Chapter Text
'SIRIUS!!'
But inside the Veil as Harry had come to know, is pitch black.
Then numerous eyes appeared, and he saw his life play before his eyes.
He instinctively knew he was being judged.
'H-Hey...I-I know we're dead, but where is Sirius? How is he seen be you?!' Harry called out anxiously.
He got no answer. He was then pulled away. 'Wait!!'
Next thing he knows, he heard a wail.
Waaaa! Waaaa!
'Gōngxǐ, shìgè nánhái!'
"...chinese? I'm reborn to a chinese family?" Harry recognized the language from the Dursleys' martial arts movies that starred Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li. And names are either two or four syllables at most.
'Ohhh! Zhè shì wǒ de dì sān gè er zǐ, yěshì zuìhòu yīgè! Shēng qī gè háizǐ, duì wǒ lái shuō kě zhēn bù róngyì~~' a tired woman sighed. Based on her exhaustion, she must be his mother who just underwent labor to get him out. Come to think of it, he DOES feel slimy so...he came out of her...unmentionable...aaaaa!!
He was then taken, and dunked in warm water and given movements, he's being washed three times, before wrapped in a nappy, and a swaddling cloth.
He decided to bide his time, but even he can understand his new name. His parents decided his name is Jianxin.
All he can do is suck milk, mess himself up which is gross that he had to cry for help.
But it feels nice to have a loving mother and father. He also has numerous siblings.
When he opened his eyes sometime later when his body can do so, he can see that he lives in a quaint traditional home. His sole complaint, is his bed is effing hard. Have these people not heard of mattresses?!
He eventually got into crawling phase, but he wanted to stand up and walk, dammit. This helplessness is despicable ah!
His family finds it cute and adorable, his efforts. When he can waddle, they finally taught him language!
The first thing he learned is his name. Then the names of his parents and siblings. Last, grandparents. He would get introduced later to his many uncles, aunts and cousins. For now, education is important!
His father is Yue Tianlang. His mother is Hong Long. Grandparents are Yue Chengye and Tao Suxuan
His siblings in order:
- Sister Qiushi 9 years old
- Sister Wanyi 8 years old
- Brother Zehou 7 years old
- Sister Peiye 5 years old
- Brother Ruihe 4 years old
- Sister Shuran 3 years old
That makes him two years old now since he can now open his eyes and his father is shockingly fair-skinned! His eldest sisters got a peachy complexion now. Zehou and the rest are lighter yellowish skintone.
But he can see glowing particles in the air. That is being sucked into his father's tummy. His older siblings are doing it too. Well, the older girls to a better degree, while a bit 'struggling' in his eldest brother.
He tried reaching out for it with his mind. Slow going, but practice makes perfect. He absorbs it when everyone is out, and his mother leaves him alone to do chores or work the loom. Loud clack clack! Geeeeez!
He was left to being minded by Ruihe and Shuran. Where are the eldest siblings??
'Mom, where is everyone else?' Jianxin asked his mom when he was three.
'Oh, they're learning how to write, grammar and read from dad!' his mom smiled. 'I'm glad I married into this family! My children will get an education at age 5 without having to pay for a ransom at a school for budding scholars!' she stated in happy relief. 'My family is getting by enough, but school is a luxury we can't afford.'
'Dad went to school?'
'Yes, he and his brothers did. They in turn, taught their sisters before they married out. Grandfather wants literate grandkids without having to spend money so initial investment is on your father and uncles.'
'Heee...then mom, you learning from him?'
'Well, I started when he started teaching Qiushi and Wanyi at age 5 and 4. I know 1000 characters now and can do Math. At least I won't be cheated in the market!' his mom was smug about that. 'It takes two years with repetitive training until it sinks in your head and you're masterfully fluent that I now took over Language and Math lessons teaching everyone else in our children. Dad even spends his spare money on books.'
The books they have that mother separated into two piles, one bigger than the other (that Jianxin has no idea what the titles says) are according to her:
Education: Three Character Classic, Hundred Family Surnames, Thousand Character Classic, Classics of Filial Piety, Nine Chapters on Mathematical Arts, Agricultural Handbook, Writings of Zhuang, Diamond Sutra, Parental Benevolence Sutra, Buddhist Fables, Introduction to Mathematical Methods, Clerk's Manual, The Divine Farmer's Herb-Root Classic, Lessons for Women, The Women's Analects, Book of Silk and Sericulture, Abacus Manual for the Household, The Compendium of Sect Boundaries and Tribute Rates, The Law of Nocturnal Trespass and Crop Protection, The Edicts of Interdicted Sect Domains, The Peasant's Notary Guide for Corporeal and Spiritual Contracts, The Peasant's Guide to Corpse Defilement and Resentful Signs,
Cultivation: The Manual of the Golden Core and Meridians, The Registry of Monsters, Ghosts, Demons, and Fiends, The Codex of Warding Runes and Spiritual Scripts, and The Handbook of Interlocking Arrays.
'Did you read all those mom?'
'I sure did, to stay in shape upstairs.' his mom tapped her temple with her finger. 'Dad thinks rules regarding education rights of boys and girls are utter nonsense. We should learn what we can from all books and read what we want and learn what we want. But being a magic-user is beyond me so I didn't bother reading the smaller pile. I learned from the Core manual way late in life, when Cultivators need to form their meridians and their golden cores at a very young age. Training starts at five because they say the younger children are, the closer they are to the spirit world. The older you are, the closer you are to mortal world, hence, slower to hopeless progress attempts. That ship has long sailed for me.'
'Er...we're farmers? How'd dad get those books?' from what Jianxin has seen in his new home, it was ESSENTIALS ONLY. No room for other things.
'That naughty guy snuck and nicked these basics books from the publishing that caters to our Cultivational Sect, Gusu Lan when he was a brat! The other school books are legally purchased though. The Cultivational Books are NOT sold in bookstores to the public and if you see any, are written by charlatans.' his mom laughed. 'But we must keep this secret or we'll get in trouble! You'll start in two years. Grandpa and grandma knows, but to avoid jealousy issues and attract trouble, we keep this secret from other relatives!'
Whatever. They were doing 'repetition training' regarding language. Not bad since they weren't taught how to write and read for some reason?!
His parents were strict, but supportive because they really need to master the language. It became a playful competition between him, Shuran and Ruihe who learns faster.
Thankfully he doesn't have to waddle like a duck over thick earth diapers. Here, people still use cloth nappies. Easier to clean. But as a result, kids sleep on the floor to avoid soiling the bed, until they gained enough self-control to earn the 'right' to sleep on a bed in his designated bedroom. Until then, he's on the nursery room near the living room.
And that room will become a storage room once he got over bedwetting phase.
Jianxin tested himself, but while he had the mental control, his downstairs exit is still...weak. He sighed. "Maybe when I'm a few months older than three..." he thought miserably when he woke up to a wet bed.
'Now now don't get too upset, it took me till I was four-and-half.' Ruihe consoled him. 'But come on, it's cold where we are even in summer! Not to mention it's a frantic madhouse come rainy season. Cold, AND wet!'
Yeah, in his short time here as a baby, it was mildly cool here in summer, gets chillier and autumn, and winters are brutal. That every winter, he had to be put in a waterproof box just to be able to sleep on a heated bed like everyone else to huddle up in winter on their Kang.
He never imagined heating existed in a world like this, too.
After classes with mother, Jianxin goes out.
After getting past the family gate, he found that outside his house, are walls and a road leading to other houses. 'Uhhh...'
'First time seeing this, huh?' said Shuran. 'We live in a so-called Courtyard Household(Siheyuan). But because families expand over time through marriages, more and more houses keep adding up over time so we don't build walls. And every family must have seven children. But that doesn't always happen.'
'Heee...'
'Well, we don't have servants. We're not THAT rich so why should we build a wall that also doubles as Servant's Quarters.' Shuran snorted. 'It's why everyone works at the farm when we hit a certain age. That be 8 years old.'
'...what do kids do?' Jianxin asked her.
'Help grandma beat the grain out of stalks and spread it out to dry under the sun and we take the stalks for drying. They're used as fuel for cooking, bed heating, or even for building.'
"Oh yeah, I read the bible once...hebrew slaves used straw to make bricks." Jianxin thought. It was in a Children's Bible Stories in the school library whenever he runs there to avoid Dudley and his stooges. "Even here, huh? Waste not, want not."
'Having all that will help us with eldest cousin's house. He'll get married in two years.' said Shuran.
'That means he's an adult like mom and dad?'
'Nope! Mom said everyone marries at 16 if we're Commoners!'
'WHAT?!' Jianxin yelped at his four year old sister's declaration.
OK, he can RELUCTANTLY SWALLOW that his parents married right after Hogwarts because it was war and you don't know if you'll be killed today or tomorrow, but to he who lived among muggles for years, believed that marriage should at least, be when your husband actually has a house to live in, instead of squatting with in-laws.
That was what he believed, when Sirius told him about his family.
His maternal grandparents still alive in Cokeworth, oblivious to his misery with their eldest daughter's family who wrote the narrative. They never saw him, not even once so Harry has no delusions, nor care that they even think of him. As far as Harry Potter was concerned, he only cares for those who genuinely cares for him.
His paternal grandparents died right next to each other. One dead by Dragonpox, the other dead by Heartbreak after he was born as they were a case of Love Marriage, not just 'respectably pure marriage'. But they DID see baby him three months before dying, happy that they had a grandchild before dying. Because the Potters had TROUBLE having children that they feared after James, their family would die out. As in, they had his father before...Menopause!
Well, the Potter line and Black line ended in him and Padfoot.
And now he has a whole second family who cares for him. His siblings get along too. He finally tasted having a family that gives a damn about him at long last. Sirius does too but he hardly sees Sirius back in his first summer in Grimmauld Place because Mrs. Weasley made them all do chores to get them away from Order Business and somehow, stuff happens that to BOTH their frustrations, they can't spend time together because Dumbledore and Mrs. Weasley keeps everyone busy all the time!
'Well, we're not like rich folk who can afford doctors you know. The younger, the stronger for the likes of us.' their older brother Zehou overheard them. 'It's been this way. And we are a 100 mu farming family with three additional mu for vegetables. We would earn big, if only we don't get taxed. But we farmers have to pay taxes to our local sect in exchange for protection from evil spirits and monsters, and we also pay government taxes which really makes all us kids and housewives do farming work as the government calls on ALL adult males to do labor work for them, building stuff here and there. That's 50% of our harvest gone. Yet all families are expected to have seven kids and marry them all off...'
'...we still OK?' Jianxin went pale at what his brother implied.
'Yeah, in terms of rice and vegetables, we're OK, but we still have to buy other needs that'll really put to test our decision-making ability. Because if we sell excess rice, there's little left. Salt and Cooking Oil is expensive as well as clothes and shoes.' he said. 'We need other ways to make money or save up. Well, you kids go to play for now...enjoy it while you can because come age 8, work time!'
"...it's really OK for everyone to let their kindergarteners wander around, huh," Jianxin thought as so many little kids are wandering around, or meeting up with friends to go out to play.
Shuran has her own friends thus he's...left alone!
But he can do whatever he wants!!
So he went back home and went to get a basket before going back out.
"I have a type of energy, now would be the best time to experiment what I can do!'