Chapter 1

Basket Mountain is a massive mountain range that stretches across Yellow Prefecture, extending nearly ten thousand miles, with lush forests, abundant medicinal herbs, ores, and rare game.

Maple Forest Town lies next to Basket Mountain, famous for a thousand-year-old ancient maple tree at its center; the tree's canopy resembles an imperial canopy, lush and dense.

Many geomancers, when passing through Maple Forest Town, have remarked that this small town situated at the foot of Carry-Blue Mountain will surely produce a remarkable figure in the future.

Early spring, as the sun rose, inside a small courtyard on the west side of Maple Forest Town, villager Wang Ergou, wearing coarse cloth, with a sallow complexion and somewhat hunched, laboriously carried an old plow into the courtyard gate.

"Little Brother Fang! Come lend a hand!"

Inside the courtyard, a youth nearly of age, with his hair tied up, wearing a short shirt, his pant legs rolled up, was earnestly turning a patch of vegetable field barefoot; hearing the shout, he hurriedly dropped his hoe and came over.

"Ergou Brother, what's wrong?" Fang Xu said while helping Wang Ergou lift the old plow into the courtyard.

Wang Ergou, bent over with hands on his knees, gasped a few rough breaths before replying: "Earlier this year, I found a piece of ownerless wasteland at the mountain's base and planned to reclaim it this spring to plant some millet… but my old partner quit at the crucial moment."

"Fang Xiaoge, please take a look, can this old fellow of mine still be repaired?"

Fang Xu glanced at the plow in front of him.

Probably because it had been used for too long, there was already a crack at the plow beam, and the plowshare had also become dulled, not as sharp as before.

"It's not a big problem, easy to fix." Saying that, he brought over the nearby wooden box, took out tools, and began to repair the plow.

The broken plow beam does not need to be replaced; it only needs to be wrapped with a suitable iron plate and secured with iron nails, and the dulled plowshare only needs to be re-sharpened to be usable.

While Fang Xu was skillfully repairing the plow, Wang Ergou squatted in front of him, chuckling, and said: "Fang Xiaoge, you're probably coming of age this year, right?"

Fang Xu's hand paused slightly, then he nodded.

Yeah, it's almost time to come of age.

Twenty years have passed since he transmigrated to this world; his parents died early, leaving only him and his grandfather to depend on each other.

His grandfather knew a bit of carpentry and could help villagers repair everyday tools, earning some money to supplement the household, but he too passed away from illness last winter; now only Fang Xu remains living in the town.

"Coming of age is good; once you come of age, you should find a wife." Wang Ergou gave a hehe smile, put on an experienced expression, and leaned in to say: "Is there any girl you like? If not, let me, your older brother, go speak for you."

Fang Xu smiled but said nothing.

Wang Ergou pressed on: "The eldest daughter of the Wang butcher family in town has reached the age to leave her chamber… I have some acquaintance with that Wang butcher, so…"

The Wang butcher's daughter?

Hearing those words, Fang Xu was slightly startled; an image of a face full of fierce meat, like a tank, involuntarily appeared in his mind, and he repeatedly waved his hands, saying: "I dare not trouble you, Brother Ergou."

Seeing his expression, Wang Ergou gave an embarrassed smile: "Fang Xiaoge, you're still young; you don't know what kind of woman is a good woman."

"Like my wife, marrying her home is just a vase; her ten fingers don't touch spring water, and all the big and small matters in the household have to rely on me alone…"

"Brother Ergou." He glanced at Wang Ergou, and Fang Xu interrupted his words.

He had seen Wang Ergou's wife; by modern aesthetic standards, although the Wang lady is not an unparalleled beauty, she is still a charming wife full of grace.

If it weren't for Wang Ergou having a brother serving as an official in Huangzhou Prefecture, his wife would have long been snatched away by the town's powerful bully; Fang Xu always felt Wang Ergou was just showing off.

"All right, it should still be usable for a few more years." Not wanting to discuss wives with him, Fang Xu quickly fixed the plow, patted the dirt off his hands, and said:

"All right?" Wang Ergou carefully examined the plow in front of him, nodded, was very satisfied with Fang Xu's craftsmanship, and hurriedly took out a money pouch from his waist: "How much?"

Fang Xu smiled and waved his hand: "Among neighbors, it's just a small matter; mentioning money hurts feelings."

But Wang Ergou stubbornly stuck out his neck and earnestly said:

"How can that be?"

"Friends are friends; these things of yours aren't picked up from the roadside, and besides, you still need to save money to marry a wife."

Seeing his insistence, Fang Xu no longer declined, smiled and said: "Then let's just charge a material fee, three wen cash."

Helping the villagers in the town repair farm tools is now part of his source of income; not charging money is just polite talk, at least the material fee should be collected.

"All right, take the three wen cash." He pulled out three copper coins from the money pouch and shoved them directly into Fang Xu's hand; Wang Ergou then hoisted the plow onto his shoulder and prepared to leave.

"Fang Xiaoge, won't you consider the Wang butcher's daughter?"

"Your older brother will still give you this small favor."

Fang Xu waved his hands repeatedly and smiled: "Brother Ergou, I appreciate your good intentions, but please don't worry about this."

Seeing Wang Ergou off, Fang Xu stood at the gate, lost in thought.

This is a low-martial world; its social system resembles the ancient feudal society of Huaxia, but it is even more brutal than any dynasty in history.

The imperial clans and local tyrants control all resources, from mountains, forests, lakes, and marshes down to the village's firewood, rice, oil, and salt; every profitable avenue has been monopolized.

Having transmigrated over twenty years ago, without any cheat, he has always lived cautiously.

He had indeed thought about leaving secular life to enter officialdom, but in this strictly hierarchical society, the paths to either retiring from the world or entering officialdom are few: either join the army, or become a retainer of an aristocratic family.

In the martial world, most who enlist are martial artists who have trained their bodies to reach the Martial Apprentice Realm; someone like him, an ordinary mortal, would be nothing but cannon fodder in the army.

And becoming a retainer of an aristocratic family or pursuing an official career both require recommendations from highly respected, virtuous scholars; being poor like him, he couldn't even afford the tuition to take on a master, so fundamentally no one would recommend him.

Furthermore, living as a lackey for a wealthy clan is not what Fang Xu wants.

Precisely for this reason, Fang Xu has simply spent twenty years in Maple Forest Town.

"Alas!"

He slightly shook his head, Fang Xu closed the courtyard gate, preparing to continue turning the soil of the vegetable patch inside, waiting a few days to scatter some vegetable seeds, to tend them well, so as to ensure he wouldn't have to worry about vegetables in the coming days.

Time flew by, the sun gradually shifted westward; at dusk, Fang Xu was about to wash his face and rustle up some dinner to fill his stomach when a virtual screen suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Conditions satisfied, the good friend inheritance system has been successfully activated!

Your good friend Wang Ergou has died; as a good friend, you may randomly inherit any one of Wang Ergou's three inheritances!

Inheritance One: 【Red Inheritance (a two‑entry courtyard in Maple Forest Town, includes the property deed)】; inheriting it carries great danger, for Wang Ergou's younger brother Wang Erhu, who is a militia officer of Huangzhou Prefecture, will certainly not let his brother's death go unavenged; rashly occupying his estate, even with proper legal procedures, will stir up big trouble.

Inheritance Two: 【Gray Inheritance (Wang Ergou's lovely wife Wang Shi, with system support, Wang Shi will surely be willing)】; inheriting it brings trouble, for Wang Shi's beauty is coveted by all in Maple Forest Town, and without Wang Erhu's status to suppress them, the host will find it hard to keep the beauty.

Inheritance Three: 【White Inheritance (Wang Ergou's private stash—one hundred taels of silver)】; inheriting it carries no risk, for this money is the occasional salary sent back by his younger brother Wang Erhu, known only to Wang Ergou himself.

Fang Xu rubbed his eyes, and seeing that the virtual screen before him still remained, he realized it wasn't his eyes playing tricks on him!

This is the standard equipment of a transmigrator; the golden finger has arrived fashionably late!

(End of chapter)