Chapter 2: The Man

“Rustle…”

A faint, eerie wind stirred outside the door, resembling the sound of falling leaves or perhaps footsteps.

Xu Lian’s spine stiffened, his breath held tight as he realized that the “Night Patrol” had arrived.

It was getting closer.

It seemed to stop right in front of the door.

He could vaguely hear a “slurping” sound, as if someone was drinking something. It was definitely not a can of soda… It had to be the blood in the clay cup.

So terrifying!

So scary!

After a while, the rustling sound gradually faded away, and Xu Lian let out a sigh of relief.

Perhaps it was the fright, or maybe he had just slept too much during the day, or maybe it was the worry about their current situation. His body turned restlessly like a pancake, unable to find sleep.

Suddenly, the door creaked open.

Xu Lian jumped, his eyes darting to the wooden door, only to see that it was not the front door that had opened, but the door to the inner room. It was slightly ajar.

A graceful figure slipped out of the inner room and walked over to his bed, bending down to slip under the covers.

What had started as a horror movie quickly turned into a romance…

Xu Lian was stunned, his mind blank. Happiness had come so suddenly.

“Does it still hurt?”

Li Xiya’s hand rested gently on his face.

Xu Lian placed his hand over hers, not allowing her to pull away. Hmph, now that you’re here, don’t leave. “It doesn’t hurt… it’s so sweet.”

“Brother Lian has grown up. I am a real man now.”

Li Xiya’s hand trembled slightly, but she didn’t pull it away. In a soft voice, she continued, “Brother Lian, don’t be afraid. No matter what happens, I won’t leave you and I won’t let another man into our home.”

At this moment, who could resist… Certainly Xu Lian couldn’t.

The room was dark, the blanket warm, the atmosphere intimate.

The pure moonlight poured in through the small window, casting what looked like frost on the floor.

Xu Lian heaved a long sigh. It was settled, he had truly become a man.

Suddenly, a curtain of light appeared before his eyes.

[Name: Xu Lian]

[Level: None]

[Skills: None]

[Items: None]

[Note 1: Li Xiya’s favorability towards you has reached 90/100. You have gained 1 Progression Point. You can choose to increase your level, skills, or items].

[Note 2: If your favorability exceeds 90/100, each additional point of favorability will grant you 1 progression point. However, if the favorability decreases, you will not receive additional points until it rises again].

[Note 3: As long as your favorability remains 90/100 or above, each child born to Li Xiya will grant you an additional progression point].

Xu Lian was thrilled-this… this was the Golden Finger!

It had come late, but it had arrived. This was what the predecessors who had transmigrated often talked about.

Of course, it was also possible that the Golden Finger had been there all along, but he hadn’t found the correct way to activate it until now. He had only triggered it after meeting the right conditions.

This was a Golden Finger where a “nap” could improve your power, who wouldn’t like that?

“Level, increase my points!”

There was no need to think twice.

He chose to invest the progression point in his level.

Since he didn’t have any skills or items, his only option was to enhance his level.

[Level upgrade completed. Add one piece of leather to advance to the Skin Refining Stage].

Leather?

He needed materials to advance?

Xu Lian felt a headache coming on. He was currently poor and destitute, barely able to afford food, let alone find a piece of leather.

“If I can’t even find the materials to level up, then having a system is no different than having no system at all?”

As Xu Lian pondered over this tricky issue, he drifted off into a light sleep.

When the first light of dawn broke, Xu Lian awoke feeling refreshed. To his surprise, most of his injuries had healed, which made him both happy and puzzled.

“Without materials, the system hasn’t started working yet. Why are my injuries healing so quickly? Could it be that the fusion of two souls has strengthened my body’s recovery abilities?”

This could be the only explanation, and it was in line with the experiences shared by other transmigrators.

When Li Xiya woke up, Xu Lian’s thoughts changed. Her favorability towards him was now at 90/100, and if it increased further, he would continue to earn progression points.

“Xiya, it’s still early. Let’s sleep a little more…”

Moments later, Li Xiya furrowed her brows and gave him a mildly reproachful look.

Xu Lian quickly checked his favorability, only to find that it hadn’t increased.

This made him feel embarrassed. It seemed that favorability wasn’t related to the number of “naps” he had; it was mainly about cultivating the relationship.

“Cough!”

“Cough cough!”

From the inner room, the loud sound of Wang Cuiyun coughing reached his ears.

Xu Lian knew that it was her way of reminding him to go to the mine to work and earn food. He stood up quickly.

Li Xiya also blushed as she got up, went to the outer room, and brought in the clay cup that had been left outside.

Xu Lian glanced at it, noticing that the cup was cleaner than a dog’s tongue.

“What are you dawdling around for? Don’t you want to go to the mine and work?”

Wang Cuiyun, her face dark with displeasure, stepped out from the inner room.

Li Xiya handed Xu Lian a sharp, well-polished knife from a small stove in the corner.

Xu Lian took the knife and tucked it into his waistband. In this world, it was common practice to carry a knife with you when going out. Without one, one’s safety was compromised.

As he fastened the knife, a prompt appeared before his eyes: [Item: Iron Knife].

He immediately understood what the system meant by “items”-it referred to the tools he used for self-defense. No prompt appeared when he held other objects, but carrying the knife activated the system.

“Xiya, if you’re hungry, don’t worry about making shoes. Rest and conserve your energy. I’ll earn the food and bring it back to you.”

Xu Lian hugged Li Xiya and turned to leave.

Wang Cuiyun looked out the door, saw Xu Lian leaving, and quickly closed the door. She then entered the inner room and took out two pieces of flat bread. She ate one and handed the other to Li Xiya.

Li Xiya asked confusedly, “Didn’t we finish the flatbread yesterday? How can there be more?”

Wang Cuiyun casually replied, “Of course, I hid some. Do you think it’s a rat?”

Li Xiya frowned. “Mother, how can you do this? Brother Lian is still hungry!”

Wang Cuiyun snorted, “Silly girl, women should take care of themselves. If the husband starves to death, just replace him with another one. It’s hard to find a three-legged frog, but a two-legged man is easy to find.”

“Brother Lian is part of our family now. We shouldn’t sneak food.”

Li Xiya rushed to the door to chase after Xu Lian and give him the flat bread.

Startled, Wang Cuiyun screamed and pulled her back. “Do you want to get yourself killed by going out in the daytime?”

In the morning mist, Xu Lian walked down the road, noticing that every house had its door shut tight. The men were all rushing around, busy with today’s work, while not a single woman could be seen. It felt very eerie.

In Green Bamboo Town, most of the land was controlled by the landlords. The common people had no land of their own and could only work for others in exchange for food.

He noticed a family arguing by the side of the road and watched curiously for a moment, quickly understanding what was going on.

The man in this family had broken his hand while working yesterday and could no longer earn food to support the family. So the woman had brought in a strong man to take care of the household.

The man with the broken hand begged desperately to stay and heal before leaving, but the woman and the strong man were adamant and cursed him, forcing him to leave.

Finally, the man with the broken hand agreed to bleed every day for the “Night Patrol” so that he could stay in the house as a “blood slave. Only then did the woman and the strong man reluctantly agree.

“Watching your wife get close to another man, and having to bleed every day as a ‘blood slave’ just to stay alive… What kind of world is this?”

Xu Lian sighed inwardly, relieved that his relationship with Xiya was based on affection so that he didn’t end up in a similar situation.

But in such a world, relationships based on affection were unstable, as Wang Cuiyun had said: “Feelings can’t be eaten.” One needed the ability to earn food and provide for one’s family.

He quickened his pace and headed toward the mine.