Dawn of a New Era

Chapter 2: Rotten Wooden Plank

Translator: Lordbluefire Editor: Lordbluefire
In the afternoon after school, with difficulty, Chen Shouyi rejected his two good-for-nothing friends’ idea to play in an internet cafe. As a result, he had to ride alone on his white bicycle as he traveled home.

“Father, mother, I’m back.”

Now, it was still too early for dinner and it wasn’t the peak hour yet. Thus, there was no one in his family restaurant. Mother Chen sat at the cashier and was pressing at a calculator. She didn’t even lift her head as she asked, “Are you hungry already? If you are, tell your father to get you a bowl of rice with some meat and vegetables.”

For those who opened a restaurant, they would usually have dinner way earlier because during the ‘normal’ dining hours, it would be their business time.

“Let’s wait for little sister before I eat.” Chen Shouyi tossed his school bag down and spoke listlessly.

“Don’t waste your time here then. Hurry up and go back to your room to do your homework.” Mother Chen, Jiang Fen, glanced at him with a frown on her face.

“There’s not much homework today. I finished them long ago.”

“In that case, help your father to kill some fish then. Given your results, I dare not hope at all.”

Chen Shouyi was also someone who was used to being looked down upon. He submitted meekly to insults, didn’t retort, and obediently went into the kitchen immediately.

Father Chen, Chen Dawei, handled the ingredients at the side while he smiled. “Don’t listen to your mother. Go back to your room and read some books. There’s only one year to your college entrance examination. Although the chance of you being able to join a second-rate college isn’t great, I feel that you still have a shot at a third-rate college.”

“Dad, your son is so stupid. It’s not that I’m not working hard… but my results are abysmal, what can I do?” Chen Shouyi couldn’t help but complain in a low voice. During the holidays, he didn’t rest at all and attended a lot of tuition classes. However, his results didn’t show much improvement at all.

Ever since he was young, the person he was most afraid of was his mother. He wouldn’t dare to say such words to her, only daring to complain a little to his father.

As he spoke, he grabbed a fish. After knocking it unconscious, he began to expertly remove its scales.

“You have to ask your mother regarding this. When she was pregnant with you, she didn’t rest well and kept running around. In the end, she ended up falling down and gave birth to you earlier than expected.” Chen Dawei’s mentality was very good. He grinned as he spoke.

Compared to the intelligent second child, he still loved this silly son of his. Chen Shouyi resembled him.

“Oh, still blaming me?” Mother Chen who was counting money in front instantly raised her voice when she heard that. “If it wasn’t me, who would deliver water for you guys during the busy farming season? All of you would have died of thirst.”

“No one is blaming you, dear!” Chen Dawei hurriedly spoke when he heard that, pausing in his action of cutting meat.

Chen Shouyi smiled, feeling a sense of schadenfreude.

In his family, the balance of power was chaotic, leaning toward Yin rather than Yang. His mother had the greatest authority when it came to speaking. His father was ranked third, while his younger sister was second. There was no need to mention Chen Shouyi.

“Si~”

As though he celebrated too soon, the knife Chen Shouyi was using to descale the fish accidentally sliced the skin of his finger. Very soon, fresh blood flowed forth.

“I told you not to do it, quickly go wash up. The band-aid is located in the living room above, underneath the coffee table,” said Chen Dawei as he glanced over.

After injuring his hand, Chen Shouyi couldn’t continue helping out, so he hurriedly washed his hand and slowly walked up to his room.

His house was a self-built one. The lower level was a restaurant, while the upper level was their residence. When it was first built, this place was still a village in the suburbs. During these years as the city developed, the price of this property also steadily increased in value.

Just as he arrived at the upper level and found the band-aid, he heard his younger sister’s sweet voice calling his mother. In return, Mother Chen also dotingly asked about her daughter’s day for a while. And by the time they finished chatting, Chen Shouyi had placed the band-aid on his finger.

When he heard the difference between how his mother greeted him and his sister, Chen Shouyi’s lips twitched.

This bootlicker!

Although he appeared to be very protective of his younger sister, their relationship wasn’t very good.

Ever since they were young, his sister had always been snatching toys, food, and affection from him. And after they grew up, her results and awards would always be better than his.

His younger sister’s existence made him feel that he was hopeless. He felt like he was one kind of walking garbage.

What made him the saddest was that when they were younger, even if he failed to snatch back the toys, he could still beat her up. But now, he couldn’t even do it any longer.

Now, she was already the top martial student in her school. With a single hand, she would be able to crush him.

“Big brother, I heard mother say that you were injured when handling the fish!” Very soon, his younger sister, Chen Xingyue, also came to the upper level, smiling as she spoke.

She tied her hair in a ponytail, had white and fair skin, and possessed a delicate frame. Overall, she was extremely pleasant looking, exuding vitality.

But only Chen Shouyi knew how two-faced this younger sister of his was.

“Nothing much, I only sliced open my skin.” Chen Shouyi did his best to exude the prestige of an elder brother as he calmly spoke. From her expression, he could see a sense of schadenfreude.

Chen Xingyue didn’t pursue it until the end. She took the remote control and on the television.

“Everyone knows that the Other World is a world controlled by supernatural entities. The situation inside is still considered uncivilized, equivalent to the earlier eras of human history such as the stone age and bronze age. According to the information provided by the explorers, the Other World is now undergoing an intense era-changing process.”

…

Chen Shouyi had always been extremely interested in the television programs of the Other World, so he simply sat on the sofa and watched with keen interest. After some time, he turned his head and asked in puzzlement, “Are you not going to do your homework today?”

Chen Xingyue’s gaze was fixed on the television. She expressionlessly spoke, “I’ve already obtained a recommendation to join the Capital Martial Academy.”

“What?” Chen Shouyi exclaimed in shock as he turned his head. He stuttered, “You, you…already passed the Martial Apprentice Test?”

“Not yet, but I’m about to pass it soon. My teacher estimates that I just need to practice for one more month and I will be able to easily pass that.”

“But…”

“This year, there are a total of thirty recommended slots in the school, and only three are assigned to the sophomore year. I’m one of the three.” Chen Xingyue didn’t wait for Chen Shouyi to ask questions; she instantly interjected.

Her calm tone, as well as her manner of ‘as it should be by rights’, almost made Chen Shouyi stop breathing.

The recruitment of martial academies and college entrance examinations were staggered. The martial academies would recruit in springtime, which also meant that his sister who was two years younger than him would graduate from senior high school half a year earlier than him.

“You haven’t told father and mother yet?”

“Such important things naturally have to be said only during the night!” Chen Xingyue spoke.

Chen Shouyi wasn’t very happy. “In that case, why are you telling me this?”

“Who asked you to be my elder brother? I will naturally tell you the good news first.” Chen Xingyue finally couldn’t hold it any longer. A wide smile appeared on her face.

What an unpleasant younger sister; her heart was almost black.

Chen Shouyi was extremely impacted by the news, but he still did his best to control the quivering muscles of his face. He closed his mouth. If he continued listening to her words, he most probably would suffer an internal injury.

He continued to fix his stare at the television, but the program that he was watching with relish earlier now seemed dry and extremely boring. When he thought of his murky and dark future, he could no longer carry on sitting here. He grabbed his school bag. “I’m going to read some books.”

“Come to eat immediately!”

“Not eating…Eh, help me send my food to my bedroom later.”

He walked to his bedroom and closed the door. After that, Chen Shouyi instantly had a crestfallen look on his face. Why would the girls in his class be so adorable, yet his younger sister was so unlikable?

This was naked showing-off, pouring salt on his wounds.

He took out several mathematics books from his bag. However, given how flustered he was now, there was no way for him to really understand the theories.

He pushed them aside and walked to the display cabinet of his bedroom, preparing to cast aside his emotions to make him feel better.

The display cabinet was his treasure storage. Over here, other than all kinds of reference books and collected works, there were also many objects of different styles from the Other World. These were the items he loved the most.

A bronze axe, a cortex shield, a few slabs with mysterious totems engraved on it, a few strange wooden cards that gave off a desolate aura.

However, all of them were simply counterfeit goods bought from souvenir shops. Even a layman like Chen Shouyi could tell it with a single glance.

The bronze axe’s material was clearly a product of smelt metal from a factory. The cortex shield was clearly made of ox hide. As for the totems on the stone slabs, they had no traces of age; even their material was granite that was commonly seen everywhere.

But not all were fake items. There was one item here that should truly be a product from the Other World.

This item was a piece of rotten wooden plank.

Its color was extremely black and the condition was very bad, seemingly rotten. There were thousands of holes on it like it was chewed through by termites. Such an appearance might very well indicate that it was a supernatural object. Its origin was unknown and its value could very well be priceless.

Upon entering Earth, the supernatural powers of Other World’s objects would dissipate on their own accord, and the quality of the material would swiftly corrode.

Now, this object had already become completely rotten, appearing like a rotten wooden plank. Even if it was tossed onto the ground, for those who had no idea of its value, no one would pick it up.

In truth, this was what had happened. This rotten wood plank was something Chen Shouyi picked up from the ground as he passed by a nearby construction site. It felt like he had gained the most precious treasure when he obtained it.

He opened up the cupboard and took out this piece of a rotten wooden plank.

Under the laws of this world, this wooden plank rotted so badly that its internal structure was riddled with holes. However, he could still sense the toughness of the material and could see a faint trace of something extraordinary.

Through the motley surface of the wooden plank, he could faintly see a few mysterious diagrams.

He once did his research and realized that these were all narrative diagrams. Many ancient wall murals on Earth were drawn in this style, and what they narrated was the important developments of the Other World’s civilization.

The first time the people of that world used fire

The first time they used words.

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…

On the upper left corner of each diagram, there were different complicated marks. As someone who often watched television programs that provide explanations of the Other World, Chen Shouyi was extremely clear that these were their supernatural symbols. Also, there wasn’t simply just one.

Sadly, they were useless. No matter how mysterious an item was, they would become ordinary the moment they came to Earth.

He gingerly touched the wooden plank and let out a sigh. It was unknown how many times he had let out the same sigh. How good would it be if this item still contained supernatural power?

When he imagined himself lifting the wooden plank and shining in boundless resplendent light, illuminating the earth, he involuntarily laughed in a silly manner.