Chapter 8: The Whole Family Woke Up

Under Jiang Dai’s wary and suspicious gaze, Bai Tian swiftly called over the only one in the family who could cook.

“Juanjuan, come on, Daddy will go with you to the kitchen.”

【I may not be able to handle the cooking for the whole family, but I absolutely can’t let a four-year-old go to the kitchen alone in the middle of the night!】

“Okay!”

Juanjuan immediately followed Bai Tian toward the outdoor kitchen.

The sky outside had already gone dark.

Moonlight poured down in a clear, silvery glow, casting a cool frost over the night. Stars dotted the heavens, bright and sharp.

It was Bai Tian’s first time seeing the sky of the ancient world.

【The night sky here is really something else. Even without streetlights, you can still see the road clearly. The stars are so vivid.】

【In the modern era, the pollution in big cities is so bad, the moon and stars never looked this beautiful.】

Juanjuan had been tense and flustered, especially after Eldest Brother’s sharp reaction earlier, but her father’s words slowly soothed her.

The way he spoke felt like clouds drifting across the sky—soft, gentle, and comforting.

After his moment of nostalgia, Bai Tian turned his gaze to Juanjuan.

A bright smile broke across the innocent face of the Little Boss Bai. He bent down and scooped up the short-legged little girl.

The sudden lift, the weightless feeling of being off the ground, and the shift in perspective made Juanjuan instinctively wrap her arms around her father’s neck.

Maybe… maybe he had held her like this when she was a baby.

But ever since she could remember, this was the first time her father had embraced her so gently.

Bai Tian didn’t notice the slight redness in the little one’s eyes.

He just blurted out, “Thanks for working hard to cook, Juanjuan! Tomorrow, your brothers are taking over!”

【What’s the point of having so many sons? Are we running a royal succession here?! Goudan’s eight, Da Mao and Er Mao are six—every one of them is older than Juanjuan!】

【Of course, if I could cook myself, I wouldn’t be making the kids do it!】

Juanjuan listened to her father’s rambling and unconsciously tightened her arms around his neck.

Bai Tian: 【Oof, that’s a little tight.】

Then her little arms slowly relaxed again.

Bai Tian: 【They say daughters are like little cotton-padded jackets—aww! So warm and thoughtful! We’re totally in sync!】

In truth, Juanjuan could hear her father’s inner monologue. She quietly touched her nose.

Before long, three bowls of wild vegetable soup and three wild vegetable pancakes were placed in front of Goudan and the others.

“Eat up. Juanjuan made it. Don’t forget to thank her.”

Bai Tian looked at his three conveniently acquired sons lying on the bed. Somehow, in their sickly state, they seemed more likable than usual.

The three boys stared at the wild vegetable soup and pancakes, each deep in thought.

Eldest Brother Goudan: 【Tch! I’ve been in seclusion for so long, and now I’m staring at these peasant greens… No appetite whatsoever.】

Second Brother Da Mao: 【That’s definitely amaranth in the pancake. We’re still in the Great Yu Nation, then.】

The two didn’t hesitate for long. They each picked up a pancake and started eating.

One was a cultivator who had long since transcended worldly desires.

The other, a young master from a general’s manor, had seen worse on the battlefield—what was a wild veggie pancake to him?

As for the one who truly couldn’t stomach it, that would be the third brother, who once wielded space, time, and lightning powers in the Apocalypse.

【This stuff… I never ate anything this pitiful even during the Apocalypse!】

【These pancakes look dry enough to choke on. Hard pass!】

Juanjuan noticed that one serving of soup and pancake remained untouched.

Honestly, she thought they tasted pretty good.

But Third Brother wasn’t eating…

“You gonna eat that?” Da Mao asked.

Only then did Juanjuan realize Second Brother had already finished his pancake and was eyeing Third Brother’s share.

Gurgle.

Juanjuan’s gaze dropped to Third Brother’s stomach.

The next second, he snatched up the pancake and took a vicious bite. “I’m eating!”

…

Night in the countryside was quiet.

Even the dogs had gone to sleep, but Juanjuan couldn’t.

Her ears were filled with the constant chatter of her parents and brothers.

Voices rose and fell, loud and soft, never-ending.

Yes, all six of them were currently lying on the same big kang bed.

They used to sleep separately—Juanjuan with her parents, the three brothers in the next room.

But tonight, worried the boys might get another fever, Mom and Dad decided to squeeze everyone onto one bed just for the night.

Jiang Dai: 【There’s really no system? I can’t sleep. I miss scrolling Douyin (Chinese TikTok) so bad!】

Juanjuan: Douyin? Is that a drink? Why would you scroll a drink?

Bai Tian: 【How can I improve our quality of life here? Damn it! I suck at math and science, and after four years of college, I’ve nearly forgotten all the classical poetry! I can’t even fake being cultured anymore!】

Juanjuan: Tree-flower? What kind of flower is that? And what does “fake being cultured” mean?

Eldest Brother (Bai Yunqi): 【No spiritual energy at all? I miss the days of summoning storms and flying on swords!】

Juanjuan: Summoning storms… Is Eldest Brother a deity?

Second Brother (real name unknown): 【I wonder how far we are from the Capital City. Looking like this, we’ll probably scare our parents half to death when we get back.】

Juanjuan: Capital City? That sounds far away.

Third Brother (Yun An): 【System, get your ass out here! This is the space you promised?!】

【Sure, it’s big—but why is everything gray?! And it’s all locked!】

【Right now, all I can unlock is one compressed biscuit?!】

Juanjuan yawned. Third Brother’s voice in her ears faded like cooking smoke drifting away.

Soon, she was fast asleep.

From that night on, no one knew that the seemingly quiet kang bed was actually a hotbed of noisy thoughts.

No one remembered exactly when they fell asleep.

They just knew that when they opened their eyes the next morning and saw the unfamiliar, shabby ceiling, they felt a little dazed.

Jiang Dai instinctively reached toward her pillow for her phone.

At the same time, her hand bumped into Bai Tian’s—he, too, had reflexively reached for his phone.

In that instant, the couple quickly withdrew their hands and pretended nothing had happened.

Jiang Dai: 【Awkward. I forgot I transmigrated. There are no phones in ancient times.】

Bai Tian: 【Phone? What phone? Keep dreaming!】

“Daddy, Mommy, breakfast is ready.”

A little head peeked in through the door—it was Juanjuan.

While the adults were still asleep, the child had already cooked breakfast with practiced ease.

She hadn’t planned to wake them. In the past, if she tried to wake her parents before they were ready, it usually ended in a beating.

But Juanjuan was clever.

She just squatted by the door and ate. If anyone inside woke up, she’d hear them.

Sure enough, she heard her parents’ voices—though it seemed like they weren’t speaking out loud.

Juanjuan had started to notice a subtle difference between when her parents spoke normally and when they didn’t move their mouths.

When they spoke out loud, the sound blended naturally with the ambient noise.

When they didn’t, it sounded muffled, like it came from behind a door.

Still… she had no idea what kind of chicken a “shou-ji” was.

The family got up and looked at the familiar wild vegetable soup and the slightly gray pancakes on the table.

Jiang Dai and Bai Tian found it hard to accept.

Yesterday had been a special case—they were starving, so eating it once was fine.

But today…

———
“Shou-ji” (手机) literally means “hand machine”, which is the standard Chinese word for “cell phone” or “mobile phone.”