Chapter 1: Five Kilometres Every Day?

Jingcheng City. Outside the West Fifth Ring Road. Cui Village.

In a small side room tucked into the northeast corner of a compound.

Ye Dali, dressed in a bright yellow delivery rider's vest, carefully wiped down his son's body as the young man lay in bed.

"It's my fault. The food I gave you this morning wasn't heated through properly — it probably went bad. It's been so hot lately, things spoil fast."

"I bought you your favourite kung pao chicken from that place you love, for lunch!"

"I'm telling you, my luck was incredible today. Every order I grabbed went smooth as silk. Just this morning alone, I already ran sixty deliveries!"

"Next time something happens, just have Xiao Ai call me!"

The only voice in the entire room was Ye Dali's. Ye Qinghe lay in the bed like a corpse — perfectly still, not a single movement — letting Ye Dali tend to him without resistance.

Once he had finished cleaning him up and tucked the blanket back into place, Ye Dali kept right on talking, just as before, chatting away while he spooned food into Ye Qinghe's mouth.

"Had enough?"

"Then I'll finish the rest. What do you want tonight? I'll pick it up on my way home?"

"Or — how about I make you that eggplant dish from back home tonight? You always loved that one!"

Ye Qinghe still didn't respond to a single word. Ye Dali didn't seem to mind. Still talking, he snapped the lid onto the leftover box of rice sitting nearby, used a spoon to mix the rice with the remaining kung pao chicken sauce, and began eating in big, hearty mouthfuls.

Ye Dali ate fast. In under two minutes, he had polished off a full box and a half of rice.

"I'm heading out. If anything comes up, have Xiao Ai call me."

With that, he grabbed the delivery box from the floor, stepped outside, locked the door, and rode his electric scooter out of the compound.

Ye Qinghe turned his head to watch Ye Dali leave, his mind a storm of silent curses.

Just moments ago, he — a perfectly upstanding young man in society — had transmigrated.

That was supposed to be a good thing!

But before he could even feel happy about it, he discovered that the body he had transmigrated into could only move from the neck up. Everything below his head was completely numb — he couldn't feel a thing.

He couldn't even feel it when the original owner's body, after being fed something off by the unreliable Ye Dali that morning, had soiled the entire bed.

Was there any transmigration start worse than this?

From the original owner's memories, the body had suddenly developed problems three years ago. Ye Dali had taken him to major hospitals all across the country, but no one could find the cause.

At first it was just some loss of motor control in his limbs. Then came the gradual loss of sensation. And finally, it had reached the state it was in now.

All their money was gone. The house and the family business back home had been sold. And still, no diagnosis.

Ye Qinghe himself had given up. But Ye Dali had not.

He had brought his son to Jingcheng, worked to earn money, and sought out specialist after specialist — renowned doctors, traditional medicine practitioners, folk healers and self-proclaimed miracle workers. As long as someone claimed they could help, Ye Dali would bring Ye Qinghe to give it a try.

One look at this room, barely ten square metres in size, told you everything about where the two of them stood now.

"You've found your peace. What am I supposed to do?"

Ye Qinghe let out a quiet sigh.

He didn't know how the original owner had died — that part was missing from the memories — but he knew that even if he wanted to die right now, he couldn't manage it.

He couldn't even move. How was he supposed to end it?

Bite his tongue?

【System loading complete! Welcome to the Good Life System!】

【A healthy body is the foundation of everything! Host, please commit to five kilometres every day!】

【Complete five kilometres to earn one Lottery Draw opportunity!】

【Get moving!!】

Just as Ye Qinghe was debating whether to try biting his tongue, a stream of electronic chimes rang out inside his mind.

A System?

Five kilometres every day?

Could you at least take a look at me before you start talking?

Five kilometres? Moving even one centimetre right now would be a medical miracle!

Ye Qinghe was so exasperated by this moronic System that he actually laughed.

He had transmigrated. He had a System. But the System was telling a fully paralysed person to walk five kilometres every day!

"System?"

"Can we talk for a second?"

"Say something?"

"..."

After trying for a while, Ye Qinghe could confirm: his System was a complete idiot. It couldn't hold a conversation. There was no status panel. And to top it all off, unlike every other System out there, this one didn't even come with a beginner's gift pack.

If he had wanted to die before the System appeared, now — strangely — he found himself with a reason to live.

Five kilometres earns one Lottery Draw?

What could it give him?

Skills? A chance to recover his body? Money?

There was no way Ye Qinghe could accept not finding out.

The problem now was: how was he supposed to complete those five kilometres?

Did he have to walk them himself, or would it count if someone else carried him?

* * *

At half past eight that evening, Ye Dali came home carrying meat and vegetables — and froze the moment he stepped through the door.

"According to our latest report..."

Ye Qinghe, who for the past several months had lain there in complete silence without a word or a movement, was watching television?

Worried that Ye Qinghe would be lonely at home alone, Ye Dali had bought a second-hand smart speaker — Xiao Ai — and a projector that could link up with it, so that Ye Qinghe could control the projector, watch TV and various programmes, and even call him, all just by giving Xiao Ai voice commands.

But ever since he'd brought them home, the projector had never been switched on once. Not a single call had ever been made.

"Dad, you're back! Hurry up and make dinner — I'm starving!"

What shocked him even more was that Ye Qinghe — who hadn't spoken a word in so long — had turned his head and was actually talking to him.

The words hit Ye Dali like a wave, and tears streamed down his face before he could stop them. He nodded eagerly, grinning through the tears: "Yes! I'll get started right now, right now — it'll be ready in no time!"

He didn't even bother wiping his face. Ye Dali set down his delivery box, grabbed the ingredients, and got to work at the simple makeshift stove just outside the door.

He didn't know what had happened to Ye Qinghe, but he knew this: his son was willing to engage with the world again, willing to talk to him. That was the greatest thing in the world.

These past few months, watching his son lie there without uttering a single word, Ye Dali had broken down countless times in private. But he could never let Ye Qinghe see that.

He wasn't a man of many words by nature — yet for these past few months, in front of Ye Qinghe, he had never stopped talking. He just hoped his son would pull himself together, say something, show even a flicker of life.

Before, he had felt that Ye Qinghe's spirit had died. Even if his body was still alive, his heart had gone completely cold.

His knife never stopped moving. Ye Dali glanced sideways through the open window at Ye Qinghe, who was watching the news inside, and felt an urge to burst into song.

As long as his son was willing to talk, as long as his outlook was more positive — maybe, just maybe, his condition might improve!

"Here we go!! Pan-fried eggplant! Crispy pork bites!! Qinghe, I'm telling you, I just had a taste and I think I outdid myself today — it's absolutely delicious!"

"Hoo hoo hoo! Try it quick! Tell me if it's better than anything I've made before!"

"It's hot! Small bites!"

Ye Dali picked up a piece of eggplant — battered, deep-fried, then stir-fried — blew on it a few times, and held it up to Ye Qinghe's lips.

"Mmm, it's good! Really good!"

Ye Qinghe took a bite and smiled.

"If it's good, eat more. Dad's happy today — I'm going to grab the wine, just a little bit!"

Ye Dali jumped to his feet cheerfully to fetch the wine. He had to have a drink tonight. He'd been off alcohol for a long time, but tonight called for it.

"Dad — I want to go outside. Can you take me out for a walk?"