Chapter 3

Name: Chen Mo

Life Points: 10 (The initial life points of a normal person, which can be reduced by natural disasters or accidents, and increased by a rise in status)

Fortune: 10 (The minimum fortune of a normal person, if fortune falls below this value, one's luck will continuously worsen)

Money: 7 wuzhu coins

Living Skills: Farming lv7, Manure Making lv6

Combat Skills: None

Leadership Skills: None

Before going to sleep, Chen Mo summoned this ethereal interface, knelt down in the direction he could see it, and devoutly bowed three times. Although he didn't know what it was, it had indeed provided him with tremendous help. To Chen Mo, this mysterious existence was like a deity, which was also the reason he firmly believed in the existence of deities. However, he still didn't know how to address this entity, so he could only express his gratitude in this manner for the changes it had brought to his life.

After the bowing, Chen Mo lay in bed, but his mind was preoccupied with the function of this mysterious existence, a topic he pondered every day.

Since he had confirmed that those symbols were numbers, Chen Mo remembered that his skills had gradually changed from 1 to 7. Each time there was a change, he would gain some mysterious knowledge. Did this mean that if he could learn other skills, he could also improve as quickly as he had with farming and manure making?

In the past, Chen Mo had spent almost all his time farming and making manure, leaving no energy for anything else. Now, although he was still busy, with the improvement of his skill levels, farming and manure making no longer occupied all his time and energy. Perhaps he could try learning some other skills.

But what should he learn?

Deep down, Chen Mo hoped to read books. The Chen family was a prestigious clan, and even though their branch had fallen on hard times, Chen Mo still aspired to read, as it was the key to changing one's fate. Unfortunately, his branch had fallen so far that they could only reminisce about past glories, lacking even the means to access books. Where could he go to read?

He also wondered about the use of life points and fortune.

Chen Mo sighed after staring at the wealth value for a moment, then fell into a deep sleep.

...

The next morning, before dawn, Chen Mo woke up, got dressed, and his mother prepared a few flatbreads for him. Food in the city was too expensive, and the Chen family's entire fortune was on Chen Mo, with only those seven wuzhu coins. His mother was afraid he wouldn't spend money on food, so she got up early to prepare the flatbreads for him.

"Don't worry, Mother. It's less than thirty miles to the county town, and I'll definitely be back before sunset," Chen Mo said with a smile, slinging his water bag over his waist and tucking the flatbreads his mother had given him into a small bundle in his chest.

"My son is only nine years old, how can I not worry?" Chen Mo's mother said, tears welling up in her eyes. She thought about how hard her child had it, growing up without a father and starting to work for the family at six years old. Just thinking about it made her heart ache. Other children of the same age might also start working, but they didn't have to shoulder the heavy burden of the household. Chen Mo, however, had been running to the city on his own since he was six to seek medical help.

"It's fine, Mother. Isn't there the village head and Uncle Aiweng?" Chen Mo didn't want to make his mother cry, so he took the embroidery she had made over the past few days and asked with a smile, "Are these for the brocade shop in the city?"

"Yes." Chen Mo's mother nodded. In the past, she had always entrusted others to sell the embroidery, but since Chen Mo was going to the city, she could let him deliver it, saving the trouble of asking others.

"Don't worry, Mother. I'll definitely be back before sunset!" Chen Mo carefully placed the embroidery and then smiled at his mother.

"Be careful when you're out. Listen to the village head, and don't act rashly. You're smart, but don't be overconfident. The county town is different from our village, and people can be treacherous. Don't trust others easily," Chen Mo's mother instructed.

Chen Mo didn't think he was particularly smart; his performance so far was all thanks to the deity. At his young age, he didn't fully understand the treachery of people, so he just nodded without really listening.

"It's getting late. I'll go find Uncle Aiweng first," Chen Mo bowed to his mother, turned around, and put a bag of millet on his back, then bid farewell to his mother and ran towards the village head's house.

The village head had arranged a donkey cart and gathered five or six other villagers who were also going to the city. They were all strong hunters, each carrying a spear or a stick as a weapon. They had heard that things were not peaceful outside in recent years, and although the road was not long, they might occasionally encounter lone bandits.

"Uncle Aiweng, Uncle Wang, Uncle Cai..." When Chen Mo arrived, everyone was already preparing to leave, so he hurriedly greeted each of them.

"I thought you might oversleep," Uncle Wang's man laughed, taking the bag from Chen Mo's back and was surprised, "Wow, that's quite heavy, about a dan, right?"

"About that," Chen Mo nodded. He didn't dare to look Uncle Wang in the eye, always feeling that he might be hit next.

(A dan in the Han Dynasty was roughly 27 jin, and the measurement units were different. A jin in the Han Dynasty was about half a jin today. I remember carrying 20 jin when I was a child, which was tiring but manageable. Children who do farm work regularly should have more strength and endurance.)

"You have some strength. Maybe you can become a general in the future!" Uncle Wang helped Chen Mo put the bag of millet on the cart and laughed.

"Generals aren't for people of our background," Uncle Cai shook his head and said to Chen Mo, "Little Manure Boy, get in the cart."

"How can I sit when all the elders are standing?" Chen Mo shook his head.

"You're just a child, how can you compare to us?" Uncle Wang laughed, "Get in the cart."

Chen Mo was very firm in his stance. He wanted everyone to treat him as an adult, not a child. Besides, he had been to the county town at six years old and didn't need their pity.

"Let him walk with us. This child is very stubborn," the village head shook his head. "He's been to the county town since he was six and can keep up."

The others, seeing that the village head had spoken, had no choice but to agree.

Thirty miles was a normal distance for people who walked regularly in this era, but for Chen Mo, a child who hadn't fully grown, to walk the whole way without complaining about fatigue was quite remarkable.

Xiaqiu County was once a feudal state, but for some reason, it was later downgraded to a county. Chen Mo had heard stories from his mother about the past, roughly two hundred years ago, when Wang Mang usurped power and renamed the place Guisi County, but it was later changed back and belonged to Linhuai Commandery.

Chen Mo didn't know why it was renamed, but the past had little to do with him. Although he had been to the county town once at six years old, he was too busy and anxious at the time to appreciate it. Now, seeing the city walls, which were as tall as three people, he was amazed. The city walls were much more impressive than the fences.

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