Lu You rubbed his aching temples and sat up in bed, staring blankly at his completely unfamiliar surroundings. "How did I end up here?" Lu You was puzzled. Carefully recalling, he remembered the last scene before he passed out. After work, as usual, he walked home and heard a woman's cry for help in an alley. Rushing over, he saw two thugs pinning down a young girl, seemingly intent on assault. Though slender, Lu You had practiced Sanshou for over a decade, even winning several gold medals in city competitions. As the saying goes, "A skilled fighter is never timid." Naturally, he shouted and charged at the thugs, quickly driving them off with a few punches and kicks. But just as he was about to help the girl up, he suddenly heard a gunshot, followed by an excruciating pain in his head, and then he remembered nothing. Lu You touched his head, feeling a wave of relief. Who would have thought his first act of heroism would involve encountering a "small but elite monster equipped with a mighty artifact"? Such terrible luck. Regaining his composure and feeling no unusual physical symptoms, Lu You got out of bed and walked into the living room. The living room was small, less than fifteen square meters, with very basic furniture that seemed quite old. Across from him, under the window sill, was a plastic clothes rack bought from a night market for twenty yuan, densely hung with various cheap clothes. "Did that girl bring me here?" Lu You frowned and headed to the bathroom, turning on the tap. Splash! A handful of cold water on his face made him feel much better. However, the moment he looked up at the mirror, he was thunderstruck. Reflected in the mirror was a teenager, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with dragon-like brows and phoenix eyes, fair skin, and extremely handsome features! Lu You stared, dumbfounded, touching his face and watching the young man in the mirror doing the same. A word, all too familiar yet filled with a sense of fantasy, popped into his mind – "time travel." "No way," Lu You opened his mouth in shock. But. After all, he was nearly thirty years old, with a strong psychological resilience. Lu You quickly calmed down. Looking around. "Right, there's a TV, a computer; it seems to be modern society. To gather information, the computer is the best choice." Lu You hurried back to his bedroom and skillfully turned on the computer and connected to the internet. Fortunately, the text was in Chinese, a language he knew well.

After an afternoon of searching, Lu You learned that he was still on Earth, but this Earth was quite different from his previous world. The technological and economic levels were similar, but the historical development was entirely different - there was only one country, "Huaxia". "It seems I've come to a parallel world, huh?" Lu You glanced around and noticed a photo on the right speaker. It was a typical family of three: a boy in the middle, a slender, smiling beautiful woman on his left, and a tall man in a dark suit on his right, though his face was cut off and unrecognizable. Flipping the photo frame over, it read 'Taken in 1510, West Lake.' "This photo is five years old," Lu You thought, putting it back. Click. Suddenly, the sound of a door opening startled him, and he stood up quickly. He was nervous, firstly because he didn't know who was entering, and secondly, he wasn't sure how to face this stranger. But since he had already time-traveled, he knew he had to face it sooner or later; avoidance was pointless. Lu You went into the living room and saw the woman who had just entered. It was the same woman from the photo! "She must be the mother of this body," Lu You thought to himself. The mother looked more worn compared to the photo, her skin darker, but her demeanor and appearance hadn't changed much. "Xiaoyu, are you feeling better from your fever?" Lu Yanyan asked, surprised. Nangong Feiyu was the name of the body he inhabited. Lu You nodded and hummed in agreement. Facing a stranger, he couldn't bring himself to call her 'mom'. In fact, the terms 'mom' and 'dad' were foreign to Lu You. In his previous life, he seldom used them. His parents divorced when he was very young, and he grew up with his grandmother. After she passed away in his teens, he lived alone. His relationship with his parents was not bad but distant, like strangers. "Phew, I'm glad you're okay," Lu Yanyan sighed in relief and struggled to pull in a large snakeskin bag at the door. It was heavy, and she had difficulty dragging it. Seeing this, Lu You quickly went over to help. Inside the bag were various clothes for young people, similar to those hanging on the rack. A glance at the woman's waist pouch, and Lu You guessed that his mother was likely a small-time vendor selling young people's clothes. "That's enough, put it there," Lu Yanyan wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Are you hungry? I'll cook some food." "Okay," Lu You nodded, careful not to talk much to avoid slipping up. Lu Yanyan was efficient, and in less than half an hour, she served two dishes and a soup: scrambled eggs with tomatoes, minced meat with eggplant, and winter melon and rib soup – simple yet delicious home-cooked meals. The mother and son ate dinner in silence. After Lu Yanyan cleaned up, she moved the snakeskin bag again and told Lu You, "Xiaoyu, I'm going out. Stay home and call me if you need anything." Watching her struggle with the bag, Lu You felt a strange tightness in his heart and an indescribable emotion. His nose tingled. It seemed the original owner of this body had a special bond with his mother. Rubbing his nose, Lu You said, "Let me help you. I'll go with you." Lu Yanyan looked up in surprise, "You... want to go with me? Haven't you always been reluctant to show your face?" "The past is the past... Now is now," Lu You muttered softly. ... Lu You's guess was correct – his mother, Lu Yanyan, was indeed a small-time vendor, specifically a 'ghost vendor', a term for unlicensed vendors who sold wherever they could and were often chased by city management. Under the night sky, the familiar but lively urban village was bustling. The attractive mother-son duo, Lu You and Lu Yanyan, drew many onlookers, and their business thrived unexpectedly. "The business is really good." Lu Yanyan happily counted the stack of colorful banknotes in her hand, a currency Lu You had never seen before – Huaxia currency.

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Huaxia currency came in denominations of one, five, ten, twenty, fifty, and a hundred, each varying in color and size. After two hours of setting up their stall, Lu You’s mother earned around three hundred yuan. Lu You was still unfamiliar with the cost of living here, but his mother’s smiling face suggested they had made more than usual. "Xiaoyu, are you tired?" Lu Yanyan, having put away the money, looked at her son, surprised by his first time helping out at the stall. She had expected him to shy away from strangers as usual, but instead, he actively called out to customers and helped with the business, looking as if he had done this before. "I'm fine," Lu You shook his head. "Xiaoyu, don't worry, Mom will definitely save enough for your tuition," Lu Yanyan said with a bright smile. Tuition? Okay! Lu You was somewhat bewildered. He knew they were not well-off, but he didn't expect to be so poor that they couldn't afford tuition fees. Wasn’t that a bit exaggerated? "What a mistake." "Wow, this shirt is so pretty, Xiaoya, look!" Three girls approached the stall. One of them, a plump girl, pointed at a shirt and asked, "Auntie, do you have this in a larger size?" "Yes, let me find it for you," Lu Yanyan immediately began searching in the snakeskin bag. "This pair of shorts looks nice too, but I can’t fit into them. Alas, I'm too fat," the plump girl pouted, and the girl behind her laughed, "You always want to lose weight but can't stop eating. You just need to lose about ten kilos to fit into them." "But I just love to eat." The three girls chattered away until one of them suddenly stared at Lu You, who was sitting idly by, and blurted out, "Aren’t you Nangong Feiyu from Class Three?" Lu You was startled, thinking it was a small world that someone recognized him even at a clothing stall. Did he have a wide social circle? He nodded without saying anything. "Nangong Feiyu? Xiaoya, you must be joking. How could a young master of the Nangong family be selling at a night market?" "Exactly, that’s impossible." The plump girl and another with a face full of acne said. Zhou Ya’s heart skipped a beat, recalling a rumor that Nangong Feiyu was an illegitimate child kicked out of the Nangong family. She never expected it to be true. "Maybe I mistook someone else..." Zhou Ya pursed her lips, gave Nangong Feiyu a meaningful look, and left with the two girls after buying some clothes. "He's so handsome, I'd love to date him, but it’s a pity he’s too poor, selling at a street stall. Such a waste of good looks!" "Don't be so materialistic." "Hehe, of course, the richer the boyfriend, the better!" The girls walked away, disappearing into the crowd. Nangong family? Young master? Lu You’s brow furrowed slightly. He turned to see his mother looking at him apologetically, "I shouldn't have asked you to come out..." "It's okay," Lu You scratched his head. They returned home from the night market at nine in the evening, the air still hot and dry. After a long day, Lu Yanyan took a bath and went to bed early, while Lu You lay in bed, restless, unable to sleep. The words "Nangong family" kept echoing in his mind, and he didn't know what time he finally fell asleep. The next morning, Lu You woke up with a new memory in his head, clearing up all his confusion. "So, I was the illegitimate child kicked out of the Nangong family a month ago, and that girl Zhou Ya is the class president of the next class..." Lu You pressed his temples, sighing. Now he understood why Zhou Ya looked so surprised seeing him at the stall last night. Just a month ago, he was a wealthy second-generation, driving luxury cars to school with a monthly allowance in the five figures. And now, here he was, setting up a stall in a bustling urban village. Who wouldn’t be shocked by such a drastic change? Regrettably, that was all he could remember. He had no idea why he and his mother were driven out of their home. But Lu You didn’t care. What had happened couldn’t be changed. What mattered was how to live in this world from now on. He couldn't let his mother sell at the street stall forever, could he?