Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil in the Cultivation World Chapter 1: Life Chart and Great Blessings Equal to Heaven
Osmanthus Village, Tonghe County, Yunze Prefecture, within the Wei Kingdom.
Standing there was a modest residence built of mud bricks and topped with gray tiles, its exterior walls showing the wear of time. Inside, the layout consisted of three bedrooms and two halls.
The total area spanned roughly one hundred square meters.
In Osmanthus Village, such aged tile-bricked dwellings were a common sight.
Nevertheless, for the Jiang Family of fishermen, this house represented the labor of several generations.
"The house is as empty as four bare walls."
Jiang Fan surveyed his family’s home. Aside from a bed, a table, and a few stools, furniture was scarce; the state of their poverty remained unshakable. He sighed involuntarily.
A few days prior, following a severe fever, memories of a past life had resurfaced within him. Initially, he was skeptical, finding it hard to believe he had truly transmigrated from Earth to a different realm.
However, after several days of observation, he was forced to accept the reality that he had indeed arrived in an alien world.
His arrival had been through fetal transmigration.
It was only now, as the "fetal fog" finally dissipated, that the recollections of his previous existence were restored.
In that former life, Jiang Fan had been a promising young man. A university graduate with a sixty-thousand-yuan salary, he worked in the education and training sector, fueled by ambition and a bright future. To increase his earnings, he drove for DiDi at night and took occasional designated driver shifts, working as tirelessly as an ox.
Regrettably, fate intervened when the entire industry was dismantled, leaving him suddenly unemployed.
Even his former employer ended up driving for DiDi to survive.
To make matters worse, in an attempt to settle in a major city, he had purchased a home that turned out to be one of Heng Tai’s unfinished projects. Between that and a failed bank oil investment, he was left bankrupt.
The money he had earned was a pittance compared to the debts he had accrued—debts that would take multiple lifetimes to clear.
Ultimately, he drank himself into a stupor, only to wake up in this new world.
To be honest, he felt a sting of regret for following the advice of a certain tycoon who claimed that "degrees from Tsinghua or Peking University are nothing compared to the courage to take risks."
The tycoon grew wealthy, while he ended up in total ruin.
"But this life seems even more difficult," Jiang Fan thought as he sifted through his new memories.
He was currently in the Wei Kingdom, a realm governed by a feudal dynasty.
Nearby lay the vast, eight-hundred-mile Yunmeng Lake, which provided a livelihood for thousands of fishermen.
He was just one of the many souls living off the lake’s bounty.
Fishing in the spring, capturing in the autumn, breeding in the summer, and battling the elements in the winter—on the surface, it seemed like a decent profession.
Landing a significant catch could lead to a respectable monthly income.
However, the costs of daily essentials like fuel, rice, oil, and salt were high, and the taxes imposed on fishing were even more soul-crushing than those on farming.
Beyond that, fishermen were burdened by various levies, fees, and the constant harassment of local gangs.
Owning a boat meant paying for the right to dock at the pier.
Furthermore, falling ill was a death sentence for a family’s finances.
In his past life, despite his debts, the advancements of modern society meant one could survive as long as they had the will to live.
In this world, however, survival was a different story entirely.
He was at a loss as to how he would manage to endure.
"Brother Jiang."
Just then, a girl of about fifteen or sixteen stepped out from the house. She wore a simple linen headscarf that framed a face of pure, captivating beauty. Her large, sparkling eyes seemed to hold a language of their own, and her skin was as smooth as fine porcelain.
She was the definition of a natural beauty, the kind one could never grow tired of looking at.
The heavy Ruqun she wore did little to hide her graceful, feminine curves.
Despite her youth, there was a touch of maturity in her gaze, which held a gentle, spring-like warmth.
She was currently struggling to carry a heavy wooden water bucket inside.
This was Su Weiwei, the child bride of the Jiang Family.
"Why didn't you call me for such heavy work?"
Seeing her struggle, Jiang Fan quickly stepped forward to take the bucket, setting it down carefully on the ground.
He looked at her with genuine warmth.
Throughout his sickness, he had been kept alive solely by her devoted care.
Without her, he likely would have perished.
"It's nothing; Brother Jiang, you've just recovered from a serious illness. I can handle such a small matter."
"Besides, it's just the two of us left in the house now."
Su Weiwei brushed the perspiration from her brow, her eyes reflecting deep affection and a sense of sweet devotion as she looked at him.
She had been sold by her parents as a child to become a bride for the Jiang Family.
She and Jiang Fan had grown up as childhood sweethearts.
The Jiang Family had never mistreated her, treating her instead like their own daughter.
Consequently, her life with them had been quite content.
Sadly, a few months prior, both of Jiang Fan’s parents had passed away from illnesses brought on by sheer exhaustion.
Now, Jiang Fan and Su Weiwei were all each other had.
Thus, even at sixteen, Su Weiwei had taken on the weight of the household duties.
She handled the laundry, the cooking, and the upkeep of the home.
She didn't find the labor burdensome; she felt that as long as this simple life continued, things were good.
Unfortunately, in this era, the desire for a peaceful, ordinary life was often a dream as unreachable as the stars.
"Is there still rice at home?"
Jiang Fan asked, his stomach growling with a hunger he hadn't been able to satisfy for a long time.
"Yes, there's a little rice left; it should last for three days."
"But I heard the Dragon King Gang is going to raise the monthly fee by thirty percent again."
"The whole village is complaining."
"If we have to pay that much, we'll truly have nothing left."
Su Weiwei clenched her fists, her face showing her frustration.
She was deeply unwilling to hand over their meager earnings.
Jiang Fan’s expression darkened at the news. The Dragon King Gang was the dominant power in the region—a criminal force that controlled the fishing rights for over a dozen nearby villages.
To fish in Yunmeng Lake, one had to pay them a monthly protection fee.
In many ways, they held more power than the actual government.
Defying them was unthinkable.
The existing fee was already a crushing weight on the fishermen.
A thirty percent increase would leave many with no way to survive.
He wondered how many people would actually make it through the coming winter.
"There's no other choice. Paying it keeps us safe for a while."
"If we refuse, we might lose everything in an instant."
Jiang Fan spoke with a sense of resignation. He hated the idea of paying as much as she did.
However, he was well aware of the Dragon King Gang’s brutality; they viewed lives as cheap and had the numbers to back up their threats.
Without the strength to fight back, he had to play by their rules.
"Hmm?!"
Suddenly, Jiang Fan’s eyes caught his reflection in the water bucket. The clear surface mirrored his features.
As the water rippled, a flash of golden light erupted between his eyebrows, and a surge of information flooded into his mind.
[Life Chart—Great Blessings Equal to Heaven]
[Attribute: Survive great calamities, and there will be fortune thereafter]
"Life Chart?!"
Jiang Fan was stunned. He understood that everyone possessed a destiny—a life chart that dictated whether one was born to be a noble, a commoner, or a beggar in the gutter.
Every individual had a unique path.
His own life chart appeared to be extraordinary, sitting at the very pinnacle of such destinies.
The contradiction was that he had been plagued by misfortune in both of his lives, never experiencing a single stroke of luck.
Despite the "Great Blessings Equal to Heaven," he felt like a man cursed with nine lives of bad luck.
Could this life chart finally change his path?
Before Jiang Fan could delve deeper into the meaning of this revelation, the sound of heavy footsteps and loud cursing from outside the house cut his thoughts short.