Chapter 1: Raising Silkworms in Miao Territory, a Favor From a Meal

In southern Xinjiang, there are hundreds of thousands of mountains.

To the east of Heishui River, Heishan Town.

"Wow~"

Beside the stream, women got up early to starch and wash clothes.

In the early morning of April, the weather was still chilly.

The women's rough hands were reddened by the cold water, but they were not slow at all in washing the clothes, and they could still wash the clothes while doing the laundry.

At this time, a young man wearing coarse linen clothes and straw sandals passed by the stream.

He was carrying a basket half as tall as a man, filled with mulberry leaves, and his originally straight back sagged under the pressure.

The boy's hair and clothes were wet from the dew in the mountains, and there were mud marks on his clothes from wrestling. His dark face was quite handsome, but his face was pale and his eyes were a little numb.

Judging from his empty and heavy steps, it was obvious that he had reached his limit.

thump!

The young man didn't pay attention to his feet. He staggered and fell down on the gravel road beside the stream.

He wanted to get up, but was held down by the mulberry leaves.

"It's Ah Qing from Xian Zhou's family."

"What a sin!"

When the women who were starching clothes saw this, they showed pity on their faces. Some kind-hearted people stepped forward to help the young man and collected the scattered mulberry leaves for him.

"Thank you, aunts." The boy's voice was weak, and he spat out a few words of thanks from his chapped lips.

"Did you go up the mountain without eating? Damn your father!"

Facing the women's pity, Zhou Qing remained silent.

I only had a bowl of gruel this morning.

He was so hungry that he had no energy to speak.

There was no rice at home, and all the money was taken away by his dead father Zhou Xian.

It’s a difficult time for everyone in this world, and everyone has borrowed all the rice and food from their neighbors.

He was hungry, but the silkworm babies at home couldn't even get a meal.

So at dawn, Zhou Qing went up to the mountain to collect mulberry leaves, and at the same time dug some wild vegetables for today's rations, trying to hold on until Zhou came back first.

Seeing Zhou Qing's pitiful appearance, several women couldn't bear it. They put their hands into their arms and touched half of the hard pancake. They hesitated for a moment, but still didn't take it out.

They are all from poor families. They make a living by washing clothes for others and sewing.

This half piece of pancake is a day's ration, given to Zhou Qing, how can they hold on for the whole day.

What's more, it doesn't help the poor but the urgent.

The life of Zhou Qing's family in Heishan Town was originally easy, but after his mother died, his father Zhou Xian drank heavily and got into the bad habit of gambling, so he couldn't even eat.

Zhou Xian has been out for less than half a month.

If you give bread today, what will you do tomorrow?

"Ah Qing, these mulberry leaves are dirty. Let's wash them for you. You can sit down and rest for a while."

The women carried the basket to the stream, poured the dusty mulberry leaves onto the rocks beside the stream, rinsed them with stream water, shook off the water droplets, and put them back into the basket.

"Thank you." Zhou Qing squeezed out two words through his teeth.

He came to the stone by the stream, picked up a handful of cold stream water and drank it until he was full.

Unfortunately, my stomach was very bloated and my hunger became more and more obvious.

After the women washed the mulberry leaves for Zhou Qing and put them all back into the basket, they squatted down and washed the clothes again.

Zhou Qing sat on a big rock, enduring hunger and resting.

If the mulberry leaves are stained with water, their weight will increase a lot.

The sun will come out soon. Let the sun shine for a while. When the moisture on it is basically dry, he will go home.

Silkworm babies cannot eat mulberry leaves with water, otherwise they will get sick.

Of course, it cannot be too dry, otherwise it will affect the appetite of the silkworms and thus affect the silk production.

Now the silkworms at home are his beloved relatives and friends, brothers and sisters, and his biological father!

He was just waiting to sell out the silk and have a full meal.

‘I really don’t want to time travel! ’

Zhou Qing shouted in his heart.

He never thought that one day having enough food would become a luxury.

It has been two months since I came to this world, and I have simply not lived a normal life.

In the past half month, let alone eating enough, I can barely drink two gruels a day.

Working on an empty stomach is worse than death!

The only thing he looks forward to every day now is eating.

In the final analysis, it's all the fault of my predecessor's bad gambling father.

Zhou Qing sat on a big rock and rested for a while, and the women washing clothes soon started talking again.

‘It’s great to speak energetically! ’

Zhou Qing sighed in his heart. As his eyes gradually lost focus, he seemed to be wandering out of his mind and saw a 'Jade Wat' tablet in his mind, with a line of text written on it.

[Occupation: Silkworm farmer]

[Technique: Sericulture and mulberry harvesting]

[Progress: Proficient (125/800)]

[Effect: Ingenuity and dexterity, a good hand at stripping away cocoons. 】

Zhou Qing was in a daze looking at the Jade Wat Board in his mind.

Thinking back to two months ago, he had just graduated from college and volunteered to work as a volunteer in the disaster-stricken area. His car encountered a landslide on the way, sending him directly to this ancient world called Dajin.

Heishan Town, where he is currently located, is located at the foot of the outer mountains of Shiwanda Mountain in southern Xinjiang, and is built next to the Heishui River.

When he first crossed over, he was still a little excited.

Especially when he discovered the Jade Tablet in his soul, he thought that the plot in the novel was about to appear in his body.

Originally, Zhou Qing had both parents. He and his father raised silkworms, and his mother reeled and spun silk.

My mother was pregnant two months ago and the fetus was a little unstable.

Her father sent her to the county town to see a doctor, but when she came back, she was already a corpse.

The predecessor also suffered from excessive grief and died.

Originally, the father and son were dependent on each other and could still live their lives, but unexpectedly, after his father came back from the county town that day, his temperament changed drastically. He no longer raised silkworms. Instead, he drank and gambled all day long and became a street rogue.

Zhou Qing tried to persuade him, but was beaten violently.

He relied on the Jade Wat Board in his soul to raise silkworms and collect mulberries, and awakened as a "sericulture farmer". His hands became more flexible and he became more proficient in reeling silk, but his life became more and more difficult.

Originally, he wanted to take a gamble, and while his dead father Zhou went out to gamble, he sold his family's silkworms and two adobe houses, and went to a martial arts gym to pay tuition and practice martial arts.

With the Jade Wat's ability to awaken professions and the ability to display a progress bar, there is always a way to survive.

Unfortunately, he went to the martial arts school, and the martial arts master touched his bones for a while and then asked him to go home.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that his physical fitness and qualifications were not bad, but he was injured by his father Zhou Xian and had no money for medical treatment. As a result, his internal organs were damaged and his qi and blood were deficient.

Now that the injury has basically recovered, but the vitality is damaged, martial arts training will only encourage the recurrence of old injuries, causing fatigue and seven injuries. Not only is there no possibility of progress, but it will also put one's life in danger.

Zhou Qing asked several martial arts schools and got the same answer.

In despair, Zhou Qing just wanted to escape from here.

However, Zhou Xian knew about his plans to sell silkworms and houses.

That time Zhou Qing took out a kitchen knife and fought hard, but Zhou Xian didn't dare to attack him.

Zhou Qing even thought of taking a risk and killing Zhou Xian with one knife.

However, Mr. Zhou was a gambler and drunkard, but his physical fitness was excellent and his strength was much greater than that of ordinary farmers.

Unless he makes a sneak attack, Zhou Qing will definitely not be able to defeat him.

Besides, he couldn't escape far if he killed someone, so he endured it.

He pinned all his hopes on sericulture. As long as he continued to improve his proficiency in sericulture and mulberry harvesting, he would surely see a turn for the better.

‘Bad gambler! Rotten drunkard! Why don't you die? ’

Zhou Qing was so hungry that he was dizzy and cursed in his heart.

At this time, a hand as black and as rough as tree bark stretched out in front of Zhou Qing, with a wowotou lying in his hand.

‘Hallucination? ’ Zhou Qing thought he was so hungry that he was hallucinating, but he even looked at Wo Wo Tou for a few seconds, but it still didn’t disappear.

Zhou Qing raised his head.

An old woman with gray hair who looked to be in her fifties or sixties said to him:

"I'm a lonely old woman. She's old and has a bad appetite. I'll give it to you."

"Thank you!" Zhou Qing was stunned for a moment and grabbed the wowotou that was as hard as a stone.

He carefully broke off a small piece and stuffed it into his mouth.

The dry, hard and bitter steamed buns tasted so sweet, better than any delicious food in the previous life.

Zhou Qing chewed hard and was reluctant to swallow it directly.

He knelt down directly by the stream and ate the wowotou in the stream.

Even the little bits of debris that fell into the cracks of the rocks were picked up and stuffed into his mouth.

‘Come alive! ’

Although I was still hungry, the feeling in my stomach was different.

"If you are hungry in the future, come to me at this time. As long as I have work to do, I will give you a woofou." Grandma said to Zhou Qing.

"Grandma, thank you! When I sell the silk, I"

Zhou Qing's face was full of gratitude, but his grandmother shook her head at him, saying that she didn't expect anything in return.

Originally, what Zhou Qing wanted to say was, ‘A favor from a meal will be repaid with a thousand pieces of gold in the future. ’

However, when I think about the current situation,

At most, he can afford to give his grandma a few full meals, provided the silkworms are strong enough.

"Go back, the silkworms won't be hungry." Grandma pointed to the basket behind Zhou Qing.

Zhou Qing didn't say anything more, bowed to his grandmother, picked up the basket, and walked towards home.

"I'm selling steamed buns! Two big meat buns for three cents!"

"Snake soup! The cauliflower snake soup we just cooked is so delicious. Try it while it's hot!"

Zhou Qing entered the town, and the market was full of vendors selling goods along the street.

Most people sell breakfast early in the morning.

The aroma lingering on the tip of his nose made Zhou Qing hungry again.

It's just that the market road is the shortest way back to Xin'an Lane where his home is located.

‘They all stink! They all stink! ’

Zhou Qing thought silently in his heart.

After finally reaching the end of the street, a young man with a pockmarked face ran over, shouting as he ran.

"Ah Qing, Ah Qing! It's not good! Your father is dead!"

"What did you say?!" Looking at Wang Mazi running closer, Zhou Qing's eyes widened.

"Your father is dead. He got drunk and fell into the pond and drowned!" Wang Mazi said hurriedly.

"Uncle Jun, can I put the basket here for a while?"

Zhou Qing suppressed his emotions and came to the bean curd stall nearby.

The owner of the bean curd stall is a middle-aged man, and people nearby call him Lao Li. He often boasted to others that when he was young, he was a well-known handsome young man from all over the country. He was said to have so many relatives that he almost broke the threshold of his family.

"Okay! Go home and take a look!" Lao Li liked the young men to call him Uncle Jun. He took the basket from Zhou Qing's back and placed it against the wall.

"Mazi, go quickly!"

Zhou Qing couldn't wait to rush home.

After hearing the bad and good news, he had to go see it with his own eyes.

"Aqing, wait for me!"

Wang Mazi quickly chased after him, but he couldn't catch up with Zhou Qing.