“Grumble…”
In the early morning, Lu Qing was awakened by the rumbling of his stomach.
Feeling the hunger in his belly, he sighed and rubbed his stomach.
“It’s no use grumbling, where am I supposed to find food now?”
Looking at the dilapidated house he was in, which could be described as utterly destitute, Lu Qing gave a wry smile.
Other people experience Transmigration, but he couldn't even fill his stomach; what kind of situation was this?
He had been lying in bed for two days.
Two days ago, Lu Qing opened his eyes and found himself in this inexplicable world.
He was dressed in rags, emaciated, and even his body had changed, becoming a boy of about ten years old.
After some time, Lu Qing figured out his predicament.
He had undergone Transmigration.
He had experienced Rebirth into the body of a young boy whose parents had just passed away, and who, after selling off family assets to bury his parents, succumbed to weakness and excessive grief, failing to survive a cold night.
Perhaps, for the original owner, this was a form of liberation.
After receiving the memories in his mind, this was Lu Qing’s first thought.
For a teenage boy, surviving in this world was too difficult.
Death might not necessarily be a bad thing.
Only…
“Brother, you’re awake!”
Lu Qing’s thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a surprised shout.
He turned his head and saw a little girl of five or six, holding a grey object in her hand, standing at the doorway with a joyful expression, looking at him.
The little girl scurried over to Lu Qing, “Brother, is your illness better?”
“Yes, it’s better, Xiao Yan doesn’t need to worry anymore,” Lu Qing said with a smile.
“That’s great, Brother, you’re finally better.” Hearing Lu Qing say he was fine, the little girl’s eyes immediately turned red, and tears streamed down her face. “For the past two days, your face has been very red and hot, and you kept saying you were cold. I didn’t know what to do, and you didn’t respond no matter how I called you. I thought you were going to leave Xiao Yan behind, just like Daddy and Mommy!”
Lu Qing felt a pang of heartache seeing the little girl crying.
For the past two days, he had been undergoing Fusion of the memories in his mind, and he appeared to be in a comatose state. Although he could barely perceive external movements, his consciousness couldn’t remain clear.
Except for a few brief awakenings in between, he quickly fell back into a coma.
Vaguely, he had heard the little girl’s cries, but he couldn’t respond.
Lu Qing reached out and gently rubbed the little girl’s withered, yellow hair: “It’s Brother’s fault, Brother promises you that he won’t get sick again and make Xiao Yan worry, okay?”
“Okay.” Xiao Yan’s tears turned into a smile, and she held out her small hand, “Then let’s pinky promise.”
Lu Qing extended his pinky, and he and Xiao Yan made a pinky promise.
“Pinky promise, pinky promise, never change for a hundred years, whoever breaks it is a puppy!”
After the pinky promise, Xiao Yan immediately became happy.
In her small mind, since they had made a pinky promise, things wouldn’t change, and Brother would never get sick again.
“Xiao Yan, what are you holding in your hand?”
At this moment, Lu Qing noticed the object the little girl was holding.
“It’s a steamed bun, doesn’t Brother recognize it?” Xiao Yan held the grey object with both hands, presenting it to Lu Qing, and said happily, “Zhang Grandpa next door gave this to me. Xiao Yan didn’t want to eat it alone, so I wanted to bring it back and eat it with Brother. I didn’t expect to come back and see that Brother’s illness was better.”
“Steamed bun?”
Lu Qing looked at the dull grey object; it was quite different from the steamed buns in his memory.
However, he then remembered that he was now in another world, and he felt a sense of relief.
If even the world was different, what was so strange about a steamed bun looking different?
As he pondered this, Lu Qing’s gaze rested on the grey steamed bun for a few seconds, and suddenly, a line of text appeared.
“Miscellaneous Grain Steamed Bun: Made from rice bran, wheat flour, and wild vegetables, with limited nutrition.”
At the same time, the steamed bun emitted a faint grey glow.
What was this?
Lu Qing was startled. He blinked, finding that the line of text still floated above the grey steamed bun and hadn’t disappeared.
It seemed it wasn’t an illusion…
Before Lu Qing could delve deeper, Xiao Yan, holding the grey steamed bun, offered it to his mouth.
“Brother, eat this. You just got better. Grandpa Chen said that after people recover from illness, they need to eat to nourish their bodies.”
Lu Qing smelled the scent of grain emanating from the grey steamed bun. Already famished, the sensation of hunger swept over him again.
He didn’t pretend to be polite. After taking it, he tore off half and put it back into Xiao Yan’s hand.
“Yes, Xiao Yan, you eat some too.”
He hadn’t forgotten that the little one had just said this steamed bun was given by someone else, and she wanted to come back and share it with him.
Unexpectedly, the little one shook her head and put the half steamed bun back into Lu Qing’s hand: “Brother, you eat it. Xiao Yan isn’t hungry. Brother just got better, you need to eat more so your body can recover faster.”
Although she said this, Lu Qing clearly saw that as the little one handed the steamed bun back, she unconsciously swallowed her saliva.
He looked at the little one’s withered, yellow hair and felt a pang of pity, placing the half steamed bun back into her hand again.
“Brother just got better and can’t eat too much at once, otherwise his stomach won’t be able to handle it, so Xiao Yan should eat this half.”
“Is that so?” The little one held the half steamed bun, tilted her head, and asked, “But this seems different from what Grandpa Chen said.”
“People recovering from a serious illness shouldn’t overeat. If you don’t believe me, ask Grandpa Chen next time if it’s true,” Lu Qing said.
“Okay.” The little one nodded, seemingly understanding but not quite.
Yet, she didn’t realize that a mere miscellaneous grain steamed bun had nothing to do with overeating.
Lu Qing took the opportunity to continue to coax her: “Since Brother can’t finish it, Xiao Yan should eat it with Brother. Otherwise, the steamed bun will get cold and won’t taste good.”
“Mm!” Xiao Yan nodded heavily, “Since Brother can’t finish it, Xiao Yan will help Brother eat it.”
The brother and sister thus each held half a steamed bun, happily gnawing on them.
Soon, Lu Qing finished his half steamed bun. His empty stomach finally had something in it, and a warmth rose from his belly, making him feel much more energetic.
Frankly, the steamed bun didn’t taste great, but it was substantial and not small in size.
So, even though it was only half, it significantly reduced Lu Qing’s hunger; he no longer felt dizzy or weak in his limbs as he had before.
Seeing Xiao Yan still diligently gnawing on her steamed bun, Lu Qing didn’t disturb her and began to focus on another matter.
He recalled the line of text that had appeared on the steamed bun earlier.
After thinking for a moment, Lu Qing stood up, walked to the table, and picked up a chipped bowl.
He held it in front of his eyes, quietly observing it.
Then, after a few seconds, he saw a faint grey glow appear on the bowl, followed by a line of text.
“Broken Earthenware Bowl: A broken earthenware bowl, which appears to be not very clean.”
Just as he thought, a smile appeared on Lu Qing’s face.