A future sports champion!

Second Aunt’s face lit up with joy as she looked at her dutiful nephew. “It’s rare to see such thoughtfulness. I’ll go back and fetch some pork then.”

Chen Anquan glanced at his second aunt and took out a brand-new set of keys from his trouser pocket. “Second Aunt, these are the keys to my house.”

The old, rusted keys had already been replaced with new ones. Under the blazing sun, the keys gleamed brightly, almost dazzling.

Second Aunt’s smile disappeared instantly. She muttered, “Anquan, why did you change the lock? The old one was still perfectly usable!”

The reason was simple: the old lock could still be used, but it belonged to Second Aunt’s family. Now, the old house was his alone—not Second Aunt’s, and certainly not their long-term storage space.

Second Aunt’s expression darkened. She glanced at Second Uncle, only to see him say, “Well, yes, the old lock will do nicely for the pigsty. Nowadays, you can’t be too careful—people even steal pigs.”

Second Aunt was fuming. Seeing her husband fail to grasp Chen Anquan’s intention, she grew angrier. “Anquan doesn’t need all that space living alone. Surely it’s fine if we continue storing our things there?”

At that moment, Second Uncle grinned sheepishly. “We should move everything out. Now that Anquan’s back, it’s best.”

Chen Anquan smiled. “Second Uncle, Second Aunt, it’s all right. I don’t need so much space living alone. The main hall can be emptied, and I don’t use the other room either—you can keep your things there, it’s no problem.”

Having been reassured, Second Aunt could say nothing more. Huffing, she turned and headed home.

Second Uncle, his forehead already damp, looked at Chen Anquan. “Anquan, is your body holding up for your first time harvesting rice?”

At this moment, not only was Chen Anquan’s forehead wet, but his clothes and trousers were soaked as well. He stretched out his left palm, discovering it was marked with red indentations and blood-red cuts from the rice stalks.

He had been so absorbed by the numbers on his attribute panel while harvesting rice that he hadn’t noticed the pain—now that he stopped, his left palm throbbed like a knife wound.

Sweat soaked his palm, intensifying the pain.

He glanced at Second Uncle’s hand, noticing the latter had not a single mark—his palm was dry.

“Second Uncle, doesn’t your hand hurt after harvesting so much rice?”

The tall, thin Second Uncle chuckled. “Heh, my hands don’t hurt. I’ve got thick calluses… but my back aches.”

The kidneys govern the bones; the lower back is often called the kidneys. When the kidneys are weak, back pain ensues. Had Second Uncle been overusing his kidneys?

Chen Anquan looked at his uncle without replying, then put down his sickle, preparing to straighten his back.

After two hours of harvesting rice, his waist had remained bent the entire time. Though he hadn’t felt any pain or discomfort, his back felt as if it were bound—there was a stiffness.

“Am I getting ankylosing spondylitis?”

After mocking himself internally, Chen Anquan finally straightened his back.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, he felt a fierce ache and swelling in his lower back. It was an unbearable sensation, as if struck by a club. But it faded quickly.

Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Second Uncle watched Chen Anquan and laughed. “Anquan, is your back hurting?”

Chen Anquan nodded repeatedly.

“You’ve been bent over too long. Young people like you aren’t used to farm work anymore. Even your brother Zhengzheng can’t handle harvesting rice.”

Chen Anquan wiped the cooling sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. “Harvesting rice really is tough!”

“That’s why, you’re still young—there’s no future staying in the countryside forever. You should look for work; doctors earn good money.”

In his eyes, Chen Anquan’s work as a rehabilitation therapist counted as being a doctor.

Chen Anquan didn’t bother to explain his profession further. “I’m not planning to look for work yet. I’ll keep living in the countryside.”

“But you still need to make a living, right? You’ll want to marry one day, have children, and send them to school. All that costs money.”

Chen Anquan murmured agreement, knowing his uncle spoke out of concern.

If he hadn’t activated the system panel, perhaps he’d have stayed in Ao Bei Village for three or five days, waited until his mood improved, then returned to the city to find work. Or maybe he’d have gone to the coast to seek employment.

But things were different now—he had the attribute panel.

In just one day, he’d improved his attributes and felt the changes in his body.

He could hardly wait to see what would happen if his attributes reached four or five points. What state would he be in then?

Four or five times the normal human abilities—would he even still be human?

Just imagining it made his heart race!

He didn’t believe reality would be like the movies, where scientists would capture him for research just because his physical abilities were several times above normal.

By then, he could do so many things…

For instance, he could compete in international sports events, easily taking first place and gaining fame and fortune as effortlessly as reaching into a pocket.

As for doping tests, he wasn’t worried at all. He could guarantee he wouldn’t use any performance-enhancing drugs, so there was nothing to fear.

Having sorted his thoughts, Chen Anquan said to his uncle, “Don’t worry, Second Uncle. Tomorrow I’ll go to the town to buy a bed and some daily necessities. I’ll live in my own house, so I won’t be a bother to you.”

“Ah!” Second Uncle finally felt relieved and let out a long sigh.

There were things he hadn’t told Chen Anquan. Even his own son, Li Anzheng, who lazed around at home all day, would be harshly scolded. But Chen Anquan was his nephew; there were words he couldn’t say directly.

“Don’t worry, Second Uncle. I’ll earn my own living.”

Second Uncle said nothing, and continued harvesting rice.

Chen Anquan’s parents had died young; the family’s land had long since been divided. Now, all Chen Anquan had was the old house left by his grandfather—no farmland at all.

Without land in the countryside, how could he farm or grow vegetables?

In Second Uncle’s eyes, Chen Anquan was bound to run out of resources and would eventually leave this dead-end mountain village.

Seeing Second Uncle resume harvesting, Chen Anquan naturally couldn’t fall behind.

He bent down, picked up the sickle from the ground, and went back to harvesting rice.

Another two hours passed.

It was now after two in the afternoon.

“Time to eat! Time to eat!”

Second Aunt’s figure appeared on the distant path along the fields, her left hand carrying a bamboo basket, her right holding a tea kettle long blackened with age.