The morning sun filtered through the tattered window paper, casting pale, dusty beams of light across the earthen floor.
Chen Yuan opened his eyes.
He stared at the blackened wooden beams above him, cobwebs hanging in the corners like neglected curtains. His head throbbed with a dull ache, and his body felt heavy, weak—nothing like the sharp, familiar fatigue of office overtime he had lived with for twenty years.
"Third Brother, you're awake?"
A voice cut through the haze. Young, slightly cracking with puberty.
Chen Yuan turned his head. Sitting on a small wooden stool beside the *kang*—a heated brick bed—was a boy of about ten. He had a round, dirty face, bright eyes, and was currently peeling a hard-boiled egg with clumsy fingers.
"Little Ming?" Chen Yuan rasped. His voice sounded foreign to his own ears—lighter, less worn.
"Who else?" The boy smiled, revealing a missing front tooth. "Mother said you fainted yesterday from the heat. She saved this egg for you. Here." He held out the small, white oval.
Memories crashed over Chen Yuan like a tidal wave.
He wasn't in his modern apartment. He wasn't a middle-aged project manager staring down a deadline.
He was Chen Yuan, eighteen years old. The third son of the Chen family in Willow Village, Prefecture of Qingzhou, under the rule of the Great Qian Dynasty.
And he was poor.
* * *
The Chen family house was a typical northern farmhouse structure. Mud walls, a tiled roof patched with straw, and a courtyard that had seen better days.
Chen Yuan sat up slowly, the thin cotton quilt slipping off his chest. He felt the hard earth of the *kang* beneath him. It was summer, so the bed wasn't heated, making the clay surface cool against his palms.
"Mother is in the kitchen," Little Ming said, popping a piece of egg white into his mouth. "Eldest Brother and Second Brother already went to the fields. Father went to Old Li's place to discuss the harvest."
Chen Yuan nodded, his mind racing.
In his past life, he had been an orphan, raised in state care, then funneled into the relentless machine of corporate life. He had money, but no time. He had colleagues, but no family. His dream had always been simple: a ranch, a herd of cattle, a dog at his feet, and a sunset to watch.
*And now?*
He looked at his calloused, rough hands. He looked at the patched shirt he wore.
*I have a family. A big one. But this life... it's hard.*
The original Chen Yuan had been a quiet, obedient boy. He had fainted yesterday while helping to thresh wheat under the brutal summer sun. Malnutrition and overwork.
"I'll go wash up," Chen Yuan said, swinging his legs off the bed. He stumbled slightly; his legs felt like jelly.
"Careful, Third Brother!" Little Ming hopped up to support him.
Stepping out of the small side room, Chen Yuan walked into the main room of the house. It served as a living room, dining room, and ancestral hall all in one. A weathered wooden table sat in the center.
Voices drifted from the kitchen adjacent to the main room.
"His fever has broken, thank the heavens," a woman's voice said—his mother, Liu Shi.
"He's too thin. Unlike his brothers," another voice replied. It was sharper, colder. That would be his Eldest Sister-in-law, Wang Shi. "We spent money on the doctor yesterday. Money we don't have. With the tax collector coming next month..."
"Wang Shi!" his mother snapped. "He is your husband's brother. Would you rather he died?"
"I'm just saying, Mother, we have mouths to feed. Little Uncle is still studying, eating white rice while we drink gruel. And now medicine..."
Chen Yuan paused at the doorway.
*Family drama.* Even in ancient times, it was universal.
He cleared his throat and stepped into the kitchen.
Two women turned to look at him. One was middle-aged, her hair tied back in a bun with a wooden pin, her face lined with worry and work. The other was younger, holding a ladle, her expression shifting from surprise to a guarded neutrality.
"Mother," Chen Yuan said softly. He bowed slightly. "Sister-in-law."
Liu Shi's face instantly lit up with relief. She wiped her hands on her apron and rushed over. "San Lang! You shouldn't be up. Sit, sit." She guided him to a stool near the stove. "Are you dizzy? Hungry?"
"A little," Chen Yuan admitted.
Wang Shi, the sister-in-law, pursed her lips but ladled a bowl of thin millet porridge from the pot. "Here. Eat." She didn't meet his eyes.
Chen Yuan took the bowl. It was mostly water with a few grains of millet floating in it.
"Where is Second Sister-in-law?" he asked, trying to ease the tension.
"She went to the river to wash clothes with your sisters," Liu Shi said, smoothing his hair back. "Eat. I'll make you a hot compress later."
Chen Yuan looked at the meager food in his bowl. In his past life, he would have turned his nose up at this. Now, it looked like survival.
As he brought the spoon to his lips, a strange sensation buzzed at the back of his mind.
*Ding.*
A mechanical sound, crisp and clear.
Chen Yuan froze.
*System initializing...*
*Ranch Evolution System activated.*
*Host detected: Chen Yuan.*
*Current Status: Poor Peasant.*
*System Function: Livestock Optimization, Pasture Management, Ranch Knowledge Access.*
*Note: The system provides knowledge and genetic templates. Success depends on the Host's execution. No instant rewards provided.*
Chen Yuan almost dropped his spoon.
*A system?*
His heart hammered against his ribs. He had read enough web novels to know what this was. But the disclaimer was sobering: *No instant rewards.*
He focused his mind inward. *System, show me what you have.*
A translucent blue screen appeared in his vision, overlaying the dusty kitchen.
**[Current Assets: None]**
**[Current Land: None]**
**[Available Blueprints:]**
* Basic Cattle Shed (Requires: Wood, Stone, Labor)
* Basic Pasture Layout (Requires: Land, Grass Seeds)
**[Livestock Database (Locked):]**
* Local Yellow Cattle (Available for modification)
* Sheep (Available)
* Goats (Available)
**[Upgrade Path: Local Yellow Cattle → Brahman (Locked - Requires 10 generations of selective breeding + System Acceleration)]**
*Select 'Local Yellow Cattle' to view details.*
Chen Yuan blinked. *Local Yellow Cattle.*
**[Local Yellow Cattle:]**
* *Status: Common draft animal. Low meat yield. Tough texture. High endurance.*
* *System Analysis: Poor genetics for ranching. Recommended action: Acquire breeding stock and initiate 'Brahman' gene infusion.*
*Brahman Traits:* Hump on shoulder, high insect resistance, heat tolerance, quick growth.
Chen Yuan took a deep breath. He wasn't a god. He couldn't snap his fingers and make gold appear. But he had knowledge. And with the system's genetic modification guidance, he could turn these scrawny local beasts into profit.
He quickly ate his porridge. He needed to see the family's situation.
"Mother," Chen Yuan said, putting down the empty bowl. "Where is Father?"
"He's in the back yard, fixing the tools," Liu Shi said. "Why? You should rest."
"I'm fine, Mother. I want to see Father."
Liu Shi hesitated, then nodded. "Go on. But don't stay in the sun too long."
* * *
The backyard of the Chen residence was small, bordered by a low mud wall. In the corner, under the shade of a withered locust tree, sat an old man and a middle-aged man.
The old man was Chen Yuan's grandfather, Chen Lao Taiye. He was smoking a long pipe, his eyes narrowed against the smoke. The middle-aged man was his father, Chen Dazhong. He was bare-chested, his skin dark as mahogany from years of farming, sweat glistening on his back as he sharpened a hoe.
"Father. Grandfather," Chen Yuan greeted them.
Chen Dazhong looked up, his brow furrowed with worry lines that seemed permanent. He put down the hoe. "San Lang? Why are you up? Your mother—"
"I'm well, Father," Chen Yuan said firmly. He walked over and sat on a tree stump nearby. He looked at the yard.
Beside the wall, a single, scrawny chicken scratched at the dirt. That was the extent of the Chen family's livestock, aside from a draft ox shared between three families in the village.
"Father," Chen Yuan started, choosing his words carefully. "I was thinking... about our situation."
Chen Dazhong sighed, wiping his face with a cloth. "We will manage. The wheat harvest is soon. If the weather holds, we can pay the tax. Don't worry about money."
"Father, I want to help."
"You help by getting healthy. You nearly died yesterday."
Chen Yuan shook his head. "Not just farming. I want to... raise animals."
Chen Dazhong paused. "Animals? We have no fodder. The little grain we have is for us. Raising animals is for rich families."
"I know," Chen Yuan said. "But I have a... feeling. A way to do it differently."
The old grandfather puffed his pipe, looking at Chen Yuan with cloudy but sharp eyes. "Different? How?"
Chen Yuan looked at the old man. "Grandfather, Father. I want to buy a few sheep. Or goats. Not to eat, but to breed."
"Buy?" Chen Dazhong frowned. "With what money? We have only three taels of silver saved for Ming's schooling and your sisters' dowries. We cannot risk it."
Chen Yuan knew this would be the hardest part. He wasn't a child in their eyes, but he had never shown business acumen before.
"I have savings," Chen Yuan said suddenly.
Both men looked at him.
"From my work at the town's pharmacy," Chen Yuan lied smoothly. He had worked as an errand boy for a few months the year before. "I hid it. I didn't want to spend it on trivial things."
It was a risk. But he needed capital. The "savings" were actually just his knowledge of where to find cheap, undervalued livestock using the system's analysis.
"How much?" Chen Dazhong asked, skeptical.
"Enough for two ewes and maybe a ram," Chen Yuan said. He didn't have the money, but he knew that the village chief's cousin in the neighboring village was selling off 'useless' sheep cheaply because of a supposed illness. The system had highlighted them in his mental map as *High Potential Breeding Stock*.
"San Lang," Chen Dazhong said, his voice grave. "That is your marriage money."
"I don't want to marry yet," Chen Yuan replied, his voice steady. He looked his father in the eye. "I want to build something. For the family. For Little Ming's studies. If I succeed, we can afford better tutors for him. If I fail... I will work in the fields for the rest of my life to pay it back."
The atmosphere grew heavy. The only sound was the grinding of the sharpening stone against the hoe.
Grandfather coughed, banging his pipe against his shoe. "Let him try."
Chen Dazhong looked at his father. "Father?"
"The boy has fire in his belly," the old man rasped. "Better than lying in bed waiting to rot. We are farmers. We gamble with the weather every year. Let him gamble with sheep."
Chen Dazhong looked at his son. He saw the determination there—a strange new light in San Lang's eyes that hadn't been there yesterday.
"Alright," Chen Dazhong finally said. "But I will go with you. I won't let you be cheated."
Chen Yuan smiled. It was a genuine, relieved smile.
"Thank you, Father."
* * *
Later that afternoon, Chen Yuan stood by the village well. He watched his younger sisters, Chen Mei (16) and Chen Lan (14), washing clothes. They were scrubbing rough fabric against stones, their hands red from the water.
"Third Brother!" Chen Lan waved, her face bright despite the work. "Are you better?"
"Much better," Chen Yuan walked over. He felt a pang of guilt seeing their hard work. In this era, girls had no easy life.
"Third Brother, look at this," Chen Mei said, holding up a patched shirt. "Eldest Brother's shirt has torn again. I need to find more fabric."
"Don't worry," Chen Yuan said. He sat on the edge of the well. "I have a plan."
"A plan?" Chen Lan wiped her hands on her apron. "Does it involve getting us candy?"
Chen Yuan chuckled. "It involves getting us... a ranch."
"What is a 'ranch'?" Chen Mei asked, tilting her head.
"It's a place where the grass is green, the animals are plentiful, and we don't have to worry about the next meal," Chen Yuan described, looking out at the barren hills beyond the village. "And maybe... a place where you can wear pretty clothes and not wash these rough fabrics anymore."
Chen Lan laughed. "Third Brother, you are dreaming! That sounds like the Emperor's palace!"
"Maybe," Chen Yuan said softly, his eyes narrowing as he accessed the system map in his mind. A blinking dot appeared on the hill to the east. *'Wild Alfalfa Patch detected. High nutritional value.'*
He stood up. "I'm going to the hills to check something. Go home before dark."
"Be careful of wolves!" Chen Mei called out.
Chen Yuan waved his hand. He walked towards the hills, his step light.
He had no money. No power. No influence.
But he had the wind at his back, a family to protect, and a system that promised him the best beef in the world.
*Step by step,* he thought. *First the sheep. Then the cattle. Then... the Emperor's table.*
The journey of the Rancher of the Great Dynasty had begun.