"Stay?" Xia Huai'an felt a flicker of temptation.
The production team would certainly not be able to find him in the short term, leaving him to fend for himself. He had originally planned to use the remaining daylight to cut a few logs in the mountain and build a temporary shelter, figuring out the rest step by step.
If he could stay, at least he would have a more comfortable place to sleep.
"However, since she wants me to stay, she must want something in return. I'm afraid this will bring some trouble my way!"
"If the trouble isn't too big, I'll just solve it along the way. If it's too huge, the worst that can happen is I walk away! We're just strangers crossing paths; there's no need to risk my life over it."
Xia Huai'an hurriedly helped the young woman and the child to their feet, asking, "I wonder what you would have me do if I stay?"
"You won't have to do a thing!" the young woman said. "Xiaomao is very sensible and can take care of Mother. I will handle all the chores around the house. As long as there is a man in the family, the three of us won't be bullied anymore."
Xia Huai'an nodded. "Then under what identity am I to stay?"
The young woman blushed and said, "You could be my uxorilocal husband. If the young master finds that beneath you, I can be your concubine."
"Let's forget about being a live-in son-in-law," Xia Huai'an shook his head repeatedly. "I'll just be Damao. Didn't the old lady mistake me for him? We might as well just run with it. From now on, my name will be Xia... Damao was just your childhood nickname, right? What was your elder brother's formal name?"
"His formal name was Xia Damao," the young woman replied.
Xia Huai'an gave a light cough and said, "Forget it then. From now on, my formal name is Xia Huai'an, and my childhood nickname is Damao. You must all call me Big Brother from now on, and make sure you don't slip up!"
"Thank you, Big Brother!" The young woman happily kowtowed to Xia Huai'an.
According to rural custom, a woman would address her husband's elder brother as Big Brother or Second Brother, and her husband's younger brother as Third Uncle or Young Uncle, and so on.
Xiaomao also imitated his mother and kowtowed. "Thank you, Big Brother!"
Xia Huai'an smiled. "Get up, all of you. There's no need to be so formal between family members, lest outsiders see through the act."
Then the three of them went into Mother Xia's room to brief her on the matter, fearing she might give the game away in front of outsiders.
Who would have thought that Mother Xia refused to entertain the idea that Xia Huai'an was an impostor? Instead, she insisted that Xia Huai'an was indeed Damao, and even claimed that her eldest son's formal name had always been Xia Huai'an, down to the very last character.
The old lady's emotions poured out with genuine sincerity, complete with the wild, joyful disbelief of a long-awaited reunion with her own flesh and blood. Even Xia Huai'an couldn't tell whether it was brilliant acting or an uncanny coincidence.
Still, having an elder brother named Xia Huai'an and a second brother named Xia Ping'an actually had a nice ring to it.
Mother Xia instructed, "Yufang, quickly tidy up the east room. You and the girl can move in there. The main room will be for your big brother. Seniority must be respected; the main room originally belonged to your big brother, and it was only given to Ermao because your big brother wasn't home. Now that Damao is back, he is the master of this house. Do you understand, Yufang?"
"Yes, Mother!" the young woman nodded repeatedly.
"Yufang, catch a chicken and prepare a welcoming feast for Damao tonight!" the old lady added.
A bitter expression crossed the young woman's face as she sighed, "Mother, your illness is clouding your mind. The chickens we kept were all carried off by mountain bandits long ago. Not a single one is left."
Xia Huai'an burst out laughing. "It seems Mother is the one craving chicken. I'll take a walk up the mountain and see if I can bag a pheasant."
With that, Xia Huai'an picked up his backpack.
Yufang grabbed a desperate hold of his backpack straps, refusing to let him go. "Today has felt like a dream. I'm afraid that once Big Brother steps out that door, he'll never come back!"
Xia Huai'an said, "Don't worry! If I really wanted to leave, you wouldn't be able to stop me anyway."
Yet Yufang remained resolute and refused to let go, leaving Xia Huai'an with no choice but to sit back down.
Mother Xia asked, "Damao, you've been wandering all these years—did you take a wife?"
Xia Huai'an replied, "I've been drifting in foreign lands and have never married."
Mother Xia said, "According custom, until the eldest brother marries, the younger brother cannot take a bride. You were suffering out there, and I had no idea, so I went ahead and arranged a match for Ermao. Originally, that match should have been yours."
"Yufang was Ermao's betrothed, but she is a woman of tragic fate—before she could officially cross our threshold, Ermao met with disaster. Now that you are back and sharing a roof with Yufang, the villagers will inevitably wag their tongues with gossip. You might as well just take Yufang as your concubine."
Xia Huai-an was startled. "Is that appropriate?"
Levirate marriage—where a man marries his deceased brother's widow—was not uncommon in ancient times, especially in rural areas. A farming household without a man lacked a backbone; if a younger brother didn't help care for his late brother's surviving widow and children, their lives would be extraordinarily difficult.
Moreover, if an unmarried brother-in-law and sister-in-law lived under the same roof for too long, gossip was inevitable. Thus, levirate marriage provided a legitimate, open way for them to live together.
In such arrangements, the woman usually entered the household as a concubine, leaving room for the brother to marry a proper primary wife later. However, for impoverished families who could never afford concubines anyway, though the nominal status was that of a concubine, the reality was little different from being a primary wife.
Given the current situation where Ermao was dead, Damao marrying his late brother's widow as a concubine was entirely reasonable according to local customs.
"Why wouldn't it be appropriate? It looks entirely appropriate to me!" Mother Xia pressed her advantage, turning to ask, "Yufang, are you willing?"
Yufang's face turned beet red as she lowered her head. "I leave it entirely to Mother's decision."
"Good, as long as you're willing!" Mother Xia turned back to Xia Huai'an. "Damao, Yufang will be your wife—do you agree?"
Having been single since birth for over twenty years and never even been in a relationship, Xia Huai'an looked at this wife who had literally been delivered to his doorstep, feeling a rather surreal sensation.
Was this the perk of being a time traveler? He gets handed a wife on day one?
Could it be that I actually have some kind of 'Children and Blessings System' where taking a concubine activates it?
"Should I just agree and see what happens?"
Xia Huai'an tested the waters. "Alright, I agree to marry Yufang."
Then, he closed his eyes and waited for three seconds. But no system activation prompt echoed in his mind.
Mother Xia happily repeated the word "good" several times.
"A levirate marriage doesn't require a wedding banquet, but it does need testimony from the clan. The Xia family only has one household here in Xiaoyu Township with no extended clan, so we just need to notify the Village Head and the villagers," Mother Xia said.
Seeing that no system had activated, Xia Huai'an backpedaled. "I was just joking a moment ago. There's no rush about the marriage; we can talk about it after some time has passed."
"This must be some bizarre scenario arranged by the production team!" Xia Huai'an thought to himself.
At his words, Yufang's face instantly drained of color, and she lowered her head in silence.
"You can't joke about a matter like this!" Mother Xia said anxiously. "A gentleman's word is as good as a gold bond! What you promise, you must fulfill. I'll give you another month to prepare for the wedding. If this drags on too long, the villagers will inevitably start gossiping. You might not care as a man, but how do you expect Yufang to live?"
"Fine, a month it is! We'll marry a month from now." Xia Huai'an wasn't trying to be difficult; it was just all too sudden, and he needed some time to adapt.
A month would also be enough for him to understand this world. If it truly proved unviable, he could naturally make things clear to Yufang or leave this household.
Hearing Xia Huai'an's agreement, color returned to Yufang's face. She stood up and said, "Mother, Big Brother, you two talk. I'll go to the back kitchen and prepare something to eat."
Mother Xia said, "Wait a moment longer! After more than ten years, Damao managed to find his way back—it must be the protection of the Earth God. Yufang, first take Damao to the Earth God Temple to pay your respects, and then go see the Village Head to draw some rice and flour."
With that, the old lady fished out a dozen or so copper coins from the seams of her clothing—presumably the very last wealth this family possessed.
Xia Huai'an looked at the copper coins in deep thought.
If crossing over into another world was treated as a survival challenge, finding a foothold on the very first day meant he had achieved a very solid start.
Next, he needed to figure out how to acquire money and food.
In times of war and chaos, doing business was out of the question, and developing technology was a distant, hopeless dream.
The absolute first priority was solving the food problem for himself and the three members of the Xia family.
Xia Huai'an rubbed his stomach. It seemed the secret weapon he had prepared for surviving alone on a deserted island would come in very handy here after all.