Cock-a-doodle-doo!
The rooster's dramatic crow echoed through the air like it was performing on a grand stage. Ye Lianhua groaned, pulling the scratchy blanket over her head.
Why was this world so loud? She missed the soft hum of air conditioners and the warm glow of hotel lights. Instead, she got… roosters and cold floors.
She sat up slowly, yawning and stretching her arms. Her back cracked like dry firewood. "This straw mat is waging war on my spine," she muttered.
The scent of something vaguely edible wafted through the air. Her stomach grumbled loudly in agreement.
"Grandma?"
"In the kitchen, ah Hua," came her grandmother's voice, already bent over a little clay pot, coaxing life out of scraps and vegetables. The soft bubbling of pottage filled the air.
"There's still a bit left," Grandma Ye said. "I used 2 wens to buy vegetables from Aunt Liu. The last 3… won't buy us even a half bun these days."
Lianhua blinked at the five copper coins on the table. They looked so pathetic, so miserable, she felt like organizing a fundraiser for them.
"Just five wens left?" she muttered. "We're living worse than a noodle shop's stray cat."
Her grandmother only chuckled weakly, but Lianhua frowned.
"Grandma, quick question—do we have land?"
Her grandmother paused, ladle mid-stir.
"Well… yes. Technically." She sighed. "We used to have good farmland by the river. But after your grandfather died, the village head said I couldn't manage it. Claimed it needed to be reallocated."
"Reallocated, huh? That sounds like a fancy way to say 'stolen.'"
"They gave us two mountain plots instead," Grandma Ye said, voice low. "But nothing grows there. The trees are dead. The soil's scorched. No one wants it—not even wild animals."
Lianhua's brow twitched. "So they took our fertile farmland and dumped cursed earth in our laps?"
"We had no choice. And to survive, I started helping others with fieldwork—two wens a day if I'm lucky."
Lianhua clenched her fist beneath the table. Two wens a day. In modern-day China, that wouldn't even buy a stick of gum. This wasn't just poverty. It was insult wrapped in injustice.
Then came the system's cheerful chime:
[Daily Quest Activated: Secure and Revitalize Assigned Land.][Objective: Visit the village head and finalize legal transfer of the Two Barren Mountains.][System Fertility Boost will activate upon confirmation and first physical contact with assigned land.]
She stood up so quickly the stool squeaked in fear.
"I'm going to the village head."
Her grandmother turned pale. "No! That man is trouble. He's always had… eyes."
"Oh, I remember." Lianhua rolled her eyes. "But I'm not going to flirt or fight. Just to get something signed."
The village head's home was as excessive as his personality—bright red doors, crooked lanterns, and a fake lion statue with a chipped eye.
She knocked once. Then twice more, with attitude.
A scrawny servant opened the door, his face paling when he saw her. "T-The jinx? I mean—Miss Ye. The village head… he's inside."
Of course he was.
She was led through a narrow corridor and into a sitting room that smelled like strong wine, pickled onions, and a faint trace of desperation.
The village head reclined on a wooden bench, chewing sunflower seeds with one hand down his robe. His sparse mustache wiggled as he grinned.
"Well, well! Look who's not dead. Our little flower has bloomed again," he said, eyes shamelessly trailing from her head to her feet. "Feeling better, Lianhua?"
"Much better, now that I've seen your greasy face," she replied with a deadpan smile.
He snorted. "Still got that sharp tongue. I like that in a woman."
She fought the urge to gag. "Let's cut the flirting. I'm here about the land. The two mountain plots you reassigned to my family."
The village head leaned back, expression turning smug. "Those? You want that dead soil? Ha! No one's ever claimed it since it was rejected by the county governor. Burned in the fire ten years ago. You're welcome to it—officially even. I can sign the deed."
He reached under the table, pulled out a dusty registry scroll, dipped his brush in thick ink, and wrote her name with exaggerated flair.
Then he stamped it with the village seal: Approved and Transferred.
"There," he said, waving it proudly. "Your very own patch of death."
Lianhua bowed lightly, resisting the temptation to throw his brush at him. "Thank you, Village Head."
He winked. "You know… if you ever want to thank me personally, my doors are open."
She smiled sweetly. "If I ever run out of pigs to talk to, I'll consider it."
As she left, she heard him laugh behind her. "Still sharp as ever!"
Back home, she spread the signed deed out on the floor. Her grandmother stared at it in disbelief.
"Are you… really going to use that land?"
"Of course. The system said it'll work once I claim it. We don't need their pity or charity. Just that land.( she said in her heart)"
Her grandmother looked at her like she'd just volunteered to marry a tree. "You're serious?"
"As serious as your pottage recipe, Grandma." Lianhua winked.
Dusting her hands, she grabbed the water gourd and towel, tying her hair up in a rough bun. "I'm heading to the river. Can't meet two bald mountains smelling like fermented cabbage."
Grandma Ye chuckled. "Don't be too long. Be careful."
The village river was a lazy snake of cool water trickling along the edge of the fields. It wasn't wide or grand, but it was clean, peaceful, and blessedly quiet—unlike the villagers.
She sat on a flat rock and dipped her toes in. "Ahhh, finally."
The sun was still bright overhead, so she stripped down to her undergarments and jumped in with a splash. The cold water slapped her skin awake.
"Better than the hotel pool," she said, swimming a short circle.
Halfway through rinsing her hair, she heard a rustle.
She squinted—only to find a frog staring at her like she owed it rent. "What are you looking at? Never seen a goddess before?"
The frog blinked once, then leapt away. Smart.
She finished bathing, wrung out her clothes, and headed toward the two bald mountains, humming a pop song no one in this world would understand.
Standing at the foot of the land that was now officially hers, she blinked hard.
It was worse than she imagined.
The two mountains were less "rolling green hills" and more "two dry elbows of the earth." Nothing grew here. The trees were shriveled black stumps, the soil was cracked like dragon scales, and the wind even whistled in a depressing key.
She kicked the ground.
Dust puffed up like a sigh from a dying old man.
"This is what they gave us? This is what the village head had the audacity to flirt over? This is what the system thinks I can farm?!"
The system chimed in cheerfully.
[Host has arrived at assigned plots: Twin Dry Peaks.][Initializing System Fertility Boost Protocol… Please place hand on the soil to begin terrain scan and recalibration.]
With a dramatic eye roll, she knelt down and placed her palm flat on the cracked earth.
A soft golden glow emitted from her skin. The ground beneath her hand vibrated faintly, then quieted.
[Initial Scan Complete.][Soil condition: Critical. Humidity: Near-zero. Nutrient levels: Laughably low. Fertility: None.][Recalibration in Progress… Boost Seed will be available upon Host's first mission completion.]
"Tch. Figures. No free miracles." She sighed and sat back on her heels. "System, you better be as magical as you sound."
She looked out at the two peaks, imagining lush fields, fruit trees, rice terraces… Then she blinked again and remembered reality.
"Right. Right now, it looks like two roasted buns left in the sun too long."
Still, she felt something stir in her chest. Determination. Or maybe it was the cold bath catching up to her.
By the time she made it home, her clothes were halfway dry, and her hair smelled like river grass.
Grandma had laid out the last of the pottage in a clay bowl for her.
"You went to see it?" her grandmother asked gently.
"I did." Lianhua smiled faintly. "It's a mess. But it's my mess."
Her grandmother didn't speak for a while. Then, with a shake of her head, she simply said, "You're just like your grandfather."
After eating, Lianhua sat on the mat and took a deep breath. She shut her eyes and focused.
[System Interface Opening… Loading Host Dashboard…]
A glowing screen appeared before her eyes, only visible to her.
Name: Ye Lianhua
Title: Transmigrated Host
Level: 1
Daily Quests:
Secure Land ✅
Initial Terrain Scan ✅
Acquire First Seed ❌
Farm ❌
Main Mission: Restore Barren Mountains (0% Complete)
System Buffs Unlocked: None
Farming Tools: Rusty hoe
Spiritual Power: Dormant
She frowned. "No good tools( just a rusty hoe), no buffs, no seeds, and no spiritual power. What am I supposed to farm with? My eyelashes?"
The system offered no reply.