Yin Ying fell to the ground as a palm was firmly planted across his cheek. 

“You dog! Has my Kang family not raised you well enough, Lei Qiu?!” A foot quickly found its place onto my stomach, a woman stood kicking him relentlessly. “What have you to say for yourself?! Stealing food from the kitchen like an animal? Does my family not treat you well? Say it now!”

There was no room for discussion. Despite her words, anyone looking at the scene could see the ribs poking out of the boy’s sides. A delicate face of only about 13 years old which had been worn down by the constant struggles of life. This is the boy that Yin Ying transmigrated into, Lei Qiu. 

Countless thoughts, images, and memories flooded into Yin Ying, or should I say Lei Qiu’s head, shocking him still. These were the memories of the original Lei Qiu. Looking back up at the woman fuming angrily above him, Lei Qiu had a sudden realization. 

“So I’m not the hero…I’m not the villain…I’m…Just a no-name field worker?! Ah! I’m no better than canon fodder!”

Yin Ying: cries in a corner

“Wait!” Looking behind the lady, Lei Qiu noticed a boy younger than him. His state was in much better condition than his (LQ) own, though still in shambles. He too looked malnourished, dirty, and dressed practically in rags. Yet despite this all, one could see a sliver of budding elegance that was sure to one day blossom. If it weren’t for his poor treatment, this kid would be very adorable! It made one's heart ache to see a child being treated so heartlessly. 

The boy looked mad…and guilty even. His eyes were focused onto the floor in front of him as nails mindlessly dug into his palms. Blood seeped out and yet the boy did not notice. He could only stand there anxiously at the sight of brutality before him, knowing that there was nothing he could do. 

“Insolence!” She kicked him (LQ) again, “You ungrateful child! Do you not know what you owe to this family? It seems that bitch of a mother you had never taught you to respect your elders?”

Lei Qiu sat still on the ground unmoving. Had anyone else been told this, they may have coughed up 10 gallons of blood. Lei Qiu however knew better. The more he resisted the more this would continue. Lowering his head to the ground, he bowed. “This subordinate is sorry to Fu ren! This subordinate knows his wrong!” Raising her leg to kick him one more time, the woman thought before of it and retracted her leg. Swishing her sleeves she turned and left, “Good. Do not let this happen again Lei Qiu or I will not be so lenient.” And with that she was gone. 

Not waiting another second the boy ran up to Lei Qiu and kneeled in front of him. A sweet voice stricken with too many emotions for such a young boy, came out. 

“Qiu gege…I’m sorry…” His mudstained hands wiped tears across his face. “I wish I could have done something…Gege I’m sorry.” He cried softly, “You were only taking the food for me…you shouldn’t have gotten in trouble for it.”

Almost on instinct, Lei Qiu raised his hand and ruffled the hair of the boy in front of him. After receiving the memories of the previous owner, Lei Qiu had no doubt on who the boy in front of him was. “Xiao Bai! It’s gege’s job to look after you! Don’t worry about it, ok? I’m just sad that you couldn’t get the food in the end…” This was none other than Bai Huiliang. The young, and unblackened version of the villain. Seeing this version of the protagonist, Lei Qiu couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of moe! 

This kind of villain is truly the best! (≧∇≦)

Bai Huiliang wiped his tears and shook his head with an indignant look on his face. “Gege is wrong! I-I can take care of myself. I’m not that much younger than you!”

“Oh?” Lei Qiu smirked “I think two years is a long time Xiao Bai hehe”

“It’s not!” Bai Huiliang’s cheeks turned red with anger and puffed up. Seeing this Lei Qiu couldn’t help but inwardly squeal, ‘So cute!’ Pulling the smaller child into his bosom, Lei Qiu ruffled his hair even more causing his ponytail to come loose. 

“My family’s Huiliang is just the best! One day you can prove just how dependable you are,  but for now just leave it to gege alright?” The boy huffed angrily “I said…alrighttttttt?” Lei Qiu tickled Little Bai endlessly until he conceded, “Alright, alright! Gege!” Smiling, Lei Qiu released Bai Huiliang from his grasp and tied his hair back up. “Good. Now let's go to sleep. You did well today.”

He (BH) nodded and uttered a simple “En.” Using the knowledge that Lei Qiu acquired from the previous owner, he seamlessly navigated to his and Bai Huiliangs living quarters. 

Reading and seeing were two different things. Seeing the residence of theirs for the first time severely impacted Lei Qiu. He (LQ) cried out in his heart, “Ah! How can these people be so heartless? I knew it before but…seeing it for myself is really too cruel!” In front of him stood a small woodshed, hardly suitable to house a few animals let alone two kids. 

“Qiu Gege?” Looking down, he saw Bai Huiliang tugging on his sleeve with a questioning look. Lei Qiu took this chance to rub his (BH) hair and smiled reassuringly. “Sorry. Gege was distracted. Let’s go in.” Little Bai nodded and entered the woodshed with Lei Qiu. Inside was not much better  than the outside and could be considered even worse, for that matter. Inside lay a hard wooden bench with hay at the edge, acting as a pillow. An old and tattered blanket covered part of the bench, being too small to cover anything more than a small body. Bai Huiling lay on the bench and moved to make room for Lei Qiu. As he (LQ) sat down and tried to get somewhat-comfortable, Bai Huiliang put the small blanket over him (LQ). “Gege it’s your turn to use the blanket tonight.”

“Hm?” Lei Qiu slowly shook his head, “No. You should have it.”

He (BH) frowned. “No! That’s not fair to you Gege!”

Lei Qiu sighed and said, “Xiao Bai. I’ll be fine. This small cover won’t keep me that warm anyway, it would be better to give it to you.”

Little Bai bit his lip. “But…”

“Nope. No buts.” He (LQ) took the cover and draped it over the smaller boy before bringing him into his bosom in a hug. “There, now be good and sleep.” He (BH) didn’t respond and only huffed angrily against Lei Qiu’s chest. Kissing his forehead, Lei Qiu smoothed out Bai Huiliang’s hair. “Good Night, Xiao Bai.” 

“...Good Night, Qiu Gege.”

AUTHORS NOTES:

Vocab:

Canon fodder- a lot of people dont know this one so just in case this basically just stands for a character that exists in the story only to die to further the plot

Fu ren- basically it means the lady of the house 

Unblackened/ Blackened- I was confused about this one too when I first started reading novels like this. It basically means an evil or bad person? I guess in this context it means as the Villian grew up and became the VILLIAN 

My family's- Just an expression basically this, "Has my Kang family not treated you well?" = "Have we not treated you well" or "My family's Bai Huiliang" which would just be endearing or personal 

Gege- In many asian cultures many people are called aunt or sister or brother which is commonly a sign of respect. Similiar to this gege means big brother. It's just a cultural thing don't think too much of it. 

Xiao (before a name)- it means little but like endearingly like saying Xiao Bai would be to say Little Bai