7:05 AM. March 15, 2002. Mill Street Compound, Main Hall.
He sat with the chopsticks in his hand. Steam from the bowl hit his face. Pork bone broth. Chili oil. Green garlic cut fresh from the canal bank. Great-grandfather's noodles. He hadn't tasted them in twenty-four years. Not the real ones. The ones in Shanghai were close, but the water was wrong. The soybeans were wrong.
He took a bite. Chewed. Swallowed.
It tasted like coming home.
"Brother." Lin Yu kicked his shoe again. "If you don't eat faster, you'll miss the bus. Again."
She was right. In the last life, he missed the 7:20 AM bus three times a week. Always on purpose. He liked walking the last two kilometers to school. Liked the quiet before the day started.
Father set a second bowl down at the table. Didn't look at him. "Great-grandfather says you got the letter."
The hall went quiet. Twenty people. Uncles, aunts, cousins from three branches. All eating, but all listening. News traveled in Mill Street faster than the compound bell.
He pulled the envelope from his jacket. Put it on the table next to his bowl. The red stamp caught the light from the bare bulb overhead.
Jiangsu University.
Second uncle stopped mid-slurp. "Mock exam?"
"668," Father said. Not a question. He already knew. Father always knew. Hardware Store 6 was next to the school supply shop. The owner talked.
Great-grandfather didn't speak. He just picked up his own chopsticks and tapped the rim of his bowl once. The signal to eat. To stop staring. Business was business. School was school. Both important, but breakfast was first.
The sound of eating resumed. Loud. Twenty sets of chopsticks. No one in Mill Street ate quiet.
*[Ding.]*
The blue text was back. Dimmer now, in the corner of his vision. Like a notification he hadn't cleared.
*[Daily Sign-in Day 1: Complete.]*
*[Total Unopened Gift Boxes: 7.]*
*[Open now?] [Y/N]*
He stared at his noodles. Could he just think 'yes'?
He tried it. Yes
Nothing.
Open
Nothing.
He almost mouthed the word before he caught himself. Twenty people at the table. He wasn't about to start talking to air on day one.
Lin Yu leaned over, stole a piece of pork from his bowl. "You look weird. Did you not sleep?"
"I slept."
"You look like you saw a ghost."
He almost laughed. He was the ghost.
He finished the bowl. Stood up. The *[Open now?] [Y/N]* text followed him, floating by his left shoulder.
"Going to school," he said.
Father grunted. "Bus. Don't walk. You'll be late."
Great-grandfather tapped his bowl again. Once. Dismissed.
He grabbed his schoolbag from the hook by the door. Same bag. Blue canvas, white zipper, strap frayed where he'd caught it in the bus door in October. Would catch it in October again, probably.
Lin Yu was already outside. "Move. 7:20 bus doesn't wait for dead people."
He almost stopped walking. She didn't know.
The morning was cold. March in Subei wasn't Shanghai March. It was real cold. The kind that sat in the bricks and didn't leave until May. Frost on the covered walkways. Breath showing in the air. The canal behind the compound was half ice, half black water.
Mill Street was awake. All of it.
Hardware Store 1 was rolling up the shutters. Second uncle inside, counting nails. Grain Mill 1 was already running. The stone wheel sound vibrated through the ground into his boots. Textile Workshop 2 had lights on. Someone was arguing about a broken shuttle. Brewery Fermentation Hall 1 smelled like it always did: sorghum, yeast, and the start of a headache.
He knew every sound. Every smell. He'd forgotten how many there were at once.
*[Open now?] [Y/N]*
The text bumped against the corner of his vision as he walked. Insistent.
Fine.
He ducked into the gap between Hardware Store 3 and Hardware Store 4. Narrow alley. Smelled like motor oil and cat piss. No one there. No one ever there at 6:40 AM.
"Open," he said, quiet.
The blue text flared.
*[Opening Legacy Gift Box x1...]*
*[Item Acquired: Family Ledger Lv.1]*
*[Effect: View status of all bloodline members within 2,000 meters. Name. Health. Mood. Location. Loyalty to host. Updates in real time.]*
*[Note: Ledger stored in System. Access by thought.]*
The box icon shattered into blue pixels. The text reformed.
*[6 Unopened Gift Boxes Remaining.]*
*[Open next?] [Y/N]*
Family Ledger. He thought about it.
A new screen unfolded in his head. Not in front of his eyes. In his head. Like remembering something he'd never learned.
A list. 695 names.
Lin Da. Location: Main Hall, Mill Street. Health: Stable. Mood: Irritated. Loyalty: 62/100.
Lin Er. Location: Hardware Store 1. Health: Stable. Mood: Focused. Loyalty: 71/100.
Lin San. Location: Textile Workshop 2. Health: Cough. Mood: Tired. Loyalty: 58/100.
He scrolled down with his mind. Names. Locations. Numbers. All 695. He found Lin Yu.
Lin Yu. Location: 3 meters west. Health: Excellent. Mood: Impatient. Loyalty: 89/100.
He found Father.
Location: Main Hall, Mill Street. Health: Chronic back pain. Mood: Stern. Loyalty: 95/100.
Great-grandfather.
Location: Main Hall, Mill Street. Health: Declining. Age-related. Mood: Calm. Loyalty: 100/100.
He closed the Ledger. The list snapped shut. His head hurt for a second, like he'd stood up too fast.
"Brother!" Lin Yu yelled from the main street. "Bus!"
He stepped out of the alley.
*[Open next?] [Y/N]*
Later. He had to get to school. Had to act normal.
He jogged to catch up. The 7:20 AM bus was already there, belching diesel. Third row, window seat. Same seat he took last time. Same seat he'd take for the next 84 days.
Lin Yu sat next to him. Pulled out an exercise book and started copying history dates. She was always better at history than him. He was better at math. They'd split homework for four years.
The bus pulled out. Mill Street disappeared behind them. But the Ledger stayed in his head. He could feel it. 695 dots on a map, all moving. All his.
He looked out the window. The fields were still brown. The state road was empty. A tractor in the distance, hauling fertilizer.
He had 84 days until the college entrance exam. Last time, he scored 668 on the mock and 671 on the real test. Went to Nanjing. Studied business. Graduated. Went to Shanghai. Worked. Died.
This time he had the same 668. Same rank. Same envelope.
But he also had seven boxes. One open. Six left.
And he had a Family Ledger that said Great-grandfather's health was declining.
He opened the Ledger again. Checked the date. March 15, 2002.
Great-grandfather would live to 101. That was 2009. Seven years.
Seven years last time. Could he change it?
*[Open next?] [Y/N]*
Not on the bus. Not with Lin Yu next to him.
The bus hit a pothole. The envelope in his jacket pressed against his ribs.
He wasn't leaving Mill Street this time. Not for Nanjing. Not for Shanghai.
He had 695 people. He had a System. He had six boxes left.
And he had 84 days to figure out what to do with them.