TTLJDFL chapter 2

Li Jin just looked at the first person who spoke; he currently had no memory of the original owner and didn’t even know this person’s name.

Li Jin asked, “Earlier you said, if someone helps you solve this move in chess, a hen and ten eggs would be an appropriate reward. Is that still valid?”

That person was called Li Daniu, a skilled farmer in the village. He usually had no other bad habits and especially liked to play a game of chess with the villagers after finishing work in the fields.

Li Daniu was really strong; when he plowed the fields, he didn’t even need to rent the village chief’s ox cart. He could plow all the land by himself.

That way, he ended up saving a lot of money every year.

Plus, if he lost a game of chess, he’d willingly honor the bet and plow the fields for someone else.

Even though Li Daniu didn’t charge when he plowed for the winner, that family would still be very grateful and would give him a few chickens and ducks for his household.

Moreover, Li Daniu never gambled or drank excessively, so his family was well-off. Now, he just offered a chicken as soon as he spoke.

Although Li Daniu usually looked down on Li Jin.

He thought Li Jin was someone whose eyes were bigger than his abilities, always talking about studying to pass the scholar’s exam, but after so many years, he hadn’t achieved anything noteworthy.

In the end, he even imitated the ‘refined gentleman,’ spending money lavishly and blowing through the family fortune.

If it weren’t for her mother deciding on her deathbed to buy him a ‘brother’ as a wife, who knows where this guy would be dead by now.

But after all, Li Jin had been educated, Li Daniu thought; maybe this guy really can solve chess puzzles!

Li Daniu patted his chest, making a clang sound.

“Whatever I, Li Daniu, say, is like spitting a nail—it will never be broken.”

Seeing that the crowd didn’t contradict Li Daniu, Li Jin realized that this guy was usually pretty trustworthy.

Without a word, he lifted his clothes, squatted down, and directly took Li Daniu’s ‘shi’ to capture the opponent’s ‘zu’.

It turned out that this move had already reached a stalemate, and the opponent’s ‘zu’ was about to surround Li Daniu’s ‘jiang’.

Li Jin said, “At this moment, the opponent only has one move, which is to capture your cannon.”

As he said that, Li Jin picked up the opponent’s piece to make that move. Then, Li Daniu’s eyes lit up, while Zhang Laosan’s face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.

Li Daniu laughed heartily: “Now that the two kings meet, I—win!”

Li Jin said: “The chicken and the egg.”

Li Daniu laughed loudly, and with Li Jin, he pushed through the crowd and walked outside.

Zhang Lao San said: “Earlier, we bet fifteen copper coins, you asked for help, so I guess you still lost to me.”

Li Daniu said: “Alright, alright, here’s the money.”

Saying that, he reached into his waist and took out fifteen copper coins, throwing them to Zhang Lao San.

His mood had not deteriorated in the slightest; he still laughed heartily, saying, “Unexpectedly, although Li Jin had not read much of this book and failed to become a scholar, his chess playing is truly excellent.”

Li Jin said nothing; all he wanted was to quickly return and kill that old hen to cook soup for the original owner’s wife.

“Bah, this person just got lucky, that’s the only reason he came up with this move.”

“Exactly, fortunately Li Daniu was going to give him the old hen anyway.”

“I say, is this person really going to offer the old hen to the top performer in town?”

After Li Daniu left, the others were still talking over there. Their voices were not quiet, and Li Jin heard everything. But he didn’t say a word; solving the immediate problem was the most important thing right now.

How the villagers saw it, let them be, anyway, at this moment Li Jin was no longer the worthless Li Jin he used to be.

Speaking of the original owner, Li Jin, this person was really a scumbag, and his misdeeds had already spread throughout this small village.

It all started when he was just born, and a passing monk knocked on their door, saying that this child would become a literary star in the future, and it would be best to name him Li Jin.

At that time, everyone in the village was extremely envious of the Li family. If Li Jin truly became a literary star, he would one day become a high-ranking official.

Visitors kept coming to their door one after another.

In a village full of names like ‘Li Daniu’ and ‘Zhang Laosan,’ the name Li Jin really stood out.

Later, the Li family did send him to school, but he just wasn’t cut out for studying. Instead, he learned to compete with the town kids and drink. Eventually, he even went to the Piaoxiang Garden to listen to beautiful women sing.

Li Jin’s father was the same way—wasted his youth on drinking and women, and didn’t bother farming the family land.

Many people in the village thought Li Jin’s mother probably worked herself to death. To end up with a husband like this, and to give birth to a son like this. Yet, before this woman died, she still went to town to buy a ger’er to raise his incompetent son.

She originally thought that Li Jin would settle down after getting married, but the genes from his old father were really not great. Instead, Li Jin fell in love with the top courtesan of Piaoxiang Courtyard… Even if she was the top courtesan in town, she was not someone Li Jin could dream of.

Li Jin couldn’t get the attention of the top courtesan, so he could only drink on his own, and as a result, his studies were completely neglected.

Today, even though his husband was giving birth, Li Jin actually went out to drink again. This was simply something no decent person would do. This was something everyone in the village knew.

After all, the village was small, and people liked to eat at their doors with bowls in hand after finishing their work in the fields. News of what happened at the head of the village quickly spread mouth to mouth to the end of the village. Therefore, Li Daniu also knew about all the ridiculous things Li Jin had done.

Li Daniu casually grabbed a chick and asked, “Li Jin, what are you doing with the chicken?”

Li Jin stood right behind Li Daniu. Although he was skinny, his back was straight.

Wearing a coarse linen outfit, he actually looked like a resolute bamboo stalk, carrying a scholar-like dignity.

Li Daniu thought he must be seeing things.

At this moment, Li Jin’s voice came through clearly: “My wife is giving birth today, I’m making chicken soup for her.”

Li Daniu just felt like the sun had really risen from the west today.

He put down the little chick in his hands and grabbed a plump old hen from his own chicken coop, saying, “Here you go.”

Li Daniu was a strong guy, so lifting a free-range hen was no trouble for him at all.

After all, this was a village hen that ate bugs from the fields, and when it flapped its wings, it could still fly half a meter high.

Not like those hormone-fed chickens in the real world.

Li Daniu was purely testing Li Jin; he thought Li Jin’s character was nothing special. Why bother always putting on a good face for Li Jin?

However, Li Daniu didn’t expect that Li Jin would grab the chicken by the neck, hold its wings with the other hand, and subdue the chicken. This move elevated Li Daniu’s impression of Li Jin to another level.

He originally thought this person had been emptied out by alcohol, just like his spineless father. Unexpectedly, this person still had some skill up his sleeve.

Li Daniu went in and fetched ten more eggs, each about half the size of a fist, with dirt-yellow shells that looked very fresh.

Now Li Jin didn’t mind the dirt; he gathered the eggs in his pockets, held a chicken in one hand, thanked Li Daniu, and then headed home.

Li Daniu’s wife worked in the town, and when she returned home at night, she noticed that one of the chickens was missing.

She couldn’t help but have a quarrel with Li Daniu. “You only know how to play chess every day; why don’t you go and lose the house instead?”

At this moment, Li Daniu could only soothe his wife: “Tomorrow I will plow two more acres for the village chief, and our chicken will come back.”

His wife understood the reasoning; her husband was indeed capable.

But she just couldn’t swallow this anger…

After returning home, completely unaware of the previous events, Li Jin first tied the chicken’s legs and locked it in the kitchen. Then he fetched water with a bucket, took the chicken out, and skillfully bled it.

Li Jin thought to himself, fortunately, he had been a medical student before he transmigrated.

During physiology and anatomy practice, he had practiced on chickens, and back then there were also snakes, bullfrogs, rabbits, dogs, and so on…

Killing a chicken was really not difficult for him.

Also, because he was a medical student in an eight-year clinical medicine program, he had spent a few years studying abroad in Germany.

Most students who study abroad can usually cook pretty well, after all, Chinese food overseas is ridiculously expensive.

And it doesn’t necessarily taste as good as when you make it yourself.

Li Jin skillfully handled the chicken, plucked the feathers, and then scalded it in boiling water.

He set aside the chicken drumsticks and wings after cutting them open, and also kept the chicken liver and heart separately. The remaining chicken parts, such as the head, neck, and breast meat, were marinated with ginger, scallions, and salt, intended for making soup.

The chicken liver, cut into small pieces and stir-fried, is very delicious, and the chicken heart can be stir-fried in the same way.

As for the chicken drumsticks and wings, Li Jin broke them apart to make a lighter braising sauce, planning to save them for the original owne’s wife to eat tomorrow.

After all, this old hen was really large, and its eggs were substantial.

At this time, the pot was still the kind used on the stove with a large cauldron. After Li Jin placed the chicken heads and other items into the pot, he added water and covered it with a lid. Then, using a clean cloth from the stove, he sealed the rim of the lid, pretending it was a pressure cooker…

On the other side, Li Jin selected two eggs, beat them, added water, and continued to stir them evenly. Placed in another pot for more than ten minutes, he finally dripped a few drops of soy sauce and sesame oil on top.

The fresh taste of the soy sauce and the fragrance of the sesame oil lingered at the tip of the nose, stimulating a strong appetite.

At this moment, Li Jin was actually really hungry, but he didn’t eat. Instead, he straightened his clothes and walked to the door.

He raised his hand and knocked.

After a while, a voice came from inside: “Who is it? The wife is giving birth, no visitors.”

Li Jin found it a bit strange. This voice, although gentle, was clearly a man’s voice…

His wife is giving birth, so why is there a man in the delivery room???

Li Jin knew that it wasn’t the right time to ask questions, so he said, “I steamed some egg custard. Let the new mother eat something first, or she’ll be too weak later.”

The chicken soup needed to simmer a bit longer for the flavor to really come out.
The room fell silent again.

A few minutes later, a man with red eyes, who looked less than 1.7 meters tall… opened the door and took the bowl of egg custard from Li Jin’s hands.

The man saw Li Jin’s hand blistered from the bowl and was completely shocked, as if it were the first time he had met Li Jin.

Li Jin was even more shocked than him, but it didn’t show on his face, pretending to be very calm.

The man used his clothes to pad the bowl, said nothing, and closed the door again.

Li Jin still stood outside the door, completely baffled…

Because it seemed like he saw inside the room… it was full of men, not a single woman.

Even the person lying on the bed, looking pale, was obviously a man!!!​