Chapter 1: A Peasant Woman, a River, and a Little Field¹
Zhu Yao felt she had crossed over into another world, and it all happened without warning. Just a moment ago, she was still chatting with her friend on the computer, discussing about the loophole in the new online game her company developed. In the next instant, she was already inside this thatched house, while still holding onto the white mouse.
For a full ten minutes, she did not react at all. She looked at the mouse in her hands, and subconsciously looked for the CPU and the monitor which suddenly disappeared. However, she could do nothing but stare at the worn-out table in front of her. What computer? What monitor? She could not even find her freaking keyboard.
“Stinky brat, why are you still sitting around here for?” Someone pushed open the door, and a hand came hitting towards her. She subconsciously dodged, the mouse that was in her hands was slapped away. It then rolled onto the floor and disappeared without a trace.
Zhu Yao then raised her head and looked at the person beside her. She was a very skinny woman, the creases on her forehead was deep, and the deep-colored clothes she wore was greyed out, as though the color faded after being washed many times. Her entire body was emitting out a ‘I’m a peasant woman’ atmosphere. The main factor was the ancient-styled clothes she was wearing.
“Who are you?”
The woman instantly flared up. “Who am I? Have you become muddled from sleeping too much!? I’m your mother! Hurry up and boil some water, the sun is already shining so bright it’s burning my buttocks, and you’re still lazing around in the house! Do you want to get smacked?”
The woman’s first strike missed, but with her other hand, she picked Zhu Yao up, and pulled her out of the room without giving any explanations.
Zhu Yao felt that she had to explain to her, unfortunately, she could not find the opportunity, and when she returned to her senses, she had already been thrown into the kitchen.
Looking at the firewood which was stacked up to half the height of the wall, and the clay furnace, Zhu Yao felt that there was definitely a problem with her world-crossing method. She was still wearing her own pyjamas, with not a single change. This proved that she crossed over with her own body, then how did that mother of hers appear? Even though she crossed over with her body, it used the setting of a soul crossover. Was this really alright? The most important thing was, she did not even know how to start a fire, let alone boil water!
Although she knew crossing over was like buying groceries recently, a very trending phenomenon, she never expected there would come a turn for her. She’s nothing but a technology geek, after all.
Because she was interested in computers ever since she was young, after graduating, she had been working in jobs related to developing games. With a bunch of single friends, they came together and developed a game. The game <> which they created became one of the hottest games in the country, and as the game matured, safeguarding the game became her main job in her company.
Investigating the loopholes and bugs that existed in the game, coming up with fixes, etc. She was one of those legendary GMs. There’s not even a single benefit to having a person like her crossing over, is there? Just which bastard made me cross over into another world? Come out! I promise I won’t beat you to death!
Three months went by in a flash, Zhu Yao had crossed over into this world for three months now, and she had gotten a better understanding of the situation around her. The place she was living in was a small village, and because most of the people living in the village had the surname ‘Zhu’, it was called Zhu Village. Her name was also Zhu Yao, and the middle-aged woman back then was her mother. She was one of the widows in the village, and according to what she found out, the mother and daughter had relied on each other for decades.
She had once tried to explain her origin to this mother-in-name of hers with hand-drawn pictures. Unfortunately, she did not believe it, and Zhu Yao was even forced to visit Doctor Wang near the village entrance, saying she needed a few jabs.
Looking at the kind-looking middle-aged doctor stroking his beard as he took out dozens of needles with the thickness of a thumb, Zhu Yao instantly threw aside her integrity, hugged onto her ‘mother’, and bursted out crying. “Mother! You’re my biological mother!”
“Your mind is finally clear now? Don’t ever spout such nonsense again.” With a pained look, ‘mother’ wiped away Zhu Yao’s tears, and did not forget to give Doctor Wang a word of praise. “Doctor Wang is really a genius doctor. The moment your needles came out, my daughter instantly recovered.”
“You flatter me!” Doctor Wang laughed really proudly, as he spun the needle in his hand. “Mrs. Zhu, you’re too courteous. As insurance, allow me to jab Yao-er two more times, to prevent relapses.”
“…” Your sister will relapse.²
In short, Zhu Yao threw her past away, and from then on, she never dared to bring up the topic about her crossing from another world, and lived peacefully in the Zhu Village as an old missy! That’s right, she’s an old missy. When she crossed over, she was twenty-eight, and in this world, not being married even at the age of twenty-eight, she was extremely old for a missy.
As to why she did not marry, her ‘mother’ never brought it up, and Zhu Yao had it easy. She was extremely afraid that a husband would somehow appear out of nowhere, and if that were to happen, even if Doctor Wang were to stab her with a wooden club, she would not care less.
“Yao-er, you’re heading off to wash your laundry?” As she was about to head to the riverside, she met Doctor Wang along the way, and he was giving her a smile like a sunflower, which smelled like chrysanthemum.³
“Un… Uncle Wang!” Zhu Yao instinctively took a step back, afraid that he would pull out a needle from somewhere.
She blocked her chest with the wooden basket filled with clothes. “Mother said the sun is good today, so she wants me to wash the beddings.”
“Is that so!” Doctor Wang laughed, and then sighed. “What a diligent girl. If not for…” He paused mid-way through his sentence, and as though he had brought up something he should not have, he looked at her a little apologetically.
“Is there something you need of me, Uncle Wang?” Seeing his hesitant look, Zhu Yao had no choice but to take the initiative.
Doctor Wang smiled apologetically, and pushed the little boy next to him. “It’s like this. I heard there’s deities coming to the city to select disciples, and everyone is allowed to try it out. I wanted to have my child test his luck, but my wife just happened to be ill, and I can’t leave, so…”
Zhu Yao looked at the boy he was holding onto. He looked about seven or eight years old, and had a pretty delicate-looking and tender little face. Currently, his cheeks were inflated, and he was looking at her with pouted lips, which made Zhu Yao feel like pinching him.
Zhu Yao raised her head and looked at Doctor Wang. They evidently did not look alike at all.
“Uncle Wang, you want me to bring him over in your stead?” Uncle Wang nodded, and became even more embarrassed. “I know this might interrupt your work, but these deities only come once every ten years. Although the number of people they select each time never amount to more than a handful, there is still a possibility. If one were to be selected, that person can become a deity, after all.”
Becoming a deity? Zhu Yao had always been allergic to these unscientific things, as though she was able to faintly smell the scent of frauds.
But after all, she and Doctor Wang both lived in the same village, and it’s not like she was able to return back to her own world any time soon. And since both of them frequently met each other, it’s not a problem to help out from time to time. Hence, without saying another word, she accepted his request.
After Doctor Wang gave her plenty of thanks, he took over her basket, saying that he would return them in her stead, and pushed the kid, who was evidently angry, to her. Then, he left happily.
After he walked a couple of distance away, the little boy suddenly flung her hands away, and with a pout, he looked at her with contempt. “Let me tell you this, even if you help me, I will not marry you.”
Zhu Yao was startled, and was momentarily amused. She could not help but pinch his pink and tender cheeks. “You little wimp, you’re not even that old yet, what nonsense are you talking about?”
“I’m not speaking nonsense!” The little boy dodged her hands, and rubbed his aching cheeks. “I have already heard all about it. No one in the village dares to marry you, so you’re not married even at the age of twenty-eight. All men must stay away from you, otherwise, if they were to be depended by you, their lives will be ruined.”
No matter how desperate she was, she would not lay her hands on a kid, right? “Tell me clearly. How will I ruin their lives?”
The little wimp became even more haughty. “You can’t give birth to any kids, whoever marries you will have their lineage cut off, you will obviously ruin their lives.”
Infertility! Zhu Yao was stunned by this shocking revelation. That’s impossible. Even though she was a technogeek, she would still go for check-ups every year. How would she not know about being infertile? Even if God planned on rationalizing how a twenty-eight year old unmarried woman could cross over to this world, he should not have the need to do it this badly, right?
“I’m the only son of my family, I will not marry you, so give up!” The little wimp placed his hands on his hips, and once again emphasized with a serious tone.
“Ay! What haughty attitude is this!” As expected of a spoiled brat, three days without a beating, and a child will scale the roof to strip the tiles!⁴ He’s basically asking for a beating! Rolling up her sleeves, she scooped up the little wimp with a single arm, and with her other hand, she gave his buttocks a sound smacking. “This is what you get for having no manners! This is what you get for spouting nonsense! This is what you get for calling me infertile! You’re infertile! Your entire family’s infertile!”
The little wimp finally knew of fear, and desperately began to struggle. But, he was but a child of seven or eight years old, how could he compare to Zhu Yao, who was a twenty-eight-year-old adult (unmarried)? A dozen of slaps came smacking down, the little wimp’s snow-white buttocks had already puffed up and turned bright red.
He had also began to cry out loud after his initial struggle, and finally, he gave up on resisting as well. Come on, cry out loud, cry louder. Doctor Wang had already walked pretty far away anyway, even if you were to cry your lungs out, no one would come and save you. Wakakakakakaka… kuh… There seems to be something wrong with this scene?
Only after about half an hour, did Zhu Yao finally release the boy, whose face had already been utterly tear-ridden. She looked at him as he wiped off his tears while he pulled up his pants. The feeling of teaching a spoiled brat a lesson, is simply incomparably refreshing.
“I will let this one time slide, if you were to show such an impolite behavior one more time, I will…” Zhu Yao dragged out her warning, satisfyingly looked at the trembling spoiled brat, and laughed even more happily. “I will make sure you won’t be able get off your bed, understand?” Eh? This line sounds a little strange? Ah, I don’t care anymore. “Let’s go. We’re going to the city. Make sure to follow me!”
Zhu Yao took the lead as she walked over to the main road. After walking a distance of about five steps, the spoiled brat then limped after her, and it looked as though a kettle could be hooked onto that pouted lips of his.
¹ This title came from a saying. In the ancient days, a girl’s dream is to become a peasant woman, live by the river, and have a small little field.
² ‘Your sister will relapse’ – basically, it’s like how people say ‘Your momma’s fat’.
³ ‘Smile like a sunflower, which smelled like chrysanthemum’ – Basically, there’s hidden intentions hidden beneath his smile.
⁴ ‘Three days without a beating, and a child will scale the roof to strip the tiles.’ – A chinese idiom, it means, a child will cause mischief if not properly watched over.