Chapter 1: Becoming the Father of Seven Children!

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Chapter 1
[Brain Storage!]

“Heavens above, you pack of little debt-collectors! I’m already up and you’re all still snoring away like logs!”

“Doesn’t the grass in the fields need pulling?”

“Isn’t there water to fetch?”

“Second son, get out here this instant!”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The shouting was accompanied by the sound of heavy pounding on the door.

First thing in the morning, and already peace was nowhere to be found. Li Feng furrowed his brow. He hadn’t even opened his eyes when a foul stench assaulted his senses—a blend of urine and sweat so pungent it nearly knocked him out again.

He opened his eyes, dazed for a few seconds.

What on earth was this place?

Where was his luxurious presidential suite? He’d finally won a prize and, determined to reward himself, had packed his bags and gone wherever was most expensive, staying only in the finest hotels, ready to truly live it up for once!

But what was this?

A rickety old bed with a filthy sheet, color indiscernible, blackened with age and use. Who knew how long it had been since it was last changed? Straw poked out from the sides of the frame, clearly neglected. The acrid odor stung his nose. Li Feng turned toward its source.

Against the wall stood a large wooden bucket. The stench of urine emanated from it.

“Urgh—”

The smell was so overpowering that Li Feng, unable to hold back, gripped the bed and retched violently.

“Dad, what’s wrong?”

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over him, blocking what little light there was, making the already dim room even darker.

“Quit pretending. Weren’t you perfectly fine yesterday? Get up and get out to the fields—pull the weeds!”

The harsh voice, laced with foul breath, made Li Feng’s stomach turn over once more.

After that round of upheaval, Li Feng’s face turned visibly pale.

This frightened Li Dagou, who stared at him anxiously. “Dad, are you feeling unwell?”

Li Feng’s mind went blank!

He’d always wanted someone to call him Dad, but wasn’t this the wrong time? Could they at least move him outside first?

Before he could process it, that hulking young man began crying his heart out.

“Grandma, Dad got hurt yesterday! Uncle said we should get a doctor to take a look at him. Grandma…”

“What are you blubbering for?” Li Wangshi, eyes sharp and cold, glared at Li Feng. “Hurt, is he?”

“Doesn’t he look fine now?”

“Who told him to go up the mountain? No ability, and now he’s delaying the farm work.”

“You lot are nothing but a burden! I must have been cursed for eight lifetimes to be saddled with such a useless thing!”

Disgust etched on her face, Li Wangshi glanced at Li Dagou, who was kneeling on the ground, and her anger only grew.

She hadn’t chosen her daughter-in-law, and the children didn’t even look like members of the Li family.

Thinking of the second son’s whole family, Li Wangshi raised her foot and kicked Li Dagou to the ground.

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“Hurry up and get moving! If you care so much about your father, then take your brothers to the fields. The work can’t wait! If the rice paddies dry out, I’ll skin you all alive!”

With that, Li Wangshi shot Li Feng another look of disdain and strode out the door.

Li Feng: “???”

Had he time-traveled?

And, it seemed, had become a father—of more than one child, from the look of it.

That foul-mouthed woman just now seemed to be his mother.

He didn’t seem particularly welcome in this family, nor did he hold much status.

What kind of disastrous beginning was this?

“Dad…”

At that moment, his eldest son crawled back over, a dopey grin on his face, gazing earnestly at him.

“Dad, you can rest well today. My brothers and I will take care of the fields. How’s your injury? Uncle said you got rammed in the back by a wild boar and that we should get a doctor to look at you.”

“Grandma seems really angry, but don’t worry. I’ll do extra work today and talk to Grandma again when I get home. If she’s in a good mood, she’ll definitely get a doctor for you.”

As he spoke, Li Dagou’s eyes reddened and he looked at Li Feng with hope. “Mom is already gone. I can’t lose you too, Dad. You’ll be okay, right?”

Looking at this big, earnest lad before him, Li Feng felt the sky was about to fall.

Wait, he’d lost his wife too?

But after just a moment’s shock, he realized—well, maybe being wife-less wasn’t so bad. After all, he wasn’t the original owner of this body; having a wife would only make things awkward!

“Ahem—” Li Feng coughed, about to speak, when suddenly his face went white, a searing pain shot through his head, and he collapsed straight back onto the bed.

“Dad—!”

…

When Li Feng woke again, it was already midday.

He lay beneath the jujube tree in the courtyard, dazed. He’d absorbed all the memories of this body.

It was hard to put into words.

In a word: utterly miserable.

In his previous life, he’d worked like a beast of burden.

Now, this man really was a beast of burden.

Sorting through the memories, Li Feng learned this was a country called Great Liang.

As for the nation’s strength or current situation, there was nothing in this man’s memory—only that he was a subject of Liang and paid his taxes every year. Beyond that, there was just the thirty-odd acres of land at home.

“Sigh…”

Li Feng lost count of how many times he’d sighed. Life seemed utterly unbearable.

He’d gotten a handle on the family situation, too.

He was in Li Family Village, at the foot of Stone Mountain in Huai County, Qinghe Prefecture, Great Liang.

His father was Li Dashan, known as Old Li. His mother was the elderly woman from earlier. Both were just past fifty, with seven sons and two daughters, but only three sons survived.

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He was the second son, a twin with the eldest. The eldest, as the firstborn, was the family’s pride, sent to town as an apprentice carpenter. In time, he married the carpenter’s daughter, and with his in-laws’ support, he and his wife rented a house in town and seldom returned home.

The eldest’s family had two sons and a daughter, further cementing his place in the family.

The youngest, the third son, was the baby of the family and their parents’ favorite. Handsome and clever, he was sent to a private school at great expense, his parents convinced he had the makings of a top scholar.

Yet, after twenty years of study, he hadn’t even passed the preliminary exams. Gifted with a silver tongue, he eloped with the daughter of a scholar’s family in town, and after the deed was done, there was nothing her family could do but accept it. Now, they had two daughters and lived in town as well, rarely returning home.

As for Li Feng—neither loved by his father nor favored by his mother, no one ever made plans for him. Even the third son had married, while he remained a bachelor.

Pushing forty, desperate, he finally married a peasant woman himself. Together, they managed the household and the fields, and as the children grew, the whole family toiled together.

They also had to support both the eldest and youngest’s families.

The original wife was not only capable but also exceedingly fertile. The first birth was twins; the second, a boy and a girl; the third, two sons and a daughter.

With primitive medical care, twins were always risky; the death rate doubled. Even with the experience of the first two births, she became severely weakened and, by the time the youngest reached three, she passed away.

The crying boy from the morning was his eldest son.

The eldest was sixteen, the second son was similarly robust—one clever, one simple.

The third son and eldest daughter were twins, now twelve.

The fourth and fifth sons and the second daughter were seven—well-behaved and sensible.

As for their names—well, they were even less reliable.

It seemed they were destined to be beasts of burden.

The eldest was named Big Dog. The second, third, fourth, and fifth sons were simply called Ox Two, Ox Three, Ox Four, and Ox Five—four oxen, indeed.

And as for himself—he was already thirty-five! Years of hard labor had aged him to look over forty. Walking alongside his father, people would probably mistake them for brothers.

“Sigh!”

Li Feng’s head throbbed. Life was simply too much!

…

—Author’s Note—

Given that the “Brain Storage” above isn’t working, let me remind you again in the main text:
1. This is not an imperial examination romance for the male lead. There are women, but no main female character. That’s just how the book is—if it’s not to your taste, don’t force yourself, just move on. There are countless good books out there!
2. Updates are steady and ongoing—at least two chapters a day, each 2,000 words. Very consistent.
3. If you don’t like it, feel free to leave. Making a living from this isn’t easy—please don’t maliciously rate it poorly. If you want to stop reading, just go quietly!
4. Don’t complain about filler; every plot point has its purpose. The author has a bit of a temper and won’t tolerate nonsense, but if you’re a generous supporter, I’ll gladly accept your criticism standing tall! If you’re just reading for free, don’t bother picking a fight.

That’s all for now—more to be added if I think of anything!

(This doesn’t count toward the main story—don’t complain!)