#1 - Chapter 1 Rebirth in Liujia Village

On the Loess Plateau, beneath the blue sky and white clouds, nestled in the nooks and crannies of the mountains, the smoke from the small village's chimneys rose gently. Several children, playing and laughing, walked in a line along the mountain path. Their coarse cloth clothes were clearly resized adult garments, patched all over but radiating childish innocence.

A gaunt boy with a sallow complexion sat on a dirt slope in front of a doorway, gazing at the simple and unadorned rural scenery. He couldn't help but grimace: "So, this is sudden rebirth? It's worse than not being born at all..."

Just a few days ago, Cheng Feng was still at a bar, drinking and enjoying the dazzling nightlife. After drinking to oblivion, he woke up with a splitting headache, lying on a straw mat. Not long after waking, he felt weak and fell into a deep sleep.

When he woke again, the headache had eased considerably, but he was shocked by the information in his mind. He had been reborn in the body of a child who had died from a serious illness.

Perhaps it was fate, but this child was also named Cheng Feng.

Going from the modern environment of tall buildings and bustling traffic to an ancient setting of towering mountains and winding paths, with no cell phones, internet, games, or the comforts of modern life, Cheng Feng was truly speechless at these harsh conditions.

Seeing that it was almost time for dinner at home, he patted the old, patched-up clothes that clearly didn't fit and slowly pushed open the wooden fence.

A woman with a pale complexion placed a bowl of green vegetable soup and half a cornbread on the old table: "Er Gou, come and eat. Clean up after yourself. I'm taking food to your father and eldest brother. Your third brother's food is in the pot. Watch the house."

After speaking, she hurriedly slung the basket over her arm and went out. Cheng Feng responded familiarly, watching his mother leave.

Cheng Feng knew that the family's fields were far away, and she had to hurry to deliver lunch, or his father and eldest brother wouldn't be able to finish their work in the afternoon.

Looking at the vegetable soup in front of him, Cheng Feng had to force himself to drink it, no matter how unappetizing it was, because that's how it had been for the past few days. If he didn't eat, there was nothing else, and if he acted too strangely, his original parents might notice something was wrong.

During these few days of recuperation, Cheng Feng also carefully observed everything around him, trying to restrain and change his habits as quickly as possible. After all, modern life had been with Cheng Feng for more than twenty years. Having grown up under the red flag, in the spring breeze, even at his worst, he wouldn't be so foolish as to flaunt his knowledge in an unfamiliar setting.

However, after these few days, Cheng Feng had recovered well, not only physically but also mentally, adapting to and accepting the environment.

After all, he was an adult who knew that complaining was not only useless but could also lead to bad consequences. He knew that he had no other choice but to continue like this, to start over, or he, who was weak and unskilled, might die if he ventured out.

Especially after learning that the outside world during this period was not so good, with constant natural disasters and refugees everywhere. Why seek death when you can live?

With his knowledge from the modern era, which was hundreds of years ahead of this time, he shouldn't have a bad life in the future.

Drinking the unsalted vegetable soup, Cheng Feng silently set his small goals. First, he had to eat meat. The poverty of ancient life had made his mouth feel bland.

He could live without cell phones and the internet; that was a basic infrastructure issue. But the delicious dishes from the great celestial dynasty being out of his reach for the rest of his life was really unacceptable.

The family's savings and food were almost gone. He had overheard his parents chatting about it late at night and also learned about the currency units.

Ten small coins equal one large coin, ten large coins equal one tael of silver, and ten taels of silver equal one tael of gold.

But unfortunately, Lao Cheng had never seen what gold looked like in his life, only knowing that it was golden.

Cheng Feng roughly estimated that, in modern terms, one small coin was equivalent to 10 yuan, one large coin was 100 yuan, one tael of silver was 1,000 yuan, and one tael of gold was 10,000 yuan.

And 5 jin of coarse grains cost one large coin, and 2 jin of white flour cost one large coin, which was simply outrageous. But when he thought about the low productivity of ancient times, Cheng Feng felt helpless.

Life is not easy, Cheng Feng sighed.

This was too far from Cheng Feng's ideal life.

The Lao Cheng family had five members. The eldest brother, Cheng Shu, was already working in the fields with his father. He, Cheng Feng, was the second child, not very promising, usually helping out. There was also a 14-year-old younger brother named Cheng Lei. Except for heavy work, he did everything else, planting seeds and stealing birds' eggs, living with the family.

In the countryside, people matured early. Generally, they could marry and have children at sixteen or seventeen, and some even earlier at 14, or even more extreme cases like child brides for good luck. Paying some silver to the officials, and no one would care. The legal oversight was shockingly low.

The village where Cheng Feng lived was called Liu Family Village. Most of the people near the village center were surnamed Liu. The Lao Chen family had migrated here during a famine in his grandfather's generation. Over the past hundred years, many people from other villages had also settled here.

The neighbors lived some distance apart, maintaining a distance while also maintaining neighborly relations.

Before long, the third brother returned. Cheng Feng, sitting at the door, saw him among the group of children of various sizes on the road. He called out "Second Brother" after entering the house and went to get his food from the pot.

In a mountain village without entertainment, survival was the main theme. Those with ability or connections had run out of the mountains to see the new world outside.

Cheng Feng looked at the third brother, Stone, who was gobbling down his food, and asked curiously, "Stone, where did you go to play today?"

"The back mountain, looking to see if we can catch a rabbit in the traps." Stone was the third brother's nickname. Using nicknames at home seemed more intimate and casual.

In the past, the children would chase rabbits and steal birds' eggs in the back mountain during their free time. After crossing two mountains, there was a river. The farming villagers sometimes assigned the task of fetching water to the children. This group of children would go together, calling friends and companions, and also be able to catch fish and shrimp.

They could go out at noon and return before evening. Country children were not so precious. The adults were all busy with farm work. Those with money sent their children to private schools to study, and those without money tried to get them apprenticed to craftsmen to learn a trade. Those with nothing at all would honestly farm, relying on a few acres of thin land to eat and live.

The Lao Cheng family was one of the honest households, with no connections, no contacts, and no money. After all, they were fleeing from famine. Being alive was all that mattered; who could think about the future?

Cheng Feng was also thinking about his advantages. The current situation was extremely dire.

In his previous life, he was just an ordinary person, with a good attitude and average skills. This era didn't need PPT experts.

He couldn't chase rabbits, he was afraid of falling while stealing birds' nests, and he was afraid of drowning while catching fish and shrimp. After all, as the old saying goes, those who drown are those who know how to swim.

His experiences from his previous life were truly useless in this era. He often watched small knowledge videos, but even if he wanted to make something, he didn't even know where to find the tools. Knowing the principles was useless! Hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, neon... He could recite them, but so what!!!!

The most important thing now was to make money and eat, but he couldn't stand hardship and couldn't do physical work. His only advantage was his knowledge from his previous life.

Alas, useless knowledge has increased again.