xiao Cai, it turned out the Young Master tended to bully the servants at home, he had already beaten two young girls to death, so he wanted to buy a tough boy to beat.

Chen Xiao Mi turned furious on hearing that, little did he expect his First Uncle and his grandmother could be this merciless, his father had literally died because of his grandmother, and now his grandmother was helping his First Uncle to sell Chen Xiao Cai. Chen Xiao Mi wished to strangle that old woman!

Chen Xiao Mi's grandmother feared Chen Xiao Mi to the guts, she shivered at the thought that Chen Xiao Mi said he wouldn't listen to her like his father.

Chen Xiao Mi urged his grandfather to allow him and his two little brothers to live independently, his grandfather had to agree that.

It was so rare for a child to reason with the elders and fight for himself or the ones he cared, people tended to grin and bear all the unfairness. Therefore, Chen Xiao Mi was condemned by the villagers.