One step into the next life

He Jianhong was late. 

He Jianhong was not a man who let himself be late, it was his belief that it was more trouble than it was worth. It made people stare at you, and think, "Wow, that guy's pathetic."

People cared when you were late, and that wasn't what He Jianhong wanted, he wanted a quiet life, away from other people. His professor would likely belittle him in front of the entire class when he arrived. How frustrating.

Sighing loudly, He Jianhong tapped his foot impatiently, when would the damn train come? It felt as if he'd been waiting for hours already. 

"Apologies for the delay. The train will be arriving shortly." A disembodied voice, the intercom voice in the station really, said flatly. 

"Son of a bitch!" said a voice from He Jianhong's side. He turned to look who it was. 

The person who had said it was a woman, about He Jianhong's age, maybe a little older, but no older than 23 or so. She had black hair pulled messily into a ponytail at the top of her head, and makeup smudged around her eyes. 

"I'm gonna fucking be late again." she said angrily, He Jianhong then recognized her, she was in the same advanced anatomy class. What was her name again? Oh, He Jianhong remembered, Shi Minluo, they'd been part of the same group project the previous semester. 

"Me too." He said in an attempt to make conversation. 

"Who are you?" Shi Minluo said bluntly.

"He Jianhong. We're both late to An-laoshi's anatomy class. We did a project together once." 

"Right." Shi Minluo sounded unconvinced. She had a look of disgust on her face. 

"Never mind." He Jianhong responded, desperately trying to back out of the conversation. 

*HONK* The train had just pulled into the station. Maybe he wasn't going to be as late as he thought he was. It was a shame he hadn't gotten the chance to do his homework last night. 

Right as He Jianhong was going to step onto the train car, he felt a pain in his chest. Something was gravely wrong. He was lightheaded, his vision was clouding. Was he going to die? At the ripe old age of 20? Just his luck. 

He Jianhong felt himself collapsing. It was happening, he was dying. Before he completely lost consciousness, he heard Shi Minluo talking franticly. "Is anyone a doctor or nurse? I'm only a medical student. Someone call 120!"

His head hit the ground, hard. Everything went black.

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Transformation complete.

He Jianhong opened his eyes. He seemed to be lying down on the ground, but not the ground of the train station from earlier, he was sprawled out on a dirt road, staring directly into the bright blue sky. 

Welcome to: Minrong Country, Hong Village, Enjoy your stay in this new world!

A robotic voice sounded in He Jianhong's head. 

"Huh? What? Where am I?" He Jianhong yelped, jumping up. 

"Ey! Young lad! What's yer name?" He Jianhong heard a voice ask.

 Just outside of the alleyway he was standing in, He Jianhong spotted an old man in tattered traditional clothes, he couldn't place the time period though, as he'd never really been much of a history buff. Looking down at himself, He Jianhong now noticed he was in the same style of clothing, only much less tattered, with a layer of dust and dirt covering his person. 

"Young man! I asked ya a question!" The old man asked again.

"He. My family name is He. What about you?"

"Call me Xu." Old Man Xu beckoned to He Jianhong, "Ay! He! Why're ya out on the street like this? Whattya doin here?" 

"No.." He responded nervously "I haven't"

Old Man Xu looked at He Jianhong in pity. "Ayiah! You kids! So disorganized. Come on! You can have dinner with me and my granddaughter. I've got room!" 

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He Jianhong followed the man to his house "What the hell have I got myself into?" He asked himself. "I've woken up in another world of some type after dying, I thought this stuff only ever happened in shitty novels!"

Just then, He Jianhong heard a shrill voice from behind him. 

"Waigong! You can't just bring random men you found off the street into the house! What's wrong with you, you crazy old man?!"

"Bah, A'Zhen, you should give the poor man a chance. Besides, we're likely to get extra rations from the Emperor for taking in a man in need. And we've been doing pretty well with the rice crop this year, all we need now is to find you a husband."

"For the last time Waigong, I'm not getting married to Ol' Mang's grandson!" Old Man Xu's granddaughter, A'Zhen, retorted. 

"I can't believe you're still hung up on that boy after 3 years! Su Meti is dead! He's been dead for all that time! If anything, just marry his younger brother, they look the same." 

"Aiyah! How could you be so cold!" Then A'Zhen turned to He Jianhong, "Hello, I appologize for my grandpa's bad personality. I'm Zan Zhenya, Xu Yang, this old man," she pointed to Old Man Xu, "is my maternal grandpa. Both Ma and Ba are dead, we're stuck together." 

"Ah, It's no problem." He Jianhong felt awkward. Despite the yelling, and pocking fun at each other, the relationship between Zan Zhenya and Xu Yang was clearly good. "I'm He, ah, He Jianhong." He Jianhong cringed at himself internally, he'd never been good at talking to people, and every time he tried, some part of him would die a bit. 

"Hm, well He, would you like some congee?" Zan Zhenya smiled crookedly, then turned to face Xu Yang, "Ey, Waigong, since we're having unannounced houseguests to eat with us, I'd like to invite someone else. I hope you won't mind."