Transmigrated As The Husband Of The Contrasting Couple [Transmigration Novel] - Chapter 1

Northern Vietnam was a desolate and barren land.

This place was sparsely populated, with infertile soil, harsh and volatile weather, and extreme temperature differences between day and night. It was unsuitable for large-scale farming, so managing to feed oneself was already about as good as it got.

As for wanting to eat one’s fill, save up a sum of silver, and live a moderately prosperous life, that was practically impossible. Every household had to tighten their belts just to get by.

This region was also one of the most notorious places of exile appointed by the imperial court. Countless people felt their chests grow tight with shortness of breath and their hearts turn to ashes just hearing its name.

And Xu Qiu was born right here.

At this moment, in a small mountain village within Northern Vietnam, Xu Qiu was squatting under a tree at the entrance of his courtyard, eating fruit. If there was one thing their region lacked, it was certainly not wild fruits and beasts. Of course, the fruit he was eating was not picked from the mountains, but grown inside his own spatial dimension.

His space was just like the farming games he used to play, complete with its own seeds, so Xu Qiu never lacked food after transmigrating.

Naturally, he would not flagrantly pull out fruits that looked completely alien to the local area.

What he was currently crunching on in his hand was a pear, the exact same variety as the ones growing on their local mountains. The only difference was that one was a genetically optimized superior cultivar, while the other was just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill variety.

His mother, Mrs. Li, was also holding a pear and eating it while remarking, “The fruit my son picks every time is always the sweetest. This pear has thin skin, sweet flesh, and plenty of juice. It is completely different from the ones your father used to bring back. The ones we ate in the past were never this fragrant.”

Hearing this, Xu Qiu said lazily, “Then I will go pick some more for Mom next time.”

The weather these days was far too hot, specifically the humid kind of heat that made people feel as though they were being steamed alive. Xu Qiu had a weak constitution, so the scorching sun left him even more drained of energy.

Furthermore, he was bored.

He had nothing to do.

Of course, this only applied to him. Because his health had been poor since childhood, Mrs. Li leaned toward favoring her youngest son, sparing him from any heavy or grueling labor. In truth, it was not that she had never made him work before. Although Mrs. Li doted on him, her leniency was primarily based on the fact that his health required constant care ever since he was little, rather than her loving her other two sons any less.

Fearing a rift would form among her three sons, Mrs. Li used to appropriately push him to do a bit more work as well.

And then he had actually fainted right on the spot.

Ever since then, Mrs. Li stopped doing that. Xu Qiu’s eldest and second elder brothers did not hold any grudges against him either; in fact, the two elder brothers would much rather do extra physical labor themselves and run around full of vitality than end up like their youngest brother, who had to drink bitter medicinal concoctions at the slightest turn. Especially living in such a harsh and desolate frontier environment, being like that was practically waiting to die.

They much preferred their own solid, muscular builds.

Xu Qiu liked that too. Who wouldn’t want to have big muscles!

He just didn’t have them.

At this moment, upon hearing his words, Mrs. Li added, “Do not go deep into the mountains. You know very well how many wild beasts roam up there. Your health is poor, so you need to have some sense of self-awareness.”

“I did not go deep inside,” Xu Qiu pacified her, his head throbbing. “I just picked them right on the outer edges.”

Mrs. Li let out a cold snort, clearly taking his words with a grain of salt. “What do the fruits on the outer edges taste like? Do you take your mother for someone who has lived this long without ever eating them?”

She figured that anything this sweet would have long since been picked clean by the villagers if it were on the outskirts. There was no way it would fall to her family’s little sickly weakling.

Still, she did not suspect that Xu Qiu had ventured too deep. After all, even experienced hunters in the village did not dare casually step foot into the deep mountains. The deep mountains of Northern Vietnam were entirely different from ordinary village hills.

Venomous snakes and fierce beasts prowled there without a shred of hesitation.

The fact that her youngest son had returned in one piece meant the spot must have been safe. Even so, logic was logic, and Mrs. Li could not help worrying. Yet since Xu Qiu let her words go in one ear and out the other, and she had already lectured him every single time beforehand, she could not keep giving him a sour face when the boy specifically brought the fruit back to please her.

Xu Qiu added, “Mom, you can rest assured. I really did not go too deep. Besides, you know me, my archery hits the target every single time.”

That much was actually true.

Just as the mother and son were chatting, a commotion broke out from a nearby house not far away.

Mrs. Li raised a finger, making a shushing gesture.

Then, using the wall of their own house as cover, she stealthily crept over to watch the spectacle.

Xu Qiu followed along to squat beside her. “Their family is starting up their arguments again.”

Mrs. Li’s gaze remained firmly fixed on the scene without blinking, while her mouth kept right up. “Of course. They are both grandsons, yet that old matriarch’s heart is so biased it practically reaches her throat. One is doted on to the heavens, while the other is treated like an ox to plow fields. How could they not fight? This has been brewing for over a decade. But that child is not going to get the upper hand.”

When a grandson went up against the head of the household, a single charge of unfilial behavior alone was enough to let everyone point fingers at him. Moreover, that old Mrs. Lin was far from a foolish person.

Xu Qiu nodded, clearly having anticipated this long ago.

In fact, this was not the first time he had listened to the Lin family next door arguing.

Furthermore, he was well aware that the people over there were the main characters of a book.

Oh, right, he was one too, the cannon fodder fiancé of the protagonist shou.

For now, that title of fiancé had yet to be removed from his head.