The rhythmic thud of a wooden pestle pounding grain echoed through the thin mud walls, a dull heartbeat that pulled Li Wei from the abyss of sleep. He gasped, his lungs filling with air that smelled of damp earth, burning pine, and the faint, sour scent of aged pickles.
It wasn't the sterile, recycled air of his downtown office. It wasn't the smell of the highway below his apartment.
His eyes snapped open. Above him was not a white plaster ceiling, but a canopy of blackened beams, thick with years of soot from the central hearth. A spider web glistened in a shaft of pale morning light that managed to pierce through a tear in the window paper.
"Brother Wei? You're finally awake?"
A voice, young and brittle, cut through the fog in his mind. Li Wei turned his head, his neck stiff and aching. Sitting by the side of the *kang*—the heated brick bed that felt hard as stone beneath his aching back—was a boy. He was skinny, his ribs visible even through the layer of dirty, patched clothing. His face was smeared with dust, but his eyes were large and bright, filled with a mixture of hope and anxiety.
Memory surged like a tidal wave, crashing into his modern consciousness. The office, the endless spreadsheets, the crushing chest pain at the age of thirty-five, and then… darkness.
Now, he was Li Wei. Eighteen years old. The third son of the Li family in Willow Village, under the jurisdiction of Qinghe Prefecture, Great Yu Dynasty.
"I... I'm fine," Li Wei rasped. His throat felt like sandpaper. He looked at his hands. They were calloused, rough, and thin—far from the smooth hands of a middle-class office worker. "An, what time is it?"
"It's past *Chen* hour (7-9 AM)," the boy, Li An, replied softly, reaching for a cracked clay bowl on a wobbly stool. "Mother kept some hot water for you. You fainted yesterday in the fields. Uncle De carried you back. Grandmother was crying, saying the mountain gods had taken your soul."
Li Wei took the bowl. The water was lukewarm and had a faint taste of clay, but it grounded him. He drank greedily.
A faint, translucent blue screen flickered in the corner of his vision.
**[System Initializing...]**
**[Host Vital Signs: Stable.]**
**[Status: Impoverished Peasant (Beginner).]**
**[Current Assets: 23 Copper Coins.]**
Li Wei froze. A system? The golden finger every transmigrator dreamed of? He focused his mind, trying to access a menu or a shop, but the screen remained stubbornly static, only flashing a single line of text:
**[Activation Quest: Acquire Livestock (Minimum 3 units).]**
**[Reward: Basic Grass Cultivation Knowledge, Basic Livestock Diagnosis.]**
He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. It wasn't a magic wand that would spit out gold bars. It was a tool. A Ranch System. He looked at the boy sitting anxiously beside him.
Li An. Ten years old. His youngest brother. The family's golden hope for the Imperial Examinations. In this world, where commoners had fewer rights than the dirt on a magistrate's boot, passing the exams was the only ladder out of the pit. But ladders cost money—books, tuition, travel, bribes.
"Brother?" Li An asked, seeing his brother dazed. "Does your head still hurt?"
"No, An," Li Wei said, his voice steadying. He ruffled the boy's hair. "I was just thinking. Have you eaten?"
Li An looked down, his ears reddening. "We... we are waiting for Grandfather to start the meal. But the porridge is very thin today."
Before Li Wei could respond, the cloth door curtain was swept aside with a brisk motion. A woman in her late thirties stepped in. She wore a coarse hemp jacket, faded from years of washing, and her hair was pulled back tightly, though strands of grey were already visible.
"Wei-er! You're up!" Chen Lan, his mother, rushed to his side, her hands fluttering over his face like frightened birds. Her hands were rough, cracked from years of washing clothes in the river and working the soil. "Thank the heavens. I thought... I thought you had a seizure. You must not go to the fields today. You are too weak."
"Mother, I'm fine," Li Wei insisted, sitting up straighter. The world spun slightly, a testament to his body's malnutrition.
Behind his mother, a tall, silent figure appeared in the doorway. Li Shun, his father. A man who spoke less than ten words a day but carried the weight of the entire family on his bent shoulders. He held a bamboo pipe, unlit, his eyes scanning Li Wei with a profound, silent relief.
"Rest," Li Shun said simply. "The fields can wait."
"The fields cannot wait!"
The voice came from the outer room—loud, brash, and edged with frustration. It was the Eldest Brother, Li Qiang.
Li Wei sighed internally. This was the daily rhythm of the Li family. The clash between survival and care.
He swung his legs off the *kang*, ignoring the dizziness. "Let's go eat."
The main room was small, filled with smoke and the smell of boiled radishes. The family was gathered around a low, square table. The hierarchy was clear. Grandfather Li Dagen sat at the head, his back straight despite his age, his face a map of wrinkles and stern resolve. Beside him sat Grandmother Zhao Shi, her hands trembling slightly as she held her grandson.
Eldest Brother Li Qiang sat on a stool, his face dark. Beside him was his wife, Wang Mei, who was nursing their youngest, a girl of five months. Their son, eight-year-old Dahu, was kicking his legs restlessly. Second Brother Li Jun was leaning against the doorframe, his sharp eyes darting around, calculating. His wife, Liu Fang, was whispering something to him while holding their three-year-old son, Erhu.
And then there were the sisters. Li Yue, sixteen, was serving the porridge from a large iron pot. She was gentle, her movements graceful despite her ragged clothes. Li Hua, fourteen, was stoking the fire, her face flushed from the heat.
"Sit down, all of you," Grandfather Li Dagen commanded, his voice like grinding stones.
The family took their places. The meal was served. A bowl of watery corn porridge for each adult, a smaller bowl for the children, and a single plate of pickled radishes in the center. That was it. No eggs, no meat, no oil.
Li Wei looked at his bowl. It was mostly water. He remembered his past life, the takeout food he would complain about, the wasted leftovers. He felt a pang of guilt that twisted his stomach more than the hunger.
"An," Li Qiang said abruptly, breaking the silence. "The village school master came by yesterday. He said the tuition for the winter session is due. Fifty copper coins."
The table fell silent. The clinking of chopsticks stopped.
Li An shrank back, clutching his bowl. "I... I can stop studying, Father. I can help in the fields."
"Silence!" Li Shun, the father, slammed his hand on the table. The vibration made the bowls jump. "You will study. The Li family will not have another generation of mud-turners."
"But where is the money?" Li Qiang asked, his voice rising. "The tax collector comes next month. The harvest was barely enough. We have saved two taels of silver for Dahu's future and Wei's marriage. If we spend it on tuition and taxes, what happens if someone gets sick? What do we eat in the spring?"
"Brother, don't be so pessimistic," Li Jun interjected, though his tone was flat. "Maybe we can borrow from Uncle Li De."
"Uncle De has his own five mouths to feed," Li Qiang snapped. "We cannot beg forever."
Li Wei watched the exchange. It was a classic tragedy of the poor. They worked hard, harder than anyone, but the math simply didn't add up. Labor was cheap, land was taxed heavily, and without capital, they were trapped.
He needed to change the equation. He needed the system.
"Father, Grandfather," Li Wei spoke up. His voice was calm, cutting through the tension.
All eyes turned to him.
"I have an idea," Li Wei said. He looked at his younger brother. "An, you will continue your studies. I will pay for the tuition."
The family stared at him as if he had grown two heads.
"You?" Li Jun scoffed, though without malice. "Wei, you have twenty copper coins to your name. You barely make ten coins a day doing odd jobs."
"I will go to town today," Li Wei said firmly. He stood up, the system's prompt flashing in his mind like a beacon. *Acquire Livestock.* "I am going to buy some sheep."
"Sheep?" Wang Mei, the eldest sister-in-law, frowned. "Brother Wei, a good sheep costs nearly a tael of silver. And what would you do with them? The hills behind our house are barren rock. There is no grass. You'd have to feed them grain, which we don't have."
"I will find grass," Li Wei said. It sounded insane. He knew it. But the system had mentioned *Grass Cultivation*. If he could unlock that knowledge, he could turn the wasteland into gold. "I have a... feeling. A dream I had while I was unconscious."
"Dreams are not money," Li Qiang said heavily.
"No," Li Wei agreed. "But hard work is."
He looked at his family, one by one. He saw the skepticism, the worry, but also the desperation. They needed a lifeline.
"Grandfather," Li Wei bowed. "I ask for your blessing. Let me try. If I fail, I will work in the fields until my back breaks like Father's. But let me try this first."
Grandfather Li Dagen looked at him for a long time. The old man had lived a hard life, but he was wise. He saw something in Li Wei's eyes today—a steadiness that hadn't been there yesterday.
"You have always been a clever child," the old man said slowly. "But the world eats clever people for breakfast."
"I am not just clever, Grandfather. I am desperate."
The old man grunted, a small smirk appearing on his weathered face. "Desperation makes men do stupid things, or great things. Go. But use your own savings. The family treasury will not open for this."
Li Wei exhaled. "Thank you, Grandfather."
***
Two hours later, Li Wei stood at the entrance of the village, wearing a pair of straw sandals and a bamboo hat. He had gathered his life savings. It was meager.
Twenty-three copper coins from his own stash. He had found them hidden in a crack in the wall of his room.
He had approached his sisters. Li Yue had given him a hairpin she had received as a child—a cheap copper thing, but it might fetch ten coins. Li Hua had given him a colorful feather she had found, worthless to others, but she insisted it might bring luck.
He had approached his uncles and cousins, but they either had no money or refused to lend to a "dreamer."
He looked at the pouch in his hand. Thirty-three copper coins. A long way from a tael of silver (1000 coins). He couldn't even buy a decent goat, let alone a sheep.
"Going to town, Wei?" A voice called out.
Li Wei turned to see Village Chief, Old Man Liu, smoking a pipe by the ancient locust tree. The Chief was a fair man, respected by all.
"Yes, Chief," Li Wei said respectfully, cupping his hands. "I'm going to the livestock market to have a look."
"To buy?" Chief Liu raised an eyebrow. "With what? Your smile?"
"I have some savings," Li Wei said humbly. "I'm looking for a bargain."
Chief Liu laughed, a raspy sound. "Bargains in the livestock market are usually dead animals, boy. Be careful. The town merchants have eyes on the top of their heads. They will swindle a village boy out of his pants."
"I will be careful, Chief."
Li Wei adjusted his belt and started walking. The road to Qinghe Town was fifteen *li* (approx. 7.5 km) away. He had to walk. He couldn't afford a cart ride.
The walk was grueling. His body was weak, his stomach empty. Every step sent a jolt of pain through his arches. The straw sandals offered little protection against the sharp stones of the dirt road.
As he walked, he analyzed his situation. The system required livestock. He needed at least three units. With his current funds, he could maybe buy three scrawny chickens. But chickens wouldn't unlock the "Ranch" potential. He needed mammals. Sheep or goats.
He needed a miracle.
Or... he needed someone's misfortune.
***
**Qinghe Town Livestock Market.**
The market was a chaotic symphony of smells and sounds. The stench of manure was overwhelming. Dust clouds rose as cattle lowed and pigs squealed. Merchants shouted, their voices hoarse, extolling the virtues of their beasts.
"Look at this ox! Strong bones! Plows three acres without stopping!"
"Fat pigs! Ready for slaughter! Come, come!"
Li Wei walked through the crowd, keeping his head low. He held his pouch tightly under his shirt. He bypassed the main stalls where the good animals were. He couldn't afford them. He headed for the edges of the market, the "miscellaneous" section where old animals, sick beasts, and small livestock were traded.
He saw a pen of goats. They looked decent.
"Master," Li Wei approached the seller. "How much for the black goat?"
The seller, a man with a greasy beard, looked Li Wei up and down. He saw the patched clothes and the thin frame. "Six hundred coins. Firm."
Li Wei's heart sank. Six hundred? That was robbery. A goat like that was worth four hundred at most. The seller was seeing a country bumpkin and raising the price.
"Too expensive," Li Wei said, turning to leave.
"Four hundred," the seller called out, proving Li Wei's estimate correct. "Last price."
Li Wei kept walking. Even four hundred was too much. He barely had ten percent of that.
He moved deeper. Here, the smell was worse. There were cages of rabbits, pens of sickly sheep.
And then he saw him.
A man in tattered clothes, clearly a farmer from a distant village, sitting on a rock. Beside him, tied to a post, were two ewes and a ram. They were the sorriest-looking sheep Li Wei had ever seen. Their wool was matted and dirty, their ribs were showing, and the ram had a limp.
But Li Wei didn't look at their appearance. He looked at the system screen flickering in his vision.
**[Target: Hill Sheep (Ram). Condition: Malnourished, Minor leg injury. Genetics: 1% Angus Trait Dormant. Potential: Medium.]**
**[Target: Hill Sheep (Ewes). Condition: Malnourished, Pregnant (Early). Potential: Low.]**
*Dormant Angus Trait?* Li Wei's heart skipped a beat. This scrawny, limping ram carried the potential for marbled meat? The system could see what the eye couldn't.
He approached the farmer. The man looked despondent, his face buried in his hands.
"Uncle," Li Wei said softly. "Selling sheep?"
The man looked up, his eyes red. "Yeah. But nobody wants them. The ram is lame, and the ewes are too thin. I just need money to buy medicine for my old mother in the village. I can't afford to feed them anymore."
"How much?" Li Wei asked, keeping his voice neutral.
"The merchant offered me fifty coins for all three, saying they were only good for dog meat," the man spat on the ground, tears welling in his eyes. "I'd rather let them die than sell them for that price. But... my mother..."
Li Wei felt a pang of empathy. He understood the desperation of family.
"I have..." Li Wei hesitated. He reached into his pouch. He had 33 coins. He pulled out the copper hairpin Li Yue gave him. "I have thirty-three coins. And this hairpin. It's pure copper."
The man looked at the coins and the hairpin. He looked at Li Wei, then back at the sheep. "Boy, these sheep will die if you don't feed them well. They eat a lot."
"I have grass," Li Wei lied smoothly, though he prayed the system would provide. "I have a hill. I need them to clear the brush."
The farmer looked at the sky. "Fifty coins. The hairpin and fifty coins. I can't go lower. I need the medicine."
Li Wei felt cold. He was seventeen coins short.
"Please," Li Wei said, his eyes sincere. "My sister gave me this hairpin. It's worth at least ten coins in copper weight, plus the craftsmanship... that's twenty coins value. With the thirty-three coins, that's fifty-three. I am a poor man, Uncle. I want to save these sheep. And I need to save money for my brother's tuition. We are the same."
The farmer stared at Li Wei for a long time. He looked at the hairpin. It was a cheap thing, but it had a rustic charm. He sighed, a heavy, defeated sound that came from the bottom of his soul.
"Take them."
"Uncle!"
"Take them!" The man grabbed the coins and the hairpin, shoving the rope into Li Wei's hand. "You have a kind heart, boy. Don't let them die."
Li Wei clutched the rough hemp rope. The system chimed instantly.
*Ding!*
**[Quest Complete: Acquire Livestock.]**
**[3 Sheep acquired.]**
**[Reward Unlocked: Basic Grass Cultivation Knowledge (Beginner), Basic Livestock Health Diagnosis.]**
A flood of information rushed into Li Wei's mind. It wasn't just text; it was an understanding. He suddenly knew how to identify *Ryegrass* seeds hidden in common weeds. He knew how to mix soil with ash to balance the pH for *Tall Fescue*. He knew that the ram's leg wasn't broken, just sprained, and needed a poultice of boiled dandelion and salt.
He looked at the three scrawny sheep. To the world, they were trash. To him, they were the foundation of an empire.
He didn't have money for a cart. He had to walk them back.
Fifteen *li*. With three lame, stubborn sheep.
It was going to be a long journey.
***
The sun was setting by the time Li Wei reached the outskirts of Willow Village. He was exhausted, covered in dust, his feet bleeding from the blisters. The journey had been a nightmare. The ram had refused to move every few hundred meters, sitting down stubbornly in the middle of the road. Li Wei had to coax it, pull it, and at one point, carry the ewe when she stumbled into a ditch.
But he had made it.
He stood at the village entrance. The evening smoke was rising from the chimneys. The smell of burning firewood always signaled the end of a day's labor.
Village Chief Liu was still sitting under the locust tree, knocking his pipe against the trunk.
The Chief looked up. He saw Li Wei. Then he saw the three miserable creatures trailing behind him.
"Li Wei?" Chief Liu's eyes widened. He stood up, walking over. He stared at the sheep. "You... you bought these? With your savings?"
"Yes, Chief," Li Wei panted, wiping sweat from his brow.
The Chief circled the animals. He touched the ram's back. "Skin and bones. This one is lame. Boy... did you get swindled? These are cull animals. They won't survive the winter."
"I didn't get swindled, Chief," Li Wei said. He looked at the old man with a calm gaze. "I bought them for their potential."
"Potential?" The Chief laughed, but it wasn't mocking, just confused. "They are males and females. They can breed, sure, but the lambs will be just as scrawny without good feed."
"I have the feed," Li Wei tapped his head. "It's in here."
He didn't want to explain the system. He couldn't.
"Chief, can I ask a favor?"
"Speak."
"I need to borrow your old cart tomorrow. I am going up the back hill. I need to bring some soil down... and some grass seeds from the riverbank."
"The back hill? That rocky place?"
"Yes. I'm going to turn it into a pasture."
The Chief looked at the determined young man. He saw the blisters on Li Wei's feet, the dirt on his face, but he also saw a fire in his eyes that hadn't been there yesterday.
"Take the cart," the Chief said finally. "And take some salt from my house. These sheep need it, or they will collapse."
"Thank you, Chief."
Li Wei led the sheep into his family courtyard. The gate was open. The family was just finishing dinner.
When Li Wei walked in with the three sheep, the courtyard fell into a deathly silence.
Li Qiang dropped his bowl. Li Jun's jaw slackened. Grandfather Li Dagen stood up slowly.
"Wei-er..." Chen Lan rushed over, her hands shaking as she touched the sheep's dirty wool. "Is this... is this where the money went? All of it?"
"Yes, Mother," Li Wei said, his voice hoarse but strong.
"You bought three skeletons?" Li Jun exclaimed, standing up. "Are you mad? Even if you wanted sheep, you should have bought a healthy lamb! These are dying animals!"
"Sit down!" Li Wei's voice rang out, startling everyone. It wasn't the voice of the weak third son. It was the voice of a man who had managed teams of people in a corporate office, a voice of authority.
He led the sheep to the corner of the courtyard, away from the main house. He grabbed a handful of hay from the pile and laid it down. Then he turned to face his family.
"I know what it looks like," Li Wei said, looking each of them in the eye. "I know I spent our last bit of liquidity on animals that look like they should be buried. But you have to trust me."
He walked over to Li An, who was looking at the sheep with wide, curious eyes.
"An, do you see these sheep?"
"Yes, Third Brother."
"Tomorrow, I am going to turn the back hill into a field of green. By winter, these sheep will be fat. By next year, they will give birth. And the year after that, Li An will go to the Academy in the prefecture, wearing silk, not hemp."
Li Jun scoffed, "You talk big, Third Brother. But talk doesn't fill bellies."
"Then watch me fill them," Li Wei retorted. "Brother Jun, you are good at bargaining. When these sheep are ready, I will need you to sell the wool. Brother Qiang, you are strong. I will need your help to clear the rocks on the hill. I cannot pay you now. But I promise, when the first ewe gives birth, everyone will have meat for dinner. Real meat."
The word 'meat' hung in the air like a spell. The children, Dahu and Erhu, swallowed audibly. Even the adults felt a primal stir in their stomachs. It had been years since the Li family had a proper meat meal.
"Father, Grandfather," Li Wei bowed deeply. "Give me three months. If the hill is not green and the sheep are not improved, I will sell my labor to the rich households in town and pay back every coin."
Grandfather Li Dagen stared at the sheep, then at his grandson. He saw the limp in the ram, the ribs on the ewes. It was a foolish investment. A death sentence for their finances.
But he also saw the spark.
"The back hill is yours," the Grandfather said gruffly. "It was waste land anyway. If you can grow grass on rock, you are a wizard. If you fail, you owe the family two taels of silver. No complaints."
"Agreed," Li Wei said, bowing again.
"And eat something," Chen Lan said, pushing a cold bun into his hand. Her eyes were wet, but she supported him. "You can't herd sheep on an empty stomach."
Li Wei took the bun. It was hard, cold, and tasted of grain. To him, it was the sweetest thing he had ever eaten. It was his first step.
*Ding.*
**[New Quest Unlocked: Establish the First Pasture.]**
**[Goal: Clear 1 Mu (approx. 667 sqm) of land and cultivate Ryegrass.]**
**[Reward: Ranch Structure Blueprint (Bunkhouse I), Beginner Cowboy Skill: Herding.]**
Li Wei smiled in the dark. It was a long road ahead. But for the first time in two lifetimes, he wasn't just surviving. He was building.