by N/A
Du Xiao Li thought back to the former host's short life, and couldn't help but sigh. This really was to have the personality of a noble miss but didn't have the life of one!
"You're better off than me. At least you still have an older brother you can rely on!" Du Xiao Li sighed in lament.
She raised her own little hands before her eyes, looking at her fingers like withered branches, and patted her face. Finally was she convinced that she'd really transmigrated, and moreover even transmigrated onto a body of a little girl.
"This is wanting me to relive another childhood? Whatever, a little girl it is then. In the future, I am you." Du Xiao Li quietly thought to herself. Unable to resist the body's weak condition, she fell into deep sleep again.
Since it has come to this, we should make peace with it. In her past incarnation, although her life wasn't considered long, it was very rough. Perhaps this is the heavens seeing that she hated her past life, thus once again arranged another life for her.
This time, she didn't know how long she slept. Just as someone stepped into the room, Du Xiao Li woke up. Judging by the sound of the footsteps, the age wasn't very big, should be the former host's older brother, Du Xiu Heng.
"Younger sister, get up to drink medicine." Du Xiu Heng carried over a worn out bowl to the straw pile, and shouted to the pretending to sleep Du Xiao Li.
"Younger sister, although this medicine is a bit bitter, it's good for your body. You're currently sick, you can't get better if you don't eat medicine." Du Xiu Heng, seeing that Du Xiao Li was unwilling to get up, thought that she was still disdaining the taste of this medicine, thus he urged.
Du Xiao Li thought for moment. It seems the former host previously really hated this bitter medicine taste, having slapped away the medicine that Du Xiu Heng had obtained with great difficulty, innocently wasting the money.
Du Xiao Li opened her eyes, but she didn't have the strength to get up. Du Xiu Heng instead thought that she was still unwilling and thus said, "Be good and drink this. In a while big brother will make rice porridge for you alright?"
Du Xiao Li gazed up to Du Xiu Heng and said in a weak voice, "Big brother, I don't have the strength."
Finally did Du Xiu Heng realize and placed the bowl to the side, not letting the rain drip in as much as possible. Afterwards, he leaned down and helped Du Xiao Li up, leaning her against himself. With his spare hand, he lifted the medicine bowl and placed it against her mouth, letting her drink it down from his hands.
As soon as Du Xiao Li smelled the medicine, she just knew it wasn't made from any good medicinal ingredients. But taking the current situation into considerations, it was still better than nothing. Furthermore, for a doctor who's frequently soaked in medicinal concoction, the smell of traditional herbal medicine is very pleasant smelling.
Seeing that Du Xiao Li drank all of the medicine, Du Xiu Heng laid her back down, saying, "Rest for a bit first, I'll go make porridge for you."
"Big brother, aren't we out of rice? How are you going to make porridge?" Du Xiao Li asked.
Di Xiu Heng's figure paused, then said with a smile, "Big brother went and borrowed a bit of rice from them."
"You went to eldest uncle's family to borrow right? Did eldest aunt make it difficult for you again?" Du Xiao Li said. Right now it was precisely when 'yellow didn't reach green'[2], aside from eldest uncle's family, who else would have stocks of rice?
Du Xiu Heng didn't expect that Du Xiao Li would guess correctly, "She didn't make it difficult for me that much, just said a few words. Besides, we have rice now. I'll go put away the medicine remains first, then cook porridge for you afterwards."
Du Xiao Li remembered that there essentially weren't any places to shelter from the rain outside. Originally, their so called kitchen also had a temporarily built shelter to block the rain, but last time when eldest aunt came, she 'accidentally' broke that shelter. If someone were to crouch under there to cook porridge, then they couldn't even straightened their body.
"Big brother, go move some rocks in. Afterwards, set up a temporary stove in the house and just cook the porridge here. It's currently raining outside after all." Du Xiao Li suggested.
"But weren't you unable to get used to the smell of the firewood?" Du Xiu Heng asked.
"But isn't it cold now, if you cook it inside, then the room can still warm up a bit." Du Xiao Li closed her eyes as she finished saying this. Whether or not he will come in, she already couldn't bother with, because she once again sank into a half-dreaming half-conscious state.
Perhaps it was because of that medicine, or perhaps because the body was too weak, Du Xiao Li didn't wake up in between. By the time she opened her eyes once again, the sky was already bright.
The rain was still falling nonstop. She pulled the thin worn out quilt on her, sighing at the rotten weather and this leaking on all sides house.
Perhaps because of that bowl of medicine from last night, her body improved quite a bit. At least, she was able to sit up on her own. Just as she sat up, she saw Du Xiu Heng come in from the outside, holding a broken umbrella, and his clothes drenched in some areas.
"Younger sister, you're awake." Seeing that Du Xiao Li was already awake, Du Xiu Heng closed the umbrella and placed it by the door. Afterwards, he placed a bag in a clean spot in the room and said, "I'll go warm up the medicine for you first, then afterwards warm the porridge for you."
After saying this, Du Xiu Heng began busily working in the room, placing the pot on the stove, and starting the fire. Looks like he was already quite familiar with it.
Du Xiao Li finally noticed that Du Xiu Heng really did set up a small temporary stove in the room. The medicine had already been cook, and was just simply warmed up. He carried the medicine to Du Xiao Li, and afterwards, took the pot out to wash it, then he poured a bowl of porridge in to cook.
Du Xiao Li drank the medicine and felt that this body really was very weak. Even something as simple as drinking medicine made the body sweat in exhaustion.
"Last night, after I'd made the porridge, I saw that you were sleeping really deeply and thought the medicine was taking effect, so I didn't wake you. You should be hungry now right? This porridge will be done in a bit. Once you finish drinking you're medicine, you'll be able to drink it." Du Xiu Heng said.
Very soon, the so called porridge was also placed into Du Xiao Li's hands. She looked at this 'clear to the point that it could be used to raise goldfish' porridge. Sighing inside, just how poor were they!?
Because it was cooked in the same pot, the porridge carried a medicine taste. She rubbed her stomach, indeed she was hungry. In a few mouthfuls, she cleanly finished this bowl of porridge. By the time she finished, she finally remembered to ask Du Xiu Heng, "Big brother, did you eat yet?"
Du Xiu Heng somewhat averted his gaze, smiling as he said, "I already ate. When I'd gone out just now, I looked at the sky. This rain should be stopping in a few days. Wait until the skies clear up, I'll go chop some more wood in the mountains and exchange it for some money to buy meat to make meat porridge for you."
Du Xiao Li looked to the wild vegetables placed by the pot and went silent for a bit, "Big brother, what were you doing eariler?"
"Oh, I went to Doctor Niu's place earlier. Your medicine ran out, so I went to go find him to see if he can replenish your medicine. You just drank your medicine, so sleep some more." Du Xiu Heng answered her question as he took care of the two bowls Du Xiao Li had just used. His voice was rather cheerful, probably because Doctor Niu had replenished the medicine for him.
Du Xiao Li nodded, and lied down, closing her eyes to sleep. Seeing her falling asleep, Du Xiu Heng went out again to draw in some water, and had the wild vegetables placed to the side cooked and eaten. Following which, he went out with the pot and bowls, should be going to wash them.
After Du Xiu Heng went out, Du Xiao Li opened her eyes, looked to the wild vegetables that have been reduced by half, and absentmindedly stared for a moment, before finally closing her ey
es again and falling asleep.
[1] Feng Ming - The name translates to 'cry of a phoenix'
[2] The idiom is short for 'the yellow autumn crop does not last until the green spring crop'; meaning temporarily short on resources
T/N: I keep forgetting her brother is only 10; his character reads more like a 15yo than a 10yo.
Hi everyone, due to changes in circumstances, we have unfortunately been asked to reduce the release rate to 1-2 per week.
As such, we will no longer be releasing bonus chapters for donations. We will still release the pending bonus chapters when we can, but that will be it.
Any support you can give us is still greatly appreciated though!
So if you want to support the team, please donate here.
Ch. 002 – To Have a Good Big Brother
To Have a Good Big Brother
Du Xiao Li slept until the afternoon, waking from a rumbling stomach. She noticed Du Xiu Heng laying on a straw pile to the side sleeping.
"You sure are a good big brother." Du Xiao Li faintly said, with an indescribable admiration in her words.
Du Xiu Heng slowly woke up. Seeing Du Xiao Li looking at himself, he rubbed his eyes and said, "Younger sister, are you hungry? I'll go make your medicine right away, and then make you porridge."
Du Xiu Heng immediately got up and went out with the bowl, coming back with it filled with water. After he finished making the medicine, he placed it next to her, then afterwards, began making the porridge for her. He saw that Du Xiao Li was only looking at him, not saying anything, and thought that she must be starving, "Drink the medicine first, the porridge will be done real soon."
Du Xiao Li didn't speak and just nodded her head.
Very soon, Du Xiu Heng finished cooking the porridge. And Du Xiao Li watched him pour the porridge all into one bowl, "Big brother, how about dividing it into two bowls?"
"Two bowls?" Du Xiu Heng puzzlingly looked to Du Xiao Li, asking, "Why two bowls?"
"We each get a bowl." Du Xiao Li replied.
"Don't worry, I can just eat something else in a bit. You're currently sick, so you need to drink more porridge." Du Xiu Heng didn't expect that Du Xiao Li would share half with him. He felt touched inside, and his face carried a smile.
"You can cook the vegetables and then split it into two shares too." Du Xiao Li gazed to the remaining vegetables and said, "Patients also need to eat a lot of green vegetables. That way can get better quicker."
"Really?" Du Xiu Heng skeptically asked.
"Of course it's true. Doctor Niu told me." Du Xiao Li could't say this was her knowledge from the modern era, so she could only bring Doctor Niu out.
As soon as Du Xiu Heng heard it was Doctor Niu that said it, he believed it immediately. And just as Du Xiao Li said, he had the wild vegetables cooked and divided into two shares. The two of them, each with a share of porridge and vegetables. They simply ate their afternoon meal.
After drinking the medicine and eating the afternoon meal, and also because having continuously slept for an entire day, Du Xiao Li felt her body improved quite a bit, no longer feeling tired from just lifting her hand.
After eating the afternoon meal, Du Xiu Heng picked up a book and began reading it. Right now, it was raining, so he wasn't able to go out anyways. He could only take out the books from before and read them. Du Xiao Li watched Du Xiu Heng earnestly studying, knowing that in the past, when their mother was alive, he never needed to work. He only needed to attend the private school. But now, in order to provide for the both of them, he had no choice but to leave school, and shoulder the responsibility of supporting the family.
She wrapped that so called quilt thing around herself and walked to the doorway, looking out to the scenery outside.
The house was situated at the waist of the mountain. Looking down, it was a drizzling sheet, unable to see the scenery below the mountain clearly. She could only see the barren ground before their doorway.
"Younger sister, your illness still haven't gotten better yet, don't stand at the doorway. Be careful of the cold wind." Du Xiu Heng placed down the book in hand and said to the little figure at the doorway.
Du Xiao Li returned to the straw pile to lie down, looking up at the slanted sky. She couldn't help but lament in her heart. She really didn't think that one day she would be living in this kind of house where the sky was the roof. In her past life, even that period when she stayed in an rural area, it still wasn't this destitute.
She sighed. Du Xiao Li had only been in this world for merely a day, yet she felt her life in her previous world was already very distanced from herself.
In her past life, before eight years old, she was a real estate big shot's daughter. But because they were schemed against by others, their family's properties were seized, and her father got ran over by a car. Her mother independently raised her, but not long after, she also passed away from illness.
Afterwards, she was sent to a distant relative's place. That was a hillside area, producing tangerines in abundance. Because her relatives didn't like her, they often made her go up the mountain to work. That's why since young, she's been very knowledgable towards planting tangerine.
At the time, their neighbor was an elderly man. Rumor has it that he was a great master in the traditional medicine world. He came to the countryside to enjoy his retirement and was very good towards her. Every day after finishing farm work and whenever she was free, she would go to his house and watch him fiddle with those ancient medical techniques and medicinal ingredients. Sometimes, he would also teach her some traditional medical knowledge, and seeing that she was very gifted in this area, he even taught her his special acupuncture technique.
After living in the countryside for three years, she was accidentally eyed by an organization, and they forcibly took her away. They began conducting various training on her, teaching her all kinds of knowledge. And when she had the killing techniques mostly grasped, they arranged for her an ordinary college entrance exam, letting her freely choose her field of study. Because of her experience with medicine in her youth, she chose traditional medicine. And because her medical skills were very good, she was called the prodigy of the traditional medical world. After graduating, she opened a private little clinic in the city. And from then on, she began her double life of killing and saving people.
Just like that, on normal days, she would help see patients, and when she had an assignment, she would close the doors and take on her assignment. This time she had also been on an assignment when she was sent here by someone using a bomb.
Thinking back to her own past life, because she had a high IQ, no matter what, she could learn it all very fast. Thus, the organization had her learn things in all areas. Can't say she was proficient in all, but she'd dipped her fingers in a lot.
Her unique experience caused her to not have any deeply intimate friends. Recalling her life, she only felt sorrowful inside. Seeing the former host have such a loving older brother, she couldn't help but envy.
In midst of dizziness, she fell asleep again. Du Xiu Heng stayed in the room reading the whole time. All the way until nighttime, when it was time to cook dinner, did she finally wake up, directing Du Xiu Heng to make leafy vegetable porridge.
She drank her medicine, ate dinner, and went to sleep. Two days later the skies cleared up. Du Xiao Li's illness was also more or less cured.
"Younger sister, I'm going up the mountain to chop some wood, you stay at home and properly rest. Don't go anywhere, understand?" Du Xiu Heng instructed a few words and then left with a rope and a machete.
Even though in her past life she liked peace, having laid on the bed for this many days straight, she still felt she was about to become moldy. That's why, as soon as Du Xiu Heng left, she followed out the door in the next moment.
Since it rained for this many days, the mountain roads were unbearably muddy. She had only taken a few steps, and her shoes were already completely covered in mud. There was even a time where she almost f
ell over. If it weren't for her balancing skills, she would have definitely already fallen on her face.
Because of this, she had no choice but to give up on her plans of going forward, slowly making her way back.
Standing outside the house, did Du Xiao Li finally see this shady house's complete view. Crooked and slanted, she really worried it might collapse one day.
"Really..." Du Xiao Li felt that she didn't even have the strength to complain about it. She vowed that she must build herself and this convenient big brother a big house.
At noon, Du Xiu Heng didn't return, so she warmed herself some porridge, and after eating, she sat by the doorway basking in the sun. The early summer sunlight on her body was comfortably warm, making her unconsciously narrow her eyes. Later, when the ground dried, she had the damp straws in the room taken out to dry in the dun. Afterwards, she continued to sit by the doorway, basking in the sun.
If it wasn't that this house was too worn out, to be able to leisurely enjoy life like this, seemingly was also not bad. There was no killing, no clamor, just tranquility. It was like that period of time in her childhood when she lived in the village.
When the sun had set over the western hills, Du Xiu Heng finally came back carrying a bundle of wood. Du Xiao Li quickly went up to greet him, helping him put down the firewood.
Du Xiu Heng followed along her support and placed down the firewood. Looking at the rice straw drying on the ground, he said with a frown, "Didn't I tell you to stay in the house and rest? How could you still do these things? What if you get exhausted?"
Du Xiao laughed, "My illness is already better. Taking these out to dry in the sun, so we don't have to sleep on wet straw at night."
Du Xiu Heng thought about it and realized it made sense. If they were to sleep on wet straws, she might even catch a cold again right after recovering.
"Big brother got a hold of something good today in the mountains." After Du Xiu Heng thought things through, he was no longer angry and smiled mysteriously at her.