“Old Li, do you want a wife?”
“What, are you and your sister-in-law not getting along anymore?”
Li Wannian lay in his thatched hut, his stomach rumbling with hunger. Despite this, he, being over fifty, still harbored a strong desire for a woman. Alas, his family was poor, and he couldn't afford to marry a wife!
Village Chief Li Zhiming's forehead was covered in black lines: “What are you thinking? My sister-in-law and I have a very good relationship!”
“Precisely! It's better for the three of us to live well than anything else!”
“What are you thinking? The government is distributing wives, usually once every three years. If I remember correctly, the last time you were only forty-eight, but you weren't allowed to sign up. Now, you’ll be fifty-one in just one month, right?”
Village Chief Li Zhiming looked at the frail Li Wannian, feeling a sense of sorrow. He was practically at death's door, yet he had never even touched a woman's hand, let alone continued the family line?
Fortunately, there was a government regulation: one could get a wife by joining the army, but the age must not exceed fifty. Fifty-one would definitely not be allowed!
If he missed this chance to get a wife, he, as a man who dribbled on his pants when urinating and whose 'little brother' would be the first to be buried, plus having no money, wouldn't even be able to sponge off his neighbors then.
“I came here this time to discuss it with you. If you miss this opportunity, you won't have another chance. If anything happens to you, your family's incense will be cut off. You and I have been good friends since we were kids, playing naked together. This time, I managed to secure you a chance to get a wife, but you have to join the army!”
Village Chief Li Zhiming said.
“Xiao Ming, I am incredibly touched by your actions towards me. You truly are a good friend who I grew up playing naked with. I still vaguely remember forty years ago, when I peed and you mixed the mud…”
“No, no, no, let’s not talk about the past. Remember to welcome the bride at the east end of the village tomorrow at Si Shi! This time, not only will they distribute wives, but also a month’s worth of rations!”
Although Li Zhiming was scolding him, there was a smile in his eyes. The two had been good friends since childhood, but Li Wannian was a few years older. Later, Li Wannian’s parents died in a plague, and he knew that Li Wannian not only had no wife now but also no food. The government distributing wives was a chance to survive!
“Alright, if you can’t bear for me to marry another woman, then it’s fine for the three of us to live well…”
Before Li Wannian could finish speaking, Li Zhiming had already walked away. He still had to notify every household. Li Family Village did not have many people, only about sixty households, less than three hundred people. There were quite a few women in the village, but people from the same village and with the same surname did not marry, which was a rule, so they could only marry outsiders.
However, good women from surrounding villages would not look favorably upon the situation in Li Family Village, as there was little arable land here, and Li Wannian's family was destitute and he was old, making him even less desirable.
Therefore, Li Wannian could only find a wife through this government distribution of wives, so he could have a son or daughter for his family.
Li Wannian looked at Li Zhiming's receding figure, then at his drafty thatched hut, feeling utterly helpless. The government here had rules for conscripting soldiers: basically, one out of every three able-bodied men, and two out of every five. He was the only person in his family, so theoretically, he didn't have to join the army. But without joining the army, he wouldn't have a wife or food, which was why he unhesitatingly agreed to the Village Chief’s proposal.
In fact, over the years, after famines and plagues, the village's population had decreased by one-third, and many families found it difficult to continue. There were more than ten bachelors in the village. He only hoped to be assigned a woman with a large backside this time, so she could bear sons.
“Dusk is falling! Alas!”
As the sun was setting, Li Wannian went to the rice jar in front of the stove, which was completely empty. He then picked up a ladle and went to the water jar, looking at his own graying temples. With a bitter feeling, he scooped a ladle of water from the jar and drank it down, then lay on the straw mat bed, listening to the water sloshing in his stomach.
It was March, a time of biting spring cold and scarcity, when one couldn't eat enough or sleep warmly. He drifted into a hazy dream!
Or rather, it wasn't a dream, but his spiritual world.
At this moment, an ancient book appeared before him, with the words “Family Register” prominently displayed on its yellowing cover.
He was not a native of this world, but an Earthling whose soul had transmigrated into Li Wannian’s body. After arriving, he found that this place was similar to China's Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, utterly chaotic, with dozens of courts or warlords fighting each other, plagues and famines rampant, and the common people suffering immensely.
He opened the first page of the cover, and his name was written on it:
Patriarch: Li Wannian
Martial Prowess:
Spouse: None
Talent: None
Estimated Lifespan: Fifty-one
Descendants: None
The 'Estimated Lifespan' column only showed fifty-one years, and his fifty-first birthday was only one month away. If the record was correct, he was about to die.
He didn't know why this problem appeared in his spiritual world, but he knew that once he had a wife and children, this family register might undergo new changes. This was the deeper reason why he wanted to find a wife; he wanted to see what changes would occur.
In short, either his physiological needs would be met, or he would return to Earth. One of the two had to happen.
With no food in his stomach, he slept very restlessly that night. He woke up before dawn but sat by the bed for a long time, as getting up too quickly would make him dizzy.
After sitting for a while, he went outside to relieve himself. Untying his pants, he looked down and asked, “Old fellow, can you still eat?”
Ten minutes of trickling passed, and a cold spring night wind swept through, forcing him to pull up his pants. But he could still feel the faucet wasn't quite shut off...
“Damn it, these are my last pants!”
Si Shi is generally from 9 AM to 11 AM. It was only Mao Shi (5-7 AM) now, but the bachelors in the village had already gathered at the east end of the village.
Li Wannian was undoubtedly the oldest among them, belonging to the generation of grandfathers, with graying hair and beard, a hunched back, and a scrawny physique.
According to the government's rules for army recruitment, basically, anyone who reached fifty-one would not join the army or participate in the wife distribution. So, he was considered to have caught the last train for getting a wife.
“There are more than ten young wives this time, you can choose as you please!”
Village Chief Li Zhiming eased the awkward atmosphere.
“What happens to the remaining young wives?”
Li Wannian asked curiously.
“The ones left over will basically be sold to brothels or used as military prostitutes, so it’s their luck to be chosen by you. Otherwise, they’d suffer greatly!”
Village Chief Li Zhiming said.
Time passed minute by minute. Everyone shivered in the cold morning wind. As the sun came out, their bodies gradually warmed up, and Si Shi drew nearer.
“Listen! The government is beating gongs! Line up properly!”
Li Zhiming reminded them!
Li Wannian was also a bit nervous, because today he was going to start continuing his family's lineage!