Chapter (1) "Sweet Bamboo Shoots"
As Bai Li walked past the others, carrying a bamboo basket full of bamboo shoots, he heard their words of mockery.
"What is that trash doing, breaking those tender bamboo shoots? He's not going to feed them to his *ge'er* and kids, is he?"
"Hey, I bet even if this poor wretch were to break off these tender bamboo shoots, he wouldn't feed them to his family. He must be breaking them off just for himself!"
"Hmph! That piece of trash still hasn't learned his lesson. It's a good thing the Bai family cast him out. His family is going to die sooner or later anyway!"
"Speaking of which, his *ge'er*, Xiao Han, went fishing in the river the other day. It's autumn now, and the river water is already cold. Plus, I heard Xiao Han's health isn't good because he's constantly enduring Bai Li's abuse, and now he's sick."
"Hah! Since Xiao Han is sick, nobody's around to feed him, so he must be breaking off these bamboo shoots to eat by himself now, huh?"
Bai Li heard all the words, but he simply kept his head down and continued walking, pretending not to see the spit on the ground near him. Only when he was far away could he breathe a silent breath.
The people in this village truly seemed to despise him and offered him no goodwill whatsoever. Even so, their hostility could hardly be faulted, as the original owner (the former Bai Li) was indeed a very bad person.
When Bai Li woke up this morning, he realized he was in someone else's body and had received many unfamiliar memories.
The original owner shared the same name as him and their appearances were similar, but their temperaments were vastly different, as the former was extremely rude and vicious. Although the original owner was twenty years old, he did nothing but sponge off his family and spent all his time obsessing over gambling and lustful affairs.
The Bai family, the family of the original owner, was a relatively well-off family in this small Nanchang village, yet they could not tolerate the original owner's persecution. The original owner had run up debts at the gambling houses, and creditors often came to their door; among them were even people from brothels. The Bai family endured this torment until the original owner was twenty years old, and they slowly realized that their lack of prosperity, despite their hard work, was all due to the original owner's abuse. Therefore, they traveled to the town and told the gambling houses and brothels not to accept the original owner or give him any more credit, thus turning the original owner into the laughingstock of the entire town.
The Bai family flatly told the original owner that they would not pay his debts if creditors came again, and that they would hand him over to the court if he stole any household items, leaving the original owner completely at a loss. Extremely enraged, he went to the river to bathe and cool off, only to find Xiao Han bathing there alone.
Xiao Han was a *ge'er* from the Xiao family. From the original owner's memories, Bai Li learned that there were three genders in this world: male, female, and *ge'er*. Although *ge'er* are men, they are able to become pregnant because they have a 'pregnancy mole' on their face.
Though Xiao Han was a *ge'er*, he was only fifteen years old and was not yet engaged. In the past, people would typically arrange engagements for children at thirteen or fourteen, and marry them off at fifteen or sixteen. However, because the original owner was extremely vicious, no one wanted to marry him, which is why he was still unmarried at twenty. Xiao Han also had his own story: he lived with a stepmother, and she was only delaying his marriage because she was waiting to sell him off for a high price to some wealthy person.
Though Xiao Han wasn't exceptionally handsome, he had good skin and a lovely disposition. The original owner had already lusted after him for some time, and when he found Xiao Han alone while being in a bad mood, he couldn't restrain himself.
The only thing Bai Li had to say to the original owner was, "You are absolutely a scoundrel."
The original owner not only raped Xiao Han but also threatened him to keep silent, and he had no intention of marrying him. In the original owner's mind: "Xiao Han will become someone's concubine sooner or later anyway. Who cares if he's pure or not?
However, the original owner had miscalculated.
That moment was evening, and the village elder's son, who was returning from grazing his buffalo, encountered them, overhearing the original owner's threats to Xiao Han. Since the original owner was accustomed to frequenting brothels, his methods were extremely brutal, and the freshly assaulted Xiao Han's injuries could not be concealed.
The village elder's son was a very upright man, and right there and then, he beat up the original owner, taking both him and Xiao Han to the elder's house to demand that he take responsibility for Xiao Han.
Since the matter was now public knowledge, the original owner had no choice but to marry Xiao Han, and because the village elder had made the decision, neither family could object. Xiao Han's stepmother, feeling like her carefully fattened pig had been stolen just before she could sell it, angrily yelled at the Bai family and demanded a large sum of money, which only served to enrage the Bai family.
Afterward, the original owner and Xiao Han were given a hurried, simple marriage, but the Bai family immediately drove them out, providing them with nothing but a small hut, a plot of land, and one field.
The original owner felt no remorse at all. Although he could not sell the land due to his family's scrutiny, he still refused to work the field. Instead, he rented out the land and never let Xiao Han smell a penny of the income. Even when Xiao Han became pregnant soon after, he showed not a shred of pity and continued to neglect him.
The Bai family was so enraged with the original owner that they wanted to beat him up whenever they saw him. Although they wanted to completely neglect them, they still helped Xiao Han give birth because the child in his belly was the Bai family's blood. Xiao Han gave birth to male *ge'er* twins, and though these children were extremely adorable, it was unfortunate that the original owner could love no one but himself.
He could easily ignore the fact that Xiao Han and the children were struggling just to afford one meal. On top of that, he would often torment Xiao Han. Just two days ago, the original owner had run out of money and could not afford to buy food. Yet, because he wanted to eat fish, he completely ignored the bad weather and forced Xiao Han to go fishing.
Xiao Han had been in poor health for over three years due to the original owner's abuse, so he fell into the river. Although he didn't die, he became gravely ill with a fever. Despite this, the original owner ate the fish alone and was still able to sleep peacefully.
It was then that Bai Li woke up in the body of this infamous scumbag and was instantly horrified.
After receiving all those memories, Bai Li was so angry with this body's previous owner that he wanted to strangle him, but since he was now this person, there was nothing he could do.
He had thought his own previous life was terrible, but he realized that the lives of Xiao Han and the children were even worse.
Although Bai Li was a man from the 21st century, his parents were extremely traditional. He had hidden the fact that he was gay his whole life and decided to stay alone for the rest of his days. Unexpectedly, his family found out and beat him to death. In truth, he wasn't sure if his brother and father had actually beaten him to death, but he was now in the body of a stranger in this unfamiliar world.
Bai Li thought his current situation was better. He hoped his parents would be happy that they no longer had such a shameful and disgusting son like him.
Afterward, he stopped dwelling on his previous life and focused on moving forward with his current one. He then saw that Xiao Han was burning up like a stove with fever, and the two little ones were curled up in front of and behind him, looking as though they wouldn't survive if Xiao Han died.
From the original owner's memories, he realized that the three people hadn't eaten for nearly two days, which made him instantly anxious. Xiao Han was severely ill with a fever, and the little ones were only two years old; if things continued like this, they would all surely die.
Therefore, Bai Li grabbed a bamboo basket and a knife and went to harvest bamboo shoots. From the original owner's memories, he knew that this was a very ancient era where food was scarce, and that people didn't generally consider bamboo shoots to be food.
Although he wished to feed Xiao Han and the children something better, there was nothing else available now, so bamboo shoots would have to suffice.
As soon as Bai Li got back home, he sliced and boiled the bamboo shoots. He gently moved the little ones away from Xiao Han and applied a wet cloth to his forehead until his fever slightly subsided. He then rushed to the Bai family's house.
Although the Bai family were the biological relatives of this body, they tightly shut the door as soon as he arrived and refused to open it, leaving Bai Li in an awkward situation where he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
So, it wasn't just the villagers who hated the original owner—even his own family despised him!
Bai Li was just hesitating, wondering if he should turn back, when a teenage girl with two braided buns approached him and called out, "Second Brother..."
The original owner was the second son of the Bai family, and according to the original owner's memories, this little girl was Bai Mei, the youngest daughter of the Bai family.
The original owner was very fond of Bai Mei and always brought back some snacks for her whenever he went to town. Even though those snacks were bought on credit, Bai Mei still believed her Second Brother genuinely bought them for her. Bai Mei was the only family member who still genuinely loved her Second Brother.
Imitating the original owner, Bai Li said, "Xiao Mei, did you sneak out through the back door again?"
The original owner's memories showed that Bai Mei often did this when he came over.
"Yes, I heard Mother say Second Brother was here. Here, take this! I can't stay long, or Mother will suspect something. I have to go now!"
Bai Li watched the little girl quickly run away and looked at the small bundle in his hand, finding that it contained some coarse rice. He even laughed a little as he recalled the original owner's memory that he would ask Bai Mei to bring him food this way whenever he ran out.
Bai Li had originally come to the Bai family to borrow some rice. He had assumed that if he spoke nicely, they would lend him some rice, because the memories showed the Bai family had, in reality, been quite tolerant of the original owner.
Looking at the still-closed Bai family door, Bai Li saw that Bai Mei couldn't have given him this without the Bai family's approval. Realizing that the Bai family was only pretending to hate their bad son but couldn't actually turn their backs on him, Bai Li felt a sense of warmth.
Holding the small bundle, he returned home and made some rice porridge, simply stir-frying the bamboo shoots, and placing them out first for the two children. However, the children wouldn't let him approach and hid far away from him. Feeling helpless, he could only place the food on the table.
"I'll leave this here. Eat it yourselves, okay?"
Then, he gently woke the feverish Xiao Han and quietly said,
"You haven't eaten anything in a long time. Get up and have some rice porridge."
Xiao Han's vision was blurred by the fever, and he couldn't believe the person feeding him rice porridge was Bai Li. Because the voice was so gentle, he thought it was someone else entirely.
After feeding the feverish man the rice porridge, Bai Li saw that the little ones had finished eating and were washing their bowls. He realized that these children, although young, already had good manners.
Afterward, Bai Li ate a bowl of rice porridge and stir-fried bamboo shoots himself. Although the rice was very coarse, the bamboo shoots were surprisingly sweet, so the meal wasn't as bad as he had thought.