The smell hit him first.
It wasn't the sterile scent of an air-conditioned office, nor the lingering aroma of stale coffee and instant noodles that usually permeated his workspace at 2:00 AM. It was pungent, earthy, and raw—a mixture of wet soil, animal dung, and the sharp, acrid smoke of burning firewood.
Li Wei struggled to open his eyes. His eyelids felt like lead weights. A dull, throbbing pain pounded against his temples, a stark contrast to the sudden, sharp chest pain he remembered before the darkness took him.
He gasped, his lungs filling with air that tasted of dust.
A cracked wooden roof stared back at him. The beams were darkened by age and soot, a spider web glistening faintly in a corner where a sliver of sunlight pierced through a gap in the thatch.
"…Where… am I?"
His voice was hoarse, raspy, and weak.
A woman's voice, trembling with a mix of panic and relief, suddenly rang out beside him.
"Wei'er! You're awake?! Thank the heavens!"
Before he could process the sound, rough, calloused hands grabbed his arm. A face swam into his vision—a woman in her late thirties, though she looked fifty. Her skin was tanned and weathered by the sun, her hair pulled back into a simple cloth wrap. Her eyes were red-rimmed, ringed with dark circles from exhaustion.
"Don't scare your mother like that! You fainted in the field! Carried you back… thought you were gone…"
Li Wei froze.
*Mother?*
His biological mother had passed away years ago in a car accident when he was young. He had no family left, just a lonely existence in a rented apartment, working his life away for a corporation that wouldn't notice his absence until the Monday morning report was late.
But the memories... they didn't stop.
A sudden, violent rush of images flooded his mind like a broken dam. It wasn't a headache; it was an insertion. He saw a boy growing up in a mud-brick house. He felt the gnawing hunger of winter, the blisters from swinging a hoe, the laughter of playing in the mud with siblings.
*Li Wei. Eighteen years old. Third son of the Li family in Willow Village.*
He saw the endless fields of wheat, the tax collectors in their blue robes, the fear in his father's eyes when the rain didn't come.
"…I… didn't die?"
His last clear memory from his previous life was the spreadsheet on the screen blurring, a sharp pain in his chest, and the sound of his head hitting the desk.
*Overwork. Karoshi. I died from overwork.*
He laughed weakly, a dry, rattling sound. The irony was bitter. He had spent thirty-five years working himself to death for a future that never came, only to wake up in a body that had been worked to the brink of death in a past that offered nothing but hardship.
The woman—*Mother*, his heart corrected him, recognizing the bond from the original owner's memories—frowned deeply. She placed a cool, damp cloth on his forehead.
"What nonsense are you muttering? You're burning up. Is it the heat? Or the hunger?"
Before he could answer, a deep, gravelly voice came from the doorway. It was a voice that commanded respect, laced with a heavy dose of weary pragmatism.
"If he's awake, he should get up. We don't have food to waste on someone lying in bed all day."
A tall, weathered man stepped into the dim light. He wore a gray tunic patched in a dozen places, his face a roadmap of creases and worry lines. His back was stooped, but his shoulders were broad.
This was Li Dazhong. His father.
Strict. Fair. Burdened by the weight of fourteen mouths depending on the harvest.
Li Wei instinctively lowered his gaze, the original body's habit taking over. "I'm fine, Father."
The man grunted, his eyes lingering on Li Wei for a moment. There was concern hidden deep behind the stoicism, but it was quickly buried by the necessity of survival.
"Then eat and come out. Spring plowing doesn't wait. The landlord's cart is coming tomorrow for the rent discussion. We need the west field turned."
He turned and walked away, his straw sandals scraping against the packed earth floor.
Silence lingered in the room. His mother, Zhao Lan, sighed softly. She reached into a clay jar in the corner, scraping the bottom, and pulled out a dried date, pressing it into his hand.
"Eat. It's the last of the sweet ones. It'll give you strength."
Li Wei looked at the date. It was shriveled and small. But in this house, it was a treasure. He looked at his mother's hands—cracked, dirt ingrained in the skin, nails broken.
*This isn't a dream,* he realized. *This is real. And it's desperate.*
From outside, the chatter of a crowded household filtered in. It wasn't the quiet hum of a city, but the chaotic, lively noise of a large family.
"Third Brother woke up?"
A young boy's face popped up at the window—a round, dirty face with bright, intelligent eyes. This was Li Chen, the youngest of the main branch, ten years old. The hope of the family, destined (hopefully) for the Scholar path.
"You scared everyone," the boy whispered, though his grin was mischievous. "Father said if you died, we'd save a bowl of rice. But Mother was crying."
The mother slapped his hand lightly through the window frame. "Chen'er! Don't say such unlucky things! Go wash your face, you little rascal."
Li Wei smiled faintly. The boy's bluntness was refreshing compared to the office politics he was used to.
*This family… they are harsh because life is harsh. But the warmth is there.*
Suddenly—
**[Ranch Development System Activated]**
A mechanical chime echoed not in his ears, but directly in his consciousness. A translucent blue panel flickered into existence in his vision, transparent enough to see the mud wall behind it.
Li Wei froze. His heart rate spiked.
"…System?" he whispered mentally.
**[Host condition met. Life signs stabilized. Beginning guidance system.]**
Text scrolled across the blue screen.
**[Host Identity: Li Wei (18)]**
**[Current Status: Impoverished Peasant (Health: Weak)]**
**[Primary Goal: Build a sustainable ranch ecosystem.]**
**[Reward Mechanism: Knowledge unlocks based on progress. No instant items. No magical cheats. Success depends on Host's labor and management.]**
Li Wei stared at the text. He had read enough web novels in his breaks to know what this was. But as he read the limitations, his excitement tempered into something more grounded.
*No instant items? No magical animals? Just… knowledge?*
He focused his intent on the interface. **[Display available knowledge.]**
**[Beginner Package Unlocked:]**
* **Basic Poultry Raising (Survival Focus):** Techniques for feeding, disease prevention, and coop construction using local materials.
* **Soil Analysis (Tier 1):** Ability to gauge soil suitability for specific forage grasses.
That was it. No gold coins falling from the sky. No magical cattle appearing out of thin air.
Li Wei let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Strangely, he felt relieved. In his past life, he was a middle manager. He dealt in logistics, efficiency, and incremental gains. A system that gave him knowledge rather than handouts felt… manageable.
"A ranch…" he murmured.
In his past life, trapped in his cubicle, he had watched endless videos of American cowboys, Australian stations, and Mongolian grasslands. The freedom of the open space, the connection with nature, the satisfaction of building something tangible—it was his escape fantasy.
He looked outside the window again. The dry, yellow farmland. The exhausted family. The rigid social hierarchy that kept them trapped.
"…If I do this right…"
He clenched his fist around the dried date.
"I can change everything. Not just for me. For all of them."
***
**Outside – The Family Courtyard**
The Li family compound was lively but cramped. It was a large, rectangular structure made of rammed earth and wood, divided into sections for the extended family. The main house belonged to the grandparents. The east wing housed the eldest brother's family, the west wing the second brother, and the smaller rooms near the back were for Li Wei's immediate family and the uncles.
Li Wei stepped out of the room, his legs slightly shaky. The sun was high, beating down on the dusty courtyard.
Children were running around—a chaotic mix of nieces and nephews.
"Third Uncle! You're up!" a little girl shouted, tugging at his sleeve. It was his eldest brother's daughter, Niu Niu.
"Yes, Niu Niu. Uncle is fine," Li Wei patted her head gently. The touch felt grounding.
Near the well, two girls were washing vegetables. The older one, sixteen-year-old Li Mei, had a gentle demeanor, her movements graceful despite the menial task. The younger one, fourteen-year-old Li Hua, was scrubbing a radish with vigorous energy, her brows furrowed in concentration. She was the sharp-tongued one, the defender of her siblings.
"Look who decided to join the living," Li Hua scoffed, though her eyes held relief. "Don't faint again, Third Brother. Carrying you is like carrying a sack of bones. You're heavy."
Mei elbowed her sister. "Don't be rude. Third Brother works hard."
"It's fine, Mei," Li Wei smiled at them. It was a genuine smile, something the old Li Wei rarely did. He realized he had siblings now. Not colleagues who would stab him in the back, but family who would carry him when he fell.
"Come, food is ready," Mei said, drying her hands on her apron.
The family gathered for lunch. It wasn't a dining table in the modern sense, but several low wooden tables and stools set out in the courtyard.
The meal was meager. A large pot of thin millet porridge, barely thick enough to coat a spoon. A plate of pickled vegetables, salty and sour. And a small stack of black, coarse grain buns.
Li Wei sat on a small stool near his brothers.
His eldest brother, Li Qiang, was a mountain of a man, broad-shouldered and sun-baked. He was 25, with a wife, two kids, and the perpetual worry of a man trying to feed them.
His second brother, Li Jun, 22, sat opposite him. He was thinner, with a sly grin on his face. He was currently whispering something to his wife, who rolled her eyes.
At the head of the table sat the grandparents—Grandpa Li, puffing on a long pipe, and Grandma Li, toothless and smiling.
Li Dazhong sat nearby, eating in silence.
Li Wei took a sip of the porridge. It was watery, offering little sustenance. He felt the hunger pangs of this body instantly. It was a deep, hollow ache.
"Father," Eldest Brother Li Qiang spoke up, his voice low. "The landlord, Master Zhang, sent word. He wants to raise the rent for the west slope fields by another ten percent this year. He says the drought last year means the land needs 'rest,' and he's taking on the risk."
The table fell silent. The sound of chopsticks scraping against bowls stopped.
Ten percent. It didn't sound like much, but for a family on the brink, it was the weight that would break the camel's back.
Second Brother Li Jun sighed, tossing a radish into his mouth. "If this continues, we won't survive winter. We're already eating husks. What's next? Tree bark?"
"Watch your mouth," Father Li Dazhong snapped, though his tone lacked real heat. "We will manage. We always do."
"But how?" Li Jun retorted. "Third Brother faints from hunger in the fields. Little Brother needs books and ink for the village school, or he'll never pass the exams. The taxes are due in autumn."
The mention of the exams made everyone look towards the end of the table. Ten-year-old Li Chen was eating quietly, his small hands trembling slightly. He looked terrified of being the burden.
Li Wei observed the scene with the analytical eye of his past life.
*The problem is cash flow,* he thought. *They are subsistence farmers. They sell grain for copper coins to pay taxes and rent. When the harvest is bad, they have no buffer. They have no high-value goods.*
He needed to change the dynamic. But he couldn't just blurt out that he had a system. He had to be smart. He had to leverage the "useless third son" persona to take a risk that the responsible family heads couldn't take.
He cleared his throat.
"…What if we earn money another way?"
The chatter stopped. Everyone looked at him.
His father frowned. "Another way? You mean begging? Or becoming a servant in the town? We are farmers, Li Wei. We work the land."
"I don't mean leaving the farm," Li Wei said, keeping his voice steady and respectful. "I mean… raising livestock."
"Livestock?" Li Qiang laughed bitterly. "We have two chickens. The landlord took the pig last year for debt."
"I want to raise chickens," Li Wei said. "But not just two. I want to raise a flock."
Li Hua, the younger sister, burst out laughing. "You? Raise a flock? You fainted just pulling weeds! And where is the money? We don't even have copper coins for salt."
Even the usually quiet Li Mei looked at him with pity.
Li Wei didn't back down. He looked at his father. "Father, I have some savings."
This caught everyone off guard.
The original Li Wei had worked as a helper in the town's granary for a few months last year, carrying sacks. He had hoarded the copper coins, intending to buy a new set of clothes to impress a girl in the village who had eventually married someone else. It was a sad, secret stash.
"You still have that money?" Li Jun asked, eyes widening. "I thought you spent it on that embroidered handkerchief!"
Li Wei shook his head. "I didn't spend it. It's about three hundred copper coins." (Roughly 0.3 taels of silver).
Three hundred coins. It was a fortune to a poor family, yet nothing in the grand scheme of things. It could buy a month's worth of coarse grain, or… a few chickens.
Father Li Dazhong put down his bowl. He looked at Li Wei intently. "That is your money. For your marriage or your future. Why risk it?"
"Because," Li Wei said, meeting his father's gaze, "we are sinking. If I buy grain, we eat for a month and then starve. If I buy chickens, and I raise them right, I can sell eggs. And then sell the meat. I can turn three hundred coins into six hundred. Or a thousand."
The logic was sound. It was basic investment strategy. But to farmers who lived harvest to harvest, "investment" was a foreign concept. Survival was the only game they knew.
"It's a gamble," Eldest Brother said, frowning. "Chickens die easily. Disease takes them in days."
"I know how to prevent it," Li Wei said. It was a half-truth. The system gave him the knowledge. "I… overheard a vet in town talking about it. Separation. Cleanliness. Specific feeds."
He was improvising, using the 'vet in town' as a cover for his sudden expertise.
Silence stretched across the courtyard. Grandpa Li puffed his pipe, watching his grandson with cloudy but sharp eyes.
"He has the fire in his eyes," Grandpa Li suddenly spoke, his voice raspy. "Let the boy try. If he loses it, he loses it. He is young. He can earn it back. But if he succeeds…"
Father Li Dazhong stared at his son for a long time. Finally, he sighed.
"…If you lose it, don't cry. And don't come asking for more money to bail you out. You will still work the fields in the mornings."
Li Wei nodded respectfully, hiding the surge of triumph in his chest. "I won't fail, Father. And I won't slack on the farm."
He looked around at his siblings.
"And I might need some help building a coop," he added, glancing at his Second Brother.
Li Jun grinned, his eyes gleaming with the prospect of a scheme. "Three hundred coins? I'll help you build a palace for those chickens if you cut me in on the first egg profit."
"We can discuss terms later," Li Wei smiled.
***
**Night – The Plan**
The family went to bed early to save lamp oil. The darkness in the room was total, save for the faint glow of the moon through the window.
Li Wei lay on the hard *kang* (heated brick bed), sandwiched between his two brothers and his little brother. The room smelled of sweat and old quilts.
While the others snored softly, Li Wei kept his eyes open, interacting with the system in his mind.
**[System Analysis: Host has acquired initial capital (300 copper coins).]**
**[Recommended First Step: Purchase 5-7 local hens and 1 rooster. Focus: Disease resistance and egg production.]**
**[Construction Plan: Simple wooden coop. Locate away from main house to prevent smell and disease spread. Use mud and straw for insulation.]**
**[Unlockable Knowledge: Elementary Feed Formulation.]**
*Requirements: Successfully raise first batch of chickens for 10 days.*
Li Wei mentally reviewed the knowledge he already had. The local chickens in this world were scrawny, slow-growing "native chickens." They laid maybe two eggs every three days if they were lucky.
*I need to improve their survival rate first,* Li Wei thought. *If I can just keep them alive and laying, I can generate enough cash to buy my first calf in six months.*
He thought about the ranch he wanted to build. It seemed like an impossible dream right now. He was a peasant with a few coins. The Emperor sat on a throne leagues away. The wealthy merchants in the town controlled the prices.
But he had something they didn't. He had the blueprint for the future.
He remembered the descriptions of the cattle breeds the system promised.
*Brahman… heat resistant, insect resistant.*
*Angus… marbling, quality.*
*Wagyu… the meat of kings.*
One day, the Emperor would eat his beef. The Princes would fight for an invitation to his ranch. But tonight, he was just a boy planning to buy six chickens.
He turned his head slightly. Beside him, Little Brother Li Chen was murmuring in his sleep.
"…exam… pass… honor…"
Li Wei felt a pang of emotion. The kid wanted to be a scholar so badly. But books, tutors, travel to the prefecture city—it all cost silver. Gold, even.
*I'll get you there, Chen'er,* Li Wei promised silently. *I'll build the wealth so you can hold that brush and change our fate.*
He closed his eyes, visualizing the layout of the backyard. He would need to clear the rubble behind the woodshed. He would need to negotiate for grain husks and vegetable scraps to feed the chickens cheaply.
A ranch starts with a coop. An empire starts with a single coin.
As sleep finally claimed him, the system hummed one last message.
**[Host determination confirmed. Project: Empire Ranch - Phase 1 Initiated.]**
The night passed quietly, but a seed had been planted in the fertile ground of a new life. The sun would rise on a different Li Wei tomorrow. A Li Wei with a plan.