RCAC chapter 1

“I’m going to the shop to get a tool. Do you want anything to eat? I can bring it back on the way.” Qi Shuo said as he wiped his hands, his gaze turning towards Qiao Shen, who was sitting in the courtyard.

Qiao Shen was sitting by the stone table in the courtyard, forcing himself to finish the last mouthful of rice porridge. It wasn’t that the porridge tasted bad, but his body hadn’t fully recovered, and his stomach simply couldn’t hold much food. “I just finished drinking it, I can’t eat anymore. You don’t need to spend that unnecessary money.”

Qi Shuo paused for a moment while wiping his hands. Since the day Qiao Shen fell into the water and woke up, he’d surprised himself many times. Before, Qiao Shen had insisted on eating at restaurants every meal, but it’s been over a month since he woke up, and he hadn’t once made a fuss about going out.

Now Qi Shuo wasn’t as surprised as he had been in recent days. After hanging up the towel, Qi Shuo patted his clothes and walked out of the courtyard.

Qiao Shen stared at Qi Shuo’s back and the slowly closing gate, zoning out.

Qiao Shen’s soul had transmigrated. He originally came from the year 2020, a young man who had been bedridden for years due to early-onset cancer.

Qiao’s father was diagnosed with cancer when he was in high school, and in just two short years, he passed away, leaving behind Qiao’s mother and Qiao Shen, who was in the midst of preparing for the college entrance exams.

Qiao’s mother, suppressing her grief over losing her husband, took care of her son while also managing the jewelry store he left behind, and everything seemed to be heading in a good direction.

However, when Qiao Shen was a sophomore, he was hit on the head by a basketball at school and fell into a coma. After being sent to the hospital, the test results were exactly the same as his father’s: cancer.

A rare, incurable cancer, Qiao Shen’s body visibly weakened. Looking at her son lying in the hospital bed, unable to move, Qiao’s mother, in a daze, seemed to see her husband coming to take her. She finally could no longer hold on.

Mother Qiao lay in the hospital room and signed the contract to sell shares of the jewelry company, using all her liquid assets to cover everything for her son’s medical care and caretakers. After that, she left Qiao Shen behind, escaping this world that had driven her to despair.

At this time, Qiao Shen had already been lying in bed for six years, unable to move even his fingers. Fully conscious, Qiao Shen was filled with immense grief, feeling the unfairness of heaven!

When he woke up again, Qiao Shen had become the husband of carpenter Qi Shuo in Dongshoulan Town, Luoyang City, in the 46th year of the Great Zhou Dynasty, and they even had a two-year-old son. Qi Shuo and the original Qiao Shen had what could be called an arranged marriage—they hadn’t even met before getting married. Qi Shuo ran a carpentry shop in the county and made a decent income.

However, the original Qiao Shen was lazy, indulgent, and always chasing pleasure. He did nothing at home, ate out at every meal, paid others to wash his dirty clothes, and no matter how hardworking and frugal Qi Shuo was, he couldn’t keep up with Qiao Shen’s spending.

One day, two-year-old Xiao Changle went to a restaurant with Qiao Shen to eat, and after finishing the meal, he had a stomach upset. It turned out that this was how Qiao Shen took care of his own biological son.

When the child was very small, he would have the restaurant’s chefs cook a bowl of rice porridge for feeding, while he himself ate large portions of meat and fish.

Since the child was too young, he always liked to fuss while eating. Qiao Shen would not coax him; if he didn’t eat, he wouldn’t feed him. Once he was full, he would go home, and when the child was hungry, he would give him a few sips of water and then ignore him.

Two-year-old Xiao Changle was frail and weak, with a delicate stomach, and finally couldn’t hold up anymore, his stomach acting up. The child was too young and could only cry loudly, and Qi Shuo looked at his little son’s pale face, unable to bear it any longer.

All the household expenses required money; Qi Shuo labored hard every day to make a living. It was one thing for Qi Shou to endure cold meals and hardships himself, but even his young son had no guarantee of health. Furious, he scolded Qiao Shen and confiscated the family’s money.

This was like a bolt from the blue for the original self, whose fragile mental state couldn’t take it—he’d rather starve than go to the kitchen to cook something for himself. One day, while Qi Shuo was working at the shop, he jumped into the only small river in town.

When he woke up again, he was Qiao Shen from 2020.

Qiao Shen sighed and gathered his thoughts, putting the bowls and pots away in the kitchen. The water jar was empty. He grabbed a small wooden bucket in the yard and went to the well in the backyard to fetch water.

He carried a bucket of water down, and the cold from the water made him start coughing, coughing until Qiao Shen’s chest hurt.

When he looked up, the two-year-old Xiao Changle was standing at the kitchen doorway, though he didn’t know when. Qiao Shen took a deep breath to suppress the discomfort in his chest, walked over, and found Xiao Changle’s little feet were bare.

Qiao Shen bent down to pick up Xiao Changle. Poor child—already two years old, and Xiao Changle still didn’t even weigh as much as a bucket of water.

“Are you hungry? Do you know you need to wear shoes?” After spending more than a month together, Qiao Shen had seen how well-behaved Xiao Changle was and felt immense affection for the two-year-old baby.

Qiao Shen gently stroked Xiao Changle head. Xiao Changle’s soft hair, sticking up like a tiny kitten , made Qiao Shen’s heart melt.

Xiao Changle clung to Qiao Shen’s neck with both tiny hands, his soft little mouth sucking on Qiao Shen’s neck. He had always been malnourished; his father was busy working, and his original dad was lazy and hardly took care of him.

Xiao Changle is already two years old, but he still can’t call out to people; when he’s hungry, he just grabs things and sucks on them. He’s too young to perceive the emotions of adults, so he instinctively clings to his father and dad, who are always in front of him.

Qiao Shen knew that Xiao Changle was hungry, and he scooped a bowl of the still-warm rice porridge from the pot with one hand. Ever since he came here, breakfast had always been cooked by Qi Shuo. Qi Shuo was strong, and the rice porridge was mashed evenly until smooth.

Holding Xiao Changle while sitting by the stone table in the yard, Qiao Shen deeply felt the soft, warm little body of Xiao Changle snuggled against him, two tiny hands clutching the spoon in Qiao Shen’s hand, and little lips nibbling at the rice porridge.

Looking at the frail Xiao Changle, Qiao Shen thought to himself, once I get better, I’ll definitely feed you until you’re plump and strong.

Meanwhile, Qi Shuo went back to the workshop to get some tools and turned to lock up the shop. Liu, the shopkeepernext door who sells porcelain and stoves, came over and greeted him: “Not opening today either?”

“Hmm, my husband is still ill. In the past few days, it’s been a bother for Shopkeeper Liu.”

Qi Shuo bowed to Shopkeeper Liu. The shop had not been open for many days, and people who came looking for Qi Shuo to make furniture had all asked Shopkeeper Liu to pass on their messages. After receiving the information, Qi Shuo would visit each person’s home, find out their needs, and then return to his courtyard to do the carpentry work.

“Sigh, what’s the point, nothing is easy. I just hope your husband gets well soon. Don’t be formal with me, if you need to, just send Xiao Changle over to eat together with Yongyuan,” said Shopkeeper Liu, stopping Qi Shuo as he moved.

Passing through three courtyards behind Qi Shuo’s yard and turning a corner, it was the courtyard where Shopkeeper Liu lived. Yongyuan was Shopkeeper Liu’s youngest son, who had just celebrated his fifth birthday.

After bidding farewell to Shopkeeper Liu, Qi Shuo passed by the Fuman Grand Restaurant, thought for a moment, then retraced his steps and headed towards the pastry shop.

After Qiao Shen woke up, he wasn’t as spoiled as before, but his cold hadn’t fully healed yet, so he couldn’t eat meat, which is why Qi Shuo only bought some pastries.

Thinking about Qiao Shen’s recent changes, Qi Shuo felt a bit relieved. After all, he’s the father of his child, and as long as he’s willing to change, it’s only right for him to put in some effort. Qi Shuo really understood how tiring it is to take care of a baby.

With that thought, Qi Shuo hurried home.

Pushing open the courtyard gate, he immediately heard Xiao Changle’s cheerful laughter. He saw Qiao Shen supporting Xiao Changle as he stood on his own feet. Xiao Changle was pointing at the base of the willow tree, occasionally stomping his little feet.

“Look, ants! The ants are moving house. Let’s not touch them and let the ants be self-reliant, okay?”

Xiao Changle pointed with one little hand, while the other reached forward, grabbing at the air. Qiao Shen knew that Xiao Changle wanted to pinch the tiny ants, so he scooped him up into his arms, letting him watch the ants move from a safe distance.

Xiao Changle twisted his little body, and when he saw his father at the door, he started babbling ‘ah ah’ and opened his little arms wide, wanting to be picked up by Qi Shuo.

When his father was around, he still preferred to cling to him, because his previous dad never liked to hold him and always ignored him.

“Come on, pick him up, this little guy’s pretty strong, I might not be able to hold him back ,”

Qiao Shen awkwardly tried to hug Xiao Changle’s wriggling body. The child was soft and fragile, so he didn’t dare to use too much force.

Qi Shuo put down his tools, carried the pastries wrapped in oiled paper to the stone table, and only then picked up the child. After sitting down with Xiao Changle in his arms, he gestured for Qiao Shen to eat the pastries he had brought back.

Qiao Shen got up to find a cloth. The summer sun had warmed the water considerably. He wrung the cloth until it was half dry and went over to wipe Xiao Changle’s feet.

After wiping up, he got up and got ready to go to the kitchen to wash the dishes, reminding Qi Shuo, “Hold him while putting on his shoes, he came out barefoot this morning. Later, when you work with the wood in the backyard, be careful, the wood chips could hurt his feet.”

Qi Shuo responded and carried the child into the room. Putting shoes and socks on Xiao Changle, he looked at the thin child, and then thought of Qiao Shen busy in the kitchen. A smile appeared on Qi Shuo’s lips. Since Qiao Shen woke up this past month, he felt that life was slowly getting better.

Kotha : The story looked interesting, so I picked it up. If you like my translation consider donating on Kofi ☕ There will be bonus chapters for every Kofi 🌸🌸