My Husband Comes from the Future

by Usui Takumii

not mine, shangai fantasy. After chapter 94 is MTL. Also at ao3.

1. 00 to 10

Li Qingzhi, having lived alone in the apocalypse for many years, was a pitiful man who starved to death, only to be reincarnated into ancient times where he was dragged away to dig stones, and then tragically died of illness upon returning home alive.

In this world, food was abundant! And this man even had a wife and two children!

Li Qingzhi stuffed everything he saw into his mouth and wouldn't let go of his wife—she was such a soft and warm living person! Oh, how beautiful and gentle his wife was!

And those two dirty children in his family were simply the most adorable in the world!

The renowned tough woman of the Miaoqian Village, Jin Xiaoye: "…"

The mischievous twins of the Miaoqian Village: "…"

The villagers of Miaoqian Village knew that the man from the Li family who had been forcibly taken away was back home alive, but had become foolish.

He laughed foolishly all day, stuck to his wife and children, and even when scolded, he just smiled happily without getting angry!

In his excitement, Li Qingzhi thought: This person is really lively, completely different from zombies!

Everyone thought Jin Xiaoye was pitiful. After finally bringing the man back, she spent a lot of money to cure him, only to end up with him becoming a fool.

But they never expected that this fool would actually pass the imperial examination all the way, and become the top scholar.

Chapter 1: Miaoqian Village

Chongcheng County is located in the water towns of Jiangnan, where water networks crisscross fertile land.

Ten miles west of Chongcheng County lies Miaqian Village.

A river, more than one foot wide, runs from west to east through Miaoqian Village. There is a stone bridge over the river, with stone steps extending into the water on one side. Villagers fetch water and wash clothes here, and if a boat arrives in Miaoqian Village, it docks here.

This is the village's small dock, locally known as Hebutou.

By now, it's already midsummer, very hot. Every evening, villagers come to the riverside by Hebutou to cool off, and some wash and bathe here.

When Jin Xiaoye brought her sons, Li Damao and Li Ermao, here, there were already quite a few people.

On the side of the stone bridge, some people have put benches together to play dice and gamble with soybeans.

Jin Xiaoye's father-in-law is one of them. A small man, half a head shorter than Jin Xiaoye, he holds a bag of soybeans and stands out in the crowd.

Jin Xiaoye glared at her father-in-law, who was engrossed in his game, and took her two sons to the riverbank to wash up.

Today, Li Damao and Li Ermao followed her to the fields and got covered in mud, so they needed a good scrub.

"Mom, it hurts!"

"Mom, be gentle!"

"Mom, it's itching!"

…

Jin Xiaoye scrubbed vigorously, and Li Damao and Li Ermao cried out in pain.

It wasn't until the two little mud monkeys were cleaned up and dressed in clean shorts to play in the temple that Jin Xiaoye, exhausted, started washing clothes.

The villagers looked on with sympathy.

Some people further away from Jin Xiaoye began to whisper, "Jin Xiaoye is really unlucky. Shortly after getting married, her husband ran away."

"Her unreliable father-in-law loves gambling more than working."

"You can't trust outsiders."

"But Jin Xiaoye can't blame anyone else. She chose that man herself."

"She still refuses to remarry…"

Jin Xiaoye's husband, Li Qingzhi, came to Miaoqian Village five years ago after fleeing a disaster in his hometown. It was said that his entire family perished.

At that time, the Yao River flooded, drowning countless people, and even their area suffered a loss of crops due to heavy rain… Many refugees came to their area at that time, and Li Qingzhi was one of them.

Refugees like him were usually not allowed to stay in the village since they had no money or land to offer. However, Li Qingzhi had money with him. He bought two acres of farmland in Miaoqian Village, built a small house on it, and even adopted an old bachelor, Li Laogen, from the village as his father, thus becoming a member of Miaoqian Village.

He even married the capable village girl, Jin Xiaoye.

At that time, many people envied Jin Xiaoye. Firstly, because Li Qingzhi could buy land, he must have money. Secondly, he was an educated man. Even if he couldn't pass the imperial examinations and become an official, he could earn money by helping people in the county copy books or by being a shopkeeper.

But who would have thought that not two months after marrying Jin Xiaoye, Li Qingzhi disappeared.

There were rumors at the time that Li Qingzhi looked down on Jin Xiaoye and left her.

Since then, Jin Xiaoye went from being the envy of everyone in the village, marrying a scholar, to being a pitiful abandoned woman.

What's worse, Jin Xiaoye was pregnant. Seven months after Li Qingzhi left, she gave birth to twin sons.

With an unreliable father-in-law, Jin Xiaoye had to take care of the children and work hard for the family's livelihood. It was extremely difficult. While the villagers sympathized with her, they also liked to gossip about her.

But no one dared to speak such things in front of Jin Xiaoye. After all, Jin Xiaoye was a woman who could chase her own father-in-law crying and howling all over the village while holding a door latch.

The villagers feared Jin Xiaoye, but they didn't fear her two children.

Although Li Damao and Li Ermao were twins, they didn't look alike.

Both boys, over four years old, were skinny and dark. There were many small scratches on their faces, hands, and legs from playing, but because they were good-looking and had just been cleaned up, they looked quite adorable among the rural children like them.

The two were playing by the river when a man who had a conflict with Jin Xiaoye started spouting nonsense at them, "Damao, Ermao, when will your dad come back? Does he not want you anymore?"

The two children ignored him and continued playing with grass leaves.

The man became annoyed and spoke again, "Your mother is having an affair with Da Zhuang from the neighboring village. When she remarries, she won't want you like your dad. By then, you'll become unwanted wild children."

"You're the unwanted wild one!" Li Damao suddenly retorted.

Li Ermao was even more direct. He grabbed a clod of dirt nearby and threw it at the man's face, then both of them ran away while yelling, "He's hitting us!"

"Adults are bullying kids!"

The man, hit by the clod and then retaliated with a rake, became furious and chased after them, shouting, "You two untaught bastards!"

"You're the bastard, bullying children! What kind of man are you?" Jin Xiaoye rushed over from the riverbank and stood in front of her two sons.

"Jin Xiaoye, it was your two sons who threw mud at me!"

"How could they throw mud at you when they were behaving well?" Jin Xiaoye, petite but with a loud voice, argued back.

"Untaught bastards without a father, what can't they do? Last time they even ganged up to beat my child and steal firewood from my house!"

Jin Xiaoye retorted, "Was that your firewood? Clearly, it was your son, that little beast who doesn't even know who his father is, who stole from my house!"

The two of them argued like this, with some people trying to calm Jin Xiaoye down and others trying to calm the man down. Jin Xiaoye's father-in-law hid behind the crowd, too afraid to show himself.

Just then, someone suddenly shouted, "Jin Xiaoye, your husband is back!"

Both Jin Xiaoye and the people present were stunned.

The person continued, "He fainted at the village entrance! Quick, let's get a few people to carry him home!"

Without delay, everyone rushed to the village entrance and indeed saw a man lying unconscious on the ground. Who else could it be if not Li Qingzhi?

The villagers hurriedly carried him back to Jin Xiaoye's house, then went to check on Li Qingzhi's condition.

Li Qingzhi, who had been away for over four years, looked like he had suffered greatly. There were many bruises and scars on his body, and he was so thin that he seemed to be just skin and bones. What's more, some of his wounds had festered, and he had a high fever.

After taking a look, some experienced elders told Jin Xiaoye, "This man is probably beyond saving."

Li Qingzhi lay on the bed with weak breathing, unable to wake up. With so many injuries and being in such a weakened state, he probably wouldn't survive.

Even if he did survive… with his body so weak, he wouldn't live long or be able to do any work.

Although Li Qingzhi was an educated man, he used to be a tall and sturdy young man. How did he become like this after just a few years?

Moreover… everyone thought he had returned to his hometown after being missing for several years, but looking at him now… could it be otherwise?

The villagers all thought Li Qingzhi couldn't be saved, so there was no need to spend money to call a doctor. But Jin Xiaoye, after looking at the man on the bed, insisted, "He's still alive, we have to try to save him!"

She never believed that Li Qingzhi had run away. She thought he had encountered trouble and couldn't come back… and now that he had finally returned, he must be saved!

Gritting her teeth, Jin Xiaoye asked her father-in-law to look after the two children and set out with all her savings to the county town, planning to bring back a doctor.

Seeing this, the villagers sighed.

Jin Xiaoye was quite unlucky. After finally bringing her husband back, he was on the brink of death. Yet, she still planned to spend money to treat him.

If she spent all the family's money on this man, Jin Xiaoye's future would be even more difficult!

When someone in their village got sick, they all endured and managed somehow. Calling a doctor… the diagnosis fee, medicine cost, and treatment expenses combined could bankrupt a family.

But Jin Xiaoye was stubborn. She went to the county town to call a doctor for Li Qingzhi, spending all her savings. However, despite receiving treatment, Li Qingzhi remained unconscious, and his fever persisted.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. Then, one night, Li Qingzhi suddenly stopped breathing, but after a while, his breathing resumed.

Chapter 2: Time Travel

The air was filled with a putrid smell. Whether looking up at the sky or down at the earth, everything was shrouded in a gray haze, permeated with a layer of death.

Plants and animals had long since become extinct. Among the ruins, there were only gray dead branches and piles of bones.

The apocalypse had begun exactly twenty years ago, and Li Qingzhi had been struggling to survive in this apocalypse for exactly twenty years.

When the apocalypse began, he had just graduated from university. But now, he was thirty-eight years old.

One by one, the people around him died, and he himself had almost died several times in desperate situations.

But he had managed to hold on. He didn't want to die.

Since the beginning of the apocalypse, whether it was plants, animals, or humans, they all died in waves of contamination, with no way to end the apocalypse.

Many people chose to end their lives out of despair, but he did not.

Death meant nothingness, and he wanted to see more of this world. He wanted to live.

But even though Li Qingzhi tried very, very hard, he still died, starving to death.

He could no longer find anything edible, and he could only starve to death.

But he was already remarkable. Most likely, he was the last human to die.

After all, he had the ability to control his own or others' body parts, and to remove impurities from them. This ability could even purify the contamination within his body.

In the apocalypse, many people gained special abilities, and his ability was extremely useful for survival!

Unfortunately, in the twentieth year of the apocalypse, both humans and animals had turned into zombies, and plants had rotted. Even with such a powerful ability, Li Qingzhi couldn't find any food to purify.

Li Qingzhi closed his eyes regretfully, feeling aches all over his body. Suddenly, he sensed his body getting heavier.

Is this what it feels like to be dead? Why does he feel like… he hasn't died yet?

In a daze, the energy inside Li Qingzhi's body spontaneously activated, purging impurities and repairing his body.

Li Qingzhi couldn't believe his luck. After starving to death, he had actually traveled through time!

Opening his eyes, he saw a simple roof and baskets hanging from the rafters. Li Qingzhi's heart raced faster and faster.

The environment he was in was actually quite poor. The walls of the house were made of mud, the rafters were wooden, and there was no furniture inside; it was essentially an empty space.

But there was no pervasive pollution here; this was not the apocalypse!

Li Qingzhi assessed his body, confirming that he now possessed a body different from his original one.

Although this body was as emaciated as his body during the apocalypse, there were still many differences between the two.

So, he had really traveled through time to a world without pollution!

Li Qingzhi was extremely excited, then promptly fainted.

At the same time, the memories of the original owner also appeared in his mind.

The original owner of this body was named Li Zhi, the son of Li Zhao, the former county magistrate of Qianyu County.

Li Zhao's family was not well-off. After finally passing the imperial examination and becoming a poor county magistrate, he had to seek the help of a private tutor for his work and present gifts to his superiors. Despite his wife's wealthy family, life was still difficult. When Li Zhi was in Qianyu County, he couldn't live as a young master and had to handle many matters personally.

Li Zhao and his wife had three sons and two daughters, and Li Zhi was the second son.

He didn't have a talent for studying. After learning some characters, he followed the private tutor by Li Zhao's side to learn miscellaneous tasks related to criminal justice and finance.

He planned to help his father first after learning, and later, he would work for other magistrates to make a decent living.

However, Li Zhi had only studied for a year when the Yao River flooded. The entire Qianyu County was submerged, and countless people drowned.

Following his father and the private tutor, Li Zhi traveled everywhere to help with disaster relief. While he was busy, his father was suddenly arrested for embezzling tens of thousands of taels of disaster relief silver from the court.

Later, Li's family was exterminated.

Li Zhi knew that his father absolutely did not embezzle the disaster relief silver. Moreover, the amount of silver his father received from above didn't even add up to ten thousand taels.

But that imperial inspector insisted on sentencing his father!

Realizing that something was wrong, Li Zhi ran away. When the other members of the Li family were arrested, he escaped unscathed.

At that time, the Yao River flood had caused havoc in several counties, and there were refugees everywhere. Li Zhi, who blended in, was not discovered. Then, the seventeen-year-old Li Zhi escaped to the south of the Yangtze River and arrived at the Miaoqian Village.

Although Li Zhi wanted to seek revenge for his family, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old youth like him didn't have the ability. Later, he only wanted to survive.

Although Li Zhi didn't have a good academic background, he was articulate and had a silver tongue. Plus, he had worked on real tasks with his father's private tutor. After arriving in Miaoqian Village, he found the unmarried old bachelor Li Laogen, claiming that the other resembled his deceased father.

After some fuss, Li Laogen recognized him as his son, and he changed his name and surname, becoming a member of Miaoqian Village.

Li Laogen was willing to recognize Li Zhi as his son mainly because the Li family was very poor.

Because Li Laogen didn't marry or have children, his parents gave all the remaining assets of the Li family to Li Laogen's brother, who had sons.

After working hard for half a lifetime, Li Laogen didn't leave anything behind. How could he refuse when his nephew bought two acres of land, built two small houses, and brought his family's assets to recognize him as his father?

After settling down in the Miaoqian Village, the original host felt somewhat secure, but still felt uncertain about his future in the area.

In Miaoqian Village, the Jin family was prominent, with half of the people bearing the surname Jin. The original host aimed to marry a daughter of the Jin family to fully integrate into the village.

With this plan in mind, the original host approached Jin Xiaoye.

Being the son of a county magistrate, the original host had a level of sophistication that few could match. Coupled with his decent appearance…

It didn't take much effort for him to make Jin Xiaoye develop feelings for him.

He always told the villagers that he was a scholar, and he even helped calculate the grain tax for the village. At that time, the villagers held him in high regard. When he proposed to the Jin family, they readily agreed, and he smoothly married Jin Xiaoye.

However, luck was not on his side. After the marriage, rumors spread inexplicably in the village, claiming that he was highly educated and used to be a talented scholar, destined to become the top scholar in the imperial examination…

Although the original host had mentioned being a scholar to others, he had never boasted to this extent. But because of these rumors, a nearby scholar specifically came to consult him on academic matters.

Exposed, the original host was unable to keep up the facade. Consequently, rumors circulated again, stating that he actually had no scholarly knowledge and that his previous claims were all lies.

In Miaoqian Village, the original host suddenly became unpopular.

Adding to his woes, he soon ran out of money.

Originally, his family had very little money, and he hadn't brought much with him when he fled hastily. If not for this, he wouldn't have only bought two acres of land and built just two mud houses.

After much deliberation, the original host decided to go to the county town to find a job.

Although he was the son of a county magistrate, he had been assisting his father's steward before, accustomed to all sorts of tasks. Moreover, having experienced famine, he did not reject the idea of finding work to do.

It was a coincidence that his uncle, who worked as a porter in the nearby military post, introduced him to a job as an accountant at a tavern.

Wearing his best clothes, he headed to the county town, but on the way… he was ambushed by a group of people.

These bandits passed by Chongcheng County on a boat and, seeing that the original owner was well-dressed and alone, decided to rob him. After finding out he didn't have much money on him, they simply kidnapped him and sold him to a nearby quarry.

This quarry belonged to a certain prince and specialized in digging various exotic stones to be sold in the capital. Since hiring people to dig stones incurred large expenses, the overseers simply paid for labor to help them work.

For the past five years, the original owner had been supervised while digging stones. Any sign of slackness resulted in a whipping. His days were miserable, and he failed several times in attempts to escape, only to be caught and beaten.

Not long ago, his health deteriorated to the point of fainting. Thinking he was dead, the overseer of the quarry threw him out. It was then, by a stroke of luck, that he managed to escape, dragging his exhausted body back to Miaoqian Village.

But even so, the original owner couldn't hold on and died at home.

However, before his death, although in a daze, he could hear people around him speaking. He learned that Jin Xiaoye had given birth to two children for him. When he died, he didn't have many regrets, feeling that his luck was just too bad.

Li Qingzhi couldn't help but sigh silently, feeling that the original owner's luck was indeed terrible.

When the original owner was taken to the quarry, he was only eighteen years old. Now, he was only twenty-three. He was young, but his life had already come to an end…

However, according to the original owner's memory, in the ancient times he was now in, most people didn't have good lives.

Miaoqian Village was already considered prosperous, yet the villagers lived difficult lives. As for the Qianyu County where the original owner's father was previously located… even when there were no floods, people still starved to death there.

Life in ancient rural areas was not beautiful at all.

But that was for others. He came from the end times, and for him, this world was like heaven.

Here, there were plants and animals everywhere!

Here, there were people! Living people!

He even had a wife and two children!

Li Qingzhi hadn't seen a living person in two years. Living alone, loneliness had reached its peak. At times, he would even bring back a less decayed zombie and chatter to them.

Now, there were living people everywhere!

Li Qingzhi was extremely excited. He opened his eyes again and saw two children standing by the bed.

These two children had shaved heads and were less than a meter tall.

They were shirtless, wearing only small shorts. Their faces and upper bodies were sunburnt very dark, and due to being thin, their rib bones were particularly prominent.

Not only that, but they looked dirty, with mud in the creases of their nails.

Before the apocalypse, Li Qingzhi couldn't come into contact with such sloppy children and didn't like children. But he had experienced twenty years of the apocalypse.

When the apocalypse came, the weakest children were the most pitiful. Several years after the apocalypse began, he couldn't even see children anymore.

People around him died one by one, and living people became fewer and fewer… To him at that time, children were hope, they were the future!

God knows how much he loved children now!

No, not just children, as long as there was a living person in front of him, he liked them!

Li Qingzhi's eyes seemed to burst with light, and he reached out his skinny arms, wanting to touch the children in front of him.

At that moment, he heard Li Laogen's voice outside the door.

Five years ago, Li Laogen, an old bachelor who had taken in a cheap son, said to Jin Xiaoye, "Xiaoye, I think Ah Qing can't be saved… Shall we simplify his funeral? Anyway, everyone in the village knows we're poor. This way, we can have some extra eggs and food from the villagers, which can be given to Damao and Ermao to eat, and to me…"

According to their village customs, when someone dies, relatives and friends are supposed to come and give some eggs, food, or even money. These items are often used to organize the funeral.

Li Qingzhi froze as he reached out to touch his own child's hand.

Li Damao finally reacted and grabbed his younger brother, running outside, shouting, "Mom! Dad woke up!"

Chapter 3: Drinking Medicine

Jin Xiaoye was furious when she heard her father-in-law mention Li Qingzhi's funeral arrangements.

Her father-in-law had always been unreliable, sneaky when working, and gambling when idle.

But even so, she never imagined that after Li Qingzhi returned, her father-in-law would obstruct her from spending money to hire a doctor for Li Qingzhi's treatment and would even think about profiting from Li Qingzhi's funeral before he had died.

In their village, if someone wanted to hold a decent funeral, they had to spend money. But if they wanted to keep it simple, the money and food sent by relatives and friends would be more than enough.

It was outrageous that her father-in-law was thinking about such things!

There wasn't really much depth to Jin Xiaoye's affection for Li Qingzhi.

She used to like him. Before they got married, she had high hopes for their life together. When they first got married, she felt that Li Qingzhi was different from the other men in the village, which attracted her to him.

But just two months after their marriage, Li Qingzhi disappeared. She had to work in the fields with a big belly, then raise the child while farming…

After enduring years of hardship like this, any romantic feelings she had for Li Qingzhi had long faded!

The reason she hadn't remarried in all these years wasn't because she still thought about Li Qingzhi, she simply didn't want to.

Li Qingzhi didn't leave her with much, just two acres of land and two adobe houses. But it was enough for her to support herself and her two children. In a couple of years, when Damao and Ermao grew up, they could also help her… If she remarried, her life might not be as good as it was now.

She couldn't bear to see Damao and Ermao suffer.

But now that Li Qingzhi had returned… looking at his condition, it was evident that his disappearance wasn't abandoning them; he must have encountered an accident.

If that was the case, and Li Qingzhi was seriously ill, she had to find a way to help him.

Since Li Qingzhi hadn't died yet, they shouldn't discuss his funeral in front of him.

Jin Xiaoye interrupted Li Laogen's words, "Dad! What nonsense are you talking about! My husband is still alive!"

At the same time, Damao dragged Ermao out of the house, shouting, "Mom, Dad woke up!"

Hearing this, Xiaoye didn't have time to talk to Li Laogen. She ran into the room and saw Li Qingzhi lying on the bed with his eyes open, his gaze still clear.

Xiaoye felt a pang of heartache. "Are you awake?"

While Xiaoye looked at Li Qingzhi, he was also looking at her.

Xiaoye hadn't changed much compared to five years ago, but she looked fiercer overall, and her voice had grown louder.

The original owner didn't want to attract attention. He chose Xiaoye initially not because she was pretty.

Xiaoye was about one meter and sixty centimeters tall, with beautiful eyes, but her skin was dark, her face was large, and she hadn't tidied herself up, making her just an ordinary village woman.

But she was a person! She was a living person!

She was still his wife! His partner!

God knows how much Li Qingzhi, who had lived alone in the apocalypse for many years, wished he had someone to accompany him!

Li Qingzhi stared blankly at Xiaoye, his heart beating faster and faster with excitement.

In Xiaoye's eyes, Li Qingzhi seemed to be looking at her affectionately.

After being the head of the household for so many years, Xiaoye, who had a fiery temper, suddenly felt a little embarrassed. "How do you feel? Are you feeling any better?"

Li Qingzhi didn't speak. Xiaoye looked at the children by her feet. "Damao, Ermao, your dad's medicine is ready. Go and get it!"

After speaking, Xiaoye came to Li Qingzhi's side and reached out to touch his forehead, checking if he had a fever. She also said a lot of things, "Ah Qing, did you see those two children? I gave birth to them for you. Where have you been these years? Why didn't you come back? And why did you let yourself end up like this?"

When Xiaoye's hand touched his, Li Qingzhi felt his blood rush to his head.

It had been so long since anyone had touched him!

He wished Xiaoye would keep touching his head, but unfortunately, she quickly withdrew her hand.

Li Qingzhi looked at that hand with a sense of loss and spoke with difficulty, "I… I was captured and forced to dig stones… for several years, before… before I escaped."

His voice was hoarse, and although he only said a few words, it seemed like he had used up all his strength.

"So you were captured to dig stones. How careless of you." Li Laogen came in from outside.

Li Laogen was actually not yet fifty years old, but he looked almost like a seventy-year-old from before the apocalypse, with teeth falling out, hair turned white, and a face full of wrinkles.

Although he was a man, Li Laogen was only about one meter and fifty centimeters tall, probably even less. He looked skinny and had a somewhat weaselly appearance.

Not only that, what he said was also speechless—Li Qingzhi was in big trouble, yet he blamed Li Qingzhi for not being careful enough.

But even so, seeing him, Li Qingzhi still felt a sense of closeness.

This was a living person! Not like a zombie that would come and bite him!

He was lying here now, and Li Laogen wouldn't come to kill him. It was even better!

Filled with a sense of security, Li Qingzhi smiled and called out, "Dad."

Although they weren't biologically related, the original owner indeed acknowledged Li Laogen as his father.

Li Laogen felt a bit embarrassed after being called "Dad", thinking of what he had just said. He chuckled awkwardly, "It's good that you escaped."

"Dad, weren't you going to the field? Why haven't you left yet?" Xiaoye said to Li Laogen, afraid that he would stay here and say something unpleasant.

"It's such a hot day, when did I say I was going to the field?" Li Laogen mumbled, then caught Xiaoye's unfriendly gaze.

Without saying another word, he dashed away.

It was at this moment that Li Damao came in carrying a clay pot.

He seemed to be afraid of accidentally dropping the clay pot, walking carefully with a serious expression on his face. Li Qingzhi's heart melted just by looking at him.

As for Li Ermao, he followed behind his brother, mimicking his every step. If his brother walked a bit slower, he looked even more worried than his brother.

These two children were too adorable!

He actually had two such cute children!

Jin Xiaoye didn't have as many thoughts as Li Qingzhi. She stepped forward, took the clay pot, and brought it to Li Qingzhi, saying, "Come, take the medicine. Once you take it, you'll feel better."

Saying that, Xiaoye sat on the edge of the bed, helped the emaciated Li Qingzhi up, and made him lean against her while he drank the medicine.

It was summertime, and the weather was extremely hot. Xiaoye was only wearing a thin dress.

As Li Qingzhi leaned against her, he could feel the warmth emanating from her body.

The warmth of a human body made him unable to control his trembling.

He was truly overjoyed!

When Xiaoye held the clay pot and brought it to his mouth… Li Qingzhi reached out and covered Xiaoye's hand, giving it a little squeeze.

Xiaoye's hand was rough, but it was the hand of a living person, and this person was his wife!

Li Qingzhi's emotions surged, and he squeezed a few more times.

Xiaoye cleared her throat and said, "Quick, take the medicine!" What was going on with Li Qingzhi? He became this ill, yet he still thought about taking advantage of her!

The clay pot was blackened by the fire, and the medicine inside was also dark, emitting an unpleasant odor.

But it wasn't poisonous!

After twenty years in the apocalypse, what hadn't Li Qingzhi eaten? Anything edible, he would swallow it!

And… he hadn't eaten anything for a long time!

With longing in his eyes, Li Qingzhi couldn't wait to drink the medicine as soon as Xiaoye brought the clay pot to his mouth.

The medicine didn't taste great, but there was no contamination inside. Li Qingzhi drank it contentedly.

Li Damao and Li Ermao admired him greatly.

Though they were young, they knew medicine was hard to drink. Yet, their father drank this seemingly unpalatable medicine without changing his expression!

Not only did he drink it… there were some medicine residues at the bottom of the pot. When Xiaoye fed Li Qingzhi the medicine, he tasted a bit and even chewed it.

Li Damao and Li Ermao were shocked.

Xiaoye was stunned for a moment, then quickly moved the clay pot away. "You can't eat the residue, and this residue needs to be boiled again!"

Half of the people in the village were surnamed Jin, and Xiaoye's family lived a relatively comfortable life in the village.

But even a relatively comfortable life was only enough to fill Xiaoye's stomach.

Her father was a farmer who worked in the fields. The most successful person in her family was her uncle, who worked as a porter in the local military compound and earned two coins a month.

When Xiaoye got married, her grandmother didn't even give her a single copper coin!

Before Li Qingzhi disappeared, he left her a bit of money, but it was only a little over four hundred yuan.

They only had two acres of land in total, but with four people in the family, it was barely enough to eat. It was thanks to her efforts to find ways to earn money that they managed to save up a little over four coins.

The previous expenses for seeing the doctor and buying medicine totaled six coins, two of which Xiaoye had borrowed from someone.

Now that Xiaoye had no money left, she couldn't afford to see the doctor again. She could only find ways to make the most of the medicine she had bought, such as boiling it again with water to continue drinking it.

After putting away the clay pot, Xiaoye said, "I'll go prepare some food for you!"

When Li Qingzhi fainted earlier, she spent quite some time feeding him some medicinal rice soup. Now that Li Qingzhi was awake, he should be able to eat something.

Li Qingzhi nodded.

Seeing this, Xiaoye continued, "Damao, Ermao, you guys watch your dad. I'll go cook!" With that, she hurried out.

Li Damao and Li Ermao nodded in response, then sat beside Li Qingzhi, curiously watching him.

The children's eyes were bright and shiny… Li Qingzhi opened his mouth and said with difficulty, "Come here…"

Li Damao and Li Ermao felt somewhat uncomfortable with the sudden addition of a father figure in their lives.

But they did want a father.

Upon hearing Li Qingzhi's words, the two little bald heads leaned in together at the edge of the bed.

Li Qingzhi, trembling, reached out his hand and touched Li Damao's head, then Li Ermao's.

He had touched his children! Li Qingzhi closed his eyes contentedly.

Li Ermao, however, was startled. "Brother, is Dad dead?"

Li Qingzhi: "…"

Li Qingzhi opened his eyes to indicate that he wasn't dead.

Li Ermao breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this. "Dad isn't dead, that's great!"

Chapter 4: Lump

Li Qingzhi held his eyes closed, beginning to feel his own body.

His body was extremely weak, almost as weak as when he was starving to death in the apocalypse.

The quarry didn't consider people like the original owner of this body as human at all. They not only made them work hard from dawn till dusk but also only gave them bean dregs and rice bran to eat. Many people who were taken in ended up dying after working for a few years.

The original owner had also been beaten several times for trying to escape, making his body even weaker.

The original owner relied on perseverance to return to Miaoqian Village before the apocalypse. With this body, even if he received treatment from a major hospital before the apocalypse, he might not have survived.

Fortunately, he had a golden finger.

During the apocalypse, some people awakened special abilities related to healing, which could rapidly heal their own or others' wounds and illnesses.

His golden finger wasn't that powerful, but it could expel all the bad elements from his body one by one and even adjust his own body, keeping it in the best condition.

He could clear out all the hidden injuries and toxins in the original owner's body.

But this would be a long process—after crossing over, his golden finger was weaker than when he first awakened in his previous life, and in this world… he was afraid it would be difficult to enhance it.

For this body to fully recover, it would take at least six months, and there needed to be enough food supply.

Look at how skinny he was! Without eating, he wouldn't be able to gain weight!

Although it would take a long time to recover, Li Qingzhi was hopeful for the future.

Just being alive was satisfying enough for him.

Li Qingzhi controlled the energy to circulate within his body, slowly repairing it, and at the same time, began to consider his future.

At this moment, however, Li Damao and Li Ermao's gaze fell on the ceramic jar filled with medicine residue.

Li Ermao murmured, "Brother, the medicine seems very delicious…" Their father's expression when drinking the medicine was like he was savoring some delicacy.

"The medicine doesn't taste good," Li Damao replied to his younger brother.

"If it doesn't taste good, why would dad like it?" Li Ermao said, "Although it smells bad, it might taste good."

Hearing his younger brother's words, Li Damao also hesitated.

"Brother, shall we taste a bit?" Li Ermao suggested.

Li Damao said, "This is for dad to eat. We can't eat it, but… we can dip our fingers and taste a little."

Li Qingzhi heard the conversation between the two children.

When Li Damao said they couldn't eat it, he thought this child was more reliable than the other, but he didn't expect this "reliable" child to immediately suggest tasting it with their fingers…

Li Qingzhi opened his eyes and saw that the two children had already put their hands into the ceramic jar, dipped some medicine juice, and put it into their mouths.

The next moment, their little black faces wrinkled together.

They were too cute!

Li Qingzhi really wanted to hug them and give them a few kisses, but he was too weak to move, so he could only watch them eagerly, then caught their surprised gazes.

Li Qingzhi smiled at them.

When he had taken the medicine, he had found that there was nothing harmful in it.

If the two children drank several jars of it, it might be harmful to them, but just tasting a little like this wouldn't have any effect on them.

It was because of this that Li Qingzhi didn't stop them, and then he witnessed the two children with faces wrinkled up like buns.

Unexpectedly, Li Ermao suddenly said something shocking, "Dad, have you lost your mind? How can you like such disgusting medicine?" The last time they were starving, he chewed on mulberry leaves, and his mother said he had lost his mind.

Li Damao looked worried.

Li Qingzhi: "…"

Fortunately, at this moment, Jin Xiaoye came in with a large ceramic bowl.

"I cooked a bowl of noodles for you." Jin Xiaoye came to the bedside with the bowl, first placed it on the nearby stool, and then helped Li Qingzhi up.

Li Qingzhi leaned his weak body against Jin Xiaoye's, feeling extremely excited and elated.

It had been six whole years,

Without seeing even one living person.

At first, he dared not see anyone, fearing he would be caught and eaten. Later, it was because… there were no living people left in this world.

Perhaps because of this, he was now excited to see people and thrilled to touch them, even wishing someone would hug him all the time.

His condition was somewhat like skin hunger, but a bit more severe.

But just as living people excited him, so did food.

The smell of food brought Li Qingzhi's attention back, and his gaze fell on the bowl of noodles.

The noodles Jin Xiaoye made were something the original owner had eaten before. They were made by mixing flour with water to form a batter, then boiling it in a pot of water and adding a bit of salt to make it ready to eat.

However, the bowl of noodles Jin Xiaoye brought today wasn't the plain kind with just salt. This bowl of noodles had egg drop soup in it!

"My mother sent over some flour. Since you love noodles, eat more." Jin Xiaoye picked up a piece of grayish noodle with chopsticks and brought it to Li Qingzhi's mouth.

Miaoqian Village was located in the water town of Jiangnan. The main crops grown here were rice.

The two acres of land the original owner bought were all paddy fields suitable for growing rice.

The climate here was good, and rice could be harvested twice a year, but some families only planted rice once a year and chose to plant wheat when it got cold.

The yield of rice per acre far exceeded that of wheat, so very few families planted wheat. Jin Xiaoye's family conditions were considered good; they had an acre of land planted with wheat, which provided some flour for making noodles.

The rice eaten by ancient farming families was mostly brown rice, and the flour was mostly whole wheat, so these noodles weren't white, and they didn't taste very good.

But for Li Qingzhi, who hadn't eaten normal food in a very long time, it was already a gourmet dish.

He took a bite, and the taste of grains filled his mouth…

This was food that hadn't gone bad or rotted!

Seeing Li Qingzhi's expression, Jin Xiaoye felt even more heartache.

Her life with Li Damao and Li Ermao over the past few years hadn't been easy. With the added eggs, they couldn't afford to eat noodles more than once a year.

But seeing Li Qingzhi like this, there was no doubt that Li Qingzhi had suffered even more.

Li Damao and Li Ermao, seeing this, were incredibly envious.

They couldn't usually afford noodles with eggs either.

"Give… give them some to eat," Li Qingzhi said to Jin Xiaoye after taking a few bites.

He had the memories of the original owner and knew that the life of an ordinary farming family at this time was not easy.

And he was skinny, Li Damao and Li Ermao were also very thin, with their rib bones clearly visible.

Although he would have liked to finish all the food, he couldn't bear to see the children's eager eyes.

Jin Xiaoye said, "I left some for them. Damao Ermao, there are still two bowls in the kitchen. You guys go and eat."

Li Damao and Li Ermao rushed out eagerly and soon came back with two small pottery bowls.

There was no egg flower in their bowls at all. Jin Xiaoye should have scooped out a bowl for each of them before adding the egg flower to the soup.

Not only that, but there was only a thumb-sized lump of dough in their bowls, and the rest was all water.

However, the two children were very satisfied, holding their bowls and eating earnestly.

Li Qingzhi felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart.

Especially him, leaning against Jin Xiaoye, felt Jin Xiaoye swallowing saliva.

"You… also eat," Li Qingzhi said to Jin Xiaoye.

"This is for you to eat. What should I eat?" Jin Xiaoye's voice was not small. "Hurry up and eat. I have to go out later."

Jin Xiaoye was thinking of borrowing a millstone to grind some fried rice noodles.

Fry the rice with low heat until it is cooked, then grind it into powder with a millstone. This is the most common food for the children who have just been weaned here.

When the two children were young, there was always rice flour prepared at her house, but in the past year, the children grew up, so she stopped bothering with it.

It's just Li Qingzhi's situation… he's probably unable to eat rice directly.

Boiling rice soup consumes too much firewood, and their family's firewood is simply not enough. Grinding some rice flour is the most convenient, and it can be eaten by just soaking it in water.

Jin Xiaoye's words sounded a bit harsh, but Li Qingzhi could feel that her words were full of concern.

Li Qingzhi lowered his head and slowly began to eat.

About the future… the first thing he had to do was to ensure that everyone in the family could fill their stomachs!

Jin Xiaoye didn't prepare many noodles for Li Qingzhi, after all, he was sick, and his appetite shouldn't be too good.

Therefore, without much effort, Li Qingzhi finished all the food in the bowl. He looked at the bowl in front of him, wishing he could lick the bottom of the bowl.

Unfortunately, Jin Xiaoye did not grant his wish. Seeing him finish the noodles, Jin Xiaoye put him down, instructed the two children not to go out and play, and hurriedly left.

Li Qingzhi watched her leave and then looked at the two children. "Go to bed, it's time to sleep."

The original owner had built two rooms, each about twenty square meters. One was for him and Jin Xiaoye, and the other was for Li Laogen.

At this moment, he was lying in the room where he and Jin Xiaoye lived. There were now many things in this room, and there were also grains stacked beside it.

Before, Jin Xiaoye and the two children must have lived in this room. As soon as Li Qingzhi's voice fell, the two children couldn't wait to climb onto the bed and lie down on either side of Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi held their two little hands, and his heart settled instantly.

At this moment, Li Ermao suddenly called out, "Dad!"

"Yeah," Li Qingzhi responded.

Li Ermao suddenly became excited. "Dad!"

"Yeah," Li Qingzhi responded again.

Li Ermao continued calling, "Daddy, daddy, daddy!"

Li Qingzhi: "…"

Li Damao, who was a bit more stable than his younger brother, also spoke up at this time, "Dad!"

Li Damao and Li Ermao were always called fatherless wild children. Now that a father suddenly appeared, the two became more and more excited and happy, calling out for their father incessantly.

Although Li Qingzhi was tired, he still responded to each call.

Jin Xiaoye was busy in the kitchen outside. She could hear the movement inside the house. As she listened, her eyes became a little red.

Chapter 5: Rice Noodles

Children around the age of four or five love to sleep. Li Damao and Li Ermao lay beside Li Qingzhi and called out for their father. Gradually, they fell asleep unconsciously.

Li Qingzhi's body was very weak, and he also needed sleep. In a daze, he fell asleep too.

Seeing that the three of them were asleep, Jin Xiaoye closed the door and started to get busy.

There was rice that had been pounded previously in the house. She made a fire and fried the rice in an iron pot.

As she was frying, Li Laogen came out from the next room.

It was noon now, and the sun was scorching. Li Laogen didn't want to go out to the field to be exposed to the sun.

It was very hot, so Li Laogen, like Li Damao and Li Ermao, didn't wear a shirt, only a pair of shorts.

He glanced at the tightly closed door and lowered his voice. "Xiaoye, how's Ah Qing?"

"I think he's much better now, he should be able to make it." Before, the elders in the village said that Li Qingzhi would definitely not survive. Not only that, the doctor she had invited also implied that Li Qingzhi wouldn't make it. That doctor didn't even prescribe much medicine!

A few days ago, when Li Qingzhi's breathing was weak, Jin Xiaoye also thought he probably wouldn't survive. But just now, Li Qingzhi woke up and even ate a bowl of noodles. Perhaps he could survive after all.

Upon hearing this, Li Laogen's face showed bitterness. "He can make it… What are we going to do then?"

Jin Xiaoye felt something was wrong with his words. "Isn't it a good thing that he can make it?!"

Li Laogen sighed. "With his condition, he definitely won't be able to work in the future. We've just added another mouth to feed at home." Their food was already insufficient, and now there was someone else who could only eat without working. They would probably have to drink rice soup every day in the future!

According to Li Laogen's thoughts, Li Qingzhi didn't need to see a doctor or take medicine back then, it would have been a waste of money.

Jin Xiaoye raised the bamboo shovel. "Aren't you also someone who just eats without working? The money you earn is not as much as what you lose in gambling! If one day you can't work anymore, should I let you starve to death?"

"It's my loose lips, don't take me seriously," Li Laogen picked up the nearby water bucket and ran, "I'll go water the vegetables."

Jin Xiaoye saw Li Laogen run away and continued to fry the rice.

Li Laogen was actually much better now.

While she was grinding the rice flour, many people came to inquire about Li Qingzhi's condition.

Li Qingzhi suddenly returned, looking like he was on the verge of death… These days, the people in Miaoqian Village had been talking about him.

Jin Xiaoye knew that these people were asking for information to spread around, but she still briefly explained the situation at home. She also mentioned the fact that Li Qingzhi hadn't run away but had been taken away by someone to dig stones, to prevent people in the village from saying that Li Qingzhi was a fraud.

After being comforted by these people, Jin Xiaoye satisfied their curiosity and they left to tell others about the Li family's situation.

They couldn't help but talk about how pitiful Jin Xiaoye was. After waiting so long for her husband to come back, he returned with a weakened body. He probably wouldn't be able to work much in the future.

But the fact that Li Qingzhi could wake up… was really remarkable!

In Miaoqian Village, it was customary for relatives and friends to give gifts when someone in a family was celebrating or mourning, and also to visit and give gifts when someone was seriously ill.

However, the gifts for visiting the sick would be relatively small, usually just two or three eggs. The flour that Jin Xiaoye made for Li Qingzhi today was given to her by her parents when they came to visit.

After grinding and frying the rice, Jin Xiaoye returned home. She glanced and saw that Li Damao and Li Ermao had already woken up and were catching insects in the field.

They had a hen and three ducks in their family, all free-range. Jin Xiaoye wanted to raise more, but letting the chickens and ducks find food on their own wasn't enough. They needed to be fed some grains, but their family's food was already insufficient, so they couldn't raise more.

But now it was summer, and Li Laogen would come back from the river every day with snails to feed the ducks. The ducks not only grew fast but also didn't need to eat grains. As for the hen… Li Damao and Li Ermao would catch insects for it when they saw them, and they would even dig up earthworms specifically for it to eat.

"Mom!" Seeing Jin Xiaoye, the two little rascals ran over, then eagerly looked at the fried rice flour she was carrying.

Jin Xiaoye said, "Damao, you go get firewood, Ermao, you go fetch water. Mom will soak rice flour for you to eat."

Li Damao and Li Ermao immediately got busy.

Jin Xiaoye kept the food in her own room, but the firewood was kept in Li Laogen's room. Li Damao brought the firewood, and Jin Xiaoye borrowed fire from the neighboring house and started to boil water.

After the water boiled, she scooped out some to soak three bowls of rice flour. The portions for Li Damao and Li Ermao were very small, just for them to taste, while Li Qingzhi's portion was relatively larger.

Then, she added a bowl of rice to the pot and covered it.

During this time, she went to the side of the house and picked a handful of cowpeas. After opening the pot, she broke them into pieces and threw them in, along with a little salt. Finally, she took two eggs from the house, cracked them into the bowl, and placed the bowl on a steaming rack.

Jin Xiaoye's hands and feet were very fast, and she quickly prepared lunch. When the rice flour cooled down, she carried it to Li Qingzhi.

Fried rice flour made from coarse rice flour naturally didn't have the delicate texture of rice flour made from white rice.

But when Li Qingzhi tasted a mouthful of rice flour, he already felt like his heart was floating to the clouds.

The slightly charred flavor of the rice flour touched his tongue, and the taste of starch spread in his mouth…

This bowl of rice flour didn't have any sugar added, but Li Qingzhi could taste the sweetness. He even felt that the energy brought by the rice was nourishing his body.

This rice flour was really delicious!

Seeing Li Qingzhi's intoxicated expression, Li Damao and Li Ermao felt that the rice flour in their hands was much more fragrant than what they had eaten before.

Jin Xiaoye couldn't help but ask, "Is it really that delicious?"

Li Qingzhi said, "Xiaoye, for the past few years, I've been eating rice bran and soybean dregs every day, worse than a pig…"

After the soybeans were pressed for oil, they could still be used to make tofu, and the remaining soybean dregs were usually used to feed pigs. But in the end, it became the original owner's food.

Even eating soybean dregs was considered good. The original owner often could only eat rice bran…

But compared to him, the original owner's diet was considered good.

The contaminated land couldn't produce grains. What he had eaten in the last few years were things produced before the end of the world, like canned food. Not only were these foods expired and rotten, but they were also contaminated, and the taste was really terrible.

Jin Xiaoye felt even more sympathetic to her husband.

The villagers thought that Li Qingzhi, with his poor education, was a fraud, but Jin Xiaoye didn't think Li Qingzhi was deceiving anyone.

Although he wasn't well-educated, Li Qingzhi had indeed studied books and could read.

Moreover, when they first got married, she noticed that Li Qingzhi didn't have calluses on his hands and feet… Before Li Qingzhi, he should have lived quite well.

Indeed, Li Qingzhi was very particular in his daily life, unlike the villagers.

However, after not seeing him for a few years, the once meticulous Li Qingzhi had become like this…

After Li Qingzhi finished the rice flour, Jin Xiaoye went out with the bowl, not giving Li Qingzhi a chance to lick the bottom of the bowl.

Shortly after, Jin Xiaoye came back with a bowl of porridge. Since the two children didn't eat enough rice flour, she added some porridge to their bowls and sat on a small stool beside the bed to eat.

Li Qingzhi glanced and found that they were eating cowpea porridge, which was cowpeas cooked with coarse rice.

Oh right, the people in Miaoqian Village called cowpeas crony beans.

Cowpeas! This was a vegetable!

Li Qingzhi watched Jin Xiaoye eat eagerly.

Unable to resist, Jin Xiaoye asked, "Are you still hungry?"

"I want to taste some cowpeas," Li Qingzhi said.

Hearing this, Jin Xiaoye picked up a cowpea from her own bowl and brought it to Li Qingzhi's mouth.

Cowpeas boiled directly in water didn't have much flavor, but the original taste of the plant itself was already delicious!

This was a vegetable!

Li Qingzhi slowly savored it, then realized that the brown rice he ate with it was very hard, indicating it wasn't cooked through.

He was about to ask Jin Xiaoye why she didn't cook it longer when he quickly realized the reason.

Miaoqian Village was located in a plain area with no forests, not even a grove of trees.

The only things that farmers could use as firewood were rice straw and mulberry branches, which weren't enough for burning. Everyone had to conserve firewood.

Ancient farmers really had a tough life.

Li Qingzhi thought so, and Li Damao came over, also picked up a string bean and fed it to him.

Li Qingzhi ate it and praised, "Damao is really obedient."

Li Ermao immediately also picked up a string bean and gave it to Li Qingzhi, saying, "Dad, you eat!"

Li Qingzhi immediately said, "Ermao is obedient too!"

Jin Xiaoye was busy with the family's livelihood all day long and didn't praise the children much. Li Damao and Li Ermao were especially excited to receive praise. They held their bowls, wishing they could feed all the food in their bowls to Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi quickly said, "Dad is full and can't eat anymore." He couldn't compete with the two children for food.

"You're full? Then save these two eggs for when you're hungry again." Jin Xiaoye handed two steamed eggs to Li Qingzhi.

Li Qingzhi's mouth was watering… He wasn't full, he could still eat!

Chapter 6: Plans

Most of the people in the village eat two meals a day, breakfast and dinner, but families with better conditions will have a "snack" at noon.

Their family's condition wasn't good, so they only had two meals, breakfast around nine in the morning and dinner around four in the afternoon.

Because there were no timekeeping tools, the time wasn't precise; they just watched when Jin Xiaoye cooked.

Today's dinner for Jin Xiaoye was bean and brown rice porridge.

After finishing the porridge, Jin Xiaoye greeted Li Damao and Li Ermao and went out to the fields.

Firstly, because the summer days were long and it was still bright, and secondly… it was hot now, so many people preferred to work early in the morning or in the evening.

Jin Xiaoye was worried that those people in the village who liked to gossip would come to disturb Li Qingzhi. If those people said something inappropriate, it would be even worse… So she specifically closed the door before going out.

Li Qingzhi was at home, lying there, talking to his two sons.

When he first woke up, it was difficult for him to talk, but now, after eating two meals, he had finally recovered somewhat, and the more he looked at Li Damao and Li Ermao, the more he liked them.

These two children were thin and dark, if it were before the apocalypse, they wouldn't even be as good as refugees, but in Li Qingzhi's eyes, who had experienced the apocalypse, these two children were really good in every way.

Li Qingzhi let Li Damao and Li Ermao lie on either side of him, then held their little hands and told them stories.

The apocalypse he experienced wasn't just about humans turning into zombies; animals and plants would also become zombies due to contamination. The ubiquitous pollution consumed all life, leaving only him alive because of his special ability.

Compared with other people with special abilities, his "golden finger" had almost no combat power, so most of the time he silently survived alone, not wanting to survive until the last moment.

During the years of living alone, when he had nothing to do, he would read all kinds of books and even read some novels.

For Li Qingzhi, who had read a lot of novels, telling stories to children was not a difficult task at all.

Thinking of the two children feeding the chickens during the day, he told them a related story about two children helping the landlord's family raise chickens. The reward given by the landlord was one egg per day. One of the children ate the egg every day and didn't save anything, while the other child saved the eggs and exchanged them with others for little chicks to raise. Later, after the landlord stopped asking them to work, the former child couldn't eat eggs anymore, but the latter child could still eat eggs, and even chicken meat…

After telling the story, Li Qingzhi took out the two eggs Jin Xiaoye gave him and shared them with the two children.

He ate one himself, and Li Damao and Li Ermao each ate half.

Li Damao looked at the egg and said, "Dad, let's not eat it. Let's exchange the eggs for little chickens!"

"You're not eating it? Eggs are delicious!" Li Qingzhi peeled the egg and took a bite.

The egg white and yolk melted in his mouth, spreading a wonderful taste on his tongue…

Li Ermao immediately said, "I want to eat the egg."

Li Damao also craved it, but still said, "Mom said these two eggs are for Dad to eat and help him recover."

This child was really filial!

Li Qingzhi couldn't bring himself to eat the eggs while the two children watched, so he broke the eggs meant for the two children and gave them each a portion: "Eat, Dad already had lunch, this is for you."

Li Damao and Li Ermao couldn't resist the temptation of the eggs after all and took them, eating them bit by bit.

For them, who usually only ate brown rice porridge, the eggs were already delicious, and both children ate them with great satisfaction.

Seeing this, Li Qingzhi was even more eager to recover quickly.

It would take a long time for his body to fully recover, but it shouldn't be long before he could walk again.

When the time comes, he definitely has to figure out a way to make money.

On this matter, Li Qingzhi already has some ideas.

In the Miaoqian village, some people go to the county town to work, but most of them do laborious work and earn very little money. However, he is different.

He possesses the memories of the original owner, knows the traditional characters of this era, and can even do accounting!

The world he traveled into is an era that he is familiar with from history, but one that never existed before, known as the "Daqi" era.

According to the memories of the original owner… in the poor county where the original owner lived before, there were very few literate people. The county of Chongcheng where he is now located has relatively more literate people, but not to the extent of being common. Generally speaking, it is quite easy for literate people to find work.

He could work as an accountant, help out in the households of wealthy families in the county town, or even become a temporary official in the yamen.

The so-called "temporary official" is a casual worker in the ancient county government. When the father of the original owner served as a county official, even if he managed a sparsely populated poor county, he still needed a lot of help. Not only did he specially hire a teacher, but he also hired several temporary officials who were lower-ranking than the teacher.

The work that temporary officials had to do was familiar to the original owner, so he would naturally be able to handle it.

Of course, the prerequisite for finding work is that he has to fully recover his health.

Li Qingzhi's ideas for making money all involve working, and as for the ways of making money like making soap or glass, or selling steamed buns or barbecue that he read about in the time-travel novels he used to read, he didn't consider them at all.

This is because he lacks capital, and secondly, it's not realistic.

For example, using lard to make soap… In the memories of the original owner, the pigs raised by rural families are usually black pigs. If these pigs are raised on the estates of wealthy families and given better food, they could weigh around a hundred kilograms after six months. However, pigs raised in ordinary households are fed with pig grass, vegetables, pumpkins… and if lucky, some leftovers. These pigs, when fully grown, only yield about seventy to eighty kilograms of meat. Moreover, these pigs have relatively little fat, so purchasing pig fat in large quantities is not easy.

Furthermore, during this time, there already exists a form of "soap". The original owner's mother used a type of medicine called "fat beads" or saponaria to bathe and wash clothes. In their county town, there are even people selling "soap" made by mixing fat beads with flour and spices.

Using lard to make soap, aside from the uncertainty of whether it can be done, even if it is successfully made, the production volume would not be high. Poor families couldn't afford it, and wealthy families wouldn't buy something from an ordinary person like him.

Making glass follows a similar logic. He is not a specialized craftsman, so making glass would require hiring many craftsmen to experiment with, which would involve a very large initial investment.

These things, even if he manages to make them, might not necessarily sell well… To make things like soap or glass, one must have influence and connections.

As for selling barbecue… In this era, the necessary seasonings for barbecue are not readily available, and some of those ingredients are expensive. For example, pepper was as expensive as gold in the previous dynasty, and although it's cultivated in Great Qi, it's still not cheap. So, selling barbecue that requires many seasonings might be profitable in upscale restaurants but is not practical for selling in the county.

Making steamed buns could work, but the fine white flour in this era is not cheap. Steamed buns made with white flour target wealthier customers, but those people probably wouldn't buy buns sold by a roadside stall.

If he were to make ordinary buns using the whole wheat flour he used to eat before, and sell them to ordinary people in the county or at the docks…

In modern households, making dumplings for the New Year's Eve involves the whole family kneading dough and chopping filling, which takes quite some effort. In this era without meat grinders, it would take half an hour just to chop enough filling for a hundred buns, and kneading and fermenting the dough would take a long time too. The buns need to be fully steamed before selling, which takes even longer…

He simply doesn't have the physical strength for it, and relying on Jin Xiaoye… Jin Xiaoye works tirelessly all day long, but she probably couldn't make many buns either.

And then there's the time spent selling!

Selling buns is a physically demanding job and doesn't earn much money. He hasn't seen those people who sell buns in the county get rich.

Compared to that, literate people earn more money by copying books and manuscripts, which is less strenuous.

Unfortunately, the original owner of this body didn't like practicing calligraphy, so he temporarily can't copy books.

He also doesn't have the physical stamina to copy books for long periods of time.

Li Qingzhi was pondering about finding a job. As the day slowly turned dark, Jin Xiaoye returned with moisture all over her body — she probably took a bath by the river before coming back.

Jin Xiaoye laid down some straw on the ground and then placed a worn-out straw mat on top of it, then said to the two children, "Damao, Ermao, it's time to sleep!"

There was only one bed in the house, and for the past two days, Jin Xiaoye had been sleeping with Damao and Ermao on the ground to avoid them accidentally bumping into Li Qingzhi's wounds.

However, upon hearing her words, Ermao didn't go down, "Mom, I want to sleep with Dad!"

Damao thought about it and said, "Mom, I want to sleep with Dad too."

They had just gained their dad, who would tell them stories. They cherished this and wanted to sleep with him!

Jin Xiaoye was a bit surprised by their response, as Damao and Ermao had always been very attached to her before.

But after the surprise, she felt a sense of warmth.

The closeness between Li Qingzhi and the two children indicates that Li Qingzhi treats them well, which is a good thing.

At this moment, Li Qingzhi said, "Let them sleep with me." Sleeping with one child on each side, just thinking about it, he felt like he was going to die happily!

Since Li Qingzhi said so, Jin Xiaoye did not object.

She had been busy all day today and was exhausted. After lying down, she fell asleep in no time.

The two children also fell asleep quickly, and amidst the even breathing of the three, Li Qingzhi entered the dreamland as well.

Because they went to bed early, the next day, the family woke up before dawn.

The first thing Jin Xiaoye did after getting up was to bring the chamber pot for Li Qingzhi to relieve himself. Then, she went out.

When she went out, according to modern time, it was about five o'clock. By around eight o'clock, she returned and then called Li Damao and Li Ermao out to help her start a fire and prepare the meal.

Not long after, Li Damao brought a bowl of rice noodles in, and together with Li Ermao, they fed Li Qingzhi.

Yesterday, Jin Xiaoye had set aside a bit for them to taste, but today she didn't prepare any for them. However, the two children were obedient. Even if Li Qingzhi wanted them to eat, after taking a bite, they didn't want to eat anymore.

"Dad, you eat!"

"Dad, you need to take care of your health."

"Eat more to get better."

…

The two children spoke one after another, taking turns feeding Li Qingzhi the rice noodles, and after finishing that, they held bowls of porridge made with cowpeas and brown rice to eat.

Inside the house was very harmonious, but outside was different. Li Laogen, who was also eating the cowpea and brown rice porridge, complained softly that there seemed to be too few grains of rice.

Jin Xiaoye never spoiled Li Laogen: "If you're not satisfied, you don't have to eat!"

How could Li Laogen possibly be dissatisfied? He didn't have sons before, and when he lived with his younger brother, they had even less to eat than this.

After finishing the porridge in a few bites, Li Laogen took a bamboo basket and went out: "I'm going to catch snails."

In the middle of summer, soaking in the river was the most comfortable, and catching snails was an easy task.

While Li Laogen went out, Jin Xiaoye stayed inside. She gave Li Qingzhi two more eggs, instructed him not to give any to the two children, and then moved the family's rice to the door to dry – the rice at home was almost gone, and they needed to pound some more out, but before pounding the rice, it needed to be dried a bit.

As for Li Damao and Li Ermao, they continued to go out to catch insects to feed the chickens as usual.

Li Qingzhi watched them and couldn't help but restrain himself from laughing.

He had regained a new lease on life, and that was truly wonderful!

Chapter 7: Golden Jasmine

At home, there was a large bamboo tray, slightly bigger than a table, woven from bamboo strips. Jin Xiaoye carried two long benches outside, placed the bamboo tray on top, and then spread out the rice to dry inside it.

This type of bamboo tray was mainly used for raising silkworms, but since their family didn't have a mulberry field, Jin Xiaoye didn't raise silkworms. Usually, she used it to dry grains and store food.

After drying the grains, Jin Xiaoye returned to the house, took out needles, threads, and a basket, and started sewing.

Li Qingzhi took a glance and noticed that she was cutting up the pants the original owner wore when escaping from the quarry.

These were worn-out trousers, no longer wearable in Li Qingzhi's opinion. However, Jin Xiaoye cut them short, used the relatively intact fabric from the cut-off pant legs to patch up the upper part of the trousers, and turned them into shorts.

In this era, scholars and wealthy people were more particular about their clothing, not exposing their chests. But ordinary folks, especially those living in difficult circumstances, didn't adhere to such norms.

Men carrying goods at the dock, working in the fields, rowing boats on the river… many of these men were shirtless.

As for the women, those from wealthier families might wear short-sleeved shirts, but if a family was poor, they would dismantle winter clothes for cotton and roll up the sleeves for ventilation.

The shorts Jin Xiaoye was making were commonly worn by men in the village during the summer.

As she sewed, Jin Xiaoye said to Li Qingzhi, "You don't want these pants, right? If you don't, I'll give them to Dad."

Jin Xiaoye referred to Li Laogen as "Dad."

Li Qingzhi replied, "Give them to Dad." He indeed didn't want these patched-up shorts.

Mainly because the original owner left behind two sets of clothes, so he didn't currently lack clothing.

Upon hearing this, Jin Xiaoye continued sewing, also collecting the scraps of fabric she cut off.

These fabric scraps could be used to glue shoe soles.

Jin Xiaoye wasn't meticulous in her sewing. She never liked doing such delicate work since she was young, but as she worked, someone came in. "Xiaoye!"

Li Qingzhi looked and saw his in-laws entering with his younger brother-in-law.

Jin Xiaoye's grandparents raised two sons and two daughters. One daughter married in the neighboring village, while the other stayed in their village. The two sons were Jin Xiaoye's eldest uncle and Jin Xiaoye's father.

Jin Xiaoye's grandfather was somewhat skilled in cooking and used to cater banquets for the village. Her eldest uncle relied on this skill and worked as a helper in the nearby military camp, earning two taels a month.

Jin Xiaoye's father inherited her grandfather's "business." Besides farming, whenever there were celebrations or funerals in the village, he would go to cook for the occasion.

The skills of Jin's father were not appreciated by urbanites, and rural folks didn't have much money, so he didn't earn much. He would earn around thirty yuan for catering an event, and if the host was generous, they might give him some additional items.

Speaking of income… Li Qingzhi converted it according to the original owner's memory and found that in Daqi, where he was, the money was converted based on the price of rice. In this era, one penny was roughly equivalent to two yuan before the apocalypse.

A tael was equivalent to one thousand penny, approximately equivalent to two thousand yuan.

Jin Xiaoye's eldest uncle earned four thousand yuan a month, while her father earned sixty yuan for catering an event. It seemed very little, but for farmers at that time who had no other sources of income, the fact that the Jin family could earn money like this was already enviable.

As for the value of silver… Generally speaking, one tael of silver is consistent, but in fact, when it is actually on the market, the calculation is not so accurate.

Poor-quality silver might exchange for one tael for one tael, but if the silver was of good quality, one tael could exchange for one thousand three hundred penny. This price could fluctuate, and the value of silver varied in different periods and places.

According to the original owner's memory, in this era, if a wealthy household hired a servant or a tavern hired a waiter with room and board included, they would pay about a tael a month. Without room and board, they would pay more. Additionally, hiring an accountant who could write and calculate would cost at least four taels a month, along with some other benefits.

Li Qingzhi's temporary goal was to become an accountant. Anyway, he needed to have some income first to ensure a good life for his family.

Jin's father and mother came over to visit upon hearing that Li Qingzhi had woken up.

They had come to visit once before, and the two taels that Jin Xiaoye brought for Li Qingzhi's medical expenses were borrowed from them.

Now that Li Qingzhi had woken up, they would certainly come again to check on him.

Jin Xiaoye's grandfather had passed away, but her grandmother was still alive, so Jin Xiaoye's eldest uncle and her father hadn't split up the family property.

Jin's eldest uncle had three sons and a daughter, while her father had raised a son and a daughter. Jin Xiaoye was the eldest sister, and she had a younger brother who was only sixteen years old.

Jin's father was a bit taciturn, an honest and skilled farmer.

At just forty-five this year, his teeth were almost all gone, and his dark face was full of wrinkles, making him look like an old man.

Jin's mother was in a similar state, appearing quite aged. She was a bit introverted and dared not look at Li Qingzhi, only whispering to Jin Xiaoye.

In contrast, Jin Xiaoye's younger brother, Jin Xiaoshu, was energetic and talkative.

After they arrived, the main conversation was between Li Qingzhi and Jin Xiaoye's younger brother. He kept talking about how tough Jin Xiaoye had it these past few years: "The day my sister gave birth, she was still out in the fields planting rice seedlings. Suddenly, she started feeling pain in her stomach, and as soon as she got home, she gave birth to her first and second children."

Li Qingzhi smiled and said, "I will definitely treat Xiaoye well in the future."

"Our family didn't have enough food to eat. My sister even went to the city to find work during the New Year. She hasn't had a proper New Year celebration in years."

Li Qingzhi continued to smile, "Xiaoye has really had it tough. Luckily, she has you."

Li Qingzhi was very fond of his in-laws and this younger brother-in-law.

After all, they were all alive!

As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on them, expressing a great sense of closeness.

Especially the young Jin Xiaoshu—such a spirited young man! It's a pity he's not my own child; otherwise, I'd give him a pat on the back.

Previously, like everyone else, Jin Xiaoshu thought Li Qingzhi had probably received news from their hometown and abandoned his sister. At that time, he harbored a strong dislike for Li Qingzhi.

But now that Li Qingzhi had returned… he didn't dislike Li Qingzhi anymore; he just wanted Li Qingzhi to treat his sister well.

Before coming, Jin Xiaoshu had been determined to have a serious talk with Li Qingzhi, but Li Qingzhi had been looking at him with such fondness, as if he were some treasure… Many of the things he had planned to say remained unsaid.

Alas, his brother-in-law had been detained and tortured for five years, and his health had deteriorated. It was likely that his sister would have to take care of him in the future. Promises of treating his sister well… he couldn't trust them.

With a sigh, Jin Xiaoshu took out two duck eggs and handed them to Jin Xiaoye. "Sis, I brought two duck eggs. Make something with them to nourish your husband's body. If I have time, I'll catch some fish for your husband."

Seeing that Li Qingzhi didn't seem to be in good shape, the Jin family didn't stay long and soon left.

After the Jin family left, Li Laogen came back with a basket of snails and a few small crabs no bigger than ping pong balls.

There were crabs in the river on the Miaoqian Village, but these crabs were very small, only about the size of ping pong balls, and didn't have much meat on them.

Adult ducks could eat the whole snail, but their ducks were still small and couldn't manage, so Li Laogen sat at the door and smashed the snails before feeding them to the ducks.

While smashing them, he picked out the meat from the larger snails and put them in a bowl beside him.

He also fed the crab legs to the ducks, but the tiny bit of crab meat on them was also put in the bowl. He instructed Jin Xiaoye, "Xiaoye, when cooking later, put these in to cook. At least there's some meat…"

"I know! I altered a pair of pants, do you want them?" Jin Xiaoye said, handing the patched-up pants to Li Laogen.

"Yes! I'll go change right away!" Li Laogen was very happy. He only had one pair of shorts, which he had been wearing when he went to the river just now, and they were damp and clinging to him.

Taking the pants from her, Li Laogen excitedly went inside to change. Even though they were a pair of shorts covered in patches, he treated them like a treasure.

Seeing this, Jin Xiaoye couldn't help but say, "If you didn't gamble, you wouldn't know how many new pairs of pants you could buy!"

Li Laogen smiled awkwardly and went out to play.

Jin Xiaoye couldn't be bothered to deal with him and took a bamboo strip to stir the rice drying in the bamboo tray, making sure it dried evenly.

It was at this moment that a voice came from next door. "Jin Xiaoye, are you still making pants for him?"

Jin Xiaoye glanced over and realized it was her cousin, Jin Moli.

After Jin Xiaoye's mother gave birth to her, her health had never been good. She had three miscarriages before giving birth to Jin Xiaoshu after many years. However, her eldest aunt gave birth to three sons and a daughter in succession.

After that, she stopped having children because her eldest uncle went to work as a helper in the military camp, only coming home once a month.

This cousin of Jin Xiaoye's was only a few months younger than her. They grew up together, but their relationship was quite ordinary.

Jin Xiaoye had never liked this cousin of hers.

Her eldest uncle was successful and eloquent, and her eldest aunt kept giving birth to sons… Her grandparents had always favored her eldest uncle's family.

Before her eldest uncle went to work as a helper in the military camp, her grandfather had always taken her eldest uncle out to cater banquets, intending to teach him cooking skills.

Since her eldest uncle was favored, this cousin of hers naturally received more attention at home.

Her grandmother often said that since she was the elder sister, she should take care of her younger sister.

At that time, almost all the chores at home were done by her and her mother, while Jin Moli just did whatever she pleased.

The two of them didn't get along well before they got married, and things didn't improve after marriage either.

Unfortunately, they still had to deal with each other. Before marriage, both families lived together, and after marriage… Jin Moli married the Yao family next door.

When Li Qingzhi bought land and built a house in the village, he bought land from the Yao family, and the house was built next to the Yao family's house.

Like the Jin family, the Yao family was considered well-off in the village. The main reason was that the Yao family owned a boat, and Yao's father did some small business by rowing the boat.

It was just buying eggs and other things from the countryside and selling them in the county town, collecting some travel fees along the way. But Yao's father could earn at least one or two taels a month, and during the New Year, he could earn seven or eight taels in a month.

That was not all. Yao's father had only one son… When there were fewer sons, they would be highly valued. Jin's eldest uncle didn't send his child to school, but Yao's father sent his child to school in the county town.

Jin Moli's husband, Yao Zhenfu, was literate just like Li Qingzhi.

When Jin Moli was about ten years old, she was engaged to Yao Zhenfu and married on the same day as Jin Xiaoye.

Their lives after marriage were completely different.

After Li Qingzhi disappeared, Jin Xiaoye had to support a household on her own, but what about Jin Moli? She lived comfortably in the Yao household.

Jin Xiaoye didn't harbor any resentment towards Jin Moli, but she didn't have much to do with her either. "Nobody else would wear these worn-out pants."

Jin Moli looked at Jin Xiaoye with a complicated expression and asked, "Is Li Qingzhi really alive?"

Hearing this, Jin Xiaoye's mood improved a lot. "He's alive." Li Qingzhi looked much better now, and she probably wouldn't have to spend money on medicine anymore.

With that, the household expenses in the future wouldn't be too high, and if they worked hard for another two years, they could pay off their debts and have a better life.

Jin Moli's expression became even more complicated. "I didn't expect…"

She truly hadn't expected Li Qingzhi to be revived.

But even if he was alive, it didn't matter. Li Qingzhi was just a swindler, and now his health was ruined. He definitely wouldn't amount to anything in the future.

Yao Zhenfu, on the other hand, was different. He could become a great merchant in the future!

Chapter 8: The Yao Family

If there was nothing else to do, Jin Xiaoye usually didn't talk to Jin Moli. Seeing Jin Moli's silence, Jin Xiaoye turned to Li Damao and Li Ermao, who were playing nearby, and said, "Go check the chicken coop and see if there are any eggs. It's summer now, and the hens lay eggs frequently, sometimes two in three days."

Li Damao and Li Ermao were responsible for feeding the chickens, so they were particularly enthusiastic about collecting eggs. The two of them rushed into the chicken coop together and came out joyfully holding an egg. "Mom, we found an egg!"

"Mom, I found it!"

Jin Xiaoye said, "Put the egg inside the house."

The two children took the egg inside carefully and placed it in the earthenware pot Jin Xiaoye used to store eggs.

Li Qingzhi could hear the commotion outside, so he knew exactly what the two children had done. He immediately praised them, "Damao, Ermao, you're amazing! Not only can you feed the chickens, but you can also collect eggs."

These two children were like little angels, helping out around the house at such a young age!

Li Damao and Li Ermao loved collecting eggs, but they had never been praised before for such a small task. When they heard Li Qingzhi's words, their eyes lit up, wishing he would praise them a bit more.

Li Qingzhi satisfied them, saying, "You're so young and already helping your parents. You're truly amazing children."

Li Damao and Li Ermao were overjoyed.

Their father was really good to them, unlike other families!

Feeling happy, Li Damao and Li Ermao obediently washed their hands when Li Qingzhi told them to, then climbed onto the bed and took a nap beside him.

Inside the house, everything was harmonious. Outside, Jin Moli looked at Jin Xiaoye with a grievance, "Jin Xiaoye, why are you ignoring me?"

Once again, Jin Xiaoye ignored her!

"I answered your question just now, didn't I? When did I ignore you?" Jin Xiaoye felt Jin Moli was being unreasonable. She had clearly answered Jin Moli's questions earlier.

But Jin Moli had some issues herself. Living next door to the Yao family, she inevitably interacted with them. Jin Moli seemed afraid that Jin Xiaoye would take a liking to Yao Zhenfu, so she was always on guard against her.

Jin Xiaoye genuinely looked down on Yao Zhenfu. He was short, ugly, with pockmarks all over his face, small eyes, and a big nose. And he always ran to his mother for everything!

Before getting married, Jin Xiaoye felt that Li Qingzhi was much better than Yao Zhenfu. Li Qingzhi did everything by himself, unlike Yao Zhenfu, who lacked initiative.

Even so, Yao Zhenfu's prospects were good because of the Yao family's wealth. Otherwise, he would definitely be a bachelor for life.

Jin Xiaoye never thought highly of Yao Zhenfu. Now that Yao Zhenfu was married, there was even less possibility of anything between them. It was Jin Moli who treated Yao Zhenfu like a treasure, a person who did nothing before marriage but suddenly learned to do everything after.

Jin Moli felt unhappy about being scolded by Jin Xiaoye, so she turned and went back to the Yao family's house, feeling somewhat uneasy. She hadn't expected Li Qingzhi to survive after Jin Xiaoye spent money to cure him.

In her previous life, Li Qingzhi died on the same night he returned!

Jin Moli had been reborn.

After she died in her previous life, she woke up five years earlier, before she got married.

In her previous life, although she was engaged to Yao Zhenfu at an early age, she never liked him because she thought he was too ugly.

But there was no one better in their village than Yao Zhenfu. Until Li Qingzhi appeared in their village.

Li Qingzhi was obviously a refugee, but he was very handsome and elegant, completely different from ordinary people. Even the scholar from the neighboring village couldn't match Li Qingzhi's dignity.

Although she initially liked Li Qingzhi, she didn't think much about it. But Jin Xiaoye's family was unkind; Jin Xiaoye always praised Li Qingzhi, and Jin Xiaoye's father even told her he saw Yao Zhenfu getting along well with someone in the county.

Li Qingzhi was also a swindler, claiming to have read many books… She thought Li Qingzhi would at least pass the imperial examination, maybe even become a top scholar.

She was impulsive at the time and insisted on marrying Li Qingzhi.

This matter caused quite a stir, and in the end, her father gave Jin Xiaoye's father ten taels of silver as compensation, separated their families, and went to the Yao family to apologize and negotiate with Li Qingzhi… Finally, she exchanged her marriage with Jin Xiaoye.

This is also because her father favored Li Qingzhi more, thinking that Li Qingzhi had a bright future and could help her brothers.

So she married Li Qingzhi, while Jin Xiaoye married Yao Zhenfu.

After getting married, she wholeheartedly wanted Li Qingzhi to go to the county town to study and take the imperial examinations, but Li Qingzhi was not willing. He even told her that his academic achievements were not that great…

Not only that, she and her father thought that Li Qingzhi had some money, but after she got married, she found out that Li Qingzhi's money had long been spent.

Li Qingzhi had no money, so their family's living conditions were not very good. They didn't even have a table to eat on, unlike Jin Xiaoye's situation. The Yao family lacked nothing and had a solid foundation!

However, she didn't regret it too much at the time. After all, Li Qingzhi was very handsome, and her father said he would find Li Qingzhi a job.

When Li Qingzhi found a job and earned money in the county town, their lives would improve, and they might even be able to move to the county town.

Two months after she got married, her father recommended Li Qingzhi to work as an accountant in a rice shop in the county town. Unexpectedly, Li Qingzhi disappeared.

After Li Qingzhi disappeared, there were rumors all over the village, making her life even more difficult. What made her most angry was that Li Laogen was gambling outside!

When others told her, Li Laogen had already lost a lot of money. She cried, but in the end, she could only use the money to help Li Laogen pay off his debts.

Li Laogen cursed and vowed never to gamble again, but with the encouragement of those ill-intentioned people in the village, Li Laogen started gambling again…

Later, the people who lent money to Li Laogen came to collect the debt, saying that Li Laogen owed them more than ten thousand yuans and demanded that she give up an acre of land to repay Li Laogen's debts. Li Laogen insisted that the land belonged to him and should be used to repay his debts.

The people who lent money to Li Laogen were eyeing their land!

In the end, her father intervened and spent fifty taels to buy the two acres of land from their family. Half of the fifty taels were given to Li Laogen, and she kept the other half. Afterwards, her father took her back to her maternal home, intending to find her a…

She remarried.

Although she had been married once before, remarrying in the village was not difficult for her. Her family had some money, and she had just received twenty-five taels of silver, so there were plenty of unmarried men in the village who wanted to marry her.

But those men were poorer and uglier than the other.

She waited for two years, then chose a relatively decent family to marry into. After that, her days were just like those of any other village woman.

It was around this time that Li Qingzhi returned.

By then, she had already remarried and naturally couldn't care about Li Qingzhi. As for Li Laogen… after losing all his money, he went back to live with his younger brother and died not long after. He had been dead for more than three years by then.

When Li Qingzhi was brought back to the village by the villagers, he stopped breathing that very night.

Later on, she continued to live in the village, raising children and working hard. After Jin Xiaoye married Yao Zhenfu, her life became completely different from hers.

Yao Zhenfu was indeed ugly, but the Yao family was wealthy!

Land in the south of the Yangtze River is expensive, and paddy fields were even more expensive. But the Yao family owned ten mu of paddy fields, and during busy farming seasons, Yao's father had to hire help to cultivate them.

Yao's father also owned a boat!

The first few years after Jin Xiaoye married Yao Zhenfu were ordinary, but approximately two years after Li Qingzhi's death, Yao Zhenfu moved with Jin Xiaoye to the county town to start a business.

She wasn't very clear about the specifics, but she knew that the Yao family earned a lot of money in the county town. They even bought a house and two large boats there.

Jin Xiaoye's son went to school since he was a child and became a scholar, and Jin Xiaoye's daughter married well in gold and silver.

Even Jin Xiaoye's younger brother, Jin Xiaoshu, bought his own boat. She wondered how much more glorious he was compared to her brothers.

Jin Xiaoye finally achieved the life she had always hoped for since childhood. When she went to visit Jin Xiaoye, Jin Xiaoye completely ignored her.

At that time, she didn't know how much she regretted insisting on marrying Li Qingzhi instead of choosing Yao Zhenfu.

And then she was reborn, reborn when Jin Xiaoye's father told her father about seeing Yao Zhenfu with someone in the county town.

In her previous life, she was very angry, but in this life… compared to not having enough to eat or wear, what did it matter if Yao Zhenfu had someone in the county town?

And maybe that woman didn't even exist! Despite Yao Zhenfu becoming so wealthy in her previous life, he never took concubines.

The Jin family might just be jealous of her success and deliberately told her this!

In this life, she didn't insist on marrying Li Qingzhi and still married Yao Zhenfu.

As for Jin Xiaoye… didn't Jin Xiaoye always think highly of Li Qingzhi? Then let Jin Xiaoye marry Li Qingzhi!

She didn't know why Li Qingzhi left in her previous life, and why he came back on the brink of death. But she resented Li Qingzhi's lack of knowledge and exaggerated reputation. She managed to expose Li Qingzhi, letting everyone in the village know that Li Qingzhi actually didn't know much.

After that, she didn't do much. As a result, her father introduced Li Qingzhi to the job of a rice shopkeeper, and Li Qingzhi disappeared again…

She thought Jin Xiaoye would follow the same path as her after Li Qingzhi disappeared, being bullied by Li Laogen and remarrying an ordinary villager. But she never expected Jin Xiaoye to suppress Li Laogen and have two children, and that was how she lived her life.

She never expected that after Li Qingzhi returned, Jin Xiaoye would call a doctor to treat him. And after two days of unconsciousness, Li Qingzhi actually woke up.

Even Li Laogen, who should have died long ago, was still alive.

But even if Li Qingzhi didn't die, Jin Xiaoye's future would certainly not be easy.

Even if Li Qingzhi found a job as an accountant in the county town… Didn't Yao Zhenfu hire an accountant to manage his business in the first place!

At that time, Jin Xiaoye's clothes were said to cost twenty pieces!

Of course, in this life, she will be the one wearing the same clothes twenty times.

Thinking this way, Jin Moli's mood became very good.

Just as she returned home, she heard her mother-in-law say, "You lazy girl, where have you been again? Don't you know there's so much work to be done at home?"

Jin Moli's face changed, and she immediately went to work.

In two more years, she would be able to move to the city. Just endure a bit longer!

Hearing Yao's mother's vigorous scolding from next door, Jin Xiaoye felt somewhat speechless.

Before marriage, Jin Moli had a bad temper and didn't like to work. She never expected that after marriage, she would endure being scolded without saying a word and do all the work.

If it were her, she definitely wouldn't be so obedient!

Chapter 9: Going Out

Jin Xiaoye didn't understand why Jin Moli, with her uncle's support, still ended up living like this.

But she couldn't be bothered. After finishing her miscellaneous tasks, she went back inside to rest, casually fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan.

By this time, Li Damao and Li Ermao had already fallen asleep, though they weren't in a deep slumber, occasionally scratching themselves.

Children attract mosquitoes, and these two kids had quite a few mosquito bites, some of which had broken their skin.

While the children slept, Li Qingzhi hadn't slept yet. He was feeling a bit better today and spoke quietly to Jin Xiaoye.

Although he possessed the memories of the original host, it had been five years since the original host and Jin Xiaoye parted ways.

He knew Jin Xiaoye wouldn't be living well alone with the children. Today, what Jin Xiaoshu said confirmed this point, and he wanted to understand more.

Jin Xiaoye wasn't a talkative person, but she answered Li Qingzhi's questions without hiding anything. Li Qingzhi got to know her situation over the past few years.

Their village wasn't far from the county town, just about ten miles away.

Most people in the village only went to the county town during festivals, and many wouldn't even go once a year.

These people were genuinely frightened and dared not step into that place.

But Jin Xiaoye was bold. Upon learning that Li Laogen owed someone a large sum of money, she gritted her teeth and took the eggs stored at home, along with the snails Li Laogen had caught from the river, to the county town with Li Laogen.

In the county town, there were actually many people who sold vegetables and eggs. Those who owned boats and had business acumen would buy produce and eggs from the countryside, then row their boats into the county town to sell them. Some people in the town even made a living this way.

Jin Xiaoye didn't even have a boat, so she couldn't bring much with her to sell. She only sold a few eggs and snails, earning very little money. However, when added up, it amounted to over a thousand yuan. She worked hard and managed to earn it. Additionally, she was pregnant at the time, and some people took pity on her and bought her goods.

She saved up bit by bit and finally paid off her debts. She also got to know some people in the county town.

Later on, she would occasionally take Li Laogen and the children to the county town to sell things. When the children grew a little older, she would also go to the county town to do odd jobs.

During festivals, some wealthy households in the county town would need extra hands for various tasks and would hire temporary workers.

Usually, they didn't hire strangers, but since Jin Xiaoye had been to the county town many times and people knew her situation with her man running away, they felt sorry for her and recommended her for jobs.

Doing odd jobs in the county town could earn fifty yuan a day, plus meals!

Unfortunately, such opportunities only came a few times a year.

In summary, over the past few years, she relied on selling goods and doing odd jobs to save up over four penny.

She had hoped to start a small business once she had enough capital, like buying salted fish and seaweed from the county town dock and selling them in nearby villages.

She knew she couldn't make big money from this, as all lucrative opportunities were already taken, but earning some extra money was still possible, and salted fish and seaweed wouldn't spoil at home.

She could also sell small items like needles and thread.

Unfortunately, all the money she had painstakingly saved was spent on Li Qingzhi's medical treatment.

However, Jin Xiaoye wasn't discouraged. If she could earn money before, she could do it again in the future.

As she spoke, Jin Xiaoye looked up and saw Li Qingzhi swatting mosquitoes away from Li Ermao.

Although Li Qingzhi's health was poor and he might not be able to work in the future, judging from his behavior these past few days… he seemed to like the two children.

Before, when she went out to work, she always had Li Laogen help take care of the children. She was always worried, but it would be different now. She could leave the children with Li Qingzhi at home.

Li Laogen could accompany her and help carry things!

She couldn't carry too much alone, and despite Li Laogen being short and thin, he was still a man, so he wasn't weaker than her.

Thinking of this, Jin Xiaoye said to Li Qingzhi, "Take good care of your health. When you're better, you can teach Ermao and Damao how to read."

Before, the villagers had spread rumors that Li Qingzhi was not good at studying, and Li Qingzhi had also told her that he couldn't pass the imperial examination.

But Li Qingzhi could read and count very quickly!

She didn't expect Ermao and Damao to become scholars. She just wanted them to learn everything Li Qingzhi could.

Li Qingzhi naturally agreed, "I will teach them well. Xiaoye, you can also learn from me."

Jin Xiaoye had never thought about learning to read before because almost no one around her could read. Even her uncle couldn't read, let alone his three sons…

Her uncle only earned two penny a month, and paper and pens were expensive. He couldn't afford to educate his three children, so he didn't send any of them to school. Instead, he saved money to buy more land.

But if Li Qingzhi wanted to teach her to read… Jin Xiaoye said, "Alright! There are indeed some characters I want to learn."

On the other side, Yao Zhenfu, who had been studying in the county town all day, returned home to find Jin Moli with tears in her eyes, looking pitiful.

Before getting married, Jin Moli was considered one of the most beautiful women in the Miaoqian Village!

In terms of appearance, there wasn't much difference between her and Jin Xiaoye. However, she didn't expose herself to the sun much, so her skin was fairer and smoother, and her hair was blacker and more supple. Plus, she usually wore newer and better clothes, naturally outshining Jin Xiaoye by a large margin.

Before Yao Zhenfu got married, he really liked his fiancée.

After marriage, Jin Moli was very obedient to him, and naturally, he liked her even more. However, after five years, their feelings had faded somewhat.

Mainly because Jin Moli had been working hard and had given birth to children during these five years, she didn't look as good as before.

The previous Jin Moli looked similar to the girls in the county town, but now… she could only be considered a fairly good-looking young wife in the village.

Because of this, even if Yao Zhenfu could see that Jin Moli was wronged, he would just pretend not to know. After all, it always boiled down to his mother bullying Jin Moli again.

But what could he do? His mother never listened to him!

Seeing Yao Zhenfu ignore her, Jin Moli felt even more depressed, but she didn't dare to argue with him.

In her past life, Jin Xiaoye would argue with Yao Zhenfu. When they had just gotten married, they even had physical fights… It was said that Yao Zhenfu didn't actually like Jin Xiaoye, but Jin Xiaoye was too fierce, and he didn't dare to divorce her.

Anyway, their relationship had always been bad. After the Yao family became rich, Jin Xiaoye and Yao Zhenfu would always avoid each other when they returned to the village and never walked together.

If it weren't for Yao Zhenfu's father liking Jin Xiaoye so much, Jin Xiaoye probably wouldn't have had such a good life.

She didn't want this kind of life!

It's strange to say that in her past life, neither Yao Zhenfu nor his mother liked Jin Xiaoye, but Yao Zhenfu's father liked Jin Xiaoye very much.

Now, as her… her father-in-law didn't dislike her, but he never praised her outside like he did with Jin Xiaoye in the past.

Jin Moli swallowed her grievances and instead asked Yao Zhenfu about the things in the county town, constantly praising Yao Zhenfu's competence and saying how remarkable it was that he knew so many characters.

Yao Zhenfu was a little flattered by her praise and suddenly thought of something, "Moli, how about I teach you how to write?"

Jin Moli said, "Learn how to write? I'm already this old, and I'm already a mother. How could I still learn? Let's wait until Xiaobao grows up, and then you can teach him."

Learning how to write was not simple at all, and she didn't think she could learn it.

Paper and pens were so expensive! Even casually writing a word cost money!

But her son Xiaobao would definitely learn how to write in the future, and he would even take the imperial examination!

Yao Zhenfu just casually mentioned it. If Jin Moli didn't want to learn, he didn't want to bother.

The news of Li Qingzhi's return enriched the gossip in the village. In the following days, people would occasionally visit the Li family to check on Li Qingzhi's condition.

However, no matter how big the matter was, after a few days, it would lose its novelty. On the tenth day of Li Qingzhi's return to Miaoqian Village, people stopped talking much about him and began preparing to harvest the rice.

Most people in the village grew rice, and even those who didn't have land would rent some to cultivate. And for the majority, they would plant rice twice a year.

Now, it was time to harvest the first season's rice!

At a time like this, who had the time to worry about Li Qingzhi?

At this time, Li Qingzhi's health had finally improved a bit. His recovery speed was slow, and his "golden finger" was still weak. But for Jin Xiaoye, he was recovering quite fast!

Just a few days ago, he needed help going to the toilet and couldn't even hold a bowl to eat. Now, he could go to the field!

However, Li Qingzhi was still incredibly thin. The clothes from five years ago hung loosely on him.

He would pant after just a few steps. This made Jin Xiaoye worry constantly, fearing he might fall and break his slender arms and legs.

Even Li Damao and Li Ermao would follow Li Qingzhi cautiously, with Li Ermao even reaching out as if he would catch Li Qingzhi if he fell.

Li Qingzhi: "…"

An adult who was thinner than children, he really couldn't count on Li Ermao to catch him if he fell!

It was probably around four in the afternoon now, and the sun wasn't as intense. Jin Xiaoye finished packing and prepared to go to the field to harvest rice.

Li Qingzhi hadn't been out for the past few days, but he planned to go to the field with them now.

Supporting himself with the bamboo cane Jin Xiaoye had made, he slowly walked forward step by step. He walked out of the earthen house he had stayed in for seven or eight days after coming to this world.

The walls of this earthen house were made by repeatedly pounding clay, which was very thick, which made it warm in winter and cool in summer.

As a result, when Li Qingzhi stepped out, he felt a wave of heat hit him, and the glaring sunlight made his eyes uncomfortable.

But Li Qingzhi still widened his eyes to take in everything around him.

The original owner of the house only bought two acres of paddy fields, but he probably also had about two hundred square meters of land for building the house.

In addition to the house he initially built, a latrine and kitchen were also added later, taking up a small portion of the area. The rest of the area was used for growing vegetables.

Lush green vegetables!

Furthermore, not far away were large tracts of rice paddies, where the golden rice swayed with the breeze, resembling golden waves.

In the late stages of the apocalypse, the whole world was gray, and suspended particles in the air prevented sunlight from reaching him.

But now, he was bathed in sunlight again!

Li Qingzhi's eyes became a bit moist.

"Is the sunlight too harsh?" Jin Xiaoye took off her straw hat and put it on Li Qingzhi's head. "I'll go to the field first, you can walk slowly."

After saying that, she trotted away, leaving Li Qingzhi far behind.

Chapter 10: Houttuynia cordata

Jin Xiaoye left, but Li Damao and Li Ermao still listened to their mother's words, obediently following Li Qingzhi and watching him carefully.

In the past few days, Li Qingzhi had been telling them stories, and they really liked this father. They secretly vowed to take good care of this father.

But their father was a bit weak… Other fathers could carry them around, but their father had to walk with a cane.

Li Qingzhi watched Jin Xiaoye leave and then looked at the vegetable garden at the doorstep.

The garden was planted with various vegetables like cowpeas, eggplants, cucumbers, and bottle gourds. There were quite a few varieties, with bottle gourds and cowpeas growing along the walls, reaching up to the roof.

Some of the vegetables were already edible, while some were not. Li Qingzhi had basically tasted all the edible ones in the past few days.

Jin Xiaoye's cooking was basically smashing brown rice and boiling it with vegetables. She smashed the brown rice to shorten the cooking time, considering their shortage of firewood. As for adding vegetables… that was probably to save some grain.

The taste of the food made this way was not great, but for Li Qingzhi, it was already delicious.

Even… now when he saw the vegetables growing in the field, he wanted to rush over and eat them raw.

Using the golden finger required energy. In the apocalypse, he could utilize the crystal nuclei from zombies to obtain energy, but in this era where crystal nuclei didn't exist, he had to rely on himself.

And undoubtedly, his source of energy was food.

Jin Xiaoye actually prepared a lot of food for him, considering he always finished everything and seemed to have a very good appetite.

But for him, it still wasn't quite enough.

So these days… he was actually very hungry.

But he couldn't just openly ask for more food.

This family was very poor and even had debts to repay. If he kept asking Jin Xiaoye for more food, others would go hungry!

He couldn't eat too much of the vegetables from the field either, because others also needed to eat!

Their family only had this much land, and they planted this much, which wasn't enough to go around.

Li Qingzhi swallowed his saliva and continued walking forward with his bamboo cane.

They didn't have bamboo at their house, but Li Laogen's younger brother had a small bamboo forest behind his house by the river. The bamboo used for the cane was brought back by Li Laogen from his brother's place.

Li Qingzhi hadn't spent much time with Li Laogen these days, but with the memories of the original owner, occasional interactions, and what others said, he already knew what kind of person Li Laogen was.

Li Laogen was someone who bullied the weak and feared the strong. He was a bit selfish, and he wasn't good with money. He also had a gambling habit and wasn't a good person.

Even Li Laogen seemed to have a bit of disdain for him, considering him a burden.

But he didn't sense any malice from Li Laogen. Sometimes, Li Laogen would even show him some sympathy.

Because of this, he didn't harbor any aversion towards Li Laogen.

Li Qingzhi slowly continued walking forward, greeted by the picturesque scenery of lush greenery and rolling hills.

Even though he had been in this world for several days now, seeing all this still filled him with immense joy from the depths of his heart, a smile that he couldn't suppress appeared on his face.

This world was truly beautiful! It was so beautiful that it made him want to cry!

Step by step, Li Qingzhi slowly moved forward.

Li Damao and Li Ermao had short legs and couldn't keep up with Li Qingzhi's pace. They would occasionally run forward and then quickly run back.

The water fields that the original owner bought and the land he used to build the house were not far apart. Even though Li Qingzhi walked very slowly, after about half an hour, he had already arrived at the edge of the land.

Along the way, most of the people passing by would glance at Li Qingzhi, and every time he saw them, he couldn't help but smile.

These were all living people, living people!

In the apocalypse, there were only zombies everywhere trying to eat him, but now, he was surrounded by living people, which was truly wonderful!

The villagers: "…" This Li Qingzhi seemed a bit off.

Was he overly excited after narrowly escaping death?

Everyone was busy harvesting rice, so no one paid much attention to Li Qingzhi.

As he saw his own land from afar, Li Qingzhi stopped in his tracks.

He couldn't move forward anymore.

It was both a physical and psychological inability to move forward.

His legs had gone weak, and also… what did he see? Houttuynia cordata!

There was a clump of Houttuynia cordata by the ditch!

Most of the land in Miaoqian Village had owners and was cultivated, but there would still be weeds growing along the river, ditches, and roadsides.

This clump of Houttuynia cordata grew by the edge of the ditch, and some of it had already been trampled by passersby.

Before the apocalypse, Li Qingzhi didn't like eating this stuff. With its strange taste, he had tried it before but couldn't accept it.

But after the apocalypse started… he had eaten it.

Once, when he was starving, he had eaten a lot of it, including the leaves and stems.

Before the plants had died off completely, he had eaten a lot of different foods, even poisonous ones, as he had the golden finger. Unfortunately, as the environment deteriorated, there were no more plants left for him to eat.

Because he had eaten it before, he recognized the Houttuynia cordata.

It seemed like people in Miaoqian Village didn't eat this stuff, but it was edible!

Now was the time for rice harvesting, and there was only a shallow layer of water in the ditch.

In the distance, some children were standing in the ditch, feeling for loaches or snails in the water, occasionally catching small fish.

People in this era lacked meat in their diet, so after these children caught small fish and shrimp, they could also have a good meal at home.

Fish and shrimp did have a fishy smell, but for those who were always hungry, a little fishy smell was nothing. Sprinkle some salt and add a slice of ginger, then steam them, and they could be eaten directly.

Some households didn't even bother with the ginger.

Moreover, people from different regions have different diets. When the original owner first arrived at Miaoqian Village, Li Laogen caught some small crucian carp for him to eat. After taking one bite, the original owner felt that it was full of bones and couldn't swallow it. Even his throat was stuck by the fish bones. But Li Laogen finished the whole fish in a few bites, devouring a plateful without any concern for the bones.

Most villagers steamed or boiled fish, but people in the city had various ways of cooking fish. The original owner even saw restaurants marinating small crucian carp and deep-frying them, and he could smell the fragrance from afar.

But in Miaoqian Village… there weren't many households willing to use oil in cooking.

Li Qingzhi withdrew his gaze from the children and sat down by the ditch.

"Dad, are you tired?" Li Damao asked, while as for Li Ermao… he couldn't wait and had already climbed into the shallow ditch.

In the summer, when it was hot, children loved to play in the water.

"Yeah, I'm a bit tired," Li Qingzhi said, starting to dig into the clump of Houttuynia cordata beside him.

Li Damao glanced at Li Qingzhi and saw that he didn't seem to be in trouble, so he followed his brother into the ditch to play in the water.

The water was shallow, but there was mud underneath. The two children's feet sank into the mud, and the water only reached their thighs, wetting their pants and staining them with mud.

But they didn't care at all. These two children had been walking barefoot all the way, and they would sit anywhere without any fear of getting dirty.

Li Qingzhi also didn't mind. Before the apocalypse, he used to be very clean, but now… he tore off a leaf of Houttuynia cordata and stuffed it into his mouth to eat.

Others didn't see it, but Li Damao and Li Ermao did. Li Ermao couldn't help asking, "Dad, is it delicious?"

Li Qingzhi found it very delicious. As long as it was edible, he found it delicious.

His body urgently needed energy.

Moreover, this stuff… was much tastier than what he had eaten in the apocalypse!

But Li Ermao probably wouldn't like to eat this…

Li Qingzhi said, "It's not delicious," as he ate another piece of the leaf.

He wanted to eat the roots even more, as they had higher calories, but he hadn't dug them out yet…

Li Ermao didn't believe what Li Qingzhi said. After all, Li Qingzhi seemed to be enjoying the taste of the leaves as if he was eating something delicious.

After many days had passed, Li Ermao had long forgotten about how Li Qingzhi had eagerly drunk the medicine when he first woke up. Seeing Li Qingzhi enjoying eating the leaves, he picked one and stuffed it into his mouth as well.

There were some herbs that could be eaten, like sour grass, which he often picked and ate.

Since his dad ate this grass, it must be edible.

However… as soon as it entered his mouth, Li Ermao's face changed.

Seeing Li Qingzhi eating grass made Li Damao a bit envious, but he remembered the lesson from before, so he was secretly relieved that he didn't rush to eat the grass like Li Ermao did.

Li Qingzhi: "…" He felt that Damao was a bit smarter than Ermao.

As he thought about it, Li Qingzhi took another bite.

Then, Li Qingzhi heard someone shouting, "Jin Xiaoye, is your man's brain damaged? He's eating stinky pigweed!"

Li Qingzhi was stunned.

Jin Xiaoye was not far away, harvesting rice.

They only had one sickle in their house, which she bought after she had some money.

And a few days ago, she borrowed another sickle while helping others with their work.

Today, when she went out, she took Li Laogen with her. Before they started harvesting, she even threatened Li Laogen, "If you harvest slower than me, I won't give you eggs tomorrow!"

There was no food left at home, but during busy farming times, they would give some good food to the people working.

When Jin Xiaoye cooked before going out today, she added more rice.

She planned to steam four more eggs tomorrow, two for Li Laogen and two for herself. But before that, Li Laogen had to work hard!

Jin Xiaoye divided the field into parts, cutting about three-fifths for herself and leaving the remaining two-fifths for Li Laogen. Then she got busy.

Li Laogen usually slacked off when he worked, for example, when Jin Xiaoye occasionally came to the field to weed or fertilize, Li Laogen rarely came.

But now, with the prospect of eggs in front of him… Li Laogen worked very quickly.

He was also a rural person, and he did farm work quite well. In fact, his speed was not slower than Jin Xiaoye's, and because he harvested slightly fewer rice stalks than Jin Xiaoye, he could take a break from time to time, saying that his back hurt or something similar.

Of course, when he saw Jin Xiaoye's speed surpassing his, he worked harder, determined not to be left behind.

He wanted those eggs!

The two of them were busy, when suddenly someone shouted that Li Qingzhi was eating stinky pigweed.

Li Laogen didn't hesitate and said, "I also think his brain is damaged." He had spoken to Li Qingzhi the day before yesterday, and Li Qingzhi kept calling him "Dad" and smiling at him, which made him feel uneasy.

This adopted son of his used to not be like this!

Jin Xiaoye's reaction was different. She rushed to Li Qingzhi's side and snatched the grass from his hand. "Are you crazy? How can you eat everything!"

You can't eat this stinky pigweed!