Chapter 2: A New Life

Qin Xiaodai sat dazed at the table; although his mind was still somewhat chaotic, strange pieces of information continuously emerged, as if a computer were copying files, with one line after another, one item after another appearing before his eyes

Qin Xiao's father was a branch of the Qin Qiong family. Due to his early death, the Zhou family was unjustly labeled with the stigma of "husband-killing," leading to their being ostracized and bullied within the family. Consequently, Zhou had no choice but to take the young Qin Xiao back to her maternal home to live in seclusion and anonymity four to five years ago. They currently reside in a small village in Jiangnan called Qifeng Village, which is under the jurisdiction of Pengze County in Jiangzhou.

Qin Xiao opened the door and ran outside without looking back: "I am going to catch a few fish to nourish my mother! Oh dear..."

Zhou sighed softly: "After tossing and turning all night, the day is about to break. The village's Baojia officer brought over a few pieces of clothing yesterday for my mother to mend, and there are still some unfinished tasks. I need to hurry and get to work now. You should rest for a while; wait until it gets light before going to Liu's house to tend to the cattle. As usual, we are to help Liu's family with their cattle for the day. Our neighbors have been quite generous to us, so be careful not to lose their water buffalo while you are playing around."

Qin Xiao's heart was filled with mixed emotions, "I was living my life as a special forces soldier in the People's Republic of China, yet I was kicked back to the Tang Dynasty by my instructor, and now I have a pitiful widowed mother?"

Qin Xiaohai chuckled softly, quickly running home with a soft-shelled turtle and a carp in hand. He secretly thought to himself: Is this what it means to be clever? If I were to throw in a few English phrases and share some text message jokes, wouldn't I then become a child prodigy?

Qin Xiaozuo sat up, relying on his memory to walk into the kitchen, where he found the firewood knife by the pile of firewood. He threw a remark towards the library: "Mother, I am going out"

Qin Xiao arrived at the riverbank, gazing at the gently flowing water, and could not help but feel a surge of joy in his heart. The rivers of this era are largely unpolluted, and there are not many people fishing for shrimp and fish. As a special forces soldier, catching fish and shrimp in the wild is a relatively simple task. The current river is not deep, and the visibility is excellent, indicating that he is sure to make a good catch today

Qin Xiaoxin felt a sudden pang in his heart and involuntarily said: "Mother, I am fine. These past few days, I must have played too wildly during the day, which is why I can't sleep well at night."

Qin Xiaoxin felt a surge of joy and suddenly thrust the pole down with great force

The two strong men behind him were taken aback for a moment, and one of them said: "What does the master want these two items for? Is he going to give them to some poor family again?"

After a long time, the fish were indeed seen, but they swam far away from the shore, blowing bubbles and feeding on the dew and duckweed on the water's surface, unwilling to come close to the riverbank. Qin Xiao felt a bit of soreness and numbness in his arms and shoulders, and he thought resentfully: this body is truly too weak! If it were my previous body, standing by this river for a day and a night would not have made me feel this exhausted.

Moreover, this "noble family" is not at all unfamiliar to Qin Xiao. The most renowned figure in his ancestry is none other than the historically famous general who founded the Tang Dynasty, a person who stands alongside the Martial Saint Guan Yu—Qin Qiong, also known as Qin Shubao

Qin Xiao found it amusing and thought to himself: Could it be that the ancients were truly less intelligent than people today? They can't even solve such a simple problem. He then squeezed in and called out in his youthful voice: "He - Tu - Shu Qi Er Bo, Liu Da Shu, you don't need to argue anymore! Isn't it easy to separate the piglets? Just confine these piglets together until they are hungry, and then bring the sows from both families over. The hungry piglets will go find their mothers to nurse, and won't that separate them?"

It turned out that two neighboring families were arguing over a matter. These two families had always treated Qin Xiao and her son well, so Qin Xiao paid close attention to their dispute. The situation was roughly as follows: both families raised piglets, and yesterday several piglets from each family went missing at the same time. They were only found together this morning, having fallen into a large tree hole while playing. However, this made it impossible to distinguish which piglets belonged to which family, leading to a heated argument between the two neighbors over the size and condition of the piglets.

Is this a joke from the heavens, or is it a blessing?

Behind him stood a robust and imposing old man, who, with a cheerful smile, stroked his beard and nodded slightly. He said to the two attendants beside him, "Tao Gan, Ma Rong, you two, return to the county office, carry a bag of rice, and bring back a few pounds of vegetable oil."

Fortunately, hard work pays off. About half an hour later, several large carp swam towards the shore, their plump tails swaying, their mouths opening and closing as they sucked in the dew

Qin Xiaoshu deftly broke off a branch and threaded it through the fish's gills, allowing a section of the branch to protrude from its mouth, lifting the fish in preparation to head home. At that moment, he unexpectedly spotted a turtle the size of a bowl clumsily crawling up the bank.

Qin Xiaole happily carried his bountiful harvest home. As he passed by his neighbor's house, he noticed several people gathered together, arguing incessantly. Qin Xiaole's curiosity was piqued, and he approached to see what was happening.

Qin Xiaojun rolled up his pant legs and secured them at the knees, raised the bamboo pole beside his right shoulder, pulled his arms back slightly, and stood quietly by the riverbank, his body forming a bow shape, intently gazing at the surface of the river

Qin Xiao can hardly remember how he sent away that rambling quack doctor. Just before leaving, he saw his new "mother" at the door handing a stack of items to that quack, probably a few copper coins.

A satisfied smile appeared on Zhou's face as she gently shook her head and sighed: "This child... it is indeed hard for him. At such a young age, he has to endure a difficult life with me, this useless mother. Alas!"

Zhou hurriedly came out: "It is still dark and raining, why are you going out?"

After speaking, he stood up, lifted the curtain, and walked into another room

It is precisely the plum rain season in Jiangnan, and the rain is falling softly outside. Qin Xiao's heart cannot find a moment of peace. After several struggles in thought, Qin Xiao gritted his teeth and said: "Since I have come, whether I can return is an eternal unknown. Since I am here, I shall make my peace with it. From today onward, I am Qin Xiao of the Tang Dynasty, and I will live this life to the fullest!"

The two burly men were taken aback upon hearing this, and after a moment, they couldn't help but burst into laughter, saying: "What a good idea, truly a brilliant idea! Qin's boy, you are indeed clever!"

Qin Xiaokai happily put away the bamboo pole, a plump golden-scaled carp was pierced through sideways, desperately thrashing its body as he dragged it up. "What a fat fish, it must weigh around three or four pounds!"

Qin Xiaoxin felt a surge of excitement as he carefully placed the golden-scaled carp by his feet and circled around to approach the turtle: "Big turtle, today you are destined to be unlucky. I will take you to make a stew for my mother, as a gift for our meeting!"

The old man patted the round belly of the fortunate one and chuckled, "This is not an ordinary poor family. The ancestors of this child were renowned loyal ministers and valiant generals of the Tang Dynasty!"

Qin Xiao ran straight into the bamboo forest, raised his hand to cut down a bamboo pole roughly the same thickness as his arm, stripped off the branches and leaves, and carved out a segment about two to three meters long, sharpening one end. He picked it up and walked towards the small stream by the village. While doing these tasks, Qin Xiao couldn't help but feel a bit out of breath, sensing a lack of physical strength and energy. After all, he was still a child, and this body was somewhat frail, with a constitution that was not particularly robust. While doing these tasks, Qin Xiao couldn't help but feel a bit out of breath, sensing a lack of physical strength and energy. After all, he was still a child, and this body was somewhat frail, with a constitution that was not particularly robust

Qin Xiao was somewhat taken aback, as memories of this new home gradually surfaced in his mind: due to his young age and lack of ability to manage the household, it had been his mother who, over the years, sought out various small jobs for women to earn a meager income to support him. The neighbors also came to offer their assistance whenever there were benefits to be had. For instance, Liu the Good Samaritan often called Qin Xiao over to do some simple tasks and rewarded him with a few copper coins. Fortunately, this was during the open-minded era of the Wu Zhou Dynasty; had it been the later Song or Ming Dynasties, a widow in mourning would not have dared to have any strangers visit her. There were also people who introduced new suitors to the Zhou family, some of whom had good family backgrounds and character, but Zhou refused them all due to her concern for Qin Xiao.

As she spoke, the woman recalled the hardships and sorrows of the past few years, and her voice became slightly choked with emotion

As I stumbled on mhetushucom.com, I nearly slipped again in the muddy yellow earth. I secretly cursed, thinking: Just wait until I invent cement one day; I'll first use it to pave my own yard! Yes, and that toilet, it's just too disgusting! ... It needs to be rebuilt ...

Alas! Poor turtle mother, who merely came ashore to prepare for the birth of a brood of little turtle eggs, was captured by that even more despicable fellow Qin Xiao, and was bound hand and foot with several branches, becoming a trophy alongside that big carp.

Thinking of this, Qin Xiao felt a pang of sadness in his heart. Living more than a thousand years later, Qin Xiao had been an orphan since childhood, lacking familial affection. Although he usually appeared carefree and nonchalant, deep down he yearned for a sense of kinship.

Zhou sighed and walked over to sit beside Qin Xiao, saying with a hint of reproach: "Xiao'er, fortunately the doctor said you are fine, otherwise your mother would really be worried sick. What has been going on with you these past few days? A couple of nights ago, you were either waving your hands or dancing your feet, and today you let out a strange cry, even saying you don't recognize your mother. If you have lost your mind, how is your mother supposed to live..."

Haha! Got it!

Qin Xiao felt somewhat depressed and murmured to himself: Am I now the special forces soldier Qin Xiao, or the underage child Qin Xiao?

He was aware that he had truly crossed over. Moreover, he had arrived in the Wu Zhou Dynasty during the Tang period. The body he now inhabited belonged to someone who also bore the name "Qin Xiao," sharing the same name and surname as himself. He was still an eight or nine-year-old boy, which left Qin Xiao quite astonished. The woman before him, Mrs. Zhou, was Qin Xiao's mother, a pitiable widow who had once belonged to a prestigious family.