Sitting on the wooden stump for over half an hour, Jin Feng had to accept reality.
He had transmigrated.
From the modern 21st century, he had crossed over to a backward feudal society.
“God, are you targeting me?”
Jin Feng looked up at the sky, sighing with a bitter smile.
In his previous life, Jin Feng came from a poor mountain village. Through relentless effort, he got into university, worked part-time to support himself, and completed his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees consecutively. After graduating, he became a senior mechanical engineer, earning millions annually.
Such a journey was truly inspiring, and Jin Feng considered himself a winner in life.
But he never imagined that, just a few days into his job, an accident due to lack of focus from continuous overtime would thrust him into the ranks of transmigrators, landing in this Kang Dynasty, inhabiting the body of a small-time blacksmith.
“Is every Jin Feng destined to be this unlucky?”
Indeed, the blacksmith he inhabited was also named Jin Feng, and his life was even more tragic.
Born into chaos, he fled with his parents to escape war. They finally settled in this small village called Xihewan, but soon after, his mother died of illness.
The old blacksmith knew education was the path to success, so he tightened his belt to send young Jin Feng to school, hoping he would one day pass the imperial exams and rise to prominence.
Unfortunately, this Jin Feng was not cut out for studying. After ten years of hard work, he couldn’t even pass the scholar exam.
Last year, the old blacksmith died of illness, and the little savings left were soon depleted by Jin Feng.
For the past half month, he had only eaten one bowl of thin porridge a day, so hungry he grew dizzy and bumped into a pillar.
That collision brought the 21st-century Jin Feng to the Kang Dynasty.
“Brother Jin, the county’s bride delivery team is almost here. The village chief wants you to hurry to the village entrance.”
A boy of twelve or thirteen shouted from the doorway, then ran off without checking if Jin Feng heard him.
“Bride delivery team?”
Information flashed through Jin Feng’s mind.
Years of war had decimated the Kang Dynasty’s male population. To boost population growth, the court mandated that men over eighteen and women over seventeen must marry, or face a thirty percent tax increase.
With a shortage of men and labor, coupled with heavy taxes and bandit extortion, most commoners could only afford one meal a day. Ninety-nine percent couldn’t bear the extra tax.
As a craftsman, Jin Feng was exempt from military service, but his taxes were heavier than those of farmers or hunters, making it impossible to afford.
Having reached marriageable age, when the county came to collect taxes earlier this year, he could only report that he would marry this year.
In Xihewan, he already had a reputation for idleness, destined to starve. Who would marry their daughter to him?
But that was fine. The Kang Dynasty had no shortage of eligible women.
At the end of spring and autumn, the county organized bride delivery teams, sending unmarried women of age to villages and towns for men to choose.
Whether the man was lame or blind, if chosen, the woman had to marry and bear children.
“Is this the legendary government-issued wife? Did Secretary Dakang transmigrate too, with such great benefits?”
Having just transmigrated and not even eaten a bite, being forced to marry felt strange, and Jin Feng grumbled inwardly.
He had no expectations for the bride delivery team.
The women sent were those who couldn’t find husbands in their villages, essentially leftovers, so their quality was predictable.
But he had no choice.
Men had the right to choose but not to refuse.
So, whether satisfied or not, he had to take a wife home today, or he’d be deemed a tax evader and sent to the battlefield until death.
Jin Feng could only endure his hunger and head to the village entrance.
On a platform by the road, three young men stood: one hunchbacked, one lame, and the last, though physically whole, had a sleazy, untrustworthy look.
Like Jin Feng, they were men the village wouldn’t marry their daughters to, preferring to send them to the bride selection for a chance.
“Look, Jin Feng’s here. The four diamonds are complete.”
A child shouted, jumping excitedly upon seeing Jin Feng.
“Don’t talk nonsense!”
The child’s mother quickly covered his mouth.
The hunchback who couldn’t do heavy labor, the lame man, the sleazy rogue who harassed women, and the pedantic, incompetent Jin Feng were dubbed the village’s four diamonds by the children.
Normally, Jin Feng despised this nickname, getting furious whenever he heard it, but today he just smiled at the child and stepped onto the platform.
“Brother Jin’s here!”
The hunchback and the lame man greeted him with smiles.
The rogue snorted disdainfully, tiptoeing to look at the village entrance.
“Brother Liu, Brother Zhang!”
Jin Feng returned their greetings with a smile.
“Here they come!”
The rogue pointed at the village entrance, shouting loudly.
A procession carrying a red sign approached slowly along the village path.
Leading were five county yamen officers and a matchmaker in an exaggerated red dress, followed by over twenty girls carrying bundles.
The village chief greeted the officers, while the matchmaker directed the girls to stand opposite Jin Feng and the others.
Bride delivery was a long-standing custom, so the girls weren’t shy, curiously observing their surroundings.
The bundles on their backs were their dowries. If chosen, they’d stay immediately.
This village might become their home, and these onlookers their family.
“If only there were a row of lights.”
Jin Feng couldn’t help but think of a certain famous dating show.
But as expected, these “contestants” were indeed of low quality.
Most had sallow faces and dark skin from years of labor.
But a girl at the end of the line caught Jin Feng’s eye.
Though her clothes were shabbier than the others’, her face was fair and delicate, with exquisite features and large, expressive eyes that sparked pity.
In the internet age, phones were filled with influencer beauties, but Jin Feng could confidently say this plain-faced girl in blue outshone any meticulously made-up influencer.
“Such a gem should be in high demand. How did she end up in the bride delivery team?”
Jin Feng was puzzled.
The hunchback, noticing Jin Feng staring at the girl in blue, leaned over and whispered, “Brother Jin, why do you keep looking at Guan Xiaorou?”
Jin Feng didn’t answer but asked, “You know her?”
“You don’t?”
Li Shitou was stunned.
Then he remembered Jin Feng, always priding himself as a scholar, considered it beneath him to join the crowd when the bride delivery team came.
“She’s the money-losing girl from Guanjiawan,” Li Shitou whispered.
