Chapter 1: Full House of Descendants
Yang Zhengshan had a very long and vivid dream. In the dream, he became an ancient person.
As a child, he followed his father to practice martial arts. His father was very strict with him, often scolding him with a small wooden stick. Later, his father went hunting in the mountains and was severely injured by a beast. Yang Zhengshan remembered his father being carried down the mountain, covered in blood, and he wept bitterly.
In the dream, he then enlisted in the army, fought in a brutal war, and was injured. After a year, he retired and returned to his hometown. He got married to a beautiful woman and had a son.
It seemed like twenty years had passed in the dream. The family became more and more crowded, with many children and grandchildren. But then, his wife fell ill and passed away, leaving him in despair.
The dream became increasingly fragmented and unclear. Suddenly, Yang Zhengshan opened his eyes and found himself in a familiar house, looking at the wooden beam on the ceiling. This beam was very familiar to him, as he had seen it countless times in his dream.
“not a dream!”
Yang Zhengshan’s eyes widened, and his heart raced.
He sat up, threw off the thick quilt, and looked around the room. He saw a earthen bed, a dark wooden box, two worn-out quilts, and a window with paper-covered latticework. Someone outside was calling out to feed the chickens.
Yang Zhengshan’s mind was in a daze. How did he, a young man living in modern society, become a rural elderly man with many children and grandchildren?
He saw a woman wearing a coarse, long skirt, feeding the chickens in the courtyard. This must be his daughter-in-law! Yang Zhengshan’s face twitched uncontrollably.
What’s going on?!
Old Master Yang Zhengshan had a massive headache.
Yang Zhengshan sat back down, feeling overwhelmed.
In a feudal society, people got married early. In his dream, he enlisted in the army at fifteen, retired at sixteen, and got married at seventeen. Now, he was thirty-eight years old. In modern times, thirty-eight wasn’t considered old, but Yang Zhengshan still felt like he had aged ten years.
His son outside called out, “Dad, are you up? It’s time for breakfast!”
Yang Zhengshan felt like crying.
His son, Yang Mingcheng, was twenty years old and had two children of his own. Yang Zhengshan couldn’t believe he had such a big family.
“Son, are you thinking of your mom again?” Yang Mingcheng asked.
Yang Zhengshan buried his head in the quilt. As a middle-aged man, the three great joys in life were getting promoted, becoming wealthy, and having a son. But his wife had passed away; was that a joy?
“Let’s eat first,” Yang Zhengshan said, not wanting to face the crowd.
His stomach growled loudly, and Yang Mingcheng said, “Dad, you’re hungry.”
Yang Zhengshan reluctantly got up. He had to face the reality of being a grandfather.
He walked out of the room and saw his big family gathered in the main hall. There were five children, two daughters-in-law, two grandsons, and one granddaughter. Yang Zhengshan’s legs felt weak.
Yang Zhengshan took a deep breath and tried to recall the habits of his original body. He was not a talkative person, and his original body was similar.
There were so many people in the family, and they all called him “Dad” or “Grandpa.” Yang Zhengshan felt overwhelmed.
The family wasn’t wealthy, and they only had twenty acres of land. The recent harvests had been poor, making it difficult to make ends meet.
Yang Zhengshan’s heart ached, thinking about how to feed this big family. He looked at his reflection in the water and felt like crying.
He was no longer the young, handsome man he used to be.
Yang Zhengshan sighed and walked back to the main hall, where his family was waiting for him.
There was a big breakfast spread in front of him, with porridge, corn cakes, and vegetables. Yang Zhengshan’s stomach growled, but he couldn’t bring himself to eat the corn cakes, which were too coarse and difficult to swallow.
His grandson, Yang Chengyi, offered him his own porridge, saying, “Grandpa, you can have my porridge.”
Yang Zhengshan’s eyes became complicated, looking at his little grandson. This child was only three years old and already knew how to show filial piety. Yang Zhengshan felt a mix of emotions.
“You eat, I’m not hungry,” Yang Zhengshan said, pushing the porridge away.
The family finished breakfast and started to clean up. Yang Zhengshan said, “I’ll take a rest. You all go and do your work.”
As he walked back to his room, his heart felt heavy. He really didn’t want to be a grandfather, but he couldn’t blame a small child.
Yang Zhengshan sighed and lay down on his bed, feeling overwhelmed by this new reality.
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