He appeared thin and delicate on the surface, but the malnourished body had already been thoroughly nourished by the spiritual spring water.
Much better.
Looking into the mirror inside the space, Tang Yuze could tell that this face was exactly the same as his original one. The only difference lay in the environments in which they had grown up.
Now, his skin looked healthier and more vibrant than before. His body merely needed regular training to recover the peak condition of his original self.
Perhaps it could even surpass it.
Tang Yuze's thoughts wandered constantly in all directions, but his hands never stopped moving for even a minute.
At present, the house only had five rooms, along with a kitchen and a small pigsty in the backyard — though there were no pigs inside it.
It sounded spacious, but for a family consisting of four married couples and three unmarried children, the place was unbearably cramped.
Fortunately, his current identity was that of a student with poor health. He was also clearly the darling of the family. Surprisingly, even his sisters-in-law and brother-in-law favored "Tang Yuze."
He cleaned every spiderweb he could find in the corners of the room.
The pile of dirty laundry disgusted him so much that he wanted to throw everything away immediately, but he could only suppress the urge.
Secretly taking out high-quality detergent from his space, he soaked the clothes for washing later.
After sweeping the room thoroughly, his gaze landed on the filthy quilts whose original colors were nearly impossible to recognize.
Without hesitation, he dragged them outside to wash later.
The room itself was pitifully bare.
A wooden bed.
A small wooden table.
One chair that was fortunately still intact.
And two sets of clothes.
After organizing everything, Tang Yuze finally stopped to rest.
By then, sweat had already soaked through his clothes.
After resting for a while, he washed the clothing and carefully disposed of the detergent water before hanging everything up to dry.
"Youngest!!"
Mother Tang suddenly rushed toward him. Seeing him drenched in sweat from head to toe, she nearly died from fright.
"Are you hurt? Did you faint somewhere? I'll call your father back immediately!"
She anxiously paced around before rushing toward the fields almost as quickly as she had arrived.
Only then did Tang Yuze realize how he currently looked.
His clothes were soaked with sweat, his face flushed red from exertion, and his breathing uneven after the heavy workload.
To Mother Tang, however, he simply looked like a gravely ill patient moments away from collapsing.
Tang Yuze could not help rubbing his forehead.
Troublesome.
"I'm fine, Mother," he said before forcefully stopping her from running off and alarming the entire village about his condition.
Mother Tang repeatedly checked his forehead before finally noticing the clean clothes hanging in the yard along with the soaked quilts nearby.
This time, it was her turn to fall silent.
Could someone tell her how her frail youngest son — who was normally treated like fragile porcelain — had suddenly become energetic enough to clean and work for an entire day?
Soon, the rest of the family returned home as evening approached.
Only now did Tang Yuze officially meet the family members of this body.
Father Tang said nothing and silently went to wash his hands and feet first.
The others followed soon after.
Tang Yuan and Tang Mo had very different personalities, and so did their wives.
Yet despite being such a large household, the family atmosphere was unexpectedly harmonious.
Because raising children was costly for poor families, neither married couple was in a hurry to have children yet.
That surprised Tang Yuze quite a bit.
Tang Mu and Tang Erya also returned home. After washing themselves, they immediately entered the kitchen to help.
When dinner was finally served, Mother Tang silently placed the only egg into Tang Yuze's bowl.
Tang Yuze looked up at her quietly before glancing around the table.
No one showed the slightest dissatisfaction.
Everyone in this family worked themselves to exhaustion every day.
The original "Tang Yuze" had always worried about the family's poverty.
Despite his frail health, he studied desperately while helping with whatever work he could manage.
However, as a village-born child of this era, his horizons were limited.
He possessed neither powerful backing nor extraordinary ideas capable of changing the family's fate overnight.
For someone like him, studying for the imperial examinations was already the only path he could see.
Tang Yuze suddenly felt an unfamiliar emotion .
Touched.He didn't know .More of a recognition for the thoughtfulness and maturity of a 14 year old who should be playing games and skipping classes in modern era.
In his previous life, family and clan ties had meant almost nothing.
His only meaningful connection to the Tang family had been his surname and his status as the chosen heir.
But here, these people were willing to place blind trust in "Tang Yuze," hoping that once he became successful in the future, he would pull the family out of this swamp of poverty.
Did such naïve people truly exist?
He clicked his tongue inwardly.
None of the Tang family knew that an unknown ghost from another world had already taken the place of their youngest son.
Nor could they imagine that their fates were about to change completely.
Tang Yuze lowered his head and silently ate the rough meal he despised.
Naturally, he also ate the only egg on the table.
Fortunately, winter had not yet arrived, so quilts were not urgently needed for now.
From the customs and laws he had observed so far, the emperor of this dynasty could at least be considered a competent ruler.
The people lived in poverty, yet the empire itself remained stable. There were no constant wars, excessive massacres, or scenes of starving corpses littering the roads.
For commoners living in an ancient dynasty, that alone was already considered decent governance.
The original Tang Yuze had only one goal:
Pass the imperial examination.
Gain status and reputation.
Marry a wealthy wife.
And drag the Tang family out of poverty.
To a village boy with no background or connections, this was already the most realistic dream possible.
Tang Yuze thought about it for a moment.
Well… it was not an unreasonable dream.
After all, in this world, commoners were little more than livestock.
The only difference was that the livestock here lived under slightly better conditions.