The rooster's crow pierced the thin morning mist, a harsh, repetitive sound that echoed through Willow Village.
Li Wei's eyes snapped open. For a split second, the ceiling of the mud-brick room confused him, but the heavy weight of his younger brother's arm across his chest brought reality crashing back. He wasn't in his apartment. He was in the Li family house. It was the second day of his new life.
He carefully extracted himself from the tangle of limbs and quilts, trying not to wake Li Chen, who was still mumbling about ancient texts in his sleep. The air inside the room was stale, smelling of old sweat and the damp earth floor. Outside, the air was crisp and cool, the faint smell of burning pine drifting from the main kitchen.
Li Wei stretched, feeling the aches in his muscles from yesterday's plowing—a body memory he hadn't quite adjusted to. He grabbed a rough tunic from the end of the bed and stepped outside into the courtyard.
The village was already stirring. In the distance, the sound of a wood axe ringing against a log created a steady rhythm. A few roosters were crowing, not just the one belonging to the Li family, but a chorus from neighbors further down the dirt path.
He walked to the back of the house, stepping over a puddle from last night's dew. This was the area he had scoped out last night in his mind—the "wasteland" corner of their property.
It was a messy, overgrown patch of weeds and rubble, maybe thirty square meters in size. It was too rocky to farm, and the soil was hardpan clay. To his father, it was useless land. To Li Wei, it was the perfect site for the first coop.
"You're up early."
Li Wei turned. His Eldest Brother, Li Qiang, was walking towards him, wiping his hands on a rag. He looked tired already, his broad shoulders slightly slumped.
"Couldn't sleep well," Li Wei admitted. "Too many thoughts."
Li Qiang nodded towards the wasteland. "You really serious about this? Father gave you leave to skip the morning plowing, but he won't tolerate laziness if this chicken plan falls through."
"I'm serious, Brother," Li Wei said, his voice firm. "I need to go to the market town today. I need to buy the birds and some nails, maybe some good hemp rope."
"Market town is three *li* away," Qiang frowned. "It's a long walk. And with the money in your pocket, you're a target for the ruffians near the gambling dens."
"I'll be careful," Li Wei assured him. "I'm taking Second Brother with me."
Qiang snorted, though a small smile touched his lips. "Jun? If you take him, watch your purse. He has a habit of stopping at every dice table and fortune teller stall."
"I need his haggling skills," Li Wei lied smoothly. In truth, he just needed the company, and Jun was the most likely to appreciate a day off the farm.
"Go on then," Qiang sighed, turning back towards the fields. "I'll cover your share of the weeding. But you owe me a chicken dinner when this works."
Li Wei grinned. "It's a deal."
***
**The Journey to Town**
The walk to the market town was an eye-opener for Li Wei. The road wasn't paved; it was a packed dirt track, rutted by cart wheels and dried into hard ridges. They passed other villagers—women carrying baskets of vegetables on shoulder poles, old men herding stubborn donkeys.
Everyone looked poor. The clothes were faded grays and browns, patched repeatedly. The faces were tanned dark by the sun, etched with worry.
"Keep your head down, Third Brother," Li Jun whispered, nudging him as a carriage approached from behind. "That's the Magistrate's tax cart."
Li Wei stepped to the side of the road with the others, bowing his head. The carriage was lacquered black, pulled by two sleek horses. Inside, through the gauze curtain, Li Wei caught a glimpse of silk robes and pale skin. The contrast between the luxury inside and the barefoot farmers outside was jarring.
"That's the gap I need to bridge," Li Wei thought, watching the dust settle after the carriage passed.
"Damn officials," Li Jun muttered once the cart was gone. "They eat meat every day while we chew on grass roots. One day, I'll ride in a carriage like that."
"Maybe you will," Li Wei said. "But first, let's start with some chickens."
***
**The Market Hustle**
The market town, named Qing Shui Town, was a sensory overload. It was chaotic, loud, and smelled of a mix of spices, unwashed bodies, roasting meat, and animal waste.
Stalls lined both sides of the main street. Vendors shouted over each other.
"Fresh tofu! Made this morning!"
"Iron hoes! Durable and sharp!"
"Silk ribbons! Make your wife pretty!"
Li Wei felt a tap on his shoulder from the System.
**[System Notification: Basic Poultry Selection Knowledge Active. Look for bright eyes, red combs, and active movement. Avoid birds with nasal discharge or ruffled feathers.]**
A stream of information flowed into his mind—how to spot a healthy bird versus a sick one, how to estimate age, how to check for egg-laying capacity by checking the distance between the pelvic bones. It was practical, vet-tech level knowledge, adapted for this era.
They found the livestock section near the edge of the market. It was noisy and smelly. Chickens, ducks, and a few scrawny pigs were crammed into pens.
A toothless old woman sat behind a bamboo cage filled with a dozen chickens. They looked like typical village chickens—small, with gray or speckled feathers. Nothing special.
"Prices?" Li Jun stepped forward, putting on his best negotiating face.
"Thirty coins for a hen, twenty for a rooster," the old woman cackled. "Good stock, good layers."
"Thirty coins?" Li Jun scoffed loudly. "Auntie, look at them! They look like they haven't eaten in three days! Twenty coins, or we go to Old Man Zhang down the road."
"Pah! Old Man Zhang sells sick birds! These are healthy!" she retorted, but her eyes flickered.
Li Wei stepped forward, ignoring the banter. He focused on the cage. The System highlighted two birds in his vision with a faint green outline.
*Target 1: Hen. Age: 6 months. Health: Excellent. High egg production potential.*
*Target 2: Hen. Age: 8 months. Health: Good.*
He reached into the cage. The other chickens skittered back, squawking in panic. But one hen, a speckled brown bird, stood her ground, looking at him with a sharp, alert eye.
"This one," Li Wei said, lifting her gently. He felt the breastbone—plump, not sharp. He checked the legs—smooth scales. "And this one."
He picked out five more hens, ignoring the ones Li Jun was pointing at (which looked fat but lazy). Finally, he pointed to a rooster. It wasn't the biggest, but it had the brightest comb and the most alert posture.
"I want six hens and this rooster," Li Wei said.
The old woman narrowed her eyes. "You have a good eye, boy. That rooster is spirited. Seven birds… that's two hundred coins if you buy them together."
Li Jun jumped in. "One hundred and fifty! They are local birds, not some fancy breed from the capital."
The haggle began. It was a fierce battle of wits and endurance. Li Wei stayed quiet, letting his brother work. He knew the quality of the birds he held; they were worth the price, but they needed to save every copper.
Finally, they settled on one hundred and eighty copper coins. It was a steal for the quality Li Wei had selected, but still a heavy blow to his savings pouch.
"One hundred and eighty," Li Wei counted out the coins, the heavy copper clinking in his hand. It hurt to part with so much, but investment required capital.
He also bought a small bag of mixed grain and some medicinal herbs the system suggested—ginger and garlic, which were cheap and acted as mild immune boosters.
"Let's go," Li Wei said, placing the birds gently into the two bamboo baskets he had brought. "Before the price changes."
***
**Construction and Doubts**
By the time they returned to Willow Village, the sun was at its zenith. Li Wei's shoulders were raw from carrying the poles with the baskets. The chickens had been surprisingly quiet, settling into the darkness of the baskets.
When they walked into the Li family courtyard, it caused a small stir.
"Back already?" Mother Zhao Lan came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. She peered into the baskets. "So many?"
"Seven birds, Mother," Li Wei said, setting the baskets down gently. "I'm going to build the coop behind the house. On the wasteland."
"I'll help," Li Jun offered, surprisingly proactive now that the birds were actually bought. "I saw some old wood planks behind Grandpa's shed. We can use those."
For the next three hours, the brothers worked under the afternoon sun.
Li Wei directed the construction with precision that surprised Li Jun.
"No, the ventilation holes need to be higher," Li Wei instructed, pointing at the wooden frame. "And we need a slanted roof, covered with oil cloth or reeds, so the rain runs off. Moisture kills chickens."
"Since when do you know so much about chicken architecture?" Li Jun asked, sweating as he hammered a nail into the hard wood.
"I read a… book," Li Wei improvised. "In the town granary, I found an old manual."
"Hmph. Books. Only Little Brother needs those," Li Jun grunted, but he followed the instructions. He saw the logic in it. The coop wasn't just a random cage; it was a structure. It had a raised floor to keep predators out, separate nesting boxes, and a shaded run.
**[System Notification: Coop Construction Complete. Quality: Good (Sturdy, Hygienic).]**
**[Effect: Chicken stress levels will be lower. Egg production efficiency increased by 10%.]**
As they worked, neighbors began to pass by. Willow Village was a place where secrets didn't exist.
"Hey, Li Jun! Building a house for yourself?" a neighbor, Auntie Wang, called out from the fence. She was the village gossip.
"No, for the Emperor's chickens!" Li Jun joked back. "My brother is becoming a landlord!"
Auntie Wang laughed, but her eyes were sharp, calculating the value of the wood and the birds. "Raising chickens? Be careful. The weasels in these hills are fierce. And disease… remember Old Li's flock? All dead in two days."
Li Wei looked up, offering a polite smile. "Thank you for the warning, Auntie Wang. We've prepared for that."
"Prepared? How?" she asked skeptically.
"Cleanliness," Li Wei said simply. "And separation."
He didn't want to reveal too much. In poor villages, jealousy was a tangible force. If his chickens thrived, people would be curious. If they died, they would mock him. He needed to succeed first.
***
**The First Night**
By evening, the coop was finished. It sat on the edge of the wasteland, looking sturdy and neat.
Li Wei transferred the chickens into their new home. They clucked softly, exploring the nesting boxes.
"They look… ordinary," Li Chen said, appearing beside Li Wei. He had just returned from the village school, his book bag slung over his shoulder. He looked at the chickens with disappointment. "I thought you were going to buy magical beasts or something, Third Brother."
Li Wei laughed, ruffling the boy's hair. "Magical beasts don't lay eggs we can eat, Chen'er. These are the foundation."
He poured the feed into the trough—a mixture of crushed grain, vegetable scraps, and a pinch of the powdered herbs he'd bought. The chickens rushed to eat, pecking eagerly.
"Foundation for what?" Chen asked, curious.
"For a ranch," Li Wei said, looking out over the wasteland, and the hills beyond. "One day, this whole hill will be covered in grass, and cattle will graze there."
Chen looked at the dry, yellow hill. He looked at his brother, thinking he was joking, but Li Wei's eyes were serious.
"Cattle are expensive, Third Brother," Chen said softly. "A calf costs… five taels of silver. That's sixteen thousand copper coins."
"I know the math," Li Wei smiled. "That's why we start with chickens. One egg at a time."
He turned to his little brother. "How was school today?"
Chen's face fell slightly. "The teacher… he said my handwriting is improving. But… he wants us to buy new ink sticks. The ones we have are too gritty. It costs fifty copper coins."
Fifty coins. A fortune for the family. Li Wei saw the conflict in the boy's eyes. He wanted the ink, but he knew the family couldn't afford it. He was probably planning to keep quiet and suffer the teacher's disappointment.
"Buy it," Li Wei said.
Chen looked up, startled. "But the money… you just spent it all on chickens."
"I kept a little," Li Wei lied smoothly. He actually had exactly fifty-three coins left in his stash. He had been saving it for emergency feed. But looking at his brother's hopeful face, he knew the investment in Chen was just as important as the chickens. The System couldn't help a boy become a scholar, but Li Wei could.
"Here." He dug into his pouch and pulled out the copper coins, pressing them into Chen's hand. "Buy the best ink. Write the best characters. When you become a high official, just remember your brother who bought you ink."
Chen clutched the coins, his eyes misting over. He nodded vigorously. "I will! I'll practice ten pages a day!"
"Go on, help Mother set the table," Li Wei said.
As Chen ran off, Li Wei let out a breath. That was his entire liquid capital gone. He had zero money left. If a chicken got sick tomorrow or the feed ran out before they laid eggs, he was ruined.
It was a gamble. A terrifying, exhilarating gamble.
He turned back to the coop. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the village. The rooster, perched on the highest roosting pole inside the coop, let out a small, tentative crow.
It wasn't majestic yet. Just a small, scraggly bird in a homemade wooden box on a patch of wasteland.
But to Li Wei, it was the first brick of an empire.
**[Daily Quest Unlocked: Tend to the Flock.]**
**[Objective: Feed, water, and clean the coop for 7 consecutive days.]**
**[Reward: Unlock 'Junior Feed Formula' – increases growth speed by 15%.]**
"Seven days," Li Wei whispered. "I just need to keep them alive for seven days."
He picked up a handful of the special feed mix he had prepared, the scent of garlic and grain strong in his hand. He tossed it into the coop.
"Eat well, little ones. We have a long road ahead."
That night, dinner tasted better than usual. The porridge was the same, the pickles were the same, but the atmosphere around the table had shifted slightly. There was a buzz of anticipation. Even Father Li Dazhong seemed slightly less dour, asking a question about the coop construction rather than the fields.
For the first time in this life, Li Wei didn't just feel like a survivor. He felt like a builder.