The sky collapsed, and in the blink of an eye, I found myself transported to Nanluoguxiang.

Push open the creaking door to the main room.

At the dinner table, the father, Li Mingde, who had been promoted to a level 5 fitter this year, now sat in the main seat. His monthly salary of 56 yuan supported most of the family's expenses.

On the right is the mother, Qin Xiuli, who has just become a first-class worker at the textile factory, earning 24.5 yuan a month. On the left sits her younger brother, Li Kai, staring longingly at the table.

On the table, there was only a bowl of "boiled cabbage in clear broth" with a few specks of oil floating on top, and a small dish of pickled vegetables. The cabbage was truly just boiled in plain water with a sprinkle of salt.

At that moment, the younger sister came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl and carefully placed it on the table.

In the bowl were nine round, steaming bird eggs. She sat down next to her younger brother.

In an instant, the mother's gaze, the father's steady eyes, and the younger brother's longing look all focused on the bowl of bird eggs and the younger sister.

"Don't look at me," the younger sister quickly said, "my older brother gave these to me this afternoon."

"Oh?" the father uttered a questioning syllable.

Li Kaixin sat down in the empty seat and said, "Yeah, I picked it from the tree this afternoon."

The mother, Qin Xiuli, spoke with a mixture of heartache and a barely perceptible reproach: "Are you hurt? Come here and let me see."

His gaze swept over the bowl of eggs again, followed by another voice: "You cooked them all? Enough for you and your siblings to eat three times!"

Qin Xiuli was originally from Qinjiagou Village, Hongxing Brigade, and had a rural household registration.

In order to transfer the household registration of the three children to the city, the father spent 300 yuan in early 1957 to buy a precious tiger penis. He then asked the logistics director, Li Huaide, for help and spent another 800 yuan to get her a formal job in the textile factory.

Then, through Li Huaide, they found Director Wang of the Subdistrict Office. It cost more than a thousand yuan in total to get Qin Xiuli a job and change her household registration. (If Qin Xiuli had an urban household registration, she could have gotten a job for around 800 yuan.) The cost was that her family was burdened with several hundred yuan in debt.

Just after paying off debts at the end of last year, we encountered a nationwide drought, reduced grain production, and a decrease in the standard of grain supply in cities. The government implemented controls on supplies, and many things began to require ration coupons.

Since the beginning of this year, we have had to bring food back home every month. As a result, my father has to go to the pigeon market to buy expensive grain, and the family has to eat sparingly. This is why my younger sister looks sallow and why the original owner had to raid bird nests to improve our meals.

"mother!"

Li Kaixin met her mother's gaze, her voice earnest.

"We're not injured. We haven't had a decent meal in over a month. Since we found some today, we'll cook it all up to help the whole family recover."

The mother looked at everyone, seemingly wanting to say something, but was calmly interrupted by Li Mingde: "Alright, Xiuli. It's already cooked, let's divide it up, everyone can eat."

As the head of the family, the father's words carried unquestionable weight, and the room immediately fell silent.

The steaming bird eggs were distributed to everyone: the three siblings each received two; the parents each received three.

Li Kaixin stared at the coarse porridge in the bowl, her stomach already growling loudly with hunger. Unable to resist any longer, she carefully slurped a mouthful along the rim of the bowl.

"Cough cough cough!" An indescribable roughness and strange taste instantly rushed into Li Kaixin's throat, and he almost vomited on the spot.

Suppressing my nausea, I suddenly remembered: this "cornmeal" is something made by grinding corn cobs and corn cobs together, and the grains are so coarse that they hurt my throat!

But when I looked up, my parents, younger brother and sister were all swallowing silently, no one making a sound. I could only resign myself to my fate, hold my breath, and swallow down mouthful by mouthful with difficulty.

In the somber atmosphere, the father put down his bowl, his face clouded with worry: "I went to the pigeon market yesterday, and the price of grain... has gone up again. Coarse grains are almost two cents, nearly the price of refined grains used to be. Sweet potatoes are one cent! Refined grains? Fifty cents!"

The father sighed heavily.

The mother chimed in, her voice tinged with worry: "I've already made plans with Aunt Zhao from the front yard. We'll go out of town together this weekend to dig up some wild vegetables to nourish ourselves."

Upon hearing this, even the younger siblings who were engrossed in eating the porridge stopped, their little faces filled with unease.

The meal ended hastily amidst a gloomy atmosphere. The mother silently gathered the dishes and went into the kitchen.

Just as Li Kaixin was about to leave, her father called her back.

"happy!"

Li's father looked at him, his tone heavy.

"It's been almost a month since you graduated from junior high. Given the current situation at home... we really don't have the money to buy a permanent job."

"I'll try to find you a temporary job through connections, just to help supplement our income. Once things settle down at home, I'll try to get you a permanent job."

The father paused, then added, "Oh, by the way, tomorrow go to your grandparents' place and bring them fifteen catties of cornmeal, and... five catties of wheat flour."

"Okay, Dad," Li Kaixin replied. "When I get back from Grandpa and Grandma's, I'll go to the neighborhood office and ask if they have any job openings."

After the father and son finished their brief conversation, Li Kaixin went outside to the yard, washed himself hastily with cold water, and hurriedly went back to his little house.

Time passes by unnoticed.

The kang (heated brick bed) was so hard that Li Kaixin's bones ached. Just as he was drifting off to sleep, a cold and emotionless voice suddenly exploded in his mind:

"Ding! Primitive Tribe Survival Assistance System activated?"

"Activate! Activate now!" Li Kaixin sat bolt upright with a start, his heart pounding, all sleepiness instantly gone! The legendary system! He was about to become rich!

"System activation successful! Welcome to the world of primitive tribes. A newbie gift pack has been issued; please claim it."

"Claim it! Claim it now!" Li Kaixin shouted excitedly in his mind.

The moment the thought crossed his mind, a stream of information flooded his brain. The New Player Gift Pack was prominently listed:

A secret space: one can enter and exit at any time with a thought.

One Strengthening Pill: Cleanses the tendons and marrow, significantly improving physical fitness.

The Inherited Light Clusters contain the lifelong experience and skill essence of a [God-level Hunter], a [National-level Physician], and a [Martial Arts Master].

Without the slightest hesitation, Li Kaixin first absorbed the three soft white lights into the depths of his consciousness, and a strong sense of dizziness arose spontaneously.

Despite the throbbing pain and dizziness in his head, he immediately swallowed the pill that emitted a strange medicinal fragrance.

A warm current quickly spread to every part of my body, as if a continuous force was slowly transforming my body!

He was overwhelmed by the enormous surprise.

However, after processing this information, Li Kaixin, having calmed down, suddenly realized a huge contradiction and urgently asked the system in his mind:

"Wait! System, something's not right! This is supposed to be the early days of the People's Republic of China, how did it turn into the primitive tribal era? Are you sure you've got the place right?!"

Before Li Kaixin could finish speaking, the cold voice in his mind suddenly became sharp and halting, like a broken phonograph:

"Warning! Warning! Severe dimensional coordinate conflict... Core logic error... Unrepairable... System unbinding process initiated..."

"Unbinding countdown: "

"3..." "2..." "1..."

"Unbinding complete! *sizzle*"

After the last piercing noise, my mind went completely silent.

Li Kaixin froze on the kang (a heated brick bed), his mouth agape, wide enough to fit an egg. A profound sense of loss and absurdity washed over him like a bucket of ice water.

"Slap! Slap!" He slapped himself twice hard, the burning pain confirming that this was not a dream.

"No—! Don't go! Come back!!!" Li Kaixin suddenly knelt on the kang, grabbing at the air with his hands, his voice hoarse and desperate, tinged with tears.

From behind the wooden partition came the confused voice of his younger brother, Li Kai: "Big brother? What's wrong? What are you shouting for?"

Li Kaixin shuddered, forcibly suppressing her turbulent emotions, and used all her strength to steady her voice: "...It's nothing! I had a nightmare, you should go to sleep!"

Li Kaixin seemed to have all her strength drained away, collapsing slumped onto the cold kang mat, her eyes vacant.

A few minutes later, he sat up abruptly, rubbed his face vigorously, and took a deep breath, as if trying to convince himself, or perhaps surrendering to fate.

"Enough! Enough! Don't be greedy... People should know how to be content!" Despite saying this, the muscles in his face twisted uncontrollably.

"Oh, right!"

A thought flashed through the night like lightning.

"I still have that... secret realm!"

Li Kaixin held his breath and focused his mind: "Enter the secret realm!"

The thought had barely formed when the scene before him suddenly distorted and shifted. The earthen bed melted away like wax, and a strange and vast world instantly enveloped him.

Beneath my feet lies fertile, glossy black soil, stretching for hundreds of acres. A crystal-clear stream meanders through it, while beyond the edge of the fertile soil lies an endless, churning black abyss of eternal nothingness.

Immediately afterwards, the core information of the secret realm, like a brand, flooded into Li Kaixin's mind with unparalleled clarity: This realm has no active spirituality and has been divided into two.

On one hand: the soil beneath our feet is fertile and the temperature is consistently pleasant; time seems to flow ten times faster than outside!

On the other side: an endless abyss, where time stands still, and deathly silence reigns forever.

What made Li Kaixin's heart pound was that this place had absolute, almost godlike, control over it!

With a thought, Li Kaixin touched the corner of the kang table with his fingertip, and the corner disappeared instantly, landing safely in the secret realm.

Through repeated attempts, anything that touches the fingertips can be instantly stored away whenever the thought arises.

After a long while, having confirmed the secret realm's abilities, Li Kaixin turned his thoughts and his figure instantly reappeared on the earthen bed. Satisfied, he slowly closed his eyes, a barely perceptible smile curving his lips.