Chapter 1

### Chapter 1: From the Sky

After a day of hard work, a group of couriers walked out of the company's residential area. Chen Xie declined his colleagues' invitation to go to a large outdoor restaurant for drinks. He rode his electric scooter to a chaotic building area on the outskirts of the city, where he rented a small room for 800 yuan a month. Every morning, he would set off from here and travel for over an hour to reach his company, which was located in a more suburban area.

As a courier, a profession widely appreciated by the "剁手党" (剁手党, a term for avid online shoppers), Chen Xie's life story was not complicated. When he was six months old, his irresponsible parents abandoned him at the doorstep of the Dashan Township Welfare Institute. He grew up under the loving care of Aunt Wu, the director. Despite various hardships, Chen Xie managed to grow up and even got admitted to a mediocre junior college to study medicine.

The reason he chose this particular school was not driven by any lofty life goals but simply because his academic performance was average. There were many reasons for his poor grades, one of the main ones being the immense living pressure. Aunt Wu, with her limited monthly allowance, could hardly provide a proper learning environment. At the age of sixteen, Chen Xie secretly went to construction sites to carry cement buckets, earning 50 yuan a day, which he would hand over entirely to Aunt Wu. Aunt Wu could only pat his head and sigh deeply. After three years of muddling through junior college, he could treat minor illnesses but not serious ones. Chen Xie opened a small clinic next to the Dashan Township Welfare Institute, but it was soon shut down by a local official due to illegal medical practice, after he offended a relative of a deputy township head.

Chen Xie had to close his clinic, as he indeed did not have a medical license. However, similar unlicensed clinics in rural areas were not uncommon, and the authorities often turned a blind eye. Although life was tough, it had to go on. There were still dozens of children in the welfare institute, and Chen Xie could not stand by and watch Aunt Wu struggle with the living expenses alone.

When he parked his scooter, the short and chubby landlord, Aunt Liu, appeared with a stern face. Chen Xie handed her the prepared envelope. Her stern expression instantly turned into a smile as she skillfully extracted the money, wet her fingers with saliva, and quickly counted it twice to ensure there were no mistakes. She then said, "Xiaocheng, you're doing well. Don't blame me for my stern look; it's just that collecting rent nowadays is like squeezing toothpaste. Some tenants will drag it out if you don't put on a tough face."

Chen Xie smiled, showing understanding, though he inwardly disagreed. Everyone living in this area was struggling. If they had money, who would live in such a place? A room of about ten square meters could be divided into two, and the entire second floor, which was only about forty square meters, was divided into six rooms. After accounting for the ten square meters taken up by the toilet and kitchen, each room was barely over five square meters.

The landlord, satisfied, waddled away with her plump bottom. Chen Xie looked up at the three-story building, feeling a deep sense of disgust. He did not want to return to that cramped space but had nowhere else to go. Apart from aimlessly wandering the streets, everything else required money. Although delivering packages was hard work, he could earn about 6,000 yuan a month if he worked diligently. Every month, Chen Xie sent 3,000 yuan to Aunt Wu, and after paying the rent, he had very little left.

With his salary just paid, Chen Xie decided to treat himself to a good meal at a nearby Shaxian Delicacies restaurant.

A bowl of fried rice, a chicken leg, two pieces of braised tofu, and a tea egg—this was a rare luxury for Chen Xie since he started working as a courier.

It was hot, so the restaurant owner set up tables and chairs outside. Chen Xie sat down and ordered his meal. Next to the restaurant was a hair salon. Two women, who looked to be in their thirties, with thick layers of makeup, sat on plastic chairs, their short skirts revealing their white thighs. They swung their legs and eyed every passing man. If anyone paused, they would enthusiastically pounce, inviting them in for a "massage."

One of Chen Xie's colleagues had visited this hair salon and vividly described the "massage" process to everyone: 30 yuan for a hand job, 50 yuan for oral, and 100 yuan for the full package. As a listener, Chen Xie, who was still a virgin (masturbation didn't count), felt his blood boil and his heart race.

Despite his excitement, Chen Xie remained disciplined and abandoned his fleeting thoughts of a night at the hair salon. Thirty yuan could buy Aunt Wu a day's worth of vegetables. To support Chen Xie's education and the clinic, Aunt Wu had borrowed over 10,000 yuan, which she had not yet repaid.

Forcing his eyes away from the exposed thighs, Chen Xie waited for his meal, pondering which action movie to watch on his second-hand computer that evening. Should it be Aki, Bodo, or Miki? He concluded that the movies he had downloaded over a year ago were outdated in this era of new talent.

Deciding to have a drink instead, he would go home, take a shower, and go to bed. Too much of certain entertainment activities could be harmful to one's health.

A 200ml bottle of Niu Lan Shan Erguotou was quite potent. Accompanied by the chicken leg and braised tofu, the bottle was quickly empty. Still feeling unsatisfied, Chen Xie glanced at the bottle and resisted the urge for another, quickly finishing his fried rice.

It was already dark, and the streetlights were on, illuminating the exposed thighs of the women in short skirts and shorts, stimulating Chen Xie's adrenal glands. Utilizing his 1.8-meter height, he subtly and discreetly admired the deep cleavages intentionally exposed, intensifying his desire to watch action movies.

Cold water was effective, successfully calming Chen Xie down. He put on a pair of large shorts, bare-chested, and looked out the window at the world of lights. Repeating Aunt Wu's advice, "As long as you work hard, you will be rewarded," Chen Xie completed his self-deception and psychological therapy. Suddenly, he saw a light ball flying toward the window, moving quickly. Chen Xie only saw a flash of white, briefly losing his sight, followed by a mechanical voice: "Congratulations, intelligent carbohydrate!"

Intelligent carbohydrate? Is this talking to me?

Chen Xie looked around in confusion. The cramped single room, the bed piled with clothes, and the second-hand computer were all gone. The room was not large, about 34 square meters, and the voice came from a high point on the front wall. Without looking up, Chen Xie saw a giant screen, or rather, the entire wall was a screen.

After a moment of distortion, a human head appeared on the screen, looked at Chen Xie, and the mechanical voice said, "Female, figure should be S-shaped, measurements should be..." Chen Xie's brain completely froze as a fiery hot female nude emerged from the screen.

Snap, the nude woman snapped her fingers and continued, "I need some clothes." Various styles of women's clothing appeared on her body, finally settling on a low-cut summer dress.

"This one, the latest style from Chanel this summer."

Chen Xie was completely petrified, like a clay or wooden statue, staring blankly with no expression in his eyes.

"Alright, my entrance was quite impressive! It fully meets the aesthetic standards of this time and space. Now, it's time for the introduction. I am the time travel machine, code 9527, at your service!"

Silence... Silence... Silence...

Chen Xie saw an East Asian face with a figure as tall as a Caucasian woman. This combination did not feel out of place but rather created a harmonious beauty.

"The rate of your adrenal hormone secretion is high. According to the explanation of intelligent carbohydrates, you are in a state of arousal, eager to find a mating partner," the mechanical voice said again, suppressing Chen Xie's impulse.

"A very strange phenomenon. Your arousal decreased quickly as soon as I spoke. Is there something wrong with my voice? Unfortunately, while I can change my appearance, I cannot change my voice, as it is set by the initial program. I need time to find and discover a voice that pleases you."

Chen Xie regained his senses. The woman's lips did not move, yet she spoke. At this moment, Chen Xie suddenly remembered that the combination of the woman's face and figure was exactly the same as the two goddesses on his computer desktop: the body of Anne Hathaway and the face of a certain Li surname female celebrity.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't find a voice in your native language on your computer," the mechanical voice said again, still without moving her lips. Chen Xie, being a person who easily accepted reality, calmly raised his hand, "Alright, it's my turn to speak. First, are you sure you are a time travel machine? Second, where am I now? Lastly, why am I here?"

"I won't repeat the first question; I am an honest program. Second, you are inside the time travel machine. Third, as a randomly selected time traveler, you are here. There are nearly 7 billion intelligent carbohydrates on this planet, and you are the only lucky one."

The answer was clear. The white light ball that descended from the sky was probably the time travel machine, code 9527. The question was, why did this code sound so familiar?

"Last question, where will you take me? Can I go back and prepare?"

"It's not that I will take you somewhere, but I can help you travel between two different times. The specific reason I cannot tell you, but you only need to know that this will happen. Within three days, you will decide when the time travel begins, not me. The destination is roughly the late Ming Dynasty."

---

**End of Chapter 1**