Chapter 2: Living with All Our Might
After organizing and sorting out her documents, Xiang Yu boarded a bus heading to Hama Valley.
The small mid-size bus was filled with a chaotic mix of smells. People, chickens, ducks, cows, and goats, along with baskets of fruits and vegetables carried on shoulder poles, were all squeezed together inside the cramped carriage. The mountain road coiled and twisted, one hairpin turn after another.
Up ahead, a sheep suddenly bleated and spat foul water onto the ground. An older woman slapped it hard and cursed, saying she’d butcher the little bastard when she got back.
Xiang Yu turned her head away, silently swallowing down the lunch that had surged up to her throat, gripping the window frame tightly as her body tried to keep up with the jolting rhythm of the ride.
Little did she know this was already the best stretch of the journey.
The bus was headed to a nearby town. After getting off, Xiang Yu transferred to a motorcycle. Following the map’s directions, she was told there was still one kilometer to go. Just as the destination seemed within reach, the navigation led her instead to a turbulent river.
Deep in the mountains, there were almost no signs of human habitation. The farther she went in, the colder it became, and a light rain had already begun to fall. Murky waves churned silently at the center of the river. At first glance, it didn’t seem very wide, but in the heavy mist, the scenery on the opposite bank was barely visible to the naked eye.
Xiang Yu touched the collapsible baton in her backpack. A calm female voice from the navigation system sounded in her ear: “Continue straight ahead, then turn right. Please watch for oncoming traffic.”
Before she could make sense of it, a small boat suddenly broke through the mist.
Its movement was strange and almost uncanny. Behind it, layers upon layers of green mountains rose like ink wash paintings, while fog locked the river in a hazy shroud. Even the bow of the boat seemed pressed down by the damp mist.
The vessel drifted in as lightly as if it were floating from the sky. Its draft was extremely shallow, leaving only fleeting ripples on the water’s surface—so fleeting they vanished in an instant. Its entrance carried a certain elegance, almost like something out of a wuxia novel by Gu Long.
As if the person rowing would, in the next second, casually rest their hands behind their back and say, “You shouldn’t have come.”
“But I’ve already come,” Xiang Yu thought, watching the ripples on the water, finishing the sentence silently in her mind.
She exhaled softly and straightened her back.
On the bumpy bus ride earlier, she had been thinking—thinking about the truck whose license plate she never managed to clearly see even after replaying the memory over and over, and about her first twenty years spent studying hard and working to support herself.
But after that truck, those things that had once felt life-or-death, tightly wound and suffocating, now drifted away like passing clouds.
That sense of relief gave her a strange boost of courage. In the past, she would never have dared to follow some unreliable-looking app into the mountains.
“I’m already here.”
Xiang Yu silently repeated it to herself again. As she watched, the boat adjusted its course—it was indeed coming toward her. A lone vessel flickered in and out of the mist, carrying an uncanny, almost eerie presence.
Thinking back to the Hama Green app’s agreement mentioning “three realms of immortals,” she had no idea whether the arrival was human or ghost. But at this point, there was no turning back—even if it turned out to be a damn toad spirit, she would still get on that boat and cross the river.
As the boat drew closer, Xiang Yu quietly pulled the collapsible baton from her backpack and hid it behind her back. But then she heard the roar of an engine.
Next moment, someone on the boat—not a toad spirit, not at all—lifted a loudspeaker.
A clear, bright, and perfectly standard Mandarin voice rang out:
“Are you Boss Xiang? Are you Boss Xiang?! I’m Ji Kailang, a stationed staff member in Hama Village! On behalf of the Party branch secretary, the village committee director, the women’s federation director, and all the villagers of Hama Village, we warmly welcome you to participate in our village revitalization project!”
“Boss Xiang! Please come aboard quickly, don’t get soaked. I was just praising this rain—it’s ‘fertile water welcoming honored guests’!”
“Boss! Boss, why aren’t you saying anything?”
“……”
Xiang Yu silently stuffed the baton back into her bag and reached out to shake the young woman’s hand.
“Hello, my name is Xiang Yu.”
“Hahaha! Xiang Yu is a great name! ‘Born a hero, dead a ghost hero!’”
“Thank you, thank you—but it’s the ‘Xiang’ of ‘traveling toward Yuguan Pass,’ and the ‘Yu’ as in the ‘yu’ of elm trees.”
“Ohhh, I see! Teacher Xiang, your name really has such elegant charm!”
“Teacher Ji isn’t bad either!”
The two of them kept shaking hands while exchanging exaggerated compliments. When Ji Kailang handed over a business card, Xiang Yu realized she was also a graduate of Xihai University—likely the “senior stationed village worker” the counselor had mentioned.
Although her gaze still carried a faint, student-like clarity, life in the real world had clearly toughened her. After bringing Xiang Yu onto the boat, she quickly held an umbrella over her, handed her a bottle of water, and it turned out to be a sweet peach oolong tea.
Xiang Yu noticed there was also a pack of cigarettes in her pocket—prepared for any guest, whether male or female.
They were about the same age, so they chatted casually for a bit. Ji Kailang laughed and said she hadn’t been able to find a proper job either, so she decided to take the “iron rice bowl” route. Only, as she put it, there weren’t even two copper coins in this rice bowl—far from comparable to Boss Xiang’s promising future.
She couldn’t stop talking about Hama Valley, saying its natural ecological advantages were obvious, it just lacked a visionary, decisive investor with real insight!
And now, that wise and heroic investor had descended from the heavens.
Her eyes shifted through a whole spectrum of expressions—sometimes tender, sometimes almost ravenous—reminding Xiang Yu of the cat she used to feed. Whenever it saw a big chicken drumstick, it would stare at it with the same drooling, affectionate, desperate gaze.
Drool would almost hit the floor, yet it would still manage to rub against her hand while chewing, as if expressing gratitude.
But she could afford chicken drumsticks. Ji Kailang’s words, on the other hand, made her uneasy.
Out of nowhere—snow mountains, hot springs, all descending like fate—she wasn’t a rich second generation, had no management experience, and her only “special ability,” if she had one at all, was probably that she could burn through her lifespan.
The boat slowly reached the shore. The moment she stepped onto the land of Hama Valley, the background music of “Living with All Our Might” echoed in her mind again, tightening the top of her skull.
But this time, what appeared before her eyes wasn’t a truck.
It was a notice.
[Newbie Quest Settlement: Tianbai Snow Mountain Hama Valley Glacier Park
Reward issued: Hot Spring Renovation Pack
Current remaining lifespan: 29 days
Procured equipment:
Intelligent constant-temperature mixing valve
Platinum resistance temperature sensor
Electric three-way regulating valve
Multi-parameter water quality analyzer
Plate heat exchanger
Spray cooling tower
Expected effects:
Basic visual renovation of hot springs
Heat exchange and precise temperature mixing and cooling adjustment
Designed and constructed by a professional geothermal engineering team.
Please schedule an on-site visit time with the team as soon as possible.]
“Oh my heavens!”
The long-awaited newbie gift pack had finally arrived!
Although she had been hit by a runaway truck and bound by a seemingly tyrannical contract, the truth behind it all was actually surprisingly heartwarming. It must be a grand mission—so that Hama Village, no, so that Xihai, even all of China, could one day enjoy better hot springs.
Everything was fate’s arrangement!
Even more surprising was that merely stepping onto Hama Valley’s land had increased her lifespan by +1. Although before this, she hadn’t really valued life much anyway—scrolling her phone, doing odd jobs, and passing days casually—but a day of negative growth and a day of positive growth were clearly not the same thing!
It was a little motivating.
She had once thought that being dead or alive didn’t matter much, but the moment she saw her lifespan increase by +1, something deep in human genes—an instinctive fear of death—immediately produced a powerful positive feedback.
Her adrenaline surged, even giving her a faint sense of superiority.
After all, most people come into this world heading straight toward death—each day one less—but she was here to gain life. The longer she stayed alive, the more she gained. It was practically peak positivity… truly moving for the nation.
Xiang Yu quickly pulled out her phone.
The app had already synced the notification, along with detailed lists of equipment procurement and renovation plans. There was also a newly unlocked side quest:
[Complete your first “Friendly Contact” with a local resident
Reward: one chance at a random item draw
Progress: 80%]
“Boss? Boss?”
Xiang Yu snapped back to reality and slipped her phone into her pocket, looking at Ji Kailang with suddenly fervent eyes.
This wasn’t a local resident.
This was a spawn point.
Ji Kailang, in turn, looked at Xiang Yu with equal parts concern, expectation, and excitement.
This wasn’t a graduate.
This was a walking cash cow.
The two people, both deeply moved by the other’s “potential,” unconsciously clasped hands. One was thinking about farming mobs; the other was thinking about making money. Their eyes were misty, as if they had known each other through countless lifetimes, yet were now too emotional to speak.
Nobody knew how the conversation had suddenly turned into “I’ve unlocked a golden finger, so everyone can stop soaking in 80-degree scalding hot springs from now on.”
Xiang Yu could only grip Ji Kailang’s hand tightly and say in a deep voice:
“Don’t worry. I guarantee everyone will be able to soak in hot springs as warm as bathwater.”
Ji Kailang’s hand squeezed back hard, shaking hers vigorously in response. The two of them locked eyes with absolute sincerity.
Then—
A ding sounded in her mind.
System notification:
[First “Friendly Contact” completed. Please go to the app to claim your reward.]
**TN
Teacher Ji (Ji Laoshi) and Teacher Xiang (Xiang Laoshi) – used as a modern term of respect for school teachers, or professionals in some field. In Japan they call authors, manga artists, etc. Sensei/Teacher too.
Iron rice bowl – an occupation offering guaranteed job security, steady income, and lifelong benefits