Chapter 70: Dire Situation
“Woo woo…”
[Host, host, wake up!]
Mu Lantu felt the cold rain slamming into his face like little stones, stinging painfully. His whole body hurt as if he’d just been beaten up. Something wet and rough was licking his face, not too gently but not hard either.
He struggled to open his eyes, but the rain stung them, forcing him to close them again instinctively.
Propping himself up with difficulty, he finally dared to open his eyes. He wiped the rain from his face and realized he was lying beside a river.
The rain was pouring down, creating a hazy mist that blurred the ground.
There wasn’t a single person in sight.
His palm was licked again. Startled, he quickly pulled his hand back and turned his head.
A gray stray dog lay weakly on the ground. Its soaked fur was matted and filthy. Two dark, round eyes stared at him helplessly, while pitiful whimpers escaped its throat. Beneath its head, the small hollow in the ground was filled with a mixture of rainwater and blood—bright red.
[Host, quickly find shelter from the rain!] 005 said with concern.
Enduring the pain, Mu Lantu crawled up from the ground. He took a pill for internal injuries and then ran toward a cluster of buildings in the distance, forcing himself to endure the pounding headache as he absorbed this body’s memories.
The stray dog followed behind him the whole way, though he didn’t notice.
Standing under the eaves, after fully receiving the memories, Mu Lantu’s expression turned cold.
This time, he had transmigrated to the 1970s.
This world’s historical trajectory was similar to that of his original world, but the leaders had different names. It appeared to be a parallel universe.
The original owner of this body was also named Mu Lantu, and his family situation was unusually complicated.
Father: Mu Aijun, a workshop director at a steel factory in Jiang City.
Mother (technically stepmother): Sun Yuhe, an ordinary worker at a textile factory.
When Mu Lantu was seven, his birth mother died of illness. Mu Aijun, through introduction, married Sun Yuhe, a widow with two children.
Mu Aijun brought two kids into the marriage: Mu Lantu (7); Mu Xiuxiu (4)
Sun Yuhe brought her two children: Xia Hongbing (8); Xia Honghong (5)
After marriage, the couple had two more children together: a daughter and a son.
In total, the Mu family had six children: Mu Hongbing – 19 years old; Mu Lantu – 18; Mu Honghong – 16; Mu Xiuxiu – 15; Mu Lanlan – 10; Mu Hongtu – 7
This was a time of material scarcity. Buying things required not just money, but ration tickets. Even though Mu Aijun earned 54 yuan per month and Sun Yuhe 36 yuan per month, resources were still limited.
As the saying goes: “With a stepmother comes a stepfather.” Mu Lantu and Mu Xiuxiu received the least attention.
After Sun Yuhe had her own two children with Mu Aijun, Mu Lantu got even fewer resources. In this family, no one protected him, and he was the one who suffered the most.
This time, he passed out by the river after a fight with Mu Hongbing.
It was 1972, and Mu Lantu had just graduated from high school. The local committee issued a notice to send another batch of educated youth to the countryside.
Every family had to send their eligible children (15 years and older) unless they could: Get a job in the city; For girls: marry someone with a job; Be exempted due to serious illness or disability.
The younger siblings Mu Lanlan and Mu Hongtu were too young. The remaining four—Mu Hongbing, Mu Lantu, Mu Honghong, and Mu Xiuxiu—all faced forced relocation, and none of them wanted to go.
So, all four tried to get the parents’ factory jobs.
But Mu Aijun (39) and Sun Yuhe (just turned 40) were both in their prime. Neither agreed to retire.
The house had been filled with arguments daily.
Mu Aijun, being a workshop director with some connections, spent 600 yuan and a big favor to buy one job slot at a glass factory.
But the job was intended for Mu Hongbing.
After years of marriage, Mu Aijun had long been under Sun Yuhe’s influence and neglected his own children, favoring hers instead.
The original Mu Lantu objected. Being clever, he used public opinion to pressure Mu Aijun and brought in his uncle and maternal grandparents for support.
Under pressure, Mu Aijun reluctantly agreed to give the job slot to Mu Lantu.
That sparked more resentment from Sun Yuhe and Mu Hongbing.
Sun Yuhe started withholding Mu Lantu’s food, and Mu Hongbing went further—he tricked Mu Lantu’s friend Song Chao into luring him to the river, where they fought.
Mu Lantu hadn’t eaten properly in days. Naturally, he lost to the well-fed and muscular Mu Hongbing and was not only beaten badly, but also forced to drink river water with his head held down.
Now, looking back, Mu Lantu shivered. He suspected Mu Hongbing had actually tried to kill him.
Why else would he have chosen to fight on a rainy day? Because rain washes away evidence.
If the original body had drowned after passing out, even if the police investigated, they wouldn’t have found anything suspicious.
“Woo woo…”
Mu Lantu snapped back to reality. The stray dog was curled in a corner, whimpering with misty eyes. He picked it up and gave it a pill for internal injuries.
This dog was a stray, a mutt with no owner. The original Mu Lantu had fed it twice out of pity, and it remembered him.
During the fight, the dog had even tried to help—though it was too small and got kicked around by Mu Hongbing.
“You’ll follow me from now on. I should give you a name… How about Little Zhang?”
The dog’s ears twitched—unclear whether in agreement or protest.
“Go find a place to recover for now. I’ll take you with me in a few days.”
The dog, now named Little Zhang, seemed to understand. It whimpered and wagged its tail, looking somewhat happy.
Mu Lantu squatted and placed it gently back on the ground, rubbing its head. Such loyalty—it’s worth it.
[Little Five, open the system panel.]
The system panel popped up, displaying Mu Lantu’s basic information:
Host: Mu Lantu
Age: 18
Profession: Not yet drawn
Cheat Ability: Not yet drawn
Wealth: 1.63 yuan
Worlds Experienced: Ancient fantasy, Wuxia world, Modern Society
Lifelong Achievements: Master of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Strength of a Bull, Spirit Spring
Mu Lantu suddenly stood up.
So, the reward he got from the last world was Spirit Spring?
[Little Five, is this “Spirit Spring” the kind I’m thinking of?]
005 replied proudly:
[Yes, host! It’s exactly what you think! Haven’t I told you? The system’s wonders are beyond your imagination!]
Mu Lantu calmed down. Fair enough.
He stared at the fifth column for a while longer.
[I only have 1 yuan and 63 cents right now? You must be joking.]
[I’m not.] 005 secretly enjoyed his reaction.
[You had 11 yuan and 63 cents. But five minutes ago, your “sister” stole 10 yuan.]
Mu Lantu didn’t even need to ask to know that “sister” referred to Mu Xiuxiu.
It wasn’t her first time stealing from him.
Though they were full siblings, their relationship was the worst.
Mu Xiuxiu had always been cunning and precocious, aware since childhood that Sun Yuhe was her stepmother. She worked hard to please her. To win favor, she often teamed up with Mu Hongbing and Mu Honghong to bully Mu Lantu—from stealing his food to outright violence.
Even worse, she expected Mu Lantu, as her full brother, to take her side unconditionally, and believed he should constantly give in to her.
Of all the children in the Mu family, Mu Lantu had resented Mu Xiuxiu the most. But because they were biological siblings, he never could bring himself to retaliate and just endured again and again.
During the first two years of Mu Aijun and Sun Yuhe’s marriage, Mu Aijun treated Mu Lantu well. Everything changed when Sun Yuhe gave birth to a son.
The original Mu Lantu started saving money, not even clearly knowing why—just that having money made him feel safe.
Where did the money come from?
Mostly from selling scrap. Scrap didn’t fetch much. By the second year of middle school, he’d managed to save 3 yuan, but before he could celebrate, Mu Xiuxiu stole it.
She was still young and careless. She used the money to buy snacks and drinks, didn’t hide them well, and was caught.
They kept it quiet, and the family never found out.
After that, Mu Lantu changed his hiding place—but she still found it.
Forget her for now.
[Little Five, draw profession and cheat ability.]
[Please proceed to draw your profession and cheat ability.]
[Congratulations! Host has become a merchant. Confetti!]
Mu Lantu smiled coldly. A merchant? In an era where doing business was considered profiteering? Seriously?
[Congratulations! Host has obtained the “Labor Glory Board.”]
Mu Lantu frowned. That didn’t sound like much of a cheat.
A cold wind blew past. He shivered.
His clothes were still soaking wet.
He took two sips of Spirit Spring water, warming up from the inside out.
Glancing at the still-pouring rain, he shielded his head with both arms and dashed out.
After a few steps, Mu Lantu hesitated, looking back at the dog. Should he give it some Spirit Spring water now? It would heal faster.
But then he thought: if it recovered too quickly and he couldn’t keep it safe within two days, someone might catch and eat it. That would be worse.
So, he gave up on the idea and kept running home.
