Chapter 1: The Delivery Rider Joyfully Takes a Wife

Smelling the scent of burning in the air, Chu Chen sat up with a start.

"What the hell? Did my Yamadi electric scooter catch fire?"

Looking up, he found himself sitting on a straw mat beneath a dilapidated thatched roof. Beside him, a frail woman was kneeling on the ground, burning joss paper, her eyes brimming with tears.

Seeing Chu Chen sit up, the woman was so terrified that she bolted out of the room. As she ran, she shrieked, "A ghost! The corpse has risen!"

Chu Chen shook his head. "No, where am I? What is this place?" he muttered, completely ignoring the woman who had just fled. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his head, and with a roll of his eyes, he passed out once more.

When he woke up again, a flood of new memories had integrated into his mind.

As it turned out, Chu Chen had originally been a food delivery driver. On that fateful day, he had been holding a bowl of river snail rice noodles, anxiously waiting outside a large shopping mall for the young lady who ordered them. Out of nowhere, a heartbroken woman weighing over two hundred pounds, seeking to end her life, fell from the sky and landed squarely on top of him.

Everything went black, and he transmigrated to this feudal dynasty known as the Great Xia Dynasty.

This was an alternate world, one that did not exist in any history books he knew. He was currently in a small settlement called Mashan Village. The original owner of this body was also named Chu Chen. Twenty-one years old, he was the son of the village's only schoolteacher. His mother had passed away early, and six months ago, his father, a scholar who had passed the imperial examination at the county level, had also departed this life to follow the Daoist immortals. This left only him and his wife.

With the family wealth his scholar father had accumulated over the years, he should have lived a comfortable life free from worry. However, shortly after his father's death, the original Chu Chen fell into a gambling addiction. In less than half a year, he squandered the entire family fortune. All their land and houses were signed over to the gambling den, forcing them to move into this dilapidated shack.

The woman who had been kneeling beside him earlier was Li Qinglian, an eighteen-year-old whom his scholar father had arranged for him to marry a year ago. She was a simple peasant girl whose family had been driven to utter destitution by years of natural disasters and war. Thus, his father had bought her for two taels of silver.

Li Qinglian was industrious, capable, obedient, and sensible. She had hoped to lead a better life by marrying into this family, but shortly after her wedding, her father-in-law passed away. She was left with this spendthrift husband, who quickly reduced a once-prosperous household to bare walls.

Yesterday, Chu Chen had, as usual, taken the few copper coins Li Qinglian had earned from working at the village chief's house and headed straight to the gambling den. He did not expect the house to cheat, shattering his dream of winning everything back in a single bet and rising to the pinnacle of life. Predictably, he lost every last cent. In a fit of reckless desperation, he ran up a debt of five taels of silver to the gambling den.

Unable to accept this, Chu Chen argued with the gamblers, only to be beaten within an inch of his life and carried home. The men from the gambling den declared that if the money was not repaid within five days, they would drag Li Qinglian off to a brothel to settle the debt, before swaggering away. Not long after being brought back, the original Chu Chen breathed his last, allowing the modern Chu Chen to take over his body.

The original Chu Chen had no real skills, but he was infamous far and wide for beating his wife. Once, to curry favor with his fair-weather friends, he had even uttered the outrageous words: "Let me beat my wife to liven things up for everyone."

Just then, a deep and powerful voice echoed from outside.

"What did you say? His corpse came back to life?"

Searching through his memories, Chu Chen realized the man entering was his second uncle, a robust and muscular farmer. Seeing that Chu Chen had stopped breathing, the uncle had instructed Li Qinglian to burn incense and paper while he went to the coffin shop, intending to buy a cheap pine coffin to lay Chu Chen to rest.

To his surprise, Chu Chen was now sitting upright on the bed, apparently alive and well. The uncle did not believe in ghosts or walking corpses. Seeing Chu Chen staring blankly at him from the bed, he rushed over and reached out with his calloused hands, feeling Chu Chen's forehead and pinching his cheeks.

"My boy, how are you feeling? You have no idea how much you scared us! It's good that you're alive. Now that you've survived, live a proper life with Qinglian. As for the money you owe the gambling den, I'll find a way to help you. I won't let them take Qinglian to pay off the debt."

Chu Chen nodded dumbly, not saying a word.

"Oh no! Qinglian, take good care of him. That fellow Old Hei is probably making the coffin right now. I have to go stop him!" With that, his second uncle dashed out of the door like the wind.

Now, only Chu Chen and Li Qinglian were left in the room.

"Husband, you're alive... Do you feel unwell anywhere?" Li Qinglian spoke timidly, looking at him. A year of constant abuse and beatings had instilled a deep, lingering dread of this man in her heart.

As Chu Chen stepped off the bed, he clearly saw Li Qinglian flinch and shrink back. Looking at the gaunt woman dressed in coarse, patched linen, he could faintly see bloodstains covering her arms. He gently but firmly took her hand and pulled back the sleeves of her heavily patched clothes. Seeing the dark bruises marking her fair skin, he stared at her, momentarily lost in thought.

This was all the work of the original owner. What an absolute beast.

Seeing Chu Chen suddenly freeze, Li Qinglian panicked and pleaded, "Husband, what's wrong? Please don't scare me."

Looking at the girl before him, Chu Chen felt a pang of pity. Back in his own world, how could a guy marry someone like her without a decent amount of money? Even just going on a date would cost a fortune.

He quickly reassured her, "It's nothing. I'm just getting my bearings. I'm hungry. Go cook something for me."

Hearing this, Li Qinglian hurried to the kitchen. A moment later, she returned carrying a bowl of dark, murky mush.

"Husband, this is the wild herb porridge I made. Eat it while it's hot," Li Qinglian said, looking at him.

Chu Chen looked at the dark concoction. Unidentifiable leaves, boiled to a dark mush, floated on the surface. He stirred it with a spoon, finding only a few grains of millet floating in the watery broth. He took a sip and immediately spat it out.

Not only was it completely tasteless, but it also carried a strong, bitter aftertaste.

"You call this porridge?" Chu Chen asked in disbelief.

Seeing Chu Chen's displeasure, Li Qinglian burst into tears. "I'm sorry, husband! I know you aren't used to wild herbs. I'll go work at the village chief's house right away to earn money for millet to make porridge. Please, just don't beat me again."

Seeing how pitiful and delicate she looked, Chu Chen wanted to slap himself. The original owner of this body was truly a bastard. He took a closer look at Li Qinglian. She had delicate features, a high nose bridge, and large, expressive eyes. Though she was thin from malnutrition, her natural beauty and feminine curves were still evident beneath the heavily patched, coarse clothes.

He quickly said, "It's fine. The herbs are just too bitter. Let me think of something."

With that, he walked into the kitchen. Inside, a few clay jars sat on the counter, and on the stove lay another bowl of dark food. Chu Chen picked it up and saw it was just wild leaves boiled in plain water. It seemed this was what his wife had prepared for herself.

He lifted the lid of the rice jar, only to find it so empty that even a mouse would leave in tears. He had hoped to whip something up himself, but now he was faced with the classic dilemma of making bricks without straw.

Turning around, he walked out the door, thinking to himself that he had to find a way to solve this pressing crisis.