Chapter 1: Transmigration

Maple Leaf Brigade.

Fang Mingxi lay on the bed, pacifier in her mouth, utterly listless, taking in the suddenly changed surroundings.

This was not her familiar bedroom. It wasn’t the cozy, cream-colored living room she loved, nor the massive, plant-filled balcony of her home.

The house before her was dilapidated, dimly lit, and barely ten square meters in size.

A large hole in the straw roof let in several beams of light, which fell on a clay pot in the corner, illuminating the leftover rice soup she had just drunk.

The nearby wooden door hung precariously on its frame, threatening to fall at any moment. Beneath her lay a hard-packed earthen bed, cold air seeping into her body no matter how she shifted.

Fang Mingxi turned her head again and looked at the little girl sitting at the foot of the bed, chattering nonstop after feeding her the rice soup.

The girl didn’t notice her staring, fully absorbed in braiding a few strands of straw, occasionally mumbling words that felt both familiar and strange to Fang Mingxi.

Piecing the clues together reluctantly, Fang Mingxi realized a truth she didn’t want to accept:

She had transmigrated.

Just a day ago, she had finished a long-term project and was looking forward to finally enjoying her weekend with the newly downloaded “Mountain-Harvest Trading Game”. Yet, in the blink of an eye, she had crossed over, into the body of a baby with the same name, destined to die of a fever in eight months.

What made it worse, this was a special era.

Fang Mingxi bit down on her pacifier, itching to ask the heavens what she had done wrong.

Vast, flourishing country… she hadn’t even enjoyed a few good days, and yet fate had chosen this moment to transmigrate her.

[Ding! Mountain-Harvest Trading Game has successfully launched. Congratulations, Host, for logging in and receiving a Beginner’s Gift Pack ×1.]

[Mountain-Harvest Trading Game loaded. Host, please begin exploration as soon as possible.]

Cursing silently in her mind, Fang Mingxi froze as she clearly heard the voice. Her expression shifted from gloom to delight in an instant.

The mountain-harvest trading game game, the casual management game she had downloaded, allowed players to gather mountain goods and wild foods to run a shop. Unfortunately, she hadn’t gotten the chance to play it yet.

Now, the game had become a golden finger. With it, she had no reason to worry about surviving in this harsh era.

The mountains were full of mushrooms and animals; even a small portion would count as rare food.

Furthermore, the little girl had mentioned that the family of this body were grandparents. Elderly people were fragile in these times, and with a golden finger, Fang Mingxi could at least protect them.

Yet one question nagged at her: an eight-month-old baby should logically be with her parents. Why was she with her grandparents in a re-settlement location? Where were the parents of this body?

Fang Mingxi turned to the little girl, hoping to glean more information.

The girl had revealed a lot but hadn’t said who she was. She helped change diapers and feed rice soup, was she family? Yet, since she addressed the grandparents as “Grandpa” and “Grandma,” it seemed she wasn’t. Could she be another child sent to the same location?

Fang Mingxi widened her round eyes, eagerly waiting for more hints. But whether she was tired or otherwise, the girl suddenly began to cry while braiding the straw rope.

Her control was impressive, she cried silently, eyes reddening, lips pouting as little tears fell.

Fang Mingxi: “…It’s not me. I didn’t do anything.”

Abandoning her quest for information, she refocused on her golden finger.

Just now, she thought she heard “trading” added to the Mountain-Harvest game. Could she trade using her golden finger?

Curious, Fang Mingxi summoned the game in her mind. No sooner had she done so than a transparent virtual screen appeared before her.

[Mountain-Harvest Trading Game loaded. Host, please begin exploration as soon as possible.]

It was the same red, bold announcement as before. Fang Mingxi mentally closed it and checked the game’s main panel.

At the center was a green mountain icon, marked as unlocked, with “Exploration ×1” displayed.

The bottom right had a basket containing a large gift tied with a bow, presumably the Beginner’s Gift Pack.

The bottom left showed an orange stall cart with a question mark, marked as locked.

Could this cart be related to trading?

Fang Mingxi’s curiosity grew as she stared at the mountain icon. If the golden finger worked like the promo video, it should involve mountain searching, but should she explore using her consciousness or her physical body?

Just as she considered clicking “Explore,” a soft female voice came from outside. In the next moment, the barely-standing door was gently pushed open by a pair of hands.

“Yaoyao, Xixi, are you awake?”

Fang Mingxi stiffened and quickly hid the panel, shoving her pacifier back into her mouth.

An elderly woman in a white shirt quietly entered, followed by an elderly man carrying a water jug.

Their clothes were worn but clean and tidy.

The man had thick eyebrows and large eyes, a buzz cut, and a lively expression. The woman was gentle and delicate, hair neatly combed, faint wrinkles at her eyes, and a hint of fatigue on her face.

Time had never defeated a beauty, this was Fang Mingxi’s first impression of the elderly woman.

Both had sunburned faces and were sweating heavily, fanning themselves with a straw hat.

When the little girl, Tang Yao, saw them return, she immediately wiped her tears, put on her shoes, and got off the bed.

“Grandpa Fang, Grandma Tong, you’re back! Xixi is awake, I just fed her a little rice soup.”

Upon hearing this, their faces lit up, worry vanishing instantly as they hurried to the bed to examine Fang Mingxi.

Tong Lingxian noticed Fang Mingxi staring at her with bright, alert eyes, without a trace of the morning’s irritability.

She immediately scooped Fang Mingxi up, one hand under her bottom, the other supporting her head, choking back tears as she said,

“Xixi, thank goodness, you’re finally awake.”

Fang Bo Song leaned in, also excited: “Looks like the medicine the brigade leader helped with really worked. We must properly thank him later.”

The day before, they had been relocated to the Maple Leaf Brigade. Their granddaughter had been drowsy, vomiting, and even developed a fever that night. Without the medicine secretly given by the brigade leader, they couldn’t imagine what might have happened to Fang Mingxi.

Tong Lingxian held Fang Mingxi like a long-lost treasure, refusing to let go, even forgetting Tang Yao was beside her.

Fang Mingxi, however, had already gone completely blank the moment she was hugged.

Just as Tong Lingxian lifted her, a flash of a scene suddenly appeared before her eyes.

It was the two elderly people surrounding her, holding a letter, and cradling a roughly two- or three-year-old Fang Mingxi, crying their hearts out.

Their hair was white, faces deeply lined. Compared to now, they seemed to have aged ten years in an instant.

Fang Mingxi tried to zoom in to see the letter’s contents, but the scene vanished too quickly. Straining, she could only make out two words:

“Sacrifice.”

Fang Mingxi’s pupils trembled.

Sacrifice. Who had been sacrificed?