The dim light flickered, barely illuminating the corner of the hovel-like room where two distinct voices could be heard. They chattered back and forth aiming to take advantage of the other.
Xu Feng was undoubtedly not in his bedroom in the city anymore. The throbbing in his head and the presence of foreign memories reinforced this idea.
"The ger is very skinny…is he sick?"
"Zeng is thinner than other gers his age, but he's taller than most and he's a hard worker. A very responsible child."
"Hmm…"
"He does all the work on his family farm and even takes care of the animals and children. He would be a good servant or handmaid."
"His ger-dad trained him in household affairs?"
"Yes! His ger-dad was a servant in a big family in the capital when he was younger!"
"So then why is he being sold?"
*Sigh*
"Zeng really is a good boy with good qualifications, but when you have a stepmother, you have a 'stepfather,'" the first woman paused either for dramatic effect or from true emotion.
"His ger-dad died in childbirth. It was one body and three lives—two sons. His body wasn't even cold and his father married in another woman. He didn't even care about the huge dowry Xu Zeng's ger-dad brought into the family and the ger he bore for the Xu family."
"From the first ger-wife's death till now, 5 years later, Xu Zeng has raised his younger step brothers, tended to the animals, cleaned, and cooked for the rest of the family but his stepmother still wanted to sell him when he reached marriageable age."
"The boy has a deep-colored mole; he should be very fertile. It would be easy to marry him to an average family and get a bigger dowry."
"Hmm," the first woman sighed again, "the truth is, I was given Zeng to sell to a brothel. The stepmother wants him to live miserably far from her family, but Zeng is such a good boy and a beauty…"
"You did well bringing him to me, Old Hua. We can't take him as a slave with the new laws of the land. Since he came from a reputable family, unless he willingly sells himself, the boy can only work as a laborer or be 'married' into a family."
There was silence as the tension peaked in the air for a moment before the second woman continued.
"He isn't the best ger I've seen, but my Xuan family can use him somewhere."
"Hahaha," the first woman couldn't hide her joy as her laughter filled the room.
Xu Feng tried his best to stay awake, but the throbbing in his head finally won. He passed out as the darkness took over his vision.
.
.
.
Xu Feng looked at the small, light green vine wrapped around his wrist, lost in thought. The moving vine guided him to the shimmering water surface in front of him with small movements.
The reflection on the surface showed a thin and handsome face he was familiar with and an unfamiliar deep red mole between the eyebrows, the symbol of a ger in this world.
Xu Feng was no longer the original Xu Zeng who belonged to this body, but a person with the same face and a similar name from the apocalyptic world. He has been in this world for exactly eight days, and during this time he felt many emotions.
He was reborn and now had a second chance at life, but he was grieving his parents' death and was worried about the original owner.
'Was the original Xu Zeng now in the apocalyptic world? Would they have an ability since Xu Feng had awakened a wood ability in this new world? Would they be able to take care of his zombie parents?'
In his previous life, Xu Feng was a college student with typical hobbies like reading online novels and playing video games. After reading a post by SurvivalHouse, a newly popular survival blogger, he decided to lock his door and barricade himself in his room instead of staying in his college dorm the day before the predicted doomsday.
The prediction was right, and when Feng woke up the next day, he fought the lethargy and fever he was feeling to check on his parents
To his horror, they had both become the walking dead and tried to have him as a meal. After once again locking himself in his room and watching the horrors of the apocalypse play out online, Feng was finally too tired to stay awake and fell into a fevered sleep.
And that was it. Xu Feng remembered the feeling of being out of strength and feeling as though his body was burning from the inside out.
He completely lost the will to live and was certain he'd died. However, he was still alive. Therefore, Xu Feng was confident he transmigrated.
Either way, before Feng could grieve, he was assaulted by Xu Zeng's memories from a loving childhood with a hardworking father, and a beautiful and refined ger-dad. But five years ago, that changed.
His ger-dad and his two younger brothers died and his father remarried.
Since then, his life was hell. From a treasured son to a servant in only a year. His stepmother gave birth to a son who wasn't a ger and his father became more and more distant from the ger from his first wife.
Several pillow talks later and the once peaceful farming family became turbulent. The 11-year-old Zeng did all the household tasks, from foraging for wild vegetables to feeding the animals.
It had been a painful 5 years, with no maternal family and a paternal family that were a bunch of bloodsuckers. They were patriarchal and only cared for sons, Xu Zeng was only good for manual labor. He was sucked dry until he was old enough to be married out.
Despite his height, as a beautiful and hardworking ger, it would have been easy to marry Zeng in the village or in a neighboring village. He could have even been allowed to set up his own household. Instead, the stepmother found Old Hua to sell him to a brothel and told the other villagers he was marrying to a city.
Xu Feng sighed as he woke up from the original owner's memories, staring at his reflection in the water.
"At least I'm free from any filial piety." The matter of the contract marriage wasn't something Xu Feng was scared of.
Giving birth to a child was the scariest part.